this morning on "early today," poll position. our new nbc/wall street journal poll reveals a new gop front-runner. outage outrage. blackberry users around the world are cut off as the company's whole system crashes. and mountain majesty. a tiny himayan nation hosts a and mountain majesty. a tiny himayan nation hosts a fairytale royal wedding. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with stealing the

lead. a new nbc news/wall street journal poll indicates how volatile the republican race for the white house has become. the data shows there's a new front-runner among presidential hopefuls, unsettling news for some. tracie potts joins us with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this poll shows while mitt romney remains the most electable candidate against president obama, it's herman cain that most republican voters would prefer if that election were held today. take a look at the numbers. herman cain stands at 27% ahead of romney's 23%. romney has remained steady. rick perry has slid 20 points since the end of august to third place. what has boosted cain in popularity? it looks like he's most popular with members of the tea party and those who identify themselves as very conservative. the polls show people seem to like him because is he a businessman, not a politician. cain says people are starting to

take his flat tax plan seriously. meantime, president obama's jobs plan gets two-thirds support from people who say not only should we put this jobs plan into place, but also tax the wealthy. >> tracie potts for us in washington, thank you. a routine trip to the hair salon turned horribly tragic for several people yesterday in a quiet town in southern california. in seal beach a gunman open fire, killing eight people. one person was critically wounded. authorities say the alleged shooter was arrested without incident half a mile away and admitted to having multiple weapons with him. friends of the salon owner say the gunman was the ex-husband of a stylist working there and neighbors of the suspect say he was in a custody battle over his young son. well, if you notice more people than usual staring down at their smartphones with this frustrated look on their face for the past day or so, there's a reason for that. some of you probably experienced

it yourselves. it's because of a massive blackberry outage that's hit devices here and arnold the world. nbc's tom costello has the story. >> reporter: from coast to coast, a day of aggravation and frustration for blackberry users, from air travelers in l.a. -- >> so phone calls work, text messages work but no e-mails. >> reporter: to new york's rockefeller plaza. >> i couldn't use it for a couple hours. really wasn't too happy with the service. >> well, you know, if you can't count on it, i need a business tool i can count on. >> reporter: to the halls of congress and a mom in atlanta who missed a kid's activity. >> i don't have time to go home and check my e-mail. >> reporter: blackberry's most serious disruption in years began overseas on monday when a router switch failed then a backup system crashed. >> i have had no communication or e-mails for two days. >> reporter: the company insists it wasn't hacked and the problem is fixed, but the data traffic jam is massive. >> the backlog of messages, the traffic they missed, is making

the system go down in bits and pieces as well. and apparently that's the reason why it spread through the united states today or last night. >> reporter: 70 million customers worldwide rely on blackber blackberry's record of reliability from executives to families, emergency workers to the white house press corps, even president obama. but in the last year the company's stock has fallen 65%. >> wall street just doesn't believe in the growth story here. they don't believe the management of rim has a handle on the future and will continue to grow. >> reporter: as blackberry struggles to resume normal operations, it's also under enormous pressure to prove it hasn't lost its touch. tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> shows just how dependent we are on that little thing. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a 70-year-old woman could go to prison for five years for attacking a teen on a florida school bus. footage of the attack captured on camera last june shows the former school bus attendant attacking and biting the boy

after separating him from another child. the woman says the 14-year-old has threatened her in the past. and is claiming self-defense. the owner of a myrtle beach restaurant drew backlash from his multicultural community after posting this controversial sign. it reads, if you can't read this, go back to your crappy country. well, the owner known for putting up humorous signs realized he offended people and quickly changed it. a strip club on wheels has made its last run in detroit. authorities impounded the party bus known as the booty lounge after observing illegal activity, claiming various city ordinances were violated during the detroit lions monday night football game. and finally, it's beginning to look a lot like christmas in new york. it's that time of year. with less than a month away from their first show, the rockettes kicked their rehearsal into high gear. the fames dancing troupe has

