[ cheers and applause ] ♪ this morning on "early today," mission accomplished. the world celebrates as 33 chilean miners are finally brought home. delaware duel, senate candidates go head to head with just weeks until the midterm elections. and space smashup, the hubble telescope captures what scientists believe is the first hubble telescope captures what scientists believe is the first images of an asteroid collision. 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. today, we begin with a flawless ascent to freedom. all of chile's 33 miners are finally where they should be this morning, aboveground, celebrating life with their friends and family. after weeks of planning, drilling, and testing, rescuers last night finished lifting the men from the depths of the mine that easily could have been their tomb. and as nbc's kerry sanders reports, chile's joy was shared around the world. >> reporter: it's over. all 33 of the miners have been rescued. it took 22 hours, 34 minutes, and 56 seconds, more than 1,000 engineering minds to figure out how to get down to those men 2,040 feet in the earth. they pulled it off. and now, this country and the world celebrates. >> an inspiring experience, i'm sure, not only for the chileans, for the whole world.

>> the last man up, luis urzua, he was the leader when the men were cut off from the outside world, told them they should conserve the two days of food they had and ration it to be two spoonfuls of food per man, peaches and tuna. that kept them alive. they made contact with the surface. a team of american drillers came in. they made it down to the men. the fenix capsule was tested, retested, and, wow, it worked. in the end, the ride up was taking less than 10 minutes. and now this country celebrates because the impossible is possible. lynn. >> kerry sanders, thank you. back here in the states, the senate battle in delaware took place last night as christine o'donnell faced off with democrat chris coons in a heated debate at the university of delaware.

nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington now with some of the highlights. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. this is the race where vice president joe biden's old seat and the two opponents sparred overnight over the economy, over health care. christine o'donnell ended up backing off some of her more controversial social views from earlier on evolution and gays in the military. coons was forced to defend his record in delaware on raising taxes. this race may be most remembered for her i am not a witch tv ad. last night at the debate she did some name calling of her own based on a newspaper article that her opponent wrote in college. >> they jokingly called me a birdied marxist. if you take five minutes and read the article, it's clear on the face of it it's a joke. >> you writing an article saying that you learned your beliefs from an articulate, excel gent marxist professor and that's

what made you become a democrat, that should send the chills up the spine of every democrat voter. >> reporter: tonight we move on to nevada, another big tea party debate. sharronn angle against the senate's boast powerful democrat heard reid is neck and neck in the poll. >> tracie potts there for us in washington, thank you. now here is a look at other stories making news early today in america. in kentucky clean-up crews were called to a scene of an accident that is sure to leave a mark. a tractor trailer carrying 30,000 pounds of ink overturned, spilling its blue and yellow cargo all over the highway. it's not clear what caused the accident, but fortunately the driver wasn't hurt. in florida, low tide at a local beach left a 1,000-pound manatee and her calf stuck on the sand close to shore there. biologists couldn't rescue the

endangered cows so they stayed with them until the high tide carried them away. and in new york, fashion week may be over, but cats and dogs at the american kennel club proved they could be just as hip. there was cleopatra kitty, the mad hatter, there was even a shitzou right there with a snooky puff. 200 dog and cat breeds will appear at a meet the breed showcase that's open to the public. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> you're doing the snooki costume for halloween, right? >> only if you become the situation. deal? >> may be. >> we're going to have to -- exactly. i'm glad you had to say it. >> spray on, trust me. let's talk about what's happening out there this morning, lynn. yesterday was another very warm day in san francisco. 92 degrees. not close to phoenix, though. almost 100. so these temperatures were well above average. now things are going to slow he

cool off for much of the west. our storm system kicks onshore. temperatures this morning, a little chilly back here in the inner mountain west. 41 in salt lake city. 46, a pair of them in boise and portland. as far as the storm system goes, there was a big huge storm that went up to british columbia. now this front is going to drag down. ever so slowly that moisture is going to move in and it will move in first up here to seattle. that's where we're watch to think radar. there's not a lot of rain with it. right along that front there's just a little bit over vancouver island currently. look under the weather.com logo and you will see the green, light rain showers. that will move into the seattle, olympicia areas during the day today. clouds cool. 59 in seat with the showers. much of the west will also remain slightly cooler than the last couple of days. beautiful in san francisco. that's more like it, 84. we love that. 90 in vegas. still hot thoug degrees cooler

