jimmy fallon happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- wall street raid. occupy protesters are ordered out of new york city's zuccotti park. sandusky speaks. the coach at the heart of the penn state scandal breaking his silence in an exclusive nbc interview. and thrills and chills. two girls are left suspended after an amusement park ride two girls are left suspended after an amusement park ride breaks down in china. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and very good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. breaking news.

new york police in riot gear made a surprise sweep of occupy wall street campers last night. authorities dismantled tents ordering them to vacate the park temporarily along with all of their personal belongings. police handed out letters saying the park, quote, poses an increasing fire and health safety hazard. at least 70 have been arrested and three injured. the park has been fully cleared. the impromptu park cleaning comes on the heels of similar moves in cities across the country. just days ahead of the movement's two month anniversary on wednesday. for the first time since being indicted for sexually abusing eight boys jerry sandusky is speaking out about the charges against him. sandusky insists he's not a pedophile. nbc's michelle franzen has more. >> reporter: in an exclusive phone enter on "rock center," jerry sandusky, the former penn state assistant football coach, charged with 40 counts of child abuse, tells bob costas that he's innocent. >> i say i am innocent of those charges.

>> innocent, completely innocent and falsely accused in every aspect? >> well, i could say that, you know, i have done some of those things. i have horsed around with kids. i have showered after workouts. i have hugged them. and i have touched their leg without intent of sexual contact. >> reporter: one of the allegations in the grand jury indictment stems from testimony by assistant coach mike mcqueary. in 2002 the then-graduate assistant says he witnessed sandusky in the locker room with a boy and told his supervisor. he's now on paid administrative leave and faced criticism he didn't do enough. last week in an e-mail obtained exclusively by nbc news, the former penn state quarterback told friends and family, i did the right thing.

you guys know me. the truth is not out there fully. i didn't just turn and run. i made sure it stopped. i had to make quick, tough decisions. more fallout -- the long-time president and ceo of the second mile charity, jack raykovitz, resigned. >> we don't know at this point whether this organization can be saved. >> reporter: the university, now part of a criminal investigation, and struggling to rebuild its image. michelle franzen, nbc news, state college, pennsylvania. the fast changing race for the republican presidential nomination has taken yet another turn. according to the latest polls, former house speaker newt gingrich has made a surprise surge into the top tier. he isn't breaking out the champagne just yet but proof, he says, the race is wide open. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: former speaker newt gingrich was in iowa happy to hear he's surging. >> this is a wild race. who knows what the polls are going to be two months from now.

>> reporter: gingrich is up to 2 2% in the nbc poll. herman cain pulled just one. at the milwaukee sentinel newspaper was asked about libya. >> so you agree with president obama on libya or not? >> president obama supported the uprising, correct? >> reporter: the cain aide said he was tired, had fours hours sleep. >> i don't agree with the way he handled it for the following reason -- nope, that's a different. >> reporter: also the former boyfriend of sexual harassment community sharon bialek backed her account. victor zuckerman said bialek to get career advice. >> she says something happened and mr. cain touched her in an

inappropriate manner. >> reporter: cain slumping in the polls, perry in a nose dive as a familiar face surges to the top tier of gop candidates. steve handelsman, nbc news. the supreme court announced it will hear arguments on the challenges to the new health care law in march, right in the thick of next year's election campaigns. the central issue at take is whether it's constitutional for congress to require all americans to buy health insurance, a key component of the new law enacted under president obama. an appeals court in washington, d.c. was the most recent to uphold the law. the nation's highest court has allowed five hours in the case, a rare departure from the usual one-hour allotment. a ruling is expected by july. here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. according to city official as slow-moving san pedro landslide has become an immediate and life threatening hazard. it's breaking up the roadway and

also causing chunks of earth and concrete to fall into the pacific ocean. city crews are scrambling to remove vulnerable infrastructure and keep spectator as way. five north carolina families are out on the street after an suv crashed into their apartment complex. the driver apparently lost control before barrelling through a fence and into the building. no one inside was harmed when the vehicle ripped through the apartments. the driver and two passengers suffered nonlife-threatening injuries in the crash. finally, the famous ruby red slippers from "the wizard of oz" aren't in kansas anymore. the iconic for the wear was on display in beverly hills before shipped off to new york city for a december auction. one of four pairs still in existence. these are the ones dorothy clicked three times to go back

home to kansas. for a look at your national and regional weather, meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> we have a front coming through the northern rockies. not a lot of wet weather to talk about. doesn't look like we will have any wet storms. really a temperature forecast. the windchills are actually a factor. a nice little shot from canada has moved down from the south. it has stayed cool and unsettled. we see a chance of showers and very cool air up here. as i mentioned, the next system is a couple days away. it is on the cool side as all the cool air continues to drain down. these temperatures are now dropping quickly. we are at 48 in vegas. 34 in seattle. that's a cold morning for you.

the windchill is a minor factor. and now we're dipping down into the single digits in montana. the coldest air in the country is in the northern rockies. only 67 with sunshine in vegas. that's an indication of how cool the air mass is. a few showers out there in the northwest but not too bad. not aittle below average. not a lot of changes for tomorrow's cool air. >> so crazy. i was in vegas with my mom. it is warmer here in new york. >> that's the way the pattern has been. >> absolutely crazy.

