i approve this message because i'm proud to be ranked one of the most independent members of congress. this morning on "early today," high stakes battle. senate republicans vow to put up a fight over president obama's tax plan. great ball of fire, new video surfaces of the gas explosion that leveled a california neighborhood. and eye of the storm. nasa provides an incredible bird's-eye view of hurricane nasa provides an incredible bird's-eye view of hurricane igor. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the battle over taxes. senate republicans vowed to block president obama's plan to cut middle class taxes yesterday unless bush era reductions for the wealthy are also preserved. this economic debate has been heating up for months now. and on this final primary day before november's midterm electrics, it could reach a boiling point. tracy potts joins us live now from council. good morning, tracy. big day. >> it's going to be a big week and a big season headed into these elections as congress figures out whether or not to extend these bush tax cuts that are expiring at the end of the year. coming out of the weekend, republican leader john boehner who had been very critical of the president's plan signaled that he might support it in order to get something done before these tax cuts expires. but all hopes of a compromise were dashed when his party came

out strongly yesterday and said that these tax cuts must be preserved for everyone, the poor, the middle class and, yes, the wealthy, those who make over $250,000. his party is not the only group that supports that. we now know of at least three democrats who say, look, this is the wrong time with our economy still not on good footing to raise taxes. we need to preserve these tax cuts for everyone. so it's a fight not only against republicans, but against some members of the democratic party, as well. lynn. >> tracy potts for us in washington. tracy, thank you. and across the country, american voters will be back in the polls today in the last major lineup of primary races before november's midterm electrics. and there are eight races with the most of the focus on the gop and the battle between party regulators and newcomers from the tea party. among the hot matchups, delaware senate race. mainstream republicans there

looking to avoid another tea party win and they are making a big push for nine term representative mike cassle. until recently, he was favored over christine o'donnell, but now she's got the backing of former vice presidential candidate sarah palin as well as the tea party. delaware regulators hope to avoid a replay of the stunning alaska victory in the content. another race to watch, that's new hampshire's senate primary. ovit la mon tang is in a battle with kelly iodie. she now appears to be facing stiff competition. although ao did i e has the blessing of palin. and for the democrats, new york representative charles wrangle certainly has his work cut out for him. not only because he's been plagued by the cloud of house ethics charges, today he's

facing five challengers. although he does have the advantage of a large campaign purse. with investigators still trying to figure out why a gas pipeline exploded in san bruno, california, last week, industry watchdogs are raising the alarm that there are literally thousands of pipelines just like the one that exploded nationwide. aging pop is the problem. the one that exploded in san bruno, killing four and leaving four others missing was more than 50 years old. critics say utilities aren't willing to spend the money negative to avoid disasters like the one in san bruno. the cost to replace pipe can exceed $50 million. meanwhile, the owner of the pipeline has set aside up to $100 million to help victims recover. residents should be getting $50,000 checks this week. and now here is a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america.

a text bar manager posted surveillance video on facebook of him braking up a robbery to help police catch the burglary suspects. the bar manager fired a single shot, sending the bar robbers fleeing dropping everything on the way, including the keys to their van with the loot inside. in ohio, two people are suffering from injuries when a truck struck a power pole near a bus stop causing a brilliant flash of light and sparks to fly. witnesses reacted quickly whose conditions are still unknown. the driver of the truck was taken into custody by police. in wisconsin, authorities are investigating what caused a freight train carrying various acids to derail sending cars down an enbankment and others hitting a bridge overpass. fortunately, there were no injuries. damage to the plant was minimal and there were no leaks. and in texas, 300 galveston

residents celebrated the city's recovery from hurricane ike with a synchronized dance. the flash mob, which included the mayor, gathered in the historic strand district to shake a leg. and though they've still got a long way to go, organizers say it is important to celebrate the successes along the way. pretty good moves there, too. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is bill with a look at your forecast. >> good morning. let's talk hurricane igor. we always show you this satellite vooud view from outer space. this view is from tinter national space station. you can see it as they fly ahead upside down, there's the eye of hurricane igor, impressive from any perspective. winds are now at 140 miles an hour. yesterday it was 150. it still looks impressive. it's finally beginning to take that turn away from the island. so the forecast, the same as

