"jimmy fallon," happening right > this morning on "early today," the next chapter. president obama declares an end to the u.s. combat role in iraq after seven long years. will it hit or will it miss? the east coast gets ready for hurricane earl. and sink or swim. a pool turns into a parking spot and sink or swim. a pool turns into a parking spot for one car in florida. captions paid for by nbc-universal television this is "early today" for wednesday, september 1, 2010. hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with turning the page.

president obama addressed the nation from the oval office last night, putting an official end to the united states combat role in iraq. the president thanked americans for paying a, quote, huge price during the seven-year war saying it's time to move forward without closing the book on the future of iraq. nbc's tracie potts is in washington with more. tracy, good morning >> reporter: lynn, good morning. with the military operations in iraq behind us, president obama said last night that looking forward, the next big mission is right here at home. >> the american combat mission in iraq has ended. >> reporter: with combat troops now out of iraq, president obama announced a new mission. >> our most urgent task is to restore our economy and put the millions of americans who lost their jobs back to work. >> reporter: he blamed massive deficits on financing nearly a decade of war with borrowed money. his focus now, jobs and afghanistan. he promised the pullout there will begin next summer. >> open-ended war serves neither

our interests or the afghan people. >> reporter: republicans criticized the president for opposing the bush surge that turned things around in iraq. >> some leaders who opposed, criticized, and fought tooth and nail to stop the surge strategy now proudly claim credit for the results. >> reporter: today's focus? the middle east. >> we pledge to do all we can always to protect and defend the state of israel. >> reporter: today, president obama meets with israeli prime minister netanyahu and palestinian president abbas. before formal talks begin in washington tomorrow. the goal of this summit is to bring together israelis and palestinians in direct talks. those talks broke off almost two years ago. lynn. >> tracie potts in washington. tracie, thank you. well, no stranger to powerful storms, folks in north carolina are on the watch this

morning as hurricane earl winds its way toward the east coast of the united states. evacuations began today in the state where residents and tourists are both bracing for the worst. nbc's jay gray has the very latest from north carolina's outer banks. jay, good morning to you. looks like the calm before the storm. >> good morning. you're exactly right. i can't think of a better way to start the day, a beautiful sunrise here along the shoreline. what we've noticed over the next 12 to 24 hours, the surf is picking up a bit. higher waves. not what they expect in the next couple of days where they could see swells up to 20 feet here. they will also get tropical storm to hurricane-strength wind here, even though it doesn't look like at this point earl is ing to make landfall here. another big problem will be heavy rains in some areas, up for four inches an hour which would lead to flash flooding here. there's a lot of concern about exactly what's going to happen over the next couple of days here. especially when you consider,

lynn, we're moving into the labor day weekend. that's really the last hurrah for a lot of these inn keepers, restaurants here, who were looking for a big weekend. some people already pulling out, worried about the storm. on the other side of that, emergency personnel worried that make may actually come and get into these waters before it's safe a tough riptide here, high waves. that's another concern. that's the very latest from here. back to you, lynn. >> jay gray, thank you so much. and now here are some other news in america. in florida, three people taken to the hospital when the car they were in ended up in the bottom of the swimming pool. the 73-year-old driver hit a van and smashed through a fence of a nearby home. one passenger remains in serious condition. police in new york are hoping this newly released video will tem them catch one very brazen thief. a woman entered a church and swiped an unattended church,

then dashed out, right in the middle of the services. the woman is wanted on charges of grand larceny. in north carolina, drivers on the heavily traveled interstate 277 may get a little confused heading for independence boulevard. that's because the sign trans poses the d and n in the street name. red-faced officials at the department of transportation says the huge misspelling is the manufacturers but did not comment on why state workers failed to notice the goof before the sign went up. here is bill karins with the forecast. obviously all eyes on the east coast. >> yeah, there's a hurricane, one of the first big threats we've had on the east coast in a while. the last one that hit new england was hurricane bob, back to 1991. this is something a lot of people haven't experienced in many, many years. this is the storm.

it weakened a little overnight. all of a sudden the eye is cleared out. now it's starting to -- that inner core is really strong. this is a powerful category three hurricane. as it goes up, it's going to be a close call if it makes landfall over cape cod or out to sea. but regardless we expect the worst of that weather friday night into early saturday morning. even our friends in maine could get hit bhi that storm. around the rest of the country we've had a storm system moving to the pacific northwest, moving to montana and northern portions of wyoming. still some sprinkles and showers in portland. much of the rain is over with, 68 in seattle. much of the west coast dry, san francisco south. in m in san francisco. the clouds.

