this morning on "early today," ambush in afghanistan. ten medical aid workers are brutally murdered by insurgents. multi-state manhunt. a massive search effort under way to two arizona prison escapees. and at close range. storm chasers get a close-up view of a twister tearing storm chasers get a close-up view of a twister tearing through western minnesota. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with a despicable act of violence. that's how secretary of state hillary clinton is describing the murder of ten medical aid workers in afghanistan last

week. the condemnation comes as we're learning more about those who were ambushed and killed. they were on a return trip from a remote afghan province. nbc's frances coe has our story. >> reporter: the bodies of the aid workers murdered in a remote province of afghanistan have now been recovered and brought to kabul. three of the six americans killed, a denver dentist, dr. thomas graham, he left his dental practice in colorado four years ago to give free dental care to children in the war-torn country. cheryl beckett, the 32-year-old daughter of a tennessee pastor, had spent six years in afghanistan specializing in mother and child health and nutrition. and dr. tom little, who with his wife left upstate new york 30 years ago to help. libby little takes comfort knowing that her husband an optometrist, literally changed the way thousands of afghans see the world. >> those who killed these wonderful people were blind,

really blind, in a different way. just may god's mercy be on them. >> reporter: the taliban claims credit, accusing the foreigners of spying and trying to convert muslims to christianity. secretary of state hillary clinton disputed that claim calling the group's mission, quote, solely humanitarian and wholly independent from that of any government. libby little also echoed that statement saying her husband and his group were in the remote province for one reason only. >> there was no efforts to convert. they were working like crazy caring for people. >> reporter: a cause that would ultimately lead to their tragic deaths. frances coe, nbc news. meanwhile nato says one u.s. soldier was killed sunday in

roadside bombings in southern afghanistan yesterday bringing the number of americans who have died in afghanistan this month to six. along the gulf coast this week, an annual fisherman's tradition was particularly meaningful this year with the ongoing oil disaster there. residents took part in the blessing of the boats which marks the kickoff to the fall shrimp season. it begins in a week as the seafood, the livelihood of these fishermen, continues to undergo safety testing. in an apparent effort to ease concerns, gulf shrimp was on the menu for president obama's belted birthday bash yesterday. meanwhile, bp says the cement sealing of the busted oil well has hardened setting the stage for crews to start this week on the permanent fix. police are searching the vast yellowstone national park area for two men who escaped from an arizona prison and their female accomplice. the men, who are described as armed and dangerous, escaped last month after the female threw wire cutters over the

perimeter fence. efforts to find the three have intensified after one of the inmates was linked to a double homicide in new mexico last week. authorities now believe the fugitives may be hiding in portions of the park that span montana and wyoming. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. storm chasers this minnesota captured dramatic footage of a powerful tornado destroying a farmhouse. fortunately the house was empty at the time and there were no reports of any injuries. the national weather service says at many as seven tornadoes may have touched down in minnesota and north dakota this weekend. home video from florida shows a rare waterspout off the coast of sarasota yesterday. the residents who recorded the footage said the water spout lasted almost ten minutes before disappearing in to the clouds. in california, some of the world's best surfers came out in hopes of being named the big kahuna at the u.s. open of

surfing. competitors ripped through massive waves for bragging rights and a substantial $100,000 cash prize. in the end, the event's defending champion took the top spot. thousands are lining up for dumpster diving. not what you think. there's no trash in these dumpsters. they have been retrofited with pools, offering much needed relief this sweltering summer. the best part is both locals and tourists swam for free. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. hey, bill. >> as if new york city isn't crowded enough. let's jump into a 4 foot deep pool. >> that's the problem. we don't have public pools. just throw a couple of dumpsters in there, it will be fine. >> a plus for original nationality. let's chat about the heat. excessive heat in the middle of the country. we've kind of broken our heat

wave in the west. yesterday it was 104 in phoenix. temperatures have been down a little bit in the deserts. vegas was at 96 yesterday. this weekend vegas you did not heat 100 degrees. that broke our streak. we went 45 days in a row in logs being 100 degrees. that was the third longest streak of all times. the longest, this is a huge record, 66 in 1944. hopefully we won't approach that. quite a stretch in vegas, 45 days in a row of 100 plus. coastal areas remain unseasonably cool a storm system dropping down the coast. that will keep you cloudy, maybe a little damp up there in the pacific northwest. today's forecast very chilly. 67. clouds increasing with a chance of some light rain. some of those clouds will work their way down to portland. medford, you'll be nice. nice, 88 and sunny. san francisco all the way down the california coast. temperatures will be cool to say the least.

