this morning on "early today," battered battlers. the fierce struggle against wildfires in california turns deadly for firefighters. digging for clues. cadaver dogs are called in in the stunning case of a woman heldaptive for nearly two decades. and danger in the sky. crowds in poland look on as a stunt flight goes horribly wrong, ending in a plume of stunt flight goes horribly wrong, ending in a plume of smoke. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

hello and good morning, everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. . and today we begin with a wildfire burning in all directions. over 2,000 firefighters from across california have converged around this deadly blaze known as the station fire. it's a raging inferno that is very much out of control this morning. as nbc's jay gray reports, a significant change in the weather is unfortunately not expected for several days. >> reporter: this morning things are a bit tougher for crews in the foothills of los angeles. now fighting not only the flames but the emotions that come with losing two of their own, two los angeles county firefighters have died battling the station fire as it continues to grow. fueled by a seemingly endless supply of dried out brush and timber. the blaze has already scorched more than 35,000 acres. the flames swallowing more than two dozen structures and closing in on as many as 12,000 more. >> it was just red all over.

all you could see was a black mountain and red flames. >> reporter: fire teams struggle to protect what they can. >> it runs right up the back of the homes. that's what we're seeing right now, very erratic fire behavior. >> reporter: and they worry mother nature could unleash another weapon in this fight. >> it could blow this fire all over the place and give challenges to firefighters that we're not currently having. we have our hands full for sure. >> reporter: crews already stretched past their limits. jay gray, nbc news, los angeles. police in georgia are now turning to the public for any leads to a mass murder in a trailer home last week that has just claimed its eighth victim. a 19-year-old man died on sunday, leecaving one known survivor of this attack. that person in critical condition. investigators are releasing little information on the case, including how the victims were killed or any possible motive. they also don't know if the killer or killers remain on the loose.

the man who reported that attack has also not been ruled out in the case. he's being held on charges of tampering with evidence, lying to police, and illegal possession of prescription drugs and marijuana. in another disturbing crime scene, police in california are combing through the backyard of a couple charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old girl back in 1991. she was held captive for 20 years in a makeshift encampment, forced to have two children with the suspect. using cadaver dogs, police are ex expanding their search to a neighboring property where garrido worked as a caregiver. meanwhile, the kidnapping victim and her children are recovering. garrido and his wife are pleading not guilty in that case. now here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. a tornado caused major

damage in new york. along a half mile stretch where it touched down, 90-mile-per-hour left boats stacked against one another or beached on land. two vessels sank. fortunately no reports of any injuries. a 7-year-old hiker was rescued in tennessee five days after getting lost. the wayward backpacker was airlifted out of rugged terrain. officials say the man did everything right, waiting a top a ridge and using a yellow tarp to signal rescuers. in texas, another survival story. three boaters stranded at seas beat the odds. for three days they were on top a catamaran. it shows how hungry they were after being at sea for a weak. they were on an overnight fishing trip when the boat overturned. in new york, thousands turned out to celebrate what

would have been michael jackson's 51st birthday. brooklyn's prospect park was packed with fans dawning white gloves eager to dance to the king of pop. spike lee organized that birthday tribute. and now for a look at the national and the regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. hey, bill, good morning. >> good morning, dan. that fire unfortunately will be tough to fight. the temperatures are warm in l.a. it's going to be difficult. we saw 100-degree temperatures into the weekend. this morning the low is only 75. so the firefighters aren't getting a break during the evening hours. today the high will be 91 degrees. no rain in the forecast and no cool weather either. the cool weather, that's up here from the great lakes into new england. when you wake up this morning you feel a big difference in the air mass. it's really changed. dewpoints have dropped significantly. it feels like fall out there

from atlanta northward up through boston, new york, detroit, cleveland, pittsburgh, buffalo, syracuse. some areas may want a light jacket. on top of that, we have a little bit of light rain over the carolinas and southern virginia. anywhere from danville to raleigh, charlotte, light shower activity. virginia beach is getting a little drerchinching "early tod" 69 and showers today in charlotte. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. even with sunshine today, the high will only be 67 degrees in burlington, vermont. northern new england, very cool. hartford, connecticut, a break from summer, 75. a lot of wet weather from south carolina to georgia. dan, that's a look at your monday forecast. and you can feel it when you went outside today. it's just different. >> to say the least. you're not sweating out buckets. get the light jacket. thank you, bill.

shanghai tumbles, what to expect this week. and the police pay out. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, were you being tracked down by death this weekend, at the box office that is. jay cutler returns to denver, zach is a pay for the mariners, and california strikes gold in the little league world series. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm dan kloeffler. here are some of your top headlines this morning. space shuttle "discovery" and its crew of seven are safe and sound at the international space station, delivering thousands of pounds of equipment, food, and outgear for the post. aft naufts will perform three space walks during their nine-day stay. unprecedented political unheefl hit japan after election results show the dem kratic

party trouncing the democrats. the leader of the democrats promised to provide the world's second largest economy in a signal thaem signal. a visit that many fear could hurt that island's improving relations with rival china. buddhist spiritual leader denied any political agenda as he began to, quote, purely humanitarian mission all to comfort victims of taiwan's worst storm in 50 years. poe issue officials are investigating an air show crash that killed two pilots sunday. a plane turned in the air, then dropping behind trees. while the official cause is not known, one official suspected a possible bird strike. >> and now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow dropped 36 points on friday. s&p lost 2 points.

