"meet the press." good morning. get ready for a frigid week ahead, an extended arctic blast will blanket much of the country and a foot of snow is heading to minneapolis this morning. president obama begins a crucial week in asia beginning with world leaders in beijing. we will take you there live. a massive celebration marks a 25th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. plus a dramatic rescue at the scene of this burning car. and a big hero rules the box office this weekend with matthew mcconaughey's interstellar orbiting close behind. it is monday, november 10th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm milissa rehberger. arctic invasion.

much of the country is facing a rough weather week with bitter cold, biting winds and snow. this is what the commute looks like in minneapolis this morning. the midwest is already bracing for the impact, getting out snowplows and salt, for what may be the first serious snowfall of the season. nbc meteorologist bill karins has more on what we are in for this week. >> it is not a treat there in the minneapolis area. you like your first snow to see a couple of flakes, not a foot of snow for your first snowstorm of the season. but that's what they're staring at right now in minneapolis, the heavy snow that is set up over the dakotas, minneapolis to northern wisconsin. that's the chance of a foot of snow today into tonight. by this time tomorrow morning, the snow will be ind iending. it is mostly the northern plains and a narrow stripe. behind the storm, the arctic air, it is already into montana. a couple of spots about minus four degrees right now. the cold air is going to continue to plunge southward.

at least a week. maybe as long as ten days. a little chunk of it will try to sneak into the pacific northwest, washington state especially as you go throughout tomorrow looks like and the eastern half of oregon too. but this iwill be the weather pattern for the foreseeable future. oakland had two record highs over the past weekend. there is a couple of people in the west coast. >> we'll be keeping an eye on it, thank you very much. new this morning, the president is taking on asia, he's on a four stop, three nation tour. on had his list of stops, beijing, rangoon and brisbane, australia. on his agenda is the economy. take a listen. >> over the next five years, nearly half of all economic growth outside the united states is projected to come from right here in asia. that makes this region an incredible opportunity for creating jobs and economic growth in the united states. >> nbc's ian williams is live in beijing. why is this trip so significant

in. >> hi, milissa, well coming to this part of the world, china, the pacific rim is always important. politically, economically. but i think the timing this time is very significant, coming so soon after the political battering which the president took last week. here his rivals and his allies will be asking what impact that will have on his ability to do business overseas, on his foreign policy, on his ability to represent robustly american interests, particularly against china and also to represent and to push the interests of his allies. now, he turned up this morning, arriving here in beijing to blue skies. that's pretty incredible. and it was only achieved by his chinese hosts, pretty well shutting down a good chunk of northern china, kicking cows off the roads, closing factories and building sites to keep smog

away. cynics say that shows the power they have here and the way that president xi jinping consolidated that power. in contrast as the chinese media rebelled in this week, the weakness of the president after the battering he took last week. first off today was meeting with the indonesian president. then a meeting with business leaders here who are concerned about the way corruption investigations, anti-monopoly investigations have being used against them. but although there are a lot of issues on the agenda this week, equally important will be what you might call the mood music, what goes on off stage, between him and she, between him and putin, whether he gets a meeting with the russian president. and also between japan and china, where there was a breakthrough of sorts with a meeting. but clearly a complicated and lengthy agenda here, milissa. >> ian williams in beijing, thank you.

iraqi officials say this weekend air strikes injured several isis commanders. iraq's defense and interior ministries have both issued statements saying abu baqr al baghdadi has been wounded. they're investigating whether the claims are true. there is no official confirmation. pentagon leaders say they have no information on whether he was in fact injured. two americans held prisoner in north korea are back on u.s. soil this morning. 25-year-old matthew miller and 46-year-old kenneth bae are now back with their families. >> thank you, all, for supporting me and standing by me through this time. >> their release was secured by america's top spy, james clapper, the director of national intelligence. he went to pyongyang with a letter from president obama. it was part of a very secret mission only approved bit president late last week. after returning from afghanistan, just a few months

ago, a 21-year-old army veteran died from a shooting in california. francisco garcia was shot as he was leaving a party. the los angeles police department originally reported that it was a homecoming celebration for garcia. but the detectives say that is unclear. hundreds of mourners attended a vigil in garcia's honor sunday night. police are still looking for the shooter. prince harry makes a surprise return to afghanistan. he attended a remembrance service sunday at a kandahar military base. representing his grandmother the queen, the prince previously served two tours in afghanistan. most recently as a helicopter co-pilot gunner. this was the last remembrance sunday to be marked in afghanistan. all foreign troops will leave that country by the end of this year. nine people are dead after a small plane crashed in the bahamas. among those on the plane was myles munroe, a well known minister, motivational speaker and author of more than 100 books on faith.

