>> that's all for now. i'm ann curry and for all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this morning on "early today" -- on alert. terror concerns in europe trigger a new warning for american travelers. girl power. the supreme court heads back into session, this time with a record number of female justices. and a census of the sea. a first-ever tally of species living in the world's oceans. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pick time zone. i'm lynn berry, and today we begin with a travel alert. this morning americans traveling to europe are under direction from the state department to be

on guard against terror attacks there. the government's warning comes after uncovering what it characterizes as terror plots beyond the planning stages, and already under way. nbc's tracie potts has the details for us this morning from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. this has been brewing for weeks but now intelligence officials believe he have more information which is what has led to lis travel alert. they believe that eight germans and two british brothers are hiding out near the pakistani/afghan border, planning some sort of attack on a target in europe. they don't know when an exactly where but believe osama bin laden himself is involved and this could be something similar to the 2008 mumbai attacks in india. that killed dozens of people. the state department warning says beon the lookout for things happening around airports, trains, subways and tourist attractions. it not a warning to stay home,

but it is an alert to be vigilant if you are traveling to europe, particularly in the next few weeks. keep in mind that this is an alert that will stay in effect until the end of january. lynn? >> tracie potts there for us in washington. tracie, thank you. meanwhile, the pakistani taliban are claiming responsibility this morning for attacking and setting fire to at least 20 tankers carrying supplies for american and nato troops in afghanistan. today's attack, which killed at least three people, is the third such strike inside pakistan in as many days. it happened on a supply route that had been stalled due to a border closing imposed by the country's government last week in protest of a nato helicopter attack that killed three pakistani troops. well, it is the first monday in october. and in washington, that means the supreme court goes back to work. newly appointed justice elena kagan takes her seat on the bench, making the high court one-third female for the first time in history. nbc's frances coe has our report.

>> reporter: the u.s. supreme court traditionally starts its new term on the first monday in october. but there is nothing typical about the court this time around. >> so help me god. >> congratulations. >> reporter: elena kagan, hand-picked by president obama, is its newest member. kagan becomes the third woman on the court, the fourth in its history, but she'll likely sit out about a third of the cases to avoid any conflict stemming from her former stint at the justice department. >> with only eight members of the court deciding these cases, there's the chance of a tie. if that happens, the supreme court is not actually going to be able to decide the issue and will have to come back again in another case, probably in another year. >> reporter: kagan and the other eight justices will have a full case load when the session begins. one of the biggest, whether protests at military funerals are protected under freedom of speech. protesters claim war deaths are god's way of punishing the military's tolerance of gays.

>> god is punishing their parents, really. these soldiers. >> reporter: this man is one of the several protesters at a military funeral of marine matthew snyder. his father said their presence forever ruined the memory of that day. >> they turned it into a circus. >> reporter: one of the many pivotal decisions facing the new supreme court, still closely divided between a majority of five conservatives and four liberals. frances koe, nbc news. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. in massachusetts police found a suspected bank robber locked in the trunk of his car. the suspect evaded capture after robbing a local bank. unfortunately for him, he did so by hiding in his trunk. acting on a lead police tracked down the getaway vehicle, not expecting to find the suspect right under their nose. parents and children in a wisconsin town festival got a little more excitement than they

paid for when the ferris wheel they on broke while they were riding it leaving them dangling for nearly three hours. firefighters worked quickly in high winds, stabilizing the ride before rescuing all 17 riders. officials suspect a loose axle pin may be to blame. and in new mexico, cows flew with bumblebees, even darth vader took to the sky at the albuquerque international balloon fiesta. the largest ballooning event in the world. the spectacular display of over 600 hot air balloons attracts enthusiasts and novices from around the world. it looks pretty cool, too. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning to you. >> good morning, lynn. welcome back. how was your hot air ballooning? was it good? >> you knee me. i like to keep my feet on the ground, bill. that's wa i'm known for. >> yes. >> support. >> well, good morning, everyone. hope you had a wonderful weekend. the weather changed in the west. we're no longer in that hot

weather pattern we had through much of september. october arrive along with cooler temperatures an a little bit of moisture, too. we've had on and off rain moving right up lou nevada up through years, right on the border of oregon and idaho. even the northern rockies are getting wet. as far as the forecast for today, slowly moving out into the north, but if you're going to travel interstate 80 through the higher terrain there in the central sierra, problems with heavy rain and a high elevation, above on the highway actually seeing knsnow this morning. near yosemite, the highest peaks picked up a little snow. more tonight. the flow continues in the mountainous areas here. now you look like you are drying it out. temperatures cooler. 50s and 60s. today's high for the most part in the 60s from seattle to medford. much of california cooler, too. even vegas has a chance of seeing a couple wet showers out there. not a lot of wet weather. just a little bit. that's a look at your monday

oregon through much of nevada. we'll head out lynn, give you your tuesday forecast coming up. thank you, bill. well, verizon commits to millions in customer refunds. and getting tweets from your dog. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus the new facebook movie won a lot more this weekend than just the box office crown. >> the baseball playoffs are set. hoainabb pe agn.u carogo home again. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines this

morning -- authorities say a church van rolled over last night in southwestern georgia, killing at least four people and injuring more than a dozen others. the van was on its way to florida when its rear tire blew out, causing the driver to lose control. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad is calling for american leaders to be "buried" in response to what he claims are u.s. military threats against their country's nuclear program. ahmadinejad, known for harsh rhetoric against the west, went a step further yesterday, using an iranian phrase normally reserved for one's most hated enemies. this morning's "washington post" reports interest groups are spending five times more on this year's midterm elections than they did on the last midterms. the bulk of that money is being shelled out by conservatives, outspending democratic-aligned rivals by 7 to 1 in recent weeks. and results of the first-ever global marine life census shows that the world's oceans are far more diverse than ever imagined.

