this morning on "early today," throwing in the towel. bp's tony hayward reportedly gets ready to resign over the disaster in the gulf. giving way. an iowa dam is demolished by massive floodwaters. and fiery crash. a jet tumbles from the sky in canada forcing the pilot to bail a jet tumbles from the sky in canada forcing the pilot to bail nbc-universal television good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with damage control. bp denies reports that tony hayward is out and robert dudley

an american who calls the gulf coast home is stepping in. an announcement could come as early as today in the wake of a public relations nightmare that forced hayward out of the spotlight and perhaps out of a job. nbc's jay gray has more. >> reporter: he has been the controversial face of bp. >> i'm afraid i don't know that either. >> reporter: through the deepwater horizon explosion, and initial cleanup and recovery efforts in the gulf -- >> i'd like my life back. >> reporter: now tony hayward's life could be changing dramatically. cnbc is reporting this morning that hayward is out as the chief executive officer of bp and that the move could come as early as today. yesterday the government's point man in the gulf, retired admiral thad allen, brushed aside talk about a leadership shift at bp. >> i have no knowledge of any personnel changes that are going on. we'll continue to work as the national incident commander and focus on what i do. >> reporter: that focus squarely on sealing the fractured well. now that a weekend storm has passed, crews and equipment are back at the spill site.

>> generally the next week will be preps, making sure everything is ready to go and then the week of the first of august is when we will attempt to do the static kill and move back and finish the top kill. >> reporter: and perhaps finally end the disaster. jay gray, nbc news. well, the u.s. military says hundreds of american troops are searching for two navy sailors who disappeared in a taliban stronghold in eastern afghanistan friday. yesterday the taliban claimed they killed one of the sailors and took the other as a prisoner after both were forced from their armored support utility vehicle. nato officials have not confirmed the reports and so characterize the unidentified men as missing. they're also conflicting reports about whether the body of one of the two has been recovered. nato officials refuse to say what the men were doing in such a dangerous part of the country. the obama administration is condemning yesterday's release of more than 90,000 classified field reports from the war in afghanistan. the sensitive military records made public by an organization

called wikileaks span from 2004 to january of this year and contain previously unreported killing of afghan civilians by coalition forces. they also describe u.s. fears that pakistan's intelligence service was aiding the insurgency and meeting directly with the taliban. according to the white house, the disclosures, quote, put the lives of americans and our partners at risk. a tragic stampede at a music festival in germany has people pointing fingers after one of the world's deadliest public events in years. 19 are dead and 340 injured after nearly a million and a half people showed up saturday for a music festival called the love parade. for reasons still unclear in a surge of panic, victims were trampled and crushed against the walls of a tunnel which was the only entrance to the festival grounds. authorities say that many of those who died were suffocated. officials are investigating security preparations. and now here's a look at some other stories making news

early today in america. in iowa, dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed when a dam collapsed. under the strain of raging floodwaters. a local resident captured home video of this weekend's rupture as boats and other debris went crashing through the 83-year-old dam. no injuries were reported, but officials estimate the flooding caused millions of dollars in damage. officials in california are trying to determine what caused a boat to burst into flames yesterday. the marina's manager says five people suffered minor burns after jumping off the exploding boat. authorities say the boat's owner had just finished putting gas in the boat before it blew up. also in california, dozens of wheelchair users set out to break the guinness world record for the most wheelchairs moving in formation. the foundation which organized the gathering says 193 people showed up blowing away the old record of 105. the event was held to honor today's 20th anniversary of the passing of the americans with disabilities act.

and in florida, as they do every year, more than 100 ernest hemingway clones came out to honor the literary giant who lived in key west in the 1930s. this year a 64-year-old named charles took the top prize and aside from the beard, charles says he shares a lot with papa hemingway including a love of fishing, a love of drinking, and a love of women. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc's meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. fortunately, he doesn't really share a love of writing. you know, that one could have just put him over the top. >> no one could be quite that good. it's a fun impersonation. it's a fun place to be if you've never been there. you can actually tour hemingway's house. let's talk about what happened weather wise. it was a hot weekend around the country. 99 in d.c., 100 in dallas, 110

in phoenix yesterday. this red coloring, everywhere it was 90, much of the central and northern rockies. the exception along the west coast. that's not quite where we were 90. it was still hot. medford 100 degrees. 88 in sacramento. the valley was warm. portland almost got up to 90. how about that, seattle, that's more like it, 86 degrees after an incredibly cool start to the summer you're trying to make up for it a little bit. this morning, showers, monsoonal moisture funneled all the way up through nevada this morning. the coastal clouds still very stubborn along the coast. this weather pattern shouldn't change this week. if you live anywhere typically affected by the marine layer in the morning, it's that type of week. late in the afternoon, you get some sun, morning and nights cloudy. as far as the forecast goes, cool in san francisco, 69, l.a. 77 with that afternoon sun, hot in vegas, beautiful in the pacific northwest. that's a look at up to the

state of washington. it will be a warm and beautiful sunny day. we'll chat about that tuesday forecast coming up. >> sounds good, bill. thanks. well, geithner says cut the tax cuts. chavez threatens no more oil. and nuns hoping to hit the top of the charts. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus she's the woman who has it all except she can't seem to beat leonardo dicaprio at the box office. lance armstrong making waves on his final day at the tour de france and alex rodriguez takes a big hit in his chase for 600 home runs. you're watching "early today."

