"jimmy fallon" happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," north star. senator lisa murkowski claims victory in her alaska re-electi bid but it may not be over. a 3-ear-old girl falls 75 feet downn irrigation well in argentina. and hooter's hoarer. a cop gets physical with a 54-year-old grandmother. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with beating the odds. after losing her republican

primary, lisa murkowski launched a write-in campaign to get the seat. she's now being called the apparent winner. nbc's tracie potts joins us from waington with the latest. tracie, good morning. >> it's hard to win the elections as a write-in candidate but it appear this morning that's exactly what lisa murkowski has one, for the first time since thurman in 1974. this is a big tea party loss. sarah palin put a lot of money and support in getting involved with the opponent's campaign, joe miller. they won the primary, but it loo now like lisa murkowski may have won the general election. here's part of what she said during her victory speech last night. >> alaskans knew exactly what

they were doing and they showed their intent with every letter that they put down on that ballot. >> back re another hard-fought win. we now know that representative nancy pelosi will be the minity leader in the house for t democrats. she won that election among her colleagues yesterday. a new nbc "wall street journal" poll shows that almost half of the country, %, feel positively about the republicans taking over congress, at least the house of representatives in january, and they are potive about the resulting divided government. when thanew congress meets in january, they'll have a lot of issues to deal with, but before that, the ol congress is looking at "don't ask, don't tell" on their heavy agenda. this is something that harry re says they will probably deal with after the thanksgiving break. lynn? >> tracie potts in washington. o years to go before the

2012 presidential election. things are already getting interesting. once again, sarah palin is involve she said she's seriously considering a white house run. palin who has been busy celebrating atv series and watching her daught on "dancing with the stars" says she's trying to figure out if jumping into the ce would be good for the country and her family. when asked, she said, quote, believe so. well, a mixed verdict in the case of a former guannamo detainee, the first to be tried in a sievian court. yesterday a new york jury are acquitted him on all but one of over 280 charges against him r the deadly bombings of two u.s. embassies in 1998 that left 224 people dead, including 12 americans. he now faces 20 years to life in prison for conspiracy. several lawmakers reacted,

saying the decision shows why civilian courts should not be trusted to handle cases with al qaeda terrorists. still they point out that he will serve a lengthy sentence and has fewer argumets for appealing his cviction. in trial the main a witness against him was disallowed by the judge because investigators found out about him after the suspect was abusively and coerce ily questioned. and now here's a look at some other stories making news earltoday in america. a wan is in maximum security prison following a confrontation with a hooter's security guard who happened to be an off-duty cop. he grabbed the woman and shook her. later testifying that the woman spat on him. she has filed a civil suit against hooter's and the cop. a texas man is protesting about the level of force used against him after he was pulled

over for speeding. dash cam video shows the end of a seven-mile chase where a deputy tackles a man off of his motorcycle. the police department defends the officer's actions claiming they were consistent with their use of force policy. california animal control was called in after someone saw a snake under the hood of a car. it took rescus about 40 minutes to remove the 10-foot-long red-tailed boa constrictor. no one knows how it got there, but the critter is now up for adoption. and in washington state, workers are busy cleaning up a sea of salmon that spilled across the highway following an overnight semitruck accident. it's not clear what they'll do with the salmon, but there are suggestions that some of tm may be salvageable. i don't know who's suggesting that. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i'd like to know.

>> the grizzly. >> there you go, bill, getting in that zingerarly on. i like it. >> well, nn, yesterday was an incredibly windy day in new england. it was just an amazing morning with thunderstorms. in the afternoon as the storms left the winds were howling from philadelphia all the way through new york city and up into new england. it's a little cold in t middle of the country. denv denver at 28, minneapolis at 29. this is the beginning of what should be a colder period. as we head toward thanksgiving break it looks like a cold front is going to head here through the northern plains. there's not much here in the east. the storms from yesterday are now heading up toward the hudson bay. we have one little white area of rain. it's very light. a lot of pces aren't even reporting any rainfall this morning but from southern illinois through the ohio river, louisville has a chance for showers d also down here in

alabama, but this will all be dissipating during the day. the forecast for most areas, it ooks dry, it looks sunny. and actually temperatures are very typical for this time of year. let's look at your thursday forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your wind. temperatures today in oklahoma, a little cold for you. 54 degrees today. arizona is beautiful. abut 80 today in phoenix. tampa should be 78 degrees. florida is looking oklahoma. cleveld, ohio, a little cloudy, 45. we'll be back with your friday forecast, lynn. >> all right, big. thanks so much. target takes off home construction hits and gm gets ready to hit the road. plus bristol palin's dance rue dean goes beyond the water cooler. an nhl alie scores on

himself. 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 mornin the first case of cholera has reached the united states and flida. the case involves a woman who recently visited her family in a region of the heart of haiti's epidemic. she is expted to make a full recovery. there's been no sign of a missing pilot of an air force fighter jet that crashed in alaska in training exercise. rescue has spotted the wreckage and continues to search for the pilot who was fit with survival gear. an american convicted in the death of his wife while scuba diving on his honeymoon will be deported to alabama after officials promise not impose

the death penalty if he is convicted in the u.s. he was released from prison last week after servi an 18-month sentence for the 2003 manslaughter of his wife. and argentinian firefighters are being hailed as heroes after rescuing a 3-year-old girl who fell 75 feet down an abandoned well. crews spent more than six hours trying to pull little vanessa to safety. an when the operation was finally over, she was taken to a local hospital where doctors say she was shocked but otherwise unharmed. and now here's an early lo at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,007 after falling 1 points yesterday. the s&p is up a fraction. the nasdaq added 6. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei climbed 221 points while in hong kong the hang seng gained 422. get ready to hear every r pun you can thinking of because

