jamie foxx, michelle monaghan this morning on "early today," enemy take down. >> what happened? testimony at the trial of michael jackson's doctor reveals more on the dramatic final moments of the pop star's life. mt. etna lights up the sky with bursts of lava. and cat got your tongue? a ssachusetts feline with two heads makes the guinness book of a ssachusetts feline with two heads makes the guinness book of world records. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across

the nation. today we begin with a significant strike. a senior u.s. official confirmed to nbc news that american born al qaeda cleric has been killed by u.s. drone. he was killed this morning in the northern part of yemen. he was one of the most influential al qaeda operatives wanted by the u.s. he was accused of having connections to the man who vowed to take down a plane in detroit o. he is said to inspire and have contact with nidal hasan, charged with killing 13 people at fort hood. for the third day, emotions

ran high in a los angeles courtroom where michael jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray, stands accused of involuntary manslaughter in the late pop star's death. yesterday jurors heard more details about the crucial moments surrounding jackson's death. nbc's stephanie stanton has more. >> reporter: after three days of emotional testimony, jackson family members left the courthouse surrounded by supportive fans. meanwhile, inside the courtroom, compelling testimony from a key witness for the prosecution. >> he was laying on his back -- >> reporter: security guard alberto alvarez recalled those critical minutes in jackson's bedroom, all while jackson's children watched. >> paris screamed out daddy. >> reporter: alvarez says he was asked to call 911. >> we have a gentleman here that needs help. >> reporter: but not before he said conrad murray had him collect drug vials and i.v. bag in the room. >> he pointed towards the iv stand and he said, get that bag -- remove that bag and put it in the blue bag. >> cause now pending -- >> reporter: later jackson's personal chef testified about

that fateful day. >> it was a very devastating day. >> reporter: she said she was preparing jackson's lunch when dr. murray came running down the stairs in a panic. >> he was shouting. >> what did he shout? >> get help. get security. get prints. >> reporter: she was also questioned about several paid interviews she did after jackson's death. >> were you paid for that interview. >> yes, i was. >> how much? >> $1,000. >> reporter: stephanie stanton, los angeles. >> facebook is in trouble. co-chairs have asked the federal trade commission to launch an inquiry after it was discovered that facebook was using cookie software to otrack activity. facebook says it has since fixed the problem, adding a statement that it did not store or use any

information it should not have. congress is concerned the practice raises privacy concerns. the newspaper "the onion" set off controversy after series of tweets went out alleging gunfire and hostage-taking on capitol hill. capitol police are investigating the paper for false report after enough twitter users were alarmed. the story, along with a doctored photo of house speaker boehner holding a child hostage was a spoof but on the same day of a terror plot uncovered by the fbi left some believing this story to be true. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. the life of a florida child was saved by a group of bystanders after he was run over by a car. the boy became trapped under after getting out of his

grandmother's car and falling in front of an oncoming vehicle. the make-shift rescue crew freed the boy by lifting the car and pulling him from underneath. he is expected to recover from his injuries. a pit bull puppy is expected to make a miraculous recovery after surviving a bizarre experience. his owner rushed him to the vet after he swallowed a garden flagpole. surgeons were able to remove the pole and patch up the canine without causing damage to oregon organs. attention shoppers. michele obama in sunglass and shades shopping in the store. the white house didn't release details on what the first lady purchased but they did say they say she often will slip out on regular errands. just like everybody else. now for a look at your national and regional weather here's meteorologist domenica davis from wnbc 4 new york.

she has your forecast. good morning to you. >> nice looking forecast. it's the weekend and nothing looking too bad across the country from coast to coast. let's get right to it and we will start off with the tropics. we did have tropical storm hillary. that has now become a tropical depression. again, this is still going to be no threat to the u.s. it is going to just continue to peter out as it stays in the open waters. we're not worried about that. quiet weather across much of the west coast. we do have a storm system moving into the pacific northwest. we could see some isolated showers and maybe some thunderstorms. same thing goes down to the desert southwest where in phoenix some isolated thunderstorms possible. temperatures are going to be soaring over the 100 degree mark. warmer temperatures out towards shasta and 84 in four corners

arizona. and that is your forecast. bank of america getting booed. china stocks get the red hot drop. a familiar restaurant chain may be no more. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, can an r-rated comedy drama about having cancer win at all this weekend at the box office? coming up, an upset in college football. baseball's postseason is finally here. you're watching "early today."

