find out which city will win the fight for the 2016 olympic games. flying high. the miracle on the hudson pilot returns to the cockpit months after safely ditching his plane in new york's hudson river. and no joke. a stunning revelation from late night's david letterman amid a a stunning revelation from late night's david letterman amid a brazen extortion plot. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning, everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. and today we begin with a photo finish. the 2016 summer games may be years away, but the competition is hot right now. madrid, tokyo, rio de janeiro and chicago are all vying to host the games. with a final decision just hours away, world leaders are making those last ditch appeals, well aware that reputation and economic incentive are on the

line. nbc's jim maseta is in copenhagen where president obama is lobbying on behalf of his hometown. jim? >> reporter: hi, dan. well, it's crunch time for the 2016 olympic games. who is going to get it? and in terms of chicago's bid, it sent in its two biggest hitters today to make a personal appeal. i'm talking about president barack obama himself, the first u.s. president ever to enter into this kind of fray, and his wife, the first lady, michelle obama. it really was a yin yang approach and presentation. michelle obama really at times almost in tears, appealing emotional emotionally two of the ioc members saying how she remembers watching nadeo comenici. barack obama meanwhile appealing more to the head that america is

a multiethnic society. that the state department and the white house and every organ of the united states would support back and deliver the best games ever if, in fact, chicago got that vote. but there's no sense at all at this point of course whether those two individuals even as persuasive as they are has swung the vote in chicago's favor. we won't know the answer until 1:00 p.m. eastern today. back to you, dan. >> all right, jim, thank you. well, if chicago beats the competition, the whole country could see an impact from hosting the games. the windy city, though, that would be center stage with a global spotlight. kristen dahlgren is live for a look at the city's push. the excitement has got to be building. >> reporter: you know, it really is, dan. if you watch the presentation, a lot of it focused on the people of chicago, including touching letters from kids and athletes that were free here. and you can bet a lot of people here were watching very closely.

the local stations actually went on the air 1:45 local time to carry chicago's presentation live. now, not everybody in the city is excited about the prospect of getting the games. the polls show the population about split on it. they can all agree that winning the games in 2016 would really change the landscape of this city, just be a huge undertaking over the next seven years. so people watching very closely. a lot of viewing parties scheduled for later on today, including where i am at daily plaza, one of the biggest. thousands expected to watch that decision, expected sometime around lunchtime today. dan? >> yeah. a lot of excitement. about eight hours to go. but, you know, big things are on the line. thank you, kristen. appreciate that. >> you bet. now here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. a 72-year-old texas grandmother who was tasered by a police officer has now been offered a settlement. a dash camera captured sure

being trapped by the sun gun back in may. the county has offered her $40,000 to compensate her for her pain, medical expenses and humiliation. however, she is still charged with resisting arrest. a skull once thought to be adolf hitler's is actually from a woman. the fragment has been on display at amos cow museum as part of the hitler artifacts display. dna evidence shows it belongs to a 20 to 40-year-old woman. us airways captain sully sulen burger, here's back in the saddle. sully took the helm once again and departed laguardia airport for charlotte, the original destination of the january flight. sullenberger said, quote, it's good to be back to work. a baby black ryan know made

the rounds with his mother. the little one weighs justify over 80 pounds, not so little. mother weighing in at three tons. the newborn certainly has a little growing to do to catch up to mama. here's ginger zee with today's forecast. ginger, i know you're probably rooting for the home team, right? >> i am. after all the shows today i'm flying back to a city that is hopefully pretty excited. all right. the weekend kicking off. let's talk about the forecast here. a line of strong thunderstorms. not as strong yesterday. it is moving to the east in places like atlanta that do not want rain will get a kick shot of it. i say quick because that's exactly what it will be. it's going to push through. atlanta. charlotte, certainly reinvigorated as it heads north

