this morning on "early today" long gone, but far from forgotten. days after irene crashed ashore, more high water rescues have washed away roads and leave entire towns cut off. that's got to hurt. an arizona man impales himself with garden iing shears and liv to tell about it. and, oh, lord, hockey's prized stanley cup is damaged and, oh, lord, hockey's prized stanley cup is damaged after tumbling off a table. 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 an unnatural year of natural disasters. new climate data shows irene will rank as the tenth billion dollar disaster of 2011 breaking an annual record set back in 1980. at least 39 people have died across 11 states, including three in vermont where shell-shocked residents are still digging out with many still waiting for help. nbc's jay gray has our report. >> reporter: days after hurricane irene slammed into the eastern seaboard, its presence is still being felt. widespread flooding and damage following the storm with river systems pushed to the brink. perhaps the greatest irony of hurricane irene is that landlocked vermont is suffering the greatest impact from the storm. >> the river started coming from the river toward the house and that's when it was time to get out. >> reporter: dozens of towns in vermont remain cut off. washed out roads and bridges will take months to repair. the national guard is now trucking in supplies where it can while choppers are being

used for more remote areas. from the ground the scope of the devastation is all too real. buildings washed out by the sudden torrents are ready to collapse. >> i didn't really think it would happen to this building. i thought it was structurally going to be okay because it's been here for so long. >> reporter: to the south in patterson, new jersey, residents woke to another day surrounded by water. emergency crews continue to rescue stranded people by boat. >> a lot of our fellow citizens are still reeling from hurricane irene and its aftermath. >> reporter: president obama pledged support to those affected. >> as a government we're going to make sure that states and communities have the support they need so their folks can recover. >> yeah, that's a breach. >> reporter: recovery in north carolina will also take some time. the outer banks' only highway is washed out in several places. the clean-up crews continue to work around the clock as they try to recover from hurricane irene. jay gray, nbc news, new york. in addition to monitoring

irene's aftermath, president obama is working on a plan to relieve the nation's aling economy. the president is expected to talk about jobs today, challenging congress to take action. a preview of the larger economic proposal he will be making and selling to congress next week. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. he'll begin today with his transportation secretary and the head of his jobs council. the president is trying to pitch infrastructure projects that are sitting here on capitol hill, that are shoven hl ready, as they call it. he says they'll create jobs. next we'll hear new ideas and old ones as well hayes rolls out his jobs plan, his new jobs initiative. it is expected to extend small business tax breaks and payroll tax cuts. the state with the highest job creation, texas, that state's

governor rick perry is under fire now on the campaign trail. mitt romney during a speech at the vfw didn't mention him by name but talked about career politicians like romney -- or like perry, i should say. described himself as conservative, someone who knows how to deal with the real economy. >> tracie potts for us in washington. thank you. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a fast moving texas fire is forcing residents in several towns to abandon their dwellings. the massive blaze destroyed 25 homes and is threatening over 100 more. fueled by high winds and dry conditions, the wildfire continues to scorch thousands of acres. hundreds of firefighters are battling the massive blaze, but they're struggling to contain it. one arizona man is very lucky to be alive after a freak accident last month. the 86-year-old lost his balance as he bent down pick up shears in his garden. he fell forward impaling the

shears through his right eye socket plunging six inches into the man's skull. the surgeons were not only able to remove them, but they performed reconstructive surgery that saved his eye as well. and finally, one arkansas man was on his very first plane ride when he caught a bird's eye view of a burglary taking place at his home. you can't make this up. being flown by a friend overhead, the man noticed two robbery suspects leaving with items from his home. from the air he directed police to the burglars who were later arrested. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's wcau meteorologist michelle grossman. she has the weather channel forecast. i thought you weren't allowed to use cell phones on the plane. that is unless you're texting a burglar at your home. >> it was in helicopter oh my gosh my house is being robbed mode. the nation quiet weather wise. but we could see severe weather

on this day, especially later on in the afternoon in parts of the northern plains, also montana, then we're looking at showers rly this morning. but for the most part we're relatively quiet. here is the hot spot in montana. north dakota, you can see showers in the mountains of wyoming. we can see thunderstorms as we head throughout the afternoon. a closer look at some of these showers going through idaho. light stuff right now. this is where we can see the stronger stuff by this afternoon. you can see the stronger stuff right there. also in parts of north dakota. starting out in the cool side, it is warm in salt lake city. casper checking in at 69. the forecast for today, mostly cloudy skies in seattle. all up and down the pacific northwest.

all right. not too bad, although looking at some strong storms in the northern plains. that would be the hot spot for today. >> good thing to keep an eye on. consumer spending dries up. at&t makes promises, and talk about ceos you're probably not going to like. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. what's forcing george clooney to give up a coveted upcoming film role. coming up, ryan howard hits the century mark. benches clear, and you want basketball? we got it. 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. this august has been the deadliest month ever for u.s. forces in the long war in afghanistan.

