[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," high alert. east coast residents head inland to make way for hurricane earl. bench-clearing brawl. the marlins and the nationals go from bean balls to fists flying. and all fired up. a flaming annual tradition lights up el salvador. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry, and today we begin with states of emergency. north carolina, virginia and maryland are all on the highest

level of alert as the east coast braces for the arrival of hurricane earl. even a slight shift in the projected path of what experts are calling an impressive, massive storm could spell disaster for the eastern seaboard. nbc's kristen dahlgren has the latest from north carolina's outer banks. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. well, there's been so much talk about where earl and its eye is going to track, and the bottom line this morning is it may not make that much difference because the hurricane-force winds extend out 90 miles from the center. tropical storm force winds out 200 miles from the center. so, along much of the coastline, things about to get much worse. as darkness fell on the carolina coast, earl strengthened, bringing with it powerful waves but also uncertainty. >> earl's a big unknown. if it stays out to sea, we probably would have been okay and gotten rain. >> reporter: do you board up? >> i haven't yet to this point, but this might be the first. >> reporter: but officials warn

that the slightest change could bring a direct hit and that either way, hurricane or tropical storm-force winds are now less than a day away. and so, on parts of the outer banks, mandatory evacuations are under way and watches and warnings in effect from north carolina all the way to new england. a huge stretch of the east coast in the strike zone. >> the hurricane's coming and i'm hoping we can make it back into town fairly quickly. i'm a little nervous about the roads and the backups for the evacuations. >> reporter: and so, anxious vacationers packed in their weekend plans, headed to safer ground, while on new york's long island, marinas hauled boats out of the water. >> the tidal surge is going to be tremendous, 10, 11, 12 -- they'll be above all the pylons. if a pylon comes down on one of those boats, it will sink. >> reporter: as millions now watch to see where earl will go. the storm already crashing labor day weekend plans up and down the coast. here in north carolina, national guard troops have already

deployed to the carolina coastline. meantime, the president has cleared the way for federal aid as well and fema standing by to assist after the storm passes. the worst of it on the outer banks expected overnight tonight and into the morning hours. lynn? >> kristen, thanks so much. well, police in maryland shot and killed an armed gunman who took three hostages inside the maryland headquarters of the discovery channel yesterday. court records show the 43-year-old radical environmentalist began protesting against the cable tv channel two years ago, hoping to convince executives to devote more programming time to environmental issues. nbc's brian mooar has our report. >> reporter: for four terrifying hours, a gunman carrying what looked like bombs held three hostages inside the discovery channel building just outside the nation's capital. negotiations with 43-year-old james jay lee broke down. authorities say they had to open fire after he made an aggressive move with his gun.

>> he pulled out the handgun that he came in with and pointed it at one of the hostages. at that point, our tactical units moved in. they shot the suspect. the suspect is deceased. >> reporter: most of the hundreds of people inside the building had no clue what was going on until they were being evacuated. >> panic, nervous, you know, afraid, weren't sure if the gunman was going to come up the other floors or anything. >> reporter: shortly after the incident began, nbc news called the discovery channel. lee grabbed the phone. an nbc producer spoke with him for about ten minutes and recorded his words. >> do you have a gun? >> i have a gun and i have a bomb. i have several bombs strapped to my body ready to go off. >> reporter: nbc news notified police and agreed to withhold the tape until the crisis was over. a website, apparently posted by lee, contains a long, ranting list of demands. among them, the discovery

channel "stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants." brian mooar, nbc news, silver spring, maryland. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. police in washington state are hoping security video will help them catch two suspected puppy thieves. a woman is seen grabbing a chihuahua and stuffing it into a backpack while a man blocks with his body. the couple then attempts to create a diversion, picking up and petting another puppy before leaving the store. one man is in custody after florida police and the coast guard were called in to help what appeared to be a boat in distress. instead, over 1,000 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $1 million were found in the beached vessel. police are now looking for the owner of the 33-foot speedboat and one other suspect seen running from the boat. also in florida, a small plane that made an emergency landing on a highway was taken apart so it could be moved.

crews used saws to dismantle the 1957 aero commander, which experienced engine failure shortly after takeoff. fortunately, no one was hurt. and no vehicle is safe in detroit, not even the mayor's. an suv, part of the mayor's security detail, was robbed of its wheels and put up on cinder blocks. the vehicle was parked outside a gated detroit condo, but it's not clear why the vehicle was there. police are now investigating. now for a look at your national and regional weather, let's check in with nbc meteorologist bill karnins witha busy weather channel forecast. bill? >> good morning, lynn. all eyes are on earl. this is a monster of a storm, one of the strongest to threaten the east coast of the united states. it's been since 1950, a hurricane called helene, that was a category 4 that approached the outer banks, and this one is also a category 4 storm. if this track goes inland, just any little deviation, this could be a very destructive event.