performed since 1933. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. i was leaving work yesterday and noticed they put up the ice skating rink and it's sort of the beginning of, we should say, the season, but here at rockefeller sister it's the crazy season because everyone comes in town. it's here. it's coming. >> yes, thanks for stressing out my credit card. that's nice. just tell me there's only like, you know, 12 weeks to christmas or whatever it is. good morning, everyone. we have rainy weather out there today to deal with, just like yesterday. we shouldn't see too bad of delays at the airports, if you're doing any traveling. doing the morning commute around chicago, boss torngs providence, hartford, those are some big city areas in the suburbs that will deal with wet weather for kids at the bus stop. dry from denver to dallas, kansas city looks okay. everywhere east of there we have all the wet weather. kind of a bunch of different storm systems interacting here.

there's nothing too organized. we have one batch of moderate rain over long island heading up into connecticut. another batch from providence up over cape cod, will clip boston over the morning rush hour. from albany, burlington, vermont, we'll be dealing with rain, and d.c. scattered showers. another large cluster of rain from illinois, heading northwards. that will be over the top of chicago as we go throughout your morning rush shower. so, the roads, i'm sure, will be a little slow there. as i mentioned, nice weather, finally, returning to the central plains. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. baltimore, maryland, chance of showers and storms today, from d.c. to, say, richmond and all the way down through raleigh. we're going to see storms during the day. but it won't be all day long. most of your day should be dry. one more soggy day and some nice weather returns. >> yeah, good aitem weekend. thanks so much. also coming up, stocks march

higher, so does the price of peanut butter. and an auction involving saddam hussein? you have to stick around to hear about. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, the fbi's "operation hackarazzi" nets the suspect from hacked pictures around scarlett johansson and other stars. coming up, the cardinals take the lead and the defining moment that changed the alcs. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. congress has overwhelmingly approved long-awaited free trade agreements with south korea, colombia and panama. the obama administration says the three pacts could improve exports by $13 million and support ten of thousands of americans of job. in detroit, a stunning end

to the trial of the so-called underwear bomber. he changed his plea to guilty on all eight charnlg charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism. he faces a likely life sentence. conflicting reports on whether libyan revolutionary fighters have captured one of moammar gadhafi's son. a spokesman for the national transitional council has backed off early reports of the capture saying there's been no confirmation yet. and the tiny himalayan nation of bhutan celebrated a royal wedding thursday as the country's beloved 31-year-old king married a 21-year-old commoner and student. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,5 18 after gaining 102 points yesterday. the s&p was up 11 points. the nasdaq added 21.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei rose 84 point while in hong kong, the hang seng jumped 428. more battle-weary investors returned to stocks yesterday as europe took further steps to shore up it's financial rescue fund. traders were jumping on the band wagon of what they hope will be a lasting rally. the dow closed at it's highest level since late august. the s&p 500 is enjoying its largest seven-day rally since march 2009. slovakian lawmakers ratified more powers for the rescue fund, easing global recession fears. that drove banks to lead stocks higher. citibank gained 5%. a clearer sign stocks are regaining traction, treasury prices fell and their yields rose. in earnings, alocoa fell a day after kicking off the season with disappointing results but pepsi jumped over 2% on its outlook and better than expected earnings.

liz claiborne skyrocketed 34% on plans to sell its namesake brand and several others, hoping to reverse years of losses. elsewhere, minutes released from the latest fed meeting showed the central bankers considered another round of big bond purchases with at least two members still lobbying for a so-called qe3. and a sad sign of the times, harrisburg, pennsylvania, debt-laden capital city filed for bankruptcy wednesday new and moms be prepared to shell out more for peanut butter son. a hot, dry summer in key producing states has shrunk the peanut crop this year. finally, you can't make this up. the bronze buttocks from the statue of saddam hussein tommed in baghdad after the u.s.-led invasion will be auctioned off in england. the former english soldier who grabbed it at the time hopes saddam's rear end will sell for

