i want to thank my guests julie emmy-nominated "jimmy fallon" right now! [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" flames and floods. a raging wildfire tears through texas while the south bails out from high water. laboring on labor day. president obama hits detroit delivering a sneak peek of his jobs plan and challenging republicans. and a one ton crocodile lurking in a creek in the and a one ton crocodile lurking in a creek in the philippines isaptured. 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 a slow and stubborn storm.

severe marked the unofficial end of summer with tens of thousands of people in texas and several states along the gulf coast. the remnants of tropical storm lee continue to fan flames in texas and flood parts of the southeast. nbc's curt gregory has more. >> reporter: texas firefighters are looking at another extreme day on the job. even with help from above monday in the form of firefighting helicopters, crews on the ground were outmatched. >> i have seen a number of big fires in my life. this one is as -- this one is as mean-looking as i have ever seen. >> reporter: in bastrop just outside of austin more than 150 homes have been reduced to cinders. 5,000 families have been forced out of their homes and hundreds are living in shelters. monica lost her home and wonder what's next. >> right now i'm sitting and praying because i don't know right now. >> reporter: in louisiana the

biggest problem is flooding. new orleans is still bailing out from tropical storm lee. the storm's surge has most of nearby le fete under water. >> it's alarming how quick the water comes in now. >> reporter: lee had spawned at least 20 tornadoes, including one just outside of atlanta. the storm system expected to move northeast in the coming days carrying the risk of more damage and flooding. curt gregory, nbc news. elsewhere, the president is putting the pressure on republicans returning to capitol hill this week. in a labor day speech yesterday president obama previewed the economic proposal he will present to congress on thursday, which he says will challenge republicans to put the country's economic needs over party politics. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more. tracie, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. new tough talk from the president at that labor day

rally with union workers. the senate and the house is in tomorrow, to talk about how to create jobs in the country. the president will be here on capitol hill thursday, laying out his plan. but on labor day, the president urged republicans to put their country before party, that jobs speech he's expected to pitch, roads and bridges, building and fixing them to save one million jobs. and now a new nbc/"wall street journal" poll that shows the president at a record low disapproval rating, only 44% approve of the job, down since july. >> tracie potts there in washington, thanks. this morning there appears to be a breakthrough for rebel forces seeking to advance peacefully into the pro-gadhafi town. of bani walid. according to al jazeera tv libya's rebels say that after on and off negotiations the tribal

elders have agreed to surrender the desert town without a fight. a peaceful handover of the pro-gadhafi town would be seen as a big step for the fledgling national transitional council. rebels are expected to be allowed in once the deal is finalized later today. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. dry conditions and unstable winds are expected to fuel a raging oregon or wildfire. posing a potential threat to nearby campgrounds and dozens of structures. over 500 firefighters had their hands full with fighting the blaze which scorched over 4,000 acres. crews were making progress, but a shifting weather condition will likely hamper efforts to put out the fire. >> remnants of tropical storm lee is kicking up more than a little dust in alabama. strong winds dumped heaps of sand on one town close to the state's gulf shoreline creating blinding

conditions for drivers and folks on the street there. weather forecasts estimate wind speeds reach 45 miles an hour. and, finally, one colorado dog can't take flight like one famous disney character, his dumbo-like ears have landed him in the guinness world record books. with an ear span of over two feet, the coon hound with the huge ears takes the title of longest ears on a living dog and completely adorable there. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist todd santos. he has your weather channel forecast. it's funny you could even tell on the dog's face, come on, guys, you have to hold up my ears? how humiliating. >> thanks for rubbing it in. >> coon hounds, usually have big lo ears. l big long stretch of moisture, tropical sto lee. we'll talk about this over areas of the east. the rainfallst continues especially along the appalachians, extending up to major cities, new york, philly,

boston all oc.f these areas, a chance for more showers and thunderstorms. keep it in mind if you're traveling. the big thing you see on the map, catia, a category 3 hurricane moving towards the coastline, towards the northwest at around ten miles per hour. there's a look at the forecast track, holding steady from what we've been expecting the last several days. this looks to be more of a surf system for the east coast than more of anything else. if you're heading in that direction, be safe. there's a look at the rainfall that will cause travel troubles today. as far as the rain across the areas from the rockies westward. denver is the best chance with showers and thunderstorms. and south towards lake havasu. catalina coming in quiet in california today, now it's a day late. yesterday is when we were dealing with the showers and thunderstorms.

