louisiana. florida. alabama. the gulf is the world's goodtime headquarters, and we're 100% open for business. this morning on "early today," memory lapse. texas governor rick perry's big stumble at last night's republican presidential debate. penn state sacking. legendary football coach joe paterno is fired in the wake of a child sex scandal. and laid to rest. now you can own a creepy piece and laid to rest. now you can own a creepy piece of michael jackson's history. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning, i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with one for the record books. last night in michigan, republican presidential hopefuls

squared off on the economy and what wasn't shaping up to be a very memorable debate until what may have been a game-changing gaffe by texas governor rick perry. perry took to twitter after the debate saying he, "stepped in it." nbc's steve handelsman has more. [ applause ] >> reporter: for the cnbc debate on the economy, the republican candidates came to a state with 11% unemployment. on a day when u.s. stocks dived and the italian debt crisis got so bad it threatened our recovery. what should we do? herman cain -- >> we must grow this economy. we are the biggest economy in the world. >> reporter: mitt romney -- no u.s. bailouts. >> no, no, no. we do not need to step in to bail out banks in europe or banks in the u.s. that may have italian debts. >> reporter: rick perry, no bailouts at home either even though the chrysler and g.m. bailouts saved this detroit community. >> if you are too big to fail, you are too big. >> reporter: when moderator maria bartiromo asked cain about

sexual harassment -- >> he was focusing on character and judgment -- >> reporter: the audience protested. cain claimed his supporters are hanging in. >> they don't care about the character assassination, they care about leadership and getting there economy growing and all the other problems we face. [ applause ] >> reporter: a big problem is housing. prices down, foreclosures up. >> you want the housing market to come back? the economy has to come back. >> let markets work, help people get back to work. let them buy homes. >> reporter: rick perry looked sharp until he tried to kick off three government agencies he would kill. >> commerce, education, and the -- let's see. i can't -- >> reporter: the cringe moment -- the perry disaster. as the gop candidates competed to lead america back to prosperity. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, rochester, michigan. in a massive shakeup at penn state university, legendary

football coach joe paterno was fired last night. the university president was let go amid a widening scandal over how the school handled allegations of sexual child abuse by a former assistant coach. penn state students flooded the streets last night in protest. at least two were reportedly arrested. nbc's jay gray reports. >> reporter: the turmoil at penn state poured into the streets overnight. >> joe paterno! [ chanting ] >> reporter: as word quickly spread of a late decision by the university board of trustees that legendary coach joe paterno and university president graham spanier would be relieved of their duties immediately. >> i think we reached a point where change was necessary. we thought it was in the best long-term interest of the university. >> reporter: thousands of students gathered on campus and outside paterno's home to support the man who has been a part of penn state football for more than six decades. with his wife at his side, paterno spoke briefly, thanking

the crowd. >> look, get a good night's sleep, all right? study, all right? we still got things to do. all right, i'm out of it maybe now. they put me ahead of it, but we'll go from here, okay. good night, everybody. one thing, thanks, and pray a little bit for those victims. >> reporter: a ninth potential victim has come forward now claiming he was sexually assaulted by jerry sandusky. the former defensive coordinator has denied the growing list of charges against him as police continue what they've labeled a "rigorous investigation" here. jay gray, nbc news, state college, pennsylvania. elsewhere, students frustrated with steep tuition hikes and state budget cuts at u.c. berkeley brought the occupy wall street movement to their campus yesterday. campus police in riot gear stood guard while some thousand students protested into the night. at least six students and one associate professor were arrested earlier in the day when

police used force to tear down tents, put up in defiance of university orders. this appears to be the first campus-based occupy protest. and now here's a look at some other stories making news. "early today in america," video of a horrific collision last september has surfaced out of oregon. a police officer en route to an emergency call crashed into a car, then barrelled through the front wall of a nearby home. both drivers and one passenger suffered injuries while a man inside the home was unharmed. a collision between two tankers on an arizona highway produced a fiery wreck killing one of the drivers. the explosive fire occurred after a mix milk tanker rear-ended another carrying over 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel. thick smoke and raging flames forced officials to evacuate homes, businesses, and hotels within a mile radius until firefighters were able to get the blaze under control. and finally, mother nature pulled out her winter blanket in

