sun, sunlamps, extreme wind or cold may increase the risk for irritation. use of sunscreen and protective clothing is aised. go to epiduo.com and learn how to pay no more than $20 for your epiduo prescription. to learn more about epiduo gel talk to your doctor, call or go to epiduo.com. this morning on "early today," scary scenario. explosive government predictions on how many of us are expected to catch the potentially deadly swine flu. cause of death. unsealed documentsonfirm for the first time what killed michael jackson. and last-ditch effort. a high-speed police chase in georgia ends in an abrupt and bizarre fashion.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and goomorning, everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. we begin with pandemic potential. the government is doubling down efforts against a new outbreak of the swine flu virus. it's expected to surge back through the nation this fall and winter. according to the latest estimates, there is a good reason why. th president's counsel of advisers in science and technology predicts up to 40% of the u.s. population will suffer swine flu symptoms in the coming months. the virus could kill as many as 90,000 people, far more than the seasonal flu. faced with a potential strain on medical facilities, the panel is calling on vaccine manufacturers to step up production and accelerate production to children. nrchlt a potentially politically explosive move, the justice department is launching a criminal investigation into the

cia's harsh interrogations of terror suspects during the bush administration. a long-awaited report released yesterday details the abuse of prisoners in detention overseas what n. what they call unauthorized and inhumane practices. one suspect was choked repeatedly and another suspect's kids were threatened repeatedly. much of the report is redacted, page after page blacked out. eric holder has pledged an investigation. michael jackson's death is being treated as a homicides by the los angeles county coroner. that makes it almost in effect that the late singer's doctor will face la totered arges related to his death.

>> reporter: nbc news confirmed that the los angeles county coroner considers the death of miael jackson a homicide. the lapd is pursuing a manslaughter investigation into the pop singer's personal doctor. investigators searched murray's clinic last month. tests showed that jackson had lethal limits of a powerful anesthetic in his blood the day he died. >> this is extreme negligent. beyond the pale of what a reasonable doctor would do. >> reporter: murray told investigators he had been giving jackson proposfol a couple of

nights before died. >> these drugs would be appropriate if this was someone in an intensive care unit. but to give it to someone who has trouble sleeping is is really kind of amazing to me and disturbing at the same time. >> reporter: murray's attorney disputes many of the police statements made in the affidavit. meanwhile, the jackson family issued a statement commending law enforcement and saying it is looking forward to the day justice is served. stephanie standpointon, nbc news, los angeles. >> here is a look at other stories making news early today in ameria. a carjacker tried to outrun georgia police by jumping from a moving car. a dashboard camera shows this suspect weave aro j mpcars. he jumps from the car while it is still moving. authorities eventually caught

and arrested the man along with his female passenger. a florida news crew got a hostile reception from an unwilling interviewee. a mother called police about her underage daughter working at a strip club. when reporters showed up, the girl's grandmother showed them they were not welcome. she swung a garden hoe. fortunately no one was injured. elsewhere in florida, rescuers saved a girl whose arm was stuck in a pool drain. that 3-year-old was taking a swim lesson in the pool when her edodg in lodged in the skimmer suction pipe. crews were able to eventually dislodge that pipe. that girl was taken to a hospital. a golf course groundskeeper in michigan made one mammoth discovery there. the worker stumbled across a ten to 11,000-year-old mammoth tooth. the course is now planning an

entire excavation site around that ancient find. now for a look at the national and regional weather, here's meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> that girl, 3 years old, mom stuck. i heard the mom h to hold her up in the water for two hours. >> yeah. you know -- >> parent nightmare. >> swim lessons aren't scary enough as it is and then something like that happens. fortunately everything ended up okay. >> glad to hear it. let's talk about the weather. you are going to be glad to hear your forecast. it is ideal out there in so many areas. the humidity is down. we don't have a lot of wet weather out there. the only problem area is down in florida. that's where the front is hung up. the shuttle, we were trying to get it up off the launch pad. it got canceled. we'll have to try to do it all over again. there is a chance of showers and storms in the next 24 hours. it'll be iffy to see if we get the shuttle up.

the high pressure is going to provide you with gorgeous weather from kentucky through the ohio valley. here are the showers and storms around ft. pierce. miami, you'll have a chance of showers and storms today. for the forecast today, showers and storms in florida. everybody else, a beautiful summer day. that's a look at your national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. we're going to continue with really nice weather conditions from burlington, vermont to cleveland, ohio. everyone will be in the mid-80s. not too many 90s. i think it's a very enjoyable forecast. dan, we're going to talk about the next teresting area in the tropics when i come back. >> as if the past couple of days haven't been interesting enough. >> a close call. >> financials get spanked while fannie and freddie skyrocket.