after a decade-long study, researchers estimate there are 1 million-plus species in the ocean, with at least three-quarters of them yet to be discovered. and now here is an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. researchers announced sunday -- announced sunday teens who become pregnant after gastric bypass surgery may have an increased risk of having children with birth defects. the surgeries can lead to deficiencies in how the body absorbs vitamins and nutrients from food, which, in turn, could affect the development of a fetus's brain and spinal cord. still, some are skeptical about the link and call for more studies. for more information on this and other health stories check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil wash with odor block, the confident clean. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day.

the dow opened at 10,829 after adding 41 points friday. the s&p gained five points. the nasdaq edged up two. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 23 points, but in hong kong the hang seng climbed 260. last year the government asked verizon wireless why data access fees were appearing on the bills of customers who didn't have data plans. today verizon will begin paying up to $90 million in refunds to 15 million customers. turns out most of them accidentally pressed the wrong buttons on their phones. verizon says most customers will receive $2 to $6 credits with some receiving more. on wall street this week, the big moment comes friday. september's jobs numbers. estimates are mixed, both up and down, as the jobless rate now stands at 9.6%.

another big unemployment measure, jobs added last month in the private sector is out wednesday. there's high hope for quarterly earnings this week. as always alcoa unofficially kicks off reporting thursday. other companies reporting include yum brands, costco, monsanto, micron technology and pepsi. as for other data, pending home sales and factory orders for august kick off the week. an index of service sector activity is out tuesday. thursday brings yet another unemployment reading. initial jobless claims. and wholesale inventory for august come out friday. finally, are you a pet lover and into social networking? then you'll love puppy tweets. it's an electronic sensor you attach to your dog's collar that detects movements and sounds and sends a variety of tweets to a twitter page you set up for your dog. if your dog is very active he could tweet, chasing everything that moves is definitely a full-time job. a spokesperson jokingly warns, you can't reply, at least not yet. bears.

plus former eagle donovan mcnabb shows philly fans what they're missing. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> we're starting the week with an ugly weather pattern in the mid-atlantic and new england. the rest of country looks great. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports -- major league's baseball pairings weren't decided until yesterday's final day of the season. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the baseball playoffs are set but not after it took all 162 games of the season to decide who was in and who would be playing golf. to atlanta, bobby cox and the braves needed a win and they got it against the phils. capping off a four-run fourth and the braves were up 5-2. wagner on to strike out greg dobbs to end it. atlanta won it and lock up the n.l. wild card. giants beat the padres and with it eliminated san diego. posey hit his 18th homer of the season. giants won 3-0. they'll start the postseason against the braves on thursday. playoffs start on wednesday. the rays on the n.l. east will host the rangers. and in the national league the reds will play the phillies in

philadelphia. speaking of phillies, donovan mcnabb returned to the city of brotherly love to a standing ovation. didn't take long for those cheers to turn to jeers. connecting for a touchdown in the first quarter the redskins were up 14-0. it simply got worse for the eagles. michael vick left the game with a chest injury. he was nailed at the goal line. he'll have an mri today. redskins won it 17-12. dramatic finish between the colts and jaguars. under a minute to play, peyton manning inside the 2. the 28. the last chance. it was a long shot. 59 yards out and he got it. longest field goal in franchise history won it for the giants. the giants got back on track with a win over the bears. giants won it 17-3. and bradshaw 121 yards on the ground and a touchdown. finally, we know football is a contact sport. apparently so is sideline reporting. that's michelle turner walking with the rams coach. and look out -- turner also works for knbc in las vegas took a football off

her head. goes to show you sometimes the best action in the game happens on the sidelines. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. yet another actress is said to be a lock for the coveted role of mary jane in the next spider-man movie. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, rubber duckie you're the one. or more accurately, the one out of 15,000. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. rain through central california in the mountainous areas of the sierras, especially yosemite. could see showers. idaho a chance of wet weather. carry the umbrella and a thunderstorm from salt lake city. a peek at your forecast into tuesday. that system begins to kick on out. still kind of partly cloudy and cool in many areas. we shouldn't feel a lot of rain on your tuesday. if you're watching us on khnl, nbc in honolulu, hawaii, shake and lynn likes to do, shimmy your way to a healthy and fit niz lifestyle with a dance cardio and aerobic workout. the mililani rec center. your pacific event of the day. >> i actually have that outfit, bill. >> that wasn't you? we try getting a picture of you. >> yeah. hide those, actually.

>> now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. without any real competition at the box office this weekend the expected winner "the social network" a movie about facebook's harvard beginnings still managed to impress in a number of ways. it opened at number one with $23 million. a little better than expected. but even more impressive was the fact that it earned rave reviews and even generated some oscar talk. particularly for the singer who wants to be taken seriously as an actor, justin timberlake. finally, the red hot "it "e girl of the moment. emma stone rumored to be landing the role of girl next door, mary jane watson for the next spider-man film.

well, this comes to us from knbc, nbc 4 in los angeles, california. >> 5 million customer, a big draw. >> didn't hurt he donated that money right before the movie came out. very convenient. >> very convenient. well, this comes to us from knbc, nbc 4 in los angeles, california. where a simple childhood pastime is bringing relief to thousands. charity-minded participants raced more than 15,000 rubber ducks at the mighty rubber duck derby, raising money and awareness for nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse. the winner walked away with a brand-new car but the kids and the families who benefit from the program were, of course, the biggest winners. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

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