and one of the coolest things you're going to see all day as some of the biggest names of music come together to sing a beach boys classic. "god only knows." this is "way too early." ♪ god only knows what i did without you ♪ ♪ god only knows >> hey, hey, everybody! good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is thursday, october 9th. welcome to "way too early." you're going to love that song, that "god only knows" song, and god only knows how i got this job, but god only knows what we'd do without jen as our stage manager. let's get to it, because we have a lot of important news this morning and we start in dallas, where concerns are growing after the first ever death from the ebola virus here in the u.s. thomas eric duncan passing away roughly 24 hours ago, only eight days after testing positive for the deadly virus. the 42-year-old from liberia was the first person diagnosed with ebola in the u.s.

and as nbc's ron mott explains, there are now questions if hospital errors cost duncan his life. >> reporter: he complained of symptoms on the 24th, went to the hospital on the 26th but was sent home with antibiotics. two days later, he returned by ambulance. he was given fluids, put on a ventilator and treated with an experimental drug. now comes the delicate and critical process of handling duncan's body, which is dangerously contagious. wearing protective gear, workers must wrap the body in three layers of plastic for either immediate cremation or to be placed in a specially sealed casket. meanwhile, officials are tracking four dozen people, especially ten who had direct contact with duncan, including his fiancee and her family who were in the apartment where he stayed. their pastor broke the news to them at a home where they are being quarantined, keeping, he said, a safe distance. >> their thoughts not only go to the shock and sadness of losing mr. duncan, but also whether this will be the course that their life will take next.

>> so, a sheriff's deputy who was inside duncan's apartment has been hospitalized after feeling ill. and at this hour, officials say he's not showing symptoms of ebola and there is very little risk that he has the virus. but it is the latest example of a city that will remain on the edge for the very near future. >> i'm on pins and needles every day in dallas this week, and yes, throughout the whole 21 days. >> the science tells you this week is critical, and as we move forward, we want to get through the whole 21 days. >> so, we just had the mayor on every day on "morning joe" and says he waits in bated breath. well, the u.s. is responding by screening travelers from west africa at five major u.s. airports -- kennedy airport in new york and dulles in virginia will be among the locations taking temperatures and asking health questions. and president obama urged 1,500

state health officials to act with urgency with possible cases of ebola. he says that duncan's death in dallas shows "we don't have a lot of margin for error." well, this morning there are new gains for isis. reportedly controlling much of a syrian town on the turkish border of kobani. monitors say isis's footprint is growing, despite nearly 20 american air strikes and kurdish forces are fighting. and just across the border in turkey, as you can hear right there, that's the gunfire exchange going back and forth, but turkey remains on the sidelines for this conflict, prompting protests from kurds that turned violent, leaving at least 20 people dead. back home, confidence is fl flagging in president obama's ability to manage this conflict. a cbs news poll shows most americans disapprove of his approach, this by 11%. but as the u.s. raids syrian targets to try and break up the islamic state, the syrian government is dropping bombs as well, often barrels filled with

explosives on towns held by rebel forces. the american people, well, they are not the only ones with the growing, increasing worries about the president's strategy in the middle east. now, on the record, former president jimmy carter adding his two cents. in an interview with "the ft. worth star telegram," the 49th president was critical of the president's policy against isis, saying "changes from time to time" and that he draws lines in the sand and never follows through. "we waited too long. we let the islamic state build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while still in syria. then when isis moved into iraq, the sunni muslims didn't object, and about a third of the territory in iraq was abandoned. he added "if we keep working in iraq and have some ground troops to follow up when we do our bombing, there is a possibility of success." so, jimmy carter grows this growing chorus of critics close to the administration who have spoken out about the president's isis policy, including obama's

former secretaries of defense, leon panetta and bob gates. democrats are trying to stretch out the map even further in an attempt to keep the senate another two years. republicans need six seats to take that back, but democrats are looking to states that few would have predicted months ago. and we want to start for you this morning in south dakota. that's a state thought by top republicans to be all but a foregone conclusion. and bloomberg politics first reported national democrats will drop 1 million there after polling multiple times and deciding it was worth flooding the airwaves with negative ads against republican candidate mike rounds. most polls still show democrat rick wield and former senator larry pressler down by double digits. and going to kansas, where greg orman is giving republican senator pat roberts a run for his money, a fox poll has roberts up five points, a day after another poll had orman up