plus, with medical opinions like hers, well, let's just hope she doesn't take up brain surgery. >> mark sanchez makes his first start. ryan howard outmuscles the mets. one of basketball'snguyo talents finds himself in rehab. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm dan kloeffler. here are some of your top headlines this tuesday morning. thunderstorms forced nasa to call off this early morning launch of the "discovery." the crew of seven was scheduled to head up to the international space station. unexpected storms scrubbed the lift-off. north korea has invited envoys to visit the country for nuclear negotiations next month. the south kean daily reports the obama administration is strongly considering accepting the invitation. north korea has long been after

direct negotiations with washington about its nuclear program and other issues. the veterans affairs department is blaming a computer glitch for mistakenly telling 1,200 veterans they were suffering from a fatal neurological disease. although the department is rushing to tell everyone who received this letter of the mistake, many veterans say because of that letter they've already undergone expensive and unnecessary medical tests. many suffered the psychological effects of thinking they were dying. south korea successfully launched its first rocket into space this morning. north korea said it will be closely watching how the international community relates to the launch after facing condemnation for its own launch in the month of april. here's how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 9,509.

nasdaq fell two points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei sank 83 points. the hang seng nudged up 100 points. u.s. markets finished mostly flat monday. but not everyone was able to hold on to last week's gains. the financial sector lost some momentum arch one analyst predicted more banks will fail as a result of the nationsbanking crisis. shares of suntrust lost nearly 4% on that news, while jpmorgan chase slid 1.5%. experts are scratching their heads over the biggest movers. fannie mae and freddie mac, f fannie shot up more than 40%. speculators are betting the government won't close or dismantle them. we'll see how today's troubles in china affect wall street. their markets plummeted as much as 5.5% on fears the chinese

economy is recovering too slowly. an updated report on consumer confidence will be sure to be out as well as new homes sold. president obama expected to announce he's nominating ben bernanke to a second term as federal reserve chairman. bernanke is expected to be with the president when that announcement is made. auto dealers have stacks of paperwork for the cash for clunkers program. the department's website crashed. the government extended the deadline for paperwork today but warned it could be extended furthe because its website still was having some problems. finally, factory workers in france are stripping down to save their jobs. at least that's their hope anyway. more than 200 will bare it all in hopes of selling enough of these calendars to send the whole crew to their cpany hurricanes in italy. also, they can protest plans to

close their plant. they're not totally naked. they are wearing helmets and masks, after all. so disclaimer. the phillies keep winning while the mets keep losing and suffering. plus, new york jets' first rounder mark sanchez gets a warm welcome to the nfl from the baltimore ravens' defense. >> another summer day, another record high in south texas. we'll do it again today. 101 in san antonio. your regional forecast is coming up. youe watching "earl"totcy.da y.

good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. straight ahead on "news 4 today," growi concerns about swine flu as the local dthea toll linked to the disease s uegrinco toow. what the federal government a the white house is now saying about an imminent outbreak. >> plus, a back to school surprise. students and parents did not expect. thousands of maryland high

schoolers were kept out of class on their first day. >> settingde asi good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the philadelphia phillies could not have asked for things to look better in late august. they lead their division by seven games. and their rivals, the injury-riddled new york mtsz are mired in fourth place. here's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> the phillies appear to be ready for another world series run after a display of powe against the mr. it is. they started the game with a three-run homer. this time it was ryan howard. phillies up 3-0. had a towering bomb into the upper deck. the phils led 5-2 after three.

cliff clee pitched another soli inning. carlos pena had a go-ahead homer in the fifth. halladay lost four of his last six starts. mark sanchez had a completion for a touchdown, but for the other team. off to a shaky start. you can only get better from there and sanchez did. connecting for leon for the score. mike beasley checked himself into a reha facility. he was encouraged to enter the rehab after he posted several suicidal-type messages on his twitter account.

it's unknown how long he'll be in the facility and whether he'll be available for training camp. great play from the twins and orioles. mike aubrey had this slicing play. take a seat for your efforts, you deserve it. he made the play, bounced off the wall into the bench. he was all right. twins downed the orioles, 2-1. that's a look at your sports headlines today. >> who got a million bucks for just 23 minutes of work? your early morning entertainment headlines straight ahead. plus, unemployment strikes in louisiana. we'll show you the workers who got the bad news. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. we are watching with interest this area of showers and thunderstorms. this is just northf puerto rico. it looks ominous. it's unorganized. this plob of showers and storms should be somewhere near the carolina coastline in two to three days. that's why we'll have to keep a close eye on it. as far as your forecast for today, it looks gorgeous. warm in the great lakes. approximate with the exception of florida, the southeast will be dry. if you're watching us in tampa, florida, take a roller coaster

