this morning on "early today," new reality. with congress back in session, president obama returns from his whirlwind tour of asia to face an emboldened republican party. free at last. somali pirates release a retired couple after more than a year in captivity. and what's in a word? which newly coined words and phrases top the list for 2010? 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 back to work. lawmakers will tackle a long list of to-dos during a lame duck session of congress that gets under way on capitol hill today. however, expectations are low that we'll see much post-election process during the democrats' swan song as the majority in the house. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with all the details. tracie, good morning. tracie shgs good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. we've got a bit of a mix of the old and new converging on capitol hill here. the old congress has a lot of work to do but the new members of congress are already starting to arrive on capitol hill. they're already filing into washington, armed with public support ready to make big changes. >> i'm not going to be bullied. >> reporter: but before they're sworn in, this congress has to decide whether to let your taxes go up at the end of this year. >> there's no bend on the permanent extension of tax cuts

for the wealthiest americans. >> reporter: but the white house signaled it may support a temporary extension for the wealthy. >> if that's all we can get out of the president, then she the president. so we'll work with him on that. >> reporter: president obama just back from asia said sunday he'd like to know how republicans plan to pay for that $700 billion. congress also needs to pass spending bills to avoid a federal government shutdown. and deal with the budget's big ticket items. medicare, preventing another cut in what doctors are paid, and social security. >> we've got to come to grips, the social security, medicare, medicaid and find bipartisan to reform entitlements before it's too late. >> reporter: democrats hope to squeeze in $250 social security checks to make up for no cost of living increase next year. so are we really talking about compromise here in washington? we'll actually get a better picture of that later this week when president obama sits down with the new democratic and republican leaders in congress. >> tracie potts in washington. tracie, thanks so much.

afghan president hamid karzai is drawing heat from american lawmakers and military leaders over his criticism of the u.s. war strategy in afghanistan. in a "washington post" interview this weekend, karzai said he wanted the u.s. to reduce military operations, and end special operation raids. however, those raids are a key part of the u.s. counterinsurgency strategy. according to "the post," general david petraeus expressed, "astonishment and disappointment with karzai's remarks." meanwhile, according to this morning's "new york times," the obama administration will be laying out a plan this week that aims to end the american combat mission in afghanistan by 2014. the u.s. would start handing over security duties to afghan forces over the next 18 to 24 months. president obama is praising israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu for trying to win approval from his cabinet of a new proposal to freeze construction in the disputed west bank. the plan would see israel enforce a construction ban for

90 days. in exchange, washington would give israel military aid and support at the united nations. if approved by the israeli government, the deal could help revive peace talks with the palestinians, which collapsed at the end of september. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america -- in colorado, three u.s. soldiers were arrested after their attempted raid of a medical marijuana dispensary hit a snag. security video captured the panic when they realized they accidentally locked themselves inside. they've each been slapped with burglary charges. a three-mile stretch of one california beach is littered with thousands of jellyfish. officials are investigating but say a similar event happened about seven years ago with a smaller type of jellyfish. they believe these are moon jellyfish, which are about a foot in diameter. heavy snow in minnesota didn't stop a group of 300 cyclists from competing in the

state cyclo-cross championship. racers did their best to keep warm, but unfortunately that didn't prevent the inevitable wipeout. the race promoter offered this observation, there's a reason it's called the hardest hour in cycling. and in new york, competitive speed eaty champ kobayashi failed to break the world record for downing a 12-inch pizza in the fastest time. the hot dog eating champ said it was the guinness rule of using a knife and fork as well as the soft dough that threw off his time. kobayashi was 17 seconds short of a record but still clocked in at an impressive two minutes and three seconds. still looks like a fighting champ. now for a look at your national weather let's turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> i think it's average it use a fork and knife as chop sticks. >> it's just so proper. you know? trying to keep it civil there, but it's still kind of

disgusting. >> i'm bad with chop sticks but better than he is with forth and knife. let's talk about the west weather. watching the pacific northwest. the problem spot mostly in washington state. high wind warning for the eastern slope of the cascades. much of california, nevada and arizona is going to be okay going throughout much of the week. a split forecast in the west. all the active weather is going to be up here and especially in washington state. seattle, you get stormy weather. maybe the only day you don't is tuesday. so as far as the weather pattern goes, this is kind of the jet stream flow that's going to bring this moisture in off the pacific. it's not cold canadian air. only on the cooler side, and we won't see a lot of snow out of it. mostly on the milder side with rain on and off. you can see the first shot of the rain quickly coming down from vancouver island over bellingham. this part will miss you at least the next hour or so. bring the umbrella today. we expect maybe an inch of rain in the highest elevations of the cascades. everybody else colored in the green, a chance of wet weather.

