folks, i want to thank my [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," a worried workforce. anxiety as the nation awaits today's report on unemployment in today's tough economy. a brawl involving parents breaks out in a florida football game. and goodness gracious. celebrants at an annual ritual fire flaming balls at each celebrants at an annual ritual fire flaming balls at each other. 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 fresh recession fears.

pressure is mounting on president obama as the government releases its august jobs report later this morning. the data will come on the heels of a new white house projection that does not point to much improvement in the unemployment rate any time soon. tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. the white house says we're probably looking at 9.1% unemployment for the rest of this year and 9% for all of next year despite the fact that the weekly jobless claims are down. we're probably not going to see much change today. analysts say that the government is skeptical that the government can do anything to affect that number. president obama next thursday giving a big speech here on capitol hill telling congress what he believes needs to we done to create jobs in this country. but he's under fire from his own party, from democrats who say he's been compromising entirely

too much, they believe, and that the president needs to creation a vision that sets them completely apart from the republican party as they head into this next election. >> tracie potts there for us in washington. thank you. economic woes may be the main reason why this labor day weekend, the nation's highways won't be quite as crowded as they have been in past years. most of the causes for folks spending this holiday at home start with dollar signs. nbc's chris clackum reports. >> reporter: starting at the gas pump with gas costing a dollar gallon more than last labor day holiday and with air fares up 13% means americans won't be traveling that much or that far this last long weekend of the summer. travel will be down this labor day over the last one. >> people in particular are thinking about a quick trip as opposed to a longer vacation.

>> industry experts say the reduced travel is actually resulting in reduced travel costs. >> reporter: a particularly good time for example for people to go to europe where the weather is still good, prices are 20% less than you find in the summer months. >> starting next week cruise prices drop to less than $100 per person per night and they expect hotel prices to do the same after the labor day holiday, monday. chris clackum, nbc news. libyan leader moammar gadhafi is showing no signs of giving up even as rebel fores extended the deadline for his home town to surrender. gadhafi vows to keep fighting. stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: i'm in the city of misrata, perhaps the city in this country that's suffered the most under gadhafi's forces. there's growing concern that the fighting is not over.

he told his loyal forces not to back down, not to surrender. they were told that they had to surrender this saturday. now, they have an additional week to surrender. but gadhafi has told his forces to rise up, to fight back and that's made people in misrata nervous. nearly 1,000 people were killed in an extended battle in this city and they don't want to see any more blood shed. stephanie gosk, misrata. here are other stories making news early today in america. fists were flying at a youth football game in florida. an argument over one referee's calls erupted into a brawl. one player and a couple of parent coaches roughed up the referee before the melee ended. no arrests were made after the incident, but charges against some of the adult attackers are expected soon.

in kansas, a couple wichita officers braved suffocating smoke and raging flames to pull an elderly driver from his burning car. the officer sprang into action after the 65-year-old's car ignited following a crash into two vehicles and a guardrail. the officers and the driver did not suffer any serious injuries. finally at the nebraska state fair, we have liftoff. a group of dogs got plenty of air time showing off their leaping skills at the dock dog competition. with a little coaxing, owners did their best to get their dogs to take flight. the dogs with the longest jumps will compete for the championship monday. for a look at your national and regional weather, here's todd santos. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning. >> i don't think my dog would even jump off the dock. >> it's borderline cruel. i'm not going to go there. it's all in good fun.

fried oriole, dogs jumping off docks. >> they would be smart if they didn't jump in the water. you'ree headed in that direction, beautiful beaches just as far as this weekend's concerned. we'll be dealing with tropical depression 13, could be tropical storm lee by later today. look at the forecast path. now it's actually stationary. should move towards the coastline. a flood potential for sure. one of the biggest issues that you can see wave heights upwards of seven to ten feet there. tropical storm katia could actually become a hurricane later on today as well. there's a look at the official forecast track. that will be a big wave producer for the east coast. at that point, it could be a major hurricane. want to keep a close eye on that system. notice the thunderstorms making their way into minneapolis. chicago likely dry into later on this evening. we'll see the better chance for

showers. quiet across much of the west coast itself. get down to phoenix, arizona, showers and thunderstorms through the daytime. even starting off this morning fairly m >> we'll take a closer look at a few of the other areas coming up. a busy day weather wise. the west coast for the moment safe from tropical stormal systems. >> also coming up, big banks in big trouble over bad mortgages. auto sales zoom and say good-bye to something familiar on your street corner. your early morning business headlines are ahead. coming up, the college football season kicks off.

chris johnson hits the jackpot.