ride off into space at the planetarium of museum of science and industry presents earth's wild ride. fitting for the shuttle launch. >> very true. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. in terms of typecasting, robin williams may be entering interest uncharted territory. t he claims he's been asked to play scottish singing sensation susan boyle. no word yet on what susan boyle herself thinks about the plan. actress melanie griffith checked into rehab. a spokesperson said it's part of a routine plan designed by griffith and her doctors. john clees, financially stung by a recent divorce settlement reportedly earned $1 million for one scene in the

latest shrek movie. reality show celebrity heidi montag wants a second breast implant operation because she fels her active lifestyle made her shrink. i dance a lot, i work out a lot, i don't know what happened. yeah. >> is she trying to make people not like her? >> i don't know. i don't know. >> are we supposed to feel bad for her? >> i think she's just explaining her next move. if you're seeking medical advice to put the disclaimer out there, don't take it from heidi. >> this comes from baton rouge, louisiana where in increase parks 15 town employees won't be losing much sleep over being laid off. that's because these workers are sheep. over a decade ago, the town brought on two lambs to keep the grass by a water tower trimmed. the two living lawn mowers grew to a team of 30. 15 were auctioned off to a private buyer. it's a successful transition from public to private landscaping.

i'm dan kloeffler. this is "early today." just your first stop of the day, our time right now is 4:54, 71 degrees. looks like clear skies out there this morning as we begin another nice day, end of summer here in the nation's capital. good morng. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today. we want to start things off as we always do with a look at weather and traffic this morning. >> here's meteorologist tom kierein. he joins news the sued yoe. >> andlrtoota s a fresh and cool startn ohis second bto dayooacch sl.k l. temperatures in the region 60s gh0. hipe moretuura near more of the same tomorrow.ecas or hllave your forecast for the weekend coming up at 5:01. stay tuned. >> all right. thank you, tom. >> thanks very much. let's go to jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network, get an early look at the roads. >> good morning. we'll start over on the capital

beltway inner loop as you head from tysons corner on up toward river road, overnight road work in the process of being wrapped up. wilson bridge we're okay. southeast to northeast looking good so far. back to you. >> all right. thank you, jerry. >> thanks very much, jerry. here's a look at some of the top stories happening today. walmart has been given the all clear to build a store near a famous civil war battlefield in virginia. therange county board of supervisors voted 4-1 very early this morning to approve the 138,000 square foot super center near the wilderness battlefield in locust grove. the vote followed a 6 1/2 hour meeting, including a 4-hour hearing at which more than 100 people spoke. >> health officials say it will likely be another three months before a significant number of americans are protected from the swine flu. it will be mid-october before about 50 million doses of the vaccine are expected to be available. but experts say most people will need twoshots, spaced three weeks apart. >> preliminary results from the presidential election in afghanistan are expected today,

but authorities are already investigating claims of voter fraud. the leading opposition candidate, abdullah abdullah, is accusing incumbent president hamid karzai of trying to steal the election. he said karzai supporters illegally stuffed several hundred thousand votes into ballot boxes. >> a new book about bernie madoff comes out today. the book is called "madoff's other secret." it was written by a woman who says she had an affair with thef imprisoned con man. he was sentenced to 150 years in prison. >> well, if you're somebody who uses your laptop, your ipod and your cell phone all at the same time, stop it. researchers say mults the kearse may be running their brains. >> new science is proving an old theory, that you can really only do one thing at a time and do it well. tracie potts has more. >> i'm the master of multitasking. >> reporter: texting, tweeting, i.m.ing, cell phones, facebook,

ipod. >> on if internet, reading a book, to watching television, eating, driving, everything. >> reporter: all at once? >> all at once. >> reporter: scientists say don't fool yourselves. >> all ofs know if you really want to do a good job you have to focus on o thing for a sustained period of time. >> reporter: stanford researchers found college students who use multiple forms of media all at once have more trouble determining what's important and what's not. >> high multitaskers love to grab new information. at the expense of carefully managing what they have, the information they already have. >> reporter: the study showed their memories are lousy. we interrupted paul styles in the middle of a text message to ask, how's your memory doing? he couldn't seem to remember. how's your memory? >> my memory's very good. well, i mean, not very -- fairly well. it's getting there. it's not as good as it used to be. >> basically got a total mess going on in their working memory. >> you know why it's excellent? because of this.

exactly because of this. if i remember something, i put it in my phone. >> reporter: the study also found multitaskers are actually slower when it comes from switching from one job to another compared to those who just do one thing at a time. >> it's hard to do both at the same time. >> reporter: so there's old advice for a new generation -- do less to accomplish more. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> next up, these researchers are going to look at the brain scans of multitaskers and study whether their grades and relationships suffer as well. >> we all know that people who chew gum don't walk so well. >> there you go. >> stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. >> we'll be right back. endemic potential. the possibility of a