a decent chance of wet weather everywhere from portland, north to seattle. i mentioned california, you're in a mild air mass. probably some of the best weather the entire country will be found the beginning of this workweek in california, nevada and all of arizona. saumt lake city not so nice today. 45 degrees with rain and snow showers. that's great it's going to be. san jose perfect. 77 and sunny. extended forecast coming up, lynn. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. also coming up, another no-go for four loko, targeting the fed, and want to live like a rock star? you may want to try being a college president. your early morning business

headlines are straight ahead. plus you're not going to believe how former president bill clinton spent this past weekend. >> a hail mary for the ages, a fall on broadway and new coach, new results for the cowboys. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today," i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines this morning -- how police say a 13-year-old girl who disappeared with her mother, brother and a family friend last week, was found bound and gagged in a man's basement, but otherwise in good condition. the homeowner, 30-year-old matthew hoffman, was arrested yesterday on one count of kidnapping, but authorities have not been able to locate the girl's family. the death toll in haiti's cholera epidemic continues to climb reaching more than 900 over the weekend. in addition, the disease has been found in six of ten provinces in the earthquake-battered country. a british couple kidnapped from their yacht by somali pirates are free this morning, after spending more than a year in captivity.

the couple were handed to local officials in a somali town yesterday after they reportedly paid a $300,000 ransom. and a new survey finds that spillcam and vuvuzela were the top words of 2010, reflecting of course the global impasse of the gulf oil disaster and that noisy south african horn at the world cup soccer tournament. also in the top ten was a mistaken mix of dispute and repudiate coined by former alaska governor sarah palin. here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,192 after falling 90 points on friday. the s&p lost 14 points. and the nasdaq dropped 37. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei rose 102 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng fell 195. after a bumpy stretch that put an end to wall street's recent rally. this week, investors will be on the watch

for any sign of the economic strength from a number of factors. economic data on deck this week includes fresh industrial production numbers, and an updated outlook from home builders on the still struggling housing market. inflation will be in focus on the wholesale end consumer level. both are expected to show prices on the rise. retailers reporting october sales are expected to be slightly stronger. we'll also find out how those numbers impact earnings with quarterly reports from walmart, home depot, and target. a total of 10 companies are poised to go public this week with general motors leading that impressive lineup. gm is hoping to raise at least $10 billion with shares expected to go for upwards of $29 apiece. the federal reserve plan to energize the economy will remain on the radar. according to "the wall street journal," a group of gop strategists, economists, and politicians are launching a newspaper ad campaign calling for the fed to drop its $600 billion stimulus. as of friday, shipments of

the caffeinated alcoholic beverage four loko will no longer arrive in new york state. the controversial drink is under investigation by the fda, and has already been banned in washington, michigan, utah, and oklahoma. meanwhile, new york senator charles schumer is asking for a federal investigation into lead levels in some reusable grocery bags. and finally, where did all of that pricey college tuition go? well, according to the latest annual survey by the chronicle of higher education, a record 30 presidents at private colleges took home home compensation packages worth $1 million or more in 2008, and that's seven more than the previous year. well, a thrill in jacksonville. the patriots rebound, and the jets work overtime. again. plus -- just when everyone had written them off, the dallas cowboys play lights out against one of the nfl's top teams. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. going to be a rainy start to

our week in the southeast, the mid-atlantic and the northwest. your monday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, a new coaching era is under way for the dallas cowboys. and the new guy has already paid

giant dividends. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good monday morning to you. earlier this week jerry jones sent his team a message, firing their head coach and the cowboys responded in a big way against the giants. let's go to new york. a series of power outages stopped play in the third quarter. no problem for the cowboys. they had plenty of energy. eli manning picked off in the end zone by bryan mccann and he was off to the races untouched. 101 yards down the sideline for the score. jason garrett earned his first win as head coach. cowboys won it 33-20. great finish. jags and texans. last play of the game, tied at 24. david garrard threw up a prayer and his prayer was answered. the ball went right to mike thomas. game over. jags won it 31-24. now to cleveland, jets and browns. final minutes, colt mccoy found the end zone and tied it at 21 forcing overtime. no field goal needed to win this one. mark sanchez connecting with santonio holmes.

holmes did the rest. 37 yards to the house. jets won in o.t. 26-20. patriots had their way with the steelers. tom brady hooked up with rob gronkowski not once, not twice but three times. the pats made a statement in pittsburgh 39-26. finally, ugly moment in the rangers/oilers game. sean avery dropped his gloves and he just leveled. the referee quickly broke things up. words were exchanged, then they headed to the locker room. that's when the fun began. grab a partner, it's a brawl. even the ranger bench got involved. colin frazier wanted to take on the whole team. when it was all said and done, 124 minutes in penalties handed out, including four ejections. the fight was a draw. but the rangers won the game 8-2. that's your early look at sports on "early today," i'm fred roggin. well, "megamind" has another mega weekend at the box office. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus -- it is every bride's nightmare. a last-minute scratch at the altar.

