this morning on "early today," finally free. emotional reunions in chile as miners emerge from the ground after being trapped for more than two months. failure to multitask, a suspect gets outsmarted as he puts his gun down in the middle of a robbery attempt in north carolina. and that just can't be right. a woman in georgias an electric bill for over $1 billion. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hi, everybody. good morning. and welcome to our viewers across the nation include the pick time zone. i'm thomas roberts.

today we begin with breaking news. after spending more than two months trapped nearly half a mile underground, the first five of 33 chilean miners have been rescued. round-the-clock efforts are under way as we speak as rescuers work to bring the remaining men back aboveground and home to their loved ones. nbc natalie gonzalez has the story. >> reporter: good morning, thomas. a very long and very emotional and historic night here in copiapo, chile add the miners are being pulled one by one by one in this rescue operation now, several hours now into it. the first pulled out, after vale gave his father a big hug, you can imagine, and next, a funny

moment. he launched into tears and had all of the rescue team chanting add cheering [ speaking in foreign language ] and, in fact, brought back some souvenirs for all the rescuers as he greeted them. gave them each rocks from down below. then the other, the youngest of the group, 19 years old, one by one by one, a historic and incredibly remarkable evening here. the rescue that seem almost impossible. seems like it would never really happen, finally under way as family members now are getting the opportunity to be reunited with their loved ones, giving them hugs, crying those tears. it's been a journey for all -- all of these 33 men, but it seems over the next couple of hours and probably over the next day or two, this is a scene that's going to repeated over and over and over again here in

copiapo, chile. thomas, now back to you. >> natalie, thank you. back in washington, a historic decision for gay rights after a federal judge ordered the u.s. military to stop enforcing its controversial don't ask, don't tell policy. tuesday's landmark ruling has effectively removed a ban on openly gay u.s. troops that's been in place for the past 17 years. included in the injunction, a request that the government disband and all actions under the policy. the justice district attorney have six days to appeal the ruling. the obama administration is lifting the six-month moratorium on deep water oil drilling in the gulf of mexico. the moratorium was imposed after the bp oil disaster that claimed 11 lives and spilled millions of barrels of oil into the gulf. interior secretary ken salazar said significant progress has been made in reducing the ricks associated with deep water

drilling. the administration has been under heavy pressure to lift the moratorium on grounds that it had thrown workers out of their jobs and hurt the economy. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america -- in north carolina, the table turned on a greedy robber. the thief what is was so distracted stuffing money in his pockets, he put his gun down, handing it over to the quick thinking clerk. the suspect got away, but police are looking for him. a missouri man is lucky to be alive after a routine day on the job went terribly wrong. he was inspecting a sewer when the line he was attached to snapped sending him more than a mile down. rescuers found him and pulled him to safety an hour later. he was now suffering from hypothermia. exactly 110 years after crossing the rio grande with her parents, a 101-year-old woman took the oath of allegiance to become a naturalized u.s. citizen. she only decided to be a naturalized citizen when she found out she couldn't come back to the u.s. if she visited mexico.

start onenginess your engines, everybody. the greatest spectacle in racing. the indianapolis 500. to mark the occasion, all of the 33 legendary indy cars went to the track. the first dating back to 1911. many of the iconic cars were there that raced over the years. look to you different they've all become, the body styles. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. hey, bill. good morning. >> i saw the man, mario andretti's car in there. >> one of many. >> watch the races as a little kid. brings back memories, right. >> they do. looking at the cars. yesterday out west, thomas, this forecast is still on the incredible side. it's not raining, not snowing. it is just plain, old hot for the middle of october. record high yesterday. 94 degrees in san francisco. that would have been the hottest temperature they saw all summer. just a miserable, cold summer. now a really hot fall.

you're almost as warm in san francisco as phoenix. we're dgoing to do it again today. not a lot of exchange. cooler air into the inner mountain west. in the 70s in phoenix. it's actually warmer in san francisco right now than it is on the strip in vegas where it's 64 degrees. so the warmth is there. the sun is going to be bright once again today. the next storm system is far off the coast. some of the clouds, up there in british columbia. everywhere in the west will feel more like the end of summer than it will the middle of fall. high pressure is responsible, and the way the winds blow down through the mountains, it helps warm things up considerably going through the afternoon. how hot is it going to be? a little different map for you. the areas in white, the predicted high. 92 today in san francisco. the little number next to it is the average high temperature for this type of year. it should only be 71. going to be 92 in phoenix. even the desert areas hotter than ever. phoenix, 90 degrees.