and east. more likening new england getting rain showers and storms for our saturday and parts of sunday. storm tracker shows you what i'm talking about. these storms are dying out. as the lightning gets to be a little bit less, you can tell when things will settle down. that is exactly what's happening. that line is going to need the sunshine eventually to reinvigorate it. we'll be watching here. nashville's high, 72. clouds of course inhibiting the sunshine. 82 savannah. that's a look at your regional forecast. let's check a little closer to home. grand rapids, michigan, that's my hometown. i'll be going there eventually, too. koud cover. 57. 64 in columbus, ohio. cloudy there as well. dan, that's a look at your friday forecast. >> before you head out, i've seen some olympic swag hanging

around the 30 rock here. we will have to send you back with that as well. >> thank you. >> thank you, ginger. a bashing for the blue chips, and car sales crash without cash for clunkers. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, invasion of the box office. will any contenders be able to keep zombies from storming theaters? >> a rocky mountain high in denver. the nhl drops the puck on a new season and kris carr pen tchri does it all. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today," everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. and here are some of your top headlines this friday morning. in a sign of easing tensions between iran and the u.s., tehran has agreed to let u.n. inspectors into its newly

revealed uranium enrichment plant. those talks include the u.s. president obama called the meeting in geneva a, quote, constructive beginning. in a setback for the obama administration, yesterday the house voted to block a plan to move terrorism suspects from the detention facility at guantanamo bay to the u.s. the white house had hoped to empty that facility by january 2010 and have those detainees face charges in american courtrooms. in indonesia, rescuers continue to search the rubble left behind by the 7.6 earthquake. the united nations puts the estimated death toll at 1,100. and the history of human origins may soon be rewritten. that's what the recent discovery of a new fossil. scientists unveiled a nearly complete 4.4 million-year-old fossil dubbed artie. it's lived so well before the famous 3.2 million-year-old

lucy, which until now was the earliest known skeleton belonging to a human ancestor. the dow opens at 9,509 after plunging 203 points on thursday. the s&p, that fell as well, 27 points. the nasdaq, that dropped 64 points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei sank 246 points, while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 5 # 9 points. mostly disappointing economic data got the first day of the fourth quarter off to a rocky start on wall street. stocks plunging to their lowest level in three months. disappointing results from an industry report on factory production raised questions in the minldz of investors skeptical over the strength of a recovery. meanwhile, u.s. auto sales tumbled 23% without the aid of the federally funded clunkers program. hardest hit, general motors.

its sales spiraled 45% for the month of september. adding to wall street worries, first-time jobless claims, reenforcing economists fears ahead of the monthly report on jobless claims. that's due out today. that number expected to notch higher from 9.7% to 9.8%. some, though, fear it could hit 10%. that would be the highest level since 1983. the combination of a dismal reports overshadowed the one bright spot on the day. that was an increase in consumer spending. the dow was hit hard across the board. all 30 components ending the day in the red. jpmorgan chase, that slid 5%. boeing down nearly 4%. weighing down the tech heavy nasdaq, microsoft dropped 3% after one analyst downgraded its stock all because of speculation it will miss its mark for end of year sales. finally, a sign of the times in italy.

that's where the prize at one supermarket giveaway. it's not a free turkey or a bag full of groceries but something a little more practical for folks there. a job. unemployment is on the rise. one grocery store owner decided to lure in customers with a drawing. the winner will be awarded a job at his store for one year. if the winner has a job, he can pass on his good fortune to an unemployed relative. not groceries for a year but a job. >> the twins play catch up. the sooners against miami. plus, it's postseason ball for the rockies as they lock up a spot in the playoffs. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. storms are heading east. and out west, still warm but not as hot. 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 colorado rockies earned a champagne shower in denver, but they took the long road to get there. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. on june 4th, the rockies were 12 games under 500. after a remarkable turnaround, they're back in the playoffs. they got it done playing small

