[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- put to rest. new jersey governor chris christie once again addresses speculation of a 2012 presidential run. day in court. michael jackson's personal physician goes on trial for allegedly administering the singer's fatal dose. and blind spot. traffic cameras capture a and blind spot. traffic cameras capture a dramatic pile-up in argentina. 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 in or out? despite repeated denials from new jersey governor chris christie that he's not interested in running for president, republicans have been putting pressure on him to join the race. based on a speech he gave last night, it appears christie is sticking to his word. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. he has flat out said in the past that he is not running. he did not repeat it last night. that is raising a lot of questions whether he sidestepped the question, leaving the door open. what he said last night was that he would point to his previous statement that he is not running and he is listening to those who are urging him to do so. a packed speech at the reagan library, perhaps because he is acting like a candidate, criticizing washington, the

president, and congress. it continues to fuel speculation. president obama who is sagging in the polls, trying to win popularity on the other side, his advisor says winning re-election will be a titanic struggle. >> tracie potts for us in washington. thank you. elsewhere, israel has announced it has given the go ahead for building 1100 new jewish housing units in east jerusalem, a move drawing international criticism. the decision is being condemned by palestinians who demand an end to such construction in order to resume peace talks. also expressing disappointment, the united nations, the european union and the u.s. >> we have long urged both sides to avoid any kind of action which could undermine trust, including, and perhaps most particularly in jerusalem. >> the development comes amid already heightened tensions in

the region after last week's request from the palestinians for u.n. recognition of an independent palestinian state. it was a media circus outside a los angeles courthouse yesterday as the involuntary manslaughter trial of michael jackson's trial got under way. inside, jurors heard a disturbing audio recording of the pop star before his death. nbc's stephanie stanton reports. >> reporter: day one began with the prosecution's charges. >> it was dr. murray repeated incompetent and unskilled acts that led to mr. jackson's death on june 25, 2009. >> reporter: prosecutors claim dr. murray violated the standard of care by giving the pop star the surgical anesthetic propofol to help him sleep. then outlined murray actions in the days and weeks leading up to his death, even playing a disturbing audiotape of an incoherent sounding jackson in a conversation with conrad murray

six weeks before his death. >> when people leave my show, i want them to say, i've never seen nothing like this in my life. >> reporter: dr. murray wiped away tears as his attorney disputed the prosecution claims and instead described murray as a caring physician who was trying to wean jackson from propofol, suggesting jackson himself administered the fatal dose. >> against his orders, he did an act that caused his own death. >> reporter: then the first witness took the stand, kenny ortega, jackson's concert director who said he voiced concerns over jackson's health to dr. murray. >> he said, i should stop trying to be an amateur doctor and psychologist and be the director and allow michael's health to

him. >> reporter: six days later, jackson was dead. and now more than two years later, the trial against his personal doctor is under way. stephanie stanton, nbc news, los angeles. now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. a michigan man is relying on surveillance video in his suit against two police officers who escorted him out of a casino. the video shows one cop punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground where he continues punching him. assault charges initially filed by the officers were later dropped after the prosecutor viewed the tape. in texas firefighters an underground gas leak set a road on fire in northern california last night. firefighters were called to the scene after a four-inch gas line set a major intersection ablaze, forcing traffic to be redirected and several nearby businesses to evacuate. fortunately, no injuries have been reported. and finally, a controversial costume has stirred up hard feelings in florida. the ice cream cone costume was meant to draw customers to a newly opened store, but from a distance, some locals thought

the cone looked like a klu klux klan hood. the young shop owner had never heard of the kkk. they had since retired the costume and they hope the community will be understanding. now for a look at your national and regional weather, we check in with meteorologist todd santos with your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, todd. >> good morning. they might want to ogo with the swirl. >> extra sprinkles. >> maybe a sherry. still tracking the latest with hurricane hillary. at least a few days ago we were talkin about the chance for some of thelk moisture to get i as far as the forecast is concerned. looks like that system, a lot of the modelling keeping that much farther off the coastline. we will continue to keep a close eye on it but that looks to be much better in the forecast for much of the west. we will see the trough pushing

