this morning on "early today" -- on the hot seat. gop presidential candidate herman cain now facing another allegation of sexual harassment. occupy epicenter. tensions build in california's bay area as thousands of protesters paralyze a major sea port. and living on the edge. some trailer park residents wake up to an unpleasant surprise in some trailer park residents wake up to an unpleasant surprise in wales. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with mounting accusations. in the face of an associated press report that a third woman from herman cain's past once considered filing a sexual harassment complaint against

him, the republican presidential candidate insists he's innocent. and now cain's camp is pointing the finger at gop rival rick perry. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: as campaign crisis got worse, herman cain tried to cut off questions. >> are you concerned about -- >> excuse me. excuse me! >> reporter: two more people allege cain committed sexual harassment in the '90s. a woman told the associated press cain called her attractive and asked her to his corporate apartment. she told ap she considered filing a complaint but did not. kris wilson, who does work for rick perry, said he saw cain in a d.c. area restaurant in the '90s sexually harass a woman. cain is calling it a smear campaign. >> things are trying to destroy me personally as well as this campaign. >> reporter: he specifically

blamed the perry camp and sent his top faxer to fox. >> rick perry and his campaign owe cain and his family an apolo apology. >> reporter: a wquinnipiac poll puts cain 30% nationally but quinnipiac found the 9-9-9 plan is not his main appeal. voters just liked him. now that's in jeopardy. >> these allegations go to the heart of likability. likability was herman cain's calling card. >> reporter: more surprises could lie ahead. >> thank you. >> reporter: characters from cain's past with stories still to tell. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, capitol hill. well, elsewhere, wall street protesters in oakland, california, succeeded in shutting down one of the nation's busiest shipping ports last night. thousands marched yesterday in what was supposed to be a peaceful general strike at the port of oakland but tensions

flared as the night war on. nbc's jay gray reports. >> reporter: the occupation grew to more than 4,000 in oakland. >> this movement is alive and well. >> reporter: one of the largest since the nationwide protest began. moving beyond the usual park rally to the port with protesters at one point climbing onto tractor-trailers looking to stop what they call the flow of capital. >> the world is watching oakland tonight and we need to make this a safe place for everyone. >> reporter: what many saw early seemed to turn very ugly. renegade groups growing as the march poured through downtown oakland, vandalizing banks and businesses. >> they are wearing all black. >> reporter: according to many occupy protesters not a part of what was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration. >> i don't think it's reflective of the occupy oakland movement. >> we're balancing on one hand free speech and public safety always. >> reporter: a fine line.

at times difficult balancing act in oakland. jay gray, nbc news. elsewhere this morning, president obama joins a group of leaders from the world's wealthiest nations in france for a two-day global economic conference. the president arrived in kannes for the go-20 summit and while there faced with the delicate task of trying to help them resolve their economy. the increased need of a greek default has increased the need for them to work together to contain the crisis. a florida woman's morning got off to a rocky start after a school bus crashed into her home. the woman thought an explosion occurred after the bus tore through a fence and smashed through her house. no injuries to the driver. a pilot says he's lucky to be alive after crashing his plane into a virginia lake.

the dazed pilot was pull to safety by a nearby resident who jumped into his boat. over 300 chicago area children got unexpected front-row seats to the circus. officials marched their biggest performers in front of the wide-eyed students after a botched train schedule forced the elegants to walk a different route to the arena. and finally, does this man look like a legendary western outlaw? look real close here. a south carolina man thinks so. he believes the $10 picture he purchased on ebay is actually a photo of billy the kid. there is only one authenticated photo of the gun slinger. according to the facial recognition expert, it's the same man in each photo. i don't know, though. now for a look at your national and regional weather with meteorologist bill karins. >> it would be more than $10.

