this morning on "early today," world stage. president obama prepares to address global issues at the opening of the u.n. general assembly. parents' worst nightmare, millions of cans of infant formula are recalled over concerns they contain bug parts. and south florida's spinout, a dramatic ending to a high speed chase through the streets a dramatic ending to a high speed chase through the streets of miami. 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 amara sohn. today we begin with global positioning. president obama will address the united nations general assembly today where he'll talk up steps this nation has taken to strengthen its global ties. the president's broad-based speech will urge the worldwide partnership to work toward common goals such as the economic crisis and peace in the middle east. michelle franzen is live for us at the united nations in new york. good morning, michelle. >> reporter: good morning, amara. he will have his work cut out for him. many of the same foreign policy issues that have been taken up here throughout the years still exist. certainly combat units in iraq left at the end of august. but nearly 50,000 u.s. troops remain in iraq mainly to train security forces. in afghanistan, troops have been increased in that region. and also insurgent attacks have also been increased. you mentioned peace in the middle east, earlier this month

there were talks between israeli and palestinian leaders. so far though no more direct talks are scheduled. at the same time, the president is also having to deal with the domination of domestic issues here at home, jobs, also the mid-term elections that are coming up in november and the president certainly in his three-day trip here has also taken time to attend a major fund-raiser for the democrats. >> thank you for that report, michelle. for many today, additional health benefits go in effect on this, the six-month anniversary of the passage of the landmark health care overhaul law. yesterday, that legislation was back in the spotlight with president obama looking to clear things up while republicans unleashed plans to repeal and replace the health care overhaul with their own ideas. for more we go to nbc tracie potts in washington.

>> reporter: good morning. president obama is outcome paining for this even though it is already law because he said he could have done a better job earlier explaining it to the american public. several new ones kick in today. for example, no more lifetime limits on insurance coverage. this is huge for people with high-dollar care, like cancer patients. no longer will they have to fear with running out of benefits. a couple of benefits now, no pre-existing conditions for young children. if you're under 19, you can get coverage. you can't be denied because of that. parents now can have their children aged 26 and younger join their insurance coverage and preventive care is now covered, as well. president obama says that this is a major shift in health insurance. republicans are still trying to get it repealed. in fact, they've made that part of their pledge to america that they're unveiling today which also includes tax cuts for

everyone, including millionaires. the end of bail-outs and cuts to government spending back to 2008 levels. amara? >> tracie, thank you. in new york last night after barely completing one sentence, president obama has heckled for aids funding and gay rights. the protesters were so loud they forced the president to go off script several times insisting his administration has increased aids funding and is working to overturn the law on gays serving hopely in the military. he then went on to he'll demonstrators to shout at republicans in advance of repealing don't ask, don't tell earlier this week. in florida, a high speed 20-minute chase came to a dramatic end when officers chasing burglary suspects and n. what they believe is a stolen vehicle, cliped a car. was suspect jumped out and attempted to run away from

officers but was quickly grounded with a stun gun. the other suspects are dragged from the vehicle and taken into custody. in new mexico, an amateur astronomer captured a rare sight traveling across the sky. a bright meteor moving north, traveling right past the moon. the amazing footage was captured with an experimental all sky optical video camera specifically sensitive to the near infrared flashes that meteors create. state wildlife officials captured a nearly 12-foot long 550-pound alligator, a rare find, especially in west text. the animal was recovered from a local ranch where it's thought to have survived on wild pigs and ducks. the gator will be moved to a new home on a 15-acre alligator farm. and in louisiana, patrons lined up to get a piece of the 5,300 foot long and more than 8,600 pound king cake. that, according to the bakers, could wrap around the superdome twice.

guinness officials are expected to verify soon whether the cake qualifies as the world's largest king cake. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's the weather channel's bill ckarins. bill m you ever tried alligator meet maet? >> no. >> kind of mike chicken. kind of me made me hungry. >> no, i lived in florida for a while. i never did that. i had a date with a taxidermist, though. good morning, everyone. in the pacific northwest you've got a little weak storm going through with some showers early today. that's about it. the rest of the weather pattern is quiet. now all that rain from new mexico up through colorado and the plains. we've got a nice quiet day today in much of nevada, arizona, utah, and in california. should be a goody in phoenix, too, after some of that rainfall yesterday. you can see just this little frontal system here that's kicking through some showers and clouds in the pacific northwest.