66 service members died this month. nearly half of them when insurgents shot down a chinook helicopter. libya's new rebel leadership has given forces loyal to moammar gadhafi a deadline of saturday to surrender the pockets they still control. the ultimatum comes as rebels converge on gadhafi's home town of sirte. a federal judge has blocked key provisions of a controversial new texas law that would require women seeking an abortion to have a sonogram and listen to the heartbeat of their fetus. the judge ruled the measure violates the free speech rights of both doctors and patients. a new brookings institution report finds that over the past decade minorities accounted for 98% of the population growth in the nation's largest metro areas. hispanics and asians led the boom. now non-hispanic whites are a minority in 22 of the country's 100 biggest urban areas.

and he's at it again. notorious royal partier prince harry was at it again. this time in croatia. video of harry shows him dancing poolside and jumping into the water with his clothes on. camera is always rolling. well, now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a world health organization report shows babies in the u.s. have a higher risk of dying during their first month of life than babies born in 40 other countries. some of the countries ranking better? south korea, cuba, malaysia, lithuania, poland and israel. over 20 years the u.s. has dropped from 28th to 41st and is now tied with qatar, croatia and the united arab emirates. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page on msnbc.com. >> "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil wash.

the confident clean. now here's how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,559 after adding 20 points yesterday. the s&p gained 2 points. the nasdaq was up 14. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei inched up one point, while in hong kong the hang seng rose 330. a nosedive in consumer confidence was offset on wall street tuesday with renewed hope for economic stimulus from the fed. a volatile day of trading ended higher after minutes from the fed's latest policy meeting showed bank officials discussing a variety of options to bolster the economy, including buying more treasury bonds. in the end, earlier news showing consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in two years only served to convince traders the fed will have to intervene soon. still, companies reliant on consumer spending were hit hard. kohl's and lowe's both fell more than 2%. financials were the day's biggest losers. bank of america was off more

than 3%. jpmorgan chase down 1.5%. exxonmobil dropped slightly after announcing the company and russia's state-owned rosneft will develop oil and gas reserves in the russian arctic. boeing rose more than 2% on news the company was moving forward with plans to build a version of its 737 with a redesigned engine. dollar general was up almost 6% on a rise in quarterly earnings. at&t promised to bring 5,000 jobs back to america fp its deal to buy t-mobile usa wins regulators' approval. august employment data is expected to show the addition of 100,000 private sector jobs. and, finally, this may not be too popular on main street. a study out today shows 25 of the 100 highest paid u.s. ceos earned more last year than their companies paid in federal taxes.

many companies also spent more on lobbying than they did on taxes. well, coming up, the tigers roar in extra innings. the hammer comes down on the hurricanes. and if you think the oldest trophy in sports, plus last night in boston a love affair between the yankees and the red sox was in full bloom. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and the northeast continues to dry out, but for how long? your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports two old opponents face off once again last night in familiar fashion, battling for first place. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it is arguably the greatest rivalry in sports, and last night the yanks and red sox lived up to that hype. highly anticipated series in boston. pick it up in the fifth. yanks up 1 when francisco cervelli took john lackey deep over the green monster. just his second homer of the year. check out the thunder clap when he hit home plate. lackey would remember that. in cervelli's next at-bat, lackey plunked him. hit him with first pitch he threw. sparked a bench-clearing stare down. never a dull moment when these two teams get together. the stairing contest was a draw. the yanks won the game 5-2.