>> the last one went for $2 million because it's the only one. i'm no facial recognition expert. >> once you get your certificate, let me know. >> good morning, let's take a look at your forecast around the nation. a storm system in the middle of the country. it brought snow yesterday to wyoming and areas of colorado. now it's bringing rain from areas from louisiana all the way through the tennessee valley. soaking rain this morning in areas of illinois. we are waiting to see if we are going to get some snow out of this storm in areas like kansas city last night but the storm lost its punch. doesn't have as much cold air. if you want to see snowflakes in kansas city, this isn't the storm. we're at 40 degrees and rainy and that's the case only for another hour or so and then the storm is gone. the worst over the top of illinois from st. louis, heading up to peoria. eventually we'll see these rain showers up in chicago. as i mentioned, this storm is going to weaken from here on out. so, we're not going to see as much heavy rain as we are seen. if you're in tennessee, areas like memphis, a short period of rain. the future cast at 8 a.m. this

morning we're watching the rain go through areas of tennessee. by the time everyone goes home from school and work, we should see mostly that from eastern tennessee down toward atlanta. that storm by tomorrow will be affecting the carolinas. the wet weather today, mostly the tennessee valley, east coast you look fine. rockies, you're recovering from yesterday's storm. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. showers in chicago, as we mentioned today. same with memphis, tennessee. it's not going to be a heavy rain just last for an hour or two and blow through. phoenix, arizona, one of the warmer spots in the country along with our friends in tampa. this time, not snow. thankfully. >> we'll take what we can get. big ben speaks. greece's prime minister gets an earful. and what you never ever to want see coming out of your cash machine. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she says she's happy

with her latest sentence. why not? she may serve less than an hour inside jail. the flyers score in bunches, return of a hall of fame goalie and one of the coolest traditions you'll ever see.

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. 40 house republicans have joined 60 democrats in a letter urging the deficit super committee to think of several options to shrink the debt. several republicans are previously signed a pledge saying they would not support a net tax increase. america's poorest of the poor has climbed to a record high of 1 in 15 people. the data shows poverty has spread widely across metropolitan areas. a manhattan federal jury quicked a russian arms dealer

known as the merchant of death conspireing to sell weapons to terrorists who he thought intended to kill americans. he faces 25 years to life in prison. prince and princess were in england visiting a distribution center for unicef. they lent a hand by packing supply fwoctiboxes. in southern wales. a lucky escape for residents of a trailer park who woke up to find a landslide had left their homes teetering on the edge of a cliff. no one was hurt and the homes were relocated. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,8 36 after climbing 178 points yesterday. the s&p jumped 19 points. the nasdaq gained 33. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei sank 195 points while in hong kong the hang seng

plunged 49 is. signs the fed is ready to act if needed helped stocks rebound wednesday and calmed renewed fear over european debt. ben bernanke left open the possibility of acting if conditions here or in europe worsen. the fed forecast growth over the next two years, but bernanke cautioned the pace will be frustratingly slow. european leaders vented outrage at greek prime minister papandreou at a meeting in france after his call for a freak referendum through europe's debt plan into chaos. german and french leaders and papandreou describe the vote as greece's decision whether for greek to remain part of europe. here at home, an october jump in private hiring also lifted stocks. banks led by bank of america recovered from recent losses.

in earnings, mastercard hit its all-time high on soaring ea earnings. news corps fell. kraft rose late after a surge in profit. the opening price will be set today for groupon's much anticipated ipo. 30 million shares begin trading tomorrow. a regulator says now bankrupt mf global moved millions in missing client funds last week trying to avoid detection. despite assurances from the firm's lawyer, all the client money is accounted for. reports say roughly $600 million is still missing. finally, we've heard of snakes on a plane, but snake in a cash machine? a surprised customer in spain eventually got his cash and police took the snake to an animal shelter. that gives you the willies. well, coming up, after on the ice. playoffs in soccer. and down to the wire in college football. plus, you don't need to be a

college fastball fan to love seaing this. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. just stinks to be the janitor. good morning. your forecast looks interesting in the southeast. rain is heading your way.

good morning.

