an earthquake spawned tsunami wipes out entire villages on the sue mow want islands. a setback for president obama as senate democrats reject a controversial keystone of his health care plan. chair yots of fire. a competition in louisiana flushes out who has the fastest a competition in louisiana flushes out who has the fastest outhouse. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm christina brown. today we begin with the power of the pacific. at least 82 people are confirmed dead this morning after earthquake triggered tsunami waves slammed the island coastlines of sew mow wa and american samoa tuesday. nbc's curt gregory reports. >> reporter: the powerful

pacific ocean earthquake struck about 100 miles off american samoa. it produced a tsunami that swept ashore on samoa and american samoa. >> the main harbor, who is two or three feet above sea level, was completely damaged. the earthquake was so powerful it had samoa in a matter of 30 minutes. that's really what was shock to go me. >> reporter: the quake registered 8.0 and 8.3 and struck at dawn about 20 miles below the ocean floor. residents in both samoa and american samoa reported being shaken awake by the quake, which lasted two or three minutes. >> it's really happening. and everyone is panicking. we did go through this before. and we fought it. we just forgot about the drills. >> reporter: officials are

struggling to assess casualties and damage and are hampered by power and communications outages. curt gregory, nbc news. there's mixed emotion on capitol hill this morning after a plan for a public health insurance option twice failed to pass committee vote. although liberal democrats insist it is a critical component of health care reform, its failure to pass may signal greater chances of bipartisan support for a new plan. the votes in the senate finance committee follow intense debate over the issue which drew widespread interest from lobbying groups, policy makers and the american public. senator max baucus, who chairs the panel, hopes the middle ground legislation will be pushed through by week's end. still, supporters of the public option will continue pushing the plan ahead of a full senate vote. meanwhile, negotiations will continue over how to cover millions of uninsured americans

without adding to the national deficit. well, tomorrow an iranian diplomat will sit down in geneva with representatives from six major powers, including the u.s. already, though, there are sticking points not only over iran's nuclear ambitions but also the country's refusal to talk about it. iran says it will not engage in any discussion about its newly disclosed uranium enrichment facility. it is central to the international community which led by president obama, has vowed more sanctions if tehran refuses to come clean about the program. still, iran appears to be offering a conciliatory gesture to the west by allowing swiss diplomats to meet with three american hikers detained since july. they were arrested after apparently straying across the border from iraq. now here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. burglars busted into a florida pizza parlor and made

off with serious dough. a security camera captured the thieves breaking through a wall and pushing a 350-pound safe through to the vacant building next door. authorities say they took $4,000, as well as a baseball autographed by babe ruth. the houston ship channel is once again open to vessels after a more than 10,000 gallon oil spill this weekend. a tanker collided with a barge friday, puncturing a four-foot hole. while ships can now pass through at low speeds, cleanup crews will be ex tacting the oil for three weeks. an ohio man was trapped for five hours in a nasal nightmare. you can see why. the 80-year-old was stranded chest deep in a san particular tank after he fell through the wood cover it. on the other hand, it was residents in louisiana who actually chose to spend the day in a bathroom.

for the annual outhouse races, participants mounted old-fashioned latrines on wheels. why? to create a soapbox style racer. there they go. building the top throne was no easy feet especially with such potty-trained contestants. here's meteorologist ginger zee from wmaq chick with today's forecast. clearly, there's no complaining about not being able to find a restroom. >> it's always tough. anyhow, as we get into this forecast, you will start to notice a touch of fall if you haven't already. let's go ahead and begin. we're already seeing the storm bill lowing out to our west. that will be headed our way for the weekend, combined with gulf moisture. now for the eastern part of this country, just a few showers and storms waking up in miami clear back through atlanta. new york, a few more clouds than sun in the rest of your wednesday.