they're a half game back in the east. ryan howard topped the 100 rbi mark in style with two homers against the reds. he has had 100 or more rbi in six straight seasons. roy halladay did the rest. phils can't wait for the postseason to start. they beat the reds. tigers and royals needed extra innings. ramon santiago, maybe one of the smallest guys on the roster, but he carried a big bat. tigers won it 2-1. college football, the ncaa has suspended eight players from the miami hurricanes football team for taking improper benefits from booster shapiro. one is jacory harris. he'll miss the season opener against maryland. lebron james. chris paul, kevin durant and carmelo anthony hit an exhibition game. durant scored 59, but it might as well have been 100 because there was no defense, and the game was all for fun. never has a lockout looked so good. finally, the stanley cup making its summer tour with the bruins. michael ryder brought the trophy

to his hometown in newfoundland. set it on the table. down goes stanley. the fall dented the rim of the cup. michael ryder is no longer with the bruins, but he certainly left his mark. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> hockey fans screaming "no!" . the self-proclaimed king of all media forcing his way into a role in "dancing with the stars." your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, taking a step back in time to when a generation of young americans fought for our freedom. you're watching "early today."

whack -- welcome back to rsh rsh. i'm michelle grossman. we're watching the chance for severe weather. also north dakota looking good although hot in the southwest still. las vegas 105, 113 in phoenix. looking good up in the northwest, seattle 67. if you're watching us in seattle, see how local artists use various techniques to create illustrations using only ink well pens at think ink at the gage academy of art. that's our event of the day. >> thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. george clooney is losing a big upcoming film role thanks to earlier injuries suffered in the line of duty.

clooney is said to be dropping out of steven soderberg's upcoming's "man from uncle" film because of back injuries he suffered while filming a torture scene in his oscar winning role in "syriana." injuries that have never entirely healed. wonder how the producers of "dancing with the stars" will feel about this one. new cast member david arquette wants radio shock jock howard stern to serve as his backstage coach. darrell hannah was arrested in front of the white house along with other environmental protesters opposing a planned oil pipeline from canada to the u.s. gulf coast. finally, how does the sound as a recipe for trouble? "us weekly" reports monday lindsay lohan tweeted chris brown saying, "want to meet." brown is still on probation for his infamous 2009 beating of then-girlfriend rihanna and lohan is, well, just plain infamous. something interesting when want

to meet makes news. maybe she wanted to grab a cup of coffee. >> i doubt it. >> it's that reputation that will always haunt her. this comes to us from wcau, nbc 10 in philadelphia, where a smooth takeoff helped one world war ii vet go back in time. 90-year-old william had his climb into a cockpit into the war, but his daughter, arranged with a local nonprofit organization to give william a trip down memory lane in its restored b-24 liberator. the very same plane he used to pilot. in a 30-minute ride the distinguished flying cross winner relived memories over six decades old. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

well, there's a reason why buenos aires is the tango capital of the world. at the world tango championships there, argentine couples made a triumphant fleet capturing first, second, third, and even fourth places. 400 pairs of dancers from around the world took part. the winning couple will be flown to pair us to dance in front of the eiffel tower. people took in the dazzling sights at singapore's annual lantern festival that kicked off this week. tourists there were in for quite a treat as this year's spectacular showing was much larger than previous years. it is a traditional chinese event. always held under a full moon. craftsmen take months to build the lantern, each with delicate designs and unique shapes.

well, finally a tv reporter should never become the story. but sometimes it's inevitable. while covering a tropical storm in china, this intrepid reporter got a taste of mother nature after a wave came crashing over the sea wall. whoops. the water rushed all around her and almost knocked her off balance. she was reporting at a tourist spot that's actually very popular for its gigantic waves, so maybe not a good idea to stand by the railing. >> how good was she, though? she couldn't be any tinier, and she stayed standing. >> the question was was it live? we've all been out there in the field, right? time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admiral mike mullen will deliver the remarks at the opening of the pentagon's new uso exhibit. the exhibit focuses on the uso's 70-year history of serving american servicemen and women throughout photos and artifacts. nba owners and the players union are set to meet for a

second time in an attempt to end a 2-month-long lockout. david stern, the commissioner, previously said progress would have to be made by labor day to avoid canceling part or all of the season. and on this day in 1997 princess diana died in a car crash in paris. 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. with flooding and widespread power outages still affecting millions in the aftermath of hurricane irene, fema's administrator general speaks out on relief efforts. from fried food to huge animals, a little bit of country comes to the plaza for today's county fair. 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