as much as $15,000. where would you put that? on the mantel? i'm not sure. coming up, the cardinals peck away at milwaukee. flyers remain undefeated. columbus blue jackets can't catch a break. one of baseball's most exciting play is a play at the plate. last night this one was make or break for both teams in the american league championship series. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we're watching a collision in the middle of the country. that's where storms are in the forecast. they're all heading east. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, including the preseason, after roughly 200 game, the texas rangers stand just one win away from baseball's world series. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headline. good morning. the rangers took a commanding lead in the alcs with another extra innings win. we will go to game four. it began after a two-hour rain delay. pick it up in the seventh. tigers down a run when brandon inge hit a bond to left. tied 3-3. to the eighth, and this play changed the entire game and probably the series. delmon young with a sac fly to right. cabrera tagged from third. nelson cruz came up throwing and cabrera was out by a mile.

detroit squandered a golden opportunity and off to extras. napoli gave the rangers a lead in the second. bloop single scored hamilton. cruz capped off the win with a three-run shot and becomes the first player in history to hit a pair of extra innings homers in the series. rangers won 7-3. to the n.l., they say the early bird gets the worm. cards wasted no time against the brewers. pujols with an rbi ground rule double. cards scoring four in the first inning. milwaukee chipped away at the lead. mark kotsay not known for his power but a charge into that. brewers down 4-3. that was as close as they would get pmo. hockey, the phillies are done but they have the flyers. they remain unbeat within a 5-4 win over the canucks. if no one shows up to watch a hockey team lose, does it still count in the standings? that's what the blue jackets are asking. just under 9,000 turned out to

see them play the avalanche. smallest crowd in franchise history. when this happens, you can't blame the fans. colorado tied it in the final minute it and won it in a shootout. up like the flyers, blue jackets are winless after a 4-3 loss. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. beyonce is doing baby business and ashton kutcher falls deeper into the dog house. surviving an encounter with one of these will get you lots of attention. for one boy, that was the problem. you're watching early "today."

a good thursday morning. we have many areas of rain today, especially up in new england, eastern new england from providence, boston, a lot of wet weather early today. we have rain through illinois heading into chicago for the morning commute. and then this afternoon, we'll have numerous areas of thunderstorms through the southeast. we're dry in the middle of the country, denver looks good today along with new mexico up to billings. tomorrow's forecast, we cleared out in the southeast of chicago but still damp in new england. if you're watching us on wwbt nbc 12 richmond, virginia, see modern sculpture as long the african art that inspired them at visions from the congo. at the virginia museum of fine arts. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> thanks so much. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. turns out johnny depp's role in the upcoming "21 jump street"

movie may not be a cameo. he may be resurrecting the role. cast and crew are under strict orders to keep details a secret. under the heading of the rich getting richer, expectant mother beyonce has announced plans for a new line of maternity clothes, of course, under her fashion label. expect more stories about problems between ashton cusper and demi moore after "us weekly" detailed interview with the 22-year-old woman who claims to have spent the night with kutcher on his and moore's sixth wedding anniversary. so shady. and finally, scarlett johansson's embarrassing nude photo leak has apparently been solved. the fbi has arrested a florida man who allegedly hacked into numerous celebrity phones and then distributed photos and information to third parties. not for money but just because he got a kick out of it.

you heard about that story. >> i didn't even know you could hack into phones. >> yeah, we're not going to explain how that may be done for everyone. >> you know how? >> and this comes to us from wgm news in quency, illinois, where in nearby pike county one boy's tal tale of fending off a wild animal spun out of control. the 14-year-old found himself in the media spotlight after claiming he had had a dangerous encounter with a mountain lion. well, turns out he made the whole thing up. because he was afraid his parents would ban his solo hunting trips. he admitted his scratches came after falling from a deer stand. he won't be charged but he's learned that big lesson about honesty being the best policy. i'm lynn berry. and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

58694 on 5. right now, police have not made any suspects in the murder or the disappearance of a boy. tracey is reporting every angle of the story. she'll have a live report coming up in 30 minutes. this was an apartment fire that displaced about eight families in prince georges county. officials tell us that several people had to be rescued from the fire. our news 4 crew was there as firefighters were wrapping up because of the fire. it remains under investigation. at least 18 people, rather, injured in a collision between two amtrak trainsn