>> thank you. i do like the kid. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: now, how old -- she's 3 right? 3 years old? >> she's closing in on 3. end of october she'll be 3. and, that's great. because you can keep the first year. you can have the first year. in u -- got no ti t fme ye. t this morning on "early today," remembering 9/11. americans reflect on the attacks that devastated the nation eight years ago today. shooting for the moon. an intense fireball erupts utah as nasa tests out a new powerful rocket. feller up. a routine trip to the gas station nearly turns deadlyfor a routine trip to the gas station nearly turns deadlyfor one man in canada.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning, everyone. i'm dan kloefflr. and today we begin with remembering 9/11. the nationill pause this morning to honor the thousands of lives lost eight years ago when t u.s. came under terror attack. from new york city to pennsylvania, tohe grounds of he pentagon, vigils will mark both the grief and the healing that continues to this day. here's nbc's michelle franze >> reportr: it has become a national day of remembrance and he renewal. memori memorials at all three crash sites and honoring the 2,752 victims who died. in new york city, families will gather the a park adjacent to the world trade center site for a ceremony of music and the reading of the victims's names. vice president joe biden and his wife will also attend.

the families will once again walk to the base of grnd zero to lay flowers, a sacred makeshift memorial that also shares space with an active construction site. years of legal battles between with the developer, larry silver steen and the new york/new jersey port authority. a private leaf laying ceremony will honor victims and families. in pennsylvania, former secretary of state colin powell will lead the memorial service for united flight 93. passengers are credited for bringing the plane down in the remote field soon to become a permanent national memoal. at the u.s. capitol wednesday, lawmakers unveiled a bronze plaque honoring flight 93 victims for preventing the terrorists from clashing the plane. >> first lines of defense against terror.

>> reporter: back in lower manhattan, workers have been testing the ibuted light memorial which willight up the night sxi symbolize where the twin towers once stood. ichelle franzen, nbc ns, new york. >> and we will never forget. although the white house has accepted the apology from representative joe wilson for shouting, you lie, at president obama during his address to congress on tuesday, the echo of his words are stillouncing around washington. house majority whip says he will push for a resolution condemning the incident until wilson issues a public apology on the house floor. wilson, a republican from south carolina, says the issue is already settled, adding, quote, i will not be muffled. still, it does appe to be having a big impact on his race for reelection. his opponent has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since that outburst.

the space shuttle "discovery" is having issues returning to earth. they continue to circle the world for now a 14th day. mission control skipped both landing possibilities on thursday. ty'll try again tonight just before 6:00, but unfortunately more bad weather may divert the shuttle to its backup landing spot in californi >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a massive plume of smoke bill lowed into the utah skies. nasa tested a powerful rocket there. this is an aries 1 rocket. 36 miles into space in just, get this, two minutes. the test costs $75 million and it ignited more than 1 million pounds of 150 million150 mil marijuana plants in tennessee. they found these grong on six etty well50 cvaultiplants.

some of them growing a tall as six feet. they will be destroyed by burning them. should california has a case of on gold fever there with a new sunken treasure exhibit. two gold bars are on display made in san francisco in the gold rush and recovered from an 1857 shipwreck. the pair weigh over 100 pounds. it would weigh on your wallet, too, because these are worth around $2 million. in new mexico, residents there sent their worries up in smok a giant puppet meaning old man gloom many. stuck with troubles from the last year, police reports, divorce papers, personal notes. the creature ceremony yously lit on fire torching everyone's ills and concerns along with it. nice. now for a look the national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. do we have to include your

forecast in it or do you have good news o for us? >> it's not going to be a ptty friday. let's talk a little bit about it first off here. good morning to everyone out there. today is the day when the umbrella is needed in many areas. happy to get the rain in texas yet. worst drought in about half a century. we're watching the storm plaguing the d atlantic this morning it's along the jersey coast. not a fun morning from new york city, along the jersey coast. i'll just include the entire state of jersey. back through maland, delaware, and the beaches of virginia. it's going be windy today and another raw day. because we have our low pressure re. then the pressure gradient with the high that's exiting that's creating a strong gusty wind. 40 les per hour in atlantic city. currently 33. belmar, just had a gust of 39. just coming into ocean city, maryland, down here around south of atlantic city near wildwood,

some of the rain tossed up in new york and long island. that's wherit will head during the day today. so it's going to be cool, it's gog to be windy and it's going be wet. we're talking anywhere from southern connecticut, right down through new york, baltimore and d.c. a little bit of rain fr you toy. the rest of the ohio valley is fine. southeast, not bad. i doubt we'll get the shuttle in tonight. more showers and storms expected in atlanta. that active weather, that front is kind of hung up there in florida. more showers and storms likely. very similar to yesterday. officially they're giving the schultz a 40% chance of good weather. tha is clear enough to land, which isn't very good. well, dan, that was a mouthful. friday forecast is over. i'll get to your weekend forecast a little later. >> all right. thank you, bill. stocks steam to the finish line. proctor & gamble shines. and the airline gets a shot in the arm. your early morning business

headlines are straight ahead. plus, tyler perryuts on the wig and lipstick hoping to drag in big bucks at the box office. the steel curtain comes down on the titans. rockies contin to roll. and the shocking results of a track star's gender test.'re e a tcyohi'rtching "early toy." tcy

