♪ good thursday morning. coming up on "early today" -- stocks are on a tear, but is the economy really on the upswing or everyone? john mccain takes to the internet to hit back at vladimir putin accusing him of corruption and oppression. there is a new multimillionaire with a single winner to the $400 million powerball jackpot. we'll tell you where. plus, grand theft auto v hauls in $8 million in one day. architects planning to build an invisible skyscraper. true battle of the big men. "early today" starts right now. very good morning to you.

i'm richard lui. we begin with two fronts on the economy including a brewing battle on the budget. on wednesday fed chairman ben bernanke said he would continue massive government stimulus to the economy. it sent wall street to all-time highs and futures look higher today but all those green arrows you see may be short-lived. in less than two weeks the government will run out of money. and republicans say they will link defunding of obama care to negotiationsen on the debt kreeing and federal budget. that did not sit well with president obama. >> you have never seen in the history of the united states the debt ceiling or the threat of not raising the debt ceiling being used to extort a president or a governing party, and trying to force issues that have nothing to do with the budget and have nothing to do with the debt. >> well, senate democrats say they will reject any house bill that strips money from the president's health care law.

in an nbc news exclusive for the first time, millions of americans are hearing from the new president of iran. hassan ro rowhani and he says i and people are now a different country, one willing to make a deal. >> can you say that iran will not build a nuclear weapon under any circumstances? [ speaking a foreign language ] >> translator: the answer to this question is quite obvious. we have time and again said that under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons nor will we ever. >> president rowhani also confirmed he's exchanged lers with president obama. he calls them tiny steps for an important future. that future starts next week. at the u.n. where a meeting with mr. obama is not off the table. meanwhile, the white house saying it's testing iran's seriousness at the u.n. general

assembly. officials there tell nbc thrust there was a short window on a deal for nuclear weapons. inscriptions on the firearm of aaron alexis and found a website he created under a different name and nbc's tracie potts is live for us in washington. good morning to you, tracie. can you tell us more about the inscriptions and what you found. >> reporter: according to authorities, richard, the shotgun he used had two things inscribed into that weapon. better off this way and my elf weapon. e-l-f. they don't know what it means but one of the things the fbi continues to look into. they're still on site even as employees come back to the navy yard today and also looking into this website that he apparently set up eight years ago under the name mohamed saline but never used all part of the investigation into the alleged shooter. meantime, the president and mrs. obama are headed to a

memorial service to honor the victims. an apology to the victims' family from aaron alexis' mother, the first we've heard from her in an audio interview and finally the v.a., the veterans administration say they treated him for insomnia but not as widely reported for paranow ya. apparently those reports police reports and others never made it up to the v. arc, reports that he was having paranoid episodes. they never heard about that. >> tracie from the nation's capital with the latest. a shot across the proverbial bow but not from the white house. senator john mccain says russia deserves better than its president vladimir putin. on pravda he offers a response to putin's critical op-ed. the republican senator accuses putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule. he singles out putin and his associates for punishing dissent. mccain mentions laws like anti-gay laws that codify

bigotry and talks about building a more peaceful and prosperous world but writes "president putin doesn't believe in these values because he doesn't believe in you" on the crisis in syria he says, putin is supporting a syrian regime that is murdering tens of thousands of its own people as well putin is destroys russia's global reputation, mccain says, "he has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed." we have a new 400 million fair to tell you about. the lucky powerball winner doesn't have to share it with anybody exception uncle sam. the single winning ticket holder won the jack pot. that ticket was sold at a lexington, south carolina, location of convenience store and gas station chain murphy usa. they beat the 1 in 175 million odds. we wish we could have been that person, 7, 10, 22, 32, 35 and

powerball 19. the lump sum option would see the winner walk away with about $134 million after taxes. lump sum? lump sum? would you get that? >> you're supposed to. i'm not sure why. >> i might check the mpv on everything else. now moving to colorado. officials say property losses from record flooding are approaching $2 billion. more than 7,200 homes and businesses were impacted by the waters. but fewer than 6,000 of those had flood insurance. some residents are being allowed back inside the flood zone. as waters start to recede, fema is still warning locals try to stay out of any floodwaters no matter how shallow it may appear because they're concerned about pollution. bill karins here with us. as we look at some of these pictures often the numbers unaccounted for continue to go down. >> but the numbers for the losses go up as far as monetary, $2 billion. second billion dollar weather disaster in the country, the

first was moore, oklahoma. that's what happened here. the disaster down to a resort area right near acapulco, horrible on the coast of mexico. hurricane manuel continues to churn the coastal areas down there. we feel for them already. 80 dead. as far as what we're dealing with if the northwest, this is your day of, you know, one more nice day then there's that storm that's just off the coast that's going to be moving on shore in the days ahead. hype is bringing us a cool, crisp morning in the rockies. nice afternoon, pretty tranquil weather pattern. warm in the desert southwest. not as hot as we had been. went from the mid 105, 107 range to 101 in phoenix. tucson, same for you. vegas, 93. we finally cooled it off in boise and salt lake city after a very hot summer. even areas of central california have cooled it off. today's a nice day. it looks like that storm in the northwest will be moving in in the days ahead. that's ydiego either.

