this morning on "early today," dysfunctional democrats. senate leaders retreat from a preelection vote on extending tax cuts. oregon outrage, a bus driver is fired after he's videotaped reading while driving on the interstate. and crash is and burn, a small plane goes down at an air and crash is and burn, a small plane goes down at an air show in indonesia. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm amara sohn. today we begin with one step forward, two steps back.

small business legislation cleared congress yesterday. however, divided democrats punted on a vote to preserve middle class tax cuts until after midterm elections in november. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the latest. good morning, tracie. >> amara, good morning. what to do about taxes? the senate has confirmed what the house said, that this is not going to happen before you go to the polls in november. senate democrats got together, but could not agree on how to move forward. the issue is whether or not to preserve the bush tax cuts for everyone or just for the middle class and let taxes go up on the wealthy. it is a political hot potato headed into november, not one that the democrats now say they want to touch before you go to the polls. however, what they did back, a small business bill, $30 billion, a new fund to help small businesses get loans. this was mainly a democratic issue. the idea here is that if businesses have more cash,

they'll hire people, buy equipment, expand and help pull this economy out of a slump. the gop called it a bailout. their plan is their new pledge to america. a government that's too big is something they say they want to get rid of if they are elected in november. they also want to expand tax cuts and several other measures that they say when they are elected, if they are elected in november, they will implement. amara. >> tracie potts reporting from washington, tracie, thank you. once again, ahmadinejad put on quite a show yesterday at the united nations. yesterday he put on assertions that prompted leaders to walk out in protest. number's steve handelsman has the details. >> reporter: under increasing fire for his nuclear program and facing something he dreads, the

possibility of peace between the palestinians and israel, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad dropped his bomb at the u.n. most people, he claimed, believe american officials staged 9/11. >> translator: that some segments within the u.s. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the american economy and its grip on the middle east in order to save this regime. >> reporter: u.s. diplomates and other dell gauges walked out, citing what they call the iranian's vial conspiracy theory. rudy giuliani, new york's mayor on 9/11, called ahmadinejad insane or giving a great imitation. iran, giuliani said, must get not get nuclear weapons. that was president obama's goal, meeting with china's premier who is helping pressure iran. but mr. obama's main focus here at the u.n. was an arab/israeli peace deal completed by this

time next year. >> we can have a new agreement, leading to new members of the united nations, an independent sovereign state of palestine living in peace with israel. >> steve hamndelsman, nbc new york. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in california, workers from sea word tried assisting a sea lion with a spear stuck in its back, but to no avail. officials don't know how the animal got speared, but say if it was done on purpose, it would be a federal offense. an oregon bus driver is out of a job after a passenger got cell phone video of that driver reading an e-book, at one point driving with his elbow. he was initially placed on leave, but was eventually fired for posing a threat to public safety. in florida, another issue of

dangerous driving, but this time a sheriff deputy was the one accused of distracted driving. photos show the deputy on his cell phone while reading in track at 50 miles per hour. an investigation stated it's not a safety concern for an officer to briefly check his cell phone while riding. in louisiana, two vermont businesses raised money for charity and attempted to cook up a world record with more than 2,000 pound of gooey mac and cheese. yummy. guinness hasn't weighed in yet. the official all you can eat macaroni for 5 bucks is a sure winner. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with your national and regional forecast. bill, add some bread crumbs and cajun spices from louisiana and i'm good. >> so you don't just get it on out of the box. >> oh, no. you have to add your spices to it. >> that's good stuff. let's talk about what's

happening in the tropics, first off. tropical storm matthew blew up a little bit. this looks like it would normally go safely inland here. this storm, though, is going to stall out and this is going to be the storm that will do the most destruction and be the most dangerous with mudslides and flooding that we've had so far this season. it's going to sit over central america and belize and mexico over the next five days. this is going to stall out here, but still be close enough to the warm water of the caribbean to maintain itself. this is going to be a dangerous forecast for mexico, belize, nicaragua and honduras. this could affect the united states, but that wouldn't be far over a week. as far as the forecast for today, yesterday was hot through the southeast. it's going to be very warm again. that heat pump coming right up. today, this front is going through st. louis, chicago. you will have light rain for

