good morning. it is friday. here is what's coming up on "early today." an incredible scene at the capital. shots fired and a high speed chase with a baby on board all ends with the driver being killed. and gulf coast braces for tropical storm karen. the government shutdown enters day four. will those without salary now get back pay later when it's all resolved. news of the bizarre. this two-headed cat. lindsey vonn gets four with tiger woods. offering david letterman perspective with the shutdown. "early today" starts right now. this is "early today" for friday, october 4th. good morning. i'm betty nguyen.

from shutdown to lockdown to a fatal shooting on capitol hill these are the harrowing moments of a 12-block police chase, much of it caught on camera. police say a woman tried to drive her car through the white house security fence tuesday. she was later shot and killed. during the incident senators say they were ordered to find cover and fast. >> seemed to be about four shots. >> the police told us to go back. >> the cops say get down and behind the car. we ran where they told us to run back. >> this morning we are learning more about the suspect. 34-year-old miriam carey was a connecticut dental hygienist with suspected issues of mental illness. investigators are trying to figure out what brought her to the capital. tracie potts is live in washington with the latest on

this. tracie, any more clues this morning? >> not specifically. that's really what investigators want to look into. her family is talking. one of her former bosses is talking. what we're learning about her doesn't necessarily connect to why this happened. >> this does not appear to be in any way an accident. >> that's all we know about the 34-year-old woman rammed a barrier near the white house with her child in the car, hit an officer, and then took off speeding toward the capital. police cornered her at one point but schett away. she later crashed near a senate office building. she was killed. authorities learned later she had no gun. >> i hear boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. >> four or five quick ones. >> there was momentary chaos near the capital where lawmakers were in session. investigators say she had mental issues.

police searched her home in connecticut. a former boss said she was a loner. >> she didn't want to have a personal relationship with anybody in the office. she was somebody who came in, did her job and left. >> back at the captain officer was injured in the chase. >> i work every day to make sure you're safe. >> and then it was over. a massive show of thanks from lawmakers to the capitol police who, because of the shutdown, aren't being paid. >> now, a lot of people were really concerned after hearing a baby was in the car. a 1-year-old daughter of the suspect, despite the crash, the chase, despite the gunfire, that child this morning is okay. betty. >> good news in all of it. thank you, tracie. a state of emergency has been declared in three states as the gulf coast braces for tropical storm karen. forecasters say karen could reach tropical strength by saturday night. live in pensacola beach on the florida panhandle. jay, how nervous are people down

there? >> betty, i think they are concerned but i think they are taking it very seriously. tropical storm with winds about 60 miles an hour, still strong enough to do a lot of damage. that's what has people on edge, not only in pensacola beach, which is a potential strike point but also up and down much of the gulf coast right now. after a quiet summer, tropical storm karen is now churning in the gulf and could be a hurricane before landfall. >> we're prepared for category one and deploying assets that's consistent with our plan in preparation for that. >> reporter: preparations that stretch from louisiana to the florida panhandle. the gulf coast for the first time this hurricane season is on alert. >> now that we're in a hurricane watch, we have started to remove items from the beach area, put our lifeguard stands on the other side of the sand dunes. >> windows boarded up, sandbags stacked and ready and some could plan for a few days on the beach

have decided -- >> i'm getting out. >> to move to higher ground as karen starts to move in. now, we've seen some spitting rain this morning. we should really begin to feel the real effects of karen sometime later today. if the current path holds, the storm will make landfall probably here near pensacola beach sometime late saturday into sunday morning. that's the latest live in pensacola beach. betty, back to you now. >> all right, jay. stay safe out there. bill karins will have more on karen's path and intensity in just a few moments. but first on day four the government shutdown, the impact is growing even more apparent. states could run out of money for a special food program for women, infants and children by the end of the month. and for others waiting for drug trials, the shutdown is literally a matter of life and death. >> every day counts, every second. i've always promised by daughter i refused to let her grow up without a mom.

>> that's michelle, told her rare sarcoma could be terminal. without funding drug trials are on hold. with lawmakers at odds over funding of the affordable care act, many americans are frustrated. a protesters heckled steve king at the world war ii memorial on thursday. democrats and republicans alike are pushing their rhetoric and strategy. nbc affiliate wpsd captured these moments between kentucky republican senators mitch o'connell and rand paul. >> i didn't see an end. we are willing to compromise. we are willing to compromise. i don't think they have poll tested we won't negotiate. i think it's awful for them to say that over and over again. >> i do, too. >> i think if they say we wanted to fund it and we are willing to compromise -- i know we don't want to be here but we're going to win this. >> on the late show with david letterman, nbc's brian williams said the country is in a very,

