this morning on "early today," dead on arrival. president obama vetoes a bill that could have led to more home foreclosures. grave error, a new report says nearly 72,000 government stimulus checks were sent to dead people. and family outing, shocking video captures a father using his children to steal from a video captures a father using his children to steal from a parked car. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and a very good friday morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with fighting

foreclosure fraud. as americans struggle to make mortgage payments, just yesterday, a bill reached the president that according to critics would have made it easier for banks to foreclose on homeowners. president obama stepped in and blocked the measure using a rare pocket veto. the bill would have forced courts to accept night risations including those mistake electronically from across state lines. the worry is such a change could lead to fraud. institutions have acknowledged problems with foreclosure documents, included suspected forgeries. three of the nation's largest banks have frozen foreclosures in 23 states. the president has offered to work with congress on a revised bill. yesterday, the white house was busy defending its decision to allow companies to escape parts of the health care law for now. 30 businesses have received a one-year pass on a requirement banning low cost, low benefit plans. the companies include jack in the box and a firm that insures

mcdonald's workers says the new requirement would have forced them to raise premiums to virtually unaffordable levels. meanwhile, yesterday a federal judge ruled in favor of the new health care law. the he judge rejected a challenge by a conservative interest group saying the mandate for all to have insurance by 2014 is legal. according to a senate inquiry, u.s. funds in afghanistan have been funneled to warlords linked to the talib taliban. the investigation found the government failed to properly manage those hired to provide security under contracts worth billions of dollars. a separate congressional inquiry in june concluded contractors were paying local warlords for convoy protection. republican senate candidate sharron angle is suggesting that islamic law is taking root in american cities. in a report last week, she is heard telling supporters at a

rally that the country needs to address militant terrorist situations that has allowed shereal law to take over cities like deere born, michigan. meanwhile, one of nevada's most influential republicans says that he is reluctantly endorsing angle's opponent, democratic leader harry reid. in a statement, rajio creditized angle saying she was a, quote, totally ineffective lawmaker. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in michigan, three brazen criminals are seen on video storping a storming a jewelry store, tying up their victims, cleaning out what they could in three minutes and sprayed mace in their victims' faces making their escape. however, a sheriff's deputy was right around the corner and after a brief search they were apprehended. new jersey police are looking for a father who used his kids to help him burglarize a car.

the older kids carted off a bag, two lcd monitors and a laptop while the dad held a toddler. authorities hope to not just solve the crime, but help the young suspects, as well. and another robbery this time in virginia where a man is seen on security cameras browsing the aisles of a grocery store filling his backpack. police say the man walked into the store at night, hid, and went on a shopping spree after the store closed. an alarm went off, but the alarm company never called the police. finally, the pole fitness craze has officially hit the streets of new york. folks were out praising its effectiveness as a total body workout. if anything, this sport, they say, is a whole lot more fun than pounding the treadmill. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. all right, bill, there are no

excuses because that was a guy there up on that pole. >> yeah. i don't think those three people did anything to reduce the risque part of that. but it's your turn. that's all i'm saying. >> not today or tomorrow. maybe sunday. let's talk about tropical storm otto. this is the only thing happening out there. heavier rain over the last couple of days, and now it will harmlessly go out to sea. otto will probably be with us for another two or three days and dissipate far out there in the atlantic. we had a big strong cold front kick off the eastern seaboard. even areas of new england saw sunshine yesterday. now we are left with a gorgeous weather pattern. the only storm out there is way up here into the rockies. this will kick into montana today and areas of colorado. not the denver area, but more or less out here with the mountainous areas. but the big story, high pressure dominates. high pressure gives you sinking

air, a lot of sunshine, usually it means warm conditions this time of year and that warm air, that return flow on the backside, we could see near record high in the central plains. at this hour, it shouldn't be 58 in minneapolis. a very warm morning for you. and the warm air goes from kansas city northward. later today, areas of nebraska could see record heat. probably even up here in the daits dakotas, too. 8 88 in dallas and sunshine for everyone today. it should be a very enjoyable lunch outdoors. that's a look at your friday forecast. that's a look at your forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. sunshine across the board from phoenix, arizona, 88es from to memphis, tennessee, a taste of summer at 87. there won't be any humidity. temperatures will be warm, but the air will be dry. veronica, this great pattern lasts through the weekend. if you have planned like a fast

