new details on that strange situation in ohio involving exotic animals on the loose. deep sea rarity. fishermen uncover a shark with an abnormality once thought to be the thing of myths. and paw power. meet a chihuahua with a unique and paw power. meet a chihuahua with a unique way of getting around. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning, i'm lynn berry. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. today we begin with an end to a very bizarre story. all of the animals that have been released from an exotic animal farm have been accounted for. unfortunately with nearly all have been shot and dead by authorities. now that the hunt is over, officials can focus on why the owner freed the animals and then took his own life.

nbc's andy roechen reports. >> reporter: 48 animals were doomed the moment their owner, terry thompson, set them free tuesday night from his farm. as frantic calls to 911 started coming in -- >> there's a lion on mt. perry road. >> reporter: -- deputies knew instantly it was kill or be killed. >> these animals were on the move. he showed aggressive behavior. >> reporter: the animals included wolves, african lions, mountain lions, bears, monkeys, leopards, and what hurt the most for famed zookeeper jack hanna, 18 bengal tigers, an endangeredd species, all shot dead by authorities. >> if you had 18 bengal tigers running around these neighborhoods, you wouldn't have wanted to see what happened. >> reporter: hanna says he fully supports the killings. he says there's no way to round up the animals. >> the animal rights folks are going to go nuts but the

sheriffs did the right thing. >> reporter: the farm owner, terry thompson, had plenty of complaints about his animals over the past decade, including animal cruelty. they say after he set them free, he disabled their cages so the cages could not be used again and then he committed suicide. >> i honestly believe that he didn't feel like he needed to live any longer. it's sad. it disheartens me. >> reporter: authorities say they never found a suicide note, so we may never know for sure if releasing the animals was thompson's final act of kindness or cruelty. andy roechen, nbc news. on capitol hill a senate vote could come as early as today on a portion of the president's $447 billion jobs bill that was voted down as a whole last week. yesterday the president wrapped up a three-day bus tour pushing his legislation to get americans back to work. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn, good morning. they're talking specifically about what the senate may vote

on, the $35 billion in grants to states to stay over 400,000 jobs. police, firefighters, teachers, first responders, most of them teachers, in fact. the president criticized the republican alternative which say being lax on wall street won't help. it will cost a lot of money we don't have. and would be just a temporary fix. it would be paid for, and what the senate will consider, is paying for it with a half-percent tax on millionaires. will it pass today? what may though is a payroll tax cut for businesses. the president pitched that and republicans support it. lynn? >> tracie potts for us in washington, thank you. just when it looked like 55 million americans in social security were finally getting a raise, a new increase in medicare could offset a good chunk of it.

according to the trustees of both programs, higher medicare part b premiums, which are deducted directly from social security checks, could wipe out as much as a quarter of the n newly announced raise in benefit, the first in two years. the official announcement of the 2012 medicare premium hike could come as early as next week. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. dozens have been left homeless in the wake of three tornadoes that hit southern florida. the storm system reeked havoc along the state's atlantic coast destroying homes, scattering debris, toppling trees, even producing one tornado that left a trail of property damage more than a mile long. strong winds bashed the windy city high and low blowing out chicago high-rise windows and whipping up massive waves along the lake michigan shoreline. the 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts caused numerous flight delays and caused officials to warn joggers to stay away from the

path as long the shore. the high wind warning remains in effect until 10:00 a.m. today. heavy rain and floodwaters have been producing some pretty bad breeding grounds for super sized mosquitos in central florida. the invasion of the blood-sucking insects is causing some concern due to their aggression and size, which is three times larger than typical mosquitos. and finally, a florida chihuahua is proving the old adage, you can't keep a good dog down. trixie has been getting around by walking on her front legs. paralysis from an old injury took away the use of her hind legs, but she still manages to get where she needs to go. and just fine. looking at your national and regional weather here is bill karins with your forecast. >> a cute doggie. >> we thought that would help you start out your morning. >> and help you forget the mosquito video and make everyone

squirrel and scratch and itch. the pacific northwest is now in for a period of damp weather. we're going to see a zonal flow and what that means is that pretty much everything is going to go from west to east. not see any more dips or ridges or troughs. that's what we were dealing w a big ridge in the place and tranquil weather everywhere. that zonal flow will continue to bring one storm after another into the pacific northwest and occasionally into the state of oregon. but still you're going to be left with high pressure and great weather for many days in a row. much of the desert southwest and california, the only active weather up there in the cascades and that's where we have showers this morning, the first of -- just a weak system that's gone through. some of the radar echoes in green. not raining everywhere. hit and miss showers and portland has a chance for them and computers are not projecting anything too heavy. the next system after this will be more impressive. saturday looks like a rainy day in the northwest. don't count on a lot of sunshine in the northwest.

