good monday morning. coming up on "early today" -- the government shutdown is a week old, and now fear is growing that our leaders won't come to a deal on the debt ceiling in time to prevent the u.s. from defaulting for the first time in history. terrifying typhoon in china. massive amounts of water wreak havoc in parts of xhien. new details on al qaeda's major bust in africa. a horrific accident involving an out-of-control monster truck. gas prices down to just a penny over $3 a gallon. and some of the world's most talented animals strut their stuff. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for monday, october 7th. good morning. i'm richard lui. one week into the government shutdown and another deadline.

ten days away from the risk of the u.s. defaulting on its bills for the very first time. nbc's tracie potts joins us in washington. if there are enough votes, what's the hold up. >> reporter: the white house insist there are enough votes. our own counts seems to suggest there may be enough votes to get this budget done but the other big question here is we've got a looming debate and a looming deadline over the debt ceiling, and america's credit card is about to be canceled. the pentagon has ordered more than 3,000 employees back to work but more than 400,000 remain at home because congress can't agree on a budget, what they call a cr. >> there are not the votes in the house to pass a clean cr.

>> reporter: our count is they could without cutting or delaying the health law. with president obama refusing to negotiate on that, it's gridlock. >> his refusal to negotiate is what is putting the government at risk. >> conservatives against the health law say they're not backing down in we do control a third of the government. people did elect us to fight. >> reporter: next week the u.s. runs out of credit to pay its bills. >> if we cross the line we're going to a place we've never gone. it's very dangerous. >> the president demand jacked up the nation's credit card with no limits, no constraints. it's not a reasonable demand. >> reporter: stuck in the middle are people like 2-year-old abbey mccurtain because government clinical trials are shut down she can't get the potentially--saving drug she needs. >> we're angry. angry for my daughter and, you know, how could they not get along to make this work? >> reporter: now remember house republicans have been making it

workpiece by piece bringing back online certain parts of the government they've been voting on. today they meet. this afternoon they'll look at funding for the fda. >> so much to watch. tracie, thanks so much. a brazen raid in libya ends with the capture of a leader. anas al libi is known as an elusive confident. officials tell nbc news he's being held aboard "the uss san an tone nknow." >> now al libi is an alleged conspirator in the east africa embassy bombings that killed more than 220 people and after 9/11 he was among the first names placed on the fbi's most wanted terror list with a $25 million reward. over the years al libi was reported killed, captured or living in iran but the u.s. knew he was back in his native libya for more than two years.

libya asked the u.s. for clrngss regarding that raid. he was a legal and appropriate target. egyptian security officials say one army officer and four soldiers were killed this morning. masked gunmen were involved in the shooting east of cairo. 51 people dead. it was their highest single day death toll. more on that motorcycle chase. reginald chance is now the fourth arrested. he faces charges including gang assault. his lawyer says those when charges are overblown. prosecutors say he played a key role in the beating and say he's the one here seen smashing the driver's window with a helmet. he's being held on $75,000 bail. police are also looking for two more persons of interest in the case. and senior law enforcement

officials tell nbc news one off-duty undercover cop witnessed the driver's beating but places say he was so undercover he did not want to step in. internal affairs is investigating why it took four days to come forward. meanwhile, a good samaritan who did step in also came forward. >> i stood my ground. i kept saying, let it go, guys. let it go. you know. and they started to leave. >> now, tragedy at a monster truck show in mexico this weekend. an out-of-control truck plowed into a crowd of spectators on saturday, killing eight people, including at least three children. 79 others were injured. some witnesses said he appeared to have hit his head inside the truck as he drove over the cars. the local governor says alcohol was detected on his breath. the driver is being held on suspicion of manslaughter. in southern china a typhoon has battered the coast with massive waves. the storm which made landfall only hours ago prompted the

chinese government to evacuate more than 700,000 people from coastal areas. this is china's inrd typhoon of the season and comes on the heels of a storm that killed 25 people. back to you, bill karins. >> some years we have a lot worse storms. >> quiet so far. >> getting into the middle of october. >> we'll take it. >> as far as the west went, the fires were the big thing. concerned with the santa ana winds kicking up and dry humidity and how long long-term drought about fires. very warm, wind wrsz kicking up but didn't see too many big blazes, the stuff towards camp pendleton was not fun. as far as temperatures, it did warm up a lot. we didn't see any huge new blazes for it. so things have changed what was responsible that big area of high pressure moved away. a big storm north of the border up there moving into british columbia. winds have shifted a little bit.

