"jimmy fallon" happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- damage assessment. a fresh snapshot on the nation's unemployment situation is about to be released as frustration builds among protesters. massachusetts mayhem. surveillance shows a suspect viciously attacking a female store owner. and welcome back. wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords gets a warm reception wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords gets a warm reception as she returns to washington. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with waiting for word. as the government releases its september jobs report today, the

president is looking for dramatic ways to show he's in touch with americans who are taking to the street in protests across the country, aiming their frustration at the nation's banks. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: president obama says he saw the wall street protests. >> i think it expresses the frustrations that the american people feel. >> reporter: the demonstrations spread. this was houston and washington. >> where are the jobs? >> reporter: to protest the role of big banks in government if recession. in the white house there was sympathy, even support for the demonstrators. >> giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works. >> reporter: the president urged focus that frustration on republicans. they're the ones, he said, who let wall street run amuck. and opposed the bill he passed to regulate the banks. and mr. obama said it's those same republicans blocking his

new jobs proposal. >> do they have a plan that would have a similar impact? >> reporter: republicans charge the president really want to impact the 2012 elections. said house speaker boehner. >> to watch the president of the united states give up on governing, give up on leading and spend full time campaigning. >> reporter: senate gop leader ed mcconnell charged, the obama plan to pay for his jobs bill with a top-bracket tax increase is political. >> because proposing a partisan tax hike 13 months before an election won't create one single job. >> reporter: so, it's still game on. the president demanding a jobs bill paid for by the wealthy. even trying to tap into the anti-establishment anger of this week's protests in his fight against republicans. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. meanwhile, some fireworks erupted on capitol hill last night which effectively

succeeded in changing the roles of the senate. in a nearly two-our back and forth minority leader mitch mcconnell wanted to bring up the president's jobs bill which majority leader harry reid is still modifying in an effort to win more democratic votes. so, mcconnell used a legal maneuver to suspend the rules and force a vote. when reid objected he was overruled by senate parliamentarian. instead of back off, reid forced a simple majority rule known as nuclear option. this angered senate republicans. >> we are fundamentally turning the senate into the house. no amendments, no motion to suspend after cloture. now, look, this is a bad mistake. >> my friend, the republic leader, as candid at he was, said his number one role is to defeat president obama. let's get back to legislating as we did before the mantra around

here was defeat obama. >> the issue now is that it sets a precedent for future debates. a look at stories making news "early today" in america. awe surveillance camera captured a vicious robbery attempt inside a massachusetts liquor store tuesday. it shows a female store clerk putting up a fight, struggling with the thief long enough for her son to come out and chase him off. the woman suffered minor injuries. she didn't bend it like beckham but the first lady showed off soccer skills thursday, hosting the u.s. women's soccer team at the white house to promote healthy living for children. close to 50 children attended the event, taking part in drill and activities on the south lawn. and the buildup for saturday's red river rivalry between texas and oklahoma is in full swing. fans from each school battled in dallas at the seventh annual pigskin plane pull. the team from oklahoma was the

fastest to pull a 737 aircraft across 50 yards, which isn't a good omen for sooner fans. the plane pull winner usually wind up losing the football game. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's meteorologist bill karins with the forecast. as an honorary sooner fan, have i major issues about that. >> you're feeling good about oak? >> we're number one. we're number one, bill. come on. i am angering a huge -- texas is a big state. i apoll guys. >> yes, it is. they've had their moments, too. that's all right. you can enjoy this while it lasts. good morning. around the country, warm weather dominatings. another cold morning in new england. last night the thunderstorms fired up in the central plains. this big storm system that's moving through the rockies producing heavy snow this morning, mountainous areas of wyoming, up into montana we have reports of snow at high elevations. this is more like late fall/winter in the rockies. middle of the country is like

