this morning on "early today," high cost oops. updated poll numbers show plummeting support for rick perry after his infamous debate moment. showdown in oregon, police in riot gear square off with occupy portland protesters. and brooms up. life imitates art as teams gather to compete in the fifth life imitates art as teams gather to compete in the fifth annual quiddich cup. 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 veronica de la cruz. today we begin with a numbers game.

gop presidential contenders squared off in another debate over the weekend as new poll numbers revealed what a difference a week can make in a race that's very much up for grabs. brian moore has the details. >> at this weekend's presidential debate on cbs, rick perry made light of his unforgettable memory lapse. >> if you eliminate the department of energy -- >> you remembered it. >> i've had some time to think about it, sir. >> me, too. >> so have voters. after a week of wild developments, nbc news resurveyed some participants in this latest poll and found perry is free falling while newt gingerich is suddenly on the rise. herman cain's sexual harassment allegations haven't hurt, but certainly have not helped. mitt romney has seen a bump, but

not a breakout. what you're seeing consistently is that romney is having a lot of trouble getting much beyond a quarter of if republican vote. you still feel there's an opening for another republican candidate. >> and that leaves no ray of hope for michele bachmann whose polling adds 4%. >> the voters have not made up their minds. this is wide open. >> which may be true, but isn't good news for any of the republican candidates. brian moore, nbc news, washington. elsewhere, it was a tumultuous weekend of confrontations and arrests for several protesters in several cities across the country. in oregon, more than 50 were arrested. protesters are vowing to relocate within the city later today. protesters are vowing to relocate within the city later today. in colorado, four people were arrested as authorities took down an illegal encampment. eviction notices are piling up in oakland as protesters have an encampment in front of city hall.

meanwhile, a iraq war veteran whose skull was fractured last month has been released from the hospital. in the wake of a disturbing child sex abuse scandal at penn state, officials expect more victims to come forward. nbc's jay gray has more. >> later this week, former penn state vice president gary schultz and athletic director tim curley will be in court charged with lying to cover up a sexual assault scandal at the university. >> this is an ongoing investigation. >> and a continuing struggle. >> yeah. it's a little somber. >> the things that were normal are not there any more. >> reporter: searching for normalcy on sunday -- >> this has been a week of shock and shame and dealing with

something that we thought we would never deal with. >> reporter: many here turn to a higher power. >> there is coming day when everything will be put right, when every wound will be healed, every tear will be wiped away. those of us who know him have placed our trust in him, placed our hope in him. we know that. >> reporter: though clearly the faith and hope in this community and on campus is being tested like never before. jay gray, nbc news, university park, pennsylvania. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. high speed wind gusts carved a path of wreckage through parts of southern colorado over the weekend. powerful winds toppled trees, damaged cars, ripped roofs off some homes and toppled power lines. officials say wind speeds may have hit over 100 miles per hour

in some areas. a brazen thief may have turned abraham lincoln's burial site into a crime scene. a three-foot sword was swiped. authorities believe it occurred between september and early november. officials say a sword was nabbed from the state statue over 100 years ago. finally, over 2000 athletes arrived in new york city with brooms in their hands for the 2011 quiddich world cup. inspired by j.k. ruling's harry potter series. in the final, the snitch was caught for a win over the university of florida florida in its fifth consecutive quiddich cup. now for a look at your

national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. quiddich much lately, bill? >> if you can ride a broom stick you can call yourself an athlete. good morning. decent in the west. high temperatures yesterday were peeking out in the low 70s. san francisco not bad at 63. how are we looking this morning? a pretty fast jet stream dipping down south wards. with a weather pattern like that, you don't expect a lot of moisture. it has cooler air with it. high pressure is protecting much of california. it will breakthrough the u.s. across the central u.s. a pretty dry week ahead unlike when you had the storm go through this past weekend. on shore flow coming down pretty quickly. that is bringing snow to higher elevations. rain showers heading down

interstate five towards portland. not a big deal. temperatures will be cool with the clouds. 49 at portland. all the moisture and everything else coming up brings the cool air with it too. along with all the other friends in southern california. let's take a little more dynamic storm system in the middle of the week. >> 56 degrees is not chilly. >> it's all relative. >> we live in new york. that's definitely not that cold.

hope in italy, boeing scores a big one and why jay-z is in the occupied dog house. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, sand and sandels brings adam sandler in drag at the box office. coming up, the patriots own the jets and love was in the air in dallas. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. president obama is using unusually tough language with china over its monetary trade policy saying enough is enough at the apec summit in high. the president said china is now grownup and should act that way in global economic affairs. syria has called for an emergency arab summit. it is an apparent effort to

avoid sanctions agreed upon by the arab league for its violent eight-month crackdown on protesters. a russian spacecraft carrying an american took off this morning on a mission to the international space station. the launch had been delayed tore to two months due to the crashed of an unmanned cargo ship in august. england's duchess of cambridge kate middleton appeared at a ceremony on sunday. the queen was also in attendance. and a rare 1903 program from the first modern world series has sold at auction for a staggering $241,000. the auction house says only one other known copy exists in the baseball hall of fame. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,153 after leaping 259 points friday. the s&p climbed 24 points. the nasdaq jumped 53. taking a look at overseas

trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 89 points while in hong kong the hang seng rose 371. italians danced in the streets this weekend over prime minister silvio berlusconi leaving office. today, they may be dancing a little on wall street, as well. italy is not out of the woods yet, but mario monti will help negotiate additional measures. the s&p managed to end the week up almost 1% after tumbling nearly 4% last wednesday. also friday, data showed november's consumer confidence rose to a five-month high. this week, analyst expect continued improvement in retail sales figures released tuesday. big retailers are set to report this week. the last of earnings season, walmart, a key indicator of spending reports as the youth retailer abercrombie and fitch. dubai placed the biggest order

