[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" wall street roller coaster. concerns about the economy and markets here and around the globe into a spiral. beach spectacle -- several waterspouts kick ed up the sands of north carolina. what was she thinking? a florida woman is caught riding with an 8-month-old in the back a florida woman is caught riding with an 8-month-old in the back of a pickup truck. 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 and today we begin with here we go again. just when wall street seemed to

have settled down, a barrage of bad economic news collided with fresh news about european debt. to trigger a global selloff in stocks that began in asia yesterday and continued this morning. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with the details. brian, good morning to you. >> hi, lynn. the white house says creating jobs is still the president's number one priority even though as he takes a controversial break from his own. >> reporter: mounting concerns the nation is slipping back into recession triggered another triple digit loss on wall street. >> the market is treading on fear. we a fear of something we don't control. >> reporter: the dow dropped another 400 points. president obama's approval rating is dipping too. a mere 26% of americans agree with his handling of the economy, according to the latest gallup poll. >> we need jobs bad. >> reporter: in atlanta, a small army of the unemployed come here for jobs.

>> i want to get a job to support my family. >> reporter: the event sponsored by the congressional black caucus. >> they're all looking for work. they want a job. >> reporter: for the white house it is an uncomfortable contrast. americans working to find jobs as president obama kicks off his vacation on exclusive martha's vineyard. even at this getaway, he can't escape the criticism. >> i don't think he is doing particularly well on the unemployment situation. >> reporter: the white house is working on the economic plan he is unveiling next month. this is one presidential vacation with plenty of baggage. forecast for the president's time on martha's vineyard, cloudy skies with some storms ahead. lynn. >> all right, brian mooar from washington. thank you. well, u.s. officials tell nbc news intelligence reports indicate libyan leader muammar qadhafi is making preparations to leave libya. one official suggested it could be within a matter of days.

according to the report, qadhafi and his family will be granted exile in tunisia. meanwhile, the battle for tripoli rages on and john ray from our english broadcasting partner ipn reports on more of this. >> reporter: the rebels are hammering at qadhafi's back door. bullet by bullet forcing it open, leaving the way clear to tripoli. they claim to have taken the oil refinery, cutting the regime's last source of fuel, but in the east of the city an intense battle rages. we are warned that snipers and rockets, and we soon discover why when one explodes uncomfortably close by. there is now a very fierce

street-by-street fight going on for control of this city. rebels know if they can win here, they are within touching distance of gadhafi. and which is why forces loyal to him are happeninging on to every inch that they can. to the south of tripoli the rebels proclaim victory in the town of garian. the net is tightening around qadhafi, but the battle ahead could be the hardest and bloodiest yet. john ray, itn news. now other news we're covering in america. north carolina beach front homes provided the best seat for a spectacular show of force by mother nature. as many as five waterspouts formed off the coast with one becoming a tornado after reaching shore. beachgoers ran for cover as the rare storm whipped around furniture and levelled a section of the boardwalk. no injuries were recorded. employees in california fast food restaurant use teamwork to turn the table on a masked gunman. the suspect was no match for the

courageous crew who managed to strip away a gun and remove the mask before letting the gunman go. no arrests have been made. one michigan man's decision to drive with bad brakes netted a nearly disastrous outcome. the 24-year-old's seat failed him horribly as he used it to stop the truck. hitting four vehicles in the process. police cited this man for reckless driving. and in florida, one child's adventures in babysitting was a dangerous prospect. this really happened. several drivers called police when they spotted the sitter riding in the bed of a pickup truck with an 8-month-old and a stroller. police finally caught up with the vehicle and arrested the woman for child neglect. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast.

you have to throw up your hands and say, where did they get the baby-sitter. >> it's bad enough if there was one. but there was someone driving the truck and also someone sitting in the back. so two people that unintelligent. good morning, everyone, around the country, a pretty quiet weather pattern continues. the question is will the upcoming weekend will we finally hit 90 degrees in portland, ogon, it will a close call on saturday, it looks like saturday will be the warmest day, maybe of the entire summer. so make your outdoor plans. overnight, bad weather in missouri, thunderstorm complex went through omaha and swept down through central missouri. a lot of damaging wind reports with that cluster. now as far as what we're dealing with in the west, monsoonal showers around a big high pressure center in texas. on the border of new mexico and texas, saw some showers and storms. utah and nebraska remained dry along with california. and in montana, the front is sparking a few showers, so the warm conditions continue.