enjoy. this is it. this is probably as beautiful as we'll get for awhile. >> you said it, my friend. looks really great in the west today. coming up for you, a good story of good karma. remember that homeless man who turned in a backpack with $42,000? just wait until you hear what he's getting in return now. "early today" is back in two minutes.

welcome back. clicking the like button on facebook is protected free speech under the constitution so says an appeal court in virginia. the judge said clicking like can be considered the 21st century equivalent of a yard sale. they fired a political sheriff

for supporting someone in 2009. an 8-month-old old baby can be named messiah. the judge reversed the lower court decision that said messiah was a title reserved for jesus christ. the boy's mother said she picked the name because it sounded good with her two other sons' names that both start with "m." the united nations report is unrealistic and denies making the tack said bashar al assad. on fox news assad said his government will abide by the agreement to get rid of his chemical weapons. >> take one year. i didn't say years. as i heard, it takes about one year, maybe a little bit less, a little bit more. >> the word lost a heavyweight champion last night. boxer ken norton battled muhammad ali three types and defeated him in their first fight in '73. he did not just beat ali, he

broke his jaw. according to norton's former manager, norton visited ali in the hospital and as ali was getting his jaw wired ali said he didn't want to ever fight norton again. well, they did face off two more types with ali winning both of those. norton's final boxing record, 42 wins, 33 knockouts. 7 losses and one draw. he passed away at age 70. the boston homeless man who turned in a backpack containing $42,000 is getting a big reward. an online fund has collected more than $91,000. james said the money will help him get a brand-new tart in life. congratulations, my friend. now for business. cnbc's seema mony. >> stocks rallied after the surprise decision not to cut back on its massive bond buying program which has helped keep interest rates low. fed chairman ben bernanke citing strains on the economy including rising mortgage rates and fiscal fight in washington. the dow and s&p 500 hitting new

all-time highs. companies plan to dole out raises averaging about 3% in 2014. in other news disney is delaying the release of "the good dinosaur" until 2015. that means there will be no pixar film in 2014, the first year without one since 2005. richard, back to you. >> seema, what will we do without one of those. now you see it, now you don't. the world's first invisible skyscraper is planned for south korea. gds architects glass encased tower will appear invisible. cameras will snap realtime pictures behind the building and then be projected onto the reflective surface. can't wait to see that. sign of things to come. a prototype of the world's most expensive car, a gold plated and diamond encrusted lamborghini, only 24 inches long. once the full advertise car is

built it will go on sale for $8 million. the small model goes for just under 3 mill. cool. grand theft auto v at a cost of around 130 million to make. it took in $800 million in one day. it sold 7.5 million units at about $60 a pop. ooh-wi. grumpy cat all smiles. kind of after being signed by friskies as their official spokeskitty. the thrilled cat already has over a million facebook fans, now should get a lifetime supply of friskies. her only likely will to have settle for cash. the cat's real name is tardar sauce. still not smiling. sports is next but first massive flooding in the mexican resort city of acapulco has created a new problem for residents and stranded tourists. crocodiles. this large reptile was seen roaming the streets before being captured. a pair of ferocious tropical storms have left at least 80

dead with dozens still missing.

all right, now the latest in sports for you. it took them 12 innings last night. that's how long it took. the start of the game it was all big papi. two-run homer play of the game here with boston red sox. orioles pitcher catching the hit. throws to home and

sends the ball to first. orioles win that one, 5-3. miami at philadelphia. marlins' giancarlo stanton a home run that basically bounces off the moon and falls back to earth. estimates have that over 460 feet deep. it reaches fans, where, in line trying to get their hoagie. marlins win, 4-3. who is the best in all the land? when it comes to professional sports the mlb, nba and nhl, it is the memphis grizz sis so says a poll of fans. at the bottom, sorry, sacramento kings, number 122. bimd it and they shall come. denver's pepsi center getting the largest screen in the nba. it spans a 3 point lines on the basketball court and it's big, yeah, but still just so you know, only about a tenth of the size of screens at at&t's reliant todayups in texas. nevertheless, hey, big, shiny, i like it. next to the america's cup sailing.

