this morning on "early today," campaign mode. president obama plans a four-seat swieng taking aim at republicans for, quote, irresponsible policies. mercury rising. los angeles swelters in a record breaking autumn heat wave. and home on the range, record numbers turn out to watch an american tradition onhe record numbers turn out to watch an american tradition onhe great plains. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good tuesday morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with taking aim

on the trail. president obama took republicans to task for their proposed pledge to america yesterday, calling their policies, quote, irresponsible. today the president sets out on a campaign which stops the plan in three states to sell his plan to fix the economy. tracie potts is in washington, d.c. live with us this morning with the latest. good morning to you, tracie. >> veronica, good morning. what you'll see this week will take auto a very distinct campaign-like feel, the white house trying to bring back what worked for them two years ago during the presidential campaign. the president swinging through several states over the next two days with two goals -- to energize young voters and to sell his economic plan. part of that plan was helping small businesses. we saw that as he signed the small business plan into law yesterday creating a $30 billion fund to give them more money to free up money for these businesses to expand and hire workers. today, president obama takes his message to albuquerque, new mexico, where he'll continue a series of backyard meetings with voters and have a big rally at the university of wisconsin later on tonight.

as we get closer to the election, we're seeing the administration get much more aggressive in tone and message, by vice president biden saying to republicans stop whining and look for some alternatives out there. president obama calling their pledge to america irresponsible. today, we'll find out what voters think. consumer confidence numbers come out this morning. veronica. >> tracie potts live for us this morning in washington. tracie, thank you. american students and teachers could be in for major changes. if president obama has his way. the president joined "today's" matt lauer. this is a special week of programming on concerns over the education system. the president talks about what he wants to see at schools, including identifying teachers who do well and getting rid of those who don't. he discussed an idea that probably won't sit so well with most kids. >> i think we should have longer school years. we now have our kids go to school about a month less than most other advanced countries.

and that month makes a difference. >> don't forget, our coverage of education nation continues on the "today" show and on nbc nightly news right here on this nbc station. for more resources and information, check out our special website, educationnation.com. palestinian president mahmoud abbas says he will wait at least one week before deciding whether or not to quit middle east peace talks with israel. that development comes after the united states, france, england and the united nations all expressed disappointment over israel's refusal to extend a ten-month building freeze on settlement construction in the west bank. meanwhile, george mitchell has been sent to israel in hopes of breaking the stalemate in the peace negotiations. the old saying maybe it never rains in southern california, but it has literally never been hotter there than it was yesterday. check this out. downtown l.a. hitting 113 degrees breaking the all-time record of 112 set back in june

1990. the heat has led to tens of thousands of power outages. in the meantime, the dry conditions have firefighters on alert. today has been forecast to be another hot one, but no records are expected to be broken. now here is a look at other stories making news today in america. in texas, an elderly couple is dead and one firefighter recovering after a two-alarm fire broke out in an apartment complex. responders fought late into the morning to control the flames. they were forced to retreat when live ammunition started going off. authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. in south dakota, the annual roundup of a free roaming buffalo herd in the black hills custer state park attracted thousands. once a year, the herd is rounded up the old fashioned way for a visit to the buffalo doctor, if you will, where they will be sorted, vaccinated, branded and then released to once again roam freely home on the range. a new exhibit opens in new york today, the yan dynasty

exhibit. the more than 200 artifacts dating as far back as the late 1200s belonged to the grandson of the great conquerer genghis khan. many of the items on display have never been seen outside of china. in utah, one man claims he has the fastest lawn mower ever, averages speeds of 96 miles per hour. he ran several heats to get up to his average, a huge jump from his previously held record of 81 miles per hour. nevertheless, he says he will be back, racing to his goal of 100 miles per hour. you know what, they say he's going fast, but i don't know. it didn't quite look like he was anywhere near 100 miles per hour. >> yeah, it didn't look that fast. but what do we know? i don't know do that. >> we don't race lawn mowers. let's take a look at what's happening across the country. we have a lot of rain.

