good wednesday morning. coming up on "early today," outrage. government shutdown shuts off death benefits to military families. pressure cooker. president obama turns up the heat on speaker boehner and republicans to open up the government that, as are arrested at a rally. plus miley cyrus did something outrageous, and some find it quite entertaining. and we'll tell you how to score free starbucks coffee over the next three days. "early today" starts right now. this is "early today" for wednesday, october 9. >> good morning to you. i'm richard lui. it is being called disgraceful

and embarrassing. the government shutdown is halting military death benefits for families of the fallen. at least 17 service members have died since the shutdown began october 1st, including four on sunday in afghanistan. military families are outraged. among those lost, 24-year-old private first class joseph peters. his wife and mother of their 20-month-old son saying, quote, yes, it is upsetting, because my husband died for his country and now his family is left to worry. my husband always said if something happened to him, we would be taken care of. i'm a stay-at-home mom, which is what my husband wanted. he wanted me to take care of our son, end quote. among the benefits currently denied $100,000 known as the death gratuity paid to families within days of the death. along with 12 months of housing allowance. and the senate lawmakers on both sides of the aisle voiced their anger.

>> let's sit down and get out of this so that these families whose loved ones just died, just died, will receive the benefits that at least would give them some comfort and solace. >> appalling, frightening. everyone can come up with their own description. but it's time for us, members of this body, to stand before the american people and publicly discuss the path forward. >> republican aides say they are drafting legislation to restore those benefits. a vote could come as soon as today. in the meantime, the fisher house foundation has offered to cover advanced grants until the government can reimburse them. and on the government shutdown day nine, we are one step closer to the debt ceiling. experts say if they do not raise it, the results could be catastrophic. president obama and house speaker boehner are still at

odds, though. >> the only thing that i will say is that we are not going to pay ransom for america paying its bills. we are willing to pass at least a short-term budget that opens up the government at current funding levels. >> what the president said today was if there's unconditional surrender by republicans, he'll sit down and talk to us. that is not the way our government works. >> an oversized credit card made a symbolic appearance on the senate floor tuesday. senator tom coburn cut it to demonstrate his frustration with the nation's debt. the fiscal conservative says this is the time to cut up the nation's credit card. house budget chairman paul ryan sent an op-ed saying if we miss this moment the debt will spiral out of control. he wants a budget agreement. tracie potts is live in washington for us. good morning to you. what are democratic and republican responses to ryan's statement there? >> they want a budget agreement, too. it's all the caveat about how to

get to that that's preventing progress here. you heard it from john boehner. you heard it from the president the latest is that the house is trying to form a working committee to try to come to some negotiation. democrats say no negotiating until people go back to work. of course, all of this running into the deadline for the debt ceiling and economists are very concerned about the impact of that. >> it will cause a sharp contraction in the amount of money the government is paying out to private sector contractors to defense, to social security recipients. the contraction are as high as 16% for the quarter, which is about double the worst of the great recession. >> senate democrats are working on this to come up with a plan to try to avert that, clean debt ceiling, raising of the debt ceiling. they think despite opposition, they can vote on that before

next week's deadline. richard? >> tracie potts, as always, thank you very much. what's the last thing you expect to see the army buy during a government shutdown? how about a mechanical bull? on monday utah's national guard entered a contract to buy a mechanical bull. the cost for that? $47,000. they claim it's needed to attract new recruits. last week the government sent home close to 800,000 workers due to the shutdown. this morning, president obama will nominate janet yellin to chair the reserve. she would be the first woman to chair the board. the 67-year-old has served as its vice chair since 2010. her nomination has been expected ever since larry summers with

drew his name from nomination last month. and undercover member of the nypd is charged in the motorcycle road rage case. he is a 32-year-old and ten-year veteran of the force. he will be arraigned today. police say video clearly shows him pounding on the suv. the investigation started after he was slow to come forward with what he knew. he is the sixth arrest in the case. another man was arrested tuesday. cops say he was the one who pulled the driver from the car and assaulted him. also under arrest, some members of congress to tell you about. eight house democrats were arrested tuesday, seven men and one woman. they include some of congress' most veteran lawmakers, including lewis and charlie rangel. it happened tuesday outside the capitol during a rally for immigration reform. the representatives joined thousands of activists demanding congress take up a comprehensive immigration bill.