above average. that's a look at your ukiah, 93. yuma, arizona, a chance at 100. we don't want to talk about 100-degree heat this time of year, thomas, but it's possible in the deserts later today. >> pumpkins are going to melt everywhere. >> gooey, yeah. immediately into pies. >> bill, thanks. all right. ep couraging signs for the tech sector, and do you need a gift idea? if so, we have a perfume that comes with quite a twist. your early business helines are straight he has. plus, who david arquette is blaming for his split from courteney cox. you might be surprised. historic hits for the rangers and the big three is now down to one after another injury. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm thomas roberts. here are some of your top headlines this morning -- a disturbing and gruesome twist in the case of an american man who disappeared from a border lake in mexico. reportedly, shot and killed by pirates. authorities in texas say the severed head of the lead investigator in the case was found in a suitcase outside a mexican army base tuesday morning. u.s. officials say threats from drug dealers that control the lake have hampered the search for the missing american. all of those onboard a cargo plane yesterday that crashed into the east of kabul reportedly crashed and all were killed. the cause of that crash is unknown. in virginia, navy sailors and officers stood alongside the extended family of the "uss cole" in norfolk.

yesterday marked the anniversary of the terrorist attack which killed 17 of the schiff's crew as it was docked in yemen. and talk about an electric shock. a woman in georgia got quite a surprise when she opened up her electricity bill that totaled more than $1 billion. fortunately, the energy company cleared up the astronomical mistake right away and adjusted it to a reasonable $287. big difference, right? and now here's an early look at your health news on msnbc.com. the dow rose. the s&p rose and the nasdaq added 15. overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei climbed 14 points while in hong kong the hang seng surged up by 335. stocks hit fresh five-year highs, the fed may act soon to pump stimulus into the ailing economy. minutes from the meeting show the central bank may once again flood markets with cheap cash

"before long to boost further growth." first focused on government bonds and now prompting more spending now. intel up in regular trade after the bellwether posted stronger than expected third quarter results. and intel led a recent surge in semiconductor stocks on expectations the worst may be over for the tech sector. leading the nasdaq, apple shares hit a new record, stores will start carrying the popular ipad. and president obama lifted drilling ahead of schedule sending shares climbing almost 5%. shares of feiser gained after it agreed to buy king pharmaceuticals for $3. billion. king pharma shares jumped a

whopping 39%. optimism about action by the fed. china's bid to cool down its economy. the government raised bank requirements for the fourth time this year sparking concern the move could crimp global growth. finally, a new line of perfume is about to explode on to the i'dlandic market. it's made of melt water from the glacier sitting atop the volcano that erupt ntd april flooding ash across europe. the citrus scented perfume sold in square bottles with a lava rock attached to it. a touching moment on the gridiron. plus, super softball. cliff lee has a proven track record. your headlines are straight ahead. and the exception is the ohio valley and south florida. your wednesday florida is coming up. you're watching "early today." why is carol sitting all the way over there?

carol almost told evan that there are vegetables in the chef boyardee. so she's ia time-out. [ female announcer ] chef boyardee micro beef ravioli microwave cups. with a full serving of vegetables. just don't tell them. shh. with a full serving of vegetables. the chill of peppermint. the rich dark chocolate. york peppermint pattie. get the sensation. hi, everybody. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports -- the texas rangers recorded a franchise first last night as their series with tampa came down to a decisive fifth game. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. if there is one thing we learned from the rays/rangers playoff series, it's that home field

advantage means absolutely nothing. game five in tampa, rangers got it done with aggressive base running. hit and run way man on second. rays with the out at first. elvis andris kept on running and was safe at home. a gutsy decision. texas up, 1-0. in the fourth, nelson cruz to third. the throw into left field. cruz scored on the error. another hustle play and the rangers up 2-0. more small ball in the sixth. ian kinsler with a shot to second. kinsler seemingly beat the throw. vlad guerrero took advantage and he scored from second on a bang-bang play. rangers getting it done in the base path. cliff lee impressive, struck out 11 and allowed one run. a complete game. road game upset the series, a and the rangers move on 5-1 win. the rangers have the yankees on friday. last week, it was dwayne wade and now lebron james. he left the game with a leg

