MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS EARLY BIRD NEWS

EXCLUSIVE: Leg amputee to the helm as MTA subway motorman — 'I can do anything people with two legs can'

The MTA initially blocked Mario Maisonet’s (center with friends) goal of operating trains but managers recently cleared him for training — after he and his union relentlessly pushed for approval, he said. Maisonet began taking classes at an NYC Transit facility in Brooklyn last week.

SEE IT 'At least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border': Rep. Duncan Hunter claims militants were attempting to gain access to the U.S. via Texas

ISIS may already be here. In an alarmist bombshell statement that intersects both America’s war on terror and its fight to secure the border with Mexico, Rep. Duncan Hunter said ISIS fighters have been caught attempting to cross into the U.S.

One dead, Chicago police captain wounded in gun battle with Indianapolis triple-shooting suspect

A Chicago police captain was wounded in the head and shoulder in a shootout Tuesday. More than 100 cops arrived at the scene. Police are looking for suspect Daniel Brown, who’s wanted for three shootings in Indianapolis and was tracked to his sister’s home in Englewood. Police say he got into a gunfight with cops.

YOU'RE NOT EDWARD CULLEN! Man accused of posing as ‘Twilight’ actor to lure girls faces federal child porn charges

David LaVera, 33, who was arrested in June while driving around with a 14-year-old girl in his car, was indicted on federal charges in Iowa Tuesday — including for child pornography.

Kim turns baby North into a sheer disaster

‘Aunt Jemima’ relatives sue pancake company for $2B along with future earnings, cite century-old agreement

Two self-proclaimed descendants of the American pancake icon are taking their heritage to court with a lawsuit seeking more than $2 billion from the Quaker Oats company, Kentucky’s Courier Journal reported.

SEE IT Cop-killer suspect Eric Frein's posts YouTube video showing fascination with guns, war games and prepping

Eric Frein's newly uncovered YouTube channel shows the alleged cop-killer had a fascination with survivalist prepping techniques, assault rifle ballistic tests and war games.

Desmonte Leonard convicted in slaying of two former Auburn football players

OPELIKA, Ala. - An Alabama man was convicted of capital murder Tuesday in the shooting deaths of two former Auburn University football players and a third man, with a jury rejecting claims that he fired in self-defense under Alabama's "Stand Your Ground" law.

WHAT A TWEET! 'Baywatch' babe stirs up false Stephen Collins’ suicide rumor

EXCLUSIVE Grim Reaper whacks Big George DeCicco, longtime lieutenant of Dapper Don John Gotti

A gangster was a member of the late Gambino boss John Gotti’s inner circle has gone to that big social club in the sky.

'I AM A GAY MAN': Prominent Washington rabbi comes out to congregation via email

The prominent rabbi of one of Washington’s biggest conservative synagogues has announced in an email to congregants that he is gay.

Female 6th-grader dies at Ohio school in possible hanging: report

A middle school in western Ohio was locked down on Tuesday after a sixth-grader died there in a possible hanging, a local reports said.

Dallas Ebola patient placed on ventilator, receiving kidney dialysis as his condition worsens: hospital

The grim news of Duncan's condition comes after Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where he's been isolated since Sept. 28, revealed he's been downgraded from serious to critical condition.

DEJA BLUE: Jay Z, Beyoncé take adorable Ivy on trip to Paris museum

'That’s not what we bishops talk about mostly, quite honestly': Pope Francis, clergy get sex education from Australian married couple

A married couple with four kids gave an unorthodox lecture on the joys of sex to Pope Francis and his top cardinals and bishops, the Vatican said Tuesday.

LISTEN 'My parents got in an argument and there were shots fired': 911 audio of Bell Gardens, Calif. mayor shooting released

As his father lay dying, the anguished son of Bell Gardens, Calif., mayor Daniel Crespo, called 911 and sobbed for help.

EXCLUSIVE Car wash employees sue operator of Vegas Auto Spa in Park Slope

Workers slapped a Brooklyn car wash operator with a lawsuit Tuesday, charging he ripped them off for more than $600,000 in wages.

Gory video of young man fatally dragged by A train at Penn Station surfaces online; cops investigating source of leak

Police are investigating the leak of a gruesome subway-surveillance video showing a train dragging a man to his death, a transit official said.

New York

SCENE OF THE CRIME? See inside Sandy Rubenstein's $7M home that cops are now exploring as location of alleged sex assault

Sanford Rubenstein’s $7 million penthouse apartment was a showplace with a spectacular view before becoming an alleged crime scene.

City district attorneys have been trying to get group meeting with de Blasio for months: sources

The city's district attorneys have been trying for months — without success — to arrange a group powwow with Mayor de Blasio to discuss public safety, sources said Tuesday.

Staten Island teen who collapsed during football practice died of heart condition: medical examiner

A high school football player who collapsed and died during practice on Labor Day weekend succumbed to a heart condition, authorities said Tuesday.