good morning, welcome back

to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the u.s. and south korea have ruled out a massive fleet for four days of military exercises. the mock maneuvers come in the wake of a recent attack on a south korean ship that killed 46 sailors blamed on a north korean submarine. north korea has threatened retaliation in response to the war games and has reportedly put its military on alert. new video out of canada of a spectacular plane crash. a canadian air force jet smashed into the ground and burst into a ball of flames during a training run for a weekend air show in alberta on friday. incredibly, the pilot made it out alive. in china, devastating amounts of heavy rain are being blamed for nearly 750 deaths so far this year. floods and landslides triggered by the torrential downpours have killed dozens more in recent days and forced thousands to evacuate. and in arizona, a shocking mixup after a tragic car accident that left one woman dead and one seriously injured. 19-year-old abby's funeral was

scheduled for today until officials discovered saturday that her body had been mistaken for the other passenger in the car and abby is, in fact, alive. but still in critical condition. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,424 after gaining 102 points on friday. the s&p added 8 and the nasdaq rose 23. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 72 points, while in hong kong the hang seng went up 24. the man who seemingly couldn't say or do anything right in the wake of the disastrous bp oil spill is on the way out. as we told you at the top of the show, according to reports, bp's tony hayward, whose bumbling added insult to oil spill injury for the gulf coast is stepping down as ceo. an official announcement is expected later today. elsewhere, speaking this weekend, treasury secretary tim geithner said allowing the bush tax cuts which he called tax cuts for the wealthy to expire would be, quote, the responsible

thing to do. venezuelan president hugo chavez threatened to cut off oil sales to the united states if they are attacked by colombia. it's all about a dispute over allegations venezuela gives haven to colombian rebels. most aren't taking the threats seriously. it would be a huge economic blow for a government which depends heavily on oil sales. in the week ahead on wall street, it will be all about earnings with results from bellwethers including chevron, dupont and boeing. in terms of important data, new home sales will kick off the week today followed by the home price index on tuesday. also tuesday, consumer confidence figures which are expected to show a slight dip. durable goods orders on wednesday are forecast to rise 1%. weekly initial jobless gains on thursday are expected to ease slightly from the week before. and finally, benedictine nuns from a secluded convent in southern france have had their prayers answered. they've signed a record deal with the same label that signed artists like lady gaga and eminem.

the nuns hope to create a chart topping gregorian chant album. a winner in france, a big trade in baseball and cooperstown welcomes a new member. plus a-rod takes one on the hand and takes a seat on the bench. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. it's still going to be a hot monday, but the humidity has dropped in many areas. finally a little bit of relief. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, he may not have been a factor in the final stage of the tour de france, but that didn't stop lance armstrong from stirring up a little controversy anyway. here's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> hi there, good morning. lance armstrong bid adieu to the tour de france, but stirred up controversy on his final day of cycling in paris. came out wearing black jerseys with the number 28 representing the 28 million people battling cancer worldwide. but organizers said it was against the rules and made armstrong and his teammates change jerseys. alberta contador cruising in his last lap.

a little champaign for his tour de france win. but armstrong had the last laugh as team radio shack won the team championship donning their black jerseys atop the podium. on his last day, lance rides into the french sunset leaving the tour with a little controversy. to indianapolis for nascar's brickyard 400. disaster for pole sitter mon montoya, with only 15 laps to go, hits the wall and takes out dale earnhardt jr. with him. montoya finishes 32nd. jamie mcmurray beats out harvick on the restart and goes on to win. just the third driver to win the brickyard 400 and the daytona 500 in the same year. angels were able to land dan haren from arizona in exchange for joe saunders and two minor leaguers. cubs and cardinals and wrigley field tied in the 11th. lopez puts this one to bed. solo shot to right. the cards beat the cubbies 4-3. baseball has three new hall of famers. andre dawson, whitey herzog, and doug harvey inducted yesterday into cooperstown.

