good tuesday morning. coming up on "early today," dire strait. the consequences will be huge if our government defaults on its bills and every american will feel the repercussions. the interrogation of terror suspect continues as u.s. marines in libya are put on high alert. death watch. a wristwatch that estimates how much time you have left to live. would you wear it? "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for tuesday, october 8th. good morning. it is day eight of the government shutdown. president obama challenging house speaker john boehner to hold a vote immediately to end the partial closure. >> if republicans and speaker boehner are saying there are not enough votes then they should

prove it. let the bill go to the floor and see what happens. just vote. let every member of congress vote their conscience. they can determine whether or not they want to shut the government down. >> speaker boehner responded on the house floor. >> now, the american people expect when their leaders have differences and in a time of crisis that we will sit down and at least have a conversation. really, mr. president, it is time to have that conversation before our economy is put further at risk. >> on sunday the speaker said there are not enough votes in the house to pass a clean continuing resolution to fund the government. right now as many as 21 republicans say they could pass a possible extension to fund programs the shutdown has paralyzed so far. >> it is going to hurt working families, entrepreneurs, folks in agriculture. it is not a good thing. >> more of the shutdown

continues today. access to all veterans affairs regional offices will be shuttered. 10,000 workers are being furloughed. it could stall progress in an already high disability claims backlog. while some services halted, others are taking matters into their own hands. a philanthropic billionaire couple is funding head start programs for children. it would reopen the six states forced to close the program, affecting more than 7,000 children. meanwhile, starbucks ceo howard schultz is urging lawmakers to end this shutdown. he said he's, quote, utterly disappointed by the level of irresponsibility and dysfunction. the government shutdown is not compared to the situation if lawmakers cannot fix the debt ceiling problem by october 17th. those 0% interest car loans would be gone. refinancing your home, forget about that. mortgage interest rates would

also skyrocket. your credit card payments would also spike. the crisis has worried the world. for example, china's vice financial minister wants the u.s. to avoid hitting the debt ceiling. china holds more than $ trillion in u.s. treasury bonds. take you overseas right now. u.s. marines are on high alert after the weekend terror raid in libya. it's in response to this terror suspect. some 80 marines are in sicily to respond to security threats against u.s. interests. they join 100 already on the ground. that group was set up after the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. he's the tenth suspect in custody for that attack. the 49-year-old is current lly being held on this naval carrier in the mediterranean. he'll be questioned at sea for

days or even weeks. he will not be given miranda rights. he'll then stand trial in the u.s. for his role in planning the 1998 embassy bombings. of the 22 people indicted for that attack, ten are in custody, nine dead, and three remain at large. in new york, quite a story here. a store clerk brought a very large knife to a gun fight. security camera footage shows a deli worker keeping his cool as an armed robber busts into the store. the thug fires off a round at the wall just behind the clerk. then the worker, yeah, pulls out a machete from under the counter. the robber rushes out of the store with the clerk hot on his tail. you think that's a big knife? look at that thing. four feet of snow now melting and revealing a harsh reality for ranchers in south dakota. while the snow has stopped, cleanup efforts have begun. ranchers feel the cattle losses from the storm will prove

financially disastrous. they believe more than 75,000 cattle have died. bill karins, our meteorologist, that is so devastating to these guys, to lose that many in a herd. >> and for the poor animals. the storm itself was paralyzing. some people were stuck in their houses for 48 hours. >> looking better? >> yeah, they were 65 yesterday. in the west, in los angeles and southern california, there's the talk of rain showers. it would be the first time it could rain in maybe 2 1/2, almost 3 months. that's a big deal, right? first time in almost, like, three months. it's not today, but there will be an upper-level storm coming through. not a lot of rain, but there will be just very light amounts. the cool air is going to come first. these times are the east coast times. there it is. as we go throughout wednesday afternoon, the white is the clouds. the green shows you where some of this lighter shower will be. it could be from san diego all the way through much of southern california. you may actually get a couple rain drops.

of course, they worry about after two, three months of the oil and gases and stuff on the roads just a little coating of water can be slippery. that's the thoughts and concerns. never dealt with that. kind of fascinates. as far as the forecast in the northwest, with the cool air, we'll see some of those showers. maybe one or two isolated storms. way towards you for the first time in a while. monterey, only 64. so what are you doing? first time you see showers in like three months. >> i think the first reaction will be, not the air. please? what do i do with my hair? i don't know. all right. thanks, bill. the wristwatch that could tell you how many seconds you have left to live. plus, when striking firefighters battle riot police. the outcome uncertain. "early today" back in two minutes.

