i want to thank my guests ann curry, hines ward and of [ cheers and applause ] rebels in libya battle for tripoli while the question lingers. where is qadhafi? line of duty. a california officer gets caught in the crossfire of a tense standoff. and bell check sale. an ohio road crew instled a highway sign with an an ohio road crew instled a highway sign with an embarrassing mistake. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning. i'm lynn berry. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. today we begin with a power struggle.

there have been reports of heavy fighting near moammar gadhafi's compound near tripoli this morning. but the libya leader is still nowhere to be found. this as one of gadhafi's sons, thought to have been captured, made a bizarre appearance. nbc's brian mooar has the latest from washington. brian, good morning to you. >> good morning. a spokesman for the rebels says this fight will not be over until they have qadhafi. >> reporter: libyan rebel have overrun moammar gadhafi's seat of power. some of them armed with nothing more than axes, tear guns, and sure determination. this morning this country and the rest of the world are looking ahead to a new libya, on vacation in martha's vineyard, president obama saluted the libyan people. >> your revolution is your own and your sacrifices have been extraordinary. now the libya that you deserve is within your reach. >> reporter: six months after the revolution started,

qadhafi's regime is all but crushed. >> it worked. in a sense now we have tripoli, and the regime of muammar qadhafi is over. >> reporter: still, some loyalists refuse to give up. qadhafi's son and heir apparent appeared overnight to mock the rebels. who believed he was in custody. the fighting continues in the capital. >> many snipers. >> reporter: street by street a deadly end game. >> people won the battle. >> qadhafi is gone. he is not dead yet, but he is dead. >> reporter: a fight for a new libya. >> now the libyan people oppressed for so long have the daunting task of deciding their own future. lynn. >> brian mooar in washington. brian, thank you. back here at home millions of east coast residents are bracing for irene, the first atlantic hurricane of the season. now a category two storm with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles an hour. now, current forecasts have irene on track to hit the

southern bahamas today and make u.s. landfall in eastern florida and the carolinas by the end of the week. possibly as a major hurricane. chris clackum reports. >> reporter: as it blew through puerto rico early monday, irene was just barely a category one, still the first hurricane of the atlantic season knocked over several structures and knocked out power to at least 800,000 customers half the island. then had officials in the dominican republic scrambling as it picked up power and speed. it's the path irene takes after that that has u.s. forecasters very concerned. many in florida are already preparing. >> why wait? i mean, i'm not panicking. i just want to be ready. >> reporter: most model advisory irene skirting the southeastern seaboard by friday after delivering what may be a 115-mile-an-hour blow to the bahamas thursday. forecasters say there's no system over the u.s. to stop

irene from strengthening. >> in addition to that, the water temperatures will be very warm. the storm will be traveling over the gulfstream, and for that reason we could easily be talking about a major hurricane threatening the u.s. coast. >> reporter: and for now threatening florida, georgia, and mainly the two carolinas. chris clackum, nbc news. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a police officer in california was critically wounded when a gunman opened fire during a standoff. after collapsing, the officer was dragged to safety and taken to a hospital where he is listed in stable condition. police say the suspect killed his baby daughter and then set fire to his home where his body and that of his mother-in-law were later found. a pile of dirty money is expected to fetch a big sum at an illinois auction. the federal government is selling a collection of rare $501,000 bills.

found in the home of chicago mobster, frank the breeze, calabrese. the entire collection adds up to $728,000. all proceeds are expected to go towards the $27 million calabrese owes the government and families connected to his racketeering conviction. and in ohio a work crew apparently forgot to use spellcheck before installing an interstate sign. yeah, look there. "south" misspelled. drivers went into cincinnati may have done several takes after they noticed the word "south" misspelled. officials were notified, and the sign was repaired. oops. now for a look at your national and regional weather. here is meteorologist todd santos with your weather channel forecast. hi, good morning to you. >> good morning, lynn. >> i can assure you it was spellcheck. hey, want to take you into what's going on across the west. we'll talk a little more about irene as well.