if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, showing flashes of his old self, here's mario solis with a look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the devils brodeur missed to the game but could not even stop the maple leafs. 39-year-old brew dur was a little rusty and devil all by himself goes off in the second period, scoring not one, not two, but three goals in the span of about seven minutes. the hockey guys call that a hat trick. brodeur did show flashes of brilliance. robs fill contestle in the third, dives across and makes a save with the paddle of his stick. this is why he's a first ballot hall of famer. contestle can't believe it. unfortunately for the devils, it's not enough, toronto win 5

-3. flyers and sabres. philly knows how to score in bunches. three goals in the first 6:30, and one coming right into your living room. flyers hold on to win 3-2. mls playoffs, sporting fc and rapids scoreless in the 28th minute when collin puts kansas city up with a header. they win 2-0. salt lake also moves on. college football, another exciting finish in the mac conference. ohio down three in the final minutes. he looks, looks, find foster and bobcats take the lead. ohio beats temple 35-31. a college tradition like none other. john brown university celebrates with their version of making it rain. after the first basket students throw rolls of toilet paper onto the floor. the 30-year-old tradition comes with a price. the team is given a technical foul but no worries. they beat their opponent by 43 points and plenty of tissue for the losers to wipe away their

tears. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. one hollywood starlet heads to jail. sort of. another explains her divorce, sort of. shopping in the supermarket is normally something we take for granted. coming up, the supermarket that went shopping for its customers in need. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this thursday morning. we have light rain around kansas city. we didn't get the snow, though. it's too warm. looks like a cold rain for you early. same for chicago. as we go throughout the morning hours, we're going to watch areas like memphis dealing with some rain. eventually later today, around atlanta, showers for new orleans. and then tomorrow all that rain is in the areas of the carolinas. most of the country's looking at a pretty nice friday, except the northern rockies. if you're watching us on nbc 17, raleigh, north carolina, see artists depicting what it means to be a woman in today's culture at mirror image, women portraying women at the north carolina museum of art. that's your "early today" event of the day. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. lindsay lohan is going back to jail, once again, at least for a few hours. for probation violations, a judge ordered her jailed next week for 30 days but sheriff's officials admit due to

overcrowding she'll probably check in and check out. when she is out, lohan will report to a new no nonsense probation officer and she must show up for strictly scheduled community service, psychotherapy sessions and appear at monthly court hearings. if lohan fails on any terms, she'll go to the jail for 270 days, an approach the judge said putting the keys to the jail in the defendant's hands. tmz reports lohan was not immediately jailed because the judge gave her time to finish her nude "playboy" shoot. the judge took pity she would be in breach of the $1 million contract if the shoot wasn't completed this week. >> can't she just go to jail for 270 days and be done with this? kim kardashian told an australian interviewer listening to her intuition led her to end her 72-day old marriage. wnbc 4 new york in teaneck a

kosher deli has given away 2,000 hot meals to families struggling without heat or power. lucky to have electricity in the wake of last weekend's east coast snowstorm, the owner wanted to share his good fortun by making the generous offers and in turn customers say they'll be loyal customers after the power comes back. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

4:28 is the time right now. we have 46 chilly degrees here in the nation's capitol. good morning to you t. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. police are investigating a violent crash on prince george's county on route 50 in bowie. a man swerved to avoid hitting a deer. that forced a driver of an suv behind him to swerve and crash into a tree. the woman in the suv was hurt when a pile of tools hit her, including a table saw. her name and condition are not being released at this time.

part of route 50 is closed while crews clear the debris. no word on when it will reopen. a man faces the prospect of life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering her co-worker inside lululemon in bethesda. norwood was found guilty of first degree murder for killing 30-year-old jana murray in march. she suffered 332 wounds from five different weapons before she died. the defense never denied that norwood killed murray and did not produce a single witness or any evidence. the only question was whether it was a premeditated attack. the jury says they were convinced from the start it was premeditated based on the number of wounds. the distinction was critical because first degree murder means norwood faces life in prison without parole. her sentencing is set for january 27th. murray's family choked back