this morning on "early today," republican shake-up. another strong showing for a gop underdog while front-runner rick perry's campaign dooeg deals with a disturbing revelation. high anxiety, scary moment for an engineer inspecting earthquake damage on the washington monument. and wheel of misfortune, a small plane crashes into a carnival ride in eastern small plane crashes into a carnival ride in eastern australia. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry.

today we begin with damage control. the campaign of gop presidential hopeful rick perry is on the defensive over a report linking him to a hunting camp that used a racially charged name. the accusations have drawn criticisms from rival herman cain who spent the weekend celebrating a victory. tracie potts joins us with more from washington. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. herman cain has now won his second republican straw poll, the first one in fll florida and now in kansas city at a women's gop convention. he had been considered a minor candidate, this former pizza executive from atlanta, but now he seems to be gaining momentum. we saw him on a couple of the sunday talk shows yesterday criticizing texas governor and candidate rick perry. apparently perry, his father owns a farm where perry often hunts. at this entrance of that farm painted on a rock was a racial

slur. the perry family says they bought this farm in the 80s, they removed it, but there were some anon-miss reports that it was still there recently. cain said that that was insensitive to african-americans in this century. perry now trying to hold on to his lead as a front-runner in that race as chris christie, new jersey governor, is taking a look at possibly running. although some say his record in new jersey, joblessness and education cuts could make it tough. tracie potts for us in washington, thank you. anti-wall street protesters are promising to keep up their fight, despite the arrest of hundreds this weekend in new york. the movement, known as occupy wall street, has gained momentum, spawning similar demonstrations across the country. francis coe reports. >> reporter: protesters out in force, stretching into their third week in new york city. their concerns range from the environment to social change, all seemingly unified by beefs

about the economy and inequality. >> i want to see more opportunities for my children and for my students and for all americans. >> on saturday, police arrested more than 700 in the growing group of demonstrators on the black lynn bridge. but the arrest didn't dampen the outpouring of support. >> i wouldn't be here if it weren't for twitter and facebook, that's how i found out about it. >> reporter: solidarity showed in the form of hundreds this weekend, from california to colorado. >> we are 99%. >> reporter: north carolina to upstate new york. labor experts say the arab spring uprisings overseas have empowered protesters to stand up. >> those movements, those revolutions led by young people. and i think thooeb unemployed and wondering what to do. so i think that's another, let's say, inspiration for why they're sitting in now. >> reporter: we're nowhere on that same level and we're nowhere facing the same kind of

opposition, but we can still be inspired the by that and i think a lot of us are. >> reporter: an inspiration that keeps the occupy wall street protests going strong. francis coe, nbc news. today, amanda knox has a chance to gain her freedom after spending four years behind bars in italy for her roommate's murder. knox is expected to address the court before it decides on the appeal of her 20-year prison sentence. knox and her codefendant, a boyfriend at the of the killing were found guilty of stabbing mayor death kercher to death. prosecutors want her sentenced increased to life in prison. the defense has tried to cast doubt over dna evidence linking the two to the crime. the prosecution contends even without the dna, there is overwhelming circumstantial evidence tying them to the crime. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. powerful winds temporarily shut down inspections of the

washington monument yesterday. newly released video shows high wind gusts wlog one engineer 30 feet off the wall of the 550 foot structure friday. it's unclear when the crew will be able to return to work to complete their assessment. a 9-year-old learned the dangers of joy riding the hard way after crashing hits parents' car in philadelphia. according to witnesses, the little boy is lucky to be alive after surviving a collision with a tree and flipping over twice. he's currently hospitalized with head injuries, listed in critical but stable condition. finally, the annual albuquerque international balloon fiesta kicked off over the weekend. organizers set the record for most balloons launched in an hour sending 345 hot air balloons toward the heavens. early highlights of the nine-day event include glowing balloon launches and fireworks. now for a look at your national and regional weather,