it's locked to the east. that's pretty much where the rain is showing up on the radar. extreme moisture is coming up from the south, so we are looking at another rainey day that will be from the southeast, stretch up to the mid-atlantic and the northeast. parts of the carolinas picked up half a foot of rain yesterday. we're going to see more with this moisture continuing to come up in bands. so we will have some heavy downpours that will extend from new england all the way down through the southeast. we're expecting about an additional inch of rain, but in some of those areas, we have the consistent downpours, we could see one to two inches of additional rain. here is how the tuesday forecast shapes up. you can see, it stays rainey right along the east coast. nice in the middle part of the country. high pressure is locked in. temperatures a little bit below normal. out to the west, the heat backs off a little bit. still looking at some very hot temperatures in l.a., but not nearly as hot as they have seen it. let's get a check off your local forecast. in new york, 80 degrees with showers and thunderstorms.

orlando, florida, 89 and mostly rainey conditions, as well. kansas city, 72. plenty of sunshine. and colorado looks great. 92 degrees there with sunny skies. that's a look at your local forecast. veronica. >> i don't know, there's just way too much green on that map. can you do something about that map? >> i will change it for you. >> pink. i like pink. that means it's warm and sunny, right? >> yep. we'll see you soon. business big business dealmakers say gobble, gobble. ben & jerry go unnatural and pumpkin shortage? what pumpkin shortage? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, comedian and talk show host george lopez may be divorcing his wife, but he can never really get away from her. the phillies popped the champagne and a battle of unbeatens goes down to the wire in chicago. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." here are some of your top headlines this morning. north korean state media reports jim jorg ill has appointed his son. the promotion came just hours before a rare party ruling meeting to elect top leadership. hugo chavez says his country is carrying out initial studies for carrying out a nuclear program. chavez brought the issue up during a news conference monday saying venezuela needs nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. a prisoner who tried to kill himself last week by slashing his arms and throat was executed. 30-year-old brannon rhodes was put to death for killing three people in a burglary back in

2000. a dallas judge has overturned the 1993 conviction of a dead man who was in prison for the rape of a 5-year-old girl for lack of evidence. and the owner of a company is dead after apparent falling off a cliff. the 62-year-old was testing a cross-country version of a segue near his estate in england sunday when he lost control of it. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,112 after falling 48 points yesterday. the s&p last 6 points and the nasdaq fell 11. taking a look at overseas trading. the nikkei fell 127 points while in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 230. on the heels of a strong rally yesterday, wall street inest vers took a pause.

dallas based airlines bought air tran for $104 billion. despite the rumblings of higher ticket prices, airtran soared and southwest shot up nearly 9%. more m & a action on the streets. albert ya jumped after discussing adding vo5 to its lineup. walmart is looking to expand oversees to buy south african retailer mass mart. research in motion is hoping its blackberry notebook will be a game changer in the market. no word yet on a release date or price point, but experts expect the notebook to start around $500. ben&jerry have decided to drop the words "all natural"

from their offerings since there are certain great that are not all natural. meanwhile, the federal trade commission says there is no evidence to back upmakers of palm wonderful. that's a pricey pomegranate juice that suggests specific health benefits. the country's top producer says this year's hump kin crop is healthy and cans are arriving in stores. last year, pumpkin shortages added increased to the pumpkin mixes. in sports, the passing of a legend. plus, the bears in a classic monday night matchup. your early sports headlines are straight ahead. we are looking at extreme heat to the west and extreme rain to the east. we'll have a look at your tuesday forecast, coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, two undefeated and storied franchises got together last night in chicago as the bears and packers renewed the nfl's oldest rivalry. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines.

good morning. for the third straight week, the monday night football game decided in the final minutes. bears and packers. pick it up in the fourth. packers up, 10-7. they made a huge mistake. there hester goes, 62 yards to the house. his eighth punt return for a touchdown in his career and the bears were up, 14-10. they were answer aaron rogers scramble and he scrambled and called his own number. he was in for the score. a gutsry play and the packers led, 17-14. final seconds, tied at 17. bears milked the clock. robbie gold came in and nailed a 19-yarder. bears remain undefeated with a 20-17 win. some sad news from the football world. hall of fame quicker and characteristic george blandon passed away yesterday. he retired one month shy of his 4e89 birthday. he place for the bears, colts and oilers, but will best be remembered for his years with the 9ers.

