coming up on "early today" on this friday morning it looks like the government will shut down. we're going to tell you what that means for you. a resolution to eliminate syria's deadly chemical weapons could be reached today. a bizarre case involving sextortion and miss teen usa. a horrific high speed case caught on dash cam. the nsa snooping on workers' girlfriends. and carl's jr taps a.j. mccarron's girlfriend for their commercials. "early today" starts right now. >> this is "early today" for friday, september 27th. >> good morning.

happy friday. i'm betty nguyen. a government shutdown is imminent, and with three days to go, congress looks no closer to a deal. happening today, the senate will take up a short-term funding bill, but democrats plan to remove any language calling to defund the president's health care law. and it's that move that has lawmakers at each other. >> it delays obama care for one year for all american families. >> you can huff, you can puff for 21 hours, but you cannot blow the affordable care act away. >> the president says "i'm not going to negotiate." well, i'm sorry, but it just doesn't work that way. >> the tea party put them in this hole and the tea party keeps them digging deeper and deeper. >> nbc's tracie potts is live in washington with the latest. tracie, good morning. the clock is ticking. do you expect to see progress today? >> we expect to see a vote today

to fund if government through november. a clean bill has nothing to do with health care and it is something that the house is probably going to reject. democrats and republicans tried to early up today's budget vote to leave more time to negotiate but two lawmakers objected, ted cruz and his colleague mike lee. >> the american people are paying attention to this. a lot of people are watching this. >> this is an effort to stall and i don't know why. >> my two colleagues who i respect have sent out e-mails around the world and turned this into a show. >> reporter: across town president obama urged congress to avoid a shut down. >> scientists, janitors, they would all have to stay home and not get paid. >> reporter: what is likely to come out of the senate today would keep the government running until mid november and

not touch health care. house republicans say they won't accept that but disagree on whether doors will close next week. >> we are very confident we are not going to shut down the government. >> we did discuss contingency plans. >> reporter: one of the top democrats say even if they work through the weekend by the time it lands on their desk monday morning it may be too late. there is significant movement on the united nations on syria, an agreement calling for the country to get rid of its chemical weapons. the five permanent members of the security council agreeing to impose binding obligation on damascus to eliminate its program. a vote on the plan could come as early as today. the deal does not include the threat of military force if syria doesn't comply, but it's being hailed as a major turning point.

>> we believe that it is something which is working very pragmatically and strongly in support of this effort of the elimination of chemical weapons in syria. >> this is very significant. this is the first time since the syria conflict began two and a half years ago that the security council has imposed binding obligations on syria. binding obligations of any kind. also thursday, secretary of state john kerry held talks with his iranian counterpart. it is the highest level meeting between the u.s. and iran since the carter administration. both sides voiced cautious optimism saying great obstacles remain. she may be the most wanted woman in the world. the so called white widow. interpol issues an international arrest for 29-year-old samantha leftwig.

not for the nairobi mall attacks, but she is wanted by kenya for charged relating to a 2011 plot to bomb resorts. she's thought, though, to be a key member of al shabaab, but officials have not made public any evidence linking her to the attack. leftwait was once married to one of the 2005 london subway suicide bombers. and now to a shocking admission from the nsa, what's informally known as love i.n.t., collecting intelligence on love interests. this letter by the nsa inspector reveals employees eavesdropped on their girlfriends, boyfriends, and spouses. the "intention abuse of authority" happened on 12 occasions since 2003. in one case, an employee tried to listen in on the calls of his foreign national girlfriend. the system blocked him, but he received data like time, date, and duration. the justice department declined to prosecute and the agency has two open investigations into alleged misuse of eavesdropping

and is reviewing a third. police dash cam captured a horrific crash during a high-speed chase in central florida. authorities say 30-year-old james maddox was fleeing a dui pullover when he drove across the median and crashed into an oncoming car. that is just frightening to watch. the suspect was hospitalized in critical condition, while a passenger in the other car was in serious condition. maddox, who was reportedly on probation, was driving on a suspended license, is facing a slew of felony charges. a massive dust storm made the daily commute even more miserable in southern arizona yesterday. yesterday's storm was so severe that it shut down a 14-mile stretch on route 347 during rush hour. the poor visibility is being blamed for multiple accidents. but thankfully no one was seriously injured. we get the latest on all of this

