i want to thank my guests emmy nominated, jimmy fallon [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- havoc on the hill. house republicans narrowly pass a new version of the stop-gap spending bill which democrats say is dead on arrival. the big selloff. wall street freefalls on growing concerns about a global recession. and carp diem. illinois officials promote a tasty new use for an unwanted pest. >> announcer: this is "early today" for friday, september 23, 2011. hello and very good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. today we begin with just

squeezing by. after an embarrassing defeat earlier this week of a spending bill to keep the government running, last night house republicans barely muscled through a new version of the bill but not surprisingly the battle isn't over yet. nbc tracie potts joins us now from washington. >> reporter: good morning. it's not over yet but they really don't have a lot of time. the possible shut down could happen by the end of next week. so they may only have a few hours to work this out. the house did pass a bill only by about 16 votes that would keep government running through the middle of november. here is some reaction after that vote. >> this bill is an embarrassment. this is not worthy of this congress. vote no on this latest assault. on the republican plan. >> that you recall voting for that. >> will you yield -- >> no, i'm sorry. you had half an hour --

>> i mentioned three times -- i mentioned three times the gentlemen was -- >> if you -- >> the gentle lady from california controls the time. >> order! >> order in the house, mr. speaker. >> reporter: this bill includes -- that was actually before that vote. the bill did pass that include ed nearly $3.7 billion in disaster funds, but in order to pay for that there were some clean energy programs cut including one that failed solar panel company that went bankrupt in california. part of those funds being cut as well. democrats didn't like losing some of the funds. house speaker john boehner said there's no threat of a shutdown here, but the bill may be dead on arrival in the senate. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. the critics are weighing in on last night's gop presidential debate in florida and it appears front-runner rick perry took the

heaviest hits from his opponents. former front-runner mitt romney took perry to task on health care and job creation. the two also tangled over who's more likely to flip-flop on the issues as well as perry's controversial stance on social security. >> there's a rick perry out there that's saying that almost, quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business, that it's unconstitutional. unconstitutional and returned to the states. so, you better find that rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> he's for obama care and now he's against it. i mean, we'll wait until tomorrow and see which mitt romney we're really talking to tonight. >> perry did score some laughs when he said he'd want to mate herman cain and newt gingrich for a running mate. global recession fears that markets reeling into a tailspin

thursday with plenty of signs pointing to long-term trouble. unhappiness with the fed's new stimulus plan, a slowdown in china and a selloff in europe all combined to send stocks tumbling over 3%. oil fell 6% on the price of gold and silver plummeted. while investors sought safe haven in the bond and dollar. we'll have much more on wall street's rocky ride straight ahead in business. iranian president ahmadinejad is claiming explosive material and not jets brought down the world trade center on 9/11. in an interview with the associated press ahmadinejad stopped just short of saying the u.s. staged the disaster. he contends time has not run out for the u.s. and iran to repair their bad relationship. the comments came just hours after diplomats from 30 countries, including the u.s., walked out on his speech to the u.n. general assembly as he launched a verbal attack on america and europe. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in northern virginia, two families have been forced to pack up and move out after a massive sinkhole swallowed up

their backyard. the houses are teetering on the edge of a crater that's estimated to be 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep. both homes have been condemned. in florida one family came home from vacation to find ten stinky skunks had moved in. apparently they snuck in through an open window and now the smelly critters are hiding out in the walls, living off whatever food they can find. so far, only one of the smelly scavengers has been captured and released. in missouri halloween may be more than a month away, but one haunted house already has its headliner. take a look at this. unofficially the largest snake in captivity, 25-foot long, 300-pound python is sure to terrify even the most intrepid trick-or-treater.

there may be be a pumpkin shortage but not in connecticut where one giant gourd has set a new state record. time-lapse video shows the massive squash as it grew to a staggering 1,487 pounds. enough to take the top spot in the state but a few hundred pounds shy of the world record. still at $1 a pound, this pumpkin's proud papa took home a pretty sweet prize. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist ryan phillips from tv station wtvj miami with the forecast. they got what? 1500 pounds of pumpkin? that makes how many pies? >> a lot. not sure i can calculate this early in the morning. but you need an ax to carve it. that is a big pumpkin. today is the first day of fall but it feels like summer across much of the west coast. maybe record highs through the weekend. if you do have flight plans to take you anywhere it's going to be a very wet weather pattern.