summer. temperatures very warm today. gorgeous weather up through michigan, wisconsin. texas is going to be very nice for now, but eventually this storm system will stall out over you and we'll see a wet weekend. right now the rain, the worst in rural kansas up through central nebraska. and it looks like some storms will roll right up to iowa here up towards fargo. the backside, the white is the snow. it's mostly in rural areas of wyoming. the high country is definitely picking up significant stuff. as far as the rain goes, next 48 hours, the bull's eye will be in the middle of the country here and it will shift towards dallas as we go throughout the weekend. as far as the forecast today, look at this. 81 in chicago. 82 in minneapolis. just a beautiful day in much of the east. the exception, florida, where you'll have rain to deal with, especially the east coast. that's a look at your national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. washington, d.c., these are the days you live for if you enjoy fall weather. 73 degrees. cool morning. sunny afternoon. dallas, texas, 89 today. you'll have rain in your forecast right through the

weekend. weekend forecast coming right up. >> our favorite one. thanks. coming up, financials lead the markets. mortgage rates make history. and one of the unexpected ways apple's steve jobs is being remembered. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, who's corner will movie goers be in this weekend? coming up, opening night of the nhl. white sox hire a new manager. and the tigers roared past the yankees. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. federal prosecutors have launched a crackdown on california pot dispensaries. this week several got letters saying they are violating federal drug laws even though medical marijuana is legal in california. they've been told to close or face criminal charges.

retired army general stanley mcchrystal says the u.s. entered the war in afghanistan with too little knowledge about the country. today marks the tenth anniversary of the conflict. at the trial of michael jackson's doctor, attorneys said the pop star's fingerprints were not found on the syringes, vials or other medical paraphernalia in the bedroom where he died, undercutting the defense's theory that jackson had given himself the fatal drug dose. a federal task force says most men should not routinely get a widely used blood test to check for prostate cancer. the panel says the exam doesn't save lives and leads to unnecessary surgery and complications. the recommendation comes from the same panel that set off a firestorm of controversy when it said women in their 40s should no longer get routine mammograms. and congresswoman gabrielle giffords returned to washington yesterday, nine months after being shot in the head.

giffords was in the capitol for retirement ceremony for her husband, former astronaut mark kel kelly. they were greeted with a standing ovation. sweet picture there. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,123 after gaining 183 points. the s&p rose 20 points. the nasdaq went up 46. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 83 points while in hong kong the hang seng grew 534. there's no short-term fix to europe's debt problems but for now investors are encouraged its leaders are working on a solution. at a meeting yesterday europe's leaders promised unlimited one-year loans to the region's lenders through 2013. that should help ease fears of financial instability and offer added protection in the event of a greek default. financials rallied here at home, including morgan stanley, which has taking a beating over fears

to exposure to european banks. back to school sales lifted most retailers providing some much needed confidence in the economy. that along with news that initial jobless claims rose slightly less than expected last week. is driving optimism that today's big jobs report will confirm the economy is not slipping back into a recession. good news if you can afford to buy a home. average rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage have dipped below 4% for the first time in history. a stock buy back plan and quarterly dividend boost helping corning shares rise 7%. "new york times" gained 13% on news mexican billionaire slim boosted his stake in the company. apple stock weathered news of co-founder steve jobs' death with only a slight loss. meanwhile, apple rival samsung is predicting weak third quarter earnings but says sales of its smartphones are strong. and finally, fans around the world are remembering steve jobs in their own way. apparently some folks are even

stocking up on his style. tmz reports st. croix, jobs' go-to brand for his black mock turtlenecks have seen sales almost double since his passing. coming up, the nhl season kicks off. and a nasty injury for the oregon ducks. plus, it was bad news from the get go for the new york yankees last night. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and heavy rain in the weekend forecast. but it's going to happen in a really good spot. you're watching "early today."

good morning. 23 you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, you may want to steer clear of yankee fans this morning following last night's season-ender for the pinstripes. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. having the best record and the highest payroll in the league will not win you a championship this year. detroit proved that last night. game five in the bronx. tigers came out swinging. don kelly took nova deep, a solo shot to right. the next hitter was delmon young and he took nova for a ride. yankee stadium in shock and tigers up and running after one. missed chances for yanks. the sacks are full. swisher struck out to end the

inning. to the ninth, alex rodriguez trying to keep hope alive and valverde wasn't having it. struck him out and the tigers knock off the yankees with a 3-2 win. they'll play texas in the alcs. white sox have hired robin ventura. he played ten years in chicago. at the very least, he knows where the locker room is. nhl season opener, bruins raise the stanley cup championship banner. unfortunately for them, the flyers crashed the party. scored two goals in 47 seconds. claude giroux got past the defense, and beat tim thomas. that was the difference. the flyers won it 2-1. something tells me that the maple leafs and canadiens don't like each other. very physical contest in toronto. leafs on the board in the second. lombardi's first shot was stopped. sirngled the net, controlled the rebound and scored. leafs held on to win it 3-0.

