this morning on "early today," deadly downpour. days of torrential rain caused major flooding in the southeast. mile-high surprise, the last day of summer brings a taste of winter to colorado. and high score. undercover investigators are caught playing video games during a drug bust. captions paid for by n-universal television hello, and good morning.

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with rising waters. the southeast is braci for another round of severe storms today. with entire neighborhoods already submerged in flood waters. at least six people have been killed across the region. as thousands prepare and search for higher ground. nbc's jay gray reports. >> reporter: driving rains continue to fall over the south where storms over the last few days have created dangerous and deadly conditions. some of the worst flooding is in georgia. two drivers were swept off of roadways overrun by water. >> the search right now for a toddler who is believed to have been washed away by storm waters. >> the 2-year-old boy was found too late, died after flood waters ripped through his mobile home. for another family already fighting the floods near atlanta, fire was what ultimately forced them from their homes. >> i could see the family in the living room and i kept screaming get out the house.

and they finally came through the front door. >> reporter: emergency response teams have been stretched to their limits. high-water rescues continue around the clock. in tennessee, family members tried to save a man who bet $5 with friends and relatives that he could swim across the rapids. he was swept away when he could no longer hold on to a garden hose. flood waters also ravaged parts of missouri and north carolina forcing hundreds of families to evacuate. as the struggle against the flood waters continues, there's more disturbing news. forecasters in the region expect at least one more day of heavy rains. jay gray, nbc news. and today, president obama is making his debut with the united nations in new york city. from environmental issues to the mideast peace process, there

>> first of all, i think it's important to realize that i was actually black before the election. so -- so -- >> really? >> this is true. this is true. >> how long have you been a black man? >> well, yesterday's appearance caps off the president's weekend

media blitz aimed at building support for his administration's health care overall. and now, here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in florida, video from a drug bust shows some cops bringing their a-game. check this out after bursting into a house with guns drawn, the officers students are playing a video game, a bowling video game on wii. during the nine-hour search, they spent over an hour on the game system. while the sheriff called the incident embarrassing, he also said tax dollars weren't wasted since there's plenty of downtown im on those arrests. scientists reeled in a rare catch off the coast of new orleans, the team unexpectedly caught a 19 1/2 foot squid. last seen in the gulf of mexico in 1954. it was sent to the smithsonian museum to be studied. and one florida school had quite a show and tell. a large black bear showed up trying to get into a dumpster, but ran up a tree when staff

members tried to scare it off. the bear didn't need to be sedated as he eventually left on his own. a colorado homeowner solved the mystery on his own. he set up two cameras to see who wastealing golf balls from his lawn and he captured this hairless fox. the sly thief probab thought they were eggs. elsewhere in colorado, it seems like someone misplaced fall. several inches of snow fell on this last day of summer. and while it's not the earliest day for snow in history, last year's flurries first fell in november. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist ryan phillips with yo weather channel forecast. ryan, good morning, and i hope this is not a sign of what's to come. >> no, we hope not, lynn, but it's not uncommon for snows to fall in the rockies this time of year. now the first day of fall. most of the country, though, feeling like summer still. nasty storms moving into the

lower mississippi valley. but the good news this morning, starting to see the rain shutting down here across northern georgia into the atlanta metro area. most everything holding off to the north at this hour. first thing this morning, though, eastern north carolina, wilmington, and up towards raleigh, over to greenville. first thing this morning, few isolated showers and thunderstorms, could see one to two inches of rain there, but otherwise a cloudy start to the morning. 69 in atlanta and savannah, tallahassee waking up with temperatures into the mid-70s. lower 90s with storms, and some locatio here across the interior of florida, nashville storms and 81, 80 in atlanta with storms firing up again later on this afternoon. so bad news for the flood-prone areas. but in the northeast yet again, a few clouds and a beautiful day. highs in the mid-70s to lower 80s. that's a quick check of the forecast around the region. now a look at the forecast close to home. all right. if you're watching us in atlantic city, look for another

great day, few late-day clouds, highs at 78. cincinnati, 79, partly cloudy skies, columbia, south carolina, 85, and chance of storms in tampa, highs at 91. lynn, first day of fall comes in here at about 5:18 eastern time. should be a mighty fine day across much of the east. >> as long as there's no snow here. ryan, joining us this week from wtvj in miami. well, dell drives techs, your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, jon and kate's recent battles have, of course, been well documented. but what about the kids? peyton manning passes a hall of famer, the jets are accused of cheating, and the tallest man couldn't help the mets. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today," i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. ousted honduran president se lie ya has made a daring return to his country. zelayah is hold up in brazil's embassy where thousands of his supporters turned out in defiance of a curfew. canada is facing mounting accusations of poor sportsmanship. ahead of the winter olympic games in vancouver, there were claims by foreign teams preparing, including the u.s., that they're not getting equal practice access to venues. canadian officials say they are following the rules. and the los angeles times reports that unsealed documes show a pharmacist had warned

anna nicole smith's internist that the drugs that her doctor requested for the model were "pharmaceutical sucide." the pharmacist refused to fill the order for smith who died of an overdose of prescription medication in 2007. and the first census figures on same sex marriage show nearly 150,000 gay marriage couples, many more than the number of actual same sex weddings and civil unions that have been legally performed around the nation. analysts assume the numbers reflect the amount of same sex couples in committed relationships who could get married if they could in their states. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 9,778 after losing 41 points on monday. the s&p fell three, but the nasdaq added five points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning.

