CNN 2008-09-06

Hope you are having a great day. I am Nicole Lapin at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Here is a look at what’s happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

A collision course with the Carolina coast, that's the word from forecasters on Tropical Storm Hanna. The National Hurricane Center says that Hanna is heading up the east coast from Florida to the Carolinas where it's expected to make a landfall, the storm isn’t at hurricane strength yet but forecasters do expect it to continue to strengthen and say it could become one of the hurricanes before hitting land, early Saturday morning. Meantime a buzz saw of a storm is out in the Caribbean, forecasters say  Hurricane Ike is small, but impressive and has peaked at Category-4 strength ,the latest track puts Florida right in Ike’s path.

All the major presidential candidates are out on the trail this afternoon battling it out for key election states. Senator Barack Obama rallied voters at a Town Hall event in Pennsylvania this hour. The democratic candidate talked about the economy and the middle class tax relief. Earlier today, his running mate Senator Joe Biden met with iron workers in Philadelphia. Meantime Senator John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin campaigning in Cedarburg Wisconsin, Palin took to the stage praising her running mate for his service to the country and also his ability to lead as commander in chief. Later they head to Michigan,  another key battleground state.

All faithfuls for the candidates are not just on the campaign trail, TV ratings for the Republican and the Democratic conventions went through the roof. Nielsen Media Research says that Republican vice 1 presidential nominee 2 Sarah Palin's speech on Wednesday night was the second most watched political convention acceptance speech ever, 37.2 million people tuned 3 in. The record-setting speech belongs  to the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, 38.4 million people watched him accept his party's nomination 4 last week.

What disappointing news, economic news, in the Unite States, as the unemployment rate is hitting a 5-year high, the Labor 5 Department says the US economy lost 84,000 jobs in August, the US has lost 605,000 jobs since the beginning of this year.

Opening statements were made this morning in the trial of a Knoxville, Tennessee man accused of killing 6 his wife's teenage lover. Eric McLean is charged with first degree murder in last year deadly shooting. McLean admits killing 18-year-old Sean Powell, his wife's teenage lover and former student. McLean claims the shooting was an accident. He faces, though, up to life in prison if convicted first degree murder. Prosecutors 7 are not seeking the death penalty.

And it's a quick look at some of the headlines making news right now, for more on those stories and other news of the day, CNN is always your source online or on TV. Take care.