it's not a lot of wet weather, as i mentioned. it's going right up and down interstate 5. olympicia is getting a little bit of a downpour. that will kick on through. probably most of it will be gone during mid morning or so. your afternoon should be relatively dry. just this morning that we had the best chance of wet weather. temperatures, seasonable, in many santa rosa, around 82. tucs tucson, clouds will be exiting,. as i mentioned, washington, the cloudy and cool spot, temperatures in the 60s. we'll take a look at friday's forecast coming up. >> bill, thank you. bullish on bonds, grabbing up gold, and who's tops when it comes to the richest americans? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead.

plus, joaquin phoenix is a whole newman last night with david letterman. the twins are ready for the playoffs. three swings and three runs for jose lopez and one of the best double plays you've ever seen. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm amara sohn. here are some of your top headlines this morning. abbott laboratories is recalling as many as 5 million containers of its best selling similac infant formula due to concerns it may be contaminated with insect parts. florida governor charlie crist says his state will stop enforcing a ban on gay adoptions after an appeals court ruled it unconstitutional yesterday. eight current and former officials of a los angeles suburb of bell, california, had their first day in court yesterday over their alleged involvement in a pay scandal. among those arrested was the city manager who paid himself

$800,000, almost double the yearly salary of the nation's president. the eight did not enter pleas. their arraignments will be held next month. scientist he say they've discovered fossils of two new dinosaur species in southern utah. both from several horn on their heads and were close relatives of the triceratops. and it may not have been the ideal celebration, but what about 33 miners trapped underground in chile celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday. original estimates have the men being rescued sometime around christmas, but barring unforeseen complications rescuers can now reach the miners in the second week of october. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,739 after losing 21 points yesterday. the s&p fell five points. the nasdaq dropped 14. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei sank 35 points, but

in hong kong, the hang seng added 45. investors put faith in the fed yesterday and placed their bets on the bond market. traders took the central bank's promise to boost the economy as a sign it could step up its bond purchasing program down the road. as a result, investors bought up bonds. meanwhile, gold prices hit yet another report high. elsewhere in metal, aluminum maker alcoa surged 5% helping the dow offset the day's losses. tech stocks took a beating after software maker adobe systems plunged 19% in the wake of a weak revenue forecast. microsoft shares took a hit after the company said it would up its quarterly dividend for the first time in two years, but apparently not as much as some had expected. early this morning blockbuster filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. according to the "wall street journal," the embattled company will keep some stores open while it moves toward a more digital-driven distribution.

a month after starbuck's said it would absorb the high cost of coffee, up to a 13-year high, the company says it will raise the price of its larger and more labor-intensive drinks. keep an eye on bed bath and beyond today, the retailer claimed 5% after the bell thanks to higher than expected quarterly profit. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg is donating $100 million to help improve newark, new jersey, public schools. according to "forbes" magazine, he can afford it. the 26-year-old comes in at number 35 on the list for richest americans with a net worth of $6.9 billion. numbers one and two are the same as last year, billionaire buddies bill gates and warren buffett. the rays save face, the bills sweep the braves, and a nifty double play in motown. plus, three is the magic number for jose lopez. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

on this first one day of fall, we're tracking heat in the south and heavy rain in the northern plains. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the baseball season

winds down and the pennant races heat up, one team already knows which pitcher which start their postseason. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the minnesota twins were the first team to clench their division. even though the playoffs are two weeks away, they named francisco lariano their one game starter. they don't know who they will play but they are ready to go. great play in the third. reached behind his back, snared the comebacker with his glove. done after two innings. there was a two-hour rain delays. rays won it, 7-2, they're 1 1/2 back in the a.l. east. we saw burnett with a great play on the mound. how about one from the twins' nick blackburn. no glove needed. knocked the ball down with his leg. playoffs can't start soon enough for the twins. they're red hot after sweeping the indians. jose lopez had quite a game against the blue jays, hit three home runs, bringing his total to 10. the mariners have been waiting for this all season after he hit 25 last year.

third and sixth and capped off the trifecta with a two-run bomb in the eighth. not a bad day at the office. mariners won it, 6-3. funny moments in the game, he lobbed it toward the plate and hit martin prado. it was about the only contact they held them to just one hit. in the eighth, ibanez ripped this into the corner. phils won ten straight after a 1-0 victory. finally, great double play turned in by the tigers. johnny peralta bare handed the toss and threw it to first. it doesn't get much better than that. one more time, when you've got a speedster like jared dyson running down the line, you've got to pull off something special to turn two, and that's exactly what they did. tigers won it, 4-2. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. which artist has been banned from "sesame street" before her show even aired?