everybody else though still looking good. >> so we've had a nice period of weather. good fall and now we hit halloween and northwest -- >> not so much. >> all right, bill, so much. a rare slip by apple who's trying to gobble up yahoo!? and the most absurdly, luxurious and expensive christmas present on the market. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus once again lindsay lohan heads to court to face the music and there's no way she likes the tune the judge was playing. coming up, game one of the world series. and maybe some proof that the nba labor talks aren't going as well as you may think. 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. on a surprise trip to afghanistan, secretary of state hillary clinton pledged support for the war-torn nation but also said she wants a reality check on the way forward there. cia chief david petraeus will be among an army of high-level u.s. officials with clinton when she arrives in pakistan for talks focusing on a crackdown on insurgents. in athens, a protest meant to be peaceful got out of control yesterday. thousands were demonstrating against new austerity measures when clashes erupted sending tourists fleeing for safety. the airline industry is expected to bank $32.5 billion in fees for checked bags,

on-board entertainment and other extras this year, that's up a staggering 44% from just last year. yesterday french first lady, carla bruni sarkozy, gave birth to a little baby girl reportedly named dahlia. president nicolas sarkozy missed the birth because he was involved in talks on the euro crisis. the child is the first born to a sitting president of modern day france. and new research confirms the finding of a shark with just one eye. the rare cyclops shark was discovered by a mexican fisherman who cut open his catch to find the fetus which probably would not have survived. here's ann early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,504 after losing 72 points yesterday. the s&p fell 15 points. the nasdaq sank 53. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei dropped 90 points while in hong kong

the hang seng tumbled 326. in an all-too familiar pattern, worries over europe's debt crisis sparked a sudden turn on wall street yesterday. late in the day markets tumbled on news that france's president nicolas sarkozy is deadlocked with germany over how to proceed with a eurozone bailout. bad news for investors hoping for a solution at this weekend's euro zone summit. earlier, news that inflation is slowing and more new homes are being built failed to sway skeptical investors. a surprising earnings miss from apple, however, took a toll on tech stocks. apple shares lost more than 5%. meanwhile, morgan stanley managed to stay out of the red thanks to rising revenue that boosted its earnings. shares of citigroup slipped after agreeing to pay $285 million to settle charges tied to its involvement in the mortgage meltdown. rising fuel prices hit american airlines hard sending shares spiraling 7% while rival jetblue sank on news its cfo resigned.

on the upside, travelers insurance shot up on better than estimated earnings and news of a bigger stock buyback program. intel hit a new 52-week high on its upbeat earnings. this morning's "wall street journal" reports microsoft is working on a buyout offer for yahoo!. american express was up after hours following impressive late-day earnings. elsewhere after the bell, ebay's holiday predictions failed to impress investors. and finally, thanks to "today" show style editor, bobbie thomas, we found the gift for the person who has everything. 24-karat gold shoelaces for $19,000. too expensive? not to worry, you can get a silver pair for just $3,000. sounds like a bargain there. well, nba players make other plans. the leafs blow by the jets. unsportsmanlike conduct in soccer. plus, the cardinals' chris carpenter does it with his arm and glove in game one of the world series. your early morning sports

headlines are straight ahead. a classic october storm in the great lakes with high winds and 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 the st. louis

cardinals drew blood last night in the game one matchup with the texas rangers. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the cardinals made the playoffs on the last day of the season but proved they belong taking game one of the world series. against the rangers in st. louis, pitcher's duel until the fourth. two aboard for lance berkman, ripped a double down the line. in came matt holliday. in came albert pujols and they were up 2-0. rangers tied it with one big swing. mike napoli, two-run shot the opposite way and even 2-2. to the sixth, two down, runners on the corners, pinch hitter allen craig to nelson cruz. cruz couldn't make the sliding grab. in came the go-ahead run, and that was the difference. cards held on to win 3-2. rangers will try to even that series tonight, game two. 8:00 eastern, lewis and garcia the probables. from america's pastime to canada's obsession, jets and maple leafs.