yesterday. hasn't really changed. no surprises with this system. due to remain a powerful hurricane for the next three or four days and slowly weaken as it approaches bermuda this upcoming weekend. it is strong enough that it will send large waef waves to the east coast, but it will never come close with the rain or the wind. that will stay out to sea. as the chiefs were celebrating their victory last night, we still have strong storms out towards topeka. these will continue as we go throughout the morning. so the forecast, stormy out here in cans this morning. otherwise, it's quiet as can be. beautiful weather up and down the eastern seaboard. that's a look at your tuesday forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. look at all the sunshine today. gorgeous conditions. a little hotter than we'd like, though, in memphis. still 90s. 92 there. oklahoma city will be near 90. 100 degree heat in phoenix. today, 105.

so lynn, this is how we like it. the hurricanes stay away and the weather remains beautiful. >> there you go. bill, that's the good news. thank you. we'll check in with you in a bit. well, stocks rise again. soothing woods from the oracle of omaha. and bling for a great cause. plus, oprah opens up her final season with a bang. a walk-off winner rafael na dad joins an exclusive club and a football game that had just about everything. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. secretary of state hillary clinton is in egypt this morning to lead a second round of middle east peace talks with israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu and palestinianat president mahmoud abbas. although israel would not renew a partial building freeze in the west bank, it would not step up construction, either. the u.s. government says it will not pay the prison bail for american hiker sarah shord. iran says it will release on health grounds in exchange for $500,000. earlier yesterday, shourd's family asked to have the bail reduced saying they couldn't afford it. the cuban government says it's planning to lay off at least 500,000 workers in the next six months to help the country's struggling economy. analysts say it's the biggest private sector shift there since the 1959 revolution. health officials are calling it a new global threat, a so-called super bug, thought to be resistant to every known antibiotic. three people who recently traveled to india.

patients in massachusetts, indiana and illinois have been affected. rescue workers in thailand are assessing the damage after a major flood caused roads to collapse. several bystanders were seen run to go safety seconds before the road buckled and just washed away. now here is an early look at how wall street will open the day. the dow opens at 10,54 4/after adding 81 points yesterday. the s&p gained 12 points and the nasdaq climbed 43. taking a look at overseas training this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 22 points and in hong kong the hang seng rose 37. reassurance about the health of the global economy shot stocks up to their highest level in five weeks monday. markets rallied thanks in part to a deal by global regulators to boost bank reserves over the next several years to help prevent another worldwide

financial crisis. china's economy is still booming, also adding to investors' optimism. hewlett packard is add to go its ever-expansing arsenal of services buying cyber security firm arcsite. elsewhere in corporate deal making, dollar thrifty accepted a bigger buyout offer from rival hertz. shares of both companies shot up, as did rival avis which stand to profit from one less competitor in the rental market. more optimism on the economy yesterday came from warren buffett, speaking at a summit in montana yesterday. the so-called oracle of omaha predicted, quote, we are not going to have a double dip recession. prices at the pump are up sharply in the midwest thanks to a pipeline leak in the chicago area. the average price of unleaded gas there shot up 10 cents a gallon since last week. finally, ann hathaway's

ex-boyfriend turned out to be a fraud, but the jewelry he gave her was for real and beginning today, you can bid online for any of the pricey gifts she received from the scammer with proceeds going to his victims. nadal slammed the open, the raiz walk-off against the yankees. plus, the loud talking jets take some hard knocks from the ravens. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. summer-like conditions continue for the half of the country. your early morning headlines are coming up "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the nfl opened monday night football with a double dose last night with the first game providing a dazzling display of defense. here is fred roggin. good morning. it was a monday night football header that started with a defensive struggle and ended with a monday night shoot-out. joe flacco simply crushed, sandwiched and fumbled the ball. jets recovered and would get a field goal out of it. the ravens got things going in the second. mcgahee, 7-6 ball game at the