festival or apple picking, this is the weekend for it. >> and i want to say thank you for that taste of summer heading into the weekend. >> you like it. i know you're fighting it. you don't want the fall to arri arrive. >> 365 days of summer. that's all i'm going to say, bill. the ups and downs of golden oil and what will today's job numbers say? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, is she box office poison or is she box office gold? this weekend may tell. the nhl drops the puck on a new season, some controversy in baseball and tim lincecum is lights out. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. a government investigator says the social security administration mistakenly sent out 72,000 stimulus checks of $250 apiece to people who were dead. that amounts to around $18 million.

the report finds more than half of those payments have been returned. chilean officials say a drilling machine could reach 33 trapped miners tomorrow. although the actual rescue will likely begin next week. paramedics will be sent down into the mine to determine which men will be sent up first. right now, authorities plan to extract those who are mentally sound and capable of handling a setback in the narrow shaft. next will be those with illnesses and lastly, those who are the most physically fit. researchers in montana say they have discovered what may have caused the collapse of the country's honeyby population. a lethal mix of an otherwise harmless virus and normally harmless parasites. exactly how the combination kills bees they're uncertain. but sntists are hopeful that they will be able to slow the disorder which has killed off more than 40% of the nation's honey bees since 2006.

a capsule carrying an american astronaut and two russian cosmonauts is on its way to the international space station after lifting off from kazakhstan earlier today. health experts said thursday a surprising number of americans hobbled by arthritis may be due to oh beet beesty. the president of the arthritis foundation say the increase is probability due to mainly baby boomers who are at an age when they're most likely to suffer a most common form of arthritis. to add to matters, baby boomes,s many of which are obese. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page online at msnbc.com. "early today" health is brought to you by vigisil wash, the confident clean. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,948 after

the s&p fell one point and the nasdaq rose 3. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 95 points while the hong kong, the hang seng added 59. on wall street, indicating caution ahead of today's all-important monthly jobs report. first time unemployment claims for last week fell more than expected, giving stocks an early lift. but those gains quickly dwindled with investors playing it safety ahead of today's more important monthly employment report. it's expected to show little change for september. wall street hopes the weak reading will spur further steps by the federal reserve to boost the economy. the dollar reversed a down tren on thursday, flattening oil and gold, which took a toll on energy and mining stocks. newmont mining. copper and gold both fell more than 2%. gold hit another record of $1,366 thursday before pulling back more than $30 an ounce by the end of trade. oil prices tumbled below $82 ra barrel after rising past $84

earlier. abercrombie & fitch jumped more than 8% and american eagle climbed 8% as retailers led healthy september sales. alcoa kicked off earnings season after the closing bell reporting a lower third quarter profit that, nevertheless, beat estimates. shares rose more than 3%. pepsi reported mixed results earlier with earnings matching expect ages, but its future outlook disappointed. pepsi fell 3%. rates on 30-year mortgages fell to the lowest level in decades for the ninth time in 12 weeks with the average rate for 30-year fixed loans dropping to 4.27%. finally, in case you hadn't noticed, the future is here. latest example, pay pal's iphone app which allows you to deposit a check by sending in a photo of both sides. the feature cleared $100,000 worth of checks in the first 36 hours it was available. another twin killing in minnesota.

a texas two-step in tampa and a tux in pennsylvania. plus, tim lincecum, known as "the freak" was down right scary last night against the braves. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and on this friday, i'm struggling to find any bad weather. your weekend forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." a

telling us "maryland is moving forward," "and moving maryland forward" this jobs

report tells the truth maryland's economy stalled "we face an uphill struggle in trying to regain the jobs lost" o'malley attempts a cover-up, falsifying the jobs report to help his campaign. "whatever we can do to make it disappear, we need to do it. that's coming straight from the top" martin o'malley, first he makes stuff up, when caught, he covers stuff up. we need a governor who tells the truth.