you can see it in the southeastern edge of the graphic affectin portitions of puerto rico, still, although it's starting to lessen its hold. a fi showers across the pacific northwest. inland from seattle. today likely to be drier. but finishing up the showers. some of the better thunderstorms from minneapolis down through southern wisconsin, extending back towards chicago as well. those are probably some of the better-chance areas to see isolated delays. across much of the west, very warm scenario. our forecast getting up to 116, 118 in yuma, arizona. heat advisories in place. notice the bubble of heat showing up and there's the look at temperatures now. there's the starting point with temperatures in the 90s, notice we still have the rain shower in there, but for the most part, seattle, we should be dry and keep it going the next couple of days. albuquerque still some otential monsoonal showers. there's a look at hurricane irene, max sustained winds at 100 miles per hour.

it will have some impact through 98, even yuma, very warm temperatures on the way. so a number of places on the warm and quiet side of things, so fairly decent across much of the west. >> todd, thanks so much. >> a major shakeup at standard and poor's. and actor ryan gosling has a real-life superhero moment. coming up, the giants win big, but suffer an even bigger loss, terrelle pryor enters the nfl and emotions run high at the little league world series.

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are your top headlines this morning. prosecutors have asked for the dismissal of sexual assault charges against former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn. in court documents prosecutors describe lies and inconsistencies they say destroyed the accuser's credibility. a formal dismissal is expected today. a lawyer for casey anthony says she's back in florida and ready to report for probation on check fraud charges this friday if her appeal fails. her attorneys argue she's already served the probation sentence while she was jailed on a murder charge in her daughter's death. richard branson says actress kate winslett rescued his mother from his burning caribbean home. she was staying there with her children when a lightning strike from hurricane irene set off the fire. luckily, no one was injured.

and data shows the number of americans on food stamps has jumped 74% since just before the start of the 2007 financial crisis. almost 47 million people rely on food stamps. that's about 15% of the population. well, now here's an early look at one of your top headlines on msnbc.com. new evidence that marriage and divorce can take a toll on a person's waistline. after a 22 year study researchers found women are more likely to gain weight after they get married while men are more likely to pack on the pounds after a divorce. the reason? researchers believe married women have less time to exercise, while divorced men make poor food choices. for more information on this and other health stories, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> early today health is brought to you by vagisil wash, the confident clean. here's an early look at wall street.

the dow opens at 10,854 after adding 37 points yesterday. the s&p went up a fraction and the nasdaq gained three. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei grew 104 points, while in hong kong the hang seng rose 388. just weeks after standard & poor's slashed the nation's prized triple-a credit rating, the company's chief is stepping down. the company announced yesterday president devin sharma will leave s&p by the end of the year and will be replaced by a former citigroup executive. the resignation comes as the agency faces a justice department inquiry over its rating of subprime mortgage securities. the s&p says the mover has been in the works for months. back on wall street gold shot up nearly 2% hitting an all-time record high, just shy of $1,900 an ounce. bank of america fell sharply again yesterday. down almost 8%.

the nation's largest bank has shed more than 50% of its value this year. meanwhile, hewlett-packard got back some of the 20% it lost on friday after announcing the end of its pc business. hp was up more than 3%. lowe's inched up 1% on news of a $5 billion stock repurchase program. boeing got a boost from $1.6 billion helicopter deal from the british royal air force. meanwhile, reports say delta airlines will likely award boeing an $8.6 billion contract early this week. elsewhere fewer folks fell behind on their car payments during the second quarter, according to trans union. goldman sachs was lower on the news that lloyd blankfein has hired a lawyer. a toucan controversy, the

maya archeological initiative will not trademark the toucan in its logo because it fears consumers might confuse their bird with the fruit loops mascot. it can get confusing there. not enough room for two of them? coming up, a first for detroit pitcher justin verlander, and the rangers mike napoli shows the red sox you don't mess with texas. plus, a jaw-dropping catch is the talk of the game in minneapolis. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we're looking for quite a catch of the day across the country. we will check out the travel trouble spots coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports it was a rough start for the red sox in their opener. the four-game series with the rangers. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the rangers and red sox could play each other in the postseason. if last night's game was any indication on how that would go, boston is in trouble. we go to arlington and pick it up in the sixth. the rangers led 1-0. looking for more, mike napoli found it, a three-run bomb. they shut out the sox 4-0.