we welcome back nbc meteorologist bill karins from his very special assignment. >> it was a very difficult assignment. >> very difficult assignment. do you think this job is tough? no. having a second little baby. let's take a look at little taylor karins. look at her there. she's saying, it's going to rain. >> it's much more comfy to be on dad's chest than on the crib. >> don't get her used to that. >> she already is. >> i'm sure she is. she's beautiful, bill. but we're happy to have you back. >> it was good. i got more sleep. interesting how that works. there wasn't anything too dramatic out there. it was a quiet weekend. we were talking about rain showers through new york city up through new england and into pennsylvania. i have pictures in snowshoe, west virginia, that were sent to me. it snowed this weekend. it's amazing how quickly we went from summer straight down to a

chilly temperature. you can see the temperatures this morning, 47 in atlanta, 48 around washington, d.c. that cutoff low is still sitting over the mid-atlantic. we're not going to see a change in the weather pattern. it's going to stay nice in the middle of the country. the southeast is beautiful, too. showers are continuing through buffalo, detroit, pennsylvania and even new york city late today. same with philadelphia up into new england. i'd carry the umbrella. most of the day will be dry, but there will be showers out there late this afternoon. look how gorgeous in the middle of the nation. minneapolis, 80 and sunny. that is a nice fall forecast. that's a look at your national forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. st. louis, missouri, no complaints. 78 degrees. austin, texas, around 88. the texas heat ended. we're still very dry in the region. really, no rain in sight for you. albuquerque, new mexico, just a chance of a few showers. nice, easy forecast for me. that's the way i like it on my

first day back. >> we're trying. >> sit back, listen to lynn. >> put your feet up. come on, when you get home, it's going to be harder. enjoy it while it lasts. buyers, stocks in internet giants and a small chunk of new york city sold on the auction block. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, a new book written by martha stewart's daughter makes the happy homemaker sound like mommy dearest. coming up, cowboys cut down by the lions and a big playoff hit by albert pujols. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. a a top yemeni official says al qaeda's chief bombmaker did not die in a u.s. drone strike late last week as was widely reported. the drone strike did kill anwar

al awlaki, one of the world's most wanted terrorist. israel has formally accepted a proposal by the so-called quartet of mid-east peacemakers. ahead of the visit to the region, defense secretary leon panetta stressed the need for negotiations, warning israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the mid-east. six members of the u.s. supreme court attended the annual red mass in washington, d.c. on sunday ahead of the start of today's new session. the high court will likely take ul the constitutionality of president obama's health care law with a decision expected during next year's presidential campaign. an ultra light plane crashed into a ferris wheel trapping two children on the ride and two adults in the wreckage. amazingly, no one was seriously hurt. the pilot says he didn't see the ride. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,913 after

falling 240 points on friday. the s&p was down 28 points. the nasdaq dropped 65. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei sank 154 points while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 770. friday investors said good riddance to this year's painful third quarter. with that in the rearview mirror, there's not much ahead to look forward to. the third quarter was the s&p 500's worst since 2008, prompting many to slash forecasts for the rest of the year. the s&p dropped over 14%, losing roughly $1.7 trillion in value. that already has investors nervous about earnings season which begins next week. global economic troubles have many concerned. healthy earnings, the one continuous positive note for months may have come to an end. case in point, ingersoll-rand sank 12% friday after cutting

its third quarter and full year earnings forecast. another cause for concern, greece's finance ministry said sunday the country is missing a crucial deficit target set for its massive bailout package and called on the state and citizens to respond. in other words, make more cuts. greek bankruptcy could plunge the world into economic turmoil. data out this week includes manufacturing data later today. wednesday, we'll get the service sector index. and all week, wall street will brace for friday's september employment report. keep an eye on yahoo!. this weekend, jack moss, ceo of china's alibaba said he is interested in buying yahoo!. watch kodak, which plummeted 54% friday on bankruptcy rumors. finally, new york city's rat island is basically a pile of rocks that once housed typhoid

