this morning on "early today," the final kill. bp crews prepare a permanent plug for the blownout well in the gulf. burning revelation, a woman who grabs headlines by claiming she was the victim of an acid attack now admits that it was self-inflicted. and mini moon, the guinness book of world records reveals and mini moon, the guinness book of world records reveals the world's smallest cow. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with finally

nearing the end. after five long months, crews in the gulf of mexico have taken a major step toward permanently plugging up the blownout well behind the worst offshore oil spill in u.s. history. for more on that, we go to kristin dahlgren, live in louisiana with more. good morning. >> good morning to you, lynn. day 150 and that relief well that they started drilling shortly after this all started has finally intersected with the mccondo well some 2 1/2 miles below the floor of the gulf. admiral thad allen said that the two wells were connected and that the next step was to pump mud and cement down into that well to permanently seal it off. obviously, great news for people in this area, but really just one step in their recovery. oil continues to wash ashore. and this week, thousands of dead fish. take a look at these pictures.

looks almost like a graph grave there. scientists say it was caused by lack of oxygen and it's not uncommon here, but people are asking that the oil disbursants didn't play into that. tony hayward defended bp's safety record this week as he testified in britain. he said there's no need to rethink deep water drilling. meantime, here in louisiana, there's also a push to lift that moratorium on deep water drilling and get drillers back to work. >> kristin dahlgren in louisiana, thank you. a powerful storm that rocked the new york city area last night@has left at least one person dead. a woman was killed as a tree fell on to her car. winds up to 100 miles an hour knocked down trees, power lines and tore roofs off of buildings. at least 30,000 people were left without power. there were lightning strikes of the statue of liberty.

even a funnel cloud in brooklyn, a suspected tornado has yet to be confirmed. it was a horrific scene at johns hopkins hospital as gunfire erupted. police say a man, who was being briefed on the condition of his 84-year-old mother became overwhelmed by the news and then shot her doctor. the gunman, identified as paul warren partis, barricaded himself in her room for more than two hours. when officers entered, both partis and his mother were found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide. fortunately, the wounded doctor is expected to survive. a washington state woman who gained sympathy across the country after claiming a random stranger through acid on her face is now admitting her burns are self-conflicted. after confronting the 28-year-old about discrepancies in her story such as the splash patterns on her face and why she

was wearing sunglasses at night, police say she admitted there was no attacker. prosecutors will now have to decide whether or not to file criminal charges against the woman. now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. in california, police are looking for a cross dressing bandit who robbed a gas station. the man dressed in a hot pink miniskirt, blouse and high heels aimed a gun at the clerk before cleaning out the cash register. the suspects got away with an undisclosed amount of cash and let me tell his skirt and heels at the scene. officials in florida say a father went too far when he stormed his daughter's school bus to send a message to her classmates. the man delivered a profanity laced lecture to students threatening to, quote, kill the person who bullied his daughter. the father could face charges of false imprisonment, disorderly conduct, interrupting a school function and assault.

in texas, surveillance footage could place a woman behind bars on felony charges of dog abuse. a neighbor's security camera recorded the woman in her bag yard beating her dog with a rake. animal services will retain the custody of the woman's dog until the case has been resolved. and in kansas, severe weather conditions produced a storm of baseball-sized hail. it's caused significant damage to properties, including vehicles. youtube video shows the dangerous impact of large hail stones that it made 80s hit the ground. early estimates have rang up upwards of $1 million. now here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. here in new york, people are all talking about it. >> i'll give you the update on the wichita hail storm you just showed. there was a piece 7 inches in

diameter and that tied the record for the largest hail ever in kansas history. that tornado that went through brooklyn, five blocks from my house. i walked much of the damage yesterday. it will be an interesting call if it was straight line winds or a tornado or not. my guess is most likely it will be straight line winds, but we'll find out officially today. now, to the dangerous situation in mexico, hurricane karl has rapidly intensified. look at the eye pop out right there. varicruz is in lane for a rough day today. we have hurricane igor out there, still a category 3 storm, huge storm, and it still has its eyes set on bermuda. some of those waves will start making their way to south carolina, north carolina and georgia. the swells will be with us probably all weekend long. bermuda, a category three possibly for you. sunday night, it will be a close call whether you go through the eye of the storm or not.

as far as the weather today, nothing like yesterday. rain early today in new england, but all the severe weather and the bad storms have exited. we're watching hot conditions alung the gulf and cooler weather in the plains. as far as the wet weather goes, most of it is exiting. that's a look at your national forecast. here is a look at the weather outside your window. we're clearing out nicely from d.c. to new york. temperatures are still pretty mild. raleigh to atlanta, temperatures near 90. yesterday raleh was in the 90s once again breaking the record for the most 90-degree days. we'll have the weekend forecast coming up a little later in the show. >> all right. bill, thank you. unemployment improves. gold hits the heights and a tweeter makes the most wanted list. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, is he pulling our leg or just an eccentric artist? we've got the answer. a perfect storm hits the

wnba. more bad news for floyd mayweather. and what would you do if you were hit in the face by an 89-mile-an-hour fastball?