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

in california a man has been rescued six days after his car plunged 200 feet down a cliff off a winding road. the man who was found by his own children suffered broken bones. his injuries are nonlife threatening. the 67-year-old's car landed next to another that had crashed. it's unclear when it happened, but a badly decomposed body was reportedly found in that vehicle. in chile, police clash with angry protesters about the nation's education system. demonstrations have been taking place since june. student are demanding the government provide free education. yesterday china launched an unmanned rocket carrying the nation's first space lab. the lab will be a testing ground for china to dock with spacecraft later this year, paving the way for a permanent space station around 2020. sicily's mt. etna is blowing once again.

in the latest burst, the volcano shot ash and lava up into the air. it temporarily shut down a nearby airport. and here's a face or faces only a mother could love. oh. franc and louie the cat was born with two faces, two mouths, two noses and three eyes. the massachusetts cat has made it into the guinness world record book as the longest surviving member of a group of felines known as janis cats named for a roman god with two faces. that will leave you talking this morning. well, now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. cornell researchers who turn to twitter for real-time little filtered behavior and thoughts found a pretty consistent pattern. people tend to wake up in a good mood and are happiest on weekends. on average positive attitude

peaks early in the morning and starts to dip mid-morning. the positive vibes start rising again in the evening and peak again near midnight. for information on this and other health stories you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,153 after rising 143 point yesterday. the s&p was up 9 points but the nasdaq lost 10. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei was down a fraction while in hong kong the hang seng dropped 418. stocks mostly rose thursday. a day of high volume and high volatility and one that introduced yet another overseas uncertainty factor. the dow and s&p 500 posted healthy gains but the nasdaq was knocked lower by wild selloff of u.s.-listed chinese stocks on news of an investigation into accounting irregularities. dew tumbled, one of the biggest

losers. big tech pressured the nasdaq. amazon was off 3% following a sharp rise wednesday. apple fell hard on end of quarter profit taking. other big techs and internets were hit. advanced microdevices plunged after cutting its forecast. yahoo! lost over 5% while netflix sank 11%. companies vulnerable to an economic downturn turned down. tiffany fell almost 7% while coach sank 6%. there were gainers and some good news. first time unemployment applications hit a five-month low last week. the government raised its estimate of economic growth for april to june. in a triumph for angela merkel, german deputies approved a beefed up euro crisis fund, relieving the biggest fear hanging over the market. on that news, travelers, bank of

america and other financials led the dow higher. but watch bank of america today. america's largest bank is weathering an uproar over plans to charge debit card users $5 a month if you use the card to pay for purchases. and finally, the ultimate casualty of an unfriendly economy? "the wall street journal" reports, friendlies is preparing for possible bankruptcy and a potential sale. coming up, preparations for the opening of baseball's playoffs. and the first possible casualty among managers who didn't get their team there. plus, graham cracks south florida in a top 20 college football upset. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we have a chance for a few isolated storms west and cold air heads east. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, eight months after pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, baseball's playoffs begin today. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the baseball world still abuzz over the incredible finish to the regular season. today we turn our attention to the postseason as playoffs begin in the american league. the rays may be considered a team of destiny after coming from seven runs down wednesday

to win the a.l. wild card. they'll try to carry that momentum to texas where they'll take on the rangers tonight. ment the yankees have the best record in the league where tigers have the best pitcher in baseball. detroit will send justin verlander to the hill for game one. s with a guy all-too familiar with the postseason, cc sabathia. >> i have a ton of confidence in cc. he's been doing it for a long time and in the postseason for us well. he gives you a ton of innings but gives you quality innings. i have a ton of belief. you know he's not going to panic if he gets in a tough situation, he'll continue to make his pitches. >> should be a good old-fashioned pitcher's duel in the bronx, first pitch 8:30 eastern. rangers and rays kick off from texas at 5 p.m. eastern. according to sources, manager terry francona will meet with red sox management today and likely leave the team. despite theo epstein's confidence, he'll probably leave.

