good morning on "early today." under wert. water. a wisconsin levee begins to fail, prompting nearby residents to flee their homes. rough landing. tense moments at new york's jfk airport when a delta flight's landing gear failedo deploy. and "education nation." nbc news takes a special in-depth look at the state of our nation's schools. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning to you including those in the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. this morning we begin on the

brink -- this morning several states in the midwest are trying to stay dry as rivers there are rising to dangerous levels. the situation is particularly precarious along the wisconsin river where one levee built in the 1890s is failing. while it hasn't collapsed, officials don't consider it safe. they recommend evacuation and have warned residents that if the levee breaks, emergency vehicles, including police, fire, and ambulances will not be able to reach those who stay behind. fortunately water levels are beginning to recede elsewhere in wisconsin where a state of emergency had been declared in several counties. this morning's "new york times" is reporting that federal officials are seeking broader authority to hunt down criminal and terror suspects on the internet. they want congress to require companies like blackberry, facebook, and skype to design their network so fbi officials can monitor suspects if the companies are served with a wiretap order. right now those services using what's known as peer-to-peer software are difficult to intercept, because they're not routed through a central hub.

according to the "times," the bill, which the obama administration plans to submit to congress next year, raises fresh questions about how to balance security needs with a question of privacy. the bishop of a georgia mega church has broken his silence, speaking to his congregation for the first time since being accused of luring four young men into sexual relationships. in a fiery speech, eddie long vowed to fight the allegations and lawsuits, claiming that the church leader, an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, gave the young men gifts and took them on trips in an attempt to seduce them. federal and state authorities say they won't investigate the allegations because all four men have said they were 17 or 18 when the relationships began. the state of georgia's age of sexual consent is 16 years old. today nbc news is proud to kick off "education nation" here at 30 rock. it is a special week of programming, designed to shed a light on growing concerns over american students and schools. a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll finds well over half of americans believe public grade schools need major changes or a complete overhaul. nbc's michelle franzen is

is standing by. good morning to you, michelle. >> reporter: good morning, venk kaw. veronica. what look goods around the country and what doesn't. a start on national education a that many say is long overdue. at a town hall, kicking off "education nation" -- >> and good afternoon and welcome to our teacher town hall. >> reporter: -- teachers from around the country highlighted ways to inspire children in the classroom. >> all students can learn as long as teachers are committed, passionate, and held accountable to standards. >> reporter: many also voiced frustration and searched for ways to improve the nation's education system. >> there shouldn't be a lottery for a good education. >> reporter: from the controversy surrounding charter schools to teachers feeling blamed for the problems. >> we're being made the scapegoats for much, much larger ills of society. >> reporter: one thing teachers, educators, and many americans

agree on is that children deserve better in schools. a recent poll shows 77% of americans give public schools a grade of "c" or lower. 58% believe major changes or complete overhaul is needed. >> we have to educate our way to a better economy. >> reporter: the new documentary "waiting for superman" attempts to underscore some of the struggles facing families. >> i don't care what i have to do. i don't care how many jobs i have to obtain, but she will go to college. >> reporter: it shows how five students and parents from harlem to silicon valley navigate through a lottery system to get out of failing neighborhood schools and into public charter schools. >> let's get started. >> reporter: luck of the draw paths for many, that whether on the big screen or in the classroom will shape the way they learn and dream. >> reporter: rockefeller plaza has been turned into a learning plaza, where students, teachers,

educators and local state and federal leaders from all around the country can learn more about diet, nutrition and exercise, a key component to learning. veronica? >> incomes's michelle franzen. thanks so much. as part of coverage we're going to be presenting all week on the nbc networks, don't miss this morning's matt lauer exclusive, a live interview with president obama. that's coming up on "today." now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america -- in new york, amateur video shot by a passenger on a delta flight shows sparks flying as one of the plane's wings dragged along the tarmac during an emergency landing. authorities are looking into reported issues with the plane's landing gear. fortunately none of the plane's 60 passengers or crew were hurt. in california, a minotaur iv rocket lifted off and into orbit from vandenberg air force base. it carried an air force surveillance satellite that will be used to monitor space for objects that could threaten u.s. national security or communication and weather satellites.

the air force says the satellite will play a key role in protecting the country's space-based assets. and in texas speed eaters dug in at the 6th annual world tamale eating championship. competitive eating champ tim janis, also known as "eater x" chowed down past his competition, consuming 59 tamales in 12 minutes. and if you think that's impressive, that's actually 12 tamales under his world record of 71. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. you know, good morning to you, bill. 59 tamales? i'm going to guess that beats your record. >> i couldn't do one or two. i'm not good with spicy foods. like the hot wings, tamales. it gets mess any a hurry. avoid it. talk about what we'd like it avoid. that's the heat. it's incredible. some of the hottest weather we've seen this summer has taken grip in the desert southwest.