that's a look 88 in ukiah." we'll take a look at the forecast coming up. >> thanks. hewlett-packard scandal, what the feds have been up to. is will ferrell deeper in the box office doghouse or barking on top of it. another milestone for darrick jeter, tiger woods hits a new low and another dramatic no-hitter. you're watching erlt "early today."

good morning and welcome

back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines. at the war crimes trial of charles taylor at the haig today, actress mia farrow is testifying that naomi campbell told her that taylor sent her rough diamonds in 1997. farrow was challenging the super model's testimony that she didn't know who the gift was from, although she assumed it was from taylor. taylor's accused of receiving blood diamonds from rebels behind sierra leone's civil war. parts of russia is being choked by smog. the smog stranded air travelers as firefighters tried to put out flames threatening a nuclear facility. it's been quite a summer vacation for president obama's daughter. yesterday sasha and first lady michelle obama had lunch with spain's king and queen at the royal family's holiday retreat in the mediterranean. one of the longest spacewalks ever failed to fix problems with the space station's cooling system. an ammonia leak erupted during the eight hour repair job. the sixth longest spacewalk.

the next one won't be until wednesday at the earliest. and oscar winning actress patricia neal has died of lung cancer. despite a life marked by tragedies, including suffering several strokes and the death of a young daughter, neal had an prolific acting career that landed her an academy award as well as a tony. neal was 84 years old. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,653 after falling 21 points on friday. both the s&p and the nasdaq dipped 4 points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 69 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng gained 122. unemployment numbers made their mark on wall street as expected friday. but the markets were really rocked by the surprise ouster of one of the few recent stars in the business world. mark v. hurd, the ceo who in

five years drove hewlett-packard from a financial underperformer to a major giant in the tech world, resigned friday amid accusations of sexual harassment. specifically hurd was found by hp to have falsified expense reports after an internal investigation found no proof of sexual harassment. jody fisher, who worked in the hp's marketing department as an event organizer filed the charges against hurd when she left the company. last night she announced she had reached a settlement with hurd that no affair or sexual relationship ever existed between the two and that she was, quote, surprised and saddened that mark hurd lost his job over this. keep an eye on hp today. friday after the bell, shares fell almost 10%. elsewhere, traders will be waiting for word from federal reserve policy makers after their tuesday meeting on how to help stimulate the sputtering economy. speculation is they may buy bonds. in asia this morning, oil

began climbing back from friday's losses in reaction to disappointing unemployment figures after falling $1.31 a barrel on friday, oil has climbed back to just over $81 a barrel. and finally, a new zealand man who knew he gambled too much bans himself from a casino. unfortunately, he went back anyway and won $44,000 playing poker. the casino, as requested by the man himself, refused to pay him the jackpot. talk about unlucky. well, tiger whimpers. the phillies roar. and jeter passes the babe. plus, a blue jays hurler shuts down the rays almost. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the big weather story this week looks just like the other weeks this summer. the heat. a major heat wave in the middle of the country. 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, last night toronto blue jays pitcher brandon morrow was one out away from pitching a no-hitter. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the year of the pitcher continued yesterday as the blue jays brandon morrow, one out shy

of a no-hitter, we go toronto. he kept the rays guessing all game. even got evan longoria swinging with a devastating breaking ball. then came back with his fastball. struck out 17. we go to the ninth and morrow needed one more out to complete the no-hitter. longoria with a shot to second. aaron hill couldn't make the play. missed a no-hitter by just a couple of inches. he then simply blew away dan johnson. a complete game one-hitter for brandon morrow, the blue jays won it 1-0. yankees had another milestone. derek jeter moved past babe ruth on the all-time hit list. yankees up 2-0. mark teixeira leads new york with 25 homers. monster blast put the yanks up 3-1. they beat the red sox 7-2. phillies hit straight. a five run third with a home run to straight away center against the mets. roy halliday struggled at times but managed to strike out 10 for his 14th win of the year. they're two back in the east. tiger woods' horrific

