[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," cain controversy. the current gop presidential front runner is forced to answer allegations of sexual harassment. fast track. a horrific 180-mile-an-hour wipeout at a las vegas motorcycle race. and tusk tussle. a 45-year-old zoo elephant ends up on the wrong side of an a 45-year-old zoo elephant ends up on the wrong side of an unfriendly shove. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with damage control. gop presidential hopeful herman cain got a lesson in campaign crisis management after news broke that he faced allegations of sexual harassment back in the

1990s. referring to his recent poll run-up and what he calls, quote, a witch hunt, cain joked yesterday that now he knows what it's like to be at the top. nbc's tracie potts joins us with the very latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. cain insists there is no coincidence why these allegations are coming out now that he won another big poll in iowa. he calls it, as you said, a witch hunt. that was at the press club here yesterday. cain over the course of yesterday, a number of appearances and interviews, seemed to gradually remember more details about what happened when he was head of the national restaurant association back in the '90s. we have now confirmed that two women accused him of sexual that racement, and one received a five-figure settlement. >> i can't even remember her name because she had not been a long-term employee, but i do remember the formal allegations she made in terms of sexual

harassment. >> reporter: cain says those allegations never checked out. there was no corroboration. there was an investigation. and he vaguely remembers something about a settlement, which initially he said he didn't really remember at all. now possibly more troubles for cain. he says he's got an attorney looking into whether a charity that was started by his chief of staff illegally donated $40,000 to help get his campaign started. lynn? >> tracie potts for us in washington. thank you. meanwhile, presidential contender rick perry is attracting attention of his own. based on a stump speech he gave in new hampshire friday night. now, the video of the texas governor's address to the conservative group cornerstone action has gone viral. it's hard to say what the mood was like in the room, but characterizations of perry's performance have ranged from passionate to odd to questions about his sobriety. what we do know is he appeared more loose and animated than we've ever seen him so far during the campaign.

>> this is auch a cool state. i mean, come on, live free or die? i mean, come on, you know, that's -- you got to love that, right? gold is good. if you've got any in the backyard, because, you know, if they print any more money over there in washington, the gold will be good. are that! 20% flat tax, put it on there, take your deductions off, send it in. >> now, perry's camp claims the condensed clips have been, quote, manipulated by left wing organizations. a federal investigation is under way to find out what caused a jetblue plane to keep passengers on the tarmac for more than seven hours during this weekend's freak snowstorm. hartford, connecticut, bradley international airport was inundated with diverted flights during saturday's storm however jetblue faces fines up to $27,000 for each passenger, or roughly $3 million, after those

on board endured hours in the dark without food, water or bathroom facilities. in this recording, a jetblue pilot pleads with the control tower. >> i have a paraplegic on board that needs to come on that needs to come off. i a diabetic that has an issue. i need to have the cops on board. >> new car mack delay rules require they let passengers off the plane after three hours. here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. long lines at the gas pump caused techers to flare up in connecticut. patience went by the wayside as drivers waited for close to an hour to fuel up two days after a rare snowstorm crippled the area. police were called in to bring order to the chaotic situation, but no arrests were made. snowstorm clean-up inside new york city central park revealed shocking damage to the national landmark. over 1,000 trees suffered damage prompting one by stander to call

the southern half of the park a tree cemetery. park officials are scrambling to clean it before the new york city marathon. one showed he's anything but bril brittle. the 69-year-old professional racer was riding 180 miles an hour when he fell off his bike and slid several feet. the accident saturday left him with only a broken pinkie and a few stitches on his knuckles. remarkable there. and finally, new york city's 39th annual village halloween parade once again turned city streets into a spookfest. this year's cast of bizarre and creepy costume participants were joined by an assembly of newsmakers themed costumes. occupy wall street protesters joined the parade dressed as working class heroes. now for a look at your national and regional weather,

here's nbc meteorologist bill kari karins, straight from the village parade. you ran into them. >> i went through the tail end. this is the holiday hangover for a lot of people. >> they may be watching. >> today is a difficult day for a lot of people up late last night. as far as the weather goes, the big story waiting for people to get their power. connecticut definitely appears to be one of the states with the worst of it still. it's 37 this morning, so a lot of people still struggling with very cold temperatures in their homes. it's going to warm up a little today. a little more than yesterday. got some clouds around this morning. today's high, about 50 degrees in the areas that got the snow. we'll warm up a little bit. warmer for that from new york and new jersey. hartford, we still have good news coming on the way. temperatures about 48 but we should get to about 57 on thursday. that will take a big chunk of that snow and get rid of all of it by next weekend. the next storm on the way, by the way. up in montana and wyoming, that storm is coming through now. the cold front's moving through. area of low pressure is warming and winter storm warnings around cheyenne, around the southeast corner of wyoming.