prescott, arizona, temperatures in the 80s with a few showers and thunderstorms. so active weather, especially across the east. so travelwise, i think it's one of the big ebb issues. beyond that, much of the west coming in quiet. well coming up, european stocks tumble, asian shares follow. and things don't look much better for later this morning on wall street. early business headlines are straight ahead. and we'll tell you which flower not to give madonna. and jesus is loose in the big apple. red sox lose more than just a game and quite possibly the ugliest jerseys in college football. 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.

pakistan has announced the arrest of a man identified as a senior al qaeda operative believed to have been cast by osama bin laden to target u.s. economic interests around the world. the arrest was made in pakistan with the help of the u.s. a sign that relations are improving between the two nations since the osama bin laden raid. two others were detained. the united nations reports famine has now spread to a sixth area in somalia. it also says about 750,000 more people may die from famine in the next four months unless aid efforts are scaled up. police in italy say they've detained a man who confessed to vandalizing a historic fountain in rome. it shows him entering the 350-year-old fountain knocking off several chunks of sculpture. restoration is underway. and quite the catch was made in the philippines. a one-ton crocodile was capture ed after a three-week hunt for the

giant beast. the 21-foot croc will be made the star of a future eco-tourism park. nower, here's a look at one of your top health headlines. government researchers say a potentially fatal infection is a growing threat to the u.s. blood supply. the rare disease normally occurs in spring and summer in seven states, but the study found year-round cases showing up elsewhere. over 30 years of the known cases of the infection being caused by blood transfusion, nearly 80% occurred over the last ten years. 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. bring yourself back. here's how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,240 after dropping 253 points on friday. the s&p dropped 30 points.

the nasdaq sank 65. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell to a 193 point loss, but in hong kong the hang seng gained 94. it is back to work today on wall street, but all signs point ominously to a rough and tumble day. wall street futures lost ground today, hit hard after european stocks fell 4% with financial shares there dropping to a two-year low. s&p 500 futures lost more than 2%, and nasdaq futures just under 2%, suggesting a sharp drop after this morning's opening bell. reacting to friday's crushing american jobs data, euro markets also slumped on renewed fears over debt. a service sector survey showed a slowdown across europe for a fifth straight month. bond yields in struggling euro zone countries rose sharply. yields on greek bonds are now above an almost unthinkable 18%.

licking their own wounds after steep falls on monday, in early trade today in asia markets were down across the board after the european sell-off. gold rose in asia back to a record high. on the other hand, oil continued its tumble. now just above $84 a barrel. elsewhere, england financial times reports banks in talks with prosecutors to settle claims of improper mortgage practices, including bank of america, jp morgan chase, and citigroup have been offered a deal calling for them to make multi-billion dollar payments. finally, on sale for years, scenic south dakota has finally been sold. an anonymous out of stater bought the town complete with saloon, gas station, a post office, two homes, and two empty jails. the sale price was not disclosed, but the asking price was just under $800,000. the nine people who live there hope the buyer likes it. probably hopes they move in.

coming up, the ugly new uniform s everyone is talking about. a player who talks to his equipment. and blue jays fly away winners. plus, who says all phillies big man ryan howard can hit. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. from tropics to your forecast. it's all coming up. you're watching "early today."

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good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sports they say the rich always get richer, and the talent-heavy new york yankees seem to have found themselves a power hitting rookie. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. hi there. good morning. imagine being a rookie and hitting your first career home run at yankee stadium. pretty cool, right? now imagine coming up two innings later and doing it again. that's just the kind of labor day that yankees jesus montero had. belt his first career homer in the fifth. then in the seventh. gets another one to the very same spot. two home runs and two curtain calls for the rookie. the yankees hold on to win 11-10. rough day for the red sox, josh beckett tweaks his leg and doesn't make it through the

