this morning on "early today," by the numbers. after months of intense health care debate, the latest poll show what americans think of their leaders. frigid finding. scientists locate the coldest spot in our solar system, and it's closer than you might think. and custard's last stand. new yorker's attempt a new world and custard's last stand. new yorker's attempt a new world record. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

hello and good morning, everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. today we good with the public's say. months into the nation's health care debate we're getting a new look how the voters feel about the elected officials whose decisions impact their lives. president obama has a 55% approval rate. little change from earlier this summer. although it is wn considerably from the high point of his presidency. obama stale fairing better than congress. gallup poll shows ratings are near their lowest levels in a decade. at 36%, democrats are fairing somewhat better than republicans who stand at 27%. that polling comes as the fight along party lines continues in washington. and that's something house speaker nancy pelosi suggests could have damaging repercussions. the california democrat began to tear up on thursday when recalling the politically-motivated violence that rocked san francisco decades ago. pelosi's office confirmed the

speaker was likely referring to the 1979 city hall members of local gay politician harvey milk and george mosconi. reflecting on that, quote, climate of violence, she called on leaders to take responsibility for their words and the actions they could provoke. in a somber white house ceremony, president barack obama awarded the nation's highest honor to the family of a hero. 30-year-old sergeant first class jared monty lost his life in the mountains of afghanistan more than three years ago while trying to save the life of his fellow soldier. during his first medal of honor ceremony, his family accepted the positive humanously valor of medal of honor. speaking of president obama, don't miss sunday morning when the commander in chief will be david gregory's guest on "meet

the press." in his first interview since iran's disputed election, president mahmoud ahmadinejad sat down with ann curry for an exclusive conversation and pressed the leader on a number of issues, including allegations of voter fraud. >> did you create conditions so that you would win no matter the vote? >> translator: it's very clear whoever becomes a candidate will start a campaign and will do his utmost to win. i think we should be courageous enough to accept the vote of the people. it's more courageous than participating in the vote itself. >> you can see more of ann curry's interview with president ahmadinejad this morning on

"today" and catch the interview in its entirety sunday 1:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. the international space station successfully received a care package from mother earth. while operating a robotic arm, crew members caught an unmanned cargo ship with food and supplies launched from japan last week. it's the first time one has grabbed another out of orbit. florida's disney world may be a small world but yesterday it was a transportation nightmare. the fleet of buses waited in a snaking line for a bomb squad to inspect them after a suspicious device was found underneath one of the buses. the device was not, in fact, an explosive or hazardous device. a north carolina man's mysterious health problems were finally linked to a fast food restaurant but not for what you'd expect. part of a plastic spoon from

wendy's was found lodge in the man lung. over the past year he has had fatigue, coughing fits, frequent bouts of pneumonia. a duke university doctor finally removed part ofhis utensil. innew york, a history-making food fight. 271 people turned out to break the guinness world for world's biggest pie fight. sweet chaos lasted just a minute, the minimum lengthf time for the official pie-pegging contest. very nice. where were we called? now for a look at the national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> i can't go the rest of my life not knowing how the spoon got into his lung. when you eat something you say it went down the wrong pipe. >> a year later, that's where it went apparently. yeah, i know.

>> give me the update, please. >> i will do. >> let's talk a little bit about your friday forecast. good morning, everyone. the deep south, heavy rain last night. flooding in georgia, alabama, birmingham. there were car rescues because of the flash flooding near the city limits. rains in northern mississippi. that's the problem area today, down in the deep south. we have great weather to the north of this. what a september it's been. it's been dry and warm from the great lakes all the way through much of new england. i know the last two days were chilly out there from new york to boston. today, as the high pressure slides off the coast, the warm flow returns from the south, plus the warm september sunshine. and today is going to be a great day up here in the north. the problem area mostly down in the carolinas. that's where we have light rain, columb columbia, myrtle beach. the forecast, as i said, beautiful in some areas but wet in the deep south. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather

outside your window. sunshine in indianapolis. what a great friday. 80 degrees and sunny. what a way to end summer. other areas just as nice like norfolk and columbus, ohio. still warm in florida. sarasottoday, 91. that's your friday forecast, dan. >> all right, bill. thank you for that. i did a little research. the guy that swallowed this piece of a spoon heaid he likely did it while he was inhaling his drink. he takes big drinks. mazing, though, rollers. speedy recovery. stocks dip, american airline flies. and coke is it. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's a magazine and tabloid favorite, not to mention a favorite of the guys. but will that translate into box office success? the red sox go for eight in a row. the mariners and white sox involved in a 14-inning marathon, and a ceremonial first pitch you have to see. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today," everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. and here are some of your top headlines this morning into a yale university lab technician has been charged with the murder of annie le, a yale graduate student, whose body was found on her wedding day. raymond clark was arrested yesterday and appeared in court to face charges. bond was set at $3 million. the massachusetts house of representatives has approved a bill that would let the state's governor name an interim appointment to the late ted kennedy's vacant senate seat. the measure moves to the state senate for a vote. in january, a special election will be held for a permanent replacement. an associated press investigation finds abandoned mercury mines across central california are polluting that state's waterways. the research found at least 100,000 people regularly eat tainted fish from those waters.