also out here in extreme portions of nebraska and denver you're next come tomorrow. just be prepared. winter storm today is in wyoming. tomorrow it's for you there in denver. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. well, pretty quiet day in a lot of these cities. beautiful in memphis. we have warm air moving through the middle of the country so appreciate it today anywhere from texas northwards up to chicago. temperature in phoenix, 87. so, now we'll track our next winter storm. this one will not hit anyone else in the east. this is going to be -- >> enough, bill. >> -- in colorado. >> bill, thanks much. euro debt claims its first american casualty. japan squeezes the dollar. and zombies doing their bit for the american economy. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, life imitates reality tv. after just 72 days, kim kardashian calls it quits on her marriage.

coming up. an overtime thriller between chargers and chiefs. cc sabathia gets a new deal. and a storybook ending for tony la russa. 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. president obama has been given a clean bill of health after the second physical exam of presidency last week. his doctor says the president is, quote, in excellent health and is tobacco-free. the justice department has filed a lawsuit to stop the enforcement of parts of south carolina's new immigration law, saying they're unconstitutional and interfere with federal authority. similar suits have been filed against laws in arizona and alabama. the fbi has released surveillance video and documents from a decade-long espionage probe in the u.s. that led to

the biggest spy swap since the cold war. the video shows how russian spy anna chapman and others passed instructions, information and cash to one another. ten spies were arrested in 2010 and traded for four russian spies convicted of spying for the west. the doctor charged in michael jackson's death is expected to reveal today whether he plans to testify at his involuntary manslaughter trial. yesterday under tough cross-examination the defense's proce propofol expert admitted he never would have used the drug under the same situation. an elephant was shoved into a trevenlg by another elephant sunday, causing him to break a tusk. he did manage to climb out with some help the next day. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,955 after dropping 276 points yesterday. the s&p sank 31 points.

the nasdaq tumbled 52. in tokyo the nikkei skidded 152 points while in hong kong the hang seng plunged 494. halloween was a scary day on wall street as the european debt crisis claimed its first major american victim. global holdings, a brokerage run by former new jersey governor, jon corzine, filed for bankruptcy, crippled by big bets made on european debt. "the new york times" reports mf global is also being investigated for hundreds of millions in customer money gone missing. financials were hit hard, morgan stanley fell almost 9%, jpmorgan chase, which has $1.2 billion in claims against mf global, also fell. also the dollar shot up to a three-month high after japan intervened to curb its currency appreciation. that set energy and natural

resource shares sharply lower. alocoa dropped 7%. freeport copper and gold lost almost 6. on all that news, wall street's so-called fear index jumped 22%. still, it was hard to say good-bye to october. both the dow and the s&p started the month at year lows. yesterday the dow closed october up more than 1,000 points. its best month in nine years. it was the s&p's best month in almost 20 years. in earnings, allstate posted a sharp profit drop posting more than $1 million loss on natural disasters. spending on home entertainment rose for the first time in over three years. finally, zombies are no laughing matter. business analysts 24/7 wall street have calculated the zombie economy, which includes movies, video games, costumes and everything else zombie is worth $5 billion a year to the american economy.

la russa says so long. cc is staying put. and breakup winnipeg. plus, the kansas city chiefs had all the energy in their monday night football match-up with the chargers. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. what a great start to november in the middle of the country but things are going to chan change. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." [ boy's voice ] hi, samantha.

[ girl's voice ] hi todd, do you wanna be my boyfriend? [ chuckles ] sure! great -- gimme your melt. myy--melt? [ singsong voice ] yeah. i'm your girlfriend now. ahh, i don't think this is working out. [ male announcer ] get your own subway steak melt. like the steak & cheese -- layers of juicy steak and bubbly, melted cheese. subway. eat fresh.