is bill karins. >> that picture, that visibility looked like maybe a sixteenth of a mile. in the west some worst weather will be the pacific northwest. this is a cold front coming on shore with light rain during the day today. the big one will be during the day saturday into saturday night. as far as out there now, much of california looks nice. high pressure protects you. there is not a lot but the green sneaking on to the northwest coastal sections of washington state. how much rain are we going to expect? two to three inches in most locations. too cold for snow so river levels need to watch for minorer flooding by the time we get to monday. three days here with a chance of

rain in the pacific it is beautiful. temperatures in the low 70s. the northwest not the best weekend but i will give you the details on california and arizona coming up. >> it is still the weekend, bill. coming up, an arrest in the miss teen usa sextortion case. plus, is one thrill seeker about to go too far with a real death-defying challenge? "early today" is back in two

some stories making news on this last friday of september.

a united plane after an inflight medical can emergency. flight 1603 was on its way to houston from seattle. united airlines confirmed the member of the flight crew did suffer a medical emergency. teacher and convicted rapist stacy rambold was released from prison after serving 30 days. yes, 30 days. the judge who sentenced ramble is still facing heavy criticism and even petitions demanding his removal from the bench. the fbi has made an arrest in the miss teen usa sextortion case. during an fbi raid 19-year-old jared abrahams admitted to hacking into miss teen usa cassidy wolf's web cam and then taking nude photos and videos of her. he then threatened to release the material. abrahams faces two years in prison.

the president of borilla italian foods is in hot water after saying he would not show gay families in ads for their pasta. he said while he respects gay marriages, he would "never make a spot with a homosexual family." he went on to say if people disagree with that, they can eat other pasta. night was turned to day in alberta, canada, when a meteor blazed by leaving a visible trail. the officer who captured the video said he "freaked out" when he saw the meteor. i think i would, too. and jeff corliss has announced his most daring stunt yet. he's going to attempt to fly through a three to five-yard cleft in the middle of a rock formation in china. yikes. that makes me nervous just thinking about it. the s&p 500 and dow snap a five-day losing streak as the

gdp confirms growth at a moderate pace and jobless claims drop. toyota recalling over 600,000 older sienna minivans to prevent rollaways. a transmission problem could cause them to shift out of the park position when the driver isn't pressing the brake pedal. mcdonald's announced the clinton global initiative that it will start giving customers the choice of salad, fruit, or vegetables as a substitute for french fries in its value meals. speaking of fast-food, former miss alabama usa katherine webb, a.j. mccarron's girlfriend, is following in the footsteps of kate upton and kim kardashian. she is the latest spokesperson for carl's jr, where she is appearing in commercials eating the saucy buffalo blue cheeseburger. nike earnings flew past expectations. on strong orders from china and low cost on materials. the new dow stock finished above

$70 a share for the first time. and martha stewart stirred up a public relations hornet's nest when she began tweeting about her broken ipad. after a series of tweets asking for help, apple asked her to stop. stewart explained her frustrations adding that steve jobs himself gave her the ipad. must be nice. "thursday night football" highlights and all your head lines are next. but first, our trivia question. with a threat of a government shutdown looming, how many times has the u.s. federal government shut down before? is it seven, ten, 13, or 17 times? the answer when we return.

all right, before the break, we asked how many times has the u.s. federal government shut down before? is it seven, ten, 13, or 17 times? the answer, since the modern congressional budgeting process took effect in 1976, there have been 17 different government shutdowns. the longest one was in 1995 and in 1996 and it lasted 21 days. now let's get the latest in sports. 49ers versus the rams. niners quarterback colin kaepernick got things going in the second quarter with a touchdown pass to anquan boldin, who made the extra effort to score, and later, he connected with vernon davis for his second td.

the niners over the rams. across the pond in the uk, the steelers and vikings play sunday at wembley stadium in london. a legend and a class act. yankees retiring closer mariano rivera made his last appearance at home in a very emotional moment. with two outs in the ninth inning, yankee captain derek jeter and pitcher andy pettitte went out to the mound to take him out of the game. and with tears in his eyes, rivera was given a huge standing ovation that lasted four minutes. police in san francisco have arrested a suspect and will charge him with homicide in a stabbing of a dodgers fan just a few blocks away from at&t park on wednesday. 24-year-old jonathan denver died after a confrontation with giants fans. baseball commissioner bud selig says he will retire in january 2015. he will have served 22 years. that is the second-longest in history. "gq" magazine's list of the worst sports franchises, it awarded the top spot to cleveland.