at levels deemed unsafe by the government. of the hundreds of mines contaminated the federal government stepped this to clean up a half dozen and most have failed to solve the problem. surprise. astronomers looking for the coldest spot in the solar system didn't have to look very far. it's on our moon. temperatures there are 397 degrees below zero. that measurement taken from inside a cave on the moon's south pole which never sees sunlight. the dow opens at 9,783 after losing 7 points thursday. the s&p dropped 3. the nasdaq fell as well 6 points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 73 points, while in hong kong the hang seng dipped 145 points. have the markets come too far too fast? is there a correction around the corner while investors continue debating the answers wall street closed the day thursday with cautious traders pretty much

ignoring another round of data. the fed reported the net worth of american households had its first increase in two years. stock and real estate value contributed to that gain. while the report also showed a drop in household debt. also on the rise, construction of multifamily homes like apartment buildings hit its highest in a year. single-family home starts slipped in august after five months of increases. software maker oracle dragged down the nasdaq thursday after reporting weak software sales. weighing down the dow and leading losses in the financial sector, american express. those shares closed 2% lower. amr, that soared 19% higher after the airline said its bottom line will reach new heights thanks to restructuring its roots and raising nearly $3 billion. palms earnings beat wall street estimates but it did close 2% lower after predictions for next year failed to excite

investors. securities and exchange regulators proposed banning flash orders which give traders a split second edge in buying or selling stocks. and new rules on conflicts of interest and credit rating company transparency. coca-cola and ibm retained their spots as the world's two most valuable brands. however, for the first time ever, the combined value of the top 100 brands has fallen thanks to consumers losing trust during the recession. finally, a man hurled thousands of golf balls in a national park all to honor golfers that had passed away. and he has been charged, among other things, abandoning property and littering. park rangers spent 370 hours cleaning up all balls at a cost of $9,000. no good deed goes unpunished. the angels cool off the red sox. and itch row pushes the mariners past the sox. and a textbook lesson on how not

to throw out the ceremonial first ball. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and fall is going to have to wait. this feels like summer and it is warm from coast to coast. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

goodmorning. i'm keith garvin. >> and i'm barbara harrison. straight ahead on "news 4 today," a police pursuit across state lines ends in a violent crash. the turn of events that led to an abduction and a suspect on the run. >> plus, redskins fans gearing up for their home opener at fedex field. the big changes metro has planned that will affect you on game day. >> then women who just gave birth wanting that perfect bod good morning. if you're just waking up, this

is "early today." in sports, the boston red sox learned a pretty important lesson last night, give the angels an inch and they'll take the game. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. in baseball playoff began today, boston would open in hand heim. after watching them play the angels the last few days it would be quite a series. things look good early. in the fourth, jason bay ripped a shot deep and over the green monster. boston led it 3-1. red sox, however, had no answer for howie. tied at three. kendrick with a clutch bloop over justin pedroia. angels led 4-3. winning run at the plate. closer brian fuentes got him to fly out to right. to seattle where it took just under four hours to decide a winner between the mariners and white sox. a solo shot to left and it was

tied at three. onto extra innings and plenty of them. fast forward to the 14th. ichiro at the plate slapped the game-ending single to the gap. seattle rallied to win 4-3. in detroit, tigers hosting the royals. it's been a dream season for zach branky. frightening moment to say the least. fortunately he was okay and stayed in the game. not shaken up, struck out eight in five scoreless innings. rals beat the tigers, 9-2. college football number 20 miami lost to georgia tech but that streak is finally over thanks to the arm of harris. hurricanes quarterback passed for three scores, including a 40 yarder to byrd. 43-17. back to fenway park. a big night for naval officer zimmerman. forget the navy. he ought to be in the air force with that toss. let that be a lesson.

never doubt the strength of our armed forces. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> at least he made it over the plate. not directly, but over. will it be family fare, horror oro mans at the box office this weekend? plus, even after a centry and a half there are some things that it's never too late to put right. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. let's get to the good stuff, your weekend forecast. starting with today, dry from the northeast, mid atlantic through the great lakes. it's going to be summer and warm. in the deep south, more rain, more clouds, kind of humid, too. atlanta could get heavy rain all the way down to tallahassee. we're in a stagnant weather pattern. even into saturday it will be just like today. if it's going to rain where you are today it's probably going to rain tomorrow. but sunday things change a little bit and get a little better in the south. well, if you're watching dayton, ohio, travel through space and see a breathtaking view of the earth's atmosphere, oceans and land at the science on a sphere exhibit. that's your eastern event of the day, dan. >> thank you, bill. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in enter statement. this weekend's box office sounds

