[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today." balancing act. president obama plans to meet with israeli and palestinian leaders in an effort to put out a political fire. in hot water. newly released video shows two maryland police officers beating an unarmed student. and tough to swallow. a new report reveals the outrageous amount one gornment agency paid for muffins and outrageous amount one gornment agency paid for muffins and other snacks. 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 walking the diplomatic tight rope. president obama speaks to the united nations later this morning but perhaps more importantly he's meeting with palestinian president mahmoud abbas tonight, trying to broker a compromise on palestinian statehood. in an effort that could potentially backfire on him both overseas and here at home. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. that meeting with the boss was a late add to the president's schedule. he is also meeting one-on-one but separately with israelis prime minister. the message is they need to work this out between them but not at the u.n. >> president obama speaks to the united nations welcoming the newest member. >> the flag of a new libya now

flies. >> republican presidential front runner showed up in new york criticizing what he calls america's policy of appeasement. >> if america does not head off the aggressive forces hol tile to israel, we will only emboldin them. >> reporter: the u.s. is prepared to veto but experts say they could send the wrong signal. >> the united states is forced in a position of having to navigate a position where neither party is able to make concessions. >> the meeting, the administration says president obama would tell both peace talks are the only way to achieve a two-state solution. >> irrespective of whatever takes place in new york in the coming days, the parties are

going to have too find their way back to the table. >> reporter: here is an option. they may decide to postpone any decision about whether or not to accept the palistinians into the united nations. >> tracie, thank you. according to this morning's washington post, the u.s. is building a ring of secret drone bases in the horn of africa and the arabian peninsula and the campaign against al qaeda. the target is al qaeda affiliates in yemen and somalia. the post says one facility is being set up in ethiopia. another is already in place on the seychelles. officials have previously acknowledged the presence of drones but have said their main mission was to track pirates. u.s. officials have said there is no plans to arm the unarmed aircraft but cables obtained by wikileaks shows officials were

considering weaponizing them. a condemned georgia inmate drawing numerous supporters including the pope and former president carter is due to be put to death today after losing his latest appeal. troy davis, who is willing to take a polygraph test if the pardons board would consider the results is expected to be executed by lethal injection this evening. he was convicted of the 199 killing of a police officer but his attorneys say testimony in his case was flawed and has largely been recanted by several witnesses. supporters have been holding vigils for davis. and nearly a million people have signed a petition to halt the execution. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in arkansas chilling new video shows a shooting spree at an arkansas courthouse last week. video shows he walked past a

security checkpoint hiding two pistols and an assault rifle under his long court and wounded a court secretary in the leg. police eventually gunned down the shooter. he later died of his injuries. in maryland a grand jury has indicted two prince george's county police officers for an alleged beating back in march of 2010. video of the incident shows police in riot gear showing a baton on a student who was part of a group celebrating a win by the university of maryland basketball team. in texas a trio of shop lifters could be known as the panty bandits. security cameras show the women casually picking up packages of diet pills and putting them in their bags. well, after apparently running out of room, they lifted up their dresses and tucked the loot into their undergarments. police have not yet identified the thieves. and birds of a feather flock together at one house in southern louisiana. every day what looks like 100 hummingbirds show up to feast on a simple mixture of sugar and water. the homeowner says they started showing up after a hurricane in

2008. for a look at your national and regional weather here's ryan phillips. he has your forecast. good morning. >> good morning to you. how cool are those birds? i like that. if you are looking for sunshine, all you have to do is go west, anywhere in the west. what a scorcher in las vegas. how about san francisco? 86. it was not even a record-breaking day, nine degrees short of the record. still chilly in the northern rockies here. stable high pressure in place. cold front off to the north. not going squeeze in any rain out of that. don't think it will be a wet day over in the pacific northwest.

a nice day out yuma, over the c mark again with lots of sunshine. you can't beat the sunshine but after days and weeks on end, need some rain at some point. >> ryan, thanks so much. euro debt problems mount. an answer from the fed. and what they've banned in hollywood. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, george clooney gets married. sort of. coming up, a pitcher's duel in los angeles and how close is the a.l. wild card race? red sox fans are cheering for the yankees. 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. afghan peace talks have been rattled by the assassination of a former afghan president and leader of current peace talks in his country. he was killed by an assassin who dead natured explosives hidden in his turban. new video has surfaced from last week's air show disaster in reno. sadly, the death toll there has climbed to 11. 14 others are still hospitalized. he was killed by an assassin. secret service officials say a man who jumped a white house fence yesterday got closer than most intruders usually do. he was apprehended and nothing hazardous was found in his

backpack. >> there is outrage on capitol hill over a new report criticizing the justice department for wasteful spending after serving $16 muffins and $8 cups of coffee at a conference. they spent $121 million on conferences in 2008 and 2009, exceeding its own spending limits. a spokes woman said cost cutting steps have since been taken. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11408 after adding 7 points yesterday. the s&p lost 2 points. the nasdaq dipped 22. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei was up 19 but in hong kong the hang seng lost 190. after rallying early tuesday, traders ran for cover late on euro debt concerns.

investors hit the sidelines thanks in part to s&p's downgrade italy. now ranking below slovakia and on par with malta. needing more loans soon to avoid bankruptcy, greece promised further sector cuts but did nothing. the international monetary fund struck an ominous tone over europe with its chief economist saying simply, europe must get its act together. here at home the fed wraps up its two-day meeting announcing what stimulus measures, if any, it will make later this afternoon. netflix tumbled tuesday, getting wall street's thumbs down for separating streaming and dvds. molycorp plunged after a price drop in rare earth minerals. ibm rose after settling an europe investigation. ralph lauren hit an all-time high after an upgrade.