yes, this includes the browns, the indians, and the cavaliers. worst franchises in terms of losing and no titles all combined, cleveland has had 152 seasons of futility. and the wnba playoffs. diana taurasi of phoenix and simone augustus of minnesota were in each other's faces as they fought for position. as the ref called fouls on both players, taurasi kissed awe -- augustus on the cheek and then seemed mystified. what did i do? a fox is having a whole lot of fun on a golf course. the animal known as foxy loves to grab golf balls, and then runs off and hides them. >> today's sports is brought to you by just for men auto stop. gray is over. just ahead, your weekend movie round-up and a sneak peek at britney's new music video. plus, supermodel kate moss takes her career in a whole new direction. we've got details next.

time to talk leaves. we typically hit our peak and plan your weekend. the colorado rockies and mountains near utah we go to in the end of september and beginning of october but cascades doesn't get good until

the middle to end of october. we won't lose leaves in the rain in the wind storm in the northwest. a little light rain today. still a chance of rain in the northwest on sunday but more lighter scattered shower activity. we have had great weather in the northwest. >> no complaining. >> i guess we have to water the trees. now for some entertainment news. four films will be competing to take the top spot in the box office. joseph gordon lev visit's "don jon" will be going up against "baggage claim", "cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2" and "rush." congrats to caylee cuoco who has gotten engaged to boyfriend of three months, ryan sweeting. britney spears gave fans a sneak peek at her new music video on instagram. does look like britney is back in fighting shape. zack galifianakis felt honored to have justin bieber on his comedic talk show,

especially during his meltdown. he taught bieber a lesson with a good-old belt whipping. kate moss may have found a new career. the model has taken on singing, or as it should probably be called, speaking with music underneath. ♪ >> i didn't see her mouth moving at all, did you? >> that was a little bit not impressive. >> i'm betty nguyen and this is "early today." we hope this is just your first stop of the day on nbc.

in the milwaukee journal sentinel, national experts to help inspect sagging i-43 bridge in green bay. a pier supporting the span sank about two feet early wednesday, shutting it down for the foreseeable future. on nbcnews.com, six arrested following wild party at ex-nfler's new york home. the arrest came after an investigation at a property owned by brian holloway. and some stories that you might have missed. the hospital officials confirming the pilot of united airlines flight that diverted to boise, idaho has died.

that was flight 1603 on its way from houston to seattle when it landed around 8:00 p.m. local time. the ku klux klan is given a permit to held an event at gettysburg national park on october 5th. officials say the park has a responsibility to make the land available for people to express their freedom of speech. the group held a membership rally earlier this month at a national battlefield. the owners of a colorado cantaloupe farm have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a deadly epidemic. the prosecutors say brothers eric and ryan jensen didn't adequately clean the fruit, which ultimately killed 33 people in 2011. one funeral home in louisiana is making sure that you travel in style. even in the afterlife. owners have taken a harley davidson motorcycle and turned it into a hearse, making the coffin the side car. the harley hearse project has been in the works for about six months and the funeral home

hopes it will appeal to those wanting a unique and unusual funeral. definitely that. >> i predict it will be booked. so many people love motor cycles. people are changing their will. it is time for a look ahead and a look back. a new presidential library opens today. the fred w. smith library for the study of george washington in mount vernon, virginia, contains the manuscripts and archives of the first president. evelyn lowrie died at the age of 88 in her home in georgia. happy birthday to actress gwyneth paltrow, who is 41 rocker meatloaf turns 66. wilfred brimley is 79. keep it right here for more news, weather and sports. i'm betty nguyen. thanks for watching "early

today." we hope you have a great weekend.

good morning. the time is 4:30. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. we start with breaking news, a deadly fire in san francisco, the flames broke out on 18th avenue in the sunset district. >> christie smith joining us live from the scene. christie, we're hearing you just learned two people have died including a young girl there? >> reporter: yes. i spoke with the assistant division chief a couple minutes ago. he says a father in his 30s has passed away along with a 2 1/2-year-old child. both of them transported to the hospital but sadly didn't make it. i want to step aside so you can see what's going on here this morning. firefighters inside of this third rowhouse on 18th av