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. a milestone in the war in iraq. august marks the first month since the start of the u.s.-led invasion that no u.s. forces died. the federal election commission has agreed that gabrielle giffords, the congressman wounded in the tucson shooting, can use $2,200 in campaign donations to pay for security upgrades to her home. the panel made an exception due to violence and threats stemming from her work. england's telegraph reports king arthur's legendary roundtable, the place he gathered his knights, may have been found beneath king's knot, a geometric landmark at stirling castle. they have linked the site to the

king. in el salvador men throw balls of fire at each other in a tradition marking a volcanic eruption in 1922. amazingly over the years, there have been few serious injuries in the festival. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. after a two-day meeting on silicone breast implants, the food and drug administration has found they are safe and will stay on the market. the agency will consider a registry to track safety problems. last year alone there were almost 400,000 enlargement or reconstruction procedures involving silicone or saline implants. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil wash with odor block. the confident clean. here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,493 after falling 119 points yesterday. the s&p lost 14 points.

the nasdaq sank 33. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei skid 110 points, while in hong kong the hang seng slipped 372. wall street's four-day rally ground to a halt thursday thanks to jitters ahead of today's august jobs report. a mild increase of about 75,000 jobs is expected, despite weekly jobless claims falling thursday, other down data had investors gloomy about today's numbers, such as a drop in factory employment. overall factory activity came in only just above growth levels. construction spending fell unexpectedly in july. public outlays dropped to their lowest levels in five years. and thursday the white house cut its economic growth outlook for the next two years. goldman sachs fell 3.5% on renewed scrutiny from the fed over past mortgage and foreclosure practices. and "the new york times" reports

the agency overseeing fannie mae and freddie mac will sue more than a dozen banks for billions over mortgage securities sold at the height of the housing bubble. "the times" jamesed bank of america, jpmorgan chase and deutsche bank. august auto sales rose 7.5%, way better than expected. august same-store retail sales were slightly below expectations, but macy's and costco both rose on strong sales. communications equipment maker sienna skyrocketed 20% posting its first profit in three years. after the bell netflix tumbled after starz entertainment said it would stop streaming its content on the service. and, finally, chalk up another casualty to the digital age. the blue corner mailbox. due to steeply declining use, the postal service has removed more than 60% of the familiar neighborhood mail drops. well, coming up, the yankee/red sox rubber game.

last year's heisman trophy winner throws a touchdown. and milwaukee's brewers show their major league sense of humor. plus, time flies in the opening game of the college football season. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and opening day in your holiday weekend just hours away. we'll take a look at the forecast coming up.

good morning. if are you just waking up, this is "early today." in sports it's classic baseball. a back and forth struggle in september between the red sox and the yankees. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it's hard to believe that the yankees could be better without alex rodriguez. apparently it's true. new york is now 15 games over 500 without rodriguez after beating the red sox. no a-rod. maybe the yanks can sign golfer phil mickelson. he took some swings during batting practice, and he looked pretty good. russell martin gave them the lead. that scored a pair. yanks went on to win it 4-2. they're a half game back. brewers may be in first place but they were swept by the cards. albert pudge ols is not someone you want to face with a sac full. cards won it 8-4. if you took a gamble and drafted running back chris johnson in your fantasy football team, that move has now paid off. he ended his hold-out with the titans to agree to a four-year $53 million extension, $30 million guaranteed.