patients. nevertheless, rat island sold at auction friday for $160,000. the jets crash, the packers fry and albert caps a cardinal comeback. plus, a good friend does bad things to tony romo and his cowboys. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we're off to a great start to october. middle of the country in the southeast,ust new england, we need to get you some sunshine. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, remember all those preseason predictions about the new york jets going to the super bowl? well, last night the baltimore ravens took the wind out of those sails. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the last time rex ryan was in baltimore, he was the raven defensive coordinator. last night, the jets leader trying to stick it to his old team, but it didn't go too well for rex and the jets. third quarter, mark sanchez picked up by webb. he went 73 yards for the touchdown. jets turned it over four times. the ravens ripped the jets, 34-17. in dallas, the cowboys led, 27-3. detroit has the heart of a lion. bobby carpenter picked off romo in the third and ran back for

the score. carpenter was a groomsman in romo's wedding this summer. the lions came back to win it, 34-30. green bay, big day for aaron rodgers against the broncos. four touchdowns and ran for two more. packered rotted denver, 49-23. now to arizona, eli man to go jake in the end zone, giants defense stopped the cards and 58 seconds later, manning at it again. giants came back to win, 31-27, they're 3-1. baseball playoffs in the bronx, tiger's cabrera, huge game against the yankees. tigers led, 4-0 at one point. yanks tried to rally late. the go-ahead at the plate. detroit won it, 5-3, the series tied at a game. in milwaukee, brewers and diamondbacks.

brewers scored five in the inning. milwaukee won it, 5 gam-4. a base hit scored allen craig with the go-ahead run. cards won it, 5-4, that series tied at a game apiece. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. which film made a big splash this weekend at the box office? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's october and the baseball playoffs have begun. but one particular series got off to an extra special heart warming start. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. hope you had an enjoyable weekend. we are seeing a quiet weather pattern out there. we are going to duck showers in detroit, pittsburgh, all the areas of the mid-atlantic. most of the day will be dry, sunny, cool and crisp. you'll probably have a passing shower at one portion of the day. as we look at tomorrow, much more of the same. together will be the last day of the soggy weather in new england. tend of the week will be 100 times better. ? you're watching us on nbc 40 tallahassee, florida, visit the blacksmith and experience what life was like on a faem family farm in the 19th century at big ben farms tallahassee museum. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> bill, thanks so much. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.

"the lion king" has been knocked off his perch by a dolphin. "dolphin tale," last week's third-place finisher took in $42 million to leap into the top spot. brat pitt's "money ball" came in second place and "50/50" finished fourth with 8.85 million. "courageo "courageous" finished fifth. "dream house" finished sixth with 8.2 million. finally, a new book by martha stewart's daughter, alexis, makes growing up with the dmeftic diva sound like a nightmare. for christmas, they apparently had to wrap her own present. for halloween, no costumes. they turned off the lights and pretended they weren't home. have you ever seen those homes? >> those were the ones with shaving cream on them. >> alexis said, if i didn't do

it perfectly, i had to do it again. i grew up with a glue gun held to her head. still, there are no hard feelings and she dedicated the book to her mom. >> i'm sure she's happy about that. what does that mean, a glue gun to your head? >> she's scary. this comes to us from arlington, texas, where the texas rangers kicked off their series with an emotional pitch. cooper stone made a courageous return to the ballpark friday months after his firefighter father fell to his death reaching for a ball thrown by josh hamilton. cooper threw out the first pitch to hamilton with 50,000 fans on their feet, many of whom had tears in their eyes. i'm lynn berry, 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. >> good morning. we're off to a chilly start on this monday morning. there are some sprinkles out in the mountains. around hagerstown, you guys could see some sprinkle activity. 45 at the airport. 44 in jarrettsville. variable clouds. you may see some sunshine to start. a chance for a few rain showers. a high temperature of only 54. we have some good news in the

seven-day forecast. >> 4:57. it is a place many people go to complain about politics. now facebook wants to take on washington. will explain how. >> and the rest is made in a fire that burned down a tire shop. -- an arrest is made in a fire. >> the supreme court starts a new session today. some of the big cases on the docket. >> joe flacco owes the defense a lust this way. highlights and reaction from john harbaugh. >> a busy start for your monday morning commute.

[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. this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >>