[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," last words. georgia executes a man who, until the very end, maintained his innocence. and the end of an ordeal. two u.s. hikers head home after spending more than two years in iranian custody. and swept away, swollen waters topple a floating restaurant in china. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to the viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the high-profile execution.

after an intense wait in georgia, inmate troy davis was put to death last night despite protests from around the world. until the very end davis maintained his innocence, telling the family of the police officer he was convicted of killing what happened was not his fault. nbc's kurt gregory reports. >> reporter: after an emotional 11th hour appeal to the highest court in the land, troy davis was executed in georgia. >> the court-ordered execution of troy anthony davis has been carried out. >> reporter: according to witnesses, davis' last words were a denial of responsibility for the crime he was convicted of. >> he was not personally responsible for what happened that night, that he did not have a gun. he said to the family that he was sorry for their loss but also said that he did not take their son, father, brother. >> reporter: a case that has galvanized communities far beyond the prison gates in georgia, from coast to coast, groups rallied. their message, spare davis'

life. troy davis was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of savannah police officer mark macphail after witnesses testified davis shot macphail. but seven of the nine witnesses later recanted their testimony. and no dna evidence links him to the crime. >> it's over. it sounds terrible but i can finally close this book and hopefully get some sleep. >> reporter: after 22 years, officer macphail's family and prosecutors have never abandoned their belief that davis deserved the death penalty. kurt gregory, nbc news. after spending more than two years locked up in iran, hikers josh fattal and shane bauer are finally free. yesterday they were released from prison into the arms of loved ones. nbc news tehran bureau chief ali

aruzi has more from iran. >> reporter: after over 780 days in tehran's notorious prison, josh fattal and shane bauer finally get to taste freedom. during fast-moving events, their iranian lawyer was summoned to the judiciary to come and finalize their $1 million bail arrangement. once that has been done, omani and swiss delegates rushed to the prison to see how long it would take to get them out. the swiss ambassador who deals with american interests in iran, because there is no u.s. embassy here, came out and delivered the good news that josh fattal and shane bauer, after two years of hope and heartbreak for themselves and their families were on their way out of iran. >> two years in prison is too long. and we sincerely hope for the freedom of other political prisoners and other unjustly imprisoned people in america and iran. >> reporter: what this ordeal and this case has highlighted, though, are deep rifts between the ruling elite, something president ahmadinejad wanted to avoid before addressing the u.n. general assembly this week.

ali aruzi, nbc news, tehran. back here at home, the diplomat standoff continues at the annual meeting of the united nations general assembly. palestinian president mahmoud abbas remains determined to take his bid for statehood to the u.n. despite pressure from the u.s. for abbas to instead resume peace talks with israel. nbc's tracie potts joins with us more from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. president obama and the u.s. seem determined to convince him that the united nations is not the place to deal with this issue during his speech to the general assembly yesterday president obama said that peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the u.n. the security council is set to consider tomorrow the palestinian's request for full membership. he met with mahmoud abbas yesterday and also with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. president obama said we are committed to israel's security

and the commitment is unbreakable, but there's another option here. they may put off a decision tomorrow on full membership or as the french suggested, they could upgrade the palestinians from observant status to non-member status. bottom line, they have work to do on this. lynn? >> tracie potts, thank you. here's a look at some other stories making headlines today. police say a michigan attorney and his two sons are lucky to be alive after a bomb exploded in their car tuesday evening. the three managed to escape the vehicle before it was engulfed in flames. a $10,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to an arrest in the explosion. the man was reportedly released from the hospital. his 11 and 13-year-old sons were last listed in critical condition. in new jersey, newly released surveillance video shows an suv smashing into a jewelry store back in july. a quick-thinking customer pulled the driver's foot off the gas,

turned off the ignition and wrapped the injured driver's hand in a tourniquet. thankfully, no one was seriously injured. wildlife officials in colorado are warning residents to lock up their trash at night. that's due to the unusual number of dumpster-diving bears. apparently a drought in southeastern parts of the state has the hungry animals on a desperate search for food before hibernation. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's meteorologist ryan phillips from wtvj in miami. >> no word if there's honey in the dumpster? >> that's an old wife's tail. they are going for golden grahams now. we have one area of concern in the pacific northwest. showers returning to washington state, at least this morning, across the olympic peninsula. some of the showers a pressing into bellingham to make it