alex rodriguez will be there soon. one away from his 600th home run, yanks and royals in the bronx, a-rod hit by a high fastball in the eighth. off his left hand, a-rod goes down and has to leave the game, but the yankees win it 12-6. rodriguez says he'll be back in the lineup chasing number 600 tonight in cleveland. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. indicate gosselin and the kids are going camping with who? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, something borrowed, something blue and something incredibly stinky. you're watching "early today."

welcome back this monday morning. yesterday was a hot day in vegas. tell you what, this morning you're struggling. it's 94, we're still very hot. the pavement and everything else in the city holds in the heat. we're one of the warmest spots in the nation. phoenix at 89. cooler at a few spots on the coast, inland areas nice and mild. that's the case as a lot of clouds lingering in the coastal areas. that's going to keep it cool. mid-80s in the northwest and beautiful down around the south coast. as far as what we're dealing with tuesday, more of the same. not a lot of changeable weather.

in las vegas and san francisco, you'll get most likely what you're getting the rest of the week. if you're watching tv channel 4, morning 100 types of butterflies in the tucson area. who knew? chekt them out at interactive hot wings exhibit at tucson botanical gardens. that's your pacific event of the day. >> hot wings, not to be confused with the ones you eat during the game. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this weekend's big battle of the superstar action thrillers wasn't even close. "inception" remained number one for a second straight weekend taking in more than $43 million, which is much better than expected. the special effects extravaganza raised its 10 day total, get this, to over $143 million. and the debut of the spy keeper "salt" finished a solid number two, also slightly better than expected with over $36 million. the only problem is that "salt" was expected to win. rounding out the top three

was "despicable me" with a way better than 24 plus million. at least creativity and imagination does apparently still exist in hollywood. for the first time in recent memory, all three top films were original stories. not sequels or adaptations of other pre-existing material. and finally, if you haven't heard the end of the world as we know it jokes about this one, you will. guess who kate gosselin and the kids are going camping with for her tv show? bill karins, can i ask you the question? just guess. >> i have no idea. >> take a wild guess. >> a nancy, i don't know. >> come on. can you do better than that. here we go, former alaska governor sarah palin and i am not kidding. it is no joke. >> maybe she'd make a good nanny. maybe that would be a good reality show. >> my goodness, whatever it is, it's going to be a disaster. a disaster. but good enough to watch, i guess. >> are you going to watch? >> are you kidding me? all i watch is the news.

>> you're going to watch. >> no way, i'm not going to. >> guilty pleasure. this comes from houston where one couple had their dream wedding crashed by the world's smelliest plant. months ago when the love birds planned to hold their nuptials in a local botanical garden, they were hoping to be surrounded by beautiful blooms and little did they know that a corpse flower which is notorious for its rotting stench would be there, too. so instead of complaining, the pair had a sense of humor and featured a stink-o-meter and offering clothes pins for their guests' noses. that's interesting. >> i've actually smelled one of those before. >> i don't want to know. >> it is horrible. >> maybe kind of like the reality show with sarah palin. stinks, right. i'm veronica de la cruz and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

it took a village to pull off and surpass one guinness world record. 40 chefs cooked a 17.9 ton dish of a traditional middle eastern meal of rice and chicken. it was the first world record. the meal was made up of seven tons of rice, four tons of chicken and three tons of vegetables and will be distributed to charities and feed at least 70,000 people. that's a lot of food. a plastic boat sailed into sidney harbor to raise awareness about plastic waste. the boat made out of recycled bottles sailed into sydney four months after it left san francisco on a journey across the pacific ocean. the plastiki weathered fierce

ocean storms on its 8,000 mile trek stopping at south pacific islands to spread the world on pollution. very nice. there are many world record holders in india, but hopefully this one doesn't have much competition. he set a record back in 2005 for having the world's longest ear hair. yes, i said ear hair. it measured over five inches back then. now he has more than doubled that at 11 inches. he says he and his family are proud of his achievement, a reprieve of sorts for taunts from neighboring villagers. check that out. do you see how he combs it, as well? >> i don't know if that counts. it's not really coming from in the ear. >> i was thinking the same thing. >> we need to talk to our guinness connections. >> it's on the ear hair, not in the ear hair. thanks, bill. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in chicago, closing arguments in the rod blagojevich corruption trial start later today.

the former illinois governor is charged with, among other things, trying to cash in on his power to appoint a successor to fill barack obama's senate seat. in washington, president obama will mark the 20th anniversary of the americans with disabilities act on the white house south lawn. today's event will include a performance by patti labelle and actress marley matlin. and the national scout jamboree in virginia kicks off today celebrating the 100th anniversary of scouting. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. bp shakeup. how will the reported departure of bp's ceo affect the gulf coast disaster. also, where is kyron? are investigators any closer to cracking the case of missing 7-year-old kyron horman. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. the day today on your nbc station. have a great day.

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