tigers justin verlander took another step towards winning a cy young. struck out eight and got his 19th win of the year. tigers beat the rays 5-2. we have shown you great catches this year. this takes the case. guerrero takes to center, and a leaping over the shoulder grab before crashing into the wall. doesn't get much better than that. ben reviere, the catch of the night. then the catch of the night and perhaps the catch of the season. football picked up terrell pryor. former ohio state quarterback will be eligible to play week six of the regular season. giants looked ready for the season to start. up big in the fourth, derrell scott ripped off the longest run of the night. stumbled off the line of scrimmage and then off to the races. giants won 41-13. it wasn't all good news. they lost terrell thomas with a torn acl for the season. a touching moment for the little league world series.

pennsylvania's landen brand, pitching a no-hitter. but with a ten-run lead on louisiana, was pulled from the game so he could pitch later this week. that's when emotions got the best of him. he wanted it stay in so badly, he began to cry. teammates just tried to cheer him up. brandon miller came in to complete the no-hitter. landon proved that baseball is much more than just a game for these youngsters. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> we'll give him an exception for no crying in baseball. well, an 11-year-old actor has harsh words for his adult co-star. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the nation honors the dream of a civil rights icon with a lasting tribute. you're watching "early today."

welcome back into "early today." a very sunny warm day across the west. especially up towards billings, 91 and sunshine, 97 in denver. seattle, most of the rain should be over, improving conditions there. down towards much of the southwest, very warm conditions, i think yuma is already at 87 degrees, headed to around 117 by this afternoon. there's a look at tomorrow, still monsoonal showers across the four corners. 101 in vegas and settled across the west. if you're watching us in portland, oregon, learn about the history of motorsports, through a display of car engines and more. pedal to the metal.

oregon historical society. that's your pacific event of the day. >> like nevada, nebraska. don't get that wrong, nebraska. well now here's an early look at this morning's entertainment headlines. late show host david letterman is making light about death threats made against him in an extremist website. letterman joked about whether his insurance policy covered jihad and told audience members he thinks of them as a human shield. 11-year-old actor jared gilmore who is leaving mad men said be careful around january jones. she's not as approachable as others. she's serious about what she does. everyone else is so nice. that hurt. and ryan gosling can add peacemaker to his list of talents. the 30-year-old actor broke up a fight between two men in new

york city after one accused the other of stealing a painting. ryan calmed them down, paid for the painting and went on his way. further confirming ryan gosling is perfect. this comes to us from the nation's capital, where the public got its first look at a historic tribute fit for a king. the martin luther king jr. memorial made its debut monday situated between the jefferson and lincoln memorial. the 30-foot statue drew large crowds, even bringing some to tears. it is the first memorial to a non-president on the national mall. a fitting celebration for the greatest champion of the civil rights movement. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today" just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

dozens of pigs found themselves on the lucky side of brazil's swine festival. rather than being served as the feast, they served as the entertainment in the 15th annual pig race. opponents chased their pigs, encouraging them down the 100 foot-long course. the winner claims the most valuable pig award, but that title doesn't really mean much. next year top pig usually attends on a plate. well, to celebrate their independence, residents in astonia are literally dancing their way across the country. that's right. for eight straight days groups of dancers keep the move going day and night to cover over 600 miles. police escorts take them through the streets as fellow citizens cheer them on. that helps when you have some

6,000 people twirling through traffic. it does. well, the busy morning commute became a little more enjoyable in england if just for one day. over 700 people gathered for the folding bike competition, racing on the country's favorite mode of transportation. since organizers banned spandex and sporting attire, competitors dress in their jackets and ties, just like on any other work day for the eight-mile race. >> that's what i love about new york. a lot of people ride their bikes in their suits. you know, because not a lot of people have cars here. >> you can ride fast with a suit on. i can't imagine it would give you that much of an advantage of having spandex on a folding bike. the folding bike is what's holding you back. >> spandex never gives anybody an edge. a take a look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. new federal rules aimed at increasing international passengers' rights still into effect. airline must now let passengers deplane if an international flight is expected to remain on

the tarmac for more than four hours and compensate them if they're bump from a flight. the u.n. human rights council meets for a second day to examine the recent violent crackdown in syria. president bashar al assad's forces have used tanks and machine guns against protesters leaving more than 2,000 civilians dead. and on this day in 1966 a luna orbiter took the first photo of earth from the moon. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories and others as they break on msnbc, and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news". finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. the very latest on the battle for tripoli from nbc's richard engel, who is live on the ground there. and former punky brewster stars talks to the adventures of motherhood in her book "happy chaos." keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early

today" your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. today" your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com