good thursday morning. coming up on "early today." breaking news overnight. two armed groups have taken libya's leader hostage. new details related to the shutdown's impact on families who lost loved ones in the line of duties. republicans hd to the white house today for talks with president obama. plus extreme roller blading and the best soft drink to ease that hangover? "early today" starts right now. this is "early today" for thursday, october 10. good morning everybody.

i'm betty nguyen. there is breaking news overnight in libya. armed militants have kidnapped libyan prime minister and there are reports it is for retaliation. it happened just before dawn in the capitol tripoli. local media says the raid was a joint operation of two rebel groups. this comes days after u.s. forces entered libya to capture al libi who is being interrogated for his role of the 1998 bombing of the embassies in kenya. washington is monitoring developments and adds all u.s. embassy personnel are safe. new developments in the

edward snowden saga. snowden's father arrived in moscow to visit his son, the first visit for the two. he says he has no idea what edward's intentions are. after a nation-wide uproar military death benefits to families of the fallen are restored but only through the goodness of charity. the fisher house foundation will pick up the costs. at least 26 service members have died since the shutdown began. the department of defense will reimburse the foundation once it ends. >> the theory that we should shutdown the government as a negotiation tactic should never have done in the first place and it does a disservice to the men and women in uniform and all of the veterans. >> the house voted wednesday in favor of the $100,000 so-called

death gratuity. it is unclear when the senate will take up the measure. ten days deep and today signs of more open communication between parties but not completely. the white house invited all 232 house republicans for a meeting today but house speaker john boehner rejected the invitation. he chose 18 to attend the meeting. a white house aid says the president is expected to meet with senate democrats today. the president met with house democrats wednesday in what is being called a constructive and positive discussion. nancy pelosi says the shutdown is a sad scenario to the country. >> we accept your number. we accept your pass to the

table. take yes for an answer. we haven't heard an offer of a short term one way or the other. >> pelosi says she is skeptical of a short term raise for the debt limit. and the impact on american people keeps mounting. benefit checks for wounded veterans could stop november 1. eric says 433,000 fully disabled vets could not receive payments next month and could impact hundreds of thousands of surviving spouses and children of vets. the shutdown left nearly 8,000 employees furloughed. "usa today" is reporting a massive toll on national parks. they are losing $76 million a day. and remember much of the shutdown is blamed on funding

disputes on obama care. the congressional hearing examined the irs's role in implementing it and enforcing it and it took center stage again. >> have you ever read "crucible". >> i never read it but i have seen it performed. it is about the salem witch craft. >> have you been consorting with the devil? >> not to my knowledge, sir. now to a developing story overnight. investigators are trying to figure out why a retired police officer went on a shooting spree. it happened yesterday in the town of wheeling, pennsylvania. this morning the gunman has been identified at 55-year-old thomas

picard. two security guards were treated for cuts. he served as a city police officer for more than two decades and retired 13 years ago. he was armed with an assault rifle and handgun. it was an ominous scene off the coast of north carolina earlier this week, a surf fishermen captured this giant waterspout on video. get the latest on this bill karins is here. that is part of a huge storm system coming up. every time i see that it is one of those sights that is awe inspiring. >> that was a cold front that went off the coast, stalled and now we have a storm develop on it. i don't know what everyone's threshold is for the number of gloomy days in a row you can withstand. yesterday it poured. six inches of rain in cape

hatteras yesterday. it is moving northward now. the heavy rain is shown in the green. the yellow is the down pour. the jersey shore could go four days in a row with steady rain and gusty winds. we are getting beach erosion. the rain has pushed past the beltway. washington, d.c. and baltimore. looks like philadelphia shortly. over the next three days we could see three to four inches on the coast. the big cities as much as an inch. extended forecast we have our fingers crossed around the philadelphia area that by sunday the rain will end. for the rest of the country it is gorgeous. fantastic. minneapolis near 80 today. that is your national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. the two storms on the map and one kicked through southern

california yesterday moving through arizona and new mexico. everybody else is looking at a really nice day. enjoy. so far when you get the blocky stuck weather pattern one area can be miserable for like a week and another spot like chicago can sit there -- >> look at us. that doesn't happen very often for you to call it fantastic out there. we will tell you which beverage was the best remedy for a hangover. plus a bad place to break down, right on the railroad tracks. details in two.