michael james, first the good. heisman hopeful rushed for 239 yards in a score against cal. the bad, had to leave the game with a right arm injury and did not return. number nine oregon won big, 43-15 but suffered an even bigger loss. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: early today sports is brought to you by just for men hair color. live forward. it is the end of a two decade monday night tv tradition. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, met the men of a massachusetts church parish as they've never been seen before. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this friday morning. pretty nice weekend forecast. if you'll be in the mid-atlantic or great lakes, now in the central plains is where all the active weather will be. also down in florida, that's where we'll see rain. today looks like a nice day in many areas. central plains will deal with wet weather. orlan orlando, tam that, miami, a chance of rain down there. through your saturday forecast, upper 70s from d.c. to philly to new york. chicago at 81. notice the rain breaking out. this is where we need it. we don't want it on the weekend. we don't want to ruin holiday festivities leading up to halloween. dallas, san antonio, in the

panhandle of oklahoma, that's where you could have heavy rain. it will help the drought situation at least. if you're watching us on wsav news 3, savannah, george, you can hear local musicians with a free concert at folk fest in ellis square. >> thanks so much. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. two new movie contenders are set to duke it out at the box office. the futuristic film "real steel" with hugh jackman as a former boxer who helps build and train a boxing robot. experts say the sci-fi sport family hybrid has broad appeal and likely take the take the top spot with 25 million. the "ides of march" starring, directed and co-written by george clooney is about the inner workings of a presidential campaign. and it boasts some big names, including ryan gosling.

philip seymour hoffman and marisa tomei and should attract the older crowd, except for me. and is expected to take into in second with around $12 million. >> i heard he takes his shirt off in this movie. >> that's unfortunate. elsewhere, espn is permanently dropping hank william jr.'s opening song for monday night football after williams issued an analogy and used an analogy with hitler and president obama on fox news earlier this week. williams released a statement saying it was his decision to leave. and finally, being a celebrity has its perks. at a chicago nightclub tuesday, the son of a russian billionaire reportedly treated zac efron and heather graham to a $100,000 bottle of champagne. i didn't even know a $100,000 bottle of champagne existed. >> would you feel right drinking it? >> absolutely. absolutely. i didn't even have to flivenlg in that. would have you problems in. >> yeah. it wouldn't seem right. >> wow. pass it over. pass it over. this comes to us from whdh 7

news in boston. in nearby farming ham a group of men are doing whatever it takes to raise $30,000 for their church. even if it means showing some skin. the men of first parish were all smiles showing off almost everything for their 2012 calendar shoot. although past their prime, the men between ages 64 to 87 say they were happy to have the opportunity to celebrate their aging bodies. >> nice. >> yeah. they said, you know, we had to make a splash because we really need this $30,000, so they thought, how extreme could we go? >> i think they're laughing with us. >> i think they are, too. 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 annoy. 55 degrees outside on the 7th of october. good morning to you. >> welcome to news 4 today. right now, hundreds of protesters are camped out in freedom plaza preparing for the second day to occupy d.c. more are expected to join them for another day of protests and marches as the frustration sparked by the occupation wall street protest makes its way to the nation's capital. melissa is live for us with

more. >> good morning to you. lots of folks here kind of getting ready for the day, just waiting for events today to begin. some of them in sleeping bags, some resting and waiting for things to start here. joining us right now is margaret flowers. explain first of all, margaret, the difference between this. >> the october 2011 movement is something we started planning about six months ago to bring together a broad base of social peace and justice advocates together to come up with the solution to the crisis we're facing and starting to build this independent movement you're making. >> tell me how you think yesterday went, margaret. >> yesterday was excellent. we had about 3,000 or so people at our height in the plaza. we had a successful rally and march up to the height of the problem. >> what is your plan for today? i know you have youla