happen? it's way too early for this. good morning. i'm willie geist. this is "way too early," the show that lost a bit of its voice over the weekend, yelling at the referees at a children's soccer game. not my own children. i just show up and berate the officials. i'm glad you're up with us this morning watching on msnbc or listening at sirius xm radio. tweet or e-mail me and let me know who you're doing this early. we'll read the best responses later in the show. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this monday, october 17th. a lot to tell you about today, including herman cain's big debut on "meet the press." plus, bill clinton serenaded

suggestively by lady gaga with the secretary of state on one side of him and his daughter on the other. good times here. first, let's get to the news here at 5:30 a.m. politicians, activists, celebrities gathering in washington yesterday to mark the official dedication of the martin luther king jr. memorial. the structure is the first on the national mall to honor both a non-president and an african-american. it's located within sight of the lincoln memorial, the spot that king delivered the "i have a dream" speech. speaking at the event, president obama drew a parallel between king's struggle for equality and economic justice and those struggles of today. >> when met with hardship, when confronting disappointment, dr. king refused to accept what he called the "siness" of today.

he kept pushing toward the "oughtness" of tomorrow. fix our schools so that every child, not just some, but every child gets a world-class education. making sure our health care system is affordable and accessible to all and our economic system is one in which everybody gets a fair shake and everybody does their fair share. let us not be trapped by what is. we can't be discouraged by what is. we've got to keep pushing for what ought to be. >> the president also suggested that dr. king would approve of the current movement against corporate greed known as occupy wall street. >> dr. king understood that peace without justice was no peace at all. that aligning our reality with our ideals often requires the speaking of uncomfortable truths and the creative tension of non-violent protests. if he were alive today, i

believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of wall street without demonizing all who work there. >> the now month-old protest took a global turn over the weekend. demonstrators took to the streets in rome. an estimated $1.4 million in damage was done from rioters who broke away from a peaceful protest to smash windows and torch vehicles. following a massive demonstration in new york's times square, organizers announced the group has received more than $300,000 in donations plus storage space loaded with donation supplies in lower manhattan. the goods are being stored for a quote, long-term occupation. eric cantor previously referred to the protesters as mobs. he appeared to back away from those remarks, choosing to instead focus on washington's

role in pushing protesters into washington. >> i think more important than my use of that word is the fact that there is a growing frustration out there across this country, and it's warranted. too many people are out of work. but where i'm most concerned is, we have elected leaders in this town who are frankly joining in an effort to the blame others rather than focusing on the policies that have brought about the current situation. >> with the country's focus on unemployment, president obama heads back on the road today to sell his jobs plan. during the three-day bus tour, the president will visit several cities throughout north carolina and cantor's home state of west virginia. president obama is expected to continue pushing the legislation to get some version of it through. the white house hinted that the president may also talk specifically about the occupy wall street movement while out on the road this week, acknowledging he shares their frustration. the trip comes after president

obama's campaign advisor addressed the protest impact on the presidential election. >> i don't think any american is impress when they see governor romney and all the other candidates say the first thing they'll do is roll back wall street reforms and let wall street right its own rules. i think that will be an issue in this campaign. >> former godfather pizza ceo herman cain spent the weekend campaigning in the state of tennessee before stopping in washington for his first appearance on "meet the press." cain used the opportunity to defend his famous 999 tax plan, admitting for the first time that it could lead to a tax hike for some americans. >> some people will pay more, but most people will pay less is my argument. >> who will pay more? >> who will pay more? the people who spend more money on new goods. the sales tax only applies to meal who buy new goods, not used

goods. that's a big difference that doesn't come out. >> some of those new goods include bread and milk. despite his surge in recent national polls, a conservative columnist saying cain is not a real contender for the white house. >> we're having a kind of andy warhol primary where everyone is leader for ten minutes. it's cain's turn. it's clear he's not running for president. he's sort of strolling for president without infrastructure. it's pretty and cute and nice. whether or not that works, we can be doubtful. >> as always, the presidential race will come down in large part to campaign cash. recent finance reports suggest president obama's weakening relationship with wall street is impacting his fund raidsing. the new york times reports mitt romney is beating the president. since the spring, he's raised an estimated $1.5 million from wall street bankers. president obama raised just over $270,000 from firms that were