he is expected to play week one against the jaguars. panthers and steelers. one last chance for cam newton to earn the starting quarterback job. his first touchdown to jeremy shockey. not enough. pittsburgh won 33-17. nfl regular season begins next week while college football started last night. number 11 wisconsin had no problem with unlv. wisconsin won easily 51-17. poor bucky the badger did a push-up for every point scored. keep that up and he could be a linebacker by midseason. we showed you the attempt inside the park home run wednesday. his teammates had fun with it yet, re-creating the scene of the crime. there's the culprit. a speed bump down the third baseline. they also drew a chalk line of his body using athletic tape. this was a thorough investigation. no stone was left unturned. nbc wants to do "law and order" milwaukee, they need to look no further than the brewers dugout. ♪

that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a very safe labor day weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> good one, fred. a reality tv star is sued for animal abuse. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's one of the dues you pay in college. dorm life. wouldn't it be nice if you could live your school days in the highest of style? you are watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." a buf look at the forecast from billings down to salt lake city. still again some cool temperatures from eli, nevada, up to the higher elevations. i can't imagine what it feels like to wake up at this point and see temperatures in the 30s. it has to be pretty crisp. saturday morning leading to portland 91 degrees there. 91 in honolulu with full sunshine. if you're watching us in mountain view, see ceramic art created by the community school of music and arts students. at the mohr gallery. now here's an early look at the headlines in entertainment. this weekend's three new films will chase a steady but not unstoppable box office chance. "the help" hasn't been blockbuster, but at this time of year its steady modest take has

earned repeated top spots. it should finish with about $15 million. its biggest competition, the sci-fi thriller "apollo 18." it revolves around the unknown last mission from apollo. one usually bad sign that they wouldn't screen it for the critics. it will still battle for the top spot. rounding out the newcomers. shark night 3-d expected to earn $10 million. and a spy drama featuring helen mirren "the debt." stev steven seagal has been accused of puppy killing. a lawsuit by the suspect alleges seagall among other things killed his 11-month-old puppy. he siz he's outraged by the charge. this comes to us from wcau nbc 10 in philadelphia, pennsylvania, where in nearby galloway, new jersey, a few college co-eds get a seriously

ridiculously sweet campus life upgrade. the college's recent purchase of a historic vacation resort is redefining the dorm experience for 50 select students. the hospitality management majors will be housed at the four-star getaway living it up while at the same time learning about the industry they hope to make a living in. you see us mass communication majors. there was no hanging out in the tv studio. >> the palm trees? >> that's not how we hung out in ohio. a little shout out. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

when you hear "canoeing," this is not likely what you have in mind. in china, the tradition has one person balancing on a long thin bamboo log using a pole to paddle. if you think it looks tough, you're right. athletes have to have incredible abdomen strength and good balance. the abundance of bamboo in this area have made this sport increasingly popular. also in china, teams of pilots put on a spectacular show this week. the country's air force performed what could be called aerial artwork. they piloted specially modified planes using the craft as paint brushes as they drew colors in the sky. it was all part of the first

ever air show there, celebrating the start of a new semester for aviation students. one theater group is putting a modern twist on a renowned classic. to help students learn the sometimes challenging works of shakespeare these thespians turn them into a rap. the musical features an array of original rap songs with lyrics from the play wright's famous monologue. adapting the prose to modern life helps young people appreciate the timelessness of his work. todd, if you ever wanted to rap on national tv, this would be your moment. >> um, no. although i do appreciate the fact that they are, doing, like, pg will smith type lyrics. >> absolutely. well, it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. there will be a hearing on whether former all-star pitcher roger clemens should be retried on charges of lying under oath. the accusations stem from a 2008 congressional testimony in which he denied using performance

enhancing drugs. technicians will be installing the tribute in light memorial in lower manhattan. the two four-mile high beams have commemorated the fallen twin towers on each anniversary since the 9/11 attacks. and in 1901 in a speech at the minnesota state fair then vice president theodore roosevelt offered the now famous advice, speak softly and carry a big stick. 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." finally here's a look at what's is coming up later this morning on the "today" show. residents along the gulf brace themselves as a tropical storm heads their way, and four time grammy winner lenny kravitz rocks the plaza with a full half hour of music to close out 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. just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com