in tokyo, the nikkei was closed because of holiday, in hong kong, the hang seng drumped 228 points. well, stocks finished mostly lower monday as the strong dollar weighed down the s&p and the dow. oil futures tumbled more than 3 percent to settle below $70 a barrel. hurt by concerns that china's demand for fuel remains hampered by the global economic crisis. that sent shares of petroleum refiner sonoco down 2%. heavy equipment maker caterpillar dragged the dow lower losing nearly 2% after it reported a 48% drop in sales last month. one bright spot monday, the nasdaq driven higher in part by reports pc maker dell in a move to broaden its corporate presence plans to buy systems where $3.9 billion. perot shot up 65% while dell shares dipped 4%. the conference boards index of leading indicators improved

for another month. despite coming in below economists' estimates, for the most part, higher supplier deliveries and uptick in credit markets and increased building permits reenforce investors' belief that the economy is on the mend. aig shares got a 21% boost after a government watchdog agency said the financial situation is improving. and the case over bank of america's disputed payout of billions in bonuses to merrill lynch employees will now go to trial. a federal judge threw out a $33 million settlement after the bank failed to meet monday's deadline to submit details requested by congress over the weekend. and later today, investors will have one eye on the federal reserve's two-day meeting in washington on interest rates. that kicks off today. and finally, a florida woman has been sentenced to a year in federal prison after fraudulently collecting more than $230,000 in social security payments for her deceased mother. turns out the woman had been

hiding her mother's body in a spare bedroom for eight years. well, coming up, monday night manning, the angels square off with the yankees, and the world's tallest man tries baseball. plus a scary moment in the windy city for the twins' center fielder. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. on this first day of autumn, still feels lke summer across much of the country. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

well, good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. straight ahead on "news 4 today," a warning from the fbi and homeland security about mass transit. why they're calling for a surge in security along the nation's railways. >> plus, a teacher in fairfax county arrested and taken off the job. what she was accused of doing with a student off of school grounds. new guidelines linked to the swine flu. what the

if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night the miami dolphins controlled the clock for most of the game, but most of the game isn't good enough against the indianapolis colts, and peyton manning. here's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning, a day after ely rallied the giants, it didn't take long for the colts to get on the board. manning hit dallas clark who broke one tackle and was gone, indy was up 7-0, the colts down three, manning connected with pierre garcon, he waved his way into the end zone, colts sunk it off, with that victory, manning

passes johnny unitas in wins. over michael crabtree, he was the tenth overall pick by san francisco, the only unsigned draftee and tried to reenter next year's draft. the head coach called the filing ridiculous and he says he wishes he could play the 49ers this week. baseball, angels and yanks, new york tried to clinch a playoff spot not meant to be. if i asked you who the home run leader was, if so, you'd be right. he hit the 31st of the year, angels have would be four of five. minnesota making things interesting in the al central, blackburn struck out six over seven innings. hit in the head by a pitch, remained down for seven minutes. twins beat the sox 7-0, now trail first place detroit by 2 1/2. cecil cooper fired hours before the game against the cards. st. louis handed houston the

eighth straight loss, 7-3. the world's tallest man taking in the mets-braves game. the mets got blown out. chipper jones 4 rbi, braves scored 11 runs in the first three to beat the mets 11-3. that's your early look at sports on "early today." which reality tv star got the cold shoulder from martha stewart? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, pamploma, eat your heart out. nothing can top nebraska's running of the weiners.

today." we've had outstanding weather for the last several days, but we are finding showers creeping into western new york and northwestern pennsylvania. new york today, and increasing cloud cover, highs at 80, boston, 76, still a storm chance in the southeast. but things do get better tomorrow. partly cloudy in atlanta, getting a chance to dry out there, high's at 85. atlanta for your eastern event of the day. if you're watching us on wxia at the petting zoo, you don't get to just see the animals, you can get a hands on experience with goats, sheep, and of course, the pigs. and that's your eastern event of the day. that's a day well spent.