munroe and his wife ruth were en route to the global leadership forum in free port when the plane went down. cause of the crash is still unknown and an investigation will begin early this morning. in california, a woman was attacked in a mall parking lot in broad daylight. it all started with a cranky child. the victim reportedly asked a fellow shopper to quiet her child who was having a tantrum inside the store. the mother then followed her outside and punched her twice. the victim may lose teeth from this attack. her assailant has not yet been identified. texans were treated to a spectacular site saturday night. a fireball through the night sky. the meteor was visible from dallas to corpus christi and picked up by a camera in new mexico, more than 500 miles away. the space agency says the fireball burned about five times brighter than a full moon. nbc meteorologist bill karins is back with our forecast. >> i want to see that. >> beautiful, right? >> like a shooting star and i'm

impressed. that, a big fireball, that is impressive. the temperature as we have been talking about for the last week, right now we're at 13 in billings, montana. that's not including the windchill, which makes it feel worse. it hasn't cut through many portions of the northern rockies, not yet. but it will as we go through -- that's a little unusual. normally the cold air is over here toward the rockies, spills out to the plains. a little piece will move through the pacific northwest. temperatures today about 52 in seattle, 55 in portland, no problems there. a little cooler in many areas of california. i mentioned how warm it was in oakland with temperatures in the 80s over the weekend. that's yourhoenix into the deserts near yuma. we'll take a look at alaska's weather when we come

back later. we talked about how this is all connected, the big cold outbreak from the lower 48? alaska is warm. >> well, we have a mixed bag, don't we? thank you, bill. america's future, the newly elected agenda. gas prices down a whopping 78% since may. and a dramatic rescue from the horrific scene. "early today" is back in two minutes.

welcome back. president obama on tv and on the record on cbs' "face the nation." >> what happened on tuesday? >> we got -- >> yeah. harry truman once famously said, if you want a friend in washington, get a dog. >> another saying was the buck stops with me. the buck stops right here at my desk. >> let's talk about immigration. you said you're going to change

immigration policy with an executive order. republicans said don't do it. john boehner, you play with matches, you take the risk of burning yourself. why not give them a chance? >> for a year i stood back and let him work on this. he decided not to call the senate bill and he couldn't produce his own bill. >> on this sunday talk shows, plenty of kumbaya moments. newly elected gop senators say they plan on playing nice. >> i think it is important that republicans show that we can govern maturely, that we can govern with competence. >> does that include repealing obama care or going for something the president can sign first. >> i think we need to repeal obama care, but the president named obama isn't going to repeal a bill called obamacare. >> i want to move forward and score some small victories, bipartisan, with the president.

>> such as? >> such as keystone pipeline, some tax reform, transportation bill. >> in mexico, the president's palace is torched. demonstrators set it on fire. they are angry over the alleged massacre of 43 students who vanished in september. protesters think corrupt cops are behind it. in philly, a police cruiser lit up after hitting a pickup truck. inside was a trapped and shaken officer. two men, one a firefighter, rushed in for the rescue. within minutes, the officer was pulled out. he is still hospitalized, along with the truck driver. both are expected to be okay. it is time to get down to business. gasoline prices continue to drochl t drop. prices dropped 78 cents per gallon since may. american airlines flight attendants rejected a five-year contract by only 16 votes forcing the world's largest carrier and union into binding

arbitrati arbitration. it is part of a merger between american and us airways that would have guaranteed raises. a tobacco ban could take hold in massachusetts. they're holding a public hearing on a plan to halt all tobacco sales. according to the street.com, starbucks and dunkin' donuts will offer dinner friendly food items next year to extend sales beyond breakfast and the morning coffee rush. big bonuses for wall street's fat cats could be down 10% this year. just ahead, it was a wild sunday in sports. packers and bears highlights from late last night. the feathers were flying at the seahawks game. and this move by the steelers has the jets up in arms.

this morning on "today," former president george w. bush sits down with savannah guthrie to discuss the new biography of his father. >> he was overshadowed by a very transformative president, ronald reagan. because he was a one term president as opposed to a two term president there wasn't much focus on him. eventually historians have come around to analyze his presidency and they'll realize what i realized, he was a great one term president. >> savannah's interview this morning only on "today." sports, i'll turn it over to my colleague betty nguyen. good morning, betty. >> good morning, milissa.

a sunday night blowout, packers and bears. the first half, aaron rodgers threw for six touchdowns, to tie his franchise record and match the nfl record for half. 42-0 in the third. jared boykins blocks a punt. cardinals quarterback carson palmer was carted off the field during the fourth quarter. he went down with a left knee injury. the team fears it is a torn acl but they continue to keep the nfl's best record with a 31-14 win over the rams. lions' calvin johnson made a strong debut back on the field against the dolphins, but the play of the day from the guy suspending him. did you see that? brent grimes makes an incredible one-handed be grab in the end zone. that may be the interception of the year. the lions take the victory 20-16. the jets were lined up at victory formation against the steelers. that didn't stop mike mitchell from jumping over the line to get the ball from michael vick.

