[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," gloves off. republican presidential hopefuls trade jabs in a fiery gop debate. plane crash tragedy. a jet goes down in russia taking an entire professional hockey team with it. and are you serious? a man dressed in a gumbi costume attempts to hold up a california convenience store. 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 the gop

showdown. republican rivals faced off last night in california in the first of three televised debates in the race to 2012. as expected, fixing the nation's economy became the night's theme, and frontrunner texas governor rick perry and chief rival former massachusetts governor mitt romney came out swinging over whose better qualified to take over the job. nbc's steven handelsman reports. >> reporter: it was the first faceoff between the republican front runners. texas governor rick perry and former massachusetts governor mitt romney, and it got hot fast, but with their record unemployment and their predecessors -- >> michael dukakis created jobs three times faster than you did, mitt. >> well, as a matter of fact, george bush and his predecessor created jobs at a faster rate than you did, governor. >> that's not correct. >> yeah, it is correct. >> reporter: the main target was barack obama. michelle bachmann pulling fourth in this field. >> as president of the united states i won't rest until i

repeal obama care. >> reporter: ron paul is polling third, a libertarian. >> we don't need the government running our lives. >> reporter: but jobs was the focus. >> who on this stage can get america working because we know for a fact the resident of the white house cannot. >> reporter: perry is to the right of romney, and he is fiery. >> maybe it's time to have some provocative language in this country. >> reporter: perry questioned social security. >> you cannot keep the status quo in place and not call it anything other than a ponzi scheme. >> our nominee has to be someone who isn't committed to abolishing social security, but is committed to saving social security. >> reporter: a feisty struggle for a shot at the president. >> whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating barack obama. >> reporter: two more republican debates follow in the next two weeks. steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. and in washington tonight president obama will present his economic proposal to congress. a mix of tax credits and

targeted spending increases. administration officials are calling it a sensible plan to revive the economy, one they believe could come back to haunt republicans if congress rejects it. nbc's tracie potts joins us with more from washington. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. democrats familiar with the president's plan say this speech tonight will be mainstream, aggressive and specific, with the goal of lowering our unemployment rate by next spring. the president expected to pitch a package of hundreds of billions of dollars in middle-class tax cuts, business tax breaks, infrastructure projects, another payroll tax cut, help for people who are having trouble paying their mortgage. job training, an extension of unemployment benefits and money to states to prevent layoffs of teachers and other state workers. now according to a new piece of research by pu, democrats and independents are skeptical this is going to work even before the

president has laid out his ideas here on capitol hill. that happens tonight. lynn? >> tracie potts there for us in washington. don't miss the president's address to congress tonight. it will air live at 7:00 p.m. eastern time right here on your nbc station. and now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. an attempted robbery in southern california looks more like a stand-up routine. a would-be robber dressed as the claymation character gumbi demanded money but only got laughs from the store clerk. the suspect seemed to reach for a weapon as he fumbled inside his costume, but only dropped loose change on the floor before running out of the store. seriously. kansas elementary school students born after september 11th took part in a special tribute to those killed in the attacks. dressed in red, white, and blue, faculty and students formed an american flag. they first offered the tribute a year after the attacks and recreated it now to commemorate

the tenth anniversary. finally, elizabeth taylor's extraordinary jewelry collection is scheduled to hit the auction block in new york. taylor's rubies, diamonds and even some costume jewelry will all be sold. the entire collection is expected to fetch at least $30 million total over the two-day auction in december. now for a look at your national and regional weather, let's go to nbc meteorologist bill karins who has your forecast. >> thanks a lot for the laugh. >> i try. >> so much bad news and weather, everything else, you throw a dumb criminal in there and you get a good laugh. >> i don't know if that brings any relief to some of the people dealing -- >> it does feel good sometimes. good morning, everyone. we have had a horrible night of flooding. this is all the remnants in associated moisture with tropical storm lee that went onshore about a week ago it seems. all that moisture is now moving over. we had a lot of flooding overnight. you'll hear a lot about the