half. to the fourth, jets down one. this was a physical game. justin california keller, meet ray lewis. two hits down the middle. keller made the grab, but didn't get the first down. made he heard footsteps after that hit by lewis. the ravens held on to win the opener, 10-9. that was the defense. second quarter, dexter took the punt, made one cut, hit the hole and was off to the races. chiefs literally running away with it, up 21-7 at the half. chargers made it interesting in the third. phillip weber found an opening for the score. sdooes san diego down, 7-14. fourth and goal, rivers' pass fell incomplete. chiefs surprised everyone with a 21-14 win. baseball had quite a game. rays leap frog the yanks for first place with a 1-0 win. u.s. open men's final, we

know rafael nadal is good, but how good? first, he made djokovic do this. moments lake, djokovic decides it's not his feet, tights racket. he was frustrated, but battles to win the second set, nadal's only loss to the tournament. rafael took over from there. djokovic's return is wide. rafael becomes the seventh man to win at least one title from each grand slam dournment. that's a look at your sports on "early today." >> great match. coming one woody allen shoots down rumors about the first lady of france. "early today" headlines are straight ahead. plus, a hero on the field. he almost also died on it. now he's making comeback plans. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. unless you're in kansas, you have a dry forecast today. there's not a lot of wet weather. it's going to about be beautiful from new york to d.c., boston, atlanta down through florida. very nice in the middle of the country, too. still feels like summer today and tomorrow. wednesday, cooler air will arrive in minnesota with showers. overall, most of the country is looking for a very quiet weather pattern this week, much like the summer. if you're watching us on wkoh 4, bring your family to the

festival in blackwell, all at the blackwelfare grounds. here is a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. a spokes woman for john mayer says he pulled the plug but say because his tour is finished and he's headed back to the studio. next week, more than a year after his uncomfortable appearance on the late show for david letterman, joaquin phoenix makes a return appearance. it took 2 takes to shoot one scene for his new romantic comedy "midnight in paris." woody allen shoots down reports that she was a diva and that he hired another person to did on redo the scenes.

oprah winfrey starts her final season on monday. she announced she would be taking her 300 audience members on a seven-day trip to australia in december. this comes to us from kgw news channel 8 in portland, oregon, where one high school football player is celebrating his return to the gridiron. hayward loves football with all his heart. bit was his heart that almost took it all away. after scoring a touchdown in a recent game, he had a heart attack. fortunately, a cardiac nurse was in the stands and brought him back to life on the field. he's set to have surgery soon, but doctors say he'll be back to playing football next year. can you believe that, bill? it's remarkable. >> it looks like there's a big crowd there. she's doing cpr on the field, people are just -- and then she saves him. >> absolutely. it's amazing. good luck to him. i'm lynn berry, and this is

"early today," today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning, everyone. i am tony pann. we have a few clouds but no precipitation. temperatures in the upper 50's and low 60 bus. 58 degrees at the airport. a mixture of sunshine and a few clouds today with high temperatures in the low 80's. we will check the seven-day

forecast coming up in just a few minutes. we will give you the latest on hurricane igor in just a few minutes. i'm getting my hurricanes mixed up. >> thank you. 59 degrees on tv hill. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> it is primary election day in maryland. we will look at some of the hottest races in town. >> democrats and republicans are locked in a fierce fight over your tax bill. >> we are tracking some early morning problems this thursday -- this tuesday. there is a downed pole blocking

ed here she is... pretty cool, huh? yeah, but... what happened to the back there?

well, here's the thing: this was the only "sporty two-seater" they had on my budget. uh-huh. and the seats go all the way back. (announcer) settling for less is not smart. what is smart is getting more car for your money at carmax. for the money you'd spend on a stripped down new car, you could get a fully loaded, guaranteed-quality used car at carmax. now more than ever, the smart choice is carmax. the way car buying should be. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. >> and i am stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >>