this morning on "early today" -- he said/she said. herman cain's campaign stays where it has been for days, mired in focus on past sexual harassment claims. point of impact. new released video shows a deadly collision between a barge and a toy boat. battering ram. brazilian police go to extreme measures to stop some suspected brazilian police go to extreme measures to stop some suspected smugglers. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with campaign in crisis. gop front-runner herman cain is firing back against a firestorm of controversy over accusations and denials of sexual harassment from his past.

cain's camp is reportedly seeking legal action against politico for reporting those claims while cain himself compares his situation to that of another historic harassment case. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: herman cain is linking his ordeal over sexual accusations to supreme court justice clarence thomas's in 1991. by doing an interview with thomas's conservative activist wife. >> d.c. culture, guilty until proven innocent. >> reporter: one of the three women who worked at the national association restaurant in the 1990s and said cain, the ceo, made unwanted sexual advances have her lawyer ask she be released from a confidentiality agreement, wanting to tell her side, now that cain is telling his. >> she had nothing to do with this becoming public and wou would -- and is anxious for it to go away. >> reporter: cain went on talk radio. >> give me a break. no touching was involved. the door to my office was open.

my secretary was sitting right outside. absolutely nothing. this is why it was found to be baseless. >> reporter: the cain drama has topped republicans. >> this makes us look bad with women voters. this is causing us a national distraction now. and it's, of course, causing people to look negatively at the party as a whole. >> reporter: the restaurant association indicates it might allow the release of a statement by a woman who accused herman cain of harassment. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. elsewhere in washington, president obama's american jobs act received its third strike in the senate yesterday. one democrat and one independent joined all 47 republicans in blocking the measure, which would have pumped $60 billion into the nation's crumbling infrastructure. republicans were opposed to raising taxes to pay for the plan. while democrats emphasized that the jobs it would have created for struggling construction

workers over weigh. >> so, the truth is, democrats are more interested in building a campaign message than in rebuilding roads and bridges. frankly, the american people deserve a lot better. >> their goal is to do everything they can to drag down this economy. to do anything they can to focus attention negatively on the president of the united states. >> from a global economic summit in france, president obama responded to the roadblock, calling republicans, quote, out of touch with americans. men while a house panel voted yesterday to subpoena high-level white house e-mails tied to solnydra, government-funded and now defunct southerly power company. the subcommittee voted 14-9 along party lines to approve the broad subpoena. democrats on the panel said it was unnecessary because the white house has already produced tens of thousands of pages of documents related to the loan. white house officials say they are ready to invoke executive privilege to protect internal

communications. well, now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. newly released video shows the horrific july 2010 collision that killed two tourists on a philadelphia duck boat. distracted by a family emergency call on his cell phone, the driver of a 250-foot barge rammed into the idle tour vessel, sinking the boat and sending all 37 people on board into the delaware river. the tugboat driver pled guilty to charges stemming from the crash and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. whale watchers in santa cruz got a once in a lifetime encounter with a couple of humpback whales. oh, my goodness. a surfer and kayaker were a few feet away when the massive animals erupted from the ocean. and extreme tussle between two whitetail bucks forced

nebraska wildlife officials to step in. the animals became inseparable after their antlers became entangled. a four-hour struggle to free themselves ended when officials stepped in to cut one of the animal's antlers off. one new jersey man thought busting the move was the perfect way to pull off a shoplifting heist. after a short dance routine, the suspect stuffed clothes in his pants but confronted by security when attempted to leave, the suspect threw the clothes and made a quick getaway. he is still at large. also wanted for bad dancing. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> good morning, lynn. yes, that was a very appropriate. let's talk about the forecast heading into your weekend. things are pretty nice out there in many areas. still got a couple hundred thousand people without power in connecticut and we're working to get the lights on. this storm system has missed you. it's raining pretty good down in the carolinas and we have a cold

