this morning on "early today," the legacy of ted kennedy. from hyannisport to capitol hill, the nation remembers a legend in american politics and prepares to say good-bye. brush with death. a day at the beach nearly turned deadly for a teenager in rhode island. and oh, baby. what baby names are a hit with and oh, baby. what baby names are a hit with new parents. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

hello and good morning. i'm christina brown. today we begin with saluting the senator. in just hours, the nation will mark the first of many formal tributes to senator ted kennedy, who lost his battles with cancer on tuesday. from a public wake to a private funeral, the coming days will see thousands of people, including president obama, say good-bye to the senate's liberal lion. nbc's michelle franzen begins our live coverage from hyannisport, massachusetts. good morning, michelle. >> reporter: well, good morning, christina. certainly before it goes public it has been a very private for the family here. a spot illuminated by a ship in hyannisport. a beacon of hope off the kennedy compound. inside family and friends,

including senator john kerry, reflecting on the life lost. >> there is a very beautiful and personal, private vigil taking place. it's very spiritual and about as beautiful as it could be. i think it's everything that senator kennedy would have wanted. >> reporter: private and public tributes kennedy would have loved. ♪ at fenway park, taps played in his honor at the red sox game. and flags flown half-staff all the way to capitol hill. >> mighty roar. i'll always remember. his dream shall never die. >> reporter: president obama september said his contributions can be felt every day. >> his ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives.

>> reporter: kennedy's lasting impression for family will be patriarch. the husband, father, and uncle who loved to sail the nantucket sound on his sailboat, the mya. in hyannisport, massachusetts, michelle franzen, nbc news. >> certainly apologize for that technical difficulty. that was, however, michelle franzen joining us from hyannisport. well, in a tale of international intrigue, russian officials now say a ship recently hijacked off sweden may have actually been carrying suspicious cargo, not just the stacks of lumber first reported. after playing down the speculation for days, officials admit they can't rule out the possibility that other more sensitive items were on board. there's been speculation that the vessel which was pirated and recaptured by the russian navy was possibly loaded with weapons

or nuclear materials. 11 sailors from that trip are being detained in moscow while the ship is being taken back to russia. a teenager in rhode island who dug a hole in the sand had anything but a day at the beach. when the 17-year-old climbed into the eight-foot hole, it collapsed around him. a photo shows him with an oxygen mask after his father dug out enough sand for him to breathe. after two hours, rescuers finally removed the trapped teenager. a nebraska woman paid the price for trying to drive through high floodwaters. her car stalled while driving through an underpass which was inundated with three feet of water. firefighters waded to the car wearing their life jackets to safely rescue her. in florida, trappers caught a repeat visitor, a large black

bear in a backyard. the bear was released far from its favorite yard. the bear has become a regular in the naked, enticed by a bird feeder that it regularly raided. a north carolina school district certainly flunked its spelling test after a gift given to their teachers misspelled the word education. 800 posters were delivered to a teachers appreciation. the letter "a" in education was missing. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. i'm sure you have nothing but an a-plus weather forecast. >> let's talk a little bit about the tropics this morning. this is a tropical storm danny. everyone on the east coast that's closely watching this system, it's still relatively unorganized. not in a very favorable

environment to blow up into a big storm. are watching thunderstorm activity in the north. the center of th storm may be relocatinga little bit. so here's the forecast track that everyone wants to see. it will head parallel to the southeast coast, close to the outer banks. the only threat area at this time appears to be eastern new engld. mostly talking about cape cod and in the canadian maritime. well continue towatch it. otherwise, the forecast for today not too bad. just showers and storms in the southeast fr tallahassee to orlando. chicago, rain for you. but pretty nice an summer ke in many areas. that's alook at your national forecast. now hre's a look at the weather tside your window. northern new englandad that cold front move through last night. you're going to wake up to almost chilly temperatures. highs in the 60s and 70s in northern new england. a beautil day from new york to philadehia. enjoy. well, christina, i'll give you

the latt on danny when i come back. >> all right. thanks so much, bill. new home sales jump, taking a bite out of app, and the bottom line on cash for clunkers. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, ndsay lohan turns out even wn she's the victim a crime she can still get herself into trouble. mark sanchez has a new gig, and david ortizas so nice he did it twice. youe wahing "early today."