but we'll tell you about one young woman who made the best of it. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. here's the extended forecast in seattle. not the nicest of all weeks there. watching rain on and off today. a little break on tuesday. don't count on a lot of sunshine, though. wednesday and thursday, the next storm system moves in. look at the temperatures. they get cooler, too, by the end of the week.

the opposite of that is the extended forecast down in california where it's going to be gorgeous over the next couple of days and should be sunny and warm from los angeles all the way down into phoenix. even on tuesday, look at the temperatures. in the 70s in most of the areas of the southwest, nevada. the probably problem area in the rockies. salt lake city about two bad days in a row. if you're watching on khnl, news now, honolulu, hawaii, put on your dancing shoes an get ready for some great, live dancing at the big band dance at the why kiki community center. i have my ticket and will be there. >> sounds like a plan. we'll get the private jet and head out there. >> play all day. >> we would love that. now here's an early look act this morning's headlines in entertainment. family power spoke at the weekend box office. earning the animated 3-d comedy "megamind" top spot for the second straight weekend. for weeks there have been virtually no films for younger audiences. until "megamind" and families filled the theaters again to the

tune of $30 million. $90 million in just two weeks. stifled by "megamind" and others, denzel washington's usual box office mojo couldn't push the debut of "unstoppable" past second place with $23.5 million. another opener, the invading aliens of "skyline" managed fourth with just under $12 million. and the debut of "morning glory" starring harrison ford struggled into fifth with less than $10 million. touchdown for jessica simpson. she's engaged to former nfl player eric johnson. and tmz reports that former president bill clinton shot a cameo appearance in thailand this weekend for the upcoming film "hangover ii." >> what? >> that's going to be funny. >> you heard me correctly, bill. >> i have an idea. the nbc execs listening, nick and vanessa, a reality show planning their wedding and jessica planning hers with her fiance. >> and then bill clinton shows up and officiates the wedding.

bill, we're in the wrong business. we should be doing programming. we'll get that figured out for you in must-see tv. this comes to us from koaa, news first 5 in colorado spring, colorado where for the father of one bride, even though the night didn't go as planned he couldn't have been prouder. his daughter was supposed to be married by now, enjoying a reception surrounded by family, but when the wedding fell through, the bride had an idea. instead of all the reception food going to waste, she donated the hot meal to homeless families in the area through the salvation army. a selfless act of giving that dad says makes him the luckiest guy. >> very nice. >> what a great idea. isn't it? >> yeah. i always wonder why more restaurants and stuff don't do it. i guess some restrictions, health reasons. >> but you never -- something terrible, and they turn it into something wonderful. >> just no muffin stuff. >> "seinfeld" reference. i'm lynn berry and this is

"early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

it was a tall order but a group of kids in chile went over the top and it paid off. it took 500,000 pieces and three days for the children to build the world's tallest lego building. the colorful creation stretches nearly 110 feet, and did require the help from a crane and, of course, some adults, but it gives chile another claim to fame. looking for a deal? an electronics store in israel is offering an unusual promotion. buy an appliance and get a sheep. it's no joke. a local news report shows customers hauling off their tvs, and furry friends.

animal lovers will be happy to hear that the special offer didn't last, and has been since shut down by the city. three chimps from a zoo in china got out for a little monkey business. the baby chimps enjoyed a day of high-end shopping to prep for winter. the spoiled trio hit the kid's section for coats and sweaters to keep them warm. zoo officials hope the attention grabbing excursion will bring awareness to a species that is slowly becoming extinct. my favorite part of the story is they actually had to put diapers on the chimps so that they wouldn't pee all over the clothes. >> oh. could have used the other word, defecate, but, yeah -- >> not in the morning, bill. we're going to try to stay away from that. well, it is time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. everyone's encouraged to reduce their carbon footprint on this, america recycles day. houston will turn off cameras used to catch drivers who run red lights. the shutdown comes following a vote earlier this month by

houston residents to stop using them. and premiering in new york, "harry potter and the deathly hallows." a film based on the first half of j.k. rowling's seventh and final book of the "harry potter" series. 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 here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. watch what happened when the "today" show team recreates one of the most watched internet videos of all time. and actor daniel radcliffe talks with meredith about his latest "harry potter" adventure. and finally tonight at 10:00 eastern, an msnbc special event "beyond borderlines." a live forum at t university of san diego discussing the latino population, illegal immigration and politics. and 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. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com