yesterday. still a little cool in santa ro rosa. we'll call it 89. that's a look at your warm thursday forecast. friday, coming right up. >> bill, thank you. stocks spike. intel takes a hit, and how to blow $671,000 in one night. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, former "dynasty star" joan collins proves she still loves a good cat fight. sydney crosby tries to rally the penguins and the cavs just can't let go of lebron. 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. defense secretary robert gates is warning that an abrupt end to the military's don't ask, don't tell policy would have, quote, enormous consequences for the nation's troops. his comments came a day after a federal judge ordered the pentagon to stop enforcing its ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. gates says the question of whether to repeal the law should be decided by congress and only after the pentagon completes its study on the issue in december. nato says a bomb blast has killed three coalition troops in western afghanistan today. no word on whether any of them are americans. at least 37 nato service members have been killed this month. federal authorities say they've taken down an organization that carried out a fraud scam allegedly billing medicaid for $360 million in treatments that were never

again. prosecutors charged 73 people across the country, mostly in new york and los angeles. and nasa's hubble space telescope has captured what scientists believe are the first images of a collision between two asteroids. the images taken earlier this year show a bizarre x-shaped object that astronomers have never seen before. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,096 after adding 75 points yesterday. the s&p rose 8 points and the nasdaq gained 23. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 180 points while in hong kong the hang seng surged 394. stocks hit fresh five-month highs once again yesterday fueled by its sinking u.s. dollar. overseas this morning, the dollar dropped to a ten-month low after singapore unexpectedly tightened policy to give its

currency more flexibility. back on the street, industrials and materials led the day's gains while commodities spiked in response to china's record import growth. caterpillar shares added 1% while free for the mcmorran and gold and copper prices higher. intel shares slid nearly 3%. elsewhere on the dow, jp morgan chase also beat the streets' earnings estimates. shares were pushed lower by the firm's weak revenue. the number of home foreclosures topped 100,000 for the first time ever last month. however, that number will likely drop going forward after all 50 states launched a joint investigation of the mortgage industry yesterday in response to wide spread reports of lax foreclosure file prog seed churs nationwide. yahoo! shares shot up more than 5% yesterday after "the wall street journal" reported that aol and several private equity firms are in the early stages of a possible bid to buy

the website. and finally, studies show money doesn't always buy happiness, but it could find one very expensive slumber party. the mandarin oriental in tokyo is marking its 50th birthday by offering the entire hotel, all 9 restaurants, spas, 178 rooms and fleets and a cocktail reception for 500 of their closest friends for the low, low price of 671,000 big ones. farve's streak is in jeopardy, alexander the great and federer delivers again. plus, pittsburgh's sid "the kid" crosby finally lights the lamps. but was it enough to bring a victory? your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. all eyes are on a developing storm system that's going to hit new england hard with gusty winds and heavy rain. your early morning forecast is coming up on "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the bulk of the major action was in limbo last night. so hockey enjoyed a rare moment when the focus was on the ice. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. with the baseball playoffs off

until tomorrow and the nba ramping up with preseason games, the nhl took center stage last night. starting in pittsburgh, penguins and maple leafs pick it up in the second. second in the game, and the leafs were up, 4-2. sydney crosby tried to rally the penguins, but it wasn't enough. maple leafs won it, 4-3. two-time vp alexander ovechkin got the cap, a laser from the top of the circle sided at one. washington took the lead late in the third. ovechkin unloaded another rocket. he redirected it past the goalie. the caps won it was 2-1. the $100 million man scored a perfect time to score his first of the year. he ripped one past ryan miller. he devils beat the sabers, 1-0. quick football note. brett favre's ironman streak of starting a record 289 games may be in jeopardy. latest problem? tendinitis elbow. farve will rest his arm as much as possible before sunday's

game against the cowboys. tennis. you know it would have to be something really special to show it from the shanghai masters. john eisner with a shot over roger federer's head. he raised back and hit the ball between his legs. he may not be number one in the world any more, but no one is better at this trick shot. federer won it in straight sets. finally, the cleveland cavaliers may be in denial that lebron james left. look no further than the team's 2011 calendar. that's the king himself on the cover. actually, they were credited before lebron bolted from the heat, but the team is still trying to sell them for 15 bucks. no one is buying them. get this, the calendars were printed by a company called perfect timing. talk about horrible timing for the cavs. 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. david arquette apologizes for spilling the beans on his divorce. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead.

