[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," justice served. the senate makes history with the confirmation of the nation's 112th member of the supreme court. seeing red. an alarming new report has social security this year paying out more than it takes in. and hot pursuit. a suspect leads police on a wild chase through the streets of los a suspect leads police on a wild chase through the streets of los angeles. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to onour viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with heading to the high court. elena kagan will become the fourth woman ever to serve on the supreme court after being

confirmed by the senate yesterday. five republicans and two independents joined all but one democrat in voting for the former dean of harvard law school. kagan will officially join the bench when she is sworn in tomorrow afternoon by chief justice john roberts. her addition will mark the first time three women have served together on the nine-member supreme court. kagan will be the only justice on the current court who has never been a judge. also on capitol hill, the senate has voted to confirm james clapper as the next director of national intelligence. by unanimous vote last night, the retired three-star air force general won approval to oversee the nation's 16 spy agencies. clapper, who has served as the pentagon's chief intelligence official, will be the fourth person in the position since it was created five years ago. he succeeds retired admiral dennis blair, who stepped down under pressure after clashing with other intelligence officials. christina romer, one of

president obama's top economic advisers, is resigning. the white house announced yesterday that romer is leaving her position at the beginning of september to return to her teaching job at u.c. berkeley. she is the second high-level aide to leave the obama administration this summer after the resignation of budget director peter orszag. bp is now one step closer to permanently sealing its blown out well in the gulf of mexico. engineers have finished plugging the well with cement from the top. thad allen, who's overseeing the response, says while this is not the end, this virtually assures that no more oil will be leaking. the next step will be to cement the well from the bottom. that could start as early as next week. a horrific school bus crash in missouri has left two people dead and dozens more injured. two school buses were carrying high school band members to an amusement park yesterday when

they slammed into a freeway wreck in front of them involving a tractor trailer and a pickup truck. the chain reaction accident crushed the pickup, killing its driver as well as one of the students. fortunately most of the other injuries were minor, and only two students remained hospitalized. today for the first time since the u.s. dropped an atomic bomb on hiroshima exactly 65 years ago, the united states sent a representative to that city to take part in a ceremony commemorating that deadly day. representatives from the u.s. and more than 70 nations attended the somber event marking the anniversary. a bell rang at 8:15 a.m. local time when the bomb was dropped, killing 140,000 people. japan's government welcomed washington's decision to attend, although, there's still resentment among the japanese people, a majority of whom want an apology from the u.s. for the attack. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a california man is in custody after leading police on a wild

high-speed chase. at one point the suspect rammed into another vehicle before driving down a sidewalk. when he was cornered by police, he put up a violent fight with officers trying to pull him from the vehicle. in the end, a dozen officers subdued the suspect and arrested him. in northern new york, emergency workers rescued several people from a private campground who were swept into a rushing river. some campers clung to their vehicles before firefighters jumped in and pulled them to safety. a driver in nebraska got himself into quite a sticky situation when he drove his car into freshly laid cement. he says the barricades were not blocking the road and he thought the cement was dry. adding insult to injury, he's only had the car for about eight months. and after a year of hard work, engineers at the university of utah have developed a robot that can climb rough surfaces.

it uses two claws, a motor, and a tail that swings like a pendulum. eventually its developer hopes to use the robot to inspect tall buildings, bridges, and dams, but for the short term he says it works as a teaching tool or a a really cool toy. well, now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc's meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. have you done any wall climbing yourself, rock climbing? >> i have before. >> that surprises me. >> my high school had a rock climbing wall. >> excuse me. high school. >> it was very exciting. there you go. that's your fun fact. >> i'll leave it right there. let's move onto the forecast. good morning, everyone. as we head towards the weekend, it's going to be more of the same. yesterday the heat was very impressive. every in the red was at least 95 degrees. from new york city down to atlanta, dallas, we are 90 through phoenix back up to nevada and even all the way up

here into southern canada we were into the 90s yesterday. today is going to be very similar to what we saw yesterday with the coastal areas are going to remainstreamly cool. looking at san diego right through the weekend, you should be about 8 to maybe 10 degrees below average. it's just been an endless story here. a huge area of high pressure off the coast that allows the trough to sit over the coast itself. the hot conditions are further inland. that will be the case once again today. phoenix 110 for you. vegas 106. boise slightly cooler. yesterday near 100. today 96 for you, medford 91. not bad in the pacific northwest, kind of 73, need a light jacket at times. now around las vegas, san diego coastal clouds early today. that's a loo

bakersfield and fresno, even nevada around 93. oregon, 90 for you also. take a look at that weekend forecast coming right up bill, thanks. well, unemployment numbers loom over wall street. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, at the box office this weekend, will ferrell looks to make us forget some of his recent misfires. a rare sweep for the orioles, a blown call cost the marlins, and tiger woods hits a new low. you're watching "early today."

