occupy protesters are ordered out of new york city's zuccotti park. sandusky speaks. he breaks his silence in an exclusive nbc interview. and thrills and chills. two girls are left suspended after an amusement park ride two girls are left suspended after an amusement park ride breaks down in china. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. new york city police in occupy gear made a surprise sweep of occupy wall street campers last night. authorities dismantled tents ordering them to vacate the park temporarily along with all belongings. police handed out letters saying the park, quote, poses an increasing fire and health safety hazard. the impromptu park cleaning

comes on the heels of similar moves in cities across the count country. for the first time since being indutied for sexually abusing eight boys jerry sandusky is speaking out about the charges against him. sandusky insists he's not a pedophile. nbc's michelle franzen has more. >> reporter: on an exclusive phone enter on "rock center," jerry sandusky, charged with 40 counts of child abuse, tells bob costas he's innocent. >> i say i am innocent of those charges. >> innocent, completely innocent and falsely accused in every aspect? >> well, i could say that, you know, i have done some of those things. i have horsed around with kids. i have showered after workouts. i have hugged them. and i have touched their leg

without intent of sexual contact. >> reporter: one of the allegations in the grand jury indictment stems from testimony by assistant coach mike mcqueary. in 2002 the then-graduate assistant says he witnessed san dwrufk in the locker room with a boy and told his supervisor. he's now on paid administrative leave and faced criticism he didn't do enough. last week in an e-mail obtaineded exclusively by nbc news, the former penn state quarterback told friends and family, i did the right thing. you guys know me. the truth is not out there fully. i didn't just turn and run. i made sure it stopped. i had to make quick, tough decisions. more fallout -- the long-time president and ceo of the second mile charity, jack raykovitz, resigned. >> we don't know at this point whether this organization can be saved. >> reporter: the university, now part of a criminal investigation, and struggling to rebuild its image.

michelle franzen, nbc news, state college, pennsylvania. the fast changing race for the republican presidential nomination has taken yet another turn. according to the latest polls, former house speaker newt gingrich has made a surprise surge into the top tier. he isn't breaking out the champagne just yet but proof, he says, the race is wide open. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: former speaker newt gingrich was in iowa happy to hear he's surging. >> this is a wild race. who knows what the polls are going to be two months from now. >> reporter: gingrich is up to 2 2% in the nbc poll. herman cain pulled just one. at the milwaukee sentinel newspaper was asked about libya. >> so you agree with president obama on libya or not? >> president obama supported the

uprising, correct? >> reporter: the cain aide said he was tired, had fours hours sleep. >> i don't agree with the way he handled it for the following reason -- nope, that's a different. >> reporter: >> reporter: the boyfriend of sharon bialek backed her account. victor zuckerman said bialek to get career advice. >> she says something happened and mr. cain touched her inapparently. >> reporter: cain slumping in the polls, perry in a nose dive as a familiar face surges to the top tier of gop candidates. steve handelsman, nbc news. the supreme court announced it will hear arguments on the challenges to the new health care law in march, right in the thick of next year's election campaigns. the central issue at take is whether it's constitutional for congress to require all americans to buy health insurance, a key component of

the new law enacted under president obama. an appeals court in washington, d.c. was the most recent to uphold the law. the nation's highest court has allowed five hours in the case, a rare departure from the one-hour allotment. a ruling is expected by july. here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. according to city official as slow-moving san pedestriro land is causing chunks offette and concrete to fall into the pacific ocean. city crews are scrambling to remove vulnerable infrastructure and keep spectator as way. five north carolina families are out on the street after an suv crashed into their apartment complex. the driver apparently lost control before barrelling through a fence and into the building. no one inside was harmed when the vehicle ripped through the apartments. the driver and two passengers suffered nonlife-threatening

injuries in the crash. finally, the famous ruby red slippers from "the wizard of oz" aren't in kansas anymore. the iconic for the wear was on display in beverly hills before shipped off to new york city for a december auction. one of four pairs still in existence. these are the ones dorothy clicked three times to go back home to kansas. for a look at your national and regional weather, meteorologist bill karins. no place like home. >> you and i would go straight to bed f we had it our way. >> exactly. >> we're watching a wet and soggy morning in many areas of the country. strong storms yesterday went through western new york and areas in pennsylvania. this morning just areas of rain continuing from texas northward along this front. it's very warm out ahead of it from some of the big cities in the east all the way down the appalachian. a very mild morning where it's not raining. here's the deal. we have warm air in the southeast, cold air coming down from the ka -- canada through