200 other protesters. capitol police say they will be charged with crowding, obstructing and other forms of civil disobedience. >> let's check in with bill karins. >> rain for the first time in weeks, months. even snow at the higher levels. high-wind warnings will be in effect. the storm is now kicking down to the south. it doesn't have a lot of moisture with it yet. later on this afternoon, we do think we'll get additional -- here is how it's supposed to play out. this is what we call our futurecast. a good estimation of when we expect the good chance of rain, yellow being moderate and oranges being heavier rainfall now. this is about 5:00 pm pacific time. from the best chance, nearing lncht l.a., down the 5. some of the mountains will even see a couple of inches of snow. again in the mountains we could see windy conditions. how much rainfall are we talking? not blockbuster amounts but the chances there at least. you get a little -- maybe a

quarter of an inch at most in a few spots. lot less than that, though, overall in many areas. that cold air still in place, northern california and the pacific northwest. but you will be dry. this kind of ends the dry season. for the first time, getting a little bit of wet weather. >> it will clean out that l.a. river, which is quite dirty with hardly any water in it ever. heating bills going up this winter. how much. plus bizarre details of the 9-year-old stow away. plus neemiemen marcus cool

gifts.

welcome back. the supreme court is looking once again to change limits on federal campaign contributions, after hearing arguments tuesday it seems that justices are split on whether they should lift the legal limit one can give to political candidates. president obama weighing in on it. >> there aren't a lot of functioning democracies around the world that work this way, where you can basically have millionaires and billionaires bank rolling whoever they want, however they want, in some cases undisclosed. and what it means is ordinary americans are shut out of the process. the united nations is being sued for billions of dollars by family members of almost 700,000 haitians, who contracted cholera during the earthquake. the u.n. is claiming diplomatic immunity.

remember the 9-year-old boy who was able to sneak on to a flight last thursday? reportedly he also stole a car a few weeks ago. the boy's father says he has been a problem child for years and blamed airport security for not stopping him. a georgia tech fraternity has been suspended after giving vulgar advice on how to take advantage of female partygoers. and americans should expect to pay more to heat their homes this winter. the government is estimating natural gas users will see a 13% increase. cnbc's courtney reagan joins us. good morning, courtney. >> good morning, richard. the irs says just because it's closed during the government shutdown doesn't mean you don't have to pay your taxes. people who got a six-month extension still must file their returns by october 15th. bumer. tie-up involving suits and ties may be in the works. joseph a. banks approached men's warehouse about a possible

partnership, though it's unclear whether that's a full-on merger. starbucks is doling out free coffee to anyone who buys another person a drink. analysts say this probably won't change any minds in d.c., but makes for good marketing. back to you, richard. >> also more hyper, like they need that. right? out with very cool items to show you, including that, a $750,000 indian larry's wild child motorcycle. also, a santa polished 2013 at just over $340,000. i'll take two to go, please. sports highlights are next. first on this day in 1888, the public was first admitted to which national monument? washington monument, jefferson memorial, lincoln memorial or the statue of liberty?

they say no good deed goes unpunished. and some days it seems true. but we keep on doing the things that matter& like buying new raspberry 5 hour energy. from now to the end of the year, a portion of each sale... benefits living beyond breast cancer, to empower women affected by breast cancer. new raspberry 5 hour energy. it's one good deed that will go just right. all righty. before the break, we asked you, thon day in 1888, the public was first admitted to which national monument? and the answer is the washington monument. construction began in 1858, but was halted due to lack of funds. currently, it is closed. not because of the government

shutdown but for repairs following the earthquake of 2011. american league playoffs. red sox at rays tied up in the seventh. shane victorino. run in the ninth. boston goes up 2-1. they do not look back. red sox from worst to first. headed to the championship series. lots of champagne. next, game four, oakland at detroit. victor martinez hits it deep to right field. hang on a second. a fan tries to catch it. after review, the ump calls that a homer. detroit staying alive with an 8-6 win, series is tied 2-2. kurt schilling is auctioning off personal items trying to recoup the over $100 million outstanding because his video game company went bankrupt. he is auctioning bobble heads, a hummer golf cart and a lot of clothes as well.

game two of the wnba finals, minnesota firing on all cylinders. leading the charge like in that hoop to hoop score. atlanta loses 88-63, the largest margin in wnba's history. look out for simone. what does diana nyad do? jumps back in the water at a manhattan intersection. planning a 48-hour swim to raise money for hurricane victims. meet boogie. he is not a man's best friend, not when it comes to half marathons. he ran one in indiana this weekend solo without his owner. >> david ortiz, big papi after getting hit where it hurts by little papi. watch it right there.