by 10. a recent cnn/orc poll showed it with 1% separating the two. and in north carolina, a new poll shows senate yokay hagan wh the thinnest of leads over thom tillis. in new hampshire, jeanne shaheen is holding on over scott brown, up six in a new poll there. let's talk about new reporting, as one is out. the 2012 secret service prostitution scandal is creating a fresh round of controversy for the agency and the obama administration. the "washington post" reporting that white house officials knew of information that suggested a prostitute stayed in the hotel room of a presidential advanced team member in colombia, even though officials denied any link to the white house. and the lead investigator says he was pressured to withhold or alter that report until after the presidential election because it could have embarrassed the administration. in a statement responding to the piece, the white house says in part, "the white house conducted an internal review that did not

identify any inappropriate behavior on the part of the white house advance team. allegations that changes were made because they were embarrassing could not be substantiated." nearly two dozen secret service agents were fired or disciplined following that scandal. now we move you on to a few business headlines for you today. and according to most recent economic data, china now has the world's largest economy, dropping the u.s. to a very close second place. the international monetary fund finds that china's gross domestic product will grow to $17.6 trillion this year. that's compared to the u.s.'s gdp projected to grow to $17.4 trillion. however, the imf makes this comparison based on something called purchasing power parity, or how far money goes in each country, meaning it's relatively cheap to live in china while relatively expensive to live here in the u.s. so, you take out the ppp and the size of the u.s. economy still dwarfs china's.

in 2013, america's gdp was $16.8 trillion to china's $9.5 trillion. there is also new data showing that the u.s. budget deficit fell by almost a third in the last fiscal year. the congressional budget office or cbo, estimating the difference between how much the u.s. made and how much it spent, it is around $486 billion. and that's the lowest since 2008. the cbo says spending was up nearly 1.5%, while revenue was up nearly 9%, mostly driven by higher income and payroll taxes. u.s. regulators say that at&t has now agreed to pay more than a million bucks to settle so-called cramming allegations. you've heard of cramming before. so, at&t was accused of illegally billing customers for services that they never requested, such as daily horoscopes or trivia. all this stuff shows up on people's bills, and if you don't look at your bill, then you don't know it's there.

the ftc says 40% of customers did see these charges on their bill. they complained about them. we're told the company will pay $80 million to refund those customers, $20 million in fees and penalties to all 50 states, plus a $5 million fine to the fcc. as we change gears now, should people who are terminally ill have the right to die on their own terms? listen to this, because there's a woman with terminal brain cancer, and she is using heir final weeks to raise awareness about that very issue. her cause is about her own life. 29-year-old britney maynard moved from california to oregon because assisted suicide is legal in that state. she's planning to die november 1st, two days after her husband's birthday. maynard was very active before her diagnosis. in january, she would run half maratho marathons, climb mt. kilimanjaro. she says she wants to live, but doctors say her stage 4 cancer will be a "terrible, terrible way to die." maynard explains her decision in a video that millions have now

watched on youtube. >> i will die upstairs in my bedroom that i share with my husba husband, with my mother and my husband by my side and pass peacefully with some music that i like in the background. i can't even tell you the amount of relief that it provides me to know that i don't have to die the way that it's been described to me that my brain tumor would take me on its own. >> all right, so, brittany's husband says he supports her very personal decision. >> death with dignity allows for people who are in the predicament of facing a lot of suffering, that they can decide when enough is enough. >> wow. so, oregon and four other states currently have these death with dignity laws. and this brings us to our twitter question for you this morning, because this really got us going on the team and discussing this question. should the terminally ill have the right to die on their own terms, like we're seeing

brittany decide? tweet us your best answers, using #waytooearly. we're going to put the best ones up later in the show. it really is deep to try and take that head on. and for brittany, she's made this decision. and again, that's coming up on november 1st for her, two days after her husband's birthday. still ahead on "way too early," the fight to expand human rights to non humans. we're going to have more on how a chimp is at the center of this debate over legal personhood. then, an update on the '80s classic "ghostbusters" movie. what's in store for the next edition might surprise you. that's right, "ghostbusters 3" is coming to a movie theater near you, and a lot's been made about the plot on this one and how exactly they're going to be able to pull this off. that story and a check on whether when "way too early" comes right back! the president was awakened at 6:00 a.m. and told he had just won the nobel peace prize. it was a stunner. it came out of nowhere.

