"jimmy fallon" happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," the final kill. bp crews prepare a permanent plug for the blown out well in the gulf. burning revelation. a woman who grabs headlines by claiming she was the victim of an acid attack now admits that it was self-inflicted. and mini moon. the guinness book of world records reveals the world's smallest cow. 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 finally nearing the end. after five long months, crews in the gulf of mexico have taken a major step toward permanently plugging up the blown out well behind the worst offshore oil spill in the u.s. history. for more on that, we go to kristin dahlgren, live in for us in louisiana with more. kristin, good morning. >> good morning to you, lynn. day 150 and word that that relief well that they started drilling shortly after this all started has finally intersected with the 2 1/2 miles below the floor of the gulf. admiral thad allen said that the two wells were connected and that the next step was to pump mud and cement down into that well to permanently seal it off. one step in the recovery. oil continues to wash ashore. and take a look at these pictures.

so many dead fish. almost looks like a gravel road. scientists say it was caused by lack of oxygen and it's not uncommon here, but people are asking that the oil dispersants didn't play into that. meantime, bp's outgoing ceo tony hayward inflamed so many temperses defended bp's record testifying in britain saying there is no need to rethink deepwater drilling. meantime, here in louisiana, a push to start up the deepparty drilling to get the oil workers back to work. >> kristen dahlgren in venice, louisiana, thank you. a powerful storm that rocked the new york city area last night has left at least one person dead. a woman was killed as a tree fell on to her car. winds up to 100 miles an hour knocked down trees, power lines and tore roofs off of buildings. at least 30,000 people were left without power. there were also lightning strikes around the statue of liberty, and a funnel cloud in

brooklyn. a suspected tornado that has yet to be confirmed. it was a horrific scene at johns hopkins hospital as gunfire erupted yesterday. police say a man, who was being briefed on the condition of his 84-year-old mother became overwhelmed by the news and then shot her doctor. the gunman, identified as paul warren partis, barricaded himself in her room for more than two hours. when officers entered, both partis and his mother were found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide. fortunately, the wounded doctor is expected to survive. a washington state woman who gained sympathy across the country after claiming a random stranger threw acid on her face is now admitting her burns were self-inflicted. after confronting the 28-year-old about discrepancies in her story such as the splash patterns on her face and why she was wearing sunglasses at night, police say she admitted there was no attacker.

authorities aren't speculating her motives but prosecutors will now have to decide whether or not to file charges against the woman. now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. in california, police are looking for a cross-dressing bandit who robbed a gas station. the man dressed in a hot pink miniskirt, blouse and high heels aimed a gun at the clerk before clearing out the cash register. the suspects got away with an undisclosed amount of cash and left his skirt and heels at the scene. officials in florida say a father went too far when he stormed his daughter's school bus to send a message to her classmates. the man delivered a profanity laced lecture to students threatening to, quote, kill the person who bullied his daughter. the father could face charges of false imprisonment, disorderly conduct, interrupting a school function and assault. in texas, surveillance footage could place a woman

behind felony charges of dog abuse. a neighbor's security camera recorded the woman in her backyard beating the dog with a rake. animal services will retain the custody of the woman's dog until the case has been resolved. and in kansas, severe weather conditions produced a storm of baseball-sized hail. it's caused significant damage to properties, including vehicles. youtube video shows the dangerous impact of large hail stones made as they hit the ground. early estimates have wrung up upwards of $1 million. now here's bill karins with your morning forecast. a lot to talk about on the east coast. >> record hail in kansas. horrible storm in new york city. 100 mile-per-hour winds sure doesn't happen and now a devastating hurricane, one of the strongest we've seen make landfall in a long time. hurricane karl, more impressive than igor out in the atlantic.

smaller but intense. look at the eye clear itself out last night. looks like it's going to head pretty much due west, maybe a tinge to the south of that. way too close to veracruz. just north of them. calling for a category 4 landfall. rare event. you don't get a lot of category 4s anywhere in the world. having one today in the southern gulf of mexico. west coast, a flow of moisture off the ocean. areas in or organi s in oregon. and more rainfall later in the day. the forecast for today, cloudy as that storm lingers off the coast here. not too cool. temperatures mild, 60s and 70s. you're not going to see much in the way of sunshine. still very hot. phoenix expecting 107. that's a look at your friday ke.