further down south into seattle and tacoma, but further east to spokane down to salem, a dry forecast prevailing. so in the pacific northwest, that's the only game in town. the big weather story across the nation today will be the very wet weather basically from new england all the way to the southeastern states. nice to see a little bit of shower activity into the drought-stricken southern plains. cool weather invading across the northern plains and rockies, but comfortable out west. we have 64 this morning in seattle with mostly cloudy skies. comfortable in san francisco at 54. fog settling in to los angeles with temperatures at 61. as long as the ridge of high pressure is in place the next few days, a lot of sunshine there, very limited shower chances except to the northwest. seattle today, 71. afternoon showers continuing. portland, dry, 80. lots of sunshine in medford. boise, 88. the fog lifts in los angeles, 78 today. up to 80 tomorrow. the first day of fall looking summer-like in boise with highs near 92. that's a look at the weather across the the

100-degree mark, partly cloudy with highs at 99. we do need more rain across the region, but fortunately it is only in washington state. >> especially in colorado. thank you so much. the fed announces stimulus. and business as usual when it comes to america's riches. the early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, why we won't be seeing much of the dutchess of cambridge for the next several months. coming up, the braves stumble, the cards gain ground. and how did the yankees help the red sox by clinching the division? you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today," i'm lynn berry.

here are some of your top headlines this morning. house republicans leaders suffered the surprise defeat of a bill to keep the government running past next week, one they confidently predicted would pass. democrats objected to funding cuts while tea party freshmen thought there weren't enough. while georgia executed troy davis yesterday, texas put to death lawrence russell brewer for the notorious 1998 dragging death of a black man. the white supremacist gang member gave no last words. in china, rescuers were called into action after a restaurant boat that broke free collided with another vessel and capsized. 11 people were tossed into the water. fortunately, they were all saved. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,124 after sinking 283 points yesterday. the s&p dropped 35 points, the nasdaq did 52. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo,

the nikkei tumbled 180 points while in hong kong, the hang seng plummeted 912. the fed is doing the twist but its wall street audience is throwing tomatoes. the federal reserve's long-awaited plan for kick starting the economy already nicknamed operation twist, after a similar move in 1961, involves the central bank selling $400 billion of its holdings from short-term government debt. in turn, the fed will buy long-term debt. treasury notes and bonds with maturities of 6 to 30 years. the goal, stimulate the economy by driving down long-term interest rates. reviews have already been scathing. the dow tumbled with traders disappointed by the investment shuffle rather than a third direct injection of cash into the economy. economists doubt it will help. even with that said, three of ten members voting dissented. the fed also forecast gloom

saying the economy faces significant downside risks, including lengthy struggles with slow growth, high unemployment and slumping housing. insurers were hit hard. lincoln national tumbled 8%. investors seeking safe haven sent the ten-year treasury yield to a new record low. banks led decliners after moody's cut the debt ratings of bank of america, wells fargo and citigroup on fears the government may balk at any future bailout. hewlett-packard jumped higher on rumors the company may oust its current head for former ebay ceo meg whitman. finally, bill gates topped "forbes" list of the richest americans for the 18th in a row with $59 billion. number two, the oracle of omaha, warren buffett with $39 billion. coming up, all the latest on baseball's red hot down to the wire pennant races, including the yankees wrapping up their division title while at the same

time helping their arch rival. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. it's the last day of summer, but most of the nation dealing with spring rain. your forecast is coming up, you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today."

in sports, despite aging arms and a long line of injured in trainers rooms, once again, new york yankees are playoff bound. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. with all eyes on the a.l. wild card race, the yankees quietly won the division yesterday. game one of a double header in the bronx. robinson cano capped off a four-run eighth with an rbi double. in came a pair and the yanks were up 4-2. to the ninth, rivera in to close it out. evan longoria, a shot deep to center but not deep enough. the yanks clinched a spot. the yankees are headed back to the postseason for the 16th time in the last 17 years. they beat the rays, 4-2. they won the division, like the early game, they took it in the eighth. jorge posada has not had a good year but this had to feel good. an rbi single. new york was up 4-2. rivera unable in the ninth, so rafael soriano got the stage.

he strikes out matt joyce. new york takes the a.l. east crown. all a day's work for the yankees. nothing's been going right for the red sox, tied at four with the orioles. guerrero up the middle. boston reeling but tampa not much better. the sox lead the wild card by 2 1/2. now you can throw the angels into the mix. unlike the rays and red sox, the angels have been winning. bernie wells returned to his old stomping grounds and smashed a two-run homer. angels over toronto. 7-2. they are 2 1/2 back with seven remaining. at one point the braves had a 10 1/2 game lead, now it's down to 1 1/2. brett hayes with a solo shot in the fifth. marlins shut them out, 4-0. cardinals with a chance to gain some ground. they did with a win over the mets. david freeze getting it done. a go-ahead three-run homer. they rally to win it, 6-5. cardinals closing in on the braves with just a week left in the season. that's your "early" look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. apparently the wolverine doesn't know his own strength.