if not hot in the valley. we're a little warmer this morning and even bigger cities. san francisco at 57, at least we're in the upper 50s in coastal communities, interior sections all in the 60s. throughout the day's forecast, you notice the warm air trying to sneak your way, portland, 80 degrees, seattle, 78, a nice afternoon. and the clouds are going to be stubborn in san francisco, though, and l.a. where temperatures will be on the cool side. that's aers and thunderstorms and even a thunderstorm in arizona and new mexico late this afternoon. weekend forecast coming up and a warm saturday, too. >> bill, thanks so much. and how global stocks are reacting to wall street's nosedive. gold prices shine and another bank sends out pink slips, your early morning business headlines

are straight ahead. plus, a remake of conan the barbarian. coming up, what happens when a goodwill tour goes bad. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are your top headlines this morning. in afghanistan there have been twin suicide attacks on a british compound in kabul. at least ten people have been killed. one bomber made it inside the compound, triggering a five-hour gun battle with afghan security forces. meanwhile, in pakistan, a bomb exploded in a mosque, as hundreds gathered for friday prayers. at least 40 people were killed. the blast marks the first major attack in the country during the muslim holy month of ramadan. the "associated press" reports investigators have been told that just two days after american tourist, robin gardner

was reported missing in aruba, her travel companion tried to cash in on a $1.5 million insurance policy he took out on her. gary giordano has denied any wrongdoing, saying she went missing while they were snorkeling. and in belgium, a scene reminiscent of last week's stage collapse in indiana, a storm buckled concert structures as it swept through a music festival featuring the foo fighters and eminem. at least five people were killed. and now, here's an early look at wall street. the dow opens at 10, 990 after sinking 419 points. the s&p went down 53 points, and the nasdaq lost a whopping 131 points. taking a look at overseas trading, while in hong kong, the hang seng tumble ed 616. world markets have taken a beating as global recession

fears rears its ugly head once again. the current bleak economic outlook fueled more losses overseas this morning. markets were down as much as 2% in japan, hong kong, shanghai, and australia. investors fleeing stocks snapped up gold hoping the precious metal will prove to be a safer bet in the long run. yesterday's fresh high at $1,836, put gold up some $350 an ounce since july 1st. on the street oil tumbled more than $5 a barrel. the ten-year u.s. treasury note hits its lowest yield ever and the average mortgage rate fell to its lowest in at least 40 years. escalating worries about europe's debt, the "wall street journal" reports u.s. regulators are looking at the u.s. arms of big european banks to make sure they have enough money for day to day operations. on the economic front, the hits just keep on coming. beginning with new jobless

claims that jumped by 9,000 last week. consumer inflation is at its highest margin. home sales fell unexpectedly for the third time four months. manufacturing has been the strongest in recent years, and yesterday the fed reported a dismal drop in mid-atlantic states. more bad news from bank of america. it's cutting 3,500 jobs as part of restructuring that could eventually eliminate thousands more down the road. and it's the end of the road for hewlett-packard's smartphone, tablets, and pcs. as it exits most of its consumer-based businesses. a pitcher takes a line drive to the head, while new england's chad ochocinco gets a leveling of his own. a goodwill game between georgetown and china is marred by bad sportsmanship. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. your weekend forecast is going to be all about heat and

thunderstorms. that's coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." the yankees experienced deja vu yesterday with another disputed call. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines.

good morning. a night after a home run replay went against the yankees, the umpires got it right in minnesota. taking on the twins. justin mourneau hit one down the right field line. just inside the foul pole, or was it? one umpire said home run. mourneau rounded the bases. they would review it. look for yourself. that's a foul ball. to the third. no replay needed for this one. mark teixeira's 33rd homer of the year. yanks remain half eh half game ahead of boston in the east. >> close call the white sox/indians game. phil umber was hit in the face by a line drive. it hit him so hard the ball carried back towards home plate. amazingly, he was fine. left the game for precautionary reasons. takes a pretty hard head to take a shot like that. indians won it 4-2. on the political front vice president joe biden is in china on a goodwill tour. also in china basketball on the tour, the team from georgetown university. they played an exhibition game against the chinese pro team, and the will wasn't so good. a brawl broke out during the