>> problems blow again. a big fine for tarmac trouble and the oracle goes high-tech? plus, say it isn't so. brad pitt soon to be finished as an actor. coming up, packers remain perfect and another dark day in the nba lockout. you're watching "early today."

well, good morning to you and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. pakistani intelligence officials say a suspected u.s. drone attack has killed seven militants near the afghan border. they say they are mostly affiliated with the pakistani taliban. congress is fighting the obama administration's attempts to limit certain school lunch foods it says are unhealthy. the agriculture department wants to cut down on french fries and pizza and reduce sodium in kids' lunches but a final spending bill released late monday drops

those limits. and in china, rescuers freed two girls left dangling from an amusement park ride for almost two hours after the ride failed. here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,078 after losing 74 points yesterday. the s&p stumbled 12. the nasdaq was down 21. taking a look at overseas trading this morning n tokyo, the nikkei fell 61 points, while in hong kong the hang seng dipped 159. stocks fell monday and suddenly rising bond yield in italy, france and spain reminded

investors it will take more than a few days and a few moves to end europe's debt crisis. the bond yields threatened the nations' abilities to finance themselves. italy once again saw benchmark inching toward crisis level. trouble for greece's new prime minister. conservatives rejected new austerity members and refuses to support europe's bailout plan. germany's angela merkel vowed a collapse of the union. bank of new york mellon sank on expectations of next quarter. bank of america fell on plans to sell its stake in china construction bank. boeing rose on its record order from emirates airline. jcpenney fell on results way down by restructuring. lowe's was lowered by moody's. one of the world's largest oil reserves was found in colorado. one of the world's largest in recent years. american eagle will pay a petroleum discovered a giant reservoir in colorado. one of the world's largest in recent years. american eagle will pay a record $900,000 fine for tarmac delays. they had 15 flights set for over three hours in one day alone, may 29th at chicago's o'hare airport. and finally, here's a tip, the

oracle of omaha, warren buffett, who normally shies away from public talk, revealed he's bought more than 5% of ibm as well as millions of shares of intel and directv. well, the nba battle intensifies. rookie awards in baseball. and red hot action on the ice. plus, the packers beat occupy a division rival. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. rain is greeting many people from texas to the mid-atlantic. where is it heading next? your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

this is not a strike. >> a quick baseball note, craig kim balance won national league rookie of the year, jeremy hellickson took the honors in the american league yesterday. packers found the end zone early and often against the vikings. just over a minute in the game, cobb took the punt and goes 80 yards up the middle. the packers off and running, 7-0. aaron rodgers continued his dominance. another night, another four touchdown passes. jordy nelson caught a paper. he's now thrown 28 in just 9 games this year. packers remain unbeaten, a perfect 9-0 after dismantling the vikings 45-7. sunday proved to be a tough day for quarterbacks. matt shah is done for the season with a fractured foot. matt cassel needs surgery on his right hand. could be done for the rest of the year. hockey, the flyers giroux waste nod time getting on the board against the hurricanes. score 70 second into the game.

scored another goal and added an assist. flyers join penguin as top the eastern conference with a 5-3 win. finally, sabres rallied from two down to beat the canadians. roy with equalizer late in the third forcing a shootout. boyes scored the eventual winner. sabres came back to win it 3-2. that's an early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred rogan. meryl streep shows off her latest transformation for a role. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. for some running to catch the bus is hard, for some running a marathon but none can run like the kid we'll introduce you to. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this tuesday morning. pretty quiet weather day for much of the midwest. chilly temperatures. it will warm up a little bit this afternoon. much of idaho will be very cold, especially when the winds are blowing. we will watch more pacific moisture coming on shower and the mountains will get a good dose of rain and the higher elevations definitely some snow. if you are watching us on knbc, see how african beauty is sho shown. that's your pacific event of the

day. >> a pretty nice day in los angeles. a man in illinois was arrested for calling the cops five times because his iphone wasn't working. someone was arrested for calling someone five times in one day. do you hear that, mom? he got arrested for that. rick perry gets more time than that to try to remember something. italy's new prescribe is an economist with the name super mario. he can make the economy go [ sound effect ] if not, italy could be like

[ sound effect ] tricky. >> here is another look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. to hear brad pitt tell it, his days as a movie star are almost at an end. the 47-year-old told australian tv he plans to call it a day as an actor when he turns 50 in favor of producing and developing films. but though his days as a leading man may be numbered, pitt says he's not sure he's done having kids yet with angelina jolie. there is already oscar buzz for 16-time nominee meryl streep in london with her pore trailer of margaret thatcher in "the iron lady". it will be released here in december. finally, after reports surfaced howard stern was in talks to replace piers morgan as a judge on "america's got talent" stern is campaigning hard on his radio show to get that job. i don't know, bill, having howard stern on "america's got talent". >> it has to be someone with a big name. >> jimmy fallon.

bill karins! >> jimmy would be great. >> send us a tweet. we would love to hear from you. kntv bay area tv in california where one teen showed his dedication to helping other kids. he recently took on a challenge many accomplished runners steer clear of. he became only the second person under 16 to complete an ultramarathon, a 100-mile run in under 30 hours. he faced physical anguish and mental doubt during the long run but his drive to raise scholarship funds for kids in his school got him across the finish line. wow. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com