today," five years later. the nation pauses to mark the anniversary of hurricane katrina. emmy excitement. who were the biggest winners and losers at tv's biggest awards? and undersea expedition. new spectacular images of the and undersea expedition. new spectacular images of the wreckage of the titanic. captions paid for by nbc-universal television r >> hi, everybody. good morning. hop hope you had a great w wiwill welcom will welcome to acroacross the nation, includie pacific time zone. i'm tom roberts. today we begin with wounds that

are still healing. gulf coast residents still trying to put hurricane katrina behind them marked the fifth anniversary of that devastating storm yesterday. president obama in new orleans observing that anniversary promis promised the city th administration remains committed to building the crescent city. jay gray has more. >> reporter: as he traveled to new orleans to mark the fifth anniversary of katrina, president obama made a promise to the gulf coast. >> my administration is going to stand with you and fight alongside you until the job is done. >> reporter: and five years later, so many are still fighting to finish that work. >> just another day. we just got to come back here and finish cleaning up the mess. >> reporter: others struggle to deal with the scars that just don't seem to heal. new orleans mayor mitch landrieu laid a wreath at the memorial to 100 still unidentified victims of katrina. while in the ninth ward, mostly still ravaged, a traditional second line procession marched

acrop across the bridge, t where hundreds were stranded after the storm. across the spot where hundreds were stranded after the bridge. survivors returned to remember those lost. >> lawrence sanders. >> reporter: and to honor their memories by continuing the long struggle to come back. >> what we went through and where we are today. we're a whole lot better. >> reporter: though most agree, there's still a long way to go. jay gray, nbc news, new orleans. last night in los angeles, new comedies ruled the roost at the 62nd annual prime time emmy awards. the first year series "modern family" ended the three year reign of 30 rock and "mad men" claimed top honors for a third straight year. more on television's big night in the spotlight. >> reporter: this year's emmys definitely had a musical theme. there were several musical numbers sprinkled throughout the show including a performance by jewel. it was also a night for newcomers and first time emmy winners.

♪ the emmys began by taking inspiration from one first year hit, "glee," and it ended by honoring another rookie sensation. >> "modern family." >> reporter: the series about an extended los angeles family won best comedy, beating out, among others, "glee" and three-time winner "30 rock." >> we're as to happy that you have let us into your families. thank you very, very much. >> reporter: the show also took best writing and best supporting actor for eric stonestreet. >> this is really incredible. >> reporter: meanwhile best supporting actress went to "glee's" jane lynch. >> this is outlandish. >> reporter: yet another first time comedy winner was the big bank theory's jim carson for best actor. and after three best actress wins in a drama, falco took best

actor. some things did remain the same. "mad men" won best series for the third straight year. >> i can't believe we're here. >> reporter: bryan cranston also made it three wins as best actor, but aaron hall won his first as best supporting actor. best supporting actress and kyra sedgwick's fifth nomination proved to be the charm. her first emy as best actress for the closer. "the daily show" ran its winning streak to eighth years. the "the amazing race"'s run as best reality show ended at seven. george clooney got the bob hope humanitarian award. during his speech, clooney mentioned the five-year anniversary of hurricane katrina and he also encouraged people to continue to help those in need. in los angeles, i'm stephanie stanton. thomas, back to you. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america.

in tennessee, tensions are high after vandals set fire to equipment and defaced signs on a construction site of a new mosque. this is the second attack in six months at the site. the fbi and atf are investigating it as a possible hate crime. michael jackson fans in california celebrated the king of pop's birthday with a spontaneous dance-a-thon at universal city. the dancer imitated some of jackson's iconic dance moves and of course the fan favorite, "thriller." yesterday would have been jackson's 52nd birthday. and in nevada, an all-out brawl. in reno the nation's largest tomato fight. 150,000 pounds of red pulp rained down at the fund-raiser, but participates came prepared with the practical and the impractical. money was raised and it all goes to charity. pretty cool. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning. good morning.

hurricane earl is going to get all the attention over the next week. this morning it's ravaging northern leeward islands. a strong hurricane two hurricane. impressive on satellite imagery, trying to intensify over the warm waters of the caribbean. puerto rico will get hit not directly. the forecast for earl, anyone that has any interest up and down the eastern seaboard should closely watch this storm, a category three off the coast. a glancing blow for new england, maybe direct impacts in canada. that's a forecast worth watching for interest on the eastern seaboard. west coast, very much the summer pattern is over with. big dip in the jet stream air. huge trough. cool. raw in many areas. reports that high elevations of some snow in the northern rockies, one of the first times so far as we head towards the fall season. today's forecast, it is chilly. temperatures in the 60s with showers in portland. medford in the 100s recently.