toronto down 2 and they forced a shootout. matt frattin completed the comeback, made it look easy. the maple leafs win it, 4-3 in a shootout. the nba and its players met yesterday and like all meetings before the two are miles apart. if you want to gauge how well the talks are going, look no further than what nba superstars are doing. lebron james, kobe bryant and others are planning to travel around the world for two weeks and play exhibition games. the tour starts next week. if you thought seeing your favorite player was expensive last year, you'll have to dust off your passport, buy a plane ticket to see them now. and finally, a lesson in soccer, rule number one, don't use your hands. rule two, don't pull down your opponent's shorts. that's what happened during a soccer match in greece. take another look. the player was given a yellow card for exposing the fruit of his loom. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> what a way to wake up this morning. well, what show does the president lay down an executive order against his kids watching?

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, all too often we show our appreciation for firefighters after a tragedy, but yesterday one happy family in boston rewarded their living heroes with big hugs. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. on this thursday we have dry weather most case of the west but it has all come to an end. that great stretch of weather in the pacific northwest, the

clouds are back along with spotty showers, not going to rain much but hit and miss seattle all the way down to portland. dry, all california, idaho looks dry along with nevada and our friends there in arizona. head to tomorrow. actually very similar. more spotty showers and on saturday more actually, looks like a heavier rain event for the northwest. watching us on kttu in anchorage, alaska, see the iroquois creation story. >> here's a look at the headlines in entertain. saying probation is a gift, not a right, yesterday a los angeles judge revoked lindsay lohan's four repeated violations. the judge ordered lohan, who showed up for court in an all-white fendi outfit with heavy makeup, be immediately taken into custody with bail set at $100,000. the judge set a november 2nd hearing date when she'll announce what further punishment, including possible

jail time, lohan may face. the judge stressed after making bail lohan must report to the county morgue and perform a minimum of 16 hours of community service there before the november hearing. lohan did post bail and tmz reports she's so serious about impressing the judge, starting today she'll go to the morgue every day until that november hearing. on a much lighter note. michelle obama tells ivillage the president does not approve of his daughters watching "keeping up with the kardashians." as for the girls' rules for dad, the first lady says they make him put down his blackberry at dinnertime. that is a rule in the berry household, as well. >> yeah. >> maybe a little young for the kardashian chitchat. they don't leave too much -- >> to the imagination. this comes to us from wgh 7 news in boston, massachusetts, where a life-saving catch led to an emotional reunion between one

boy and his rescuer. this was the second time xavier found himself in the arms of the boston firefighter who rescued him. the first time was when his grandmother dropped him into the lieutenant's arms from the third floor of a burning building. the city honored the 22-year vet's heroism but that pales in comparison to the heart-felt bond he now shares with the 6-year-old and his family. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

some might call it clowning

around, but this group means business. yesterday mexico city held its 16th annual international clown convention. over 200 clowns dressed in classic face paint and bright costumes gathered to showcase and improve their skills. the event aims at gaining support for their craft, a tradition in mexican culture, and promoting peace. there is a strong man, then there's a strong man. here's the difference. in syria this man's strength was put to the ultimate test. with a harness he pulled a train weighing 165 tons when you factor in the incline. after two years of training on a machine he developed to mimic the task, he completed the feat. next up, a ship. in japan, concertgoers were encouraged to display bad etiquette. researchers in sleep disorders organized a concert urging goers to nod off. everyone was connected to eeg

machines and then serenaded. each time 10% of the audience fell asleep, one sheep was displayed on the screen. by the sixth piece, 80% of the people there were goners. i need to get one of those machines. >> for your house? >> yes. i'm just going to hook it up, put the little things -- >> i would never fall asleep because i would be curious to know how many more people would fall asleep. i would wait for another sheep. >> looking around, looking around, yeah. it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. today everyone is encouraged to wear purple in honor of spirit day, an annual observance to show support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth and raise awareness about bullying. up to 8.5 californians are expected to participate in shakeout, to help people and organizations be prepared for major earthquakes and practice how to protect themselves when they occur. and happy birthday to heartbreaker front man tom petty. today he turns 61. all day long you can stay on top

of the 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. with the hunt for escaped wild creatures in ohio now over, private ownership of exotic animals has come under scrutiny. one owner speaks out. and the husband of tv host and reality star giuliana rancic talks about her condition after her double lefrp he cumpe. 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.