river running through new york and pennsylvania. that's where we are expecting historic flooding. there's flash flood warnings outside a d.c. and much up to southern new jersey and back up to new york. we have three tropical systems out there. thankfully, none are heading for the u.s. immediately. we are still watching out for nate and maria in the days ahead for the east coast and the gulf. turn your attention to the heat a out west. the extremes continue. we are in weather extremes. and the extreme in the west is now dry and hot. that's the way it looks september will be. phoenix yesterday, 108. we were at 93 in portland. we'll do it all over again. no changes in the forecast from yestl will be higher this month than it was for much of the summer in some

spots. yuma could top 110. hot conditions, it is amazing. everyone is back in school and this is the hottest it has been. >> all right. bill, thanks so much. stocks rebound, safe havens dive, and facebook rakes in the dough. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, actress reese witherspoon encounters an unusual type of hollywood danger. coming up, a grandfather gets his wish, and justin verlander walks into the cy young. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. firefighters have gained ground of a texas blaze known as the bastrop fire. it's burned about 800 homes and is 30% contained. the state's wildfire outbreak has killed four people. attorney general eric holder announced that 91 people, including 11 doctors, have been charged if a nationwide

crackdown on medicare fraud. the alleged scheme involved $295 million in false billings. olympic gymnast champion paul hamm was arrested this weekend accused of hitting and kicking a taxi driver over a $23 cab fare. hamm who reportedly told cops he had eight drinks that night has been charged with assault and is out on bail. in columbia police found almost 5 tons of marijuana hidden in boxes of onions. four people were arrested in connection with the operation. and a zoo in poland has police scratching their heads. they are trying to track down a man seen leaving behind a package that contained a crocodile. a security officer became suspicious after hearing scratching noises inside the package. the croc was left out in chilly weather, but zoo officials say he is now in good condition. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines

on msnbc.com. in the first randomized controlled trial of its kind weight watchers was found to be more than twice as effective than standard family doctor care. this was funded by weight watchers, but fully independent, and the study showed over 12 months overweight patients told by their doctors to use the program lost around twice as much as people receiving standard weight loss care. 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. bring yourself back. here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,414 after jumping 275 points yesterday. the s&p added 33 points. the nasdaq spiked 75. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei rose 29 points, but in hong kong the hang seng fell 135.

the seemingly never-ending roller-coaster ride continues on wall street. just a day after stocks loomed lower, the comeback came back up. it started in europe where stocks bounced back from two-year lows after a german court rejected lawsuits aimed at blocking germany's efforts to aid greece and other struggling euro nations. adding to the upbeat tone, in july companies posted the most job openings in the last three years. and a fed survey found consumer spending in july and august drove the economy to modest growth nationwide. suddenly stocks were back in. all 30 dow stocks rose after spiking 9% tuesday. wall street's volatility index, or fear factor, tumbled 9%. just as suddenly, safe havens were out. the yield on the ten-year treasury rose back above 2%. gold tumbled 3%, down $56 an ounce. yahoo jumped over 4.5% after

firing their ceo, a move some analysts say now makes yahoo! a takeover target. struggling bank of america rose almost 7% after its own dramatic management shake-up. nvidia zoomed almost 10% on a rosy 2013 sales forecast. dardon restaurants fell after red lobster and other operators said hurricane irene will hurt quarterly earnings. they warn this quarter's sales are slipping. finally, reuters reports facebook, which is private and does not release results, doubled its revenue in the first half of this year, with a net profit of half a billion dollars. coming up, hitting a homer for grandpa, a tiger tops whipping, and losing a no-hitter. plus, a plane crash in russia stuns the world of professional sports. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we got three tropical

systems, life-threatening flash flooding, and fires in texas and record heat in the west. what possibly could friday bring? your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if are you just waking up, this is "early today." in sports makeshift vigils were held by hockey fans throughout europe and russia last night after a tragic plane crash that

virtually wiped out an entire russian professional hockey team. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. off the top, tragic news. people still talking about that private jet carrying members of a russian hockey team that crashed yesterday. it killed 43 passengers in one of the worst accidents ever involving a sports team. among the dead nhl all-star pablo dimitra and brad mcclement. it was called the darkest day in the history of the sport. the plane crashed about 150 miles outside of moscow. russian media reported it struggled to gain altitude after takeoff and shattered into pieces on impact, killing 43 of the 45 passengers. the team was on its way to the capital of belarus to play the start of the continental hockey league season. the accident is being mourned around the world since there were so many former nhl players and coaches on board.