as of now, though, it's supposed to remain just barely off the coast. here's the forecast path from the hurricane center, showing it going up along the coast about 70 miles off the north carolina coast, about 100 miles to 150 up the jersey shore, but only 20 miles off of cape cod. like eastern north carolina, cape cod is just kind of out there, and that's also expecting some devastation from about category 2 winds. on the west coast, everything is clear. high pressure is building in. a nice ridge of high pressure. that means warm conditions. so, when the east coast is looking at violent weather, the west coast is looking hot and calm and dry. up to 92 in san francisco. a return to the heat. 100 in medford today. seattle and portland also you.ing sunny and warm. salem today 85. fallon, nevada, around 92.

we'll update your friday forecast coming up, lynn. >> all right, bill, thanks so much. well, stocks sizzle, apple shines and burger king is on the block. your early-morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, you won't believe who turned down "dancing with the stars" and who volunteered but got turned away. a major upset at the u.s. open and fight night in florida. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here's some of your top headlines this morning. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas are set to relaunch direct peace talks at the state department in washington today after a nearly two-year hiatus. following a day of individual meetings with both leaders, president obama said yesterday he was "cautiously hopeful" about achieving a positive outcome. new video out of chile shows improvements in the living

quarters for 33 trapped miners a half mile under ground there. in the footage, the men, some of whom are clean-shaven, are seen receiving supplies of bottled water. it may take anywhere from two to four months to get the miners out. and as they do every year, young men in el salvador threw flaming balls of fire at each other this week. does not look fun. it's all part of a festival meant to commemorate a volcanic eruption in 1922. despite the apparent dangers, authorities say few serious injuries have been reported over the years. and now here's an early look at how wall street will open the day. the dow opens at 10,269 after gaining 254 points yesterday. the s&p rose 30 points and the nasdaq climbed 62. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was up 135 points. in hong kong, the hang seng soared 245. what a difference a new month can make.

the fear that gripped wall street for most of august suddenly lifted in the first day of september as stocks posted their best day in eight weeks. more than six shares rose for every one that fell on the new york stock exchange. all 30 components that make up the dow rose. a report of stronger-than-expected u.s. manufacturing growth snapped a run of discouraging economic data, giving sideliners a reason to jump in and buy. heavy equipment maker caterpillar, a bellwether that fluctuates with economic sentiment, jumped almost 5%. the manufacturing data, along with a similarly strong manufacturing report from china, boosted oil futures to just under $74 a barrel. metals prices also advanced, lifting copper to its highest level in more than four months. freeport-mcmoran copper and gold climbed almost 6%. aluminum producer alcoa gained almost 3%. not all the news is good. economic fears and a lack of sales incentive made august the worst for u.s. auto sales in 23 years.

elsewhere, apple shot up 3% after introducing a new version of apple tv and a new ipod lineup. shares of burger king climbed almost 15% on reports america's number two hamburger chain may put itself up for sale. looking ahead, later today, fed chief ben bernanke appears before a panel investigating the financial crisis, giving his take on the meltdown and the risks still posed by large financial institutions. and finally, scandinavian airline sas will host the first-ever in-flight gay wedding. sas is accepting entries from gay couples who want to celebrate their nuptials midflight from stockholm to new york december 6th. the winning couple will be chosen by online votes. keep an eye out for that. manny on deck, a diamondback does it all and an ugly bench-clearing brawl. plus, beating the heat yesterday was hard enough for plain old new yorkers, let alone u.s. open competitors. your early-morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and the day before a

hurricane hits, it's typically sunny and it's very hot. that's the forecast up and down the east coast before earl. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, although he

hasn't done anything yet, things have worked out well for the chicago white sox since acquiring outfielder manny ramirez. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. manny ramirez had singled in his white sox debut, but for the second straight game, he was more effective from the on-deck circle. to cleveland. indians up 4-2 in the eighth. with manny on deck, paul konerko gave them a lead with a three-run homer. remember, what he on deck tuesday when a.j. hit the go-ahead homer. white sox won 6-4. in florida, flash back to tuesday. the nationals' nyjer morgan separated the shoulder of marlins catcher hayes with a vicious hit the the plate. clean play, but the marlins wouldn't forget it. last night, chris volstad plucked morgan. we're even, right? wrong. morgan then stole two bases and put florida up 11 runs. kind of an unwritten rule not to steal in such a blowout. morgan's next at-bat, volstad threw behind him and morgan charged the mound. first baseman gaby sanchez came

in and clothes-lined him. the benches cleared, resulting in a massive dog pile. morgan got the worst of it when sanchez came flying in out of nowhere. as for the game, marlins won 16-10. and the debut was just another day at the park. tracked down a chase utley fly ball, made a leaping grab while crashing into the fence. he also hit a grand slam in the seventh. not bad for a kid called up just hours before the game. diamondbacks won it 5-4. frightening moment now from the u.s. open. far court. that's the tenth seed victoria azarenka and she collapsed and fell to the ground while chasing a ball. heat exhaustion partially to blame as temperatures topped 100 degrees, but it was later discovered she suffered a mild concussion in warm-ups, and that certainly didn't help. thankfully, she's expected to be okay. huge upset on the men's side. ninth seed andy roddick got more than he could handle from janko tipsarevic. roddick was down early, battled back, but too little, too late. his u.s. open comes to a disappointing end. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin.

