good thursday morning. coming up on "early today." will they or won't they? after a highly publicized canceled meeting, could obama and putin meet over syria? worker revolt. america's low wage workers fight back. walmart employees are next. is the u.s. ready for a car driven only by technology? plus, another weiner war of words. the wait is over as the nfl season kicks off tonight on nbc. and stubs attack. an alaska honorary mayor attacked by a mutt. his condition ahead. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for thursday, september 5th. >> good morning.

i'm betty ngyuen. all eyes are on the g-20 summit and what is shaping up to be an international showdown. president obama arrived just a short time ago in st. petersburg russia where he is joining world leaders. while the summit largely focussed on economic growth, the crisis in syria will likely dominate part of the agenda. it's amid already heightened tensions between the u.s. and russia. chuck todd is traveling with the president in russia. good morning, chuck. >> reporter: good afternoon from st. petersburg. i know it's morning in the states. the president has arrived here in st. petersburg. and he'll be having at some point some sort of meeting with russian president vladimir putin. but it's going to be quick. it may be just simply a handshake, a few gestures here and there but no formal meeting is set up and no informal meeting is set up by either side. the two countries and the two leaders have some big disputs over this last few months.

namely edward snowden. of course, the nsa leaker and the decision by the russians to grant him asylum. that's why president obama is traveling from sweden today n not from moscow. he canceled a summit that he was supposed to have with putin. and then, obviously, the issue of syria is something the two countries are disputing a great deal. russia yesterday, the russian leader vladimir putin, actually called john kerry a liar to one news outlet having to do with claiming that what john kerry was saying about al qaeda's presence in the syrian opposition, he says wasn't true. as for president obama, he admitted yesterday that the relationship with russia has hit a wall but both leaders in various interviews over the last 24 hours claim that there is still some sort of work that the two countries can do together. so expect a cordial handshake between the two but don't expect a lot to get done as this summit is supposed to be focusing on the global economy. reporting from st. petersburg, chuck todd, nbc news.

>> syria definitely on the agenda there. here at home, the u.s. is moving even closer now to a military intervention in syria. wednesday, the senate foreign relations committee passed a key hurdle, but now the president faces a fierce debate in the house as he is also trying to drum up worldwide support for military action in syria. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: a sharply divide senate foreign relations committee voted to support the president. 10-7. but added time limits. 90 days for military action. and to satisfy john mccain, the white house has to deliver a strategy for syria within 30 days. the house was even tougher. as members asked the questions voters are asking. why should syria matter to them. >> why is it always america out front? i know we've got the best military and i'm very proud of that, but why are we out leading this again? >> ever been to the cemetery in france, you know, above those

beaches? why did those guys have to go do that? because we were standing up with people for a set of values and fighting for freedom. >> not a one member in my district in south carolina or the e-mails of people that have contacted my office say go to syria and fight this regime. to a letter they say no. >> i am not going to sit here and be told by you that i don't have a sense of what the judgment is with respect to this. >> members have doubts about the rebels. >> who are the good guys over there in syria? >> you are referring to the opposition, i assume. >> but do you trust these people? >> that's not my business to trust. >> well, certainly it has to be the business because you're making decisions to go into war and put american lives at risk. >> they have doubts saying they were lied to about iraq. >> i want to make sure you promise us you're telling the truth. >> congressman, i am proud and perfectly willing to tell you that everything that i've said is the truth. >> that's nbc's andrea mitchell

reporting. >> turning to cleveland, where there is new reaction to the suicide of kidnapper ariel castro. the prosecutor who helped put him behind bars calls castro a coward adding, quote, this man couldn't take for even a month a small portion of what he had dished out for more than a decade. the 53-year-old was found hanging in his cell late tuesday night. he was sentenced to life without parole, plus 1,000 years. now as of this morning, his three victims have not commented. amanda berry and gina dejesus have been silent since their rescue except for this video statement. michelle knight confronted castro at his sentencing. she was also there when the house where the women were held was demolished. walmart demonstrations and protests. today workers are targeting the nation's largest retailer in at least 15 cities. want you to take a look at the protests. they'll span from los angeles to dallas to boston. now at issue are wages. full-time employees want a

minimum annual salary of $25,000. a recent government report found many walmart workers earn less than $9 an hour. and they are not alone. fast food workers did the same thing just last month and plan to continue throughout september. in the new york city mayoral rai race, candinate anthony weiner isn't exactly filling his time with kissing babies. he was campaigning eight jewish bakery when a person confronted him. >> you're my judge? >> i didn't do what you did. >> what if i told you you're my job. >> you'll fix our problems and stay out of the public eye. >> that's not for me to judge. >> you are a bad example for the people. no, that's obvious. your behavior is -- it's not normal behavior. >> and you are perfect. you're going to judge me? you know who judges me?