injury. they downplayed it, but it's enough to keep him out of the game tonight against the hornets. hockey, avalanche and colorado down two when they mounted a comeback. david jones is spinning back. this tied it at four. after a scoreless overtime, the avalanche won in a shoot-out. avs rally to win 5-4. finally, a great thing to show you in a high school game in arkansas. dillon born with cerebral palsy, and who was confined to a wheelchair was able to make history when he received a handoff and motored his way to a touchdown. we understand there wasn't a dry eye in the house. a heart warming scene that dillon will never forget. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men hair color. live forward. another hollywood couple is calling it quits. you'll find out who is the latest to split up. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, one father truly meets

his destiny as he returns home from afghanistan. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. it's wednesday. sunshine, maybe even sunscreen and sunglass. more like a summer forecast. temperatures in the 80s and 90s. the cool air, upper 60s in washington state. even that's above average today.

a near record high if not record highness areas of california today. incredibly warm fall continues. even into thursday. not a lot changes in many areas. a little cooler in san francisco. you'll notice, though, in seattle, that's where the next little storm system begins to show itself and then by friday, many areas will have a change in the weather pattern. enjoy the sunshine and warmth while it lasts. if we're waging on kntr news source 16 in eugene, oregon. learn about the counterculture roots by heading to the lane county historical museum for the tie-dye and tofu exhibit exploring the town's history from the '60s and '70s. that's your pick convenient of the day. tofu has come a long way. >> and tie-dye coming back. >> it is. i have seen sweatshirts in the mall earlier. >> everything's cyclical. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.

everyone knows the class it 1985 film "back to the future" starred michael j. fox's marty mcfly. eric stoltz was five weeks into shooting the famed role when the director decided things weren't working out and made the switch. never before seen footage of stoltz as mcfly is part of the extra package for the 25th anniversary rerelease of the three "back to the future" films. after almost five years of marriage, christina aguilera and her music producer husband have separated. "us" magazine reports the two agreed to live apart for a while to see how things go. finally, as opposed to ducking his marriage issues, david arquette calling into the howard stern show yesterday to talk candidly and take blame for his separation from courtney cox blaming his "kooky ways. ." she said she asked for the separation telling him that she didn't want to be his mother any more and that he's been, quote,

begging court courteney to get back with him. bill, what do you think about that? he's being pretty honest and true. >> yeah, but doing it to howard stern? maybe oprah or something like that. >> right. you have to do the mea culpa on oprah. this next story comes to us from kc3a in sacramento, california. destiny had no idea her did the dad was home early from afghanistan until she saw him standing in the classroom with flowers in his hand. but it was her brother, caleb, who was speechless. sergeant moralez returns to afghanistan in two weeks, but for now, they're focused on catching up and spending time together. it's a great story. i'm thomas roberts and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

100 million tiny sculptures come together for a remarkable art exhibit in london. a chinese artist arranged one million sunflower seeds for his latest. 100 seeds crafted individually by hand line the floor of the museum. visitors are encouraged to walk on it, as you see that little girl doing. in the battle of human versus computer, it's score one for the million. yesterday in tokyo for the first time ever, a computer defeated a professional player in japanese chess which is more complicated than your typical chess game. still, we have to give credit to the human player. the match took more than six

hours to play and finish. one of the largest collections of antique stuffed animals is up for auction. the price tag, however is no child's play valued up upwards of $1.6 million. the collection is made up of 1,300 stuffed animals. one bear alone could fetch up to $128,000. oddly enough, the collection is from a disgraced hedge fund manager who just this year pled guilty to fraud. bill, you have kids. your kids would say those are just old toys? they want the new stuff. >> very old. yes. those are a lot more expensive, probably, than i want, too. >> exactly. i don't know about over a million bucks there. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc -- as many as 40 states are expected to launch an investigation into a nationwide mortgage mess. the move comes in the wake of recent allegations against a growing number of financial institutions accused of fast tracking foreclosure proceedings with fraudulent paperwork. in texas, a court hearing

that unexpectedly stalled yesterday is due to lee zoom today for major nidal hasan, the army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people. margaret thatcher today celebrates her 85th 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. live coverage from the chilean mine where one by one, the trapped miners are being rescued. and the latest details in the jet ski murder case at the mexican border. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm thomas roberts. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com