[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- election upset. democrats lose a key house seat, a troubling sign for president obama. the great escape. a michigan suspect manages to slip out of handcuffs and through a police cruiser's window. a collision course. a bus driver tries to beat a train, causing a deadly wreck in a bus driver tries to beat a train, causing a deadly wreck in argentina. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation inclueing viewers in the pacific time zone. i'm vinita nair.

today we begin with a major gop victory. republicans have scored an upset in a house race that is being called a referendum on the president's handling of the economy. last night retired media executive and political newcomer, bob turner, narrowly defeated david weprin, according to the associated press. democrats outnumber republicans three to one in new york's ninth congressional district, which hasn't sent a republican to congress in nearly 90 years. turner replaces congressman anthony weiner, a seven-term democrat who resigned in the wake of a sexting scandal in june. in nevada, former republican state senator mark amodei coasted to a victory in a district that's never elected a democrat. meanwhile, as lawmakers on capitol hill spar over how to pay for president obama's american jobs act, the president is on the road working hard to sell his plan to the american people. after stopping in ohio yesterday, today he takes his pitch to raleigh, north carolina. nbc's steve handelsman reports.

>> reporter: to sell his jobs >> reporter: the president is out there trying to pitch the $447 billion plan, new spending to create jobs. back here the super committee is looking for ways to save money. president obama pitches his jobs plan in raleigh, north carolina today. >> my question to congress is what on earth are we waiting for? >> reporter: republicans say they are waiting for a price tag america can afford. >> the debt has gone up 40% because it was financed with borrowing. >> reporter: the deficit super committee is debating how paying for jobs will affect america's bottom line. >> the fastest and most effective way to reduce the deficit is to put americans back to work. >> reporter: but the congressional budget office warns that the plan may only work for a while. >> cuts in spending will spur

employment in the near term. >> reporter: plus congress has other things to deal with. >> we have got to fund before the end of the month and deal with the fema bill. >> reporter: john boehner introduces his jobs bill thursday. >> i hope he will listen to our ideas and will work with us to find common ground. >> reporter: so they are really trying to get a handle on the president's plan, what that's going to mean, how it may pass here on capitol hill and democrats on the senate side get their briefing from the white house tomorrow. >> thank you. troubling new data on the record people of poor people in this country is underscoring the need for jobs. the u.s. poverty rate rose to 15.10%, the highest level since 1993. that means 1 in 6 americans are living in poverty, the most since the government began keeping track back in 1959.

the u.s. poverty level for a family of four stands at $22,314 in total household income. and $11,139 for individuals. the families of two american hikers jailed in iran for over two years say they are overjoyed the men may soon be released. in a statement the families called it a huge relief. an iranian court set bail for $500,000 each for the men convicted of spy-related charges after iran's president told ann curry in an exclusive interview the men could be freed in, quote, a couple of days. ann will have a live report from iran coming up this morning on "today." now here's a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. surveillance camera captured a bizarre break-in inside an illinois restaurant. he stripped down and once inside he went straight to the kitchen

where police found him cooking chicken tenders and french fries. he was arrested on burglary charges. a handcuffed suspect in michigan pulled off his own houdini impression. while in the backseat of a police car, the suspect slid one of his wrists right out of the cuffs and managed to lower the back window and escape. it took three hours for police to capture him. chocolatey fun were unveiled in chicago tuesday, weighing in at 12,000 pounds, a record-breaking chocolate bar is the brainchild of a chocolate company that's taking it on the road for a think big, eat smart campaign. and finally, one abraham lincoln impersonator has a unique prowess with pigskin. the honest abe lookalike has recorded himself showcasing his throwing accuracy and

place-kicking skills. as you can see, various locations. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel. what do you think? why are there so many videos of these? >> because we put them on tv. and youtube hits go up millions and millions. the one on the beach definitely wasn't real. good morning. yesterday in las vegas we had thunderstorms moving in and caused a lot of problems this. all in all it didn't add up to a ton of rain. in vegas, in the desert areas, with the mountain terrains, that's where the problems happened. vegas is one of the only spots that saw the significant rainfall. we're continuing to see that same storm system spinning here near vegas up in the flag staff area. we still have light rain in southern utah.