that did not sit well with the jets. they did win, 20-13. seattle's mascot took a little detour before the seahawks giants game. the hawk landed on a fan's head. that guy tried to play it cool and the hawk eventually made his way back to the handler. what a memorable moment. the chase for the sprint cup had its final driver, kevin harvick, dominated the race. that earned him a spot in the final four. he'll race ryan newman, denny hamlin and joey logano for the championship. bubba watson wins his first world golf championship. he thinks it is incredible bunker shot for the eagle to get to a playoff against tim clark. then made a 25-foot birdie for the win. and the ap college football poll saw some shifting after this weekend's games. mississippi state and florida state held on to number one and two. but oregon moves up two spots to third and tcu from sixth moves up a spot, baylor climbs four

spots followed by arizona state. ohio state make a jump from 13th to 8 and auburn dropped out of the top five to ninth after their upset. back to you. a bizarre weekend at bernie's for macaulay culkin. and a big night at the mtv awards including bono, arianna grande and more to tell you about. a dramatic video just released by the arizona forestry division of the moments before and after 19 granite mountain hot shots lost their lives. you're watching "early today."

time now for entertainment news. it was a big weekend at the box office. disney's big hero 6 took the top spot raking in more than $56 million. interstellar earned $50 million. this is the first time in 12 years that one of nolan's movies didn't open at number one. singer nicki minaj hosted the mtv europe music awards last night. british boy band one direction won best pop, best live and biggest fan. >> you're a fan. >> singer arianna grande snagged two awards here. you're a fan of hers. macaulay culkin, he's having fun with rumors of his death. he posted two pictures of himself over the weekend looking a lot like the classic -- >> on facebook, said, oh, look, someone said he's -- he died 30 times on facebook. >> twice this weekend.

country singer garth brooks serenaded a fan battling cancer. she had been holding a sign that read chemo this morning, garth tonight. he sang to her, holding her hand and gave her his guitar. john oliver talked about the odds of winning the lottery last night. take a listen. >> what are the real chances of winning? a lousy one in 176 million. >> winning the mega millions is akin to getting struck by lightning at the same time you're being eaten by a shark. >> okay. that is both an evocative image and amazing pitch for a movie. okay. so this guy is getting eaten by a shark, see, lightning hits him, he switches minds with the shark, the shark wins the lottery. jaws, i'm calling it slum shark billionaire.

leading the news in usa today, 21 videos show chaos around yarnell hill fire deaths. 19 members of the hot shots were overtaken by the arizona wildfire on june 30th, 2013. the video offers new insight on a moments leading up to the tragedy. >> i don't want to go in there right now. >> come on, granite. let's hear you talk here. >> do we have a location on where they're at? >> no, i can't, other than i would say the southeast corner. >> and then the chilling realization that the crew had perished.

>> todd, on scene, 18 confirmed. >> let's go ahead and obviously secure the area and we'll go from there. the uk guardian, a city undivided. the fall of the berlin wall commemorated 25 years on. thousands gathered at berlin's brandenburg gate last nagt for a concert headlined by peter gabriel and fireworks celebrating 25 years since the wall crumbled and communism fell. some other stories we're following, three astronauts are back on terra firma after spending 5 1/2 months on board the international space station. a soyuz capsule carrying an american, russian and german landed in kazakhstan today. in egypt, the great sphinx is back in business, closed for a three-year restoration. damage caused by wind, moisture and erosion. the sphinx is one of the largest stone statues on earth, believed to be about 4500 years old. in zimbabwe, an incredible feat not for the feint of heart two professional slackline

walkers made a spectacular 330 foot trek across victoria falls' gorge, becoming the first to do so. the men from austria and germany braved high winds and heavy spray from the raging falls. if you happen to be wondering how they got this rope across, they used a lead weight, fishing line and giant slingshot. >> one heck of a slingshot. that's like david and goliath. >> more interested than the slingshot than the walk itself. an order by maine's governor to stay home ends now for kaci hickox. she was the nurse who treated ebola patients in west africa and then placed in quarantine in new jersey. then went on a bike ride in maine. hickox and her boyfriend reportedly plan to move out of maine this week. happy birthday to country music star miranda lambert who turns 31. grey's anatomy star ellen pompeii is 45. former "snl" and 30 rock funny man tracy morgan is 46. i'm milissa rehberger. thank you for watching "early today." enjoy your monday.

from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> good morning, i'm sam brock. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's check in with christina loren. did you have a good weekend? >> i did. envelo unfortunately there as a lot of fog on the roadways. give yourself some team, yime, don't want to go racing out the door. this is fremont this morning where you can vaguely make out 880 here at the bottom of your screen. i want to show you san