you can have the first year. you can -- i got no time for the first year. this morning on "early today," remembering 9/11. americans reflect on the attacks that devastated the nation eight years ago today. shooting for the moon. an intense fireball erupts in utah as nasa tests out a new powerful rocket. feller up. a routine trip to the gas station nearly turns deadly for a routine trip to the gas station nearly turns deadly for one man in canada. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning, everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. and today we begin with remembering 9/11. the nation will pause this

morning to honor the thousands of lives lost eight years ago when the u.s. came under terror attack. from new york city to pennsylvania, to the grounds of the pentagon, vigils will mark both the grief and the healing that continues to this day. here's nbc's michelle franzen. >> reporter: it has become a national day of remembrance and he renewal. memori memorials at all three crash sites and honoring the 2,752 victims who died. in new york city, families will gather the a park adjacent to the world trade center site for a ceremony of music and the reading of the victims's names. vice president joe biden and his wife will also attend. the families will once again walk to the base of ground zero to lay flowers, a sacred makeshift memorial that also shares space with an active

construction site. years of legal battles between with the developer, larry silver steen and the new york/new jersey port authority. a private leaf laying ceremony will honor victims and families. in pennsylvania, former secretary of state colin powell will lead the memorial service for united flight 93. passengers are credited for bringing the plane down in the remote field soon to become a permanent national memorial. at the u.s. capitol wednesday, lawmakers unveiled a bronze plaque honoring flight 93 victims for preventing the terrorists from clashing the plane. >> first lines of defense against terror. >> reporter: back in lower manhattan, workers have been testing the tributed light memorial which will light up the night sxi symbolize where the twin towers once stood. michelle franzen, nbc news, new

york. >> and we will never forget. although the white house has accepted the apology from representative joe wilson for shouting, you lie, at president obama during his address to congress on tuesday, the echo of his words are still bouncing around washington. house majority whip says he will push for a resolution condemning the incident until wilson issues a public apology on the house floor. wilson, a republican from south carolina, says the issue is already settled, adding, quote, i will not be muffled. still, it does appear to be having a big impact on his race for reelection. his opponent has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since that outburst. the space shuttle "discovery" is having issues returning to earth. they continue to circle the world for now a 14th day. mission control skipped both landing possibilities on thursday.

they'll try again tonight just before 6:00, but unfortunately more bad weather may divert the shuttle to its backup landing spot in california. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a massive plume of smoke bill lowed into the utah skies. nasa tested a powerful rocket there. this is an aries 1 rocket. 36 miles into space in just, get this, two minutes. the test costs $75 million and it ignited more than 1 million pounds of propellant. $150 million worth of marijuana plants in tennessee. they found these growing on six pretty well cultivated plants. some of them growing as tall as six feet. they will be destroyed by burning them. should california has a case of on gold fever there with a new sunken treasure exhibit. two gold bars are on display

made in san francisco in the gold rush and recovered from an 1857 shipwreck. the pair weigh over 100 pounds. it would weigh on your wallet, too, because these are worth around $2 million. in new mexico, residents there sent their worries up in smoke. a giant puppet meaning old man gloom many. stuck with troubles from the last year, police reports, divorce papers, personal notes. the creature ceremony yously lit on fire torching everyone's ills and concerns along with it. nice. now for a look at the national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. do we have to include your forecast in it or do you have good news on for us? >> it's not going to be a pretty friday. let's talk a little bit about it first off here. good morning to everyone out there. today is the day when the umbrella is needed in many

areas. happy to get the rain in texas yet. worst drought in about half a century. we're watching the storm plaguing the mid atlantic. this morning it's along the jersey coast. not a fun morning from new york city, along the jersey coast. i'll just include the entire state of jersey. back through maryland, delaware, and the beaches of virginia. it's going to be windy today and another raw day. because we have our low pressure here. then the pressure gradient with the high that's exiting that's creating a strong gusty wind. 40 miles per hour in atlantic city. currently 33. belmar, just had a gust of 39. just coming into ocean city, maryland, down here around south of atlantic city near wildwood, some of the rain tossed up in new york and long island. that's where it will head during the day today. so it's going to be cool, it's going to be windy and it's going to be wet. we're talking anywhere from southern connecticut, right down

through new york, baltimore and d.c. a little bit of rain for you today. the rest of the ohio valley is fine. southeast, not bad. i doubt we'll get the shuttle in tonight. more showers and storms expected in atlanta. that active weather, that front is kind of hung up there in florida. more showers and storms likely. very similar to yesterday. officially they're giving the schultz a 40% chance of good weather. that is clear enough to land, which isn't very good. well, dan, that was a mouthful. friday forecast is over. i'll get to your weekend forecast a little later. >> all right. thank you, bill. stocks steam to the finish line. proctor & gamble shines. and the airline gets a shot in the arm. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, tyler perry puts on the wig and lipstick hoping to drag in big bucks at the box office. the steel curtain comes down on the titans. rockies continue to roll.