like bill's weather forecast because the favorite is cloudy with a chance of meatballs. family fun based on a popular children's book. in a record number of 3-d theaters it will easily take number one with $25 million. jennifer's body stagger ubiquitous megan fox, young man horror fans will pack in for this one. but surprise? not really. research shows females don't like megan fox. analysts say second place, low-teen millions. a film in search of an audience. the inform yant starring matt damon is a true story about a corporate whistle-blower. it will stick around for a long run. finally, love happens with jennifer aniston is in very few theaters, only showing interest with women. won't make it past 10 million. >> i have to convince my wife she doesn't want to see jennifer

aniston but does want to see megan fox. >> does she have a problem with it? a lot of guys like to see megan fox, but ladies -- >> i'm in trouble. i'm going to lose this one. >> i think you might be. maybe you can go shoes shopping with her before. >> it's a tossup. >> it's give and take, bill. news channel 13 in new york, a fallen union soldier has finally been laid to rest finally back in his home state. last october, a hiker in maryland discovered the remains of a civil war soldier killed exactly 147 years ago. nsignia on his coat buttons indicated he came from new york. he received a ticket home and a full military honors he earned. i'm dan kloeffler, and this is %

good morning. take a look. the capitol dome in the background. you see cars moving already at this early hour. a lot of clouds out there again but we might be a little warmer today than we were yesterday. >> well, i guess that would be okay. >> i wouldn't have a problem with that. >> if it's clear out there. good morning. i'm barbara harrison, along with keith garvin. we have tom kierein standing by to tell us what we are -- can pect today and the weekend, too. >> here's your first forecast. cloudy and cool this morning. we've had a little scattered drizzle overnight but that's dissipated. looking at radar now, we are rain-free for the most part. temperatures in the low and mid-60s. 64 in washington. mid-50s eastern shore. upper 50s in the mountains. your forecast coming up in a couple of minutes. stay tuned. >> all right, tom. thank you. >> thanks. let's check in with jerry edwards, see how we're looking at the roadways. >> hi. >> good morning and happy friday. all right. we made it. as we get under way, clear, dry

road surfaces all over the place. 66, 95, 395, very, very quiet. beltway in montgomery county is moving along well. new york avenue, kenilworth avenue, okay. no early worries at any of the southeast corridors thus far. barbara, keith, back to you. >> okay. thanks, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. here's a look at some of the top stories happening today. police across our area are looking for an armed carjacking suspect this morning. it started last night when police say a man carjacked a woman in the gainesville area of prince william county. he then held her at gunpoint and started driving towards the beltway. virginia police eventually caught up with him and chased him into maryland. the chase ended when the car crashed fwand the suspect baile out at st. barnabas road. >> metro riders can expect more delays this weekend. traffic maintenance will take place on the red and orange lines. starts tonight. on the red lines, trains will be single-tracking between the medical center and grove more station. on the red line, between east

falls church and ballston stations. >> while lawmakers wrangle over health care reform, the white house is putting a new face on the issue. first lady michelle obama will be speaking at an event today. yesterday, president obama took his campaign to the university of maryland. he told thousands of students that congress must resist scare tactics and false accusations to do a makeover. >> well, today is the last day to bid on a dinner with sarah palin. proceeds from the ebay auction benefits the ride to recovery veterans charity. the highest bidder will win a sit-down meal with the former alaska governor. at last check, the bidding was just over $53,000. the auction closes at 8:00 tonight so hurry. get your bids in if you're interested. >> the emmy awards will honor the best in prime time television this weekend. >> that's right. mark barger has the experts predictions on which shows will win big this year. >> 30 rock. >> reporter: last year, 30 rock

rocked the emmys, sweeping best comedy, best actor and best actress. >> if there's one thing that emmy voters love, it's "30 rock." >> reporter: with a record 22 nominations this year, 30 rock is expected by most experts to roll once again. >> there's something here in the water here in this 30 rock building that must be translating into emmy gold. >> reporter: that could lead fellow nominees such as the office, how i met your mother and weeds once again in 30 rock's dust. >> these are television voters and they love a show about what they do, what they live, what they breathe. it's irresistible to them. >> why would you deny yourself something you want? >> reporter: in the drama field, the '60s advertising saga mad men is nearly as dominant as 30 rock. >> mad men has buzz. >> reporter: it's also got 16 total nominations and last year's emmy for best drama. >> it's a very rich and complex drama, an adult drama. the look of the show is so intoxicating as well. >> reporter: that's part of why series such as lost, big love

and breaking bad are once again expected to come up short against mad men. >> i would like to see an amc brother breaking bad win. you captan't complain about mad men. >> reporter: the daily show has been one nobody's beaten. it's won six straight years, but this time they say a challenge. >> for a number of years where saturday night live gets dry, you take it for granted. i do think saturday night live and the daily show might be tooth and claw here. >> reporter: marring barger, nbc news. >> all the winners will be revealed sunday night. >> we hope you'll stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m.