81 and partly cloudy. and speaking of the weekend, lynn, that forecast is coming up. >> bill, thank you. unemployment improves. gold hits the heights, and a tweeter makes the most wanted list. you're early morning business headlines are straight ahead, plus, are they pulling our leg or just an interesting artist. we've got the answer. a perfect storm hits the wnba. more bad news for floyd mayweather. and what would you do if you were hit in the face by an 89-mile-an-hour fastball? you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. after months of debate, the senate passed a bill for small businesses creating a $30 billion government fund. it passed 61-28 wi38 with the hf two republicans to cross the aisle giving president obama an election year victory. the legislation goes to the house where it's expected to quickly pass and head to the president's desk for signing. this morning, "usa today" reports a so-called super bug, resistant to nearly every modern antibiotic, is spreading across the country and becoming an international problem. the bacteria, which has been reported by hospitals in more than 20 states, typically strikes the critically ill and so far has been fatal in 30% to 60% of the cases. the mother of missing teenager natalee holloway reportedly sneaked into a peruvian prison where prime

suspect joran van der sloot is being held and confronted him about her daughter. she spoke to van der sloot for five minutes but did not get any answers before being removed. and meet the animal being affectionately dubbed mini moo, the world's smallest cow according to guinness world records. the sheep-sized cow hails from northern england and is just 33 inches long. that's cute. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at 10,594 after gaining 22 points yesterday. the s&p was down a fraction but the nasdaq added one point. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei rose 116 points while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 279. trading was mixed on wall street thursday as investors looked past encourages news on the economy focusing instead on

bellwether company fedex. the shipping firm darkened the mood falling 3% after announcing it would eliminate 1,700 jobs in an effort to prop up its money losing trucking business. on the brighter side, the labor department reported first time claims for unemployment fell to a new month low last week. and prices at the wholesale level rose more than expected last month, easing concerns economic anemia could lead to falling prices. on the down side, the census bureau reported the number of americans in poverty climbed to its highest level since the 1960s with millions losing jobs thanks to the recession leaving a staggering one in seven americans in poverty. for the second time this week, gold swept to another all-time high and spot silver, the so-called poor man's gold, reached its highest level since march 2008. software maker oracle rose more than 4% after the bell on quarterly results that they topped wall street's expectations.

also after hours, blackberrymaker research in motion jumped more than 8% on results that beat expectations. texas instruments rose more than 3.5% on extended trade after increasing a stock repurchase and boosting its quarterly dividends. elsewhere, timothy geithner promised lawmakers on thursday he will rally other world powers to push china for trade and currency reform. finally, more about the power of twitter. angry police in johannesburg has posted thousands of daily warnings about where police set up speed traps around the city. the giants lead the west. serious charges against pretty boy floyd, and he says they don't sleep in seattle? plus, one of the white sox finds the perfect way to prove you can't keep a good man down. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. this is our last summer

weekend. temperatures are going to be very warm in the southern half of the nation. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, it's getting to be crunch time in major league baseball with divisional pennant

races beginning to reach a fever pitch. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the closest playoff race in baseball is not in the a.l. east, but out west in the national league. padres were in first when the day started. this did not help. former cardinal ryan ludwick laid out but couldn't make the grab. in came one. st. louis up 1-0. they went on to beat the padres, 4-0. the padres were in first, but not any more, because the giants had their way with the dodgers. aubrey hough busted the game open with a home run. the next batter, another home run. giants went on to win in a rout. they're now in first. don't forget about the rockies. they're 2 1/2 out. now, we're going to show you a piece of tape. if you're the least bit squeamish, turn your head for a moment. the good news, everybody turned out to be okay. a white sox player hit in the face by an 89-mile-an-hour pitch from carl pervano. one more time. kanerko suffered a bloody nose,

but stayed in the game. in third, a homer, unfortunately not enough. the twins won it, 8-5. undefeated boxer floyd mayweather finally may have met his match. he's been hit with three more felony charges in a domestic violence case that had him facing a felony theft charge. doing the math at home, this brings his combined totals to felonies and misdemeanors to eight. if found guilty, mayweather could face up to 34 years behind bars. finally, you can start calling the seattle storm the perfect storm. they went on to win. the atlanta dream made it interesting in the end, but couldn't get a three-pointer in the second. the storm chance with an 87-84 win. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. new films prepare to do battle for weekend box office gold. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, sure, they're known as man's best friend, but we'll

tell you about a special few who have been recognized as genuine heroes. you're watching "early today."