more of an onshore flow that will reduce temperatures. as far as radar, not a lot of rain on that cold front when it went through. seattle picked up a little bit but more instability and cool air kicking in behind it and that's your forecast throughout the day. not going to rain today. periods of showers but temperatures will be cool behind that front. highs in the mid-50s in the northwest. notice warm in l.a. but the onshore flow ten degrees cooler than yester even in the northwest looks like once we kick out this storm should be a pretty nice end to your week. >> orange ties today. >> why not. first day back. fall is around the corner. it is here, excuse me.

all right, diversity at general motors. a 9-year-old stowaway in plain sight. plus puppy power to the nth degree. this one you have to see to appreciate.

welcome back. divers continue to recover the bodies of migrant workers whose boat capsized off the coast of sicily. the official death toll, 194 but it's expected to rise. pope francis asked thousands gathers in st. peter's square to let their hearts cry for those migrants who died. southern california's camp pendleton forced to partially evacuate due to a brush fire. the blaze is 20% contained and damage at least four buildings. apparently one boy really wanted to get out of minnesota this weekend. officials at minneapolis/st. paul international airport say a 9-year-old boy was able to sneak through security and board a flight headed to las vegas. it wasn't until the plane arrived in nevada that the boy was discovered. he was also at the airport the

day before and was alone. victims of the boston marathon bombing learned how to run again. they're using new pross threat tick legs. coaches and mentors stayed with the amputees as they took their first steps. dogs weaving through the pure reason no pro plan dog challenge. they launched themselves into the water and others did flips to snag a frisbee. i could watch that all day. no progress over the debt limit pushes stocks down. gas prices have dropped about 14 cents over the past two weeks according to the latest lundberg survey. the average price for a gallon of gas is $3.38. st. louis has the lowest at $3.01 and san francisco with the highest, $3.88. diesel is down four cents to 3.92. sam's club is waiving their membership fee for military personnel during the government shutdown. general motors was praised by reverend jesse jackson for having more diversity pong top

managers. the makers of black hawk helicopters was planning to furlough 200 employees but sikorsky canceled that after the government recalled nearly 350,000 defense workers. aurora kerphart was working the crowd when one of her regulars handled her keno tickets instead of the tip. her customer left her a winning ticket worth $17,500. a massive indy crash in houston and the rest of your sunday sports just ahead. but first a question, what are the most dangerous states in america? are you living in one of them? the top five when we come back.

so before the break we asked you what are the most dangerous states in america? well, the top five according to fbi crime statistics compiled by 24/7 wall street are number five, south carolina, then new mexico, alaska, number two we've got nevada, number one dangerous state of crime, most dangerous state of crimes per capita, tennessee due to a high number of murder, robberies and aggravated assaults. who is the greatest in the land? take a look at houston and san francisco. when it comes to interceptions, the greatest in the land is matt schaub sets the record on his

first drive interceptions in four consecutive games is what he has done. three just in that game. the niners say thank you very much. we'll take that. 34-3 in that win. broncos and cowboy, old west shootout. tony romo with his first ever 500 plus passing game. like this beauty in the third but then peyton manning, he ain't no slouch. he's got a running touchdown that will respond to that he gets the tie there. two minutes left. broncos intercept and that leads to a field goal. broncos, 51-48. tom brady's 52-game streak with a passing td ends. 13-6. to an eight decade rivalry. the giants and eagles. david wilson celebrating his early score, double backflip, double backflip.

the colts stop the undefeated seahawks. colts, 34-2. oh, yeah, then there's baseball and the playoff picture. the dodgers' carl crawford's outstanding catch symbolic of their effort rapping the braves 1-6 and lead the series, 2-1. indy's grand prix. this injury injuring 1. dario franchitti's car airborne after being hit in the final lap. the three-time indy 500 winner is said to be awake and alert. presidents cup, the u.s. takes it all,. [ speaking a foreign language ] to tiger. phil mickelson helps out. his drive bouncing off a tree landing just 49 yards to the green. lefty's wife helping lindsey vonn giving this golf course a push out of the mud. fun pictures. fans, streaker. this woman strips down to patriotic colors shall we say

barely, a red thong and heart shaped american flag printed pastiy ies we're not showing yo. >> announcer: "early today sports" is brought to you by new just for men autostop. gray is over. huge weekend for george and sandra at the movies, plus, miley channeling congresswoman michele bachmann over the government shutdown for "saturday night live." you got to see it next.