the panthers ran over, around and through number 16 south florida. ray graham did most of the damage. 22 6 yards on the ground, 42 through the air. another 35 on special teams. and two touchdowns. you add that up, you get a pittsburgh blowout. they won it big, 44-17. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. another entry in hollywood's unofficial weird baby name competition. plus, nobody likes getting parking tickets but that goes double when it comes from a loved one. you're watching "early today."

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welcome back to "early today." i'm meteorologist domenica davis. a nice, quiet start to the weekend. for much of the west coast we do have clouds moving in to the pacific northwest. temperatures will be slightly cooler than yesterday and that is because of the clouds around. also a chance of a few isolated somehow showers and thunderstorms. if you are watching us on knsd in san diego, california, see images that capture unique perspective of photographers at imagine that. that's your pacific event of the day. >> thanks so much. and now here's an early look

at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the box office this weekend, can hollywood september surprise finish the month on top? "the lion king" will likely take in $15 million this weekend for its third straight win. the r-rated debut "50/50" about best friends dealing with cancer looks to be top challenger also expected to take in $15 million. don't count out brad pitt's baseball saga "moneyball" which topped the daily box office chart all week, but this weekend's playoffs could keep potential fans at home. wild card, the debut of mystery thriller "dream house" starring daniel craig. experts predictions vary wildly. some see it challenging for top spot, others see it in the low teen millions. opening of the latest r-rated ana faris comedy "what's your number" has a shot with $10 million. mike meyers and kelly tisdale welcomed their first baby into the world, a boy named spike.

mike myers and his wife have welcomes into the world their first child, a boy named spike. in nearby lodi, new jersey, one cop proved his wife is above the law. no one gets a pass on parking violation and chief caruso's town. for the second time he offered -- he ordered an officer to ticket his wife. this time for double parking outside their son's school. she was dropping off their child but the chief gave the green light for the ticket. a decision he says he won't lose any sleep over, even though he may be sleeping on the couch. minor detail. very brave there of you. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in france, locals are enjoying a wave of tradition. it has become custom for hundreds of people to come from all over to watch surfers and kayakers ride a tidal wave. it's created when the river current creates a ripple that goes upriver. the phenomenon offers the once a year chance to hang ten on what's usually calm water. well, even primates need a little help when it comes to finding love. meet a gorilla hoping for a chance at finding mrs. right after 30 years of being single.

a brazilian zoo hopes to add matchmaking to their duties after adding two females from england. the hope is for babies to follow in the future. beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, at least in beijing. contestants put their pet goldfish on display as part of a beauty contest. the little guys may not have the typical pretty face. in fact, some look downright bizarre. rather, the fish are judged according to their bodies, colors and swimming gestures. no word on whether there's a miniature tiara for the winner. we use that term beauty loosely. did you see the one where the brain is outside the head? >> that's crazy. >> a little disturbing. >> i find that intriguing in some weird way. they're very intriguing to me. i could look at them all day. >> you kind of can't turn away, right. time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in washington the federal

government's new food icon miplato will be unveiled which ames to help hispanic consumers make healthier food choices. it's part of hispanic heritage month and includes tips to stay active and fit. in celebration of the 20th anniversary of president clinton's announcement to run fort executive office, the former president will attend a dedication of the clinton presidential park bridge and the bill clark wetlands in arkansas. happy birthday to elie wiesel, noble peace laureate turns 83. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. matt lauer is live from italy with the latest on the amanda knox trial and an exclusive interview with her parent. ann curry reports live from los angeles with the latest on

michael jackson's death trial. 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.