a big dip to the north. a heat ridge or pump that will continue that flow of hot weather right down through the mountains and to the coast. yesterday incredible. 105 in downtown l.a. one of the hottest spots in the entire country. notice here 105 in phoenix, 101 in vegas. rare we get l.a. hotter than those two spots. warm all the way up to montana and even in areas of coastal california, san francisco at 87, much warmer than you expect. not a lot changes today. the next storm system out far in the pick not cooling us off soon. very hot beginning of your week. as i mention, a low coming down. a chance with gusting winds, too, in the afternoon for a fire to pop up. that would spread rapidly. some red flag warns along with excessive heat watchesit's not prit pip it's going to stay that way today. 105 the forecast high in vegas. 106 in phoenix. see which of the three cities ends up on top. anyone has a chance.

104 in los angeles. close to record highs, the record high in l.a. is 106 for the state. hottest spots in the entire nation at 0 10. -- 108. hard to think halloween costumes and pumpkins when you're 108 degrees. >> god, sounds so uncomfortable. i was in vegas over the past couple of days and can't believe. 1 hadn't degrees in vegas. 105 in l.a. what's going on? >> the middle of summer, i guess. very rare. >> bill, thanks. how's wall street going to do this week? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, how did wall street do at the box office over the weekend. cowboys and vikings do something they haven't done all season, and an unlikely finish between the yankees and red sox. you're watching "early

today."

good morning to you, and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz, and here are some of your top headlines this morning -- the future of middle east peace talks hangs in the balance after israel's ten-month slowdown on construction in the west bank expired last night without a compromise. to celebrate the end of the moratorium, jewish settlers yesterday broke ground on a kindergarten in the west bank. iran claims its forces crossed a neighboring iraq this weekend and killed 30 fighters suspected in a deadly bombing last week in iran. no group has claimed responsibility for the blast, which took place during an irani military parade to commemorate an eight-year war with iraq in the 1980s, killing 12 people. in a report from the group "mayors against illegal guns" finds nearly half of the guns that crossed state lines and were used in crimes last year came from just ten states,

georgia, florida, virginia, texas, indiana, ohio, pennsylvania, north carolina, california, and arizona. and not everyone was amused by last week's congressional testimony from comedian stephen colbert at a hearing on immigration reform. house majority leader steny hoyer called it inappropriate and a "imembarrassment to colbert." and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,860m, after climbing 197 points on friday. the s&p rose 23 points, and the nasdaq added 54. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei rose 131 points, while in hong kong the hang seng jumped 221. with the dow on track for its best september since 1954, the big question is will this month's surge continue for a fourth straight week. the answer lies with which way the economic data swings. on deck, investors will get an

update on consumer confidence and spending along with updated manufacturing reports and a fresh look at home prices. auto sales data for september is also due and should be a little higher this month. coming up on thursday, wall street will get another reading on just how much the economy grew in the second quarter with another look at gross domestic product. a sum of all the goods and services produced in america. just this morning as expected, have a vendia, pulled its stake to general electric. the parent company of this network for $2 billion. if all goes as planned ge will buy the vendor's remaining stake once a deal to sell nbc universal to comcast is finalized. hyundai issued a voluntary recall of sonata sedans over potential steering problems. so far no accidents or injuries reported. the "wall street journal" reports unilever is in talks to

buy the company that makes alberto v05 hair products for some $3.7 billion. a deal could close as early as today. and, finally, a sign of the times, at a recent new york auction, a laundry list of coveted collectibles went up for grabs, but no one was buying. among the memorabilia left on the auction block, a pair of jim morrison sunglasses, superman's cape, and one of princess di's diamond necklaces. well, michael vick is up to some new tricks. the champs go down in o.t., and a walkoff walk in the bronx. plus, the jets' braylon edwards, who took heat for his off the field actions last week makes some heat of his own last night against the dolphins. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. on this monday we have soaking rain up and down the east coast and record heat on the west coast. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports -- longtime rivals, the jets and the dolphins, always seem to have classic battles under the lights, and last night in south beach was no exception. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. braylon edwards started the game on the sidelines, but by the third quarter he was leading the jets past the dolphins. here we go to miami. edwards was benched the first quarter because of a drunken driving arrest. his first grab, this 67-yard touchdown.