the return of conan. your early-morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, after a summer of uncertainty, they're headed home. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. while the east coast worries about hurricane earl, the west coast, all you're worried about is sunscreen and staying in the shade. another mini heat wave heading your way. about 103 in vegas today, 108 in

phoenix. we actually turn the heat up in san francisco for a change, too. 92 today. i know the interior valleys are going to be about 100 all through the valleys of california. medford, 100. and even portland and seattle getting up there a little bit warmer. friday, not a lot of changes. san francisco slightly cooler, but still very mild everywhere, and looks like we're in for a dry weather pattern into the holiday weekend. so, that's great news. if you're watching us on king 5 news in seattle, talk about interactive. try the high wire elastic acrobatics or the tight rope bar at the circus science under the big top at the pacific science center. that's your "pacific event of the day," lynn. not a fan of the tight rope. i can't even do the balance beam thing. i don't know how you women do it. >> we don't. trust me. >> only a select few do. >> yes. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. you probably heard who will be on "dancing with the stars" next season, but the "hollywood reporter" found out who turned them down. according to a casting source,

the trade paper says sylvester stallone, ann coulter, condoleezza rice, erin brockovich, richard branson, tim allen and suzanne somers all turned them down. is that enough people for you? well, the report also says melanie griffith lobbies to get on the show every season and is always turned down. joan rivers also told wendy williams that she got in touch with the show, saying that she wanted to do it it, but they never got back to her, prompting rivers to give "dancing with the stars" producers an obscene suggestion. and finally, conan o'brien announced the new title of his upcoming tbs talk show on youtube yesterday, saying the name is "simple and pure, like the man himself." can you guess it? it's right there on your screen. that's right, it is just "conan." that's it! >> maybe he should have spelled it backwards like nanoc. >> like harpo and oprah. that's right. anything you do that oprah does turns to gold. >> that's true.

the harp youo. she's kind of ruined it. you can't copy that. >> i like cocoa show. >> maybe i'll suggest him. >> he's on speed dial, what are you talking about, with "early today." and this comes to us from wbvh nbc 2 in ft. myers, florida, where some of the first gulf oil victims have begun their long journey home. 42 camp ridley turtles were released from a rehabilitation center and headed back to home waters in the gulf of mexico. filled with hopes of their continued survival, the rehabilitation team that rescued the endangered animals took them to florida's turtle key, an area that is rich in food, free from predators, and most importantly, free from oil. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

when it comes to getting your hands dirty, this french artist isn't playing around. an amateur sculptor is creating an entire city out of mud and sand. in a self-taught technique, the artist uses clay from a river bank to make the buildings, but this art isn't forever. one rainy day is all it takes to wipe his city off the map. well, talk about a scare in the skies. cell phone video shows what passengers described as a rumble on board this qantas flight from san francisco to sydney. turns out, one of the engines caught fire and shut down 45 minutes into the flight. despite spewing a stream of sparks, the pilot was able to safely turn around to make an emergency landing in the bay area. well, commuters in china are

saying not again. this after a traffic jam stretching 62 miles has left cars and trucks idle since yesterday. now, the headache comes less than two weeks after a 60-mile backup that lasted nine grueling days. authorities are blaming traffic restrictions on the highway. it doesn't help that 13 million cars were sold in china last year alone. and you can see there, bill, there's no side streets. you don't have any options. there's no gps alternate route there. >> oh, but if they all had humvees, then we could just get in the hummer and go right over the hill. >> yeah, have a little action where you just crash through. i don't know if that goes so well 60 miles in. >> or in china. well, time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. from the carolinas to massachusetts, thousands may be surprised to get their social security checks today, a day earlier than usual. the social security administration sent payments out ahead of schedule to make sure

the money beats hurricane earl to recipients in its projected path. after several days of delays due to bad weather, bp will attempt to remove the capping stack on its blown-out well in the gulf of mexico to replace the failed blowout preventer. and in california, the 2010 usa/japan high school baseball game will be held at the major league baseball urban youth academy in compton. all day long, you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. state of emergency. al roker tracks earl as the hurricane closes in on the carolina coast. and hostage horror. the latest details on yesterday's deadly hostage situation outside washington, d.c. well, now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

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