today only 70 dorganization organization, chance of showers. 66. roseburg, same for you. clouds should be at bay but still only in the 60s. we'll take a look at tuesday forecast later. >> bill, thank you. so what will wall street look like for the week? who is looking to gobble up who, and the dictionary goes digital. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, this time paris hilton is really in big trouble with the law. coming up, the most drawn out home run celebration you'll ever see and which team is taking a chance on manny ramirez. you're watching "early today." coming up, the most drum up

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm thomas roberts. here's some of your top headlines this morning. as the u.s. draws down its presence in iraq, new reports show more than $5 billion in american tax dollars, more than 10% of what the u.s. has spent on reconstruction in iraq, has gone to waste on unused or unfinished building projects. the man in charge of the reconstruction program in iraq, led by the army corps of engineers acknowledged mistakes but says success ultimately lies in the hands of the iraqi citizens. in chile, 33 trapped miners got reassurance from the voices of loved ones for the first time in nearly a month. each miner was allowed one minute to sfoe a family member over a radio connection yesterday. the miners have been trapped underground since august 5th. some 12,000 north sumatran residents have been evacuated after a long dormant volcano erupted in indonesia yesterday. for two day, ash filled clouds

of gray smoke have been billowing out of the volcano. and officials from the expedition titanic have returned some spectacular new images from their high tech mapping project of the sunken ship. however, for now, hurricane danielle has forced the team of scientists back to shore until calmer seas can return. and now here's an early look at how wall street will be kicking off the day. the dow opens at 10,150 after climbing 164 points on friday. the s&p gained 17. and the nasdaq was up 34. we take a look overseas, the nikkei added 158 points while in hong kong the hang seng rose 139. this week wall street heads into september traditionally the worst month for stocks. facing mounting evidence the economy is stuck in neutral. expect a cautious week ahead while everyone waits for the week's most important data, unemployment. friday's numbers are expected to show unemployment ticking higher to 9.6% from 9.5%. thanks mainly to the continued layoff of temporary government census workers. if the numbers are worse than expected, friday's trading could

get ugly heading in to the long labor day weekend. elsewhere, dell says it's assessing its bid for 3par after the data storage company's board of directors said hewlett-packard's $2 billion offer was a superior proposal. 3 par notified dell of it's agreement on their merger agreement. dell now has three business days to match hp's offer. sanofi-aventis publicly disclosed it's $18.5 billion cash offer for genzyme after merger talks went nowhere. sanofi is considering all options. including a hostile takeover. goexings between disney and time-warner cable over programming fees with a deadline of midnight on wednesday. at stake, millions of homes in major cities like new york and los angeles could see their local abc broadcast, espn channels and some disney channels go dark. finally, a sign of the times. the publisher of the oxford english dictionary said

yesterday that now so many people prefer to look up words on line the 126-year-old dictionary may never be printed on paper again. so the umps go to the videotape, a little league crusher and now manny will be manny in chicago. plus the shot in the playoff at barclay that set up the winner. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. everyone on the east coast waits and sees where earl is going to head. the weather in the meantime is hot from maine to florida. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

. hi, everybody. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, for the first time ever, a major league baseball game ended on a call using video review capping an amazing comeback for the braves. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. suspense is part of what makes sports great, but yesterday we saw the most drawn out home run celebration baseball can offer. rays and marlins in atlanta. we're tied at six. bottom of the ninth. mccann into right field. did it have enough? yes, it did. or did it? the braves came out to celebrate, but the umpires ruled it a ground rule double. the team protested. the umps went in to check the

replay. look for yourself. the ball hit off the yellow line, then hit a barrier behind the wall. a few minutes later, the umpires came on the field, walkoff home run for mccann. a bit anticlimactic, but the braves had no problem celebrating. atlanta won it 7-6, they lead the phils by two games. to the american league, tampa bay and boston. in the six, carl crawford with a two-run homer ties the game. the rays went on to win 5-3. they're tied with the yanks. and manny ramirez is headed to the white sox. chicago will acquire the slugger on waivers from the dodgers. white sox are 4.5 out with just about a month left in the season. >> the barclay, between weekend for tiger woods, finished tied for 12th. the first time he finished top 12 all playoff. martin gave it away. matt kucher took it, his first victory of the season. great approach stopped a couple of feet from the cup. and japan against hawaii for the little league world series title. in the sixth,