carnival was up sharply after the cruise line beat forecasts. oracle was up and down in after-hour trades, posting revenues slightly above expectations but also weakening hardware sales. elsewhere, reuters reports united technologies is close to a multibillion dollar all cash purpose of aircraft component maker goodrich. today representatives from expedia, yelp and nextag will testify before a senate antitrust fund committee looking into anticompetitive charges against google. finally, one california city is becoming the first to shed sales of one luxury item. tuesday west hollywood city council approved a ban on any apparel made of fur. coming up, a classic pitcher's duel in a classic rivalry. the braves and cardinals stay wild. and how players amuse themselves when they're out of the pennant race. back and forth battle between boston and baltimore ends with the red sox collapse. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. many locations searching for some sunshine while dodging

showers. a look at your regional weather forecast still to come. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, there is no joy this

morning in red sox nation as boston continues to find new ways of losing down the stretch. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. are the red sox trying to give away the a.l. wild card? if so, they're doing a traffic job. had the lead against in the orioles and blew it away. andino cleared the bases with an rbi double. baltimore held on to win. it's not every day boston fans cheer for yankees but they need a new york win to keep their lead in the wild card and they got it. yanks jumped over the rays. granderson, four rbi. boston's lead is still two games after a 5-0 win. n.l. wild card is heating up. gonzalez started it with a slot to the left and won 4-0. cards kept pace with the braves with a seventh against the mets. theriot with a ground rule double. cards scored six. they remain 2 1/2 back in the wild card with an 11-6 victory.

to los angeles, pitcher's duel kershaw and lincecum. the night belonged to kershaw. the only bright spot in a bleak year for the dodgers, kershaw allowed one run and struck out six. he picked up his 20th victory of the season. first dodger to do that in over two decades. l.a. won 2-1. powerball and mega lotto sales were through the roof in washington. 521 and $705 million. actually, the bull pen was having a little fun and rearranged the numbers. not much to do out there when the offense plays like this. espinoza took cliff lee deep and that's all they needed. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. a ratings record-breaker and a surprising confession from brad pitt. your early morning entertainment

headlines are straight ahead. plus how long do you plan on staying on the job until you retire? we'll introduce you to some folks who may change your mind. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." as long as the weather pattern looks like this, mainly clear,

the forecast will continue to look like this and that will not get complaints from most of you. la up to 78. a few afternoon clouds still into the 100s. that trend carries into thursday. maybe a shower chance in seattle. by the weekend we will keep things rather sunny. if you are watching us this morning in washington, see art that explores the physical and spiritual nature of the wilderness. that is your pacific event of the kday. that is also the home of the twilight series. >> now everyone is going to flock to it. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. ratings for the first post-sheen episode of "two and a half men" are any indication, it will do just fine without charlie. ashton kutcher's debut was seen

by 27.7 million people monday, more than any episode in the show's first eight seasons. on the verge of his baseball movie "moneyball" opening and as he graces the cover of "sports illustrated" brad pitt revealed he never liked baseball and knows little about it. hes he took on the project about the oakland a's becoming competitive because he can't resist underdog stories. finally, george clooney is married. at least in a new norwegian tv ad. it shows an obviously hungover woman and she wakes without a clue to discover a huge ring on her finger, a wedding gown, and suddenly clooney appears, the oi man she can't remember marrying. the bank commercial reminds people, some are just plain lucky, most of us need to plan for the future. i don't know if a lot of people would approve of getting lucky in a one night stand --

>> the size of that rock in real life looks like something he might buy. >> that's right. this comes to us from washington, d.c. where two very special people proved that hard work may be the key to staying forever young. 102-year-old hada and 101-year-old mazron were named outstanding oldest workers. she's a psychologist and sees patients every week and doesn't plan to cut back any time soon. he started at the postal service 40 years ago, an age when most people retire. they look phenomenal. incredibly, he still drives himself to work six days a week. motivation there for all of us. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

two giant pandas in china are taking one giant step. it's the fairytale of love. they are best of friends but now they're taking things to the next level. the pair will be moving in together at a zoo in scotland. the hope is the couple will mate. they should be settled in soon and will be the first giant pandas in the uk for 17 years. in canada, love is blind for one mother rabbit. she began taking care of six newborn kittens after their mother died.

the rabbit had just given birth to two babies of her own and welcomed the additional little ones to her side. rabbits don't nurse as often as cats, though, so the owners have also been feeding the kittens with milk by the bottle. and finally, in sweden, a kitten was in need of caretaking after being trapped in a concrete tube underneath a supermarket. the staff heard the cries for help. despite the continuous effort from technicians and animal keepers, it took two whole days to lure the 8-week feline out. luckily, it's now safe in the care of its rescuers awaiting a new home. did you see that video? poor little guy. >> a long time to hang on. all you need is some kitty treats and things work out. >> all you need is treats any time and you pretty much get what you want. well, it's time for an early look at some stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. a court hearing is set in washington following cigarette makers' claims the new federally mandated warning labels on cigarette packaging violates their free speech rights. due next year the new labels will include graphic images and warning messages aimed to deter people from smoking.

to mark childhood cancer awareness month a group called 46 mommas will shave their heads in washington meant to raise awareness and funds and inspire others to help find a cure for childhood cancer. happy birthday to actor larry hagman who turns 80. 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 today on the "today" show. under pressure from both parties. we look at whether president obama can satisfy critics on both sides. and matt lauer talks to simon wo cowell about lessons he learned and strategies for success. 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. have a good one.