back here in the united states the tiger justin verlander picked up his league-leading 27th win. but it was not without help from some of his friends. down to the indians. viktor martinez smashed a grand slam to left. look at verlander's reaction in the dugout. couldn't believe it. that homer got him another w, and the tigers won it 8-6. speaking of pitching, oakland's vieira took a no-hitter. spoiled everything with a base hit. close but not close enough. a's won it 7-0. playoffs for the phils. they swept the braves with a walk-off single in the ninth. ross gload with the honors. phils are rolling after a 3-2 win. finally, that's mike napoli's grandfather, and his grandpa was there to root him on. okay, grandpa. here you go. mike with a towering blast to left, and no doubt about that one. look at gramps. he is on his feet, and he couldn't be prouder. a moment grandpa will never forget. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> that's great.

well, ricky gervais has a plan for a comeback this year at the golden globes, sort of. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, our own andrea mitchell makes an announcement about something more important than her storied career. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. today just like yesterday. incredible heat for this time of

the year throughout the inner mountain west. the real hot stuff, southern california, interior california, vegas, easily into the 100s. phoenix, 110 today. look at the northwest. after a summer of cool weather, september is probably going to end up being a very warm month, 92 in portland. boise, 91 degrees. a peek at tomorrow? kind of a little similar to today, really not seeing many changes out there. well, if you're watching us on king 5 news in seattle, washington, hear the stories from the aerospace involving peace and war beyond the blue horizon at the museum of flight. that's your pacific event of the day. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning ice head headlines in entertainment. a hollywood heavy weight suffered a major scare yesterday while out for a run in santa monica. 35-year-old oscar winner reese witherspoon was hospitalized after being hit by a car while jogging. fortunately, the car was only moving about 20 miles an hour and witherspoon is now at home resting.

elsewhere, the web is burning up with speculation over exactly why lindsay lohan's 17-year-old sister, aly, seen here in file footage, suddenly looks like an entirely different person. the aspiring model seems to have higher cheekbones, extreme weight loss, and dramatically fuller lips. after the hosting of the golden globes, ricky gervais is prepared not to be invited back. instead, he's suggesting a three-hour podcast where he and a few friends do their own commentary for people watching this year's show at home. he's going to try it first or he may try it with the emmys. >> how do you get higher cheekbones? >> i wouldn't know, as you can see. >> i just don't know how they get higher. and this comes to us from msnbc. where nbc chief correspondent andrea mitchell revealed she is among the one in every eight women in america who has had

breast cancer. she has a very important message for women everywhere. >> i'm looking at this as another life lessons. for you women out there and for the men who love you, screaming matters, do it. this disease can be completely curable if you find it at the right time. >> and thanks to an you'll screening, andrea says her cancer was detected in the earliest stages and has not spread. she's very happy to report her prognosis is terrific, which all of us and everyone at home is very happy to hear. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

the popular game angry birds as has come to life in china. the game involved navigating slingshots which launched birds. the real life size version features toy birds, pig balloons, and giant catapults. players found the game tricky, but the theme park hopes to find enough skilled players for a tournament at some point. who said yoga is just for people? in the philippines two nature lovers have mastered the technique of balance with an unlikely subject. rocks. it's an art form that definitely requires focus and patience. it's their way of raising awareness for environmental issues. they use ordinary stones found in nearby rivers and forests to

create the gravity-defying sculptures. and one man in china found quite an original way to pop the question. he proposed to his girlfriend at a dolphin show. after she was asked to come on stage, he rode the dolphin up to her and got down on one knee to propose right in front of a cheering audience. it took him about a month to practice, but all the hard work paid off with two simple words, i do, and maybe the largest bouquet of flowers. time now for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here at nbc. the signing of the eight millionth patent will take place in washington for an apparatus that helps the blind see. the united states patent and trademark office announced last month a medical company has been issued the landmark grant. on this day in 1974 president gerald ford issued a

full, free, and absolute pardon to former president richard nixon effectively squelching the possibility of any criminal prosecution. faced with near certain impeachment during the water gate scandal, nixon announced his resignation a month earlier. sid ceasar turns 89. >> all day long you can stop on top of those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. live from green bay, wisconsin, a preview of tonight's nfl kickoff game between the packers and the new orleans saints. and actor hugh laurie as you have never seen him before. "the house" stars debuts his new jazz album. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thank you for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

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