among his biggest campaign sources in 2008. among republican presidential contender, romney and governor rick per ri lead the race. overseas, iran now demanding access to the man being held by authorities who is suspected of plotting the assassination of saudi arabia's ambassador to the u.s. the supreme leader promises a, quote, unforgettable response to any retaliation from the united states for the reported attack. according to the "new york times," the obama nradministratn is looking for ways to increase pressure on iran. the measure would include a ban on financial transactions with the central bank as well as petroleum bans. senator diane feinstein, chairwoman of the senate

committee, and mike rodgers both weighed in on the rising tensions with iran. >> iran is escalating, i believe, its nuclear development. iran is increasingly hostile. they have not ceased supporting hamas. >> we should respond. you should never, ever allow a nation to believe that they can committal an act of political assassination on u.s. soil. so there's a lot of things that we can do. >> militarily respond? >> i don't think you should take it off the table. i think there are a lot of things that we should do to make sure that they understand this is unacceptable. >> president obama's decision, meanwhile, to send 100 troops to uganda is also creating controversy on capitol hill. the president outlined the role of those troops saying they would only engajs enemy forces

in self-defense. human rights groups have called on the united states to take action in uganda against the head of the lord's resistance army. he was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. arizona senator john mccain criticized the president's decision to send in troops. >> it's a big part of the world. we don't know any of the details. i remember somalia. i remember lebanon. we've got to be very careful about how we engage this slippery slope could happen there. i'm very disappointed, again, that the administration has not consulted with members of congress before taking such action. i've been under four presidents. this is the least communicative with congress of any administration that i've ever seen. maybe it has something to do with the polarization of politics, but it's unfortunate. >> as the president prepares to send troops into uganda, the

associated press also reports that the u.s. is abandoned ideas to keep troops in iraq after the deadline. that move would essentially end the war in iraq which began in march of 2003. about 100 active du iive troops remain at embassy there. today, the racing world is mourning one of its own. two-time indy 500 champion dan wheldon died just minutes into a race at the las vegas motor speedway on sunday after his car became tangled in a fiery 15-car pileup. wheldon's vehicle flew over another one, hitting the catch fence just outside turn two. two hours later, track officials announced that wheldon had died. three other racers were also injured in the crash. while the remainder of the race was cancelled, drivers returned for a five-lap tribute to wheldon. after the race, his peers share

what had i had meant to the racing community. >> this is it. this is the sport. it's been happening for years, for ages, for decades. it's just hard to swallow. i mean, you have to move on. i don't think any of those drivers that lost their lives would like for us to quit. we're not quitters. we're racers. eventually, we're going to have to turn the page and remember him with a great -- with the memories that we got and go on. >> the risk is there. we all know it. it's -- it just doesn't change reality when it happens though. we're all very sad. he's a friend of all of ours. he'll be missed. i just feel for his family. >> dan wheldon was a 16-time indy car series winner. he won the indy 500 this year and also in 2005. he was 33 years old when he died on sunday. when we continue here on "way too early," a bit of happier news from the world of

sports as the st. louis cardinals punch their ticket to the world series. they do it on the bat of a local kid who grew up to be the mvp of the nlcs. highlights ahead. plus, the lions and 49ers played the game of the day in the nfl, and the battle continued right through the postgame handshake. detroit's head coach went bonkers. the day in the nfl and a check on weather when "way too early" comes back. the freeway collapse came at the worgs possible time. rush hour. people trying to get home to catch the world series on tv. the top level of freeway pancaked on to a lower level. ♪

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2:45 in the morning at los angeles international airport. 5:45 here in new york city. let's get a check on the weather from bill karins. bill, what's up? >> good morning, willie. this week will be like every other week. it seems we get one period of heavy rain on the east coast for one day every week. this week, it will be tuesday. this morning, all eyes are down on the gulf of mexico. this is the reason we're going to see all that wet weather on the east coast. looks like we have a tropical disturbance sliding up the coast. they're going to combine with another storm system in the midwest in the mid atlantic. that's why it will be stormy there. today, it's a dry day from d.c. to boston. typical fall weather. really no weather issues out there. in the southeast, florida has the wet weather today. as i mentioned that, comes up the coast tuesday. wednesd should be gone by thursday. we have one rain event a week.