your morning commute. kansas city, 72. chicago, 69. still very warm in the southeast. 90s from atlanta up to washington, d.c. that's a look at your friday forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. temperature in atlanta once again in the 90s. in mississippi and alabama, we've had record heat the last few days. washington, d.c., one of the hottest spots in the country. of course, the weekend forecast is coming up. >> all right, bill. thank you. unexpected unemployment, the rent a car war continues and the crocodile conundrum. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, more than 20 years later, can wall street's gordon gekko hit box office gold once again? a milestone for ichiro, and one hand, one interception. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm amara sohn. here are some of your top headlines this morning. for the first time in nearly a century, the state of virginia has carried out an execution on a woman. last night, 41-year-old teresa lewis was put to death by lethal injection for arranging the slayings of her husband and stepson to collect a quarter of a million dollar insurance policy. stunning video out of indonesia. a small plane crashed and burst into flames during an air show being watched by hundreds of school children. a pilot was the only person aboard the aircraft and is now in critical condition. a pakistani scientist known as lady al qaeda has been sentenced to 86 years in prison for trying to kill u.s. soldiers and intelligence officers in afghanistan. startling findings from a

government study that shows one in five gay and bisexual men in the united states, 20% have the hiv virus. nearly half of those do not know they are infected. that compares to an overall american hiv rate of just 0.5%. 1950s entertainer eddie fisher who sparked one of the greatest showbiz scandals of the 20th century when he left his wife for elizabeth taylor has died. he died due to complications from recent hip surgery. eddie fisher was 82. >> and now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,662 after falling 76 points yesterday. the s&p lost 9 points and the nasdaq dipped 7. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 94 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng was up 71. experts may be saying the recession is over, but until

investors see improvement on the jobs front, markets are likely to remain unsteady. initial claims for jobless claims rose unexpectedly yesterday for the first time in five kweex. investors see that as a red flag that companies are still cutting back. a slight improvement of existing home sales in august failed to offset concerns in europe. there were concerns that recent european austerity measures may not be enough. the food and drug administration is putting new restrictions on the diabetes drug avandia after it was banned in europe due to reported heart risk. elsewhere, on capitol hill, the house voted to repeal exemptions given to the securities & exchange commission that kept a lid on government data about the nation's financial firm. for the first time in 20 years, a federal trade communications is opening up large amounts of air waves in a long-fought battle to make

broadband high speed access more widely available. back on the street, the battle for thrifty car rental battle continues a week before shareholders were to vote on a bid from hertz. avis has upped its offer to $1.5 billion. keep an eye on nike today, up 1.5% after the bell thanks to better than expected earnings. finally, talk about adding insult to injury, residents in the mexican state of veracruz currently cleaning up after heavy flooding brought on by hurricane karl are being warned that at least 280 crocodiles are on the loose in the area after escaping during the storm. it's not a-okay for cc. an emaculate interception and multiple major league milestones. plus, major actions off the field as one toronto fan goes a little too far trying to catch a foul ball. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we have big changes coming this weekend as cool, fall air rushes across the country.

your weekend forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports last night, the tampa bay rays trounced the yankees leaving their race to the division title a sprint to the finish line.

here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it was a chance for either the yanks or rays to pull away in the a.l. east. yet after four games, we're back to where we started after a split in the big apple. worst outing of the year for c.c. sabathia. rays were up, 4-3. that was it for c.c. who was charged with a season high seven runs. it was frustrating for the yanks. in the seventh, vasquez hit not one, not two, but three straight batters. that ties a major league mark. the rays won it big, 10-3. they're now just a half game back of the yanks for first place. in toronto, batista continues to hit the cover off the ball, smashed his league leading 50th home run of the year, becoming just the 26th player to his that mark. a single in the fifth game him 200 hits for the 10th straight season. first player ever to do it. in the seventh, thought he had a chance to make the grab. instead, he took a tumble and head over heels and on to the field.