pendleton, oregon, 74, mostly cloudy with breaks of sun in seattle. >> lynn, we'll talk about thursday's forecast coming up. thank you so much. >> wall street says good-bye to august, tech stocks stumble and why you can't call shchampagne champagne. plus, these actors are not hollywood's most profitable. we'll tell you who is. an electrifying debut for a reds' rookie. and manny speaks, but did anyone understand him? you're watching "early today." k

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. herer some of your top headlines this morning. president obama opens a two-day summit in washington today aimed at brokering an israeli/palestinian peace agreement. this afternoon the president will host individual meetings with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian leader mahmoud abbas.

tomorrow negotiations will be formally relaunched at a ceremony at the state department, the first direct talks in nearly two years. and the white house is appealing to both sides to not let yesterday's shooting of four israelis derail the talk. the militant group hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. a senior swedish prosecutor is reopening a rape investigation against wikileaks founder julian assange. a case dropped by a different prosecutor saying there was no evidence suggesting assange had raped a swedish woman who reported him to police. assange has denied any wrongdoing and claims he had been warned by australian intelligence of plans to discredit the whistleblower website. a full week after the alaska prime air, lisa murkowski has conceded to joe miller. murkowski, who was over 1600

votes behind after election officials counted absentee ballots told supporters last night, quote, i don't see a scenario where we could win. miller, a little-known attorney was supported by both the tea party movement and former governor sarah palin. and when president obama delivered his speech on iraq last night, he did so from a newly renovated oval office. the transformation included new striped wallpaper, modern light brown sofas and a custom made rug. those changes were paid for by the president's inaugural committee, not taxpayers. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,0014 after falling. the s&p was up a fraction and the nasdaq fell five points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei climbed 102 points while in hong kong the hang seng rose 87. stocks finished tuesday flat, ending a month on wall street most investors would rather forget.

positive data surprises had stocks up most of the day, but damage in the tech sector eventually erased those gains. the s&p 500 went through its worst august since 2001 when the dot-com bubble collapsed. consumer confidence rose modstestly in august, a welcome sign because consumer spending is critical to the economic recovery. another encouraging sign, prices of single-family homes gained more than expected in june and rose in the second quarter. also hopeful? the federal deposit insurance corporation said problem loans fell in the second quarter for the first time in four years. on the down side, minutes of the federal reserve latest policy meeting suggest that the economy would have to deteriorate "appreciably" for new stimulus from the central bank. intel, which sent worries through the tech world friday with a revised lower revenue estimate fell 1.5%. that led one semiconductor index to close at its lowest level in almost 10 months.

research in motion lost 10%, after a brokerage cut its price target on the stock. monsanto fell 6% after forecasting layoffs and full year earnings below expectations. saks surged almost 20% after reports a group of equity firms might bid for the luxury department store operator. allergy kpoe ex -- company exelon will pay $900 million for the wind energy assets deere & company. and australian winemakers hoping that a rose by any other name is still a rose. after an agreement volkered with the european union, australia can no longer use the words champagne, port, or sherry for champagne, port, or sherry. a game-winning play at the plate. a game-ending wild pitch and a rookie first game thriller. and blue jays knock the rays, knocking them out of a first-place tie. your early morning sports headlines straight ahead.

one more calm day on the east coast before earl begins its impact. it will be hot, too. temperatures in the mid to upper 90s. regional forecast coming up. you're watching "early today." good morning.

if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, baseball's eccentric outfielder manny ramirez has

joined the chicago white sox and he's already making things interesting. here's nbc fred roggin with a early look at all your sports headlines. good morning and, yes or no here, it's always something with manny ramirez. the slugger joined the white sox yesterday, held a news conference, answered every question the media asked but with a catch. he answered every question in spanish with an interpreter, even though he speaks fluent english. go figure. manny was in the starting lineup against the indians. for the tied games in the ninth he was ready to go, on deck, would have been made his debut if a.j. pierzynski didn't hit this this three-run bomb to right. no need for manny. the sox held on to win 4-3. yanks teixeira hit the cover off of ball, two runs on the rays in the sixth inning. if you think teixeira's home runs were impressive, how about 43 for jose batista? he leads the majors. blue jays won 4-3.

and ninth inning, rangers, pitch got away from the catcher, in comes willie bloomquist. a walkoff wild pitch. the teams combined for 19 runs. and that's the way it ends. royals win 10-9. another walkoff by the marlins. scoreless in the tenth. chad tracy. a single to left. hanley ramirez, green light at second. play at the plate. ramirez slid under the tag. marlins beat the nationals 1-0. the reds, chapman made his major league debut. fastball clocked at 109 miles an hour in the minors. topped the century mark four times against the brewers. not a bad start for the kid who defected from cuba. struck out one in an inning of work. joey votto with a stop at first. incredible off balance throw to second for the out. then scott roland's turn. tossed all the way to second. and the reds win 8-4. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin.