>> good morng, and welcome back to "early today." i'm christina brown. here are some of your top headlines this morning. in surprising move, taiwan says it has agreed to l the dalai la visit the island to comfort survivors of this month's devastating typhoon. thatvisit could endanger taiwan warming relations with china. the communist state condemns e spiritualeader for advocating for a free tibet and underming

its authority. still, taiwan insists it is for humanitarian not political purposes. >> soutkorean officials say a satellite they attempt to put into orbit in its first space rocket launch likely burned up in the earth's atmosphere aer missing s designated orbit. arotective cover fail to separate from the satellite causing it to overshootts mark. best-seing author and journalist dominiquedunn died after battling cancer. dunn was 83. >> and new parents are still going f old-fasoned baby names. that's according to the scial securi administration's annual list of the mst popular baby names. the top three names for gls, emma, isalla and emily. boys, jacob, michael, and ethan. >> and now here's a look at how all street will kick off the

day. the dow opens at9,543 after adding four points wednesday. the s&p andhe nasdaq were bot up a fraction. tig a lok at overseas trading this morning, in toky the nikkei shot down 165 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng lost 213 points. wall street's annual summer slowdown is in full swing with markets finishing mostly flat despite the rlease of encouraging economic data. new home sales jumped almost 1 from june, driven mostly by first-time home buyers taking advantage of an $8,000 federal ta credit before it expires. but that's still a fourth straight month of gains and 30% rise from january's lows. that news gave e dow u.s. he cotruction index a boost of 3 pesh3%. home depot, t largest home

improvement retailer, advanced on that ws. shares of apple dipped 1% on news nokia plans to compete with the iphone. williams-sonoma d rising 11% after posting a surprising second quarter profit. meanwhile, orders for ngasting goods like appliances, computers,nd cars ro neay 5% july, the third increase in the past four months. one reason for that surge, the popular cash for clunkers program. e government reported its final tallies wednesday, coming in just under its $3 billion budget. sales of nearly 70,000 vehicles totaled $2.8 billion. well, aaa is predicting a dramatic drop i labor day travel thisyear. the survey fids 11% fewer americans ll hit the road this holay and 20% less will travel by plane. in order to cut costs but also keep kids already in school

close to home. finally, you've probaly heard living in new york city is a tight squeeze. well, this home is for sale. it is in historic greenwich village and it takes new york standards to an trem the super skinny house is barely nine feet wide but has a fat price tag, $2.7 million. well, a higpriced rookie is awarded a sarting role. and the phillies ryan howard keeps baing big dingers. plus, boston remembers ted kennedy on the same nigh david ortiz remembers how to hit home runs. your ely morningports headlines are just ahead. everyone on the east coast is watching tropical storm danny. everyone on the west coast ready for another hot summer day. yo regional forecast is cming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early toy." in sports, boston slugg david ortiz with reignte the offense, he may make a few people forget abo the firestormsurroundin his use of performance-enhancing drugs. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it's been an up and down year for boston's david ortiz. after steroid allegations, ortiz

seems to be finding his stride for playoff push a moment of silence for massachusetts senator ted ken did. opposite field shot into the monster seat. in the ninth inning, tied at two. walk-off solo shot arou right. red sox won in dramatic fashion, 3-2. boston leads the a.l. wild card by 2 1/2. home pla umpire tom wasit in the chest by a pitch. he was down for several minutes. he was okay, just a little shaken pup. to add insult to injury, he wasn't supposed to be behind the plate. heilled in for jerry crawford after cwford left with back pain. now to the ninth. j.p. howell deep to tie the gam things nt from bad to worse for howell. in the dirt. jays won it 3-3. anher great fini between the pirates and phil