ball against the brewers. colorado up 1-0 after one. more of the same in the third. atkins sliced one into the corner. rockies put up four in the inning and won 9-2. they clinched a lot least the wild card and are two back of the dodgers in the west. they play a three-game series in l.a. tonight. cabrera gave minnesota a 7-1 lead with a double that scored three. college football, eighth ranked oklahoma will be without quarterback sam bradford without a week. he is nursing a strained ac joint. he will be sidelined against number 17 miami. opening night in the nhl. reigning mvp ovechkin put on a show against the capitals. he made boston pay for the mistake. caps up 2-0. bruins learned their lesson and were all over ovechkin in the

third. scored a second goal of the night. caps won it 4-1. overtime in the extra frame. josh picked up the loose puck and scored with just 13 seconds left in o.t. canadiens won it, 4-3 ##. back to baseball. chris carpenter picked hup is 17th win of the year. first major league home run. what a doozy, a grand slam. sixth rbi for carpenter. move over, albert pujols, chris carpenter now can do it all for the cards. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> thank you, fred. some pretty serious admissions from funny man david letterman. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a century and counting. one woman in michigan divulges

her secrets for longevity. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." you'll have thunderstorms and rain showers from nashville up to cincinnati and detroit. that line of storms moves this way and will affect some areas. atlanta, you've got a 40% shot at seeing a thunderstorm today. savannah, 82-degree high.

charlotte, right around 77. a quick peek at your saturday forecast. but if you're watching us on wcmh nbc 4 in columbus, ohio, see what lies beneath at coral reef adventure at the center of science and industry. and that's your eastern event of the day. dan? >> thank you, ginger. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. late night david letterman dropped a couple bomb shells last night. first, letterman admitted that he had affairs with women on his staff. well, then he said someone tried to get $2 million in hush money to keep those affairs secret. a cbs employee has been charged with grand larceny any in that case. as for letterman, he said he's not talking about this anymore, saying he's protecting his family and the women involved. look for the woody harrelson comedy walking dead opening with $25 million, maybe more.

the director debut of drew bearry more whip it starring ellen page of juno is expected to draw plenty of interest for women. over the long haul this weekend it won't crack double digit millions. the invention of lying stagger rick j gervais and jennifer garner. it's not generating much interest. it should earn about 5 million this weekend. >> i was just watching juno last night. between garner and ellen page, got the whole cast there. >> juno is a great move. but the invention of lying popped up out of nowhere. i'm not seeing anything on this one. this comes from wdiv local 4 in detroit, where in nearby westland, one great grandmother celebrated a pretty remarkable milestone. mary turned 109 years old yesterday. her whole family on hand for the festivities, including her eldest daughter, who is 84.

the super cent they're yann married her husband in 1920 before the first radio broadcast. she said she never drank, never smoked. burr when she turned 100, she allowed herself one indulgence. she swears. but then she quickly apologizes of course. there's the secret right there. very nice. i'm dan kloeffler, and 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 friday morning. we are tracking and intends

weather system that will affect us today. a warm front is in the area right now. we will be milder today but we have a slight chance of showers later this afternoon. the brunt of the system as well to our west. showers and storms in the great lakes down through the ohio valley. the cold will get here tomorrow. 57 degrees downtown, 53 at marshall, 54 degrees in ocean city. highs today in the low 70's. a mixed bag. >> here is a look ahead. >> baltimore city police are looking for a rape suspect who brutally attacked a mother while her children were at home. the details next. >> nearly a year after a mother of three disappeared, police have someone behind bars. >> we are trac

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>> live, local, late-breaking. this is wbal 11 news. >> good morning. happy friday. i'm mindy basara. >> i am stan stovall. >> let's check the forecast with sandra shaw. i thought yesterday was beautiful. >> there's a big storm system to our west. it is approaching from the south and west. there are few clouds around. the best chance of showers is this afternoon. the great lakes region is getting pummeled down through parts of the ohio valley. it will be tracking true here today and tonight and tomorrow. today, 71-74. a mix of clouds and sun. 30% chance of showers into this evening. winds picking up out of the