game. the benches cleared. punches were thrown. a wild scene in a game that was reportedly very physical from the start. the georgetown team walked off for its own safety. i'll say this, if it was a goodwill tour, those kids from georgetown should have diplomatic immunity. to the guys who are supposed to hit, the patriots chad ochocinco got leveled against the bucs. mason foster nearly took off his head. the league is trying to crack down on these types of hits, and there was a penalty gin. chad would have the last laugh. he scored the first touchdown for the patriots. they won it big 31-14. steelers hines ward won "dancing with the stars" and showed his moves last night. scored a touchdown and key the music. that's called the washing machine. steelers with a 24-14 win over the eagles. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> early today sports is brought to you by just for men mustache and beard. >> kat vondee takes the good

with the bad. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a unique competition where bed-makers and vacuumers fight for olympic gold. you're watching "early today."

well good friday morning, we take you through your weekend forecast. i think all of your weekend plans will be unaffected by the weather. if anything, maybe a little too

hot in some spots. we'll be warm today in the inner mountain west. phoenix at 112, hit a record high for the today, today a little cooler. and tomorrow looks similar in many areas. portland, 88 is your forecast high, who knows, maybe we'll get luck were and hit 90 for the first time. one of the warmest summer days you've had. the interior west on saturday and sunday is very warm conditions. we may even see 80 in seattle. maybe finally break out the shorts. if you're watching us on kcra 3 in sacramento, california. learn about history of the golden state at riding concrete, skateboarding in california. that's at the california museum. and that's your pacific event of the day. by the way, you can break out the shorts at 79. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. as the summer box office winds down last weekend's runner-up "the help" won't need any help against 3-d newcomers.

strong word of mouth should push the acclaim ed acclaimed film about the 1960s south into the top spot with $19 million. "the spy kids, all the time in the world in 4 d" could give the help the "scratch and sniff." the 3-d remake of "connen the barbarian" could suffer from 3-d fatigue and lack of star power. it should debut with just 16 million. another remake, stars colin ferrell as the vampire next door. and finally, good news, bad news for "l.a. ink" star kat von d all in the same day. the good news is her engagement to sandra bullock's ex-jesse

james, is reportedly back on. the bad news, tlc has just announced her show has been canceled. you're disappointed, that was appointment tv for you, bill. and this comes to us from las vegas, nebraska, where the spotlight was on unsung hero of the vegas strip, housekeepers from some of the city's poshest hotels have their game faces on at the 21st annual housekeeping olympics. teams competed in events such as bed-making, mop and vacuum races and buffer pad topping. the winning team took home queen-sized beds and the reputation for house on and off the job. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

when it comes to the war on obesity, no one is safe. boris has been placed on a strict diet and he is apparently not happy about it. tipping the scales at 480 pounds, the australian piggy throws a temper tantrum and even raids his owner's frig for a midnight snack. doctors say his weight, which is affecting his eyesight, could be deadly. he needs to drop the extra pork asap. >> that's never fun. two companies in paris have declared war. a post-it war, that is. it all started when employees at one company decorated their windows with post-it figurines. soon workers in an adjacent building responded with their own creation. from dragons to video game

characters, the competition is fierce with bragging rights at stake. managers say let the games continue. i want that manager. more bad news if are you looking for a job. avatars could be snatching them up. that's right. an airport in france is experimenting with virtual boarding agents. the 2- holograms directs people to their gates. airport managers say they want to use holograms because they never need bathroom breaks and never go on strike. a war against human beings. it's coming, people. it's coming. >> that's the dumbest idea we've seen in a while. >> well, it's -- it works, and then we're all in trouble. well, it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. governors from states along the missouri river will attend a meeting in omaha, nebraska, to discuss what to do about flooding in recent months, brought on by melting snow and the rainy spring.

former nba star, jayson williams is being transferred from the new jersey prison to new york's rikers island to serve a one-year sentence for dui after doing 18 months for aggravated assault. and happy birthday to a former president, bill clinton. today he turns 65. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. 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. tea party star and former senate candidate christina o'donnell talks about why she walked off piers morgan tonight. enrique eglasias performs in the "today" summer concert series. 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. the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com