this morning on "early today" -- battle lines. house speaker john boehner attacks president obama's jobs plan saying tax increases are off the table. soyuz scare. tense moments when communication is lost with a russian space capsule. carrying an american and two russians. seeing double? astronomers discover a planet that would make luke skywalker astronomers discover a planet that would make luke skywalker homesick. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific

time zone. today we start with possible progress. americans have been frustrated about gridlock in washington, but last night congress got something done. senate lawmakers avoided a weekend session of congress and a costly repeat of this summer's partial faa shutdown. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from washington with details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. now we head into the weekend not having to worry about a partial shut down or thousands of jobs at risk. washington exhibits what seems to be the spirit of cooperation. >> for the betterment of the country. >> absolutely. >> that's what we're here for. >> reporter: 36 senators, democrats and republicans, say enough. >> we feel it's time to check our political hats at the door and to step up and do what is the right thing for the american people. >> reporter: they're urging the deficit super committee to go big and reduce the deficit by

almost twice as much as they have to. that spirit of cooperation spilled over into the senate where one republican -- >> the bill is passed. >> reporter: -- gave up his opposition to building bike paths so temporary funds for highways and air traffic control could be approved. >> it's a good day to be able to go home and say, we worked together in a bipartisan way to save almost 2 million jobs. >> the amendment is agreed to. >> reporter: the senate also passed a budget for fema, including half a billion in emergency funds that president obama asked for. >> this was no time for political theatrics. >> reporter: but what about jobs? in a key speech thursday speaker john boehner drew the line. tax reform, yes. new taxes, no. >> i hope the president will meet this standard when he puts forth his recommendations for the joint committee next week. >> reporter: the white house is saying that the recommendations

will not include changes to social security as they discussed over the summer. the white house is is saying that is over the table veronica? >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. there was some high in the sky drama overnight when mission control was unable to get in touch with a russian soyuz capsule as it returned to earth. they got through and the spacecraft carrying the astronaut and two cosmonauts landed. that flight has been delayed until november after an unmanned russian cargo ship crashed with the shuttle program retired nasa is relying on russia to ferry astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost. last night two hours before a texas inmate was to be executed for the killings of two people, the supreme court halted his lethal injection. duane buck's attorneys don't dispute his guilt but argue that

he was unfairly sentenced because at his trial a psychologist testified black men are more likely to commit violence. justices say they will review the case. here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. in southern california a woman was killed by a falling tree as she waited at a stoplight. the 50 to 70-foot tree came crashing down trapping the victim inside. rescue crews made contact with the victim less than five minutes after the accident but couldn't provide emergency treatment before she lost consciousness and died. a brush fire in washington led to a deadly multicar pileup on interstate 90. smoke provided poor visibility which caused chain reaction on the freeway. ten vehicles were involved in the smash-up with one dieing and several suffering injuries. a restaurant in chicago attempted to break a record involving one of the city's signature dishes. a 45-foot bratwurst was cooked up as part of a kickoff

festivity for the annual oktoberfest event. bites were later sold for charity. finally, one florida man is showing off his unique 135-year-old family heirloom. since 1876 ryan boil's family has passed down a pickle from generation to generation. he says it's a great conversation piece and one that his family would definitely get into a pickle over protecting. oh yeah. now for a look at your national and regional weather here's raphael miranda from wnbc new york. don't really ever really know quite what to say about that on air. >> take a look at the record br

bratwurst. >> especially not at this time oin the morning. >> just a few showers moving through the rockies with a major cool down. temperatures dropping to the 40s, 50s, and even some 30s. you can see temperatures in the 40s in minneapolis. as we head west, 40s in denver. close to 80 there. time to start your day in los angeles. generally on the mild side as we head towards las vegas. we have a cold front coming through portions of the rockies. we do have somehow oers going on. here is a look at the picture. eventually into utah as well, quiet for the west coast down towards las angeles. there is our frontal system moving through the intermountain west. we have rain in texas as well. heavy rain in nevada there along

i-80. watch out for storms here. quiet and hot in phoenix. 73 with sunshine in las of california today o. bakers field, temperatures in the 80s. >> 91 in vegas? that looks like a good spot on the map. gold skyrockets, netflix flubs and anger over angry birds? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, brad pitt grabs headlines with a mention of a former marriage potential.

coming up, the wild card race heats up. a home run worth a half million bucks. you're watching "early today."

very good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz and here are some of your top headlines this morning. the army corps of engineers $150 million budget from flooding this year falls far short of what's needed. the corps estimates that cost will be $2 billion, not including devastation from hurricane irene or tropical storm lee. libya's interim government says its forces have entered sirte, one of moammar gadhafi's final strongholds. they have faced fierce resistance from loyalists there. gadhafi's whereabouts are still a mystery. the obama administration has added belize and el salvador as major drug produces and transit countries. there are 22 countries on the

list. a judge is ordering casey anthony to may almost $100,000 to cover some costs of investigating her child disappearance. anthony was acquitted of killing her daughter but was found guilty of lying to investigators. nasa announced the discovery of a planet that orbits two suns causing a double sunset. astronomers are calling it tatooine from "star wars." it's about 200 light-years away. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,433. after jumping 186 points yesterday. the s&p rose 20 points. the nasdaq gained 34. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei was up 195 points while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 273. it's been all europe all the time on wall street lately and this week after months of losses

that focus is paying off. yesterday investors rallied around a joint move by five major banks including europe's central bank and the u.s. federal reserve to make it easier for eurozone nations to borrow money. tim geithner meets with those in poland. gold was spiraling up 2.5% yesterday. and on street, investors overlooking hotter than expected inflation data and weak manufacturing data. morgan stanley rose 7% on news chairman will retire at the end of the year. swiss bank ubs plunged 10% after news that a rogue trader racked up $2 billion in unauthorized trades. a 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of fraud. after the bell dismal quarterly earnings, r.i.m. is down 50% for the year.