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. after much debate, the congress has passed 61-38 with the help of two republicans who crossed the aisle to give president obama an election year victory. the legislation now goes to the house where it's expected to quickly pass and head to the president's desk for signing. this morning, "usa today" reports a so-called super bug, resistant to nearly every modern

antibiotic. it's spreading across the country and is becoming an international problem. the bacteria, which has been reported by hospitals in more than 20 states, typically strikes the critically ill and so far has been falts in 30% to 60% of the cases. the mother of missing teenager natalee holloway reportedly sneaked into a peruvian prison where jordan van der sloot is being held and confronted her about his daughter. she spoke to van der sloot for five minutes but did not get any answers before being removed. and meet the animal being affectionately dubbed mini moo, the world's smallest cow according to guinness world records. the sheet-sized cow hals from northern england and is just 33 inches long. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day.

the dow opened at 10,594 after gaining 22 points yesterday. the s&p was down a fraction but the nasdaq added one point. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei rose 116 points while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 279. trading was mixed on wall street on thursday as investors looked pass news on the economy focusing instead on bellwether company fedex. the shipping firm darkened the mood falling 3% after announcing it would eliminate 1700 jobs in an effort to prop up its money losing trucking business. on the brighter side, the labor department reported first time claims for unemployment fell to a to-month low last week. and prices at the wholesale level rose more than expected last month, easing concerns economic anemia could lead to falling prices. on the down side, the census bureau reported the number of

americans in poverty climbed to its highest level since the 1960s with millions losing jobs thanks to the recession leaving a staggering 1 in 7 americans in poverty. for the second time this week, gold swept to another all-time high and spot silver, the so-called poor man's gold reached its highest level since march 2008. oracle rose more than 4 bers after the bell on quarterly results that topped wall street's expectations. also after hours, blackberrymaker research in motion jumped more than 8% on results that beat expectations. texas instruments rose more than 3.5% on extended trade after extending a stock repurchase and boosting its quarterly dividend. timothy geithner promised lawmaker else on thursday he will rally other world powers to push china for trade and currency reform. finally, more about the power of

twitter. angry police in johannesburg has posted thousands of daily warnings about where police set up speed traps in the city. the giants lead the west. serious charges against pretty boy floyd and who says they don't sweet in seattle? plus, one of the white sox finds the perfect way to prove and a keep a good man down. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. >> this is our last summer weekend. temperatures are going to be very warm in the southern half of the nation. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

my commute home to the eastern shore every night only takes an hour but that's more time than congress spends reading massive spending bills, it's crazy. that's why i wrote a law that requires 72 hours to read every bill. i read the big bills and i said no. no to the $3 trillion budget, no to the bank bailout, and no to the health care bill. at home you would never pay a bill without reading it neither should congress. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message because i'm proud to be ranked one of the most independent members of congress.

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, it's getting to be crunch time in major league baseball with divisional pennant races start to go reach a fever pitch. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the closest playoff race in baseball is not in the a.l. east, but oust west in the national league. padres were in first when the day started. this did not help. former cardinal ryan ludwick couldn't make the grab. they went on to beat the padres, 4-0. the padres were in first, but

not any more because the giants had their way with the dodgers. on ree hough busted the game open with a home run. giants went on to win. they're now in first. don't forget about the rockies. they're 2 1/2 out. now we're going to show you a piece of tape. if you're the least bit squeamish, turn your head for a moment. the good news, everybody turned out to be ox. a white sox player hit in the face by an 89-mile-an-hour pitch from carl pervano. kanerko suffered a bloody nose, but stayed in the game. in third, a homer, unfortunately not enough. the twins won it, 8-5. floyd mayweather may finally have met his match. he's been hit with three more felony charges in a domestic violence case that had him facing a felony theft charge. this brings his combined totals

to felonies and misdemeanors to eight. if found guilty, mayweather could face up to 34 yeerd behind bars. finally, the seattle storm can be called the perfect storm. the atlanta dream made it interesting in the end, but couldn't get a three-pointer in the second. the storm chance with an 87-84 win. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. new films prepare to do battle for weekend box office gold. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, sure, they're known as man's best friend, but we'll tell you about a special few who have been recognized as genuine heroes. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. let my take you through your forecast. a little rain in new england that exits quickly. we're hot all friday, saturday and sunday. the cool air this weekend will be up in the northern plains and great lakes. look at highs only in the 60s. even on sunday, highs around 66 in chicago. we look rather nice around the mid-atlantic. d.c., 84 on sunday. if you're watching us on wdiv 4 in detroit, michigan, celebrate creativity. set brating exhibitions at the annual diy street fair. that's your "early today" event

of the day. >> sound like fun. thanks, bill. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. we now know whether joaquin phoenix's retirement from acting to start a rap career was real or fake. his brother told the "new york times" the whole thing, including phoenix's appearance last year on david letterman was a hoax. after 54 years, today is the final episode of the soap opera "as the world turns." scottish singing sensation susan boyle fulfills her dream of singing for the pop yesterday. in the box office, the team come the easy a produced for nearly $1 million is the favorite to take first with $20 million or more. ben affleck stars in "r-town."

experts expect it to take second. those film same experts don't expect the new horror flick "devil" is to do much better than $10 million this weekend. and this comes tout from wnbc news 4 new york where a group of dogs receive top honors. cassius, a former shelter dog was recognized for his work during rescue relief efforts during rescue efforts in haiti and wyatt was honored for his work with disabled children. three dogs who love what they do and work tirelessly to help others. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> a very happy purple friday to you. we are tracking the remnants of a cold front that moved through last night. we did see some rain moving through the area. high pressure will build and through tomorrow. we will be nice and dry. currently 68 degrees downtown. 66 at the airport. we're headed for a high into the low 80's with mostly sunny skies.

more on your weekend and seven- day forecast coming up. >> thank you. 66 degrees on tv hill. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> a doctor is recovering after being shot inside johns hopkins hospital yesterday. >> texting, driving, and teenagers. how parents fit into the equations. >> things are looking pretty nice on the roadways. there is one

[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. happy friday. i am mindy basara. >> and i am stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> sandra shaw has a quick look at the forecast. >> we needed some rain and we got some rain last night. it will feel