you're watching "early today." good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. grim news for social security. this year the program will sink into the red, the first time that's happened since the program was overhauled back in 1983. a new report says the cost of social security will exceed tax revenues in 2010 and 2011, due in large part to the economic downturn.

meanwhile the number of americans receiving food stamps rose to a record 40.8 million in may. that's up 19% from last year in its 18th straight record month. a minnesota man who spent over two years in prison for a fatal crash involving a toyota camry has been freed after his case got a new look due to the recent acceleration problems with toyota vehicles. the 32-year-old had been convicted of criminal vehicular homicide in a 2006 crash that killed three people. he insisted that he tried to brake before the collision, but was sentenced to the maximum eight years. and a piano believed to have been played by mozart has surfaced in germany. a german radio station says the instrument was built in 1775, one of only eight known to exist, created by a maker mozart was known to be a fan of. if authentic, experts say it could be worth millions.

and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,674 after losing 5 points. the s&p went down a point. the nasdaq fell 10. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 11 points, but in hong kong the hang sang gained 127. with wall street already nervously awaiting today's unemployment figures from the government, yesterday an unexpected rise in first-time jobless claims sent traders running for cover. the labor department reported initial jobless claims rose slightly last week to the highest level since early april. analysts expected a slight drop. economists predicted today's government report for unemployment in the month of july will show a slight increase, thanks largely to temporary u.s. census bureau jobs ending. private employers are expected to have added about 90,000 jobs. so why is this all so crucial?

well, wall street and the business community as a whole are convinced that a true economic recovery will only take hold once unemployment begins to fall. investors were also jolted yesterday by more evidence of weak consumer spending. out of 28 retailers reporting july same-store sales, 61% missed estimates. jc penney stumbled more than 7%, and aeropostale slumped almost 6%. costco and limited brands both reported big jumps in july sales, but only compared with weak sales last year. the entire health care sector was dragged lower by molina healthcare, which tumbled more than 10% after posting results that fell short of expectations. >> shares of grain companies like archer daniels midland rose, amid expectations their wheat exports will be boosted by the worst drought in russia in 130 years. on the flip side, meat companies like tyson foods fell on expectations higher grain prices

will raise their cost of production and cut profits. and, finally, an oregon official apologized to a 7-year-old girl whose lemonade stand was shut down because she lacked a permit, saying he ran a lemonade stand himself and called it a, quote, classic iconic american kid thing to do. sure is. well, juggling in the outfield, the orioles on win streak, and tiger woods continues to struggle. plus, an umpire blows the call on what would have been a game-winner. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in your friday weather, the heat wave beginning to give up. we're also watching a nice weekend forecast in many locations. your regional forecast is coming right up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, after a horrible start with a new manager running things, the baltimore orioles are starting to look like a completely different team. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. break up the baltimore orioles. the worst team in the league hired a new manager buck showalter last week, and all they've done is won three straight and swept the l.a. angels. here we go to baltimore. they got it done in dramatic fashion against the angels. tied at four in the ninth. torres with a walk-off single to center.

in came the winning one. they won it, 5-4. look out, yankees. orioles are only 32 1/2 games back. white sox and tigers. hard hit ball to left. juan pierre tracked it down, made the grab, lost it, and then caught it again. sign him up for the circus. good juggling grab by pierre. to the ninth, 4-1, sox. tigers down to their final out. but ryan raburn wasn't having it. a three-run homer tied the game, forced extra innings. white sox took the lead back in the 11th. mark kotsay, a triple into the gap, and that scored two. chicago held on to win it, 6-4. crazy finish in tampa. twins and rays tied it six in the ninth. jason kubel popped one. it hit the catwalk at tropicana field and dropped into fair territory. that allowed the go-ahead run to score, and just like that, the twins drew it up and it worked. to make matters worse, it ended up being the winning run. what happened to home field advantage? twins won it, 8-6. marlins and phils tied at 4 in the ninth. attention-winning run on second for the marlins. gaby sanchez, a shot down the line. the umpire called it foul. take another look.