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm dan kloeffler. here are some of your top headlines this morning. researchers say the swine flu vaccine is strong enough to work with one dose instead of two. it doubles the nation's anticipated stock pil. it eased fears for those who predicted the shortage in october. new data shows the nation's poverty rate climbed to 13.2% last year, t highest level in 11 years. while the overall percentage of

adults without health insurance remain virtually unchanged from the year before, less people received cverage from their employer. talk about being fast on on your feet. a man inanada was able to walk away while a driver slammed into his car while he was pumping gas, sparking an explosion. amazingly, no one was hurt. officials say that resulting fire could have been a lot worse if the gas station attendant didn't gut off fue suppli so quickly. aunmanne rocket to the international space station delivering 07,407,400 suppli toe orbittal outpost. >> and now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the now opens 9,627 after nudging up 80 points thursday. the s&p rose 10. the nasdaq added 23 points. taking ala at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, t nikkei fell 69 points. and in hong kong, the hang seng gained 91 points.

wall street will be looking to extend its five-day winning streak, and it could get some help from upbeat economic news overseas. in china, areport showed government stimulus spending fultd a 12% jump in industrial utput. that boost eased some of the fears that stimulus spending could spark inflation. back at home investors were optimistic after weekly jobless claims fell to their lowest levels. proctor & gamble, increased a forecast in sales this quarter. yahoo! shares up more than 4% after it got a thumb's up from one analyst. pretty strong traffic continues to outpace the internet's growth as a whole. analysts upgraded the entire usair lines sector on its overall improved health.

g.m. will sell a stake in its european unit opal to magna. revamped carmaker advanced it will offer a money-back guarantee on all but it's pontiac lines. it's called the may the best carwin deal. it starts monday, ends november 1st on all purchases between 31 and 60 days old that have been driven less than 4,000 miles. so save your reipt. georgia tech blows a huge lead. and the rockies step up the pressure on the dodgers. plus, going the distance. a leaping interception from the steelers and all with one hand. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. three big weather stories on this friday. rain in texas, mid atlantic coast and the heat out west. our r w ueupit ngmi up. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. straight ahead on "news 4 today," remembering 9/11 eight years later. the memorials taking place here in washington and around the country. >> the search for a missing graduate student intensifies after she disappears days before her wedding. >> news for travelers. new security measures at dulles airport will start next week. what you need to know. those stories and more coming up on news 4 at 5:00 a.m. good morning. if you're just waking up, this isearly tody." in sports, the pittsburgh steelers, defending super bowl champs, they know a thing or two about winning it just took a little while to remember. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. no better way to kick off the football season than an overtime

thriller between the steelers and titans. you saw it on nbc. second quarter. titans down. a minute to play. tied the game. remain tied until the end. steelers driving le in the fourt ben rottiethlisberger to hines d inside the 20. ward fumbles. steelers won the coin toss. steelers took the opener in overtime, 13-10. to the college ranks. number 15 georgia tech hosting clemson. yellow jackets up 24-0. tigers came roaring back. kyle parker connected with jacoby across the middle. ford did the rest. look at him go. 77 yards for the touchdown. clemson down 44-21. they tie with a field goal. under a minute to play. tied at 27. scott blair from 36 yards out. that proved to be the game winner. georgia tech survived a wild one, 30-27. the governing body for track and

field demanded that caster semenya undergo tests to confirm her sex and the results are in. the tests showed that semenya has both female and male sexual organs. the 18-year-old who won the 800-meter championship has no ovaries but has testies which produce large amounts of testosterone. how about the rockies in basell? 38-year-old cut mid season brought in against the reds. jason giambi with warning track power. doubled over the head of the center fielder and scored a pair. rockies won 5-1. they trail los angeles two games in the west. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. thank you, fred. an animated movie not mean for the little ones. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll show you some dolphins doing more than the

usuanal aquarium tricks and it' all for a good cause. you're watching "early today."

today will be a sad day for manyhe umbrellas. they'll be turning inside out and in the trash can in new york city later today. winds gusting to 30 miles per hour. heavy rain on and off during the day today. is an ugly one f anyone through the state of w jersey,

down through maryland and delaware. that does include the baltimore area and philadelphia. here's the forest for today. that's the wet area. we're dry in the ohio valley. southeast is fine. florida's got wet weather later today. and saturday is much more of the same. a lot of storms down on the gulf. and we'll slowly get rid of the storm in the northeast. really slowly. if you're watching news 5, cincinnati, ohio, find out how tyrannosaurus rex battled over the prehistoric land at the cleveland museum of natural history face off. >> i've got my money on t-rex. >> you always go with the favorites. >> i hear it's a sure thing. so the odds makers tell me anyway. thank you, bill. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. before the leaves start to fall and you're chained to that rake, you might want to catch a film the first weekend of the fl weekend season. tyler perry should be bad all