third inning. on to the 11th. brett says enough is enough. walk-off home run. blue jays win 1-0. boston now two and a half games back. the white sox zach stewart was just one inning away from pitching a perfect game when danny valencia breaks it up in the eighth. all is not lost. he strike out nine for a complete game one hitter. chicago wins 1-0. philadelphia's cliff lee picking up his 16th win with a little help from his friends. foul ball down the line, ryan howard makes the sliding bare-handed catch. that's a great grab, and he also hit a home run. phils beat the braves 9-0. sandoval had a conversation with his bat on monday, and it must be a good listener. pablo hit two home runs. communication is key in any relationship. giants beat the padres. finally, don't adjust your tv. those are possibly the ugliest or maybe the greatest jerseys in college football. whatever they are, they're good luck for maryland. up two against miami. the hurricanes threatening late in the fourth when cameron

chisholm ices in, a pick six. terps go on to beat the canes. 32-24. that's your early look at sports on "early today." how does angelina jolie pass the day with the kids when brad pitt is off shooting the movie? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, from jedi knight to wookies. two of the giants in diamondbacks? we'll explain, you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." a more mild morning, especially up towards yellowstone. and some areas we're dealing with showers around lake havasu, 90 this afternoon. billings coming into the mid to upper 80s, denver an area we could see showers and thunderstorms, similar down towards albuquerque with some of the moisture locked in around the four corners. getting out towards the pacific northwest. especially working into tomorrow, not out of the question to see the low 90s, even triple digits there, there's still some summer left. if you're watching us on knrv reno, nevada. reno open studios. at the sierra arts gallery. that's your pacific event of the day. >> here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. right now it's you're a mega celebrity the place to be and be seen is the venice film festival. beyonce actually celebrated her 30th birthday on a massive yacht called the odessa.

the expectant mother and husband jay-z played host to friends such as gwyneth paltrow. madonna was there for business promoting the new movie "we" as a news conference when an admiring fan held her a purple hydrangea. she thanked the fan and threw the flower under the table. she said i absolutely loathe hydrangeas. he obviously doesn't know that. ouch, imagine. the jolie-pitt clan has reunited in london after brad pitt returned from shooting in scotland. this weekend they took the kids to see "the smurfs." "us weekly" reports while minding the kids herself before pitt returned, angelina jolie did what any mother would to keep her kids occupied. she hired herself a local group of children's entertainers. only the best for the pitt

children. >> it's not too hard to entertain kids. just act like a goofball. >> especially when you have six nannys. this comes to us from san francisco, california, where a baseball fan and baseball fans from a galaxy far, far away descended on the ballpark for one special day. yesterday's giants-diamondbacks game looked more like an invasion by the empire. several fans attended star wars day at the stadium dressing up as their favorite characters from the popular film franchise. the giants did wind up losing, but for the massive geek squad in the stands, a very different kind of fantasy football -- or baseball, rather. still made the game feel like a big win. nice. good there. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

the prim and proper sport of polo is getting a facelift. instead of horses, competitors at the annual king's cup tournament in thailand ride elephants. the rules of the game are pretty much the same, except the elephants can't lie in front of the goal post or catch the ball in their trunks. proceeds will be donated to organizations protecting elephant welfare in thailand. it was an epic day of cliff diving in ukraine. jumping off a platform over 80 feet above the water. competitors earned points for the numbers of flips and twirls they can muster. this world series of diving drew thousands of spectators who watched from boats below. in the end the competitor from russia broke a record, earning six perfect 10s to take home the title.

well, a big dig has yielded a big find in austria. archaeologists unearthed ruins of a gladiator school from 1700 years ago. a computer animation shows what things would have looked like back then. the complex is part of a 3.9 square mile city that was discovered back in 1870 when the digging began. still less than 1% has been excavated due to its enormity. if you look really close, i bet you can see russell crowe. really closely. >> i'm thinking that 2,000, 3,000 years from now what will they be digging up today? some of the cities we just walk around every day? >> maybe right here at the "early today" studio. well, now it's time for a look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. david petraeus will be sworn in as cia director replacing leon panetta. he has dismissed concerns he would be unable to provide objective advice on the wars in the middle east, having led campaigns there.

as army general. utah's experiment with the nation's first four-day workweek for state workers ends today. lawmakers scratched the experiment, which began in 2008 saying it wasn't saving the expected money. and google unveiled a special animated doodle today in celebration of what would have been queen singer freddy mercury's 65th birthday yesterday. 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 coming up later this morning on the "today" show. governor rick perry returns from the campaign trail to lead his state's efforts against the deadly wildfires raging across texas. and after the controversial premier of "the real housewives of beverly hills" the show's stars talk about the tragedy. now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry.

thank 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.