you talk about an entrance. the jets were up, 21-17. this one down to the final wire. final seconds. dolphins needing a touchdown. but chad henne picked off in the end zone, and that was it. the jets won it, 31-23. michael vick back on the field again and proved that he should be the eagles' starting quarterback. threw three touchdowns and ran for another against the panthers. philly fans quickly forgetting about donovan mcnabb. the eagles won it, 28-3. cowboys finally got in the win column. tony romo found roy williams twice for touchdowns. this one 63 yards down the sidelines. they beat the texans, 27-13. let's go to minnesota where adrian peterson and the vikings finally hit their stride. peterson ripped off an 80-yard touchdown run in the third to put the game out of reach. vikings caged the lions, 24-10, their first victory this season. the falcons had luck on their side in new orleans. the saints' garrett hartley missed a 29-yarder for the win. that opened the door for atlanta's matt bryant to put the game away right down the middle. falcons beat the champs, 27-24.

to seattle, the seahawks' leon washington became the tenth player in league history to return two kickoff returns for touchdowns. his first, 101 yards to start the third quarter. his second, 99 yards to put the seahawks on top late in the fourth. washington and the seahawks shocked the chargers, 27-20. and, finally, here's something you don't see every day -- red sox/yankees, tenth inning, sacks full. juan miranda at the plate. high drama. and hideki okajima walked him. that's it. game over on a walk-off walk. yanks won it, 4-3. they're a half game back in the east. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> we'll explain why this weekend's biggest winner at the box office didn't come in first place. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, thousands turn out to run in the footsteps of a true 9/11 hero. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back on this monday. i should call it a hot, steamy monday. look at forecast. a lot of sunshine and heat from boise to salt lake city. temperatures above average. mid-summer-type temperatures. talk about hot. all the way from arizona, southern nevada, much of california today. you are just going to bake in some of the hottest weeks we've seen all year. here we are in fall, and even into tuesday, we cool off a little bit in l.a., but still very hot here in the desert areas. if you're watching on kobi tv 5

medford, oregon, looking to add something new to your workout routine, experience a new actual culture and get fit along the way. try japanese-style karate. at the santo community center. that's your pacific event of day. >> sounds like a lot of fun. thanks, bill. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. back in the '80s, greed was good, but today at least at the box office, greed is just okay. the long-awaited sequel, "wall street: money never sleeps," won the box office title this weekend, but fell short of expectations, taking in only $19 million. the experts blame that underperformance on failure to attract the younger crowd. a whopping 65% of wall street's audience was over the age of 30. also underperforming this weekend, "legend of the guardians: the owls of gahoul," an animated fantasy adventure, cost $100 million to make, and some experts picked it to win more than $20 million. it only managed second with a little over $16 million. perhaps the weekend's top performer was last weekend's champ, ben affleck's "the town." it finished third, just behind the owl movie with $16 million.

that raised "the town's" ten-day total to just over $49 million, giving it a solid shot at hitting $100 million before it's done. this come to do us from new york, 25,000 trace one firefight firefighter's heroic footsteps. joining firefighters from across north america for the annual tunnel to towers run honoring stephen stiller, a new york firefighter when he heard about the 9/11 attack ran with 90 pounds of gear from brooklyn to manhattan to help save lives. stiller later died in the towers. i'm veronica de la cruz and this is nr early stnbc n.toat your nbc station. io

just a month away from halloween, and one contest in germany shows why pumpkins aren't just for eating and carving. it is the international pumpkin boat championships where contestants turn giant pumpkins into engine-powered race boats speeding along a 650-feet-long course. this year's winner had a secret formula for success. for a month he was on a strict pumpkin-only diet. congratulations. this weekend the jungle wasn't the only place where gorillas were running wild. in london, runners took to the streets in gorilla suits to raise money and awareness for endangered african gorillas. 700 runners got behind the cause, running the four-mile-long race. the event organizer reported out

that coincidently 700 is also the number of mountain gorillas surviving today in the african wild. one man in england set out to break a record literally by leaps and bounds. he set a new guinness world record for bungee jumping -- yikes, oh, my goodness -- taking a staggering 42 jumps in just one hour. that more than doubled the previous record of 19. wow, there he goes again. not surprisingly, his biggest problem with the repeat leaps from about 160 feet up in the air was -- can you guess it, bill? can you guess it? >> he's going to be sore? whiplash? >> he got dizzy. yeah. >> that makes sense. >> but i would add whiplash to the mix for sure. >> and stupidity. oh, did i say that? sorry. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in washington state, the army holds its first hearing in a grizzly war crimes case in which five soldiers are charged with killing afghan civilians for sport. they fired on them in unprovoked assaults with some of the soldiers accused of mutilating

the corpses. heading to book store shelves -- bob woodward's book "obama's wars." and also be sure to catch "education nation," nbc's special coverage on the state of our nation's schools. "today's" matt lauer goes live on the topic with president obama later on this morning. and all day long, you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. toned be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up a little later this morning on the "today" show. the latest from washington on the countdown to midterm elections, and matt lauer goes back to kindergarten to find out if american kids are getting off to the right start. and now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com