>> i'm telling you -- >> you know who judges me? >> go visit with your rabbi. shows how much you know. >> weiner later sundayed via twitter saying it was not a meltdown instead saying he was standing up for himself. nbc's bill karins is here with a look at the forecast. you ever going to move on from that? >> you don't want me to have an outburst. >> no, but you will stand up for yourself when it comes to the weather? >> the west has been a little active in the intermountain west. we're going to watch temperatures actually going up. it looks like a warm end to september for coastal areas of california. that haven't been dealing with so much warmth this summer. 92 yesterday in l.a. still waiting for the warm-up in san francisco. i think it's coming your way toward this weekend. we did have some rain moving through the intermountain west and the pacific northwest. that pesky level low spinning off the coastline of oregon.

continues to send moisture. we're going to deal with a few showers, especially afternoon storms. a little rain out there. washington state, the low kicked up some showers. it's about to move into the seattle area. olympia, tacom asame for you. looks like on and off rain for you also. hit and miss rain in the northwest. temperatures pretty mild and warm from the deserts to l.a. that's your national forecast. n in portland or roseburg. flagstaff looks like 80 degrees today. it is going to warm up. i'll let you know how warm areas like san francisco, san jose, may have big smiles this weekend. >> okay. thank you. broncos and ravens. the nfl kicks off the season in denver tonight right here on nbc. we'll take you there for a preview next. what would you pay for this?

118-carat white diamond. >> ten bucks. >> no, much more than that. details in two minutes.

in colorado where marijuana is legal, a pro-pot group put up a big billboard near mile high stadium urging the league to change its drug policies. and that's where the nfl's 2013 season begins tonight here on nbc. the hometown broncos taking on super bowl champion baltimore ravens. nbc's leanne gregg is live in denver. good morning. what do you expect it to be like tonight? >> reporter: good morning, betty. tonight's matchup will be a classic. the denver broncos hosting the super bowl champion baltimore ravens. the last time the two teams met was a double overtime playoff showdown. that was last year. the ravens won, 38-35, in one of the most memorable games in nfl playoff history. and one of the most watched.

now the broncos are hoping to avenge that loss on the big stage of the season opener. by tradition this game should be played in the champion's hometown of baltimore but had to be moved to denver because of a scheduling conflict with major league baseball and the blor orioles. the pregame show begins tonight, 7:30 eastern, 4:30 pacific time. 32 nfl legends will help in the countdown leading up to the big game. betty? >> are you ready for some football? yes, we are. thank you. now to some other stories making news. wednesday attorney general eric holder says the obama administration will begin providing veterans benefits to married gay couples. this comes after the supreme court ruled a key part of the defense of marriage act is unconstitutional. pennsylvania congressman bill schuster was given a glimpse into the future on wednesday when he tested out a self-driving car from carnegie mellon university. schuster believes the safe driving technology could save thousands of lives.

and mayor stubs. the honorary cat mayor of a small alaskan town is in recovery after being attacked by a large dog. stubs who suffered a punctured lung and injured sternum did post an update to facebook writing he still has eight lives left. good for him. if you think yelling at teens isn't as bad as hitting them, you may want to think again. a new study finds a verbal lashing can have the same negative effects as physical discipline, including increased risk of depression and aggressive behavior. researchers say it can also lead to behavior problems like misbehaving in school, stealing and even fighting. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil ph balance. stocks on the dow surged 96 points as strong auto sales show steady u.s. economic growth. sotheby's calls it the world's greatest white diamond. you have to take a look at this.

it's the size of an egg, folks. it's 118 carats. and was found two years ago in africa and was originally a 299 carat diamond in the rough. now this egg size white diamond will be sold in hong kong on october 7th. mark your calendars. it's expected to fetch between $28 million and $35 million. that's a lot of chump change. but if you'd rather spend your millions elsewhere, billionaire media barron rubeert murdoch is selling his yacht for $29 million. a diamond versus a yacht? sofia vergara is the top earning actress on tv. she pulls in a cool $30 million a year between the sitcom and endorsements. kaley cuoco who is tied with mariska hargitay at $11 million each and comedy's tina fey and reality's bethenny frankel both

at $10 million. straight ahead, a veritable home run derby at fenway last night. and the rest of your sports highlights. that's next.

the latest in sports -- the seemingly unstoppable world record holding sprinter usain bolt may be prepping for an early retirement.