and the shocking results of a track star's gender test. 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. researchers say the swine flu vaccine is strong enough to work with one dose instead of two. it doubles the nation's anticipated stock piles. it eased fears for those who predicted the shortage in october. new data shows the nation's poverty rate climbed to 13.2% last year, the highest level in 11 years. while the overall percentage of adults without health insurance remain virtually unchanged from the year before, less people received coverage from their employer. talk about being fast on on your feet. a man in canada was able to walk

away while a driver slammed into his car while he was pumping gas, sparking an explosion. amazingly, no one was hurt. officials say that resulting fire could have been a lot worse if the gas station attendant didn't gut off fuel supplies so quickly. an unmanned rocket to the international space station delivering 7,400 supplies to the orbittal outpost. >> and now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the now opens 9,627 after nudging up 80 points thursday. the s&p rose 10. the nasdaq added 23 points. taking ala at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 69 points. and in hong kong, the hang seng gained 91 points. wall street will be looking to extend its five-day winning streak, and it could get some help from upbeat economic news overseas. in china, a report showed government stimulus spending

fultd a 12% jump in industrial output. that boost eased some of the fears that stimulus spending could spark inflation. back at home investors were optimistic after weekly jobless claims fell to their lowest levels. proctor & gamble, increased a forecast in sales this quarter. yahoo! shares up more than 4% after it got a thumb's up from one analyst. pretty strong traffic continues to outpace the internet's growth as a whole. analysts upgraded the entire usair lines sector on its overall improved health. g.m. will sell a stake in its european unit opal to magna. revamped carmaker advanced it will offer a money-back

guarantee on all but it's pontiac lines. it's called the may the best carwin deal. it starts monday, ends november 1st on all purchases between 31 and 60 days old that have been driven less than 4,000 miles. so save your receipt. georgia tech blows a huge lead. and the rockies step up the pressure on the dodgers. plus, going the distance. a leaping interception from the steelers and all with one hand. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. three big weather stories on this friday. rain in texas, mid atlantic coast and the heat out west. 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 pittsburgh steelers, defending super bowl champs, they know a thing or two about winning. it just took a little while to remember. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. no better way to kick off the football season than an overtime thriller between the steelers and titans. you saw it on nbc. second quarter. titans down. a minute to play. tied the game. remain tied until the end.

steelers driving late in the fourth. ben rottiethlisberger to hines d inside the 20. ward fumbles. steelers won the coin toss. steelers took the opener in overtime, 13-10. to the college ranks. number 15 georgia tech hosting clemson. yellow jackets up 24-0. tigers came roaring back. kyle parker connected with jacoby across the middle. ford did the rest. look at him go. 77 yards for the touchdown. clemson down 44-21. they tie with a field goal. under a minute to play. tied at 27. scott blair from 36 yards out. that proved to be the game winner. georgia tech survived af wild one, 30-27. the governing body for track and field demanded that caster semenya undergo tests to confirm her sex and the results are in. the tests showed that semenya has both female and male sexual

organs. the 18-year-old who won the 800-meter championship has no ovaries but has testies which produce large amounts of testosterone. how about the rockies in baseball? 38-year-old cut mid season brought in against the reds. jason giambi with warning track power. doubled over the head of the center fielder and scored a pair. rockies won 5-1. they trail los angeles two games in the west. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. thank you, fred. an animated movie not meant for the little ones. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll show you some dolphins doing more than the usual aquarium tricks and it's all for a good cause. you're watching "early today."

today will be a sad day for many umbrellas. they'll be turning inside out and in the trash can in new york city later today. winds gusting to 30 miles per hour. heavy rain on and off during the day today. it's an ugly one for anyone through the state of new jersey, down through maryland and delaware. that does include the baltimore area and philadelphia. here's the forecast for today. that's the wet area. we're dry in the ohio valley. southeast is fine. florida's got wet weather later

today. and saturday is much more of the same. a lot of storms down on the gulf. and we'll slowly get rid of the storm in the northeast. really slowly. if you're watching news 5, cincinnati, ohio, find out how tyrannosaurus rex battled over the prehistoric land at the cleveland museum of natural history face off. >> i've got my money on t-rex. >> you always go with the favorites. >> i hear it's a sure thing. so the odds makers tell me anyway. thank you, bill. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. before the leaves start to fall and you're chained to that rake, you might want to catch a film the first weekend of the fall weekend season. tyler perry should be bad all the way to the bank. it's expected to take the top spot with at least $25 billion. "9" got a jump on 9-9-09.

it's pg-13. not really meant for the young kids. after weekend sales, it could earn $15 million from the five-day running. just in time for back to school thrills, sore errority row. it should bring in younger viewers. it's not expected to crack the double digit millions. fighting for the third spot, whiteout, the super natural thriller will do battle with sorority and probably will stay under the $10 million mark. gee, bill, i'm guessing which one you'd see. >> you wait and see. whiteout. you say it will be number 4? it will be number 1. you wait and see. >> i have not seen good reviews. you have weather on the brachblt especially when it's raining up here this week. we'll see on monday. this comes from wfla tv news channel 8 in tampa, florida, where in nearby clearwater

dolphins are embracing art to make a difference for children in need. the dolphins at the clearwater marine aquarium, they don't shy away from a challenge, even when it comes to painting. they use their teeth to clutch this brush and nod their head to draw. it's not just the hangup in some gallery. it's also going to a good cause. creations are sold to raise money for kids with cancer. that is pretty cool. >> paint brush looks like a stick of dynamite. >> well, i haven't checked my art supply store lately to see if they have any dolphin adapters for paint brushes. >> anything for fish. >> i'm dan kloeffler, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> good morning the rain is finally here. it's a wet morning this morning. the further east you go, the wet r it gets. that storm is spinning off shore. further west, the rains haven't been quite so heavy. we'll have to deal with this for some time. we'll talk about it all coming up. stick around jochlt the time 4:57. here's a look ahead. >> three suitings in north baltimore. more coming up.

>> concern of rallies against the president barak obama healthcare reform plan outside the capitol. we are we'lling with that wet

clear >> good morning. happy friday. really coming down out there. >> we waited all week and it came in with a veng answer overnight. now parts of the eastern shore have received 1-2 inches of rain. right along the coastline, 3-6 inches of rainnd