the northern plains. that is going to all intersect in the middle of the nation and one reason we have wet weather. pennsylvania, light rain for you from state college back to pittsburgh. we're watching a steady light rain over almost all of kentucky and where the ohio river runs down to paducah and back into arkansas we've even got thunderstorms this morning we've been watching. lightning strikes flickering north of little rock. dallas right now just sprinkles near you. also san tan tone yoe, yantonio chance for storms today. you get the picture. many areas that umbrella' weather san antonio, dallas, houston, atlanta, tennessee, kentucky, even washington, d.c. through this evening we'll increase your rain chances. the cold is on the way. notice 35 today in billings. that's the first signs. that's what's going to move through the rest of the country as we head through the weekend. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather

outside your window. today many areas as we mentioned do have a chance of rain, chance of thunderstorms in birmingham, alabama, baltimore, maryland, dry through most of the morning but later on this afternoon through this evening, that's when we'll increase your rain chancing. warm air just about everywhere on this map. today's kind of the transition day. >> no. >> yeah, the rain and then cool air is coming. it's been so warm -- >> i was walking around outside without a coat yesterday. >> it's been a little strange. >> and i'm in short sleeves again today. so, you know, i'm hanging on. euro problems boil again, a big fine for tarmac trouble and the oracle goes high tech. plus, say it isn't so. brad pitt soon to be finished as an actor. coming up, packers remain perfect and another dark day in the nba lockout. you're watching "early today."

well, good morning to you and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. pakistani intelligence officials say a suspected u.s. drone attack has killed seven militants near the afghan border. they say they are mostly affiliated with the pakistani taliban. congress is fighting the obama administration's attempts to limit certain school lunch foods it says are unhealthy. the agriculture department wants to cut down on french fries and pizza and reduce sodium in kids' lunches but a final spending bill drops those limits. and in china, rescuers freed two girls left dangling from an amusement park ride for almost two hours after the ride failed. here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,078 after losing 74 points yesterday. the s&p stumbled 12. the nasdaq was down 21. taking a look at overseas trading this morning n tokyo, the nikkei fell 61 points, while

in hong kong the hang seng dipped 159. stocks fell monday and suddenly rising bond yield in italy, france and spain reminded investors it will take more than a few days to change the crisis. italy once again saw benchmark inching toward crisis level. trouble for greece's new prime minister. conservatives rejected new austerity members and refuses to support europe's galeout plan. germany's angela merkel vowed a collapse of the union. bank of new york mellon sank on expectations of next quarter. boeing rose on its record order from emirates airline. jcpenney fellts way down by restructuring.

l lowe's was lowered by moody's. one of the world's largest oil resefbs was found in colorado. american eagle will pay a $900,000 fine for tarmac delays. they had 15 flights set for over three hours in one day alone, may 29th at chicago's oe air airport. finally, a tip, the oracle of omaha, warren buffett, revealed he's bought more than 5% of ibm as well as millions of shares of intel and directv. well, the nba battle intensifies. rookie awards in baseball. and red hot action on the ice. plus, the packers beat occupy a division rival. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. it's a rainy tuesday morning from texas to the mid-atlantic. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just wake up, this is "early today." in sports, frustrated and sidelined the players have taken on a new strategy battling against the nba owners lockout. here's fred roggin with a look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. push has come to shove in the nba lockout. owners pushed and players told

them to shove it. the union rejected another proposal from owners. players unanimously decided to disband the union. it's a sticky situation with no end in sight. in the words of the commissioner, we are about to go into a nuclear winter. >> although we chose this today, we have not chosen to be in this position. a lockout continues to be something that is imposed upon us by the league and by owners. this is not a strike. >> a quick baseball note, craig kim balance won national league rookie of the year, jeremy hellickson took the honors in the american league yesterday. packers found the end zone early over the viking. just over a minute in the game, cobb took the punt and goes 80 yards up the middle. the packers off and running, 7-0. aaron rodgers continued his dominance. another night, another four touchdown passes. yordy nelson caught a paper. he's now thrown 28 in just 9 games this year. packers remain unbeaten, a