the ball was clearly fair and would have easily scored the run. phils got out of the inning, and wouldn't you know it, they won the game in ten innings. and, finally, if you were waiting for tiger woods to turn it around, you're going to have to wait a little longer. his struggles continue at the bridgestone invitational. in the bunker after his tee shot, and he should have used a shovel! he bogeyed the hole. then on nine for par from about five feet away, pushed it wide and long. tiger finished at four over, ten shots behind the leader. his run was so bad that he actually made a birdie, tipped his cap, and bowed to the crowd. you talk about a bad day. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, how does yoko ohno feel about john lennon's killer being up for parole? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, how did the turtle cross the road? we're about to show you. you're watching "early today." .

welcome back. a trough over the west coast is going to be here over the weekend. no difference in that weekend either. very hot in the desert. pacific northwest very cool, partly cloudy. seattle, 66 degrees. that's on the chilly side. 68 san francisco, l.a. 86.

a horrible beach season and going to continue this weekend. medford 87, a little cooler for you. sunday, not a lot changes. it's not going to rain anywhere, not going to ruin any of your plans. just a continuation, broken record forecast. if you're watching us on kpnx 12 news in phoenix, get your creativity moving this first friday. follow a crowd of art lovers through the nation's largest gallery walking tour, phoenix art museum. that's your pacific event of the day in the air conditioning. >> they need it. bill, thanks. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. at the box office this weekend, leo's loss should be will ferrell's gain. the off-beat cop/buddy comedy, "the other guys," pairs will ferrell and mark wahlberg along with eva mendes and samuel jackson. it's sure to be a guy movie, sure to be a date movie, and, according to experts, sure to be

number one with around $35 million. that leaves leonardo dicaprio's "inception," which seems to me like it's been in the number one spot for months now. fighting it out for second, it should earn close to $20 million. "step up 3-d" is the third installment in the hip-hop dance franchise. it should do well with women. it's also getting rave reviews for its groundbreaking use of 3-d in a musical. it should earn $15 million to $20 million. finally, elsewhere, after nearly three decades since the shooting death of her husband john lennon, yoko ohno said last night she opposes the release of his killer because he remains a threat. mark david chapman is up for parole this month. and this comes to us from whdh news 7 in boston where one slow-moving pedestrian brought highway traffic to a halt. a turtle, which was apparently determined to get to the other side, leapt onto a busy highway, leaving it vulnerable, of course, to oncoming traffic. well, some drivers waited on the slow mover. others just went right across it.

one cop attempted to rescue it but got snapped at. fortunately a wildlife expert intervened and carried the turtle back to a nearby river. did you see those people? cold hearted, rolling right over the turtle. >> maybe they didn't see it. this is the point where you probably expect me to come up with a cheesy joke about why did the turtle cross the road to get to the shell station? >> i won't do that. >> the turtle was crossing the road to get to the shell -- ter. you didn't like that? >> i'm lynn berry, this is your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

one zoo in australia welcomed a new family member. meet kambiri, a pygmy hippo who made her public debut on thursday. the shy calf likes to spend days sleeping and only comes out for a short period to explore her new home. she's little now, but that will change. in just a month, this cutie has grown almost 25 pounds. well, building sandcastles is a favorite summer pastime, but this is no child's play. sand artists from around the world met in bulgaria to craft spectacular sculptures for an annual festival. the circus theme brought clowns, lions, and monkeys to life. you need a lot more than a sand bucket and shovel for these masterpieces, including 3,000

tons of sand a day. well, here's a complicated question. what is the best way to attract a woman? well, according to research from the university of rochester, it's not your cologne or a nice suit. it's the color red. the study showed that women were more likely to find men desirable if they were wearing the color red. who knows if it works, but it's definitely worth a shot, bill, so go pull out that a red tie. it's blue today. that's disappointing. >> i have nothing red. i have zero red. >> you have no red ties? >> i'm trying to think. i think i've got one or two out of 50. >> how did you ever find a wife, bill? >> i guess she's colorblind. well, time now for a look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. residents in ohio will be seeing double. kicking off there through the weekend is twins day festival. the event is billed as the world's largest gathering of twins. meanwhile music lovers will be flocking to chicago for lollapalooza. the three-day music festival

features over 130 bands, including green day, lady gaga, and the strokes. and in california, hollywood honors emma thompson. the oscar-winning actress will be getting her own star on the hollywood walk of fame. 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. as fresh unemployment numbers are released, a look at whether job losses could hurt democrats in november. and the band train takes over the plaza, performing their hit single "hey soul sister" and other songs live in the summer concert series. and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one.