this morning on "early today," the final kill. bp crews prepare a permanent plug for th blownout well in the gulf. burning revelation, a woman who grabs headlines by claiming she was the victim of an acid attack now admits that it was self-inflicted. and mini moon, the guinness book of world records reals and mini moon, the guinness book of world records reals the world's smallest cow. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with finally nearing the end. after five long months, crews in the gulf of mexico have taken a major step toward permanently plugging up the blownout well behind the worst offshore oil spill in u.s. history. for more on that, we go to

kristin dahlgren, live in louisiana with more. ood morning. >> good morning to you, lynn. day 150 and that relief well that they started drilling shortly after this a started has finally intersected with the mccondo well some 2 1/2 miles below the floor of the gulf. admiral thad allen said that the two wells were connected and that the next step was to pump mud and cement down into that well to permanely seal it off. obviously, great news for people in this area, but really just one step in their recovery. oil ctinues to wash ashore. and this week, thousands of dead fish. take a look at these pictures. looks almost like a graph grave there. scientists say it was caused by lack of oxygen and it's not uncommon here, but people are asng that the oil disbursants didn't play into that.

tony hayward defended 's safety record this week as he testified in britain. he said there's no need to rethink deep water drilling. meantime, here in louisiana, there's also a push to lift that moratorium on deep water drilling and get drillers back to work. >> kristin dahlgren in louisiana, thank you. a powerful storm that rocked the new york city area last night@has left at least one person dead. a woman was killed as a tree fell on to her car. winds up to 100 miles an hour knocked down trees, power lines and tore roofs off of buildings. at lst 3000 people were left without power. there were lightning strikes o the statue of liberty. eve a funnel cloud in brooklyn, a suspected tornado has yet to be confirmed. it was a horrific scene at johnshopkins hospital as gunfire erupted. police say a man, who was being briefed on the condition of his

84-year-old mother became overwhelmed by the news and then shot her doctor. the gunman, identified as paul warren partis, barricaded himself her room for more than two hours. when officers entered, both partis and his mother were found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide. fortunately, the wounded doctor is expected to survive. a washington state woman who gained sympathy across th country after claiming a random stranger through acid on her face is now admitting her burns are self-conflicted. after confronting the 28-yearld about discrepancies in her story such as the splash patterns on her face and why she was wearing sunasses at night, police say she admitted there was no attacker. prosecutors will now have to decide whether or not to file criminal charges against the woman. now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. in california, police are

looking for a cross dressing bandit who robbed a gas station. the man dressed in a hot pink miniskirt, blouseand high heels aimed a gun a the clerk bere cleaning out the cash register. the suspects got away with an undisclosed amount of csh and let me tell his skirt and heels at the scene. >> officials in florida say a father went too far when he stormed his daughter's school bus to send a message to her classmates. the man devered a profanity laced lecture to students thrtening to, quote, kill the person who bullied his daughter. the father could face charges of false imprisonment, disorderly condt, interrupting a school function and assault. in texas, surveillance footage could place a woman behind bars on felony charges of dog abuse. a neighbor's security camera recorded the woman in her bag yard beating her dog with a rake. animal services will retain the custody of the woman's dog until

the case has been resolved. and in kansas, severe weather conditions produced a storm of baseball-sized hail. it's caused significant damage to properties, including vehicles. youtube video shows the dangerous impact of large hail stones that it made 80s hit the ground. early estimates have rang up upwards of $1 million. now here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. here in new york, people are all talking about it. >> i'l give yothe update on the wichita hail storm you just showed. there was a piece 7 inches in diameter and that ti the record for theargest hail ever in kansas history. that tornado that went through brooklyn, five blocks from my house. i walked much of the damage yesterday. it will be annteresting call if it was straight line winds or a tornado or not. my guess is most likely it will

be straight line winds, but we'll find out officially today. now, to the dangerous situation in mexico, hurricane karl has rapidly intensified. look at the eyepop out right there. varicruz is in lane for a rough day toda we have hurricane igor out there, still a category 3 storm, huge storm, and it still has its eyes set on bermuda. some of those waves will start making their way to south carolina, north carolina and georgia. the swells will be with us probably all weekend long. bermuda, a category three possibly for you. sunday night, it will be a close call whether you go through the eye of the storm or not. as far as the weathertoday, nothing like yesterday. rain early today in new england, but all the severe weather and the bad storms have eted. we're watching hot conditions alung the gulf and cooler weather in the plains. as far as the wet weather goes, most of it is exiting.

that's a look at your national forecast. here a look at the weather outside your window. we're clearing out nicely from d.c. to new york. temperatures are still pretty mild. raleigh to atlanta, temperatures near 90. yesterday raleigh was in the 90s once again breaking the record for the most 90-degree days. we'll have the weekend forecast coming up a little later in the show. >> all right. bill, thank you. unemployment improves. gold hits the ights and a tweeter makes the most wanted list. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, is he pulling our leg just an eccentric artist? we've got the answer. a perfect storm hits the wnba. more bad news for floyd mayweather. and what would you do if you were hit in the face by an 89-mile-an-hour fastball?