what a contrast. hot and dry out west. it's been the same story all week long. big ridge of high pressure keeping things sunny and dry. any cold fronts trying to invade deflected up into british columbia. 62 in la, and a warm 82 in phoenix after a 106 yesterday in phoenix. 100 in vegas. how about today? 82 in las angeles with clouts on the increase. that's the weather a sunny bea day. san diego, more clouds than sun.

more sunshine for the west and soggy out east. welcome to autumn. >> we have got head west. >> that's where it's at. >> all that sunshine? so not fair. stocks stagger, investors run for cover and the founder of the twist enjoys his new-found celebrity. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, clive owen and robert de niro together in an action thriller. it's got to be top film this weekend, right? coming up, the angels and blue jays need extras. the rays finally get what they need. who says wrestling isn't real? you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are your top headlines this morning. the obama administration is proposing a lawsuit seeking full severance pay for those

dismissed under the recently repealed ban on gays serving openly. the american civil liberties union wants class-action status for 142 people who got half pay after their discharge for being gay. an alabama man was put to death by lethal injection yesterday for the 1994 shooting of a store clerk. it was the nation's third execution this week. some time today a nasa satellite the size of a bus will plummet to earth. it's not known exactly where it will hit. most of the spacecraft is expected to burn up on entry, but 26 large chunks are expected to survive. and illinois is launching a campaign that may lead to the feeding of asian carp and invasive species threatening the great lakes to people facing hunger. yesterday a public tasting event featuring the fish was held. there are still some major obstacles with the program, including how to harvest the fish and distribute it to the public. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow jones opens at 10733

after plunging 391 points. the s&p sank 37 points. the nasdaq dropped a whopping 82. taking a look at oversea s trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei fell to a 180-point loss. while in hong kong, the hang seng tumbled 243. as we mentioned earlier, markets both here and abroad were whipped thursday on growing fear the u.s. and, perhaps, the world is heading for another recession. with wall street increasingly convinced a full recovery here may take years, news from the world's once thriving economy sent markets reeling. china's industrial production is slowing. its once booming manufacturing sector shrank for a third consecutive month. european markets dove thursday after a closely watched survey there indicated recession could be on the way. on wall street all three majors lost at least 3%. heavy volume suggest traders want out quick, anticipating

even bigger losses. wall street's so-called fear gauge jumped 12%, its biggest spike in a month. traders sought safety in bonds. the ten-year yield hit its lowest point ever for the second day in a row. investors also turned to the dollar, which hit an eight-month high against the euro. oil tied closely to demand fell $5.50 to just over $80 a barrel, the biggest one-day drop in six weeks. metals such as copper also tied to economic health fell sharply. in another bad sign, two other recent go-to safe havens were swamped by selling. gold and silver tumbled as investors needing cash or looking to get out with a profit cashed in quick. finally, tickled the fed's new stimulus program "operation twist," chubby checker has his own simple economic stimulus plan. we make a lot of money, we spend a lot of money. it is just money. baseball's pennant race and the latest update on hugh

jackman's controversial wrestling cameo. plus, a japanese import makes an all-american play in cleveland. your early morning sports headlines straight ahead. flooding rains possible in the east, hot and dry out west. quite a contrast for the first day of autumn. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports for baseball fans just days away from the decision on who will go to the playoffs, it is that time of the year you've got to love unless, of course, are you a nail-biter. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the red sox had the day off so the rays and angels had a chance to move one step closer to the a.l. wild card. we'll start in toronto. angels blew a two-run lead and blue jays completed the comeback in the 12th. edwin encarnacion, gone. a walkoff homer. angels wasted their opportunity. to make up some ground losing 4-3 in 12. in bronx, the yankees handed one to the rays. a day after clinching the division, new york rested most