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, sure he takes his pope mobile all around the world. coming up, we'll introduce you to a kansas nun whose less fancy version gets her around the neighborhood. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." it's the last day of summer, and

it feels like it in phoenix and vegas. still easily in the mid to upper 70s there. watch out for early morning fog in los angeles, 61 there. we get rid of the fog and get to the sunshine later on. 78 for los angeles. the 100s for phoenix. the pacific northwest is wet, seattle, 71 today. a return for sunshine for the first day of fall. tomorrow, hot in boise, 92. 84 in salt lake city. 71 in assistance. if you are watching us on kget-nbc 17 in bakersfield, california, see a broadway classic act a young girl who goes from milking cows to high society in my fair lady at the stars theater restaurant. sponsored by kget-tv. that's your pacific event of the day. broadway in bakersfield, i like it. >> and food. i love it. thank you so much, ryan. here's an early morning look at headlines and entertainment. attention kate middleton fans. you won't be seeing much of her for the rest of the year. england's "daily telegraph" reports she's basically in princess boot camp.

her husband prince william is said to be insistent that kate is properly prepared after his mother's unhappy start in royal life. and while she learns about government, national institutions and dealing with the media, her appearances will be limited. wikileaks founder julianne saa assange is getting a taste of his own medicine. a publisher is releasing a draft of his autobiography without his approval. and promoting his upcoming film at a recent wrestling event, hugh jackman took what was supposed to be a playful poke at a wrestler. now the wrestler tweets that jackman actually broke his jaw. i guess he didn't get the memo that he was supposed to movie punch not knock the guy out. i guess he's been in too many of those "xmen" movies.

this comes to us from nbc 3 ksn news in wichita, kansas, the one-neighbor nun has taken her charity work to the streets in style. sister ann katherine may be 90 years old but thanks to her trusty golf cart, she never misses a visit to those in need. the donated cart helps her get around the hilly streets calling on the sick, homebound and hungry. she says the wheels make her memorable, even to people she hasn't met, but to those who do know her, it's her friendship that makes her unforgettable. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a fresh start for a couple of baby squirrels. they're getting adjusted to their new home in england after hurricane katia tossed them from their nest and left them homeless. without their mom, the babies were lucky to be discovered and nursed back to health by a vet. staff at a care center will watch over the group until they're old enough to be let back into the wild. parents joke about walking barefoot uphill to school. but students in china have them beat. it's a two-day journey to school from the remote area where they live. the eye-popping trek along a nearly 1,000 feet high cliff is dangerous, as you can imagine for the 6 to 16-year-olds. so parents accompany them.

in july construction began on a government-fund road. but only three miles of it have been completed. authorities in turkey had a clever twist to girls night out. the soccer stadium banned all men from attending a game this week because of recent hooliganism. to curb rowdiness, 40,000 women and children watched from the stand, all for free. there were reports of at least one man who got in, though, he disguised himself in women's clothing. he snuck through. soccer fans are pretty hard core. i would imagine this did not go over well. >> plus, those hooligans, if one made it in, i'm surprised there were several who attempted to. >> a lesson learned. time now for an early look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in cincinnati, president obama will visit an ohio bridge. this is the type of site needed to create jobs. the bridge also happens to be in the political backyards of house speaker boehner and senate

minority leader mcconnell. on the heels of this week's changes to its new feed has many in an uproar. facebook is expected to announce more new features today. speculation includes allowing users to share music from different services on the site. and singer andrea bocelli turns 53. all day long, stay on top of the 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 what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. troy davis is put to death after the supreme court rejects his last-minute appeal. the latest fallout, including reaction from the reverend al sharpton. and brad pitt sit downs with matt lauer to address the controversy over his recent comments on jennifer aniston. 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 stations.

have a good one.