good morning. ifou're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, after multiple ejections early in baseball playoffs, the umpires are under the microscope nearly as much as the players. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the playoffs continued yesterday, but not without a bit of controversy. we'll start in minnesota. yankees and twins tied at 2. carlos brevano' pitch to lance berkman, right down the pipe. that's a strike in anybody's book, but not to the umpire. it hooked like strike three, but it was called a ball. and the very next pitch, berkman ripped an rbi to center. the yanks grabbed the lead. that did not sit well with ron gardenhire. he had a few choice words for the umpire and then was tossed. that was the difference. yankees won it, 5-2. they lead the series, two games to none. another questionable call, this one in the rays and rangers

games. in the pits, chaud qualls thought he struck out vince young. the umpire said he didn't go around. take another look. young definitely went past the place with his bat. a three-run homer. joe madden was livid. he was ejected in a hurry. rangers won it, 6-0. they're one victory away from wrapping up their first franchise win in history. good old fashioned pitcher's du duel. tim lincecum tied out at major league 14. the brave derek whall struck out four. in came buster posy and the braves were up, 1-0. giants won it, 1-0, game two is tonight. hockey's sydney crosby and the penguins kicked off the season by opening a new arena in pittsburgh. unfortunately, the players spoil the debut. claude jerau scored early to pull the flyers up, 3-1. eastern conference champs went on to win it, 3-2. that's your early look at sports

on "early today." i'm fred roggin. can a horror flick shock the competition this week at the box office? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, paying tribute at the pentagon to one of our fallen heroes. you're watching "early today."

good friday morning.

your weather forecast looks simple and enjoyable. i hope you have weekend plans outdoors. this will be as good as it gets. today, near record highs in the dakotas and the eastern plains. the eastern seaboard looks fantastic, too. into your weekend, look at saturday and sunday. there's a lot of sunshine, hardly any rain anywhere whatsoever. so for college football, high school football, even the nfl games this weekend, not many issues. if you're watching us on kark 4 on little rock, arkansas, take the family and enjoy free concerts, children's shows, a livestock show and much more at the arkansas state fair. that's at the state fair checks and that's your "early today" event of the day, veronica. i love the fall fairs down in the deep south. >> yeah, at the state fair, you like the butter cow? >> i do, yeah. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. romantic comedies have not fared well of late. nevertheless, there is one opening this weekend that experts think will take the box office title in tight competition. "life as we know it," starting

catherikatherine heigl is expec take in $15 million or more. hiegel struck out paired with ashton kutcher, but maybe the baby will work for audiences. it's a big weekend for "the social network." will it get lost in the sauce and disappear? experts say it will compete for number one. despite diane lane and a hugely expensive marketing campaign, secretariat, a film about the 70s horse is not generating big interest and is expected to take in about $10 million. the wild card here, wes craven's 3d offering, "my soul to take" may not be going anywhere. others saying pushing it to the top in a weak field. what about you, bill? >> i've never seen a horror movie in 3d. i don't know what to expect,

whether it would be better or worse. >> i think it would be worse. i'd say no thanks, but that's just me. this comes to us now from our nation's capital where one u.s. war hero who made the ultimate sacrifice continued to receive his just recognition. one day after their son received the medal of honor, sav sergeant robert miller's parents looks on as he was posthumously inducted into the hall of heros for saving the lives of americans and afghan soldiers even after he was mortally wounded. his parents received a flag and plaque commemorating their son's sacrifice. very nice. >> yeah, and for all the families, they don't get the closure and they can have the nice ceremony and their son or daughter be honored, it's very nice. >> absolutely. i'm veronica de la cruz, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> good morning. i'm john collins. humidity is up. it normally is at the early morning hours. the barometer is up. we have a light southwest wind right now. a look at the big picture, boy, there is nothing going on in the eastern half of the united

states. out in the mountains and the west, they have rain showers. that is a long way away, and rain is not anything we'll talk about in our forecast. i'll detail that coming up. >> john, we feel bad, nothing foo bad going on wherever-wise. >> here's looking ahead on wbal news. >> the largest drug bust in their kate amara in washington with the new unemployment report and how it could play out at the polls. >> and we are looking at a nice morning commute. we have details on that and we'll have a look outside