>> just wash your hands. >> exactly. >> thanks, ryan. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. how are things working out for the kids after jon minus kate? well, a little lonely according to radar online. they spent last weekend with nannies while kate taped a talk show pilot and jon partied on long island. friends fear jessica simpson is headed for a tail spin after her dog was snatched away by a coyote. just how spoiled was daisy? simpson reportedly fed her steak, not dog food, left the air-conditioning on for her, and wouldn't have her friends over if daisy was sick. msnbc.com's the scoop reports that last week at a new york party, danielle of real housewives of new jersey attempted to chat up stewart who gave her the brush-off. and finally, the wizard of oz. is headed back to theaters tomorrow for one night only. and that is as warner brothers

unveiled a new and improved version. for many, this is the first chance to see oz since the release back in 1955. that just brings back memories, doesn't it? of being a kid. >> yep, but the tin man won't be as squeaky this time around. >> let's hope so. and clear. and this comes to us from kahs tv news 5 in nebraska where nearby grand island, one event featured plenty of hot dogs, but far from a barbecue. it was the time for the racing. over 100 dogs from around the midwest participated in the ninth annual running of the weiners. they were matched up according to size with categories from lile smokies to senior sausages. ryan, i bet a lot of people are going to be choosing cereal this morning. >> that race is the real deal. >> serious stuff, right? well, i'm lynn berry, and

this is "early today," just the first stop of the 4:54 is the time right now. some clouds above us out there. you can see the spotlight shining off the clouds, the capitol dome all lit up. 67 degrees here in the nation's capital. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. we're glad you're with us this morning. we will begin, as we always do, with a look at traffic and weather. let's say good morning to tom kierein who is here with your foreca right now. good morning. >> hi, tom. >> good morning. we do have the clouds but no rain yet. does appear we have a chance later on today. let's look at radar. no precipitation around the region. off to a cool start. we're in the 60s. not as cool as it was yesterday morning. now 67 in washington. in the mid and upper 60s in montgomery, fairfax, prince george's county and all around the region we're in the 60s. near 60 eesh shore.

we've had quite a bit of cloudiness moving in. some showers moving into eastern north carolina. those may move toward the metro area by later on this afternoon with highs reaching the upper 70s. then tomorrow another chance of some passing showers mainly in the afternoon and rather humid. small chance of a passing shower again on thursday but drying out friday. a look at the weekend, that will be coming up in just a few minutes. stick around. >> we will. we'll stay right here. see you in a few minutes. >> let's get a check on traffic right now, very early. here's ashley linder and the news 4 traffic network. >> hi. >> good morning, barbara and joe. we're off to a quiet start. no big surprises for drivers. the capital beltway, those headlights are continuing to leave the maryland area heading toward the american legion and in toward tysons. all overnight road work is gone so we're starting off with a clean slate. wide-open right now. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> thank you, ashley. >> here now is a look at some of the top stories we are following today. the u.s. senate finance committee will begin shaping a health care reform bill today. they're looking at more than 500

proposed amendments which could take a few days. meanwhile, president obama took his push to late night television, appearing on "the late show" with david letterman last night. he's in new york city this week to visit the united nations among other events. >> massachusetts lawmakers are expected to change the law today so the governor can appoint an interim successor to the late senator kennedy. a replacement could be named to fill kennedy's seat by the end of the week. >> well, just days after the fbi agents arrested three men in an ongoing terror investigation, federal officials are reminding rail and transit says tells that they are vulnerable to terrorist attacks. the fbi and the department of homeland security warned that improvised explosive devices are the most common methods used to attack rail systems overseas. officials are recommending security officials conduct random sweeps at terminals and stations around the country. >> a public meeting will be held in howard county today to discuss a possible ban on

tanning beds for minors. the proposal put forth by county leaders would prohibit teens under 18 from using tanning beds. tanning beds are widely suspected of causing melanoma, a deadly type of skin cancer. today's meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the county health department. >> we are heading toward flu season. researchers are hard at work right now testing the swine flu vaccine. >> they say some children may only need one shot to protect them from the virus. tracie potts tells us about what they found so far. >> reporter: ely results from pediatric trials of the h1n1 flu vaccine show most children 10 and older had a robust immune response to the low dose of the vaccine. >> which tells us that this vaccine is acting very similarly to what the seasonal flu vaccine acts like in children. >> reporter: that means likely just one shot or nasal spray for kids 10 and older, but probably two for those under 10. >> they need a little extra, a

little nudge to the immune system to respond. >> reporter: scientists won't know for sure until more results come in in a few weeks but they urge parents, once a vaccine is available, don't delay. >> give them one and then keep your eye on things inform. you may need to bring them back. >> reporter: some doctors say they're still waiting on both the h1n1 and the seasonal flu vaccine. >> we're hoping we get both. >> reporter: that's a good idea with the shot, not the live nasal spray. the cdc says getting both the shot and the nasal mist could make one or both less effective. for now, until the vaccine's ready, school nurses are taking temperatures and isolating students, on the front lines of a pandemic that's just getting started. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> the federal government recently surveyed a few states about their level of preparedness. they found none appear to be fully prepared to handle the swine flu. >> well, stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m.