a high pressure system making the result of having all that sunshine. checking the temperatures, way cooler than it was yesterday morning, especially in the southeast. look at that. tallahassee is 25 degrees cooler than they were at this time yesterday. my goodness, is that cooler than average autumn nal air in place. 64 boston. struggling in the northeast to make it out of the low 60s. that is a look at your regional forecast. let's get a check a little bit closer to home. and if you're with us here in hartford, connecticut, your high 60. look for more clouds than sun. more sunshine south. charleston, you're included in that with a high of 78. that is a look at your wednesday forecast. christina? >> all right. thanks so much, ginger. consumers are glum. home prices rise. and toyota says oops. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead.

plus, he's out on of his marriage and now he's looking for a job. jon gosselin's ongoing mid life crisis continues to unfold. how can a team lose and really win? we'll show you. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm christina brown. here are some of your top headlines this morning. in a sign of thawing relations a top state department official has held talks with senior cuban officials on a host of issues, including migration and drug trafficking manipulate it happened two weeks ago when the two sides met to discuss restarting mail service between the u.s. and cuba. in new york yesterday, suspected terrorist zazi pleaded not guilty to planting a bomb attack in manhattan. he's being held without bail. he may have been planning to launch an attack on the

anniversary of 9/11. the supreme court justices have their first court photo together with the newest member of the court. sonia sotomayor, the 111th supreme court justice joined the eight other judges for an official class photo. a new york court has tossed out dan rather $70 million lawsuit against cbs. he was ousted over cbs report that former president george w. bush got special treatment in the texas air national guard during the vietnam war. archaeologies think they have unearthed the remains of an extravagant dining room of nero. the circulating room rotated day and night to impress guests. the dow opens at 9,742 after losing 47 points on tuesday.

the s&p dropped 2. taking a look at overseas trading. in tokyo, the nikkei add 33 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng fell 57 points. just at a time when toyota was hoping to bounce back from record losses based in part on the car's reputation for quality and safety, the company has been forced to announce an historic recall. toyota is mounting its biggest ever recall. 4 million cars and trucks in eight of his toyota and lexus models. loose driver's side floor mats that press on the gas pedal. the index of consumer confidence yesterday showed americans are still worried about the current job market. that news sparked selling that led to the day's drop on wall street with investors worried that if americans aren't feeling secure about their jobs they won't get out there and spend.

that means a longer road to recovery. that disappointing news was enough to offset earlier gains fueled by an increase in home prices. housing prices are off 13% compared to last year. numbers across the country are improving. walgreen's had a good day despite wall street's losses overall. the retailer jumped 9% after reporting better than expected earnings. moody's was able to offset some of the recent bad blood voungd its alleged role in the current financial crisis. sales jumped 10% after one analyst's upgrade. after the bell action on tuesday included upbeat earnings by nike sending shares up 4%. and saks fell after hours on news the retailer is offering up to $100 million in new shares of stock. finally, it looks like this halloween season could be very frightening. at least for retailers. a recent survey shows americans

will cut back on candy and make their own costumes to save money. those aged 18 to 24 who typically spend the most plan to spend 18 fewer dollars than they did last year. does anybody want to clinch a playoff spot? divisional and wild card leaders have trouble sealing the deal. plus, the hard-charging twins play a desperate doubleheader with the central leading tigers. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we'll have storms out west, cooler weather to the north and east. your regional forecast is coming up, and you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." ? yesterday they decided to play too. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. with less than a week remaining in the season. the aft l. central still up for grabs. down to the twins and tigers. they played a doubleheader in detroit. in the 10th. cabrera lined one to left. that scored a run. minnesota jumps on top. they scored two in the inning and win 3-2 1k3 close the gap to just one game.

twins down 5-2 in the sixth. layered popped one behind home plate. mauer made a juggling grab on the other side of the screen. take a look. a fan interfered with the ball and he stuck with it. down two with two down. nick a fly ball to granderson. game over, right? wrong. grander son miss judged it. scored a run and the lead down to one. that wouldn't get it done. tigers won game two and remain two games ahead of minnesota in the central. now to boston. the red sox needed to get a win against the blue jays and they would clinch the wild card. that, though, easier said than done. he hit not one, not two, but three home runs. could have hit four but was hit by a pinch in the night. blue jays won 8-7. red sox dropped five straight. angels beat texas. dodgers magic number remains at one after losing to the padres.