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. aft much debate, the congress has passed 61-38 with the help of twoepublicans who crossed the aisletogive president obama an election year victory. the legislation now goes to the house where it's expected to quickly pass and head to the president's desk for signing. this morning, "usa today" reports a so-called super bug, resistant to nearly every modern antibiotic. it's spreading across the country and is becoming an international problem. the bacteria, which has been reported by hospitals in more than 20 states, typically strikes the critically ill and so far has been falts in 30% to 60% of the cases. the mother of missing

teenager natalee holloway reportedly sneaked into a peruvian prison where jordan van der sloot is being held and confronted her about his daughter. she spoke to van der sloot for five minutes but did not get any answers beforeeing removed. and meet the animal being affectionately dubbed mini moo, the world'ssmallest cow according to guinness world records. the sheet-sized cow hals from northern england and is just 33 inches long. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at10,594 after gaining 22 points yesterday. the s&p was down a fraction but the nasdaq added one point. taking a look at oveeas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei rose 116 points while in hong kong the hang seng

climbed 279. trading was mixed on wall street on thursday as investors looked pass news on the economy focusing instead on bellwether company fedex. the shipping firm darkened the mood falling after announcing it would elinate 1700 jobs in an effort to prop up its money losing trucking business. on the brighter side, the labor department reported first time claims for unemployment fell to a to-month low last week. and prices at the wholesale level rose more than expected last month, easing concerns econic anemia could lead to falling prices. on the down side, the census bureau reported the number of americans in poverty climbed to its highest level since the 1960s with millions losing jobs thanks to the recession leaving a staggering 1 in 7 americans in poverty. for the second time this week, gold swept to another all-time high and spot silver,

the so-called poor man's gold reached its highest level since march 2008. oracle ro re than 4 bers after the bell on quarterly results that topped wall street's expectations. also after hours, blackberrymaker research in motionumped morehan 8% on results that beat expectations. texas instruments rose more than 3.5% on extendedrade after extending a stk repurchase and boosting its quarterly dividend. timothy geithner promised lawmaker else on thursday he will rally other world powers to push china for trde and currency reform. finally, more about the power of twitter. angry police in johannesburg has posted thousands of daily warnings about where police set up speed traps in the city. the giants lead the west.

serious chges against pretty boy floyd and who says they don't sweet in seattle? plus, on of the white sox finds the perfect way t prove and a keep a good man down. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. >> this is our last summer weekend. temperatures are going to be very warm in the souern half of the nation. your forecast is coming up. ou're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, it's getting to be crunch time in major league baseball with divisional pennant races start to go reach a fever pitch. here'sbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the closest ploff race in baseball is not in the a.l. east, but oust west in the national league. padres were in first when the day started. this did not help. former cardin ryan ludwick couldn't make the grab. they went on to beat the padres, 4-0. the padres were in first, but not any more because the giants had their way with the dodgers. on ree hough busted the game open with home run. giants went on to win. they're now in first. don't forget about the rockies. they're 2 1/2 out. now we're going to show you a

piece of tape. if you're the least bit squeamish, turn your head for a moment. the good news, everybody turned out to be ox. a white sox player hit in the face by an 89-mile-an-hour pitch from carl pervano. kanerko suffered a bloody nose, but stayed in the game. in third, a homer, unfortunately not enough. the twins won it, 8-5. floyd mayweather may finally have met his match. he's been hit with three more felony charge in a domestic violence case that had him facing a felonyheft charge. this brings his combined totals to felonies and misdemeanors to eight. if found guilty, mayweather could face upo 34 yeerd behind bars. finally, the seattle storm can be called the perfect storm. the atlanta dream made it interesting in the end, but couldn't get a three-pointer in the second.

the storm chance with an 87-84 win. that's your early lo at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. new films prepare to do battle for weekend box office gold. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, sure, they're known as man's best friend, but we'll ell you about a special few who have been recognized as genuine heroes. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. let my take you thugh your forecast. a little rain in new england that exits quickly. we're hot all friday, saturday and sunday. the cool air this weekend will be up in the northern plains and great lakes. look at highs only in the 60s. even on sunday, highs around 66 n chicago. we look rather nice around the mid-atlantic. d.c., 84 on sunday. if you're watching us on wdiv 4 in detroit, michigan, celebrate creativity. set brating exhibitions at the annual diy street fair. that's your arly today" event of the day. >> sound like fun. thanks, bill. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. we now know whether joaquin phoenix's retirement from acting to start a rap career was real or fake.

his brother told the "new york times" the whole thing, including phoenix's appearance last year on david letterman was a hoax. after 54 years, today is the final episode othe soap opera "as the world turns." scottish singing sensation susan boyle fulfills her dream of singing for the pop yesterday. in the box office, the team come the easy a produced for nearly $1 million is the favorite to take first with $20 million or more. ben affleck stars in "r-town." experts expect it to take second. those film same experts don't expect the new horror flick evil" is to do much better than $10 million this weekend. and this comes tout from wnbc news 4 new york where a

group of dogs receive top honors. cassius, a former shter dog was recognized for his work during rescue relief efforts during rescue efforts in haiti and wyatt was honored for his work with disabled children. three dogs who love what they do and work tirelessly to help others. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. [ male announcer ] it's sunday afternoon.

time f football verizon fios. the nfl in 100% fiber-optic hd qualit that's a good start. but what's this? i can check my fantasy stats without changing the channel. an get an alert any time my team enters the red zone. and then watch every red zone playn nfl dzone. watch out couch, you'vgot coetition as daddy's favorite. it's time for fios. call theerizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v visit verizon.com/getfios.

and a friday in the nation's capit capital. 4:28 is the time. 69 degrees. >> welcome to news 4 for this september 17th, 120. a developing story out of prince george's county where sayeen is dead after being shot in hyattsville. he was shot at around 8:00 last night. no word this morning on his identy or whether police have a suspect. this morning we're learning more about the man who walked into johns hopkins. paul partis is from arlington. according to family members his

mother was told she might never walk again. darcy spencer reports. >> reporter: police say 50-year-old paul partis, know as warren davis, walked into johns hopkins, shot and wounded an ortpedic surgeon, shot and killed his mother, and took his own life. >> i would never have expected this. this place is well protected and secured. this is crazy and ridiculous for something like this to happen >> reporter: he became straight ile talking to dr. david cohen. he puled out a semi automatic handgun and fired one shot. >>. >> the wounds appear to be