welcome back. the process of destroying syria's chemical weapons stockpile has begun. secretary of state john kerry acknowledged president bashar al assad's cooperation. >> i think it's also credit to the assad regime for complying rapidly as they are supposed to. now we hope that will continue. i'm not going to vouch today for what happens months down the road, but it's a good beginning. some new video out of brazil that looks more like something out of a movie. protesters angry about government rent allowances, flipping a small car on to a fire, which ignited the fuel system, making a huge explosion. you can see right there the blast throwing debris almost 1,000 feet in the air. more riot and protesters violence in the mal dooefs. masked men set fire to this building using a liquid accelerant, totally destroying the inside of that structure.

black smoke filling the streets of brussels monday. no one called the fire department to put out the blaze. that's because the firefighters started. when riot police showed up, the firefighters were sprayed with foam. the finishing touchines on new ski complex. only about 0.02% of north koreans actually do ski. now for business and cnbc's bertha coombs. good morning. >> good morning, richard. americans are keeping their credit cards in their wallets. new data shows credit card balances fell for the third straight month in august amid uncertainty over the economy. however, other types of borrowing did pick up, including student and car loans. jury selection begins today in the fraud trial of several of

bernie madoff's former subordinates. they're accused of hiding the ponzi scheme by falsifying records. and buy a suit, get a steak? brooks brothers plans to open a steak house near its flagship store in midtown manhattan. they're targeting next summer for the opening. i guess they figure, you eat a little more, you might need to buy some new pants. keeps them in business. back to you. >> exactly. i see it as eat a steak, get a suit. let's begin with the brand new benjamins off the presses. redesigned $100 bill begins circulating today. maybe a little more snazy, new commemorative coins to mark the october 23rd christening of will and kate's baby boy. there's a project on kick starter that will have you talking. it's called the happiness watch. others call it the death watch.

this wristwatch counts down the seconds to the wearer's death. it calculates your time left through a series of questions. the inventors here, their goal is for people to make the most of the time they have left. these watches are estimated to begin shipping worldwide by april 2014. i don't know if i want to wear that. while that watch can't detect bad food, the u.s. department of agriculture can. they've issued a public health alert for chicken products produced by foster farms at three separate facilities in california. with $372 million on the line, a retrial has begun with the california judge trying to decide who the rightful owner of this 840-pound emerald is. me, me. and it's not millions, but federal workers and members of the military can score free small popcorn at amc theaters during the shutdown. they don't even have to buy a movie ticket. talking shutdown, too, here's jimmy fallon. >> the whole mess of the

shutdown isn't making anyone happy. a new survey found that 9% of americans have considered giving up their u.s. citizenship because of the constant arguing in washington. not good. today, even obama was like, are you sure i wasn't born in kenya? just ahead, all your sports highlights. first, a baseball trivia question for you. it was revealed in 2001 that when bobby thomson of the giants hit his famed shot heard around the round in a 1951 playoff game, he had what secret advantage? a, his bat was loaded with cork. b, his team was stealing signs using a telescope. c, pitcher ralph branca was hung over. d, he had refrigerated his underwear. the answer when "early today" returns.

before the break, we asked you, when bobby thomson of the giants hit his famed shot heard around the world in a 1951 playoff game, he had what secret advantage? well, the answer for you is, b. his team was stealing signs using a telescope. in 2001, players revealed the signs were relayed to the giants dugout via a buzzer wire. there you go. now let's get the plaitest in sports. atlanta, they didn't have a good

night on monday. it started with the falcons for the fourth time losing in the final minutes. fourth quarter, geno smith connecting for that touchdown. atlanta's matt ryan spoends with the go-ahead touchdown. three seconds left in the game, the jets split the uprights with a 44 yarder. the win goes to them. 30-28. take you to the baseball playoffs. four games last night. braves at dodgers first. atlanta didn't have a good night. juan uribe couldn't get a bunt down, so he went for the home run. that sealed a 4-3 win over atlanta and to win the series 3-1. next up for them, championship series ahead. fighting to play l.a., st. louis at pittsburgh. it was all about the cardinals. after a two-run homer, it was a michael wawa show, st. louis' pitcher. so close to a no-hitter he was. in the eighth, pedro alvarez homers there. that's all they get. cards win 2-1. series now tied at two each. the deciding game five is tomorrow.

to the american league. tie score, two outs, bottom of the ninth. tampa bay blasts a walkoff home run to beat boston 5-4. the red sox lead 2-1 in that game series. three home runs by oakland put the a's in front of the tigers early on. one, two, and three. later in the ninth, things got a little hairy. the a's potty mouth pitcher and victor martinez argued. benches cleared, no punches. oakland wins that one 6-3 and lead the series 2-1. don't break grandma's windows. that was prince william's warning as he kicked off the first ever soccer match at buckingham palace. there he is in the blue sweats, orange soccer cleats. what do you think of his fashion? the match was for the 150th anniversary of england's football association. finally to a harvest festival in japan. different districts battle here. teams get behind large movable shrines, using them as rams. they run into each other and

push like the dikens there. the strongest team wins. looks messy. this year's sexiest woman alive, that's next.