weekend at the bridgestone invitational finally came to a merciful end. the struggles were even affecting the fans. the tee shot on 15 into the gallery hit somebody in the face. tiger 18 over. tied for 78th place in the 80 player tournament. shot of the day came from kenny perry. his approach on the sixth hole was on line, it look good. it looked real good. it hit the pin for an eagle. an early birthday present for kenny who turns 50 tomorrow. then it was jim furyk, similar situation. but his approach on 16 may have been too good. the ball hit the pin, took a wild bounce, darted into the water. it was only three strokes back at the time, but after bogeying the hole, he was all washed up. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by ice blue aqua velva. men get it. leonardo dicaprio was a loser but still won at the box office this weekend. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, this is one fish story you've never heard before. you're watching "early today."

. welcome back this monday morning. we're going to be very hot in a few spots but overall the general trend is going to be cooler than normal or close to average. thunderstorms around billings, new york city you've cooled off.

87. in los angeles, cloudy skies. heat returns in nevada and utah and boise. but from seattle to portland, very cool the next couple of days as that storm system from the pacific northwest will drop down on you. that should bring a chance of showers, too. if you're watching us on king 5 tv in seattle, jet over to chasing horizons exhibit and learn about the history of amelia earhart. that's your idol. >> i love that. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. will ferrell is back on top at the box office. "the other guys" made over $35 million in its opening weekend to unseat "inception" and take over the number one spot. it was the second best opening

ever for farrell after "talledaga nights." that opened with 47 million. "inception" which had been the top film for the past three weeks fell to number two with more than $18 million to increase its overall take to over 227 million bucks. the other opener this weekend this weekend, the dance sequel, "step up 3d," came in third place thanks to the $12 ticket that bill bought to see it. >> what do you think, bill? >> is ferrell the king of comedy now? >> i thought since "the elf" he's been the king. he's had a couple of failures, will ferrell and now back in the game. >> adam sadler has had a couple of duds, too. >> that last one, "grown-ups" that was pretty weak.

this comes after an unlikely reunion after 21 years. back in 1989, he thought he lost his wallet forever when it fell into an inlet on a water skiing trip. well, more than two decades later, a father and daughter who were fishing reeled quite a surprise. the old wallet from just 200 yards from where it was lost. i'm sure there were barnacles and mud on it, but the man's credit card, his college id and even a car key were all inside. >> laminate holds up well. >> amazing. the man said he's going to toss the wallet, not even keep it for good luck. >> he could just throw it back in. >> whatever. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

few things in china are as revered as the panda. so when two of them in hong kong celebrate a birthday, it's a big deal. schoolchildren born on the same day joined in to sing happy birthday to the cute duo. they likely didn't share the panda birthday treat which is included a cake made of red apples, carrots and ice cream. daredevils took to the skies in one competition in europe. pilots gave it their all in front of thousands of spectators at the final air race of the season at the euro speed way in germany. with flying speeds reaching up to 230 miles per hour, these heart stopping races aren't for the feint of heart but sure to please thrill

seekers. it can supply wood and cut a pretty cool beat. the musical festival in new york showed off the unique sounds of the carpenter's song. musicians from around the world jammed out to everything from pop and folk to classical. even more bizarre than the instrument itself is the sound it makes which some describe as pretty spooky. bill, have you ever seen this? a lot of times these guys are down in the subway playing the carpenter's saw. it's eerie, isn't it? >> spooky. >> i could do that. i'm not musically inclined, but i could do that. >> yeah, a saw would be a little easier. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. the world remembers the atomic bombing of nagasaki, japan. it is the 65th anniversary of the u.s. attack which claimed 70,000 lives. it came three days after the united states dropped a bomb on hiroshima killing 140,000. today also marks the 36th anniversary of the resignation of former president richard nixon following the watergate

scandal. nixon stepped down handing the position of commander in chi ee gerald ford. and today is smoky bear's birthday. the advocate of protecting the nation's forests was introduced in 1944 with his famous warning, only you can prevent forest fires. 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. president obama hits the pain -- campaign trail in texas today. will he be a help or a hindrance for democrats? and the latest on the case of an american woman accused of killing her children in scotland. 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. the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com