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports this past weekend in the nfl, there were a handful of majorup sets. why should monday night be any different? here's nbc's fred roggin. an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the chargers, seconds away from beating the chiefs when they literally fumbled the game away. we go to kansas city. not an easy place to play. chargers moments away from pulling out a win. chiefs with no time-outs, all san diego had to do was burn the clock and kick the winning field goal. easy for me to say. philip rivers fumbled a snap, kansas city recovered and forced overtime. a 30-yard field goal for the win. chiefs win but in reality the chargers lost in o.t. 23-20. baseball, tony la russa going out on top. he announced his retirement

three days after winning the world series. he managed for 33 years and won three titles. he's the only manager to retire after winning it all. cc sabathia won't be going anywhere. signed a five-year, $122 million extension to stay with the yanks. he had until midnight to opt out but decided to stay in the bronx. rangers jumped out to an early lead against the sharks. dubinsky to derek stephen. kept it going with three goals in the second. callahan had a pair. tapped in the rebound while falling to the ice. rangers beat the sharks 5-2. predators and blackhawks needed overtime. stalberg, stop and pop, put on the brakes and ripped one past the goalie. chicago won 5-4 in o.t. finally wild finish between panthers and jets. final minute. winnipeg down one and score the equalizer. wait a minute. the referee waved it off because of a high stick. wellwood got a piece of it. stick can't be higher than the

cross bar and that's a goal. jets tied it. completed a comeback in the shootout. wellwood with the game-winner. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. coming up, the shocking show biz divorce. or is it really? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, traditional trick-or-treating is great when weather permits. we'll show you how parents in snow-clogged massachusetts saved their kids holiday fun. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this tuesday morning. first day of november. most of us had a pretty good weather for our halloween. south florida around miami, we had a ton of rain yesterday and washed out some people's fun activities. today winter storm through rockies, wyoming will get hit. cheyenne could pick up 5 to 10 inches later today and tonight and later that snow moves into colorado. if you're watching us on whdh 7 news in boston, mass, discover the power of aphrodite, god of power and beauty, like lynn. i know we tried to change your name. >> didn't work out so well. maybe i'll try that on my twitter feed. now here's an early look at this morning's headline in entertainment. just ten weeks after their lavish made for tv wedding and less than a month after their

wedding special aired, kim kardashian is divorcing pro basketball player kris humphreys. citing irreconcilable differences. they have a prenup and they are asking for humphreys to terminate his right to spousal support. humphreys, according to one report, learned the news on tmz, told the website he was devastated to learn his bride had filed and is, quote, willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. representing those of many, comedian says he's suing kardashian for, promoting their wedding, and polluting the air waves of america. harsh. finally, almost entirely lost monday in the kardashian divorce hoopla, jessica simpson's announcement she is, indeed, president and her twit

pic to prove it, her pregnant mummy costume. from whdh 7 news in boston, massachusetts, where some resourceful parents pulled off a trick to make this year's halloween a total treat for dozens of children. in the wake of this past weekend's rare snowstorm, parents kept the halloween spirit alive with what they called trunk or treat. facing dangerous conditions and power outages, parents transformed a parking lot into a halloween lot where kids in costume got to hop from one candy-filled car to another. saved halloween. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

and this is what it looks like at this hour, 4:28 in the morning. we have 46 degrees. still kind of chilly out there this morning. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this tuesday. it is the first day of november, 2011. we begin with a violent halloween in the district. an outbreak especially troubling on a night when children were out all across the city. in all police are investigating five separate shootings. these are the locations. the violence began around 8:00. at least six people were hurt in shootings in northwest, northeast, and southeast. one shooting began at the height

of the halloween celebration in georgetown. a teenager was shot along "m" street at 11:00. it happened along 28th street. the teen's name and condition are not being released. two teens shot in another shooting in pet worth. this happened around georgia and decatur avenues. the victims were taken to the hospital. the names are not being released, but they're expected to make a full recovery. and police are investigating another shooting involving a teenager. this happened around 8:00 near the new york avenue metro station. the victim is also expected to be okay in the situation so far. no arrests have been made in any of these shootings. today a statue of former president ronald reagan will be unveiled at the airport that holds his name. this is a live look at ronald reagan national airport. the 9 foot tall, 900-pound likeness was funded by the ronald reagan foundation and will stand in front of terminal "a." four lanes t