today," plugged up. the blown-out bp well that caused thelarges oil spill in u.s. history is finally declared dead. home sweet home. an american hiker jailed in iran for more than a year speaks out. and house arrest. actor randy quaid and his wife in hot water again. actor randy quaid and his wife in hot water again. this time, accused of sqtting. captions paid for by nbc-universalelevision hello and gd morning, i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with mission finally accomplished. bp says a permanent al is now in place on its blown-out well at the bottom of the gulf of mexico. however, killing the catastrophic well off is a bittereet victory for gulf coast residents, who fear they'll be battling the effects of the nation's worst environmental disaster for years to come. nbc's jay greg has our report.

>> reporter: it began april 20th with a massive fireball and deadly flames cutting through the nigh air. as the deepwater horizon rig exploded, then collapsed, 11 lives were lost. and oil began to seep into the gulf, the start of the worst spill in u.s. history. now, 154 days later, government scientists say the final seal, 74 barrels of cement, is holding tight, and that the well will never leak again. president obama acknowledged the work that's beenone and perhaps the more difficult job at lies ahead, in a written statement which says, in part, we will continue to work closely with the people of the gulf to rebuild their livelihoods and reore the environment that supports them. my administration will see our communities, our businesses, and our fragile ecosystems through this difficult time. difficulties that continue to wash up along the gulf coast. cleanup teams fight every day at plaquemines parish, but it seems

right now, the oil is winning the battle there. >> we can't fix this on our own. we can rebuild thison our own. we need -- we need help from the whole country, i mean, really. we need everybody. >> reporter: help they may need for years here. jay gray, nbc news, venice, louisiana. well, freed american hiker sarah shourd spoke out yesterday in defense of her fiance and a friend, both still captive in iran, calling their arrest and detention a quote, huge misunderstanding. shourd's comments were carefully constructed and timed to coincide with iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad's visit to new york to address the u.n. general assembly. nbc's brian moore has the story. >> reporter: sarah shourd is ck on american soil. no longer an iranian prisoner, but still living a nightmare. >> and i stand before you today only one-third free. >> reporter: iran is preparing to try her fiance shane bauer

and their hiking companion josh fattal, 13 months afterthe three were arrested near the iran/iraq border. >> we committed no crime, and we are not spies. >> reporter: reading a prepared statement, shourd thanked the religious and political leaders in iran for her release. >> the only thing that enabled me to cross the gulf from prison to freedom alone was the knowledge that shane and josh wanted, with all their hearts, for my suffering to end. >> reporter: and for their mothers, the vigilcontinues. >> i love him so much, d i want you home for his father, for his brother, for his grandparents. >> reporter: they are hoping to meet with iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad, in new york for meetings with the general assembly. he hints a prisoner exchange may be possible. >> translator: so i believe that it would not be displaced to ask that the u.s. government should make a humanitarian gesture.

>> reporter: one family reunited, while two others hold out hope. brian moore, nbc news, washington. disturbing details revealed in yesterday's "washington post." uncover a shocking story of rogue members of one u.s. army platoon randomly targeting and killing afghan civilians for sport. according to military documents, an interviews, the newspaper reported five members of t unit staged killings in kandahar province while seven others have been charged with crimes related to the case. apparently what started as a mock war game waged against one afghan man led to the unprovoked rder o at least three other people over several months. other charges filed allege soldiers dismembered and photographed corpses, used illegal drugs, tried to interfere with the investation, and asulted one private who blew the whistle on the attacks. the accused soldiers reportedly deny any wrongdoing. and now here's a look at some other stories making news

early today in america. in utah crews are working to contain a fast-moving fire that allegedly broke out at a machine gun range during a training exercise prompting the evacuation of over 1,000 homes. so far, there are no reports o fatalities or injuries, ough one woman was treated for smoke inhalation. in new jersey, crews worked to clean up thousands of rotting fish that washed up at a local beach. it's not clear what caused the massive fish kill, but low oxygen levels could be to blame. the depament of environmental protection is investigating. and in louisiana, local artists and celebrities came together for a unique fundraising project. turning shin-high shrimp boots into works of art. over 40 uniquely designed boots, including one signed by saints head coach, and a boot designed by nbc's own hoda kotb will be raffled f, and proceeds will