the 27-year-old has six olympic gold medals and is an eight-time world champion. but he says he'd like to retire on top of his game. who wouldn't? and he plans to win more gold at the 2016 rio olympics. >> if i'm in great shape when i go there and do what i have to do, i think it would be a good time to retire on top and just been dominated for so long. take you to a home run derby of sorts. the red sox blasted eight home runs to tie a record for a single game. boston's designated hitter david ortiz wracked up the 2,000th hit of his career. and the red sox's shane victorino made a great catch on a foul ball. look at that. he jumped and then fell into the stands. one woman had her phone knocked on to the field but she got it back. and another ended up wearing her beer instead of drinking it. speaking of beer and boston, you will find the most expensive

major league beer at fenway park. at 60 cents per ounce. a 12-ounce beer in boston will cost you 7 bucks and 20 cents. beer at yankees stadium is 50 cents per ounce. and angels brew costs only 28 cents per ounce. sounds a bit like a deal there. at wrigley field in chicago, a bat went flying into the seats hitting a young boy. the players watched with concern especially the batter. miami's giancarlo stanton. the boy was just fine walking it off. he got to take home a bat and unfortunately probably a bruise. >> an update on the argument at sunday's nascar race. max papis is slapped in the face by mike skeen's girlfriend actually dislocating his jaw. see it once again coming up. she has now been slapped with a $2500 fine and an indefinite ban from all nascar events. just ahead, fame director james cameron says gravity might

be the best motion picture about space ever conceived. we'll show it to you next.

we turn to entertainment news. christina aguilera opens up in the october "maxim" magazine. in her interview, the voice judge talks about her sex life saying, quote, i am not the girl who is going to bed too tired. the story behind this infamous photo has thickened. lana says she and robin thicke

shared a kiss moments after he grabbed her butt. she says she stiff-armed the singer because he is married to paula patton who was apparently only just a few feet away. scores of angry fans have launched a petition to have charles hunnam and dakota johnson booted from the film adaptation of "fifty shades of grey." more than 22,000 are calling for producers to recast the lead roles with matt boemer and alexis bluddel. where is home? >> illinois. >> action-packed scenes in the new movie trailer for "gravity" are adding some major buzz around the sandra bullock/george clooney film. alyssa milano is using a mock sex ftape to get people focused on syria. things are about to get good when she knocks the camera toward the television where a

reporter is delivering news on the syria conflict. scarlett johansson got her man to put a ring on it. she's now engaged to her french boyfriend. and the stork is headed gwen stefani's way. she and gavin rossdale are expecting their third. >> alyssa milano, marketing genius? >> i knew you were going back to that one. >> it's just about a sex tape, that's all. >> more about syria to learn. >> ball sall about syria for yo. >> 80 to 85 possible towards the weekend. >> oh, that sounds perfect. >> i know. they deserve it. >> i'm betty ngyuen. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc.

yosemite rim fire definitely not caused by marijuana grow. mystery remains. officials say it could take months to figure out what sparked the 370-square-mile blaze. the bbc reports parliamentary porn consumption laid bare in official figures. owow. more than 300,000 attempts to access porn websites were made at the british houses of parliament in the past year. >> 300,000? >> 300,000. no word on how many attempts were made from our own representatives in washington. topping our news now, the senate foreign relations committee voted wednesday to give president obama the power to launch a military strike in syria. but now the president faces a fierce debate in the house as he

also rallied worldwide support for military action in syria. the president joins world leaders at the g-20 summit in russia today. no reaction this morning from the three women at the center of the cleveland kidnapping case following ariel castro's suicide. the 53-year-old was found hanging in his cell late tuesday night. the prosecutor who helped put him behind bars called him a coward. and walmart demonstrations over wages. workers are targeting the nation's largest retailer in at least 15 cities today. want you to take a look at the protests because they'll span from los angeles to dallas all the way to boston. just before summer ends, why not go for a swim, if you dare, that is. check it out. what people are calling the most frightening swimming pool in the world. i can't even imagine attempting that. border -- it actually is happening on zambia's border. the devil's swimming pool sits atop of the victoria waterfall. above it. it's 350 feet high and an

astounding one mile wide. the pool was created by what looks like a fence of rocks and is the perfect spot to lean over just barely and get a bird's-eye view of the impressive waterfall. yeah, i think i'll be looking at that from afar. >> maybe -- >> way far away. >> looks like pretty safe. two people in the pool and another standing right there. >> until you get caught up in the current and go over the edge. a minnesota proposal on same-sex marriage. minnesota's mayor will announce an advertising campaign to attract gay couples in chicago to come to minnesota to get married. there is new info on the panda cub at the national zoo. i know you've been waiting. the giant panda gave birth to the cub in august. and we hope to find out the cub's gender at a news update today. raquel welch is 73. i'm betty ngyuen. have a great day.

an exchange of gunfire erupts in san mateo. i'm arturo santiago live on the scene where police are investigating. we'll have the latest details coming up. in the south bay san jose police make a series of artests in connection to two violent homicides. >> and the unseen side effect of the bay bridge closure. while the b.a.r.t. service is struggling even though the bridge is back open. we take you live outside and give you a look at the western span of the bay bridge as the sparkling lights do their thing early on this thursday, september 45th. this is "today in the bay."