that's embarrassing. blue jays won it, 1-0. giants put up one in the seventh against the cubs. ribae got the runs going and capped things off with a grand slam. first player to hit two home runs in one inning this season. giants won, 13-0. they're in first place in the n.l. west. >> albert pujols knows a home hinge or two about hitting a home run ball. hit a pair of homers against the pirates. finally, great college football. miami and pittsburgh, the hurricanes jacoby puts it up. jared howly came down with a one-handed interception. spectacular interception by a sophomore. but that was the loan bright spot for the panthers. miami rolls, 31-3. that's your early look at ports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. can an animated 3d feature about owls take the box office crown this weekend? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, one girl's trip to the

land of make believe proves dreams can come true. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this friday. let me take you through the forecast heading into the weekend. cooler air coming down from canada. today, it's chillier in kansas city, chicago and minneapolis.

it's cool her for your saturday, at least, but that really cool air won't arrive in areas like atlanta until sunday. so that's the theme. slowly, but surely we're going to cool it off. sunday, we have a chance for showers and thunderstorms in the east, but atlanta, it's ban long time since you've been in the 70s for a high and that will be much in the southeast, too. d.c., you have one more two more hot days and fall officially arrives for you. well, if you're watching us on who13, des moines, iowa, check out the state's largest arts and crafts fair with over 300 exhibiters all at the iowa state fairgrounds. that's your "early today" event of the day. i imagine you would go to the crafts and head over to the deep fried oreos. >> i go straight to the deep fried ors. what are you thinking? >> deep fried twinkies? >> it's so sinful, it's perfectly delicious.

i'll try it next time i see it. up on the silver screen this weekend, look for a razor close finish for number one at the box office. the obvious, "wall street" was one of the iconic movies of the '80s. the seek sequel, wall street money never sleeps, michael douglas is featured as gordon gekko. interest is predictably high among older movie goers, but only so-so with the younger crowd. it is, therefore, only the experts' luke warm favorite to take the number one spot with about $20 million. at first glance, "legend of the guardians owls of gahoul" may not seem like a contender. after all, it's about owls. but it's based on a popular book series and there haven't been many family options in theaters lately. most see it finishing in second, but a few experts have gone out on a limb and chosen it as this

weekend's upset winner. i'd choose to see the 3d film. you don't mind the glasses? >> not at all. >> but the ticket prices for the 3d movie res more now. >> yeah. and it does kind of give you a headache, so i don't know if it's worth it. and this comes to us from philadelphia, pennsylvania, where dreams did come true after one girl's trip to the magic kingdom. kiera thought she had forever lost her autograph book with all of her favorite characters, but not only did honeymooning couple find her book, but they sent it back to kiera with a note and their picture tucked inside. perfect storybook ending. i'm amara sohn, and 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. >> good morning. it is a friday morning. end of the week. it was a warm day yesterday. we're starting out warm again this morning. 70 degrees at bwi marshall. there is a touch of fog that does not appear to be too heavy. the humidity is way up and we have an east wind. the temperatures will be going uphill from here.

it will still reflect summertime. there is a front off to the west. it will take the temperatures down a notch or two. details in the forecast coming up. >> thank you. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> a family says the school district did not step been when their son was bullied. now he is still suffering the aftereffects. details are next. >> the senate ponce a vote on u.s. tax cuts. what happens now -- the u.s. senate p

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boss: ok, let's keep rolling. we're on motorcycle insurance. vo: take fifteen minutes to see how much you can save on motorcycle, rv, and camper insurance. [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. morning. >> john