go to the victims of the oil spill. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill kari with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> good morning, lynn. i'll be happy when today is over with. because we'll be done with hurricane igor, we'll actually get a break in the tropics. it's been a very active period. last night bermuda got hit pretty hard. the storm is now pulling away. this is what it looked like when the center of the storm came over the island late yesterday afternoon, during the evening hours. they had a lot of hurricane force gus. this is a long duration storm for rmuda. i don't think the destruction is going to be that bad. but a lot of people lost power on the island. huge, huge storm is now exiting. we're just about done with it, too. still a category 1 hurricane and it's going to quickly pull away from the island and race out intohe open atlantic. it will bring some rain in extreme eastern canada, but that's about it. the storm is just about over with. so as far as the forecast goes for today, there goes igor. and the nation's kind of split. the southeast, the deep south,

very hot. still feels like summer out there. some record highs are possible. there's a cooler air mass that has settled over the great lakes and new england. so it's definitely a split forecast. you can see chicago, 75. atlanta, 91. so we're still i the 90s from texas to orida. more or less in the late summer/fall air mass as you'd expect from chicago, detroit, all the way into areas of the east. but it's quiet today. not a lot of wet weaer. that's a look at your monday forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. sunshine, another 90 degree day possible in raleigh, north carolina. houston today, very warm. we had a lot of heavy rain over the weekend in south texas. that should slowly improve today. some shows in t forecast. lynn, we'll sneak in to fall this week. give you the forecast coming up. >> it's here. all right, bill, thank you. remember the phrase, as gm goes, so goeses nation? well, a big part of the company may be bought by the chinese

government. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus perpetual troublemakers paris hilton and lindsay lohan spend he weekend weaving their way through legal issues. >> another rough outing for brett favre, redskins andexans need overtime and a remarkable grab by randymoss. 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. as the ballots a counted in this weekend's afghan parliamentary elections, observers of the vote are questioning its legimacy. they' concerned about numerous fraud complaints. also, it appears some afghans were scared away by violence that killed 11. preliminary results are not expected until october. a wave of attacksaoss iraq yesterday killed at least 36 people. it marked the worst violence there since the u.s. formally decred an end to combat operations. and in california, actor

randy quaid and his wife are facing burglary charges after apparently ing caught living in a house they haven't owned for years. officials say the couple insisted they still own the home. but documents prove that wasn't the cas this was the cople's second serious brush with the law in the past year. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. thedow opens at 10,607, after adding 13 points on friday. the s&p was up a fraction. the nasdaq gain 12. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei climbed 116 points while in hong kong the hang seng edged up 6. this week, wall street investors will be hoping some kind of boost from the federal reserve will provide a turning point for markets mired in uncertainty. what steps, if any, will fed chief ben bernanke and company take to help jump-start the struggling economic recovery when they meet tuesday on interest rates? theyould lower rates or make other moves to stimulate the

economy. but with recent upbeat data, includingstronger than expected private sector job growth, most analysts don't expect major moves. still, positive comments alone could spark market confidence. it's a big week ahead for readings on the state of the nation's housing market. new and existing home sales, along wi new home construction, are expectedto rise but look for bo permits for future home construction and home prices to fall. this week we'll also get quarterlyarnings reports from companies such as bed, bath & beyond, discover financia nike, and general mills. speaking of, general mills, the company refused to comment sunday on a report it's considering a $1.5 billion bid for the french yogurt maker ymplt oplait. elsewhere, no comment from gm, and the treasury department on reports gm is in talks with its current partner in china about

buying a stake in the company. saic is own by the chinese government. an indian conglomerate is reportedly in discussions about buying the struggling film studio metro goldwyn-mayer for billion. and finally, in a sign parents are still cutting back on nonessential spending in england, news that children's weekly pocket money has fallen to a seven-ar lowhere. well, peyton faces eli. a redskins kicker gets frozen, and bet favre saves the wrong team. plus randy moss makes an inyesterdayible one-handed catch. but was it enough tohelp the patriots slide past the jets? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and in weather this week, we go from summer to fall but it's not gog to feel like it. your monday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're jus waking up, this is "early today." in sports when it comes to tough sibling rivalries, try being peyton manning's little brother. here's nbc's fred rgin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. peyton manning took it to his little brother eli as the colts led from sta to finish. mom and dad on hand to see their boys play.