as far as the ray da goes, right rain continues. you can see the border right here in california. definitely some wet spots. as far as the forecast goes for today we will keep more showers in the forecast. maybe a thunderstorm or two. for the most part i think they will be showery. yesterday was very cool in vegas. today only 85. temperatures. doesn't look like too much in the way of wet weather is headed your way. should be dry. >> a lot of us will be grabbing

sweaters soon. >> it is getting to be that time of year. >> early morning business headlines are straight ahead. more than two years after his death, michael jackson is still raking it in. coming, a memorable win for the red sox. manny ramirez is released from jail. you won't believe what he did next. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm vinita nair. here are some of your top headlines this morning. homeland security secretary janet napolitano says there will be a new security procedure in place for children under 12. she says there will be other ways to screen kids without resorting to patdowns and they will no longer have to take their shoes off. the afghan government says a two-day assault by talibans in kabul have ended. they have been firing rockets at

u.s. and other embassies. six attackers were killed along with seven afghans. in argentina, a bus driver tried to beat a train. setting off a chain reaction collision with two locomotives. at least 11 people died and hundreds were hurt. there are mixed results on a new study on teen driving. it found 16-year-olds were 20% less likely to die in a crash in states with strict driving rules. however, 18-year-olds were 12% more likely to have more crashes. one theory, teens are waiting until they turn 18 to avoid restrictions. in "u.s. news & world report's" new rankings of top u.s. colleges, harvard and princeton tied for the number one spot, followed by yale and columbia. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,105 after adding 44 points yesterday.

the s&p gained 10 points. the nasdaq rose 37. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 97 points but in hong kong the hang seng inched up 14. on wall street tuesday, investors bet that european leaders could act soon to stop its spreading debt crisis. news french president nicolas sarkozy and german chancellor angela merkel gave buyers a measure of hope for the debt-ridden region. however that optimism faded overnight as asian stocks slipped on fears that eurozone leaders lack a clear plan to solve its sovereign debt crisis. back on wall street, industrials led the day's gain. general electric added nearly 3% while cummins jumped 6%. oracle gave the nasdaq the biggest boost, rising nearly 3%. apple shares inched up 1% on renewed expectations for investor incentives. best buy shares plunged 7% after an unexpectedly weak quarterly

report. august retail sales are on tap today along with producer priced inflation data. a discount light from high end line missoni crashed target's website on tuesday. in the wake of demand for more privacy controls, facebook is rolling out so-called smart lists today to make it easier for users to control which friends view certain content. the infamous winklevoss twins have found a way to cash in on their way to facebook fame. >> hey, that's a good idea. >> what? >> cracking it like that. >> could be huge. >> think someone will steal it? >> no word on how much wonderful pistachios shelled out for the ad. a milestone for new york yankees pitcher mariano rivera. plus, fresh from jail, more antics from manny ramirez. this time it's captured on

video. your early morning sports headlis su iarht ahead. summer is trying to hold on but that cold air is coming down from canada. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." mm

good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, with some big help from pitcher justin verlander, the detroit tigers are holding on tight to their longest winning streak in decades.

here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. we have not seen a pitcher this dominant in nearly a decade. the tigers' justin verlander struck out six over seven scoreless against the white sox, earning his 23rd win of the year. first pitcher to do that since '02. tigers won five straight. tim wakefield picked up his 200th career win and he did it one knuckleball at a time. kept the blue jays guessing. struck out seven. dustin papelbon showered him with champagne. red sox with an 18-6 win. mariano rivera needed one more save for 600 and he got a little help from russell martin. gunned down ichiro to end the game. rivera joins trevor hoffman as the only players to have 600 saves in their career. yanks beat the mariners 3-2. florida, marlin and braves,