san diego a 1-0 lead with his second homer of the season. dodgers are limping toward the postseason. they have dropped three straight. rockies and brewers tied at five in the 11th. iannetta ended it with a two-run shot. don't count the rockies out. they're one of the hottest team in baseball. enclose colorado three-game lead in the wild card. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. the girl who said no to celebrity romeo john mayer. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, only one star roams on this home. and you can forget about the deer and the antelope. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." i'm meteorologist ginger zee. looking for a beautiful day in the southeast. cooler than average but i'm sure you'll be happy. savannah, 79. a cold front that has been sitting around a couple day, it's still going to be plaguing parts of new england. temperatures will struggle to get out of the low to mid-60s with a few showers to the north and west as well. let's check out that eastern event of the day. if you're watching in syracuse, uncover and explore the beauty and complexities of the human body and its organs at life

sciences. that's at the museum of science and technology. that is your eastern event of the day. christina? >> all right. sounds like an interesting time. thanks so much, ginger. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. has john gosselin's 15 minutes of fame ended or just begun. next month, the show will be known simply as kate plus 8. after a high-profile breakup apparently producers felt, hey, gosselin's high-profile single life just wasn't working. now he'll simply make occasional appearances. however, before kate celebrates, she should probably check out the ratings. they have plummeted. from over 10 million viewers down to just 1.7 million. ouch! what does reality tv star kristen calf lary not have in common with jennifer aniston,

cameron diaz, vanessa carlton? like others, kristen was asked out by singer john mayer. but only she decided to turn him down. in fact, she explained to ryan seacrest that she, quote, didn't want to be another notch of his belt. finally, speaking of reality tv, this just makes too much sense not to happen. england sun reports producers of their version of big brother are actually talking to lindsay lohan about signing up for that show's final season. oh, my goodness. so much interesting stuff coming from reality tv. >> when you've already hit your peak at parent trap when you're young, reality tv makes sense. >> i guess so. we'll see, right? well, this comes to us from ktiv for sue city, iowa where right down the road in south

dakota's custer state park, it was a scene out of the wild west. cowboys work to corral buffalo in the annual buffalo roundup. it looked just as it did a century ago if you ignore all the trucks and thousands of tourists. these days the buffalo were driven into pens where they could be counted and vaccinated for the new year. i'm christina brown, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> top of this wednesday

morning. last day of september. as we enter october, we are. to be cooler than normal. this will be a transition day. an intense upper level over canada which is influencing our weather. it will give us a slight chance for sprinkles or maybe even a shower. 58 downtown. in brisk start out of the airport. 59 on the eastern shore. the high between 64 and 66 degrees. a mixture of cloud and sunshine. northwest winds at 10-15. >> it is 4:00 of the seven. here is a look ahead at 11 news today. the university of maryland postdoctoral fellow faces drug charges this morning after his girlfriend overdosed on drugs. the concern about online drug sales has occurred.

>> vaccinations for the swine flu virus are expected to begin next week. health officials are trying to allay concerns over safety and timing. that story is coming up. >> we are bidding ready for your morning commute. one accident to update you

you've got a strawberry pop-tart, but i've got a warm, fresh baked strawberry toaster strudel. see the difference? mmmm. i do. (announcer) pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat. that on the list of things kids love, our party pizzas have just passed toy robots. ( crash, beeps ) awkward. kids love totino's party pizzas.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> good morning. we would get to our big story in just a few minutes. as get a check on our broadcast. >> it is much cooler than normal. -- let's get a check on our forecast. >> it is much cooler than normal. we have a chance of seeing late shower activity later on this afternoon. it is critical up there. 56 at the