plus, we'll tell you about a student who gets an a plus for taking a stand against bullying. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday. weather is change r chaning a lt on the west coast, especially in the northwest. the cold front is going to move

through. we're going to see a little bit of rain. you will need your umbrella in the seattle area and much of the interstate 5. portland, you're dry today. warm in california. not quite as hot in san francisco. only 84 compared to 90 tz last couple of days. still hot. look at phoenix at 98. by the time we go to friday, more clouds begin to linger. it's going to keep thing cooler. cooling it off a little bit in phoenix. vegas should be enjoyable. san francisco, gorgeous. instead of being so hot in the west, now we're going to be beautiful. if you're watching us on kge-tv 17 in bankers field, california, if you always wanted to learn how to play chess, hand to lancaster regional library in nearby lancaster for the the checkmate chess club. that's your pacific event of the day. i imagine you playing chess. >> you do? that's a good imagination because not so much. >> you're just a queen in a lot of other ways. >> i'm a killer at checkers. yeah. now, here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.

blogger perez hilton tells ellen degeneres that the recent string of gay suicides has inspired him to rethink his writing, including any material that could be deemed as bullying. actor david arquette says he regrets his racy overshare on the howard stern show. in a tuesday interview, arquette opened up about his split with wife courteney cox and gave some intimate details of their sex life, or lack thereof, and revealed a pors-separation fling with a cocktail waitress. the actor then apologized in a tweet wednesday about saying he shared too much. yes, he did. also, what is courteney saying about all this? a source close to the couple tells "people" magazine that, quote, nothing surprises her at this point. meanwhile, joan collins is pulling out the claws with another former friend. the 77-year-old star tells "the daily mail" that with the

exception of angelina jolie, hollywood is void of any beautiful actresses. she says, quote, jennifer anniston is cute, but i wouldn't call her beautiful. everyone needs to leave jennifer aniston alone. >> it's interesting. remember the day when all the magazines in the supermarkets used to actually have supermo l supermodels on them? now it's all the celebrities. >> you ponder that, bill. and this comes to us from kc 24 news in fresno, california. where one boy is taking to the streets for a very brave sight. marco, a seventh grader and a victim of bullying is staging a protest outside his school over what he calls a serious and potentially deadly issue. school officials say the students involved in the bullying have apologized, but marco says that isn't enough and that he'll continue to stand up for himself and speak out for those who are afraid to. good for him. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a man in nepal is standing tall after nabbing an impressive title. at barely 26 inches tall, he's been named the world's shortest man. it's his second try at the title. his entry four years ago was rejected because he was underage. now on his 18th birthday, the little guy has inched his away ahead of the competition by literally an inch. no one could look away from the elephant in the room and for good reason. in india, an upbeat elephant let loose at a hindu festival. hundreds lined up to see the elephant who has been trained to

hop on three legs in a dance. but he doesn't perform for free. the elephant was rewarded bread and treats for his effort. what's in a name? in this case, probably a couple thousand calories. a washington burger joint has cooked up one massive burger made with a 12 ounce patty, tempora fried bacon sandwiched between two cheeses. the only thing missing? a name since the triple bypass burger has been trademarked by another restaurant, the search continues. i figure this is pretty easy. you go with the quadruple bypass. >> lynn, there's actually a place -- deep frying everything, you can bring stuff to this restaurant near me, a big mac and they will deep fry it for you or a piece of cake. >> that sounds like this -- yeah, the state fairs all around the country. >> i know. but it's like catching on around the country. you can bring stuff places. >> let's stay away from that, bill.

time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in detroit there will be a hearing for a nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a plan wearing explosives in his underwear. rescue of 33 miners in the u.s. today marks the anniversary of another dra matic rescue. on this day years ago baby jessica fell into a mine and was rescued 58 hours later. right here at nbc studios a huge night for the show "30 rock." for the first time it will be live airing from studio 8h, home of "saturday night live." 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 following the miraculous rescue of all 33 trapped miners. and matt lauer talks to d.c. public schools chancellor

michelle wie about her decision to step down. 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.