blue jays, this is not how you want to start a game. a lineup stumbled off the mound. that's an unusual first pitch. with a start like that, you can only get better. at one point, he struck out seven straight. he finished with 9 ks. blue jays put up five in the third. yanks missed a chance to win a playoff spot. speaking of clenching, phils had the champagne on ice. a towering shot, philadelphia led it, 1-0. that's all they need because roy haliday was dealing. struck out danny espinosa. the phils win their fourth straight n.l.e. crown. rays and marlins, needed extra innings. ended with a walk-off single in the 11th. braves won, 2-1, now a half game up in the wild card race. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. your early morning entertainment headlines are

straight ahead. plus, a treasurered american landmark makes a come back. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." the east coast, get your rain gear ready. we are looking at rain once again from the southeast up through the northeast. scattered showers and even some thunderstorms will be in the forecast.

slight risk we could see severe storms mainly from the mid-atlantic down through the southeast. nice temperatures through the middle part of the country. the west, to still dealing with the heat. a break in the rain tomorrow along the east coast, but it will quickly return by thursday and into the beginning of the weekend. we stay dry through the middle of the country and the heat backs off even more to the west coast. now to your event of the day. if you are watching us on wcyb5 in bristol, virginia, the official birthplace of country music allows you to hear some tunes at the live bluegrass music event at the downtown center. that's your early event of the day. >> and trivia for you, congress made that official in '98. so it truly is the birthplace -- >> veronica, very impressive. >> there you go. i'm a lover of all music. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. does she finally get it? that's the current lindsay lohan

question. she visited a homeless shelter last weekend and is saying all the right things about addiction. some have their doubts. she spent the weekend calling photo agencies, shopping pictures of herself posing for $10,000 in her alcohol monitoring ankle bracelet. the 1930s hollywood beauty only to return as the oldest academy award winning nominee for "titanic" has died at the age of 100. max wineberg won't be joining jay leno on his new late night show. finally, showbiz divorces aren't rare, but in the case of george lopez and his wife, the two are amicably splitting after 17 years. but george can never truly say good-bye to ann. you see, five years ago when he was suffering from a genetic kidney disorder, she saved his life by donating to him one of her kidneys.

hmmm. i don't know what to say about that. >> well, i guess with that you have to end on a good note, right? >> yeah. but do you end it? i mean, he owes her his life, really. can she ask for her kidney back? she can't. >> i don't know. maybe this is not -- we'll let them sort it out. >> all right. this one comes to us from nashville, tennessee, where a country music gem backed to country music is shining once again. the grand ole opry reopens its doors tonight after a recent flood damage threatened to wash away what some call the home of american music. the early reminder of the flood music is on the wall and a piece of the original stage where many a star was born. i'm veronica de la cruz, 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 looks like we have some rain today, especially during the morning commute. give yourself some extra time. most of the rain is in the western suburbs. it will move into frederick and carroll county within the next 45 minutes. there is light rain around baltimore. maybe a couple of thunderstorms today. most of the activity will be this morning. upper 70's to around 80. we will check the seven-day forecast coming up in just a few

minutes. for now, to the news desk. >> thank you. 71 degrees on tv hill. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> a merger between two major airlines could mean good things for baltimore. >> i am kate amara. american firms keeping from sending out of the country. >> in the middle river, there is one early morning accident. is one early morning accident. that's in andy harris' unfair tax plan. 23% sales tax. a 23% sales tax will cut my business in half. would be devastating. andy harris' 23% sales tax absolutely makes no sense. 23% sales tax would really make things unaffordable. that's too high for the average american out here. i don't know how we would manage it really. don't like that idea. we can't afford andy harris' idea. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message.

[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'm jennifer franciotti. >> and i am stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> tony pann has a quick look at today's forecast. er thenit is dry ai

er thenit is dry ai