indy up 14-0, peyton threw three touchdowns. tough for eli, sacked and fumbled in the third, colts recovered in the end zone. nothing went right for the giants. indy won in a rout 38-14. jets and pats,lay of the game turned in by randy moss. moss hauled it in with a remarkal one-handed grab. e more time. moss made it look so easy. but after that it was all new york. mark sanchez tew a career high three touchdns. jets upset the patriots 28-14. great finish between the texans, redskins. shaw scrambles, to johnson in the end zone. that forced er time. redskins with a chance to win. a 52-yard fid goal. game over, right? wrong. houston call a time-out just before he kicked it. woun't you know, his second attempt shanked. texans ice the kicker and it actually worked. moments later houston completed the comeback. texans rallied from 17 down to win it 30-27 in o.t.

the eagles michael vick made his first start since 2006. the eagles held on to beat the lions 35-32. another forgettable day for brett favre. the dolphins picked h off three times. the ball batted around, nev touched the ground, and miami came up with it. vikings lost again 14-10. and finally a great catch to show you from the bruins ryan braun. ross hit one down the line in left. braun robbed ross of a home run. the coach called it one of the best catches he's ever seen. i have to agree. giants won it. that'sour look at sports on "early today." a giant upset at the box office this weekend. your early morning entertainment headlin are straightahead. plus, they're in the prime of their life, and showing it off for a good cause.

good monday morning. nice forecast for today for so many people. it's going to be a little hotter than you'd probably like from texas to louisiana, down through georgia, mississippi, alabama. even north carolina is going to be steamy today. temperatures there in the 90s. north of that, much cooler and beautiful air mass the nxt two days from the great lakes to new england. two days in a row of temperatures that are going to be enjoyable. chicago heats it up on tuesday u.p. to 88. the new englandarea and great lakes, dry forecast for much of this week. well, if you're watching us on

wnbw channel 9 in gainesville florida, learn how insects help solve crime with hands-on activities. csi crime scene insects at the florida museum of natural history. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> thank you. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entert n entertainment. this weekend's underdog box office winner completely fooled a the experts. ben affleck's heist thriller "the town" stealing away the number one ot, opening with almost $24 llion. rave reviews helped the drama make off with roughly $10 million more than most experts predicted. on the other hand, the comedy "easy a" underperformed. opening in second place with just over $18 million. and finally, the horror film "devil" rounded out the top three with just over $12.5

million. elsewhere over the weekend lindsay lohan confirmed herself via twier that she has failed a court-ordered drug test which could mean more jail time for the 24-year-old actress. and finally, turns out it must have been paris hilton's purse after all. in exchange for pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of drug possession and obstructing an officer, hilton will get no jail time. she must complete a drug program and pay a $2,000 fine and serve 200 hours of community service. i've had enough of these two. let's talk about the movies. these experts, i'd like to know where they come from. because this is the second weekend in a row. >> so you actually want to start calling people out. maybe they can do that, instead. pinpoint one individual and see what he predicts. >> right. they're throwing spaghetti at the wail, they have no idea what they're talking about. >> normally the do well. this comes tous from wach-7 news in boston, massachusetts, where a group of golden girls

are the newest calendar girls. the ladies bore it all for the sake of charity in a calendar photo shoot. the group with an age range between 63 and 97 say they're thrilled to be sleted over dozens of recruitments in other retirement communities. but they say they're even more excited to have the support of their biggest fanstheir families. good for them. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

and it's a brand-new week in the nation's capital. we have 69 degrees outside as we look at the washington monument and the sky above the nation's capita good morning. i'm joe krebs. >> good morning on this monday, september 20th, 120. the final cleanup is under way in the gulf of mexico. teams are leaving the area after sealingthe deep horizon oil well. >> today the fight comes to washington. jay gray explains what is next from venice, louisiana. >> reporter: it began april 20th with a massive fireball and deadly flames cutting through the night air. as the deepwater horizorig exploded and collapsed, 11 lives were lost. and oil began to seep into the

gulf, e worst spill in u.s. histo. now, 154 days later, government scientists say the final seal, 74 barrels of cement, is holding tight and at the well will never leak again. president obama acknowledged the work that's been done and perhaps the more difficult job that lies ahe in a written statement which says in part, we will continue to work closely with the people of the gulf to rebuildtheir livelihoods and restore the environment that supports them. my administration will see our communities, our businesses and our fragile ecosystems through this difficult time. ifficulties that continue to wash up along the gulf coast. cleanup teams fight everyday in plaquemines parrish. >we need help from the whole countriment really. we need everybody. >> reporter: anat