morning in the central plains. although we've been pretty mild up there in new england, the next two days are actually going to get chilly as the cold front goes through today, it will be brisk over the weekend. overall, i think you'll enjoy the sunshine. where you need the umbrella, southern virginia from roanoke to raleigh, up through the greenville area. that's where the rain is heading. also virginia beach this morning. should go south of d.c., though, so that's good. as far as temperatures go, it's also chilly in the middle of the country, indianapolis down to kansas city but once the sun comes out it should be enjoyable in the middle of the nation. just in the carolinas we have a bit of wet weather this morning. here's a look at the weather outside your window. we're continuing out there with a good deal of sunshine, especially in areas like wisconsin and texas. now, it's a cold morning but dallas, you'll enjoy this afternoon 63 and sunny. denver getting rid of more snow today with a high of 53. reminder, this weekend, we set the clo

wake up at 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. sunday morning. be prepared. >> this poses a difficult problem. i will enjoy that hour of sleep for you. greece gets in line. optimism on jobs. and how big of a stake would it take for to you fire your accountant? eddy murphy returning to the big screen teaming up with ben stiller that's expected to add up to big bucks this weekend at the box office. coming up, a referee that can take a punch and was this david beckham's last game in the u.s.?

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines this morning. jury deliberations begin today in the involuntary manslaughter

trial of michael jackson's doctor. in closing arguments they said dr. conrad murray gave him the propofol. idaho is the first state to require high school students to take online courses to graduate 37 supporters say virtual classes will save money while opponents say teachers are being replaced with computers. the michigan senate passed legislation requiring school districts to develop antibullying policies but last-minute language in the bill is drawing fire. the bill protects statements of, quote, a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, voluntary or, pupil, pupil's parnlts. a man for whom the bill was named says it will allow anyone to bully and cite religious belief. president obama has

reclaimed the list on forbes' list of most powerful people. vladimir putin came in second and chinese president hu jintao fell to third. authorities in brazil has released video of officers ramming their car into a small plane to stop it from taking off. police say the plane was carrying more than $100,000 worth of smuggled electronic goods. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,0 44 after climbing 208 points yesterday. the s&p jumped 23 points. the nasdaq spiked 57. taking a look at overseas trading this morning n tokyo the nikkei rows 160 points, while in hong kong the hang seng skyrocketed 600. well, faced with expulsion from the european union and revolt in his own government, greece's prime minister backed off a national referendum on europe's debt crisis plan thursday and wall street breathed a big sigh of relief. stocks rallied after embattled

greek leader george papandreou not only gave up the referendum many feared could destabilize global markets but agreed to resign soon. also reigniting european optimism, european central bank cut interest rates. good job news also fueled the market. unemployment applications fell last week, below 400,000, for only the third time since april. a sign layoffs are easing. today the labor department releases the all-important monthly jobs report with most analysts forecasting 95,000 to 100,000 added jobs. in earnings, qualcomm gained after posting strong results. kellogg sank on earnings that fell even further than analysts expected. estee lauder spying spiked on strong global sales. after the bell, starbucks rose on higher profits. groupon's ipo after they raised

the price per share to $20. the world's daily deals leader is now vauldz at almost $13 billion. an airline trade group predicts passengers traveling this thanksgiving will fall about 2%. thanks to flight cuts,there will not be any empty seats. finally, hus this for job security? saying he doesn't believe in scapegoats, german's finance minister says he won't be firing accountants who made a $75 billion book keeping blunder. they lucked out there. coming up, david beckham drama in the playoffs. the dangers of being a hockey referee. and detroit is down in the dumps. plus, it's not exactly textbook shootout style but it worked. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the old quick stop. good morning, everyone. your weekend forecast is coming up. it looks nice in most areas. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the nba should take notice. with basketball out of action due to the owners' lockout, hockey is getting an awful lot of attention these days. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. what in the world has happened