with boeing ever. for $18 billion. boeing's biggest order. euro fears easing, another potential wall street is rising on the horizon. another potential wall street hand wringer is on the horizon. with the november 23rd deadline looming, the bipartisan congressional committee negotiating the debt ceiling will come into more urgent focus. and finally, jay-z has retreated. after catching heat from all sides for unveiling t-shirts sympathyizing with occupy wall street but sharing no profits with protesters, he quickly dropped them. well, the the pat's bounce back, the 49ers strike gold and a bad play call in overtime sinks the falcons. plus, we'll explain why a buffalo bill raced across an entire field to give a cowboy cheerleader his touchdown ball.

your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and the weather to start your workweek, not too bad. you will need the umbrella in many spots. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." 5 very good morning.

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

in sports, the new york jets were flying high. the visiting new england patriots were on a losing streak. so they went out and proved once again in their long time rivalry that anything can and does happen. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the patriots proved once again they own the jets. tom brady and company had a field gay in new york, threw three touchdown passes. new england up, 13-9 at the half. if the offense wasn't scoring, the defense was. pick mark sanchez twice. this one sealed it. 37-16. who would have thought the 49ers would be this good. san francisco, eli manning had a chance to tie, but his pass was batted down. 9ers won again, 27-20. falcons lost again. point the finger at mike smith. michael turner was stuck. new orleans got the ball, kicked a game-winning field goal.

saints won it, 26-23. if you give devin hester an inch, he's going to take a mile. found a hole and there he goes. 82 yards for the touchdown. bears beat the lions, 37-13, detroit has dropped three, up four. tim tebow did it again, won another game with smoke and mirrors. completed just two passes, but made them count. denver ran 55 times and walked away with a 17-10 victory over the chiefs. nascar kasey kahne took the checkered flag in phoenix. tony stewart trails carl edwards by three points in the race for the cup. finally, in dallas, the bills david nelson caught a touchdown in the second quarter. instead of celebrating with his team, he was off to the races. he sprinted down the sidelines. where is he going? zoned in on a cowboy cheerleader

and gave her the ball. actually, that's his girlfriend. they grew up together. no love loss for the cowboy webs who won big, 44-7. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. kris and kim sue over fake wedding claims and justin keeps his word. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, when one husband's blunder sent his wife down in the dumps, she headed straight for the dump. we'll explain. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. hopefully you had a wonderful weekend.

force cast wise, maybe an umbrella will be necessary. we have showers blowing on shore. seattle, can't rule out a stray shower for you. and also around utah. not too bad around la and vegas but it is on the cool side. fast forward to tomorrow, looks a lot like today. if you are watching us on king 5 news, learn about the principles of flight and the operations of an air traffic control. >> 67 degrees for vegas. >> that's jacket weather. >> better than rain. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the gods in greece extended

their role at the box office this weekend. 60% of its audience was made up of males just like you, bill, and it should continue to draw well in weeks ahead dominated by family films and chick flicks. adam sandler's comedy "jack and jill" finished in second edging out the two-time champ "puss in boots" but we heard the reviews were horrible. jay edgar hoover finished fifth with $12 million. and both kris humphries and kim kardashian are apparently lawyering after after accusations that their wedding was fabricated for tv. and the whole kardashian thing, what do you think? this comes to us from wtvj nbc miami in florida where one husband went to extreme measures to correct the bone headed mistake that he made with his wife's diamond ripping. anna became an emotional wreck after learning her husband accidently put her engagement ring into the trash.

this comes to us from wtvj nbc miami in florida where one husband went to extreme measures to correct the bone headed mistake that he made with his wife's diamond ring. anna became an emotional wreck after learning her husband accidently put her engagement ring into the trash. after 90 minutes of sifting through trash, muck and unbearable stench, he found that ring and returned home to a hero's welcome. can you imagine? i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

argentina's annual celebration of the famous cowboy "the gaucho" has come to a close. they have honored the native ranchers with a five-day long festival. the celebration concludes with a sunday parade through colonial era streets. thousands of singles mingled this weekend at a match making event organized by the chinese government. bold participants held up posters to market themselves while some parents were on hand to scout potential matches for their children. the single women had stiff competition. 6,000 females attended the event

while only 4,000 available men were on hand. and it appears some things really are free. every sunday for the past 16 years, two men have set up chairs by a texas lake and offered free advice to those seeking it. more than 15,000 have asked for help with some of life's biggest questions such as should i take that new job or should i get married? the free advice guys don't consider it counseling. they call it simply dialogue. how do you know they get to those conclusions? do you think they flip a coin? >> i don't know. but it's, like, two people. what if they disagree with each other? >> that would be interesting. that's a lot of people, 1500. >> it is. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. funeral services will be held for jokin' joe frazier. ali and mike tyson are expected to attend.

frazier died last week, just a month after being diagnosed with liver cancer. a congressional climate briefing will feature the first appearance on capitol hill by dr. richard muller, a global warming skeptic. he de-bunded many climate issues. finally, prince charles turns 63 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. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. an attorney for one of the alleged victims in the penn state sexual abuse scandal speaks out about a civil suit he plans to bring against the university. and in a "today" exclusive, a look inside the rented l.a. mansion where michael jackson died. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first

stop of the day today on your nbc station. stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com