brandon moss steps in and steps out. solo bomb to center and that game was headed to extras. in the 10th, howard put the champs back on top with a three-run blast. 4-1. mark sanchez threw a touchdown in his frst prostart. apparently that was good enough for the jets. he was named starter opening day against the texans. check out this play. twins/orioles game. come backer up the middle. flipped to cabrera for an inning-ending out. dove to make the play. all in one, flipped the ball to second. that was the lone highlht for the twins. they los 5-1. that's your early look at spos on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, what if i told you jessica simpson may have captured the attentn of another nfl quarterback? yo early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead.

plus, shame and degradation. that'sjust the start of wi what this wayward spouse has to report to. you're watching "early today."

welcome ack. new information from the hurricane center. it takes the storm and relocates the center a little bit to the

north we're going to continue to wah this system over the next couple days as it approaches new england. right now the forecast keeps it off the north carolina coast, aybe barely brushes new england. could be another storm more or less fothe canadian maritimes. we'll keep an eye o it for you. if you're watcng nbc 3 in syracuse, new york, grab a ticket to the hottest event of the summer where you'll enjoy big name enterinment, good food, thrilling rides all at the great new york state fair. that's your eastern event of the day, christina. >> thanks so much, bill. >>nohere's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. you may have heard lindsay lohan's me was robbed over the weekend. apparentlyhey don't sell nsurance against e possibility of sex tapes getting out. supposedly among its contents, incriminating videos and photos,

plus, legal documents. well, entertainnt weekly reports susan van don is the latest big name negotiating with oliver stone r hisalstreet sequel. josh brolin is also negotiating. finay, maybe jessica simpson is smarter than some people give her credit for. my football fans would obably tell you the best way for simpson to get back at her ex dallas cowboysony romo would be to date the quarterback their arch rival, the washington redskins. "star" mazinreports it's actually in the ports. colt began sending e-mails and tt messag wth simpson in july. since then he has sent her a jersey but also tickets to a september game. i'll be curious to see how the fans feel about that. >> redskins fans are laughing and the dallas cowboys fans are probably saying, take her.

>> ouch! we'll definitely have to see about that one. this comes from wrc tv nbc 4 in washington, d.c., where in nearby tysons corner, virginia, a scorned woman showed her full fury. a humiliating way for them to patch up their relationship. he had to wear his relationship on his chest and stand in a busy intersection at rush hour. by 11:00 om his wife called to say he had been out there long enough. just because he's off the corner doesn't mean he's out of the dog house. oh, my goodness. talk about getting creative. >> you know what she done? sent him out with a sign and then changed the locks. >> oh, come on. you can't be too brutal. i guess. i don't know. i'm christina brown, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> very good thirsted to you. hope you're doing well this thursday morning. -- a very good thursday to you. hope your doing well. we have a very weak cold front that swept through the area last night. it is going to be moving to the north today. it will not translate into anything much today.

77 downtown. it is calling to be a little cooler today than yesterday. it was 88 at the airport yesterday. today, 84-87. the sun is setting at 7:45. showers and thunderstorms tonight. tropical storm danny starts to and bill read the area. we will look at out that will affect us in our next hour. >> here is a look ahead to 11 news today. >> baltimore police are investigating an officer- involved shooting. i am live with the latest details. >> reaction from around the country to the death of ted kennedy. i am in washington. we will have that up next. and what is happening with health care and how the loss of the boys of ted kennedy will impact the senate this fall. -- the loss of the voice of ted

-- the loss of the voice of ted kennedy will impact the senate sure, pal. let's just find a good spot. [ dramatic music plays ] a big day at the beach with the legendary taste of dunkin' donuts coffee on ice. this looks like a good spot. you kin' do it. america runs on dunkin'.

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