japan up 2-1 and witness the power. a two run shot. japan up 4-1. bottom of the inning, japan on the brink, a fly ball and that was it. japan won it 4-1, first time since 2004 a team from outside the u.s. has won the little league world series. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. an emmy recap and a winner by a nose this weekend at the box office. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus 32 years after failing, a competitive swimmer takes another shot at making her dream a reality. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. it's been a while since we looked at the forecast in hawaii. it doesn't usually change a lot. we usually show it when it's active weather. today, nice and warm, in the 80s. wouldn't 80s be nice for everyone on the west coast who will be chilly. as we look at alaska, the days are starting to get shorter, especially around barrow and fairbanks. cloudy through much of the state. forecast for the west coast, talk about cloudy and cool, 60s from the oregon coastline up into washington state back towards spokane and boise,

unseasonably chilly. cool air all the way to vegas, highs in the 80s. much below normal. san francisco and l.a. are cool. not a lot changes tomorrow, start to warm up as the cooler air begins to head through the rockies. klbi nbc's in oregon, if you're in the mood for adventure, take the family canoeing at tule lake. that's your pacific event of the day. >> that's a good one. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. starting out a quick recap of last night's biggest emmy winners. the '60s era drama "mad men" earned its third consecutive best drama series trophy. the first year program "modern family" won for best comedy series. from musical comedy, "glee," the most nominated series, jane lynch earned best supporting actress. elsewhere at the box office this weekend, "the last exorcism," a

pseudodocumentary with a bunch of no-name actors took the top spot with just over $21 million. the heist flick takers took the second spot falling short by only a few hundred thousand. in fact, it was so close those rankings could change after final numbers are released later today. and finally, in case you missed it, paris hilton was arrested in las vegas on suspicion of felony cocaine possession after a small bag of the drug fell out of her purse. it happened in full view of a police officer. bill, this is her third run-in with the law this year over drug accusations. this is the first time with cocaine. it's marijuana in the past. >> i'm sure the judge will take that into account, too. a felony charge. that's nothing to sneeze at. >> serious business. the emmys, most of us missed it. >> i watched the beginning, jimmy fallon. >> it was aces. it was good. >> he did a good job. he works in new york in the building and we see him around the building.

he's a humble guy, did a great job. >> he was fantastic. the next story from key west, florida, where one woman is teaching us the meaning of try, try again. a 61-year-old will make her second attempt to swim from cuba to key west. her first attempt was cut short when strong currents and high waves forced her out of the water. in her 41th hour. now the former record holding swimmer says although she's slower, she's mentally stronger and has high hopes to finish the 103 mile 60 hour test of endurance. bill, she's got one dream there that she wants to accomplish. it looks like she's going to do it. >> in that shot, she was not in any protective cage. >> she's not swimming in that cage. i think they may bring that in for dangerous parts of the water. >> there's a lot of sharks there. >> i'm thomas roberts, this is your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

italy may be the home of the pizza, but poland wants to have a finger in that pie. residents in krakow are trying to break the world record for the longest pizza. their pie measured over 1,000 yards. more than twice as long as the record. however there's no official word yet on where poland's made the cut. here's a contest you can really get fired up about. the national fireworks competition in japan has marked the end of summer for a century. japan's top producers compete in two categories, traditional pyrotechnics and creative fireworks. bursting into various colors and shapes. in all, over 18,000 fireworks were used to light up the night sky. a seventh generation high

wire walker has pulled off a pair of stunts trying to break his own world records in the bahamas. he biked more than 100 feet across a wire from over 260 feet up without a net. then he walked 2,000 feet from a height of 250 feet over the marine habitat teaming with sharks, barracudas and piranhas. that's not a way to go work without a net. especially with the. >> ron: -- pran, a. >> no, there's that 3d piranha movie just came out, too. hopefully he didn't see that one. >> probably didn't want to look at that one. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. engineers will begin to detach a temporary cap on bp's blown out well. they're trying to get it to the well's failed blow-out preventer, a key piece of evidence in determining what caused the catastrophic explosion. former baseball pitching star roger clemens will be arraigned that he lied to

congress about his use of performance enhancing drugs. he claims innocence. he was indicted last week on charges of perjury and obstruction of congress. and in new york, tennis' u.s. open swings into action with plenty of star power including andy roddick, venus williams and roger federer. just to name a few. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. one-on-one with the president. brian williams' exclusive interview with president obama on the katrina anniversary. and paris hilton arrested. the latest details on the hotel heiress' drug charges. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm thomas roberts. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com