very dark time. >> they have a point to make. they don't like how the place is being governed. it is a heck of a lot easier to do this from their set of seats in the house. it is a heck of a lot tougher when you bottle things up and we are where we are. day three, complete paralysis. when i called the u.s. capitol this afternoon after we had had a shooting in washington, i couldn't get anybody. the government workers had been furloughed. an early winter storm hitting rocky mountains in montana, over 10 inches of snow has fallen. temperatures are down into the 30s. yes, the snowplows are out. none of that seemed to bother this golden retriever. he's enjoying the white stuff. bill karins is here. i always wonder about those dogs when they are out there. their little paws get frozen. >> they get the ice clumps, need

booties. >> it's almost that time of year unfortunately. >> some areas. this is beyond. extreme areas. high elevations. we're going to get snow in nebraska and south dakota. as far as karen goes, good news overnight, the storm weakened, looks ragged, thunderstorms not near the center, displaced to the east. sheared storm, winds in the upper level where jets fly pushing away from the center. as long as that happens, won't intensify. may hit a brief period saturday afternoon, evening to try to intensify and make two land falls over the mouth of the mississippi and alabama, florida. not devastating storm, power outages, high surf and rainfall problems. not a devastating storm. how about these blizzard warnings, rapid city to casper. some areas 2 feet of snow. not in the mountains. some areas the lower elevations. roads could be closed. leaves on the trees still. california, high fire danger, red flag warning. about 90, windy, cross our

fingers no fire is formed. if they do, they would spread , look out. that's the danger in the west. i didn't mention, could get tornadoes in iowa. >> tropical storm, blizzard conditions, fire danger, going to be a busy weekend. >> i hope not. >> going to be on board right here. okay. thank you, bill. billionaire warren buffett said our elected officials are approaching the point of idi idiotsey. bank balance grown by trillions of dollars, sounds pretty good. details in a few minutes.

. welcome back, everybody. stories making news this morning. new cell phone video of that

group of bikers in new york city. you can see them blocking a gas station. the wife of a man driving the suv, she is speaking out. she says her husband was, quote, forced under the circumstances to take the actions he did in order to protect the lives of our entire family. wnbc reports one of the bikers is expected to surrender. a grand jury charges a montana newlywed with pushing her husband off a cliff to his death. 22-year-old jordan lynn grant will be arraigned in court today on charges including first degree murder. california governor jerry brown signs a law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's license. according to the national immigration law, california is one in 11 states that enacted a law for immigrants to get driver's licenses. take a look at this rare two-headed cat in vermont. vets say she is perfectly healthy, though. she even eats and moves with both heads.

that's quite a sight. the dow dips below 15,000. you won't be getting unemployment numbers today since the government is partially closed. might be the most hyped ipo since facebook as twitter is looking to raise $1 billion. twitter earned 80% of its revenue from advertising. it also logged about $70 million in the first half of this year. a bank error in your favor to the tune of a trillion dollars. sounds pretty good to me. it happened to a handful of mississippi bank customers who woke up to trillions of dollars in their bank account. bancorpsouth corrected the error a few hours later. a viewing tower made of 89 copper plates in china. critics say it's another example of wasteful government spending but supporters are promoting it as the world's biggest metal construction. looks pretty cool. in case you missed it, warren buffett says congress will resolve the debt ceiling

issues before the nation defaults and he goes on to say, "we will go right up to the point of extreme idiocy but we won't cross it." lets hope not. the oracle has spoken. sports, football and baseball playoffs. first a trivia question for you. with tropical storm karen headed for the gulf, what is the costliest hurricane in u.s. history. is it andrew, 2005's katrina, 2008's iq or 2012's sandy. we have the answer next.

all right. so before the break, we asked what is the costliest hurricane in u.s. history? is it 1992's andrew, 2005's katrina, 2008's ike or 2012 sandy. the answer is hurricane katrina i remember covering this one. it struck the coastline in 2005 causing $108 billion in property damage and the third deadliest hurricane on record. switching to sports. buffalo takes on cleveland. the browns are hungry for a third consecutive win and tied for the ravens for first in their division. benjamin with the unstoppable punt return for a touchdown. late in the fourth brown's ward with pick six healing victory,