the talk on wall street today is going to be gm all day. they're rollg outheir new stock at the high end with shares at $3 # a piece. down the road we'll find out uch cash they bring in. they currently estimated $23 billion which should drive down the government's stake by nearly half and make it the largest ipo in u.s. history. overseas this morning it's been announced ford will end its run as mazda's biggest shareholder with plans to slash its 11% stake down to 3.5%. on the street investors will keep an eye on weekly jobless claims and any new developments out of europe o. worries that a bailout could be the only cure for their troubling debt had investors on edge sterday. also weighing down markets the government reported the construction of new homes stood at 12% hitting an 18-month low. the fed is stepping up its

efforts to keep tabs on 19 of the world's biggest banks with a freshound of fresh tests. target forecast its best same-store sales in three years. earnings from limited brands could extend the upbeat pace. victoria's secret and bath & bodyworks sent their shares up nearly 5%. and finally want to do your part to beat the global economy? how about gifting a gol and diamond encrusted coin to the taj mahal this year. it weighs in at a whopping two ounds. you'd better act fast. only 25 will be sold for the bargain price of 25,000 big ones. don't hold your breath. coming up, the heat eclipse the suns and the spurs continue to make noise, and a stock of gas of mammoth proportions.

plus, on the eyes a goalie's dream come true and nightmare all in one. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead >> typical fall like weather but a storm in the northwest. your rional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this

is "early today." and in sorts all season the miami heat have been waiting for one of their three super stars to produce. and the wait is finally over. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. so far miami's big three has been more like the big two. lebron james and dwyane wade both had good seasons and finally chris bosh joined the fun. a jumper here, a jumper there, a jumper everhere. he had 22 by the half and finished with a season-high 35. of course what's a miami high light without lebron james. the seateal, the lay-in, the fo. dallas came back, had a chance if the finally seconds. they held on to win it 99 h . the hornets and spurs have only one loss.

tony parker and eva longoria announced they're getting a divorce. spurs won it 103-94. he doesn't get a lot of penalties but maybe he should. he stepped out of the penalty box. even when crosby is penalized he figures out a way to make i work. crazy goal between the red wings and blues. the rebound went straight up and he swatted it into his own net. one more look. he tried to bat the puck out of midair but batted it in for a red wing goal. they lost it 7-3. finally they call soccer the beaiful game. nothing beautiful about this. watch closely. it's being called the miss of the century. uzbekistan gave the ball away. he took it and looking here. wide open net. i'll kick that. oh. kicked it right into the post. he couldn't believe he missed . and frankly neither could anyone else. i'm no soccer player, but even i

would have made that. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, what might be next for george clooney, your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, i a matter of only day, now everyone wants to be like kate. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back on this thursday morning.

thankfully the winds will not be even half as gusty today in the mid-atlantic and newngland as they were yesterday. a lot of people cleaning up from that mess. temperatures not bad today in the 50s in new england. mid-atlantic in the 60s. florida in the 70s. in the middle of the country a little light rain through the tennessee valley. that's going to break up this morning. denv this morning not bad. 65. we'll ke that this time of year. the cold air is starting to show itself up here in montana but much of the eastern two-thirds of the country are looking really nice as we head into the weekend. well, if you're watching us on wnbc 4, new york, new york, one campaign drive is turns cans into sculptures. you can contribute to at canstruction at the world financial center. did emphasize that enough? >> i like that. that is an early look at your sports headlines. a day after the hold reporter

director was in talks to bring the '60s tv spy series "man from ung kl" to the big screen, they say clooney is in talks about playi the lead. elsewhere you knew it was st a matter of time before the tv musical series took on michael jackson's "thriller," and they report it will happen in the post super bowl episode. finally, you thought you were upset when bristol palin advanced? 67-year-old was so enraged with palin's routine he took out his shot gun an blew away his television. next he threatened his wife with the gun. eventually he had to be coached out of his house by police after an all-night standoff with the s.w.a.t. team. he was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and bail was set at $1,500. bill, what's hpening? >> he was the second-most person upset to you, right? >> what's happening in this

world when people are shooting at their television over a dance competition. you realize it's a dance competition, right? >> it goes on for like four months. you get invested in these things. >>well, this comes to us from wnbc new york where the diamond district is abuzz with the new yal blue trend. they're racing to keep up with demand for the rep milk ka of the royal engagement ring that now sits on the finger of prince williams' bride-to-be. one store sold 30 in 24 hours. a website crashed. feeling like a website isn't cheap. copies can cost over $100,000. but it's gorgeous. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

good morning. 4:48 is our time. 45 degrees outside. chillier than it was yesterday on this 18th day of november. good morning, i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this thursday, november 18th, 2010. heads up if you use the farragut north metro station to get to work you may need to head to another station this morning. we're still waiting to hear if the station will reopen after part of the ceiling fell oto the platform yesterday. news 4's tree wilkins is live outside of the station in northwest washington with the latest. tracee, good morning. >> good morning, eun.

we're still waitin to hear from metro officialsto hear if they're going to allow the statn to reopen. but as you can see, workers are still here this morning. they've had the stati closed since 8:00 p.m. these are the workers who've been checking the metrotation out to see if it is safe enough to reopen. i can tell you the saving grace here is that this happened between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. so all of that debris that fell fell onto an area where there weren't any paengers standing so no one was injured. but this is all due to construction on connecticut avenue. this morning structural engineers examined that construction and also, of course, the insid of the metro to make sure it was okay to reopenoday. concrete fell from the ceiling of the farragut north station in northwest onto the plaorm leaving chunks of debris. we understand that one piece was as large as a human head. again, no passengers were injured. the spokesman had this to stay about the construction connecticut avenue that caused the accident. >> we're actually putting in a medi