the united states is putting a temporary freeze to military aid to egypt in the wake of ousting of mohamed morsi. while not all aid is being

suspended, items like attack helicopters, missiles and war planes are no longer being delivered. the admiral in charge of u.s. forces was relieved of duty yesterday. he is under investigation for possibly using counterfeit gambling chips at a casino. stunning video out of texas shows a train absolutely destroying an 18 wheeler that was stuck on the track. amazingly no one was injured in that crash. a 43-year-old texas man was put to death wednesday for the 1998 killings of his parents and grandmother. michael yowell's execution was not without controversy. some claim the drugs used to kill him were improperly purchased. with the salmonella outbreak the department of agriculture is threatening to shutdown the three california based facilities responsible. foster farms has until today to come up with a solution for poor sanitary practices in the facility. stocks rebounded in part

because of this woman. janettt yell -- janet yellin was nominated by president obama. it comes with the blessing of 350 economists who had her backing making her arguably the most powerful woman in the world. air new zealand has hired betty white to help them with a four-minute in flight video. even getting a little helping hand from the "love boat" captain. and panasonic will stop manufacturing plasma tvs in march of 2014. so take note. men's wearhouse has rejected $2.3 billion unsolicited takeover bid from joseph a. bank. and we are watching about 4 1/2 hours of tv per day and spending about five hours and 16 minutes in front of tablets, smart phones in that day. which means we are watching more tv programs but from different devices.

for about the 15th time mcdonald's plans to replace happy meal toys with paperback books during the first weeks of november. read up, kiddos. and according to a chinese study of 57 beverages sprite came out on top as the best remedy for a hangover. who knew? ahead another teen goes home in the fall classic. and the rest of your sports headlines with richard lui. first here is a pop culture trivia question for you. what is the oldest soft drink in america? coca-cola, dr. pepper, 7 up or ibc root beer. the answer when "early today" returns. pepper, 7 up or

ibc root beer.

so before the break we asked what is the oldest soft drink in america? coca-cola, dr. pepper, 7 up or ibc root beer? the answer is dr. pepper.

it was first sold in 1805 in waco, texas. there is a museum. >> i was guessing dr. pepper. >> it was a tough one. >> i'll drink them both. they are both break. you want to talk about sports? there was a lot of baseball last night here. the cardinals thunder into the national league championship. they are 8-1 in deciders. st. louis gets on the board first. later the pirates, here is the two-run homer there. here is the grounder. alvarez on first after an error. a homer shuts the front door and adam waynewright closes. pirates go home 6-1. dodgers travel to st. louis. emotions surge but nobody budging. redskins owner says he heard

both sides on the name debate but it will stay the same, that name, based on the 81-year tradition. he cited a poll of native americans that did not find the name offensive. are you ready to party here? >> always. >> look at this baby. it even has texas on it. starting bid for that air stream $75,000 on ebay. made in 1975. two flat screen tvs, two fridges and a keg rater. >> that is tricked out. >> perhaps we can take it to tonight's game. nfl, eli manning tries luck. congratulations. little height difference. >> she may need a step ladder. >> four-time world cup -- he has

a couple of muscles. four-time world cup champion is hitting the fresh powder. he is prepping here for sochi. how does u.s. senator mike ditka say to you? >> say what? >> the legendary chicago bears coach says he regrets not running against barack obama. he says not that i would have won but i probably would have and he wouldn't be in the white house. extreme athletes, roller blading and an interesting place here, through an austrian forest. >>t that looks dangerous. >> it is called the couch garden project. that is what we got, betty. >> thank you so much. we have a lot coming up here on "early today" so stay right with us.

before tonight's premiere of "glee" tribute to cory monteith she spoke about her story. she said i feel like i lost cory and fin. topher grace tweeted this

photo. owen wilson is expecting baby number two, this time with his trainer who is still married to another man. the two are not in a relationship but wilson said he will support her and the child. marilyn monroe spent some time under the knife. she did it under the alias joan newman. william shatner has released his newest music video "ponder the mystery". it is just as bizarre as you would hope from captain kirk. ♪ ponder the mystery >> sounds like spoken word. oprah tweeted yesterday that

she is having the biggest yard sale ever on november 2 in santa barbara. proceeds will go to the leadership academy foundation. i don't know if there will be cars available. >> i wonder if i can go early. the first full length trailer is out for "american hustle" with with an all-star cast. michele bachmann was interviewed about her views on "snl's" view of her. >> we had a lot of calls that people thought it was me in the skit. as a 57-year-old woman it has been a long time since i have been confused for a 20-year-old. i'm betty nguyen. this is "early today." we hope this is just your first stop of the day on nbc.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. good morning. we are going to deal with some rain off and on today. it will stick around for a while. it is moving in from the east to the last and it will be around for much of the drive time. maybeht make it to 59 or 60. it will be a breezy and cool day with periods of rain with the win between 20 and 25 miles per

hour. >> 54 degrees at the airport. boehner, take the gun out of the head of this nation. >> the government shutdown reaches its 10th day. to a are looking ahead shutdown sit down between president obama and top republicans. what lawmakers are doing one week before a key deadline. >> concern from military veterans about their benefit checks. grandfather is charged with killing a baby. how the man said he forgot about his granddaughter. >> checking on a early morning accident along 100 this morning.