37-24. st. clair hospital in pittsburgh decked out babies in pirates swag. how cute is that including bandanas and bats. head of game one national division, carlos beltran blasted incredible 443 foot three-run homer in the third. he is tied with babe ruth for 15 postseason home runs. both are in eighth place overall. cardinals 9-1. dodgers easily handled the braves winning 6-1. seriously swirly shenanigans during opening of the legends cup. he adopted a twirl that popped up when a rainstorm rolled through dublin, ohio. later tiger woods, he seems a little uninterested when his girlfriend olympic skier places something on his shoulder then warms up to it all. this is a lucky play. you're in a high school game in

iowa. the quarterback attempting a two-point conversion, finds himself in trouble. what does he do? flips it behind his back before getting tackle and it's actually caught in the end zone. some people would not even dare to bungee jump. me included. not even once. the australian broke a record for the most jumps in 24 hours. he jumped 150 times in 21 hours. the previous record was 105 jumps. who needs a sky plane, the first man to bike across the hudson river. yes, across the water. he found the the bay cycle project in san francisco and said any bike can use two inflatable platoons and cylinders that activates the propeller when pedalling. looks fun. the romantic side of stephen colbert.

huh? you're watching "early today."

welcome back. we mentioned earlier southern california fire danger but also in areas around san francisco, san jose, sacramento. red flag warnings. very windy out there. wind advisory today. we'll have a chance of fires. very dry conditions. red flag warnings up until saturday. again, southern california really san diego to santa barbara, all the way through the mountainous areas, too. we have to hope everyone is extra careful out there and zero

chances of any fires being caused by any people or any of their actions hopefully. northwest looks like a decent weekend out there, too. look at this, need your sunglasses to look at this map. >> nothing but sunshine on there. i'm liking it, except for the fire danger. thank you, bill. it's a big weekend for new hot movies out. "runner runner" opens alongside "parkland" and "gravity." a sci-fi thriller with george clooney and sandra bullock. speaking of gravity, he said though the space suit was uncomfortable, it was not nearly as bad as the bat suit he wore in "batman and robin." hopefully not as bad as the movie. did i say that out loud? steven colbert has a solution for the couples whose weddings were cancelled. after the government shutdown. >> by the power vested in me by the state of new york and entire

viacom family network, i now pronounce you man and wife. you may kiss the bride. the wrecking ball may have wrecked a friendship with singer sinead o'connor. yesterday miley cyrus tweeted a photo from o'connor from several years ago when she was undergoing health issues and compared her to amanda bynes. o'connor responded to an open letter on facebook, mockery causes death, an unacceptable form of bullying no matter who is doing the bullying. after seeing the letter, cyrus had a response of her own sending two tweets saying she's too busy to write, hosting and performing on snl. but quote, if you'd like to meet up and talk, let me know in your next letter. it would be interesting to see how that works out. you've been watching "early today," i'm betty nguyen.

leading the news on the "huffington post," the ghost burger topped with communion wafer stirs controversy for chicago restaurant. the religious dish comes with a red wine reduction. critics say it is in poor taste. something really cool in the ancient world review, mystery of the thracian horse skeleton. archaeologists in bulgaria uncovered 2500-year-old remains of a carriage and two horses that appear to have been buried up right. from shutdown to lockdown to fatal shooting on capitol hill. these are the harrowing moments of a 12-block police chase much caught on camera. police say a woman tried to drive her car through the white house security.

she was later shot and killed. mirial cae iaiae iaial -- miria didn'tal hygienist with suspected mental issues. a boat capsized off the italian coast. some 200 more are unaccounted for. the refugee agency said migrants landed in italy and malta in the first half of this year alone. governor jerry brown signed a allow allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses. the following begs the question, working hard or hardly working? in bosnia, public workers competed in a series of competitions and it was all part of an annual championship. the events included a major garbage collectors' race and competitive gardening. who knew? they were arranging flowers, planting grass and trimming. it was all for 1200 participants to showcase their skills. competitive gardening?

i've got to say, that's a first for me. i've never heard that before. >> really? keeping up with the joneses. >> okay. but that's not competitive gardening. >> not sponsors. >> stuff like that. goodness. time now for a look ahead and a look back. an important house vote could come as early as today. lawmakers will consider a bill to get furloughed federal workers their missed pay when the government reopens. on this day in 1965, the first papal visit to the u.s. >> as was fitting for the peace mission, the pope was first greeted by united nations secretary-general. others at the head of the receiving line were new york governor nelson rockefeller, cardinal and mayor robert wagner. >> we want to say happy birthday to nba star derek rhodes 25, actress susan sarandon, 67. keep it here for news, weather, sports, i'm betty nguyen. thanks for watching "early today," have a great weekend.

breaking news this morning. massive flames as a brush fire burns near lake berryessa and smoke reaching all the way to the bay area. >> we have dramatic video in from overnight as a tree smashes right through this truck's windshield. narrowly missing the people inside. >> a house goes up in flames in the south bay. we have a crew on the scene. we'll bring you the latest in a live report. >> right now we take you live outside, that is a picturesque shot from the south bay. not a bad start to the day. the temperatures start to rise on this friday, october 4th, this is "today in the bay." yes, it is. it is just