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la quinta inns & suites is ready for you, so you'll be ready for business. the ready for you alert, only a laquinta.com! la quinta! ong, everybody, time for sports. and the minnesota vikings, running back adrian peterson made his first appearance in court yesterday, entering no plea to his felony charge abuse case with a tentative trial date set for december 1st. defense attorney rusty hardin said he's pushing for an expediated trial and urged the public not to rush to judgment over his client. >> i would ask all of you to please be tolerant of the fact that adrian is champing at the bit to publicly talk and to publicly defend himself. and the only reason he hasn't is us insisting and jumping up and down and saying the solution is for you to get a speedy trial and to resolve all of this in a courtroom. i think i want to try to be like

the coach of the new england patriots for a time. instead of on to cincinnati, we are on to trial. and then if you ask me another question, i'm going to say we're on to trial. if you ask me a third question, i'm going to say we're on to trial. y'all have a great day. >> they're trying to get this to trial so he can get back on the field. meanwhile, commissioner roger goodell commented after a team meeting that largely focused on conduct policy. >> was there a consensus among the owners that now it might be better for the league and for you to not be completely overseeing discipline? >> we've been debating internally for some period of time, well over a year, about whether there's a better process, a process that's more effective, that's more efficient. it's fair. i wouldn't say there was a consensus, other than when things affect the integrity of the game, i believe the ownership feels that that is something that is very important for the commissioner to retain that authority. >> so when we asked whether he

should testify during an appeal of ray rice's, you know, indefinite suspension, goodell said it's up to a neutral arbiter to decide. we'll see. all right, hockey and the nhl season. >> hockey? >> yeah, bill, this is just for you. it got under way last night. >> hockey season? >> in los angeles. >> i thought that ends in june. >> no. look at this. the kings raised their stanley cup championship banner into the rafters before a sold-out crowd in last night's opener against the sharks, but they couldn't score over that winning momentum. san jose's tommy wingels score two goals and they began their title defense with a 4-0 loss to the sharks. >> i'd rather see week-old oriole highlights. >> you're not going to see week-old oriole highlights. you're going to see some fresh ones coming up tomorrow night. >> all right. >> on saturday. when i'm not working. >> roll the tape. >> anyway to calgary for the canucks and flames.

vancouver goalie ryan miller made 23 saves in his debut with the team, leading the canucks to a 4-2 victory. to boston, flyers and bruins tied in the third period when 2 minutes to play when boston's chris kelly nets the game-winner. see that one there? bruins win this 2-1. then to toronto and the canadiens and the maple leafs tied 3-3 with less than a minute to go. this shot from montreal's tomas plekanec. deflects off a defender's skate into the net. canadiens hang on to win it 4-3. trying to put the emphasis on the proper syllable during all of your sports scripts. i feel like lawrence welk. and a one, and a two. let's get to weather now from bill karins. >> yeah, hockey is fun. the names, they're interesting. we have a chilly morning in new england. yesterday the cold front went through. it's definitely changed, cool

today. this is the last dry day we'll have. friday afternoon and evening rain comes in, it will pour friday night and saturday morning it will be with us but exiting through the day. nice day, the leaves are pretty much at their peak in new england, so it's a great afternoon to view those before the rain comes in on friday night. you've also got a lot of rain out there, worst by far near the st. louis area. heavy rain into the city itself, and right across interstate 70. we have flood watches in this area. we could get up to 3 inches of rain the next few days, so worst weather in the country nomination is probably the state of missouri throughout the day today. but might rain head to east by the fwing of the weekend. >> so, showers in missouri, where they're going to cry for the kansas city royals, because they're going to lose to the orioles when they go to camden yards on friday and saturday, bill karins. >> it's a -- good luck. >> yeah. barnacle's sitting there taking notes. >> i am. >> barnacle has kansas city in six, by the way. >> i am. what did he say the weather was going to be? i never listen to him.