and this certainly didn't help. saw a runner stealing second. look out! he threw the ball somewhere between home and first base. almost hit the on-deck circle. with pitching like that, it's no surprise the marlins lost the game. manny ramirez released from jail yesterday after being charged with domestic battery. bail was set at $2,500. he emerged from court putting his arm around a female reporter. strange considering he just left a hearing for slapping his wife. the judge ordered manny to have no direct contact with his wife. journalists clamored for comment. then he tossed a microphone out the window and grabbed another. let's review. slaps his wife, gets arrested, flirted with a reporter, went a little too far with the microphones. this time there's no excuse for manny being manny. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. who is hollywood's highest paid man?

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, one community comes together to say a special good-bye to a devoted public servant. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this wednesday. forecast has rain in it once again for vegas.

not everyone is going to get hit but if you do, minor flash flooding issues. warm in the interior, cooler on the coast. seattle and portland today, a little bit cool and not much is going to change for your thursday. we will finally dry it out a little bit on thursday. if you are watching us in honolulu, study various forms of art in an exhibit from throughout the state at art is of hawaii at the honolulu academy of art. new court documents show michael jackson is still the king of pop, even in death. more than two years after the singer died, deeply in debt, his estate has generated more than $310 million in gross revenues. enabling executors to doll out $30 million to creditors, his mother and children and

charities. even though charlie sheen performed jon cryer by calling him a troll earlier this year, it didn't stop cryer from worrying about his health. he tells ellen degeneres he was worried sheen would die. finally, "forbes" has come out with its annual list of highest paid male entertainers and topping the list, movie and tv mogul tyler perry who made a staggering $130 million from may last year to may of this year. other names in the top five, producer jerry bruckheimer, steven spielberg, elton john and simon cowell. dr. phil beat out howard stern as well as tiger woods. >> dr. phil's doing well. >> he certainly is. >> how many people would have predicted the number one? >> he has done oit all on his

own. >> his mattress is full of money. this comes to us from wcnc news channel 36 in charlotte, north carolina, where the weak economy is accomplishing what neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night could do for one mail carrier. over the past ten years tony has formed family-like ties with one community by going above and beyond, including helping children and stopping burglaries while delivering the mail. budget cuts are forcing him to be reassigned, so residents organized special good-byes to show him just how much he'll be missed. i'm vinita nair and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

two baby giant sea otters are getting ready for their close-up, getting ready to meet the public at los angeles zoo. they still need to be bottle-fed for a few months, but they take turns going on exhibit with their parents as soon as they are done. for now the pups continue to learn to swim. a group of jail birds escaped from an australian prison this week and arrived at their new home. the 6-week-old emu chicks were hatched in a prison as part of the rehab program. they were brought to a wildlife park where zookeepers are keeping an eye on them. the curious birds are already a big hit with visitors.

never before has something so old been found by someone so young. a 6-year-old in england dug up a rare fossil with her plastic shovel. it turned out to be a marine invertebrate that is 160 million years old. the young archaeologist loaned it to a museum so now her treasure can be enjoyed by all. you can see all the spikes on it. she cleverly nicknamed the fossil "spike." >> that's incredible to dig it up. >> 130 pounds, too. huge. >> that's a big invertebrate. >> certainly is. it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll be following throughout the day here on nbc. vice president joe biden will host a cabinet meeting as part of a campaign to cut waste to discuss efforts made to eliminate misspent tax dollars within the federal government. the campaign was launched after a report found billions spent annually on overlapping offices and agencies. the band phish will hold a benefit concert in vermont to raise money for flood victims in

the wake of hurricane irene. on this day in 1814 francis scott key was inspired to write a poem during the battle of baltimore which later became the lyrics to "the star spangled banner. " 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. ann curry reports live from iran as the families of those american hikers await word on their release. and matt lauer talks to dr. phil about his revealing interview with casey anthony's parents. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm vinita nair. thanks for watching "early today," just your stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.