perfect 9-0 after dismantling the vikings 45-7. texans' matt schaub done with the swoen a fractured foot, matt cassel needs surgery on his right hand. hockey, the flyers giroux waste nod time getting on the board against the hurricanes. score 70 second into the game. scored another goal and added an assist. flyers join penguin as top the eastern conference with a 5-3 win. sabres rallied from two down to beat canadiens. roy with equalizer late in the third forcing a shootout. boyes scored the eventual winner. sabres came back to win it 3-2. that's an early look at sports on "early today." meryl streep shows off her latest transformation for a role. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. for some running to catch the bus is hard, for some running a marathon but none can run like the kid we'll introduce you to. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this tuesday morning. you need the umbrella in many spots. we're starting with thunderstorms outside of san antonio on the border with new mexico, some severe. little rock, some thunderstorms with downpours and a shield of light rain is going to be moving through tennessee and kentucky as we go throughout your morning hours and some of that is now through west virginia and areas of pennsylvania.

as we go towards tomorrow, we're still going to watch this system lingering in the eastern seaboard. cold air will move into areas like chicago in the midwest but rainy conditions tomorrow on the mid-atlantic. if you're watching us on wtvj in miami, head to coral gables and see chinese artist show china insights at lowe art museum. >> sounds like a good one. thank you, bill. now, here's an early look at this morning headlines in entertainment. to hear brad pitt tell it, his days as a movie star are almost at an end. the 47-year-old told australian tv he plans to call it a day as an actor when he turns 50 in favor of producing and developing films. but though his days as a leading man may be numbered, pitt says he's not sure he's done having kids yet with angelina jolie. there is already oscar buzz for 16-time nominee meryl streep in london with her pore trailer

of margaret thatcher in "the iron lady". finally, after reports surfaced howard stern was in talks to replace piers morgan as a judge on "america's got talent" stern is campaigning hard on his radio show to get that job. i doet don't know, bill, having howard stern on "america's got talent". >> a little more pressure on the person who has the delay button. >> can you say a little more liability. kntv bay area tv in california where one teen showed his dedication to helping other kid. he took on a challenge many accomplished runners steer clear of of. he became only the second person under 16 to complete an ultramarathon, a 100-mile run in under 30 hours. he faced physical anguish and mental doubt during the long run but his drive to raise scholarship funds for kids in his school got him across the finish line. i can't even run a mile. i don't know -- >> what's the longest you've

ever ran straight? >> i have no idea but it wasn't very far. around the block? >> i mean, that's incredible. i run a little bit. that's incredible. >> i have bad knees. pilates and -- >> even that's to you. i'm veronica de la cruz, just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

and this is what it looks like on this tuesday morning. we have 65 degrees. way too balmy for this time of year for what our expectations are. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. it's nice. >> i'm not complaining. welcome to "news 4 today" for this tuesday, november 15th, 2011. we begin outside the occupy wall street protest. this is a live look at some sort of confrontation happening there. more than 40 protesters have been arrested early this morning after police moved in and asked demonstrators to clear out of zuccotti park. police said it was a temporary evacuation to allow the park to be cleaned, but protesters were told they could not bring tents, sleeping bags back into the park, which was arising

tensions. breaking news this morning out of north carolina where the campus of the university of north carolina at wilmington is on lockdown. police there say a man robbed two people at gunpoint at a hardee's restaurant just before midnight and ran in the direction of the campus. the university immediately issued an alert, telling students to get inside and lock windows and doors. police are using canines and a helicopter to search for the man. so far no reports of shots fired or any injuries. today they'll examine an anti-loitering bill. the loitering ban is an alternative to a teen curfew bill. the curfew bill would require teens 17 and under to be off the streets by 11:00 p.m. on weekdays. this morning's public meeting is set for 9:30. a council panel is set to vote on the teen curfew panel on december 1st. a new report out this