well, welcome back. we are watching a cold front, some cool air for once coming down from the north all the way to california this time. last couple cold fronts didn't make it there. cooler air, instake, showers, and storms behind it. on wednesday, an upper-level low kicks through southern california to vegas, phoenix, tucson, los angeles, san diego all with a chance of rain

showers. again, rainfall amounts just a little tiny bit. some of you may not see anything at all. our computers are pspitting outa little bit of rain. 0.01 in palm springs. >> i sweat that much. >> maybe enough to coat the roads. that's the concern. to entertainment news. the world's sexiest woman has been named. bill, any guesses? >> my wife. let's get bonus points. >> johansson. she last won the title in 2006. she's perennial, man. seven years ago and now in 2013. lady gaga releasing her artwork for her new album art pop. quentin tairn tee know released his top ten movies for 2013. most are feature films. there was one unexpected flick.

one of the biggest flops "the lone ranger." paris hilton is back. i'm glad to hear this. she's going to be singing again. she's released her new song featuring rapper lil' wayne. >> she's done well with the perfume. stick with that. >> listen. ♪ ♪ so is it paris hilton two now? i don't know. >> the good news is it was beautifully shot. >> camera angles. >> the sunsetting. >> that might have been good for a summer song. we'll see how it does. let's talk justin bieber. his new album cover might look familiar. it's almost an exact copy of kanye west's 2008 album.

web m.d. has diagnosed the lyrics to some of the best summer songs. they put them into the symptom checker and gave the songs a medical diagnosis. this is hilarious. katy perry's "roar" likely has hepatitis a, b, or c or some unknown new disease. that's "blurred lines." they put it into the machine. they say it's probably having a stroke. i can see people doing this during parties. >> having a stroke is the least i would think they would come up with that song. there's a lot of other transmitted things that could be worse. >> you could intermix those two diagnoses. we should do that with our broadcast. stick in all the words. see what comes occu s out. >> let me know. >> i'm richard lui. this is "early today," just for first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in "the l.a. times," a $35 million airship damaged after a hangar roof collapses. the area was evacuated. the prototype is being built under a government contract. on nbcnews.com, the jelly fish are coming. experts tangle with exploding pop police stations. it's being called the jelly fish pocalypse. >> i noticed extra at the beaches this summer. >> i didn't make it to the beach. scientists say climate change is producing larger populations. some stories we're keeping an eye on. protesters gather in washington, d.c. to call for the redskins to change its name as the league starts its fall meeting. the nfl says it will meet next month with a native american

tribe about the team's name, but the team's owner says he will never change the name. this continues to go on. and demolition is underway of what's left of the jersey shore boardwalk devastated by fire. last month's flames added insult to injury to an area already set back by hurricane sandy. more than 50 businesses were destroyed there. the $4. 7 million state funded project will take 60 days to complete. here's something you don't see every day when you go to get a coffee. to mark the upcoming "carrie" remake, a hidden camera caught the reaction of customers as they witnessed what looked like a scene right out of the movie. a customer knocks over a woman's coffee. she pretends to levitate him. freaky, right? the customers freak out, running back. those are real customers. >> there's a guy on the floor behind her. >> it was all staged. everything was connected to, you know, wires. the customer there was connected to a wire in the wall.

>> you could make a half hour show out of that. that's a great prank. >> you could do that every month and probably get reactions like that. time for a look ahead and back. the u.s. supreme court considers the issue of money and politics today. the justices hear arguments in a case in which republicans challenge limits on the amount of money a person can donate. on this day in 1956, baseball perfection. don larson of the new york yankees pitched a perfect game in the world series against the brooklyn dodgers. also, happy birthday to actor matt damon. civil rights activist jesse jackson is 72. here's what's coming up later. the investigation into how a 9-year-old boy made it through security and on to a plane without anyone noticing. and tinsel town treasures hitting the auction block next month. keep it here for more news, weather, and sports. i'm richard lui. have a very good day ahead.

out of san francisco where a baby dies at the hospital. police are calling the death suspicious and homicide investigators are now on the scene. >> more than $1 million of drugs now off the streets this morning, but the mastermind behind this ring on the loose. we'll have details. >> plus, still no deal but no plans to strike either. the latest on negotiations to keep b.a.r.t. trains rolling this friday morning. >> right now a live look outside. i believe that is from the south bay, the lights look extra illuminated to juice up your morning. this is "today in the bay."