wisconsin, covering parts of the state with two to six inches of snowfall. the winter-like conditions smacked the area with heavy snow and downed power lines leaving thousands without power. >> reporter: and now a look at the regional and national temperatures with big karins with the weather forecast. >> not pretty in alaska, the worst of it is now over with. the winds gusted at times to 90 miles per hour in what was an epic blizzard in some areas. nome did have a storm surge of ten feet. they had a little minor damage. but it looks like they were making it through. some areas still have power, too. that's also great news. as far as what the storm looks like, you can see it here on satellite. it continues to move up to the north. there it goes. then a little storm actually followed in right behind it. so this was just a huge storm. at one point yesterday, i measured it 1,500 miles across, the clouds from that storm system.

that's roughly over halfway across the united states. that's how large of an envelope the cloud shield was. now as far as the lower 48 goes, high pressure, cool weather in the middle of the country. the storm system that brought that snow that lynn showed you up through wisconsin is leaving now. with the front, it's going to drag through areas of the east. we'll see sprinkles and showers in the mid-atlantic. but it looks like we'll get a little more rain, especially eastern new england. we're going to tap into a little tropical moisture off the coast. looks like hartford to boston to maine is who could get downpours later today. maybe showers around new york. everybody else is pretty much dry and a little bit cool. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. in cleveland, ohio, can't rule out snow flurries. yesterday was officially the first day with snow. in chicago, didn't amount to anything. we did see the first snowflakes of the season. tampa, florida, we're beautiful, 80 degrees before the front comes through. pretty quiet weather for

tomorrow's forecast for veterans day, the forecast coming up. >> thanks. also coming up, wall street has the italian blues. toyota with another recall. and buying ads on line to beat back a political scandal. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, the latest stunning setback in what was supposed to be his big comeback. >> reporter: coming up, the nba has another marathon meeting, and one of the strangest plays you'll ever see on the ice. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today," i'm lynn berry, and here's some of your top headlines this morning. the "washington post" admits the mortuary at dover air force base disposed of cremated body parts of the nation's war dead from 2003 to 2008 by dumping the ashes in a virginia landfill. officials say since that discovery they've been burying ashes at sea. this week the air force disciplined three mortuary officials for gross mismanagement.

in eastern turkey, more than two dozen survivors have been pulled from the rubble of three buildings brought down by a 5.7 quake that's killed at least seven people. it happened in the same province where another quake killed 600 last month. alabama's jefferson county now holds the record for the largest municipal bankruptcy in u.s. history. the county filed yesterday, years after being plunged into more than $4 billion of debt by a sewer project. and file this one under "creepy." very creepy. the queen-size bed in which michael jackson died is being auctioned off next month along with other items from his rented l.a. mansion. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,780 after plunged 389 points yesterday. the s&p sank 46 points. the nasdaq tumbled 105. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 254 points

while in hong kong the hang seng dropped a whopping 1,050. wall street opened lower wednesday on concerns italy's prime minister might not follow through on his promise to resign. things got worse from there. silvio berlusconi said he might want new elections instead of an interim government, potentially dragging out his departure and meaningful economic reform. later, italian bond yields soared to crisis levels. the same levels ireland, portugal, and greece needed bailouts for due to runaway financing costs. making matters worse, a deal on a national unity government in greece collapsed. more euro gloom. general motors slid almost 11% on unexpected losses in europe. on euro anxiety, in one day wall street's so-called fear index jumped a staggering 31%. financials like goldman sachs, morgan stanley and bank of america were hardest hit.

in earnings after the bell, cisco rose on earnings that beat expectations. in late trade, green mountain coffee plunged after missing estimates. elsewhere, yet another toyota recall. this one more than half a million of various models worldwide. working with the government to get more u.s. homes connected to broadband, cable companies will offer internet service for just $9.95 a month to households with children eligible for free lunches. and finally, more evidence politics have gone digital. the hill reports herman cain's campaign anticipating internet searches on harassment allegations against him placed ads on google targeting likely words such as herman cain harassment or herman cain scandal. an ad appears at the top of the search results for caintruth.com. offseason tragedy strikes a major leaguer. a strange approach to offense on the ice. and more gyrations in the nba

lockout. plus, if you're going through pro basketball withdrawal, these are last night's college hardwood highlights. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. while all the attention has been on the huge alaska storm, we have another storm system heading for the southwestern portion of the united states. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." over 200,000 people are hospitalized every year

with flu complications. lysol disinfectant spray is approved to kill over 50 germs on surfaces. this includes cold and flu viruses. so we recommend using lysol every day.