it continues this week. >> as long as you give us nice weekends. >> i think that's the pat tern right now. >> thank you so much. we'll turn to sports now. the st. louis cardinals are going back to the the world series. last night, they beat the brewers 12-6. it was david freese, who grew up in the suburbs of st. louis, to hit this home run. named the series mvp. three home runs and nine rbis. the cards' trip to the postseason is much more incredible when you consider this. on august 24th they were ten and a half games back in the wild card. august 24th. eventually going on to win 23 of their last 32 games to make the playoffs. game one of the world series this wednesday against the texas rangers. st. louis has home field advantage. to football. nfl already into week six. the game of the day, sunday, believe it or not, the unbeaten detroit lions hosting the 4-1 san francisco 49ers. in the fourth quarter, down a couple. matt stafford puts the lions on

top. lions take a four-point lead there. with time ticking down, 49ers mount a drive. alex smith to walker for the touchdown with under 2:00 left. 49ers beat the lions 25-19, butt story of this game came from the handshake. watch this. san francisco coach jim harbaugh excited. finds jim schwartz of the lions. handshake and a big slap on the back. schwartz did not like that, the lions' head coach. chasing harbaugh down the field, giving him an earful and trying to mix it up. they had to be separated by coaches and players. look at him trying to chase him all the way in the locker room. after the game, both coaches spoke about the incident. >> went to congratulate coach harbaugh and got shoved out of the way. then didn't expect an obscenity at that point. it was a surprise to me at the end of the game.

>> who shoved you, and who shouted the obscenity? >> i'll just leave it right there. >> that's totally not me. i shook his hand too hard. i really went in. it was a strong, you know, kind of a slap-grab handshake. kind of like same as i'd been doing with a few of the other guys. that was on me. a little too hard of a handshake there. >> big emotional game. big overreaction by the detroit coach. the other unbeaten team the green bay packers continue their winning streak. aaron rodgers throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns, including this pass to jordy nelson in the second. he weaves for a 93 yard touchdown. however n the second quarter a.j. hawk caught on camera making an obscene gesture to the sideline after making a sack. after the game, hawk apologized calling it a, quote, running

joke with his teammates. no word from the nfl. fines probably on the way for mr. hawk. nbc sunday night game. bears and vikings. here's the highlight from chicago. devin hester doing it again. do not kick to devin hester. i repeat, do not kick to devin hester. 98 yard kickoff return touchdown. between kickoffs and punts, hester has 15 returned touchdowns in his career. that's an nfl record. he did it again last night. bears handle the vikings 39-10. patriots and cowboys up in foxboro. patriots are down with 2:39 left. tom brady marches his team down the field capping the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to aaron hernandez. patriots win 20-16. they're 5-1. the cowboys now fall to 2-3. how about the giants and the bills in the meadow lanlands?

giants rebounding from an ugly loss to seattle last week. eli manning threw for 292. new york beats buffalo by a field goal, 27-24. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," president obama speaks at dedication of martin luther king jr. memorial and links his vision to occupy wall street protests. and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch lady gaga have her happy birthday, mr. president, moment with bill clinton. delicious awkwardness. drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.

as we told you earlier, president obama's decision to send 100 u.s. troops to uganda to target the leader of a group called the lord's resistance army is causing resistance in washington. since 2008, the united states has provided more than $40 million to support the regional military efforts to fight the lord's resistance army. that's according to the state department. in addition to money, we're sending in 100 troops. enough of the real news. let's gather around the water cooler to watch lady gaga serenade bill clinton. it happened saturday night at the hollywood bowl. the president was celebrating his 65th birthday and the

clinton global initiative. let's watch. >> i just thought we all would get caught up in a little bill romance. ♪ caught had in a bill romance ♪ ♪ caught in a bill romance ♪ i want your love and i want your revenge ♪ ♪ i want your love and i want to be friends ♪ >> bill, i'm having my first real marilyn moment. i always wanted to have one. i wish you were playing sax with me tonight, baby.

>> lady gaga telling the former president of the united states, i wish you were playing sax with me tonight, baby. renaming her song "bad romance" to "bill romance." the secretary of state to his left and daughter chelsea to his right. it gets no better than that. president clinton talked about how lucky he was. >> i am the only person in history who got to be president, who then had a post-presidential birthday party attended by both lady gaga and the secretary of state. [ cheers and applause ] >> there you go. get your wife's name in there. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your texts, tweets, and e-mails are next. "morning joe" moments away. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks.

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