in. we will see some showers spre spreading down. the big swell over the country in the great lakes. that will make travel through chicago, new york, dc, maybe where some of your planes are going to. southwest, a few areas in the four corners, 74 in vegas now. headed to coming in around 76. >> fwlad that much of this will not get involved as far as the tropics. a pretty quiet season for them. >> thanks so much. stocks roll higher. and which of the sexes are more

likely to update their status or send a tweet? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. a surprising character puts a stop to a risque routine by rihanna. coming up. three home run, a home plate and wild card races are fit to be tied. 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. federal health officials say listeria food poisoning tied to colorado cantaloupes has now killed at least 13 people in eight states. many of them elderly. at least 72 people have fallen ill since july. it is the deadliest u.s. food outbreak in more than a decade. a new report by a foundation which advocates health care

reform says major health care insurance companies have been charging sharply higher premiums this year, outpacing workers' wage increases. family coverage now averages more than $15,000 a year, that's a 9% jump from 2010 and triple the rate of the previous year's increase. >> the fbi said a convicted killer who escaped in 1970 and allegedly pulled off one of the most brazen kidnappings has been captured. police matched fingerprints to a portuguese i.d. card. he now faces extradition to the u.s. and a fast lane fender bender in argentina took a turn for the worse when another car plowed into the wreck. the jolt, as you can see there, sent the two men flying. unbelievably, the both of them escaped with just minor injuries. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,190 after rising 146 points yesterday. the s&p added 12 points. the nasdaq gained 30.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, tokyo the nikkei was up 5 points but in hong kong the hang seng fell 119. stocks rose for a third straight day tuesday on continued optimism europe is finally dealing with its debt problem. rising hope has pushed the s&p 500 up more than 4% since last thursday's close. the biggest three-day gain since mid-august. over the last two days the dow has made up more than half of last week's 737-point plunge. this week wall street's volatility index has dropped more than 10%. euro optimism also sent commodities higher. gold rose tuesday for the first time in a week. copper jumped almost 5%. not surprisingly, freeport copper and gold was up 4%. specialty metals company allegheny technologies led the

s&p up over 7%. oil spiked more than $4 tuesday in new york. but fell overnight in asia to just over $83 a barrel. research in motion led the nasdaq surging on speculation investor carl icon has taken a stake in the blackberry maker. walgreen fell 6% after ending its relationship with express scripts. home prices rose for a fourth straight month in july. consumer confidence improved slightly in september after plummeting in august. after the bell, tech services company accenture was up on quarterly earning. higher after the bell, payroll processor paychex posting stronger than expected earnings. finally when it comes to social networking, women lead the way. a new survey shows they're more likely to keep in touch with friends and family via social networking. with men preferring phone and voice mail. coming up, a rookie comes to

the red box rescue. the braves feel the heat. and prince hits like a king. plus, fighting for a wild card playoff spot. tampa's rays pull off a triple play against the yankees. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and the wild card teams not the only ones feeling the heat. many waking up to a muggy start to the day. we'll talk about that in your forecast. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports heading into baseball season's last day, the wild card races in both leagues are as close as they possibly could be. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. after 161 games, both the a.l. and n.l. wild card races will come down to the final day of the season. we'll start in baltimore, the red sox needed a change and they turn to rookie ryan lavarnway. he responded. first career homer, a three-run blast. sox up 5-3 after fourth. to the eighth, and guess who? lavarnway again, a solo shot. third string catcher did it all and the red sox held on to beat the orioles. boston did well and so did tampa. sacks full and martin grounded into a 5-4-3 triple play. that was big because in the seventh matt joyce put tampa on top with a home run.