bam! like papa like son, i guess. who made vanity's list of power players this year? we're naming names, next.

welcome back, everyone. upper level low. storm in the upper levels of the atmosphere. cold air that's going to move through southern california in the afternoon hours, recipe for showers, a few downpours or two out there. there will be wet roads. the way home from work and

school, not this morning. that will be a little slippery. not often we get to use the clouds and rain drops with l.a. in the backdrop. looks like we'll be clearing things out for a very, very nice upcoming weekend. >> you get to use those raindrops on the l.a. skyline, what, four times a year? >> not often. special occasion. dust it off. >> exactly. well done. rick santorum has released his first trailer, director of epilight studios. "the christmas candle," with susan boyle in her first acting role. >> did you know she was doing this? >> i did not. that will be out november 22nd. >> bruce and kris jenner, kardashian fans, look out for this one. >> not a surprise. >> you saw it coming if you watch the series. they have legally separated after 22 years of marriage. rumors have been flying around for months. the couple told e news they are happier this way.

>> i saw them racing lamborghinis. >> he can do whatever he wants. beyonce and jay-z top "vanity fair's" power players. it is quite a list. michael bloomberg, brian roberts and steve burke, bob iger. and an unexpected pair has teamed up for a hot pockets commercial. snoop dogg and kate upton are working together. you kind of want to watch that video. i was as a kid. are you still eating them? >> i've never eaten them ever. >> he still does eat hot pockets. and jimmy fallon has partnered with miley cyrus and the roots to create a twerk-free acappella rendition of the hit "we can't stop." ♪ oh, yeah

♪ to my home girls here with the big butt ♪ ♪ shaking it like we're at a strip club ♪ ♪ remember only god can judge you ♪ ♪ forget your haters because somebody loves you ♪ what do you think? not bad. >> if jimmy fallon keeps doing these, you think one will be bad and most are entertaining. >> they did interviews when she was younger. i wonder here, bill, if it will be good after 30 seconds. >> i didn't listen to the whole think. >> the brady bunch style. >> you're not a miley cyrus fan. >> no. we've been talking about her a little bit. >> a little bit. >> right. i'm richard liui. this is nbc. we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in the "new york times" u.s. officials say libya approved commando raids. libyan officials denounced the operation but american officials say the raid and another suspect in the 2011 attack on a diplomatic mission had libya's approval. and from bbc news pentagon funded atlas robot refuses to be knocked down -- knocked over, rather. the humanoid robot, really cool stuff here, capable of crossing rough terrain and maintaining its balance on one leg, even when hit from the side, as you see there, with that ball. danger, danger. it is very impressive. some stories we're following for you here today.

the families of four service members killed in afghanistan sunday are not receiving military death benefits because of the government shutdown. at least 17 service members have been killed since october 1st. republican aides say they are drafting legislation to restore the benefits. a vote could come as soon as today. a rare amoeba that killed a child in louisiana has been found in five water system locations. health officials confirmed its presence tuesday. the water system will begin a 60 day chlorine burn today. and a construction project leaves kids at one new york middle school with a lot to desire during recess. listen to this. the middle school is banning all hard balls for now. instead they will have to play with nerf balls. some reports say even cart wheels are banned unless supervised. the san diego zoo has a special delivery we want to tell you about. four tasmanian devils. the iconic "loony tunes" version of the devils aren't exactly

accurate. they were brought to the san diego zoo from australia as part of an awareness program since they are endangered. the mammals are native to tasmania and the san diego zoo is the only zoo in america that has them. they seem quite slow and calm. >> i want to go back to the looney tune days, saturday morning, sitting there. >> i've used the tazmanian devils, i've called friends that when they're crazy. little disappointing. testimony will be heard about how medical treatment and benefits have been affected by the furlough of thousands of veterans administration employees. on this day in 1940 john lennon was born. and gave world wide fame as one of the fab four. tony shathoub is 60 and sharon osbourne, wife of ozzy, is 61.

i'm richard

. . thu new this morning, the family of a woman missing since last month has more questions than answers after her body is found in the stairwell at san francisco general hospital. plus, a south bay daycare remains open despite allegations of child sex abuse. we have details explaining why coming up as the government shutdown enters its ninth day, the families of five soldiers killed in afghanistan will not receive guaranteed death benefits. we'll have those stories coming up we want to give you a live look outside spanning the south bay, san jose, before the sun comes up. yesterday was a cool start. we'll let you know what's happening today, weatherwise and beyond on this wednesday,