the wayto the bank. it's expected to take the top spot witht least $25 billion. "9" got a jump on 9-9-09. it's pg-13. not rely meant for the young kids. after weekend sales, it could earn $15 million from the five-day running. just in time for back to school thrills, sore errority row. it should bring in unger viewers. it's not expected to crack the double digit millions. fighting for the third spot, whiteou the super natural thriller will do battle with sorority and pbably will stay und the $10 million mark. gee, bill, i'm guessing which one you'd see. >> you wait and see. whiteout. you say it will be number 4? it will be number 1. you wait and see. >> i have not seen good reviews. you have weather on the brachblt

especially when it's raining up here this week. we'll see on monday. this comes from wfla tv news channel 8 in tampa, florida, where in nearby clearwater dolphins are embracing art to make a difference for children in need. the dolphins at the clearwater marin aquarium, they don't shy ay from a challenge, even when icomes to painting. th use their teeth to clutch this brush and nod their head to draw. it's not just the hangup isome gallery. it's alsooing to a good cause. creatns are sold to raise money forids with cancer. that is pretty cool. >> paint brush looks like a stick of dynate. >> well, i haven't checked my art supply store lately to see if they have any dolphin adapters for paint brushes. >> anything for fish. >> i'm dan kloeffler, and this is "earlytoday," just you first stop of the day tod

our time right now is 4:54 on this september 11th, 2009. 63 degrees here in the nation's capital. looks like cloudy skies. actually some rain around the region. getting a little drizzle right here in northwest washington. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today. it is, again, 4:55 a.m., 63 degrees. meteorologist tom kierein's in the studio with us and he'll give us an update on the forecast. going to have rain all day? >> it's the thing that wouldn't ave. it's lingering off the atlantic seaboard, this area of low pressure. look at the radar, spinningon er law ow tladernreeras low, part ofyo eu see l e eryou see theloel yndws a oreage a hs,vy rain hw. those yellow echoes getting into st. mary's county as well. closer view of the radar showing light rain in washington where you city blue ar farther o oalt toto farther to our emperatures are ctaer inmplytees aat certainly cool, w odown tco 61 in washington and hewn only in the 50s for

most part elsewhere except right near the bay. this low pressure center will be affecting our weather here this morning with likely rain so the bus stop is going to be wet this morning. and we'll have temperatures in the low 60s throughout the morning. afternoon highs should make it only to the upper 60s to near 70 but the rain likely, chances will taper off by this afternoon and this evening. only a small chance tomorrow. the weekend looking better. i'm back in another few minute was another update. >> we'll see you then. thanks so much, tom. >> thanks so much. now let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. roadways wet? >> they are, indeed. something we're going to have to deal with so be prepared. as we take a look at the wilson bridge, pretty quiet. over on 95, 395 and 66, no early worries. any overnight road work over on 270 should be wrapped up. didn't do anything in the overnight hours at the american legion bridge so we are still dealing with uneven pavement but the lanes at least are open. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. here's what's happening today. president obama will be

commemorating 9/11 at the pentagon. he'll attend the september 11th remembrance and is expected to speak at the service. the president will also meet with the families of those killed eight years ago today in the attack on the pentagon. >> this is also the first year september 11th has been declared a national day of service. volunteers nationwide are planning to clean up beaches, put together care packages for soldiers and even fix up residents' homes as part of president obama's united we serve program. the red cross says it's seen a jump in blood donations because of the initiative. >> it's full steam ahead for president obama and his health care team as they work to break the stalemate over haemt care reform. despite a split between democrats and republicans, supporters remain confident. >> bad weather is to blame for space shuttle "discovery's" missed landing opportunity yesterday. th delay forces the "discovery" crew to remain in orbit for a 14th day. health departments across the washington area have a warning this morning about bats. a number of rabid bats has

soared in the past month. >> officials want to make sure that everyone is aware of the danger. craig melvin reports. >> reporter: from time to time when elena takes her daughter for a walk in northeast d.c., they get some company. >> you usually see them come out about this time, about dusk. >> repter: robert crawford sees them, too. >> usually about the size of a sparrow, you know, and they make like a chirping sound. >> reporter: bats. and area health officials warn that they're more dangerous than you might think. >> most of the human cases of rabies exposure in the country are from rabid bats. thals the health services office in prince george's county. ntou nent geor'sy, c tabid bats were found inugust n the first seven r combined. dictstri,he distri rabid bats were found. until then, only one had been found in all of '09. so, there are more rabid bats in our area, but officials say it's not bats swooping down from

trees like these that are causing the problems. people are approaching bats. >> use an ill bat on the ground that you can get access to or you see a bat flying in the daytime or a bat comes into your home, don't touch it, play with it, let anybody go near it. just call animal control. >> reporter: health officials have not figured out exactly why there's been a surge in bats with rabies, but peggy keller with d.c.'s department of health thinks part of it has to do with when bats generally reproduce and with when people turn off the a.c. >> the baby bats are being kicked out of their nest. we see a lot of errant teenage bats that are flying around. they enter people's homes through open windows or air conditioner ducts. >> reporter: health officials say if a bat bites you, wash the area and call your doctor immediately. craig melvin, news 4. >> stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m.