netflix tumbled 19% after predicting its summer price hike will cost it a total of 1 million customers. the irs raked in $500 million from 12,000 tax cheats who came clean under the amnesty program. finally, the free ride could be over for a new theme park in china that has a live angry bird attraction. they failed to license the ride with the game's creators. lsu rolls, the red sox wilt and home improvement courtesy of josh hamilton. plus, a panda on the loose causes havoc in colorado. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we've got a major cooldown? the northeast but it's still hot in the southwest. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, knocked out of first place by the dreaded yankees now the fading boston red sox are trying to fight off the tampa bay bays for the american league wild card. here's nbc's fred roggin with a look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. three weeks ago the red sox in first place. now they might not even make the playoffs.

tampa could earn a share of the wild card if they sweep boston. so far, so good in game one. b.j. upton broke his bat. ball between the shortstop's legs. rays are now just three back in the wild card after a 9-2 win. the season keeps getting better for the phil. a day after clinching the playoff spot they delighted their fans with a walkoff over the marlin. ryan howard with the honor. they won 2-1 in ten. the cubs and reds played a four-hour game and that was won by bruce. reds won it 8-6 in 11. pablo sandoval needed a triple for the cycle. he weighs 240 pounds so that's no easy task. hit one off the wall in the sixth and watch him rumble around the bases like a mack truck rolling downhill. he slid into third and the big man did it. a cycle in colorado. giants won it 8-5. college football, number three, lsu. 25th ranked mississippi state. tigers pulled away in the fourth. they won on to win it 19-6.

finally back to baseball. josh hamilton has hit a lot of homers for the rangers but wednesday he hit a homer for everyone in texas. >> buy new floors and counter tops in the month of september and get them free if josh hamilton hits a grand slam. how could you go wrong? >> are you crazy? >> hamilton belted a grand slam meaning customers who purchase counter tops and flooring this month gets a refund. it will cost the company about half a million bucks. if you live in texas it's time to carpet everything, and i mean everything, in your house. that's your early look at sports on early "today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. an old book with a new cover clean up this weekend at the box office? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, an extraordinary honor

is bestowed upon a marine who made an extraordinary effort in afghanistan. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back. temperatures around the west in the 70s today. watching out for a few showers and storms. a quiet day in las angeles. quiet in phoenix.

heading into the weekend still quiet. 74 in la. temperatures in the 60s in portland. plenty of sunshine around the rockies. beautiful day in salt lake city. and if you are watching us in washington, enjoy a pot luck and open mic night. that's your pacific event of the day. >> can't go wrong with that. sounds good. now, here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. at this weekend's box office an old favorite makes a comeback as top film favorite. the animated 1994 classic "the lion king" reappears. this time in 3d. if nostalgic parents bring the young kids at 3d prices, it should make $15 million or more. experts say "contagion"

threatening for number one, earning close to $13 million. "drive" will be a true test of ryan gosling's box office pull with "r" rating keeping younger viewers out. experts don't see revenge thriller "straw dogs" taking in more than $10 million. sarah jessica parker's "i don't know how she does it" needs a big female audience. younger viewers and men will see it. finally, in an interview in sunday's "parade" magazine brad pitt talks about his marriage to jennifer aniston who he quotes wasn't living an interesting life. what? what did he say? he was saying when he was with her he wasn't living an interesting life? >> so, she's not interesting? >> maybe they didn't hear him correctionally.

he said it was interesting and they didn't hear that. >> exactly. >> he seems like a nice guy, right? >> a nice image. >> exactly. this now comes to us from the white house where the military's highest honor was bestowed upon a marine who defied his superiors to honor others. president obama honored dakota meyer's heroism in afghanistan to make him the first living marine to win the medal in more than four decades. meyer faced a barrage of gunfire to face his team members. those he couldn't save he accepted his award in their name. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in china, apparently it takes a village and a dog to raise white tigers. after their mother rejected them at birth, three white bengal tigers are being nursed by a dog. staff at the wildlife park where they live also help raise them. the park is asking the public to suggest names for the bunch. the first known cubs successful raised by humans in the region. too cute. a technology company in japan has unveiled a series of little athletic robots. they were designed to compete in a 143-mile triathlon powered using aa batteries. one of the inventions was

designed to swim with a special paddle. one rides a miniature bicycle. the last runs the belt of a wheel. pretty cool. one exhibit in germany makes people feel like they are floating through space. an artist created cloud cities where visitors climb through 20 gigantic balloon models described as an interaction between exploration and connection. the artist was inspired by soap bubbles and spider webs in creating the massive transparent clouds. that is so cool! >> yeah. as a meteorologist, i think i'm a little biased, but that seems like the coolest thing ever and i want to get out there and try it. >> it's in berlin, unfortunately. >> oh. we'll have to plan that. >> time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout date right here on nbc. at the pentagon secretary of defense leon panetta will host a ceremony in honor of national pow recognition day. each day it's meant to remind the nation of those americans who have sacrificed for their country.

vice president biden will travel to northeast pennsylvania to view flood damage resulting from hurricane irene and tropical storm lee and survey the ongoing recovery efforts there. the region where the vice president was born was hard hit by the storms. and happy birthday to lauren bacall, who turns 87 years old today. very happy birthday. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. 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. after being rescued from beneath a burning car, a 21-year-old motorcyclist has a message for the heroes who saved his life. and former "two and a half men" star charlie sheen sits down for an exclusive interview with matt lauer. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, sports, weather and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific weekend.