well, we have a pretty good sized storm moving through british columbia and typically we get high pressure and nice weather building down through eastern portions of alaska. that's the case today. not a bad day for anchorage and fairbanks. we don't get a sunlight there. hawaii more nice weather. a bunch of wet weather days last week. there will be a few showers out there at lihue. showers through seattle and portland. temperatures cooling off. we're still pretty nice but cooler, we don't have to worry about those dangerous winds anymore in southern california. >> bill karins, i like the way you put weather into context. could you show us hawaii so we feel badly and show us alaska so we feel good. >> puts you right in the middle. >> we're doing okay. >> sorry, alaska. >> i like alaska too. we're just, of course, joking. "gravity" having the biggest october opening in history. bringing in $55.5 million. "cloudy with a chance of

meatballs 2" took second palce with $21.5 million. "runner runner" took third. "prisoners" and "rush" rounded out the top five. >> was a bomb -- people love it. >> i am looking forward to seeing it. in imax it will be sweet. carson daly got engaged to his longtime girlfriend. they have two children together. and congratulations in order for halle berry and olivier martinez who gave birth to a baby boy on saturday. hulk hogan finds a perfect way to host his hostamania. through miley cyrus' wrecking ball. madonna wrote an essay about her experience cat putting into stardom and the struggles with being a fresh face. in my first year i was held up at gunpot, raped on the roof of a building, i was dragged up to with a knife in my back and had my apartment broken into three times. she says i don't know why, i had nothing of value after they took

my radio the first time. speaking of which, to "saturday night live." hosting and performing. here's her government shutdown parody of her hit we can't stop. ♪ this is our house and this is our rules and we did stop the government ♪ ♪ we did shut it down ♪ can't you see it >> he was supposed to be john boehner. >> cyrus addressed her vma twerking controversy in her monologue. >> grabbing at my junk while i half sing. >> for my vma performance if i owe anybody an apology it's the people who make the bottom halves of shirts but there are a few subjects we're not going to get into tonight. i'm not going to do hannah montana but i can give you an update on what she's been up to. she was murdered. and also, we went back and forth on this but, guys, i just don't

think we should do that "wrecking ball" sketch. >> what? >> miley, come on. my mom is here. >> sorry, bobbi. >> rod burgundy. >> 360 horsepower. on my left is one horse. with one horsepower. it makes you feel pretty dumb, doesn't it? >> this thing is literally 360 times more powerful than you. >> he says to ron i'm four types your weight. >> the horse did well in that. >> very good acting lessons, evidently. >> right. >> this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in t"the washington post" pharmaceutical firms paid to attend meetings on a pam that advises fda. they paid as much as $25,000 to attend panel meetings that shape the effective stiffness of painkillers. from reuters, couples' dream wedding at yosemite dan canceled due to u.s. government shutdown. some fellow citizens who saw the couple's story pulled together and threw them a wedding offsite this weekend. congratulations. some stories we're watching for you. one weekend into the government shutdown and a far more dangerous deadline looms. we're just ten days away from the risk of the u.s. defaulting on our bills. it's the year of the sequel for the u.s. supreme court. the term beginning today brings a return of hot button issues

that have divided justices. those include campaign contributions, government sanctioned prayer, discrimination in housing and mortgage lending and abortion clinic protests. everyone knows firefighters are heroes but what happens after the flames? well, these goats in colorado at least are heroes in their own little way. 500 of them are eating away at all the brush left behind by the wildfires. it's called fire mitigation and scheduled to stick around for two weeks. and satisfy their hearty appetite. halloween cannot come soon enough for some blood suckers in england, 500 people dressed as vampires gathered to try to break a guinness record for most people dressed as vampires in one place. well, they didn't beat the current record which is over 1,000 in the united states, but they did set a record for most vampires in one area in the uk. >> congratulations. that's just a fabulous feat. >> well done. you know, a lot of makeup, a lot of teeth. >> ever done a vampire. >> i have not. i've done ghosts.

>> ever done the zombie? >> that's easy, yes, i have. >> you? >> i've done the vampire. >> have you done the weatherman? >> eh. >> time now for a look ahead. the launch of a new rating for twitter. nbc's "the voice" is one of the top tv shows expected to reach millions in tv-related tweets. remembering a true american hero, oldest living medal of honor winner has died. nicholas oresko was in the battle of the bulge, he was 96. simon powell, happy birthday. 54. john mellencamp, 62. he's getting up there. exclusive interview. elizabeth smart talks about her abduction, rescue and moving forward. plus miley cyrus performs live on the plaza. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thanks for watching "early today." you have a great monday ahead.

for sparking a brush fire on yerba buena island that snarled traffic for hours last night. what you can expect if you are heading that way this morning. >> and former president jimmy carter is visiting the habitat for humanity site in the east bay one week after volunteers were robbed at gun point at that site. >> the upset that had raiders fans up early into the morning hours. >> we take you live to the bay bridge, looks like there's some traffic moving along heading into and out of san francisco. despite how early it is on this monday, october 7th, this is "today in the bay."