Family of Eric Garner, who died of apparent police chokehold, plan to sue NYPD and the city for $75 million

The family of a Staten Island man who died in an apparent police chokehold filed a notice of claim Tuesday saying they intend to file a $75 million lawsuit.

LATEST FROM AROUND NEW YORK

Michael Bloomberg’s political action group will spend $25M on ads to support candidates in November elections

Michael Bloomberg’s money is all over the political map. The ex-mayor’s political action committee on Tuesday announced plans to spend $25 million on ads supporting candidates he deems centrists in the November elections.

WATCH Brooklyn cops may be indicted for pistol-whipping, punching teen suspect for possessing pot

A Brooklyn cop has been stripped of his badge and gun for pistol-whipping a 16-year-old surrendering to him, authorities said.

Brothers die after being trapped in Queens fire; mother arrives home to find them dead

Two young brothers died after being trapped in a burning home in Queens on Monday night, and a man who made a valiant attempt to save them was seriously injured.

Cindy Crawford defies laws of time in new shoot

Dancers win $4.3M class-action suit against three Manhattan strip clubs

The owners of three Manhattan strip clubs have agreed to pay a whopping $4.3 million settlement to former strippers who brought a class-action lawsuit saying they were denied fair wages.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS: Americans are living longer — but suicides up

Americans are living longer than ever before, according to a new government report. Rates fell or held steady for nearly all the leading causes of death.

John Rocker, notorious baseball bigot, blasts Obama’s handling of Ebola crisis in bizarre rant

The former baseball bigot is blaming the ongoing Ebola outbreak on President Obama, blasting in a hysterical and racist rant the White House’s handling of the disease.

OPINION NYPD boss Bratton must remove bad apples from the NYPD

Videos of apparent misconduct by NYPD cops continue to surface, providing further evidence of Commissioner Bill Bratton’s smarts in pronouncing last week that there is no place for “the brutal, the corrupt, the racist, the incompetent” on the force.

PICTURED CIVIL SERVICE: Michigan officer buys mother car seat for daughter instead of giving her a ticket

Lexi DeLorenzo thanked Ben Hall, a public safety officer, for buying her a car seat for her daughter at Walmart after pulling her over in Emmett Township.

Adam Levine's supermodel wife stuns in Hawaii

Man sues Empire insurance company, claims search for doctor became ‘frustrating’ runaround and 'Dickensian nightmare'

A Manhattan man is suing Empire BlueCross BlueShield for turning his simple search for a new doctor into an Arthurian quest of epic scope.

'They're not cooperating': Upstate bikers remain tight-lipped on duo’s ‘execution-style’ murder: report

Buffalo-area cops trying to solve the double murder of two bikers last month say the slain duo's biker buddies won't stop throwing up roadblocks, The Buffalo News reports.

PANTIE RAIDER: Prisoner smuggles loaded gun in his underpants to D.C. courthouse, authorities say

A prisoner arriving for a court appearance in Washington, D.C., Tuesday was carrying a loaded gun, the U.S. Marshals Office said. In his nether regions.

Bill de Blasio’s expanded prekindergarten program created more seats in rich neighborhoods: study

Mayor de Blasio's historic expansion of prekindergarten for city kids has created more seats in relatively affluent communities, according to a new study that city officials vigorously dispute.

OPINION Bill Hammond: Too often, poor people in New York have no real right to an attorney

Anyone who watches "Law & Order” knows people accused of crimes have a right to a lawyer.

Sports

Harper: Dodgers - Cardinals is another chapter of Donnie Basebawl

The way things have gone in the postseason for Don Mattingly, you couldn’t have been surprised that Andre Ethier made the boneheaded play of the game, getting picked off third base to kill the Dodgers’ only rally.

Vacchiano: Giants, Cowboys or Eagles, who will rule NFC East?

For years, the division that was once perennially the best in football has been more like the NFC Least. As the center of the NFL universe migrated west and south, this once proud division was left to wait for mediocrity to rise to the top.

NFL power rankings: Jets sink to the level of the Jaguars and Raiders

Five weeks into an NFL season of surprises, the biggest one may be the play of the NFC East. No one expected much from any of the teams before the season began, based on last year, but the division looks stronger than most and the Daily News power rankings reflect that.

Rex fires back at Herm after ex-Jets coach says he should've sat Geno

When it comes to battling with former Jets coach Herm Edwards, Rex Ryan is playing to win the game. The latest Jets coach on the hot seat got into a war of words with the ESPN analyst — who was traded away from the Jets for a draft pick — and it was more entertaining and intense than Gang Green’s 31-0 loss Sunday in San Diego.

Amanda to attend NYU — her major may surprise you

DEA sued for setting up fake Facebook account, using woman's photos in hopes of learning drug secrets from her friend

The Drug Enforcement Administration set up a fake Facebook account using photographs and other personal information it took from the cellphone of a New York woman arrested in a cocaine case in hopes of tricking her friends and associates into revealing incriminating drug secrets.