some say it may be all over. new zealand with a close race against usa. watch this. the kiwis finished 15 second as head in this latest round. their now just one win away from winning the legendary america's cup in san francisco bay. teeny uniform, major muscle power. a 400-pounder gets lifted and then body slammed. i think the camera shook a little there. that was the winning move at the u.s. sumo open. the man behind it 60 pounds smaller at 340. three-time world champion biamba. it's called a miwashi. >> "early today" sports brought to you by just for men autostop. jon minus kate and the eight is ready to take your order. elton john about to go head to head with vladimir putin. next.

well, remember all those 80-degree temperatures in fairbanks over the summer? coming to an end. today, 39 degrees. rain and snow showers and i was looking to see if it was their first now showers of the season. it wasn't, two days ago on tuesday they had a trace of snow for the first time of the season. so looks like the winter is settling in there. barrow, same for you, not quite yet, anchorage, many areas of the west, beautiful day, friday, that cold front, that storm comes onshore. we will still see warm conditions at least in the morning hours but then some rain

will be moving in so enjoy today throughout the west. >> bill, i think i heard you say the word "snow." >> i did. it's alaska. our friends in nome and fairbanks. elton john will go to russia in september and told "the guardian" as a gay man i can't leave them on their over without supporting them. i don't know what is going to happen but i got to go. kenichi ebina, the new winner of "america's got talent." >> amazing stuff. he was consistently loved by the judges, he ahe a self-taught dancer on top of this and took home $1 million and see the characters on screen. that's him that he's flipped himself and put it all together in that's talent. >> very short guy, too. innant interview with "entertainment tonight" jon gosselin says he is living in a cabin, no internet, no cable and he's working as a waiter to try

and get by. >> sounds like a weak vacation. >> sounds like a great vacation. ckerry washington was named dress dressed celeb 2013. according to a poll, 70% of people agree that she is the best dressed. she's look good. there respect any plans for a "seinfeld" reunion but jerry seinfeld told "the hollywood reporter" he envisions george married with children but will be just as dysfunctional. they would have to. jimmy fallon at it again with a perfect simon & garfunkelesque cover of katy perry's "roar." ♪ i got the eye of the tiger i am the champion and you're going to hear me roar ♪

leading the news in the "manteca bulletin," nearly 40% of rim fire land a moonscape. everything within a solid 60 square miles of yosemite is dead because of the fire's intensity. on "the boston globe" site, boston.com, seven decades later purple heart given to heart. private first class john eddington wrote an emotional letter to the infant daughter that he never met before he was killed in action in world war ii. now that letter and his purple heart have turned up. they'll be turned over to his daughter on saturday. wow. also leading our news today for you, michael cordle pleads guilty to a fatal dui in ohio. it means he made good on the pledge that he made in this viral youtube video. in it he confessed to driving drunk and killing 61-year-old

vincent canzani. he faces between 2 and 8 years behind bars and also faces a $15,000 fine and loss of driving privileges for life. a 14-year-old georgia girl missing since tuesday has been found. officials say aven s ayvani per in good health. two men are in custody but the fbi is looking for two other men. house republicans are vowing to pass a strategy aimed at preventing a government shutdown. hello kitty fans have a new favorite airline. taiwanese airline eva has flown hello kitty decorated jets for decades. for the first time they are letting the cat out of the bag here in the u.s. the boeing 777 has hello kitty theme inside and out. features pillows and snacks. the plane will make three flights a week between l.a. and tie pay and i will bet you here because there's so many crazy

fans in the u.s. for hello kitty, every time they land that plane there will be a lot of things missing. >> like the hotel towels. >> exactly. >> i didn't think about that. not that i would ever take a hoe told towel. >> but i know you're a hello kitty fan. a hearing in the house on the benghazi attack in libya. former ambassador thomas pickering, the chairman of the accountability review board and vice chair mike mullen will testify. a senate foreign relations committee hearing the nomination of carolyn kennedy for ambassador to japan will be considered. jimmy fallon is 39. trisha yearwood turns 49 and adam west, 85, till going strong there. adam, there he is. coming up on "today" matt lauer talks to justin timberlake. keep it here for more. i'm richard lui with bill karins, a hello kitty lover. have a good one.

just in, new video after an explosion and fire at an oklahoma factory. firefighters have backed off this morning letting the fire burn itself out. the latest details neck. >> san jose remove as crosswalk from a busy street in front of a middle school. outraged parents demanding action. >> the plans to close the golden gate bridge for an entire weekend. >> right now we'll take you live to the other picturesque bridge. digital video does that. yes. it's modern times. there we go. we straighten it out, all in focus. that is your bay bridge, ladies and gentlemen, on this thursday, september 19th, this is "today in the bay."