>> announcer: early today sports, brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. well, should reality tv shows be allowed to shoot at ground zero? early morning entertainment headlines straight ahead. and one man facing the battle of his life sees his ultimate dream come true. you're watching "early today."

welcome back this wednesday. your forecast looks nice in california, san francisco. appreciate that, one of the warmer days of the summer. i know last week hit the record hit. this is nice. 86 in l.a., beautiful weather from salt lake city back to phoenix. the storm system that came in yesterday in the pacific northwest drifting to montana, wyoming. showers there in the portland area but not a lot of wet weather. should be okay. forecast into thursday, talk about gorgeous, starting to add to heat in medford, 99. portland and seattle, perfect weather. almost all of the west should be enjoyable as we head to the end of the week. if you're watching on kmir 6 in palm springs, california, din k's restaurant for complimentary ballroom dancing. >> that's quite a deal. >> let's go. >> have you got a private jet? >> i thought you were going to be mean and say i should wear heels and be taller than you.

>> i'm already taller than you. a little known secret on "early today." >> that's why i wear heels. last night on the late show despite revealing he has stage four cancer, the actor says he's hopeful after finishing radiation and chemo with seven weeks to go, cases of stage four have normally spread far beyond the original tumor and usually impossible to cure. with all the controversy, many were surprised to hear a reality show was killed at the site. rachel's fiance was killed in the twin towers. according to forbes for the second straight year, shia labeouf, for every dollar, a studio gets $81, rounding out

the list, robert downy jr. came in fourth. finishing out the top five cate blanchett. most surprisingly jennifer aniston has had more than her fair share of clunkers at the box office somehow came in seventh. this comes from texas, one man fulfilled a dream, personal sacrifice and aggressive bout of cancer forced roy to put his dreams on hold until now. the correction officer who dreamed of rising to the ranks of sheriff's deputy was awarded his own badge. his family hopes this will give him the strength to continue to fight for his life. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

you may not know it, dance competitions are not just for celebrities and wannabe celebrities. in argentina, 400 couples from 23 nations showed off their best moves. the rules were strict. dancers cannot separate during the performance, must move constantly in counterclockwise motion he and never know the music in advance. well, a remarkable discovery in peru. the burial site of a man, woman, and 13-year-old boy over 1,600 years old have been uncovered. researchers say the bodies predate the inca empire and may be from a community of rulers dating back to the time of christ.

ceremonial offerings such as peanuts and copper surround the skeletons, believing to represent life after death. want to look inside the white house? here is your presidential pass. a 13,000 square foot replica of the white house will go on auction in lawrenceville, georgia. the property was once a bank, which failed, and that explains the added teller window, but buyers beware, the rose garden and oval office are not included. >> so many fun things i can think of. >> that you would want to do in the white house. >> imagine the frat house that could be. >> it would be interesting. >> supposed to say yeah, but the regular white house is a frat house occasionally. you're supposed to add to that, too. >> i can't top bill karins' jokes. let's be honest. >> not many people can. time for an early look of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. a federal judge will hear the obama administration's appeal to

reinstate the ban on deep water drilling in wake of the oil spill in the gulf. an earlier decision overturned the moratorium, despite the government's request for further testing. southwest border patrol gets a boost on the ground and above when hundreds of national guard troops and another drone take their post along the u.s./mexico border. and the iconic archie comic book is introducing their first open guy gay character, kevin keller to stay current and inclusive according to the ceo. stay on top of the latest developments as they break on msnbc. and be sure to watch brian williams on "nbc nightly news." finally, here is a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. storm watch. the east coast braces for hurricane earl. and al rourker reports live from the outer banks. a recap of the president's address and vice president biden weighs in from baghdad. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thank you for watching "early today" your first stop of the

day. today on your nbc station. have a good one.