of their starters and tampa took advantage. jumped over bartolo colon. scored 13 in the first five innings. went on to win it 15-8, trailing the red sox by two games. to the national league wild card race. cards could have moved within a game of the braves if it wasn't for one bad inning. mets scored six in the ninth. tejeda tied it with a double. then harris put new york on top with an rbi single. cards collapse losing 8-6 in st. louis. kind of a cool moment in cleveland. jim thome and omar vizquel brought up the lineup cards. might be the last time these two hall of famers are on the field. fourth inning, dunn with a shot to right but fukudome was there to make a diving grab. he was just getting warmed up. an inning later fukudome put indians on top, scored a pair with an rbi single. cleveland won big 11-5. finally we briefly mentioned this yesterday. hugh jackman, wolverine from the x-men series took part in a wwe event earlier this week. he threw a punch at dolph ziegler, which helped his opponent win the match. after the event, ziegler tweeted that jackman actually broke his jaw. that's one powerful punch. but now sources close to the wrestler say it was all a hoax. ziegler is fine. go figure. make-believe in the ring and out of it. only in the wwe.

that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray never all. brad pitt takes on a cartoon and a dolphin at the box office. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, some college sports attract millions of fans and followers. others, as we'll show you, may not attract millions but they're not lacking one bit in passion. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." it's a very quiet weather start out here on the west coast. we have fog settling in, in los angeles. a warm day in medford at 93. we are sunny and dry across the west coast. by sunday, the showers are coming back to the pacific northwest. if you are watching us on kngo you can kick off the weekend with pumpkin seed spitting and free concerts at the central washington state fair at the state fair park. that is your pacific event of the day. it is state fair season. >> is that not rude? pumpkin seed spitting? >> it's competitive.

>> and you do well? >> sometimes. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this weekend at the box office is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in recent memory. big midweek business suggests the 3d re-release of "the lion king" has a shot to remaining in one, following last week' surprise $30 million top spot opening. "moneyball" with brad pitt has been generating big buzz and likely to score at least $20 million. but the heart-warming pg-rated star-studded 3d "dolphin tale" also is expected to take in close to $20 million. don't overlook the pg-13 thriller "abduction" starring taylor lautner. devoted twilight fans could swell the number. finally r-rated action drama with dream team "killer elite" will be hurt by its rating and all those other films so it will

only take in roughly $10 million. what do you think? which one? thousands of california students showed up to prove that they have fwot game. nearly 4500 players lined up to dodge more than a thousand dodge balls to gain the coveted title of the world's biggest dodge ball game. with officials on hand and twice the number of players, the irvine ant eaters proudly reclaimed the world record. congratulations are in order. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in singapore a toast to one of the world's oldest bottles of champagne. the bottle estimated to be 107 years old was found by divers exploring a ship wreck in the baltic sea. it's part of a collection of 145 bottles found in the wreck. bought for over $40,000. the buyers say they didn't purchase it for the investment, but to enjoy on a special occasion. of course. some lucky dogs took to the catwalk in argentina to show off the latest in puppy fashion.

their human counterparts took a backseat role at the show as the pooches strutted down the runway. they modeled everything from skirts to bow ties, shirts and other accessories. there was even swimwear and raincoats designed for man's best friend. too cute. and a bizarre soft drink is catching on in peru made from frogs. yes, i said frogs. at a popular snack bar that's been selling the drink for 15 years, customers can see how the juice is extracted from the amphibian and watch as more than 20 other ingredients are added. patrons are now accustomed to drinking it every day. they even think it has curative properties. i don't know, ryan, that's something i'm going to pass on. what about you? >> it looked like she was getting ready to drop the frog in the blender. i don't want to be a part of that. >> let's move on. time for an early look at some stories we'll follow throughout the day right here on nbc. former president clinton joins

comedian ben stiller at a gala benefiting stiller's foundation working to help build schools in haiti. the stiller foundation mission is to provide children with educational opportunities. 90% of the schools in port-au-prince were damaged or destroyed in the 2010 quake. in washington on the 150th anniversary of the civil war a veteran groups honors patriotism of african-american soldiers who fought, with a panel discussion followed by a screening of the film "glory". finally, happy birthday to bruce springsteen, the boss turns 62 years old today. 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 stocks plunge find out where your money is safe with expert analysis from jim cramer. and white house gate-crasher and reality star tareq salahi speaks out on his wife running off with a rock star and ruining his marriage. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz.

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