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, for all you pro basketball fans hungry for nba action, it wasn't much but at least there was some movement in the lockout of the players. here's a look at all your sports headlines. >> reporter: good morning, the nba lockout at 132 days and counting. the commissioner's wednesday ultimatum has come and gone without a deal. two sides continue to talk into the wee hours of the night but remain deadlocked. the pros aren't playing yet but the kids are wrapping up for the season. number 16 arizona almost stumbled against duquesne. knocking down a pair of threes, he had 19. wildcats held on to win it 67-59. number 20 rode the hard hand against ray liberty. the block, the steal, the bucket on the other end. aggies up 23 at the half and

kept it going in the second. off the fast break, the alley-oop to turner. he had a career high 20. a&m cruised 81-59. good to see steve lavin back on the sidelines. the st. john's coach missed about a month after undergoing prostate surgery. he returned hours before st. john's hosted lehigh and responded. game high 21, and it's no surprise he was from the field. st. john's won 78-73. troubling news out of venezuela. washington nationals catcher wilson ramos abducted from his home by four armed men. the 24-year-old taken away in an suv. there have been no reports of a ransom demand. he was expected to be washington's starter next season and was playing winter ball. the flyers didn't like what they saw defensively and stood in their own zone with the puck. they didn't move and waited for the lightning to blink. i've never seen anything like that before. eventually the referee whistled the play dead. not a lot of offense when you're playing like that. and that game needed overtime.

dominic moore drove to the net like a fullback. bret connelly chipped in the rebound. a weird game. the lightning will take the win 2-1. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. another award for country's princess. and another award for a legendary actor. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it is never too late to recognize a good deed. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday morning. we're all watching a cold front heading for the east. all that warm weather we've enjoyed will be coming to an end today. not a big deal. mid of the country, the cold front cleared through. temperatures are definitely chilly. no doubt about that. this afternoon and tomorrow will be sunny, much of the areas of the eastern half of the country are going to be very quiet weatherwise the next couple of days. if you're watching on wxii in north carolina, see community members in a show about an orphan girl who runs away to find a better life and finds it at "annie." at the twin cities stage. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. she sold more than 20 million albums by 21, so who knows what

more is in store for taylor swift. for the second time, swift was named the entertainer of the year. only the second woman to win the award twice, joining country legend barbara mandrell. elsewhere, piers morgan announced he's leaving "america's got talent" to concentrate on his struggling cnn show. oscar winner morgan freeman will soon pick up more hardware. a lifetime achievement award at the next golden globes. and finally in oscar news, a day after his friend, director bret ratner, resigned as producer of next year's telecast, eddie murphy has dropped out as host. after the soft opening of "tower heist" last weekend and now quitting as oscar host, bloggers are wildly speculating murphy's days as a mega-star may be over. he was hoping this would be his comeback. >> no, he's going to be an icon for all the roles in the '80s. >> to come back and command the leading roles, i'm not so sure. >> he's the donkey.

>> in the movie "shrek." >> right. now coming that comes from wtlv, jacksonville, florida. one man's historic wild ride for world peace is finally being recognized. in 1986, bill received what amounted to a pat on the back from "guinness world record" officials after driving his air boat from jacksonville to new york city. at the time his 1,100-mile trip did not fit any of their categories. so fast forward a quarter century. "guinness" has decided to honor bill's feat, placing his fantastic voyage in its 2012 edition. 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. fog is a big story today. we have had patchy fog the last couple days. not much rain. that is a good thing. some light rain showers in the mountains are moving east. we have some fog to start the day. we have a chance for some rain showers, 30%. temperatures in the 50's. we will come back and check the forecast for the upcoming weekend. >> 50 degrees on tv hill. how many government agencies can

you list? umped at two.ts stomp >> joe paterno is out. >> fog is a big issue this morning. we will update you on any problems in

[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. >> thank you. >> joe paterno address is a huge crowd outside of this home. good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. >> and i'm stan stovall. will love much more reaction