rays won 5-3 and remain with boston. n.l. wild card race, braves had a one game lead but couldn't help their cause. jumped over derek lowe and utley with a solo home run. braves lost it 7-1. cards pulled even with a huge comeback over the astros. ryan theriot gave st. louis a lead in the seven. cards rally to win it 13-6. no playoff race here but brewers prince fielder hit three home runs against the pirate. milwaukee won it 6-4. finally, funny moment in the twins/royals game. first base coach jerry white took a ball off the leg and went down like a ton of bricks. it's never nice to laugh at someone else's expense and ben got what was coming to him. hit past the center fielder in the fifth, ball rolled all the way to the wall. thinking in the park home run.

unfortunately, he was only thinking that. he ran through the stop sign at third and was out by a mile, landing right on his face. there's that laugh again. but this time the joke was on him. that's your early look at sports on early "today." i'm fred roggin. >> karma. well, he's a big name celebrity couple headed for a breakup? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. a family pet is always a loyal friend but we'll show you one that does double duty as a companion and landscaper. you're watching "early today."

welcome back into "early today." looking at a beautiful set up across much of the southwest. check out denver. 86 degrees, sunshine. billings finally starting to see slightly cooler temperatures than what we have been dealing with. winds slowing down. there is a look into thursday. still some 80, even 90s. if you are watching us in seattle, see glass figures and various shapes and forms created by women. that is your pacific event of the day. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. singer rihanna has learned the hard way when it comes to farmers in northern ireland, not everything goes. shooting a video for her latest single in a wheat field, she

went through various wardrobe changes. but when farmer saw her going topless, he got down off his tractor and put a stop to it. he with drew permission for filming on his land but he said he and rihanna and he part on good terms, shaking hands new elsewhere, web and tabloid speculation is rampant there's trouble between ashton kutcher and demi moore. some reports say they've been secretly separated for months while others say a permanent split is imminent. finally, proving the old adage all good things must eventually come to an end. andy rooney, a fixture on cbs's "60 minutes" for more than 30 years will end his run as a regular commentator this sunday, the 92-year-old started his cbs career as a writer back in 1949. i believe up until four years ago he was using the same

typewriter he started with. refilling that last two minutes of the show is going to be extremely difficult. well, this comes to us from kxan news in austin, text next, where in nearby marble falls one hill country homeowner has given a whole new meaning to the term riding lawn mower. meet baby. sandy brown's 140-pound african tortoise and resident lawn mower which can carry up to 100 pound on its shells. the sahara desert native loves to munch on lettuce and grass, long walks on the beach as well. according to sandy gives gas-powered web and weed eater a run for its money. she gets to relax in a custom built home fit for a queen. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

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to celebrate china's upcoming national day organizers are keeping anyone in the dark. for 21 days international light festival will keep things bright. fireworks, shadow plays and lanterns will be in the celebration. to be sure the event is as green as possible, the lights are all l.e.d.s making electricity costs just about 30 bucks a night. someone surely won't be getting father of the year. one dad proved someone would do just about anything to catch a fly ball even if it means drop oing his young daughter in the process. we're not sure what is worse.

the fact that he didn't catch the ball or that he got a reaction like this from his wife. brutal stink eye there. and jeremy had hiedi the opossum was put to sleep. she became a little bit of a mascot for our show. we loved her. >> and she had a little wink for us. >> exactly. pretty good. time now for an early look at some of the stories we will follow throughout the day on nbc. amazon has scheduled a news conference in new york. speculation suggests the online retailer may unveil a new kindle tablet. rumors have the new device called the kindle fire, a full color backlight touch screen version of the company's popular e-reader. there will be a competency

hearing for jared loughner accused of shooting congresswoman gabrielle giffords. his lawyers will make another appeal for prison doctors to stop giving him antipsychotic medication against his will. happy birthday to former french sex simple, brigitte bardot who turns 77. ail day long you can 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 a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. full coverage of the michael jackson death trial as prosecutors begin their case against the pop star's doctor. and "law & order svu" star is live in studio to talk about the hit show's new season. 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. the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com