to the red wings? the stanley cup favorites have fallen on hard times and hit a new low last night. against the flames this is how the season has gone for the wings. lee stempniak shot from a terrible angle and beat howard. third period wings turned it over in their own end and iginla made them pay. second of the night. red wings lost sixth straight, 4-1. handful of shootouts last night. in philly, danny briar put on the brakes and beat the goalie. he gave the goalie a faceful of snow. devils won it 4-3. to new york, rangers and ducks, eric christianson said, fake the goalie one way, slip it between his puck. that's pretty. panthers with a shootout in the final two minutes but celebration short lived. patrick kane forehand/backhand goal, chicago won 3-2. mls playoffs.

this could have been david beckham's last game with the galaxy but their still alive. beckham went up and came down hard. he was woozy but stayed in the game. galaxy are glad he did. off the corner kick, beckham bends it to mcgee who scored on the header beating red bulls 2-1 and advance to western conference final. finally, if you think you've taken a beating at work, you've not seen anything yet. during canucks and wild game, watch the scrum along the board. referee gibbs tried to break up a fight and punched in the face, twice. two players were done for the night but gibbs stayed in the game proving in hockey, even referees can take a punch. that's your early look at sports on "early today." >> and not look phased. coming up, who are hollywood's most overpaid actors? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. from walks to marathons, all kinds of ways to raise awareness for breast cancer but we'll show you something a little more unusual. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this friday. we are looking at really nice weather conditions heading into the weekend in many areas out there. it's cold and chilly in new england right now, but as we go throughout the day today, it will actually clear out and warm up. not bad. we'll see temperature there in the 50s for the most part. over the weekend, most people without power, it will be cold at night but during the day it will be warm.

looks sunny in the east as we go through saturday. stormy weather here in colorado. also snow likely up there possible in the dakotas. by the time we get to sunday, we're still looking at beautiful conditions on the eastern sea boards. showers, northern minnesota and wisconsin. if you're watching us on wbal tv 11 in baltimore. take a break and enjoy a free lunchtime treat. see a solo saxophone performance at peabody on the court. that's your early event for the day. >> that sounds fun. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. come day debuts take center stage this weekend at the box office. ben still y eddy murphy are expected to take the top spot with "tower heist" revenge on taking revenge on a wealthy businessman who ran a ponzi scheme. the r-rated three squil stormer

is expected to debut. >> i don't like that immature movery stuff. >> of course not. a smaller opening getting big interest in america's soccer community, "rise and shine," the hard to believe true story of an obscure american player who went to england and worked his way up to become a captain in the world's greatest league. you're headed to see that, i'm sure. and finally, according to figures from forbes comparing salaries versus earnings, drew bar bar barrymore is most overpaid, eddy murphy and believed to be in third, will ferrell. i guess it's been a long time since "elf". >> hasn't drew barrymore put her time in since a little kid? >> she's knocked it out of the park with the last few movies and that, my friends -- >> i'm sure she's hurting for cash. tough life. >> feel sorry for her. this comes to us from wlbt news in jackson, mississippi.

where in nearby vicksburg a vast collection of intimate apparel was used to bridge support in a fight against a deadly disease. undergarments from around the world adorned the old mississippi bridge for the fourth annual bras for breast cancer. for each brassiere donated, $1 is given to american cancer society. this year's organizers succeeded their goal bringing over 18,000 bras, besting last year's tally of just under 10,000. way to go, guys. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

it would have been fade paid for by a new surcharge. this is the third time gop lawmakers have blocked president obama's $440 billion jobs bill. right now president obama and leaders of the world's largest economies are meeting for the last day of g-20 talks. the goal repaired damage done by the economic uncertainty in greece. greek prime minister george papandreou backed down of a referendum of a bailout deal highly unpopular but now calls for his resignation and talks of greece leaving the euro zone is causing more tension. european leaders hope to at least create what they call a financial fire wall before the meeting's end to protect other countries nearing default including italy and spain. papandreou he's