>> that's all right. there's an app on your phone that tells you the accuracy. >> oh, thank you, thomas. you're very helpful. >> kind of like that news app. >> coming up, the president's handling of isis. ex-president jimmy carter the latest to criticize his foreign policy. >> why are we here? >> why are we? god only knows! well, "god only knows" got musicians to cover this classic. the star-studded cast when we huddle around the water cooler and show you this. it's going to be the coolest thing you see all day. ♪ god only knows what i did without you ♪ turn the trips you have to take,

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♪ all right, welcome back, everybody. okay, let's huddle around the water cooler and find out what's going on. this is a very interesting case about a chimp, louis. >> that's right, thomas. >> a chimp! >> in a first of its kind case, a new york appeals court will decide whether chimpanzees are entitled to legal personhood. it circles around a circus chimp named tommy who currently lives in a cage in upstate new york. yesterday, activist and lawyer steven wise argued that tommy is being unlawfully imprisoned and should be released to a sanctuary in florida. tommy's owner disagrees, arguing he cares for the primate under strict federal and state rules. if they're successful, the case could lead up to expanded rights

for other animals with human-like qualities. >> boy, he has a human name, a very good name. >> tommy, very fitting. the beach boys 1966 hit "god only knows" has been covered countless times, but not like this. 27 top musicians, including legends, each contributed to one line of the hit song to launch the bbc's new music initiative. some artists include sir elton john, stevie wonder, one direction and pharrell williams. take a look at this. ♪ i may not always love you, but as long as there are stars above you ♪ ♪ you'll never need to doubt it ♪ ♪ i'll make you so sure about it ♪ ♪ god only knows what i'd be without you ♪ >> the song will raise money for the bbc's children in need campaign. some are calling it the best rendition of the song to date. >> love it. >> i think it's a great

rendition for an even better cause and god only knows what i'd be without you, thomas. just saying. >> shocking, beautiful. >> just throwing that out there. >> louis, i don't know what i'd be without you, either. now to hollywood. we can confirm two rumors about a new "ghostbusters" movie. >> who who you gonna call? >> there is word of one in the works with an all-female cast. the director of "bridesmaids" tweeted "it's official, i'm making a new ghostbusters movie and writing it with katie dip-year-old, and yes, it will star hilarious women. that's who i'm gonna call." dippold is behind "the heat" and nbc's "park and rec id. i'm wondering about a cameo. >> what if it's their daughters who inherited the "ghostbusters" franchise, like kristen wiig, amy poehler. there are some women who are super funny who could put on the ghostbusters uniforms. >> i think it's a brilliant

idea. >> louis, thank you. let's get your twitter responses to our question earlier. should the terminally ill have the right to die on their own terms? this is based on 29-year-old brittany maynard, who was given a diagnosis that she feels -- stage 4 -- doesn't want to go through the treatment. our producer, justine del gaudio, has some of the details. she's chosen the date of november 1st to die. >> yes. >> two days before her husband's birthday. her husband totally supportive. what do people think about this, picking and going out on your own terms? >> well, our viewers seem to support brittany's decision. dave says "if there's no hope of recovery, we should not be forcing people to live through their horrible conditions and/or pain." and another says "it's a touchy subject. i think yes, but you do not want to discourage people for fighting for every day that they could get." >> well, it's a tough story. >> it is. >> a deep question for a lot of people. we thank everybody for their thoughtful responses. justine, thank you. just ahead, a look at the stories we'll be looking at in the day ahead. "morning joe" moments away. so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts?

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l.a. today, taking his midterm message on the economy to millennials. he'll also make remarks and answer questions at a dnc event coming up this evening. and the illinois man accused of trying to travel travel over join isis has a detention hearing in federal court today. police say he wrote a letter to his parents about going to the, quote, blessed land of syria but they say he didn't make it past chicago. all right. that's going to do it for "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ this is the first military intervention in that years without a code name. now, might be because our chin stroker in chief wants to avoid an embarrassing acronym here like past rejected code names operation afghan free dam which spelled oaf by accident or operation iraqi liberation which spelled o.i.l., b