nasdaq nudged up 1 point. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, the knee fell 41 points, while the hang seng tripped up 374 points. the question of global economic recovery is still a pretty major cause for concern. china's main index dropped 6% to a three-month low today. shanghai lifted shares and now on track to post losses of 21% in august, only the second month that the composite index has fallen 20% in the last 15 years. >> back home, investors will be looking to shake off china as well as friday's bleak read on consumer sentiment now at a four-month low. while spending edged up slightly due to cash for clunkers purchases. upbeat earnings from intel. after raising its third quarter revenue.

tiffany&company saw to it that not all the blue chips were seeing red. tiffany's surged 11% after lifting its forecast based on strong second quarter sales of its little blue boxed goods. "new york times" is reporting bailed out banks are chipping away at their mountains of debt. taking the lead and paying back federal lowe's, morgan sanly, goldman sachs. topping the list, friday's updated unemployment figures for the month of august. due out tuesday, the institute for supply management's manufacturing index. that number is spkted to show signs of growth, something we haven't seen in months. embarrassed police in florida, a burglar returned to the scene of his crime. this man made off with a wallet, watch and video game system. unable to carry a 100 -pound screen, he carried it back.

that robber came back and grabbed the tv that he left. the police have now offered the home owner that they'll pay for that tv. tiger miss fires, little leaguers battle, and jay cutler returns to defer for some revenge. don't look now but the san francisco giants have slammed their way into a pennant race. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. while much of the country is getting a taste of fall, still watching the hot weather out west and the fire forecast for l.a. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the san francisco giants are having fun, so are their fans. that's what being in the thick of things can do for a team. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. with all eyes on the n.l. west, it's easy to forget about the surging giants, but not anymore. renteria put the giants on top with a grand slam in the seventh. giants win 9-5 and tie the rockies for the wild card lead in the n.l. pitched a complete game one-hitter. braky retired the 22 he faced. if the royals were any good, braky would be a sure shot cy

young and mvp winner. he picked up his 13th win, sunk the mariners, 3-0. jay cutler made his first trip back to denver since being traded. he was booed all night long. he silenced the crowd in the second quarter. bears beat the broncos 27-17. golf, final round of the ba barkley's. he missed. that opened the door for heath who got the tough 21-footer for the win. he holds off tiger and the field to win the barkley's. vice president joe biden on hand for the little league championship. bottom four, two on for gratt, rbi single to right. california jumped on top, 4-3. defense still wins championships. taipei rallied. inning ending double play chula vista came back from three down

to win the little league world series, 6-3. finally, check out this catch from the padres/marlins game. ramirez, shot to right. left his feet, made a diving grab. a great grab but not enough for the padres. they lost it, 6-4. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> thank you, fred. did the two horror movies debuting this weekend cancel each other out? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the biggest little city in the world just discovered tomatoes. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. i have something very impressive to show you. this is hurricane jimena, category 4, 145-mile-per-hour wind hurricane. this is the baja of california, texas, mexican coastline. this storm is expected to head to the resorts in cabo san lucas. hurricane watches are up. a scary situation for anyone on that small peninsula. on the earn seaboard, rain in charlotte.

rain over virginia beach. some of the clouds will spread to the d.c. area in philadelphia. but the rain should stay south of you. also thunderstorms on the front where the cool air meets the hot air in savannah, hal has see and atlanta. wpxi, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, travel back in time to see prehistoric creatures that roam the earth at the carnegie museum of natural history, your eastern event of the day. >> getting in the last bit of educational trips that you can before school, right? all right. thank you, bill. now an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. it looks as if 3-d will be mandatory technology. the tale of being stalked by death, final destination, debuted number 1 with a much better than expected $28.3 million. quintin tarantino's ingorgeous

bastards slipped to secretary. after 10 days its earned $73.8 million. number 3 went to the other horror debut, rob zombie's sequel re-do drew 17.4 million. elsewhere, nbc "today" show has a new correspondent with white house experience. she's lived there. she hasn't worked there. former first daughter jenna haeger, daughter of former president george w. bush will be contributing stories once a month to tv's top-rated tv program. the 27-year-old teacher's first report next month is expected to be about education. certainly welcome her contributions. >> it's still strange hearing jenna haeger. just changed her name, got married recently. the question, dan, would you change your name? >> if my father was a president, i think i would probably keep

it. you probably would get some perks. >> if your last name was kennedy, you wouldn't want to whang it. >> i think when you have the presidential pull you take what you can anyway. this comes from reno, nevada, where kids took to the streets for one massive food fight. people were seeing red during the tomato inaugural event. they hurl them back and forth until everyone is blanketed in the tomato sauce. for a $10 fee that went to cancer research. participants had access to 50,000 pounds of tomatoes and license to splat sfwler i was going to make fun of it until you said it was for charity. i was going to say it was just a copy. some things you shouldn't copy. but good for them. >> or a waste of good food. but it's probably good to get rid of it anyway. i'm dan kloeffler. this is "early today," just your

first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking. this is wbal 11 news. >> good monday morning. the the last day of august. it's going to feel more like end of september. today's high will be about 74. there is a disturbance to our south, stalled out front. the cool air is going to win the battle. slight chance of a shower or storm in southern maryland or maybe the southeastern shore. for the most part, it will be lovely in the area. it's currently in the 60's. we could be in the mid 50's

downtown tomorrow morning. 75 degrees today. wind out of the north at five or 10 miles an hour. sunset at7:38 tonight after sunrise of 6:34. up to 58 degrees right now. -- 58 degrees tonight. mostly sunny skies. the seven-day forecast coming up. >> thank you. very nice. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> grab your backpack and/or #2 pencil. back to school in baltimore city and baltimore county. we have live team coverage straight ahead. >> finding a new leader in the debate on health care. who will step up to the plate? i will have the story next. >> a water main break and gas main break in the city still causing problems this morning. causing problems this morning.