well a good friday morning forecast. not the best this weekend in the pick northwest. strong storm off the coast continuing to send clouds and moisture your way. definitely have the umbrella handy the next couple of days. 68 in seattle today with

showers. some drizzle possible in san francisco. hot back through southern nevada into arizona. even salt lake city very warm, even into saturday. the moisture lingering here in the northwest. l.a., not bad this weekend. 81 on saturday. call it 78 and partly cloudy sunday. the storm gets cloers to the coast, even san francisco chance of rain. gloomy weekend. maybe it's a movie weekend for you there along the coast. if you're watching on krnv, my news 4, reno, nevada. head to the national championship air races and air show. time outdoors see thrilling racing and air acrobatics at the reno stead field. that's your pick event of the day. >> bill, thanks. time now for an early look at entertainment. real or fake? a rapping career. collaborator casey affleck said the whole thing including

phoenix' appearance was a hoax. calling it the best performance of his career. after 54 years today is the final episode the soap opera "as the world turns." and scottish singing sensation susan boyle fulfilled her dream of singing for the pope yesterday as a papal mass in scotland. and the teen comedy starring the currently red hot emma stone produced for a mere $8 million the favorite for first with $20 million or more. ben affleck stars in and directs the r-rated heist flick "the town." experts see it taking second with about $15 million. those same experts don't expect the new horror flick "devil" to do better than $10 million this weekend. that's the latest brainchild of shaummann.

>> sorry. hasn't been able to pull anything out of the gate that's done that well. don't have high hopes for "devils." >> get more creative with the naming, first off. >> good point. this comes to us from wnbc news 4 new york where a group of four-legged heroes received top honors. the american kennel club honor the nation's most heroic docks yesterday. casey, former shelter dog recognized for his work during relief efforts in the earthquake ravaged area of haiti. rufus, a westminster best in show winner named top therapy dog, and wyatt was honored for his work with autistic and developmentally disabled children. three dog whose love what they do and work tirelessly to help others. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

in the land of bizarre, guinness is king, and their new addition of world records doesn't disapoint. from the ponetail pulling man dragging a double-decker bus 69 feet to a man engulfed in flames without oxygen for 2 minutes 47 seconds, even the contestants were in awe, like puggy, record holder for longest tongue at 33 inches. well, tourists in italy must have been fired up at the sight of this one. an artificial fire as part of a european wide artist exhibit. used projection to create the

display. although the fire is fake the message is very real. the burning site was made to draw attention to europe's fading cultural heritage. and finally, you may have reservations about this one. chefs in belgium buckled up and lifted off to enjoy their dishes 160 feet in the air to ease any fear of heights. live music and champagne with their five-star meal. the second year they've taken cuisine to new heights adding extra seats to rent out for parties. >> that's how you get over your fear. do champaign and music, and you'll be fine. >> i'll need a lot more than that. a couple bottles of champagne, a whole other atmosphere. >> let me know. time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow through the day here on nbc. in washington, defense secretary robert gates delivers remarks honoring national

recognition day. more than 81,000 american service members listed as missing in action. the jewish community marks yom kippur which begins at sunset today and ends at nightfall on saturday. known as a day of atonement, jews observe the holy day with prayer and fasting. today is constitution day. on this day in 1787, the founding fathers signed the nation's keystone document establishing the many freedoms we the people enjoy today. 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. the latest details on that shocking story out of vancouver, washington, where a woman faked an acid attack against herself. and actor ryan reynolds stops by to talk about his starring role in the new thriller, "buried." 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. mmmmmm. ( shattering, thud ) mmmmmm. ( crash, shattering ) it's good! ( shattering ) when you add velveeta and rotel tomatoes... and green chilis to chicken and pasta, it's so good... - mmmmmm. - it'll blow 'em away. ( crashing ) man, that's good. man, that's good. velveeta and rotel. man, that's good.