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the ultimate example of one man's trash being another boy's treasure. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. good thursday morning. forecastwise, nice in cal the next couple of days. 80 and 75 in san francisco. 80 and sunny in l.a. arizona after that hot spell, a little cooler weather yesterday. the heat is going to return

towards the weekend. so 95 not bad today in phoenix. 92 in vegas. shower weather this morning up in the pacific northwest. now, by the time friday rolls around, the heat starts to build in arizona again. hundreds in many areas. l.a. even gets a little taste of summer once again, 87 for you. look at san francisco, figures, warmer days of the year. if you're watching us on wkhnl, news 8 in honolulu, hawaii. vintage shopping and hand-made jewelry peak your interest, head to art and flea. go to the fresh cafe. that's your pacific event of the day. nice. >> love to. bill, thank you. now, here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. a slimmed down slim, clean cut joaquin phoenix made his return to late night with day of the letterman. he apologized to the host for his bizarre appearance a year ago. both made an effort to stress

letterman was not in on the joke at the time despite one of the writers insisted that letterman did know. as for what's next for phoenix, new york magazine reports he's in talks to appear with leonardo dicaprio in a film about j. edgar hoover and his lover. when it comes to levi johnson was he glued to the tv this week watching former flame bristol palin on "dancing with the stars," it turns out he was too busy brushing up on his politics run for mayor in alaska. parents complained about perry's cleavage. now, bill, i did some extensive research on this. >> i'm happy to say i didn't. >> you're a parent. i want to know your opinion. she was wearing a yellow skirt with some kind of flesh-colored

mesh section that made it appear as if there was cleavage there but apparently the skin was not exposed. >> when you're next to elmo or the cookie monster or big bird, you know, maybe something a little more coverage. >> think about going to sunday school or something. >> leave your assets at home. >> there you go. good advice, bill. this comes from care 11 in minneapolis, minnesota, where one 5-year-old boy's fascination with trash inspired a memorable birthday gift. it started with trash and blossomed into an interest in garbage trucks. so as a special treat, mom and dad took eli on a 23-hour trip from connecticut to visit an assembly plant to see how his favorite trucks are made. he was particularly taken in by the metal fabrication second of the tour. what an adorable kid. i'm amara sohn, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

the world cup may be over, but the world cup of robot soccer has just begun. 52 teams from 17 countries from around the world came to india to compete and learn from each other's technical advances. robot kickers can't match humans right now but robot creators dream that by 2050 a robot team will be at the human world cup champio champions. an olympic gold medalist made history this week not once, but twice. the 23-year-old chinese lifter broke two world records in the clean and jerk at the world weightlifting championships in turkey.

the modern day hercules had a combined 789 pound total which broke another record by over 2 pounds. one cake in japan sent people over the moon weighing in at over 120 pounds. the massive moon cake was made for china's moon festival. bakers used more than 500 egg yolks to make that cake. the annual festival is held on the day the moon is at its fullest and roundest. after visitors had a taste of the cake, they probably felt the same way. you know that weight lifter, i have to go back to him. any time you see a guy lift that much weight, i'm afraid he's going to snap in half. >> i don't know. he was as tough as they get. he was kind of skinny, but every ounce of muscle. >> yeah. he was small for all that. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in washington, the group

mothers against drunk driving, also known as madd, marked its 20th anniversary. according to madd, every minute one person is injured from an alcohol-related crash. also in the capital, there will be a house hearing on legislation to reduce concussions in student athletes. according to one estimate, between 2005 and 2008, there were an estimated 400,000 concussions in high school athletes. and a big day for one veteran of hollywood, actor mickey rooney celebrates his 90th birthday. 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. nbc's tom brokaw offers his take on the state of the nation. and the one and only tina fey has a sneak peek at "30 rock"'s brand new season. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm amara sohn.

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 [ female announcer ] it starts with you falling in love with the most personalized most customized piece of furniture you will ever own. ♪ get that one piece right and the rest of the room will just fall into place. it starts with you introducing yourself to the world of ethan allen.