this morning on "early today," under water. the bulging souris river reaches its full height, leaving thousands of north dakota homes flooded. surf's up. a shark joins a pack of unsuspected surfers in florida. and auction thriller. how much did michael jackson's iconic red and black leather how much did michael jackson's iconic red and black leather jacket go for? captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and very good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz.

today we begin with a record-breaking river. in north dakota the souris river has finally crested, although residents are not out of the woods just yet. all eyes are now on the levees. the last line of defense for homes and businesses not already under water. nbc's john yang reports. >> reporter: in minot, a furious effort to reinforce the last lines of defense around the city's critical infrastructure. >> this is our war zone here. and this is where we continue to fight. >> reporter: so far the levees are holding at the water filtration plant, but officials have ordered already weary residents to boil their drinking water in case the supply is contaminated. >> until there is a significant reduction in the water level, we all have to remain vigilant. >> reporter: the souris river crested in minot about two feet lower than forecast, but still shattered a record set in the 1880s. the historic flooding across the region is due to heavy spring rains and record snow pack. nearby the missouri river reached new highs and areas downstream continue to be threatened.

this week, saint joseph, missouri, a city of more than 75,000 people, could see the worst flooding since the 1990s. in nebraska, a temporary barrier protecting a nuclear power plant along the missouri river deflated. officials said the plant was not affected. in minot, 4,000 homes and businesses have been damaged and more than 11,000 people have been evacuated. for residents allowed in to evacuated areas for the first time, the scene was stunning. >> you hear so much about what it's like out here. but when you actually see your house, and you know it's -- it's not just your basement, it's your whole house, i'm sorry. >> that was nbc's john yang reporting. from flooding to fires, officials in new mexico are battling a fast-moving blaze that forced the los alamos national laboratory to shut down. smoke filled the sky sunday as

nearby residents were evacuated from their homes. officials say the uncontained fire hasn't crossed onto lab property but all radioactive and hazardous materials are being protected. meanwhile progress in neighboring arizona, where one of three major wildfires has been declared fully contained. fire officials say a second blaze in the state is nearly out. and a third is growing only in a sparsely populated area. well, the field of republicans hoping to run against president obama in 2012 will add another contender today. when minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann officially throws her hat in the ring. nbc's tracie potts is in washington with more on this story. tracie, good morning to you. >> good morning. she's making that announcement today in her home town of waterloo. we saw her in iowa over the weekend doing some precampaigning. she comes into this with a boost. "the des moines register" puts her in a statistical dead heat with front-runner mitt romney.

he's been the front-runner in tall national polls, the big ones so farp about only herman kane came in with double digits. babmann came in with recognition since iowa is her home state. over the weekend she was talking about the debt ceiling saying it should not be raised. accusing obama of using scare tactics. we can certainly pay our bills if we pay interest only. michele bachmann making his official announcement in iowa later today. tracie potts life for us this morning in washington, thank you. now, here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a florida surfer's bizarre shark encounter was captured on video over the weekend. a spinner shark curled its over his back. no one was hurt and the four-foot shark was not considered a threat to the surfers. dozens of pennsylvania

campers are lucky to be alive after a school bus collided with a car before flipping over. police say the sceaccident occud when the car swerved to avoid yun coming traffic in the passing lane. 23 injured. california firefighters came to a kitten's rescue removing it from a very tight spot. a concerned citizen dropped off a metal pipe with the kitty trapped inside. using a pipe cutter, firefighters freed the kitten who received a much needed bath and luckily was later adopted. and finally, in florida, a new ocean adventure is making it possible to live out your superhero dreams. check this out. visitors to the florida keys can take an amazing ride by strapping on a jet pack apparatus that uses sea water to keep them propelled in the air. flight controls allow participants to take off, turn,

hover, and land. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. that does not look easy, though. >> no, it looks like it was a little bit of a struggle. but if the price tag's not too bad, it can be fun. >> do you think you can do a back flip maybe? >> no. that would get dangerous. good morning, everyone. over the weekend we saw pretty good weather on much of the west coast. temperatures in the desert southwest and areas of interior california were on the warm side if not hot. this historical heat wave conditions especially in texas. our friends in texas experienced 117 degrees yesterday. that's childress, texas. we're not talking about areas where it's the desert. it felt like the desert in texas. temperatures around 112 in phoenix, too. the heat was the worst here in northern texas, it wasn't fun in areas of the valley. but you expect to go through

spells like this in this summer, texas does not. l.a., it hasn't been the warmest of springs and summers. boise was nice. nothing too dramatic. a change in the weather pattern. an unusually strong storm system is coming down out of the gulf of alaska. it will kick in to the shoreline, not so much today but tomorrow will be the worst of it. maybe showers around portland. medford looks fine today. tomorrow will be wet. promise you that. coming up, we'll give you a look that forecast for tomorrow that will feature thunderstorms and rain for the west coast. >> not good. all right. thanks, bill. greece keeps investors on edge. big tobacco sues over packaging rules.

and the vatican takes another leap into the 21st century. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus jennifer aniston gets inked for the first time. whose name is she sporting now? >> also, doc holliday is a perfect ten.

good morning and welcome back to "early today," i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the u.s. military says two american service members were killed in iraq sunday but gave no further details on their deaths. so far 11 u.s. troops have died this month, making june the deadliest for american combat forces in two years. venezuelan officials are dismissing reports that president hugo chavez is sicker than the government has admitted. chavez hasn't spoken publicly

since june 12th. few details have been given about his health other than he's recovering from surgery he had in cuba over two weeks ago. authorities say a nevada trucking company involved in a fiery crash friday had multiple safety citations. six people died when a semi trailer slammed into an amtrak train. five people are still unaccounted for. new york governor andrew cuomo received a hero's welcome at new york city's annual gay pride parade just two days after he signed a same-sex marriage bill into law. new york is the sixth state to legalize gay marriage. and the jacket worn by michael jackson in his "thriller" video blew past expectations at auction. selling for $1.8 million. the buyer says it will go on tour to raise money for children's charities. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,934, after

dropping 115 points friday. the s&p sank 15. the nasdaq tumbled 33. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei lost 100 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng fell 130. well, it could be another bumpy week for markets as the end of the month and the second quarter brings the end of the fed's bond buying program. known as quantitative easing 2 the stimulus plan to boost the economy pumped $600 billion into the u.s. financial system. but after a soft first quarter not everyone on wall street is convinced the economy is ready to stand on its own. greece's ongoing debt situation will also factor in as the greek parliament votes on a sweeping austerity plan that includes raising the retirement age to prove it can pay back its bailout loans. manufacturing and housing data top this week's economic report on the street. meanwhile, earnings are due from general mills, nike and darden restaurants. automakers drive out june sales

data and so far things are looking good, with ford already reporting it's ahead of may figures. gas prices have dropped about 11 cents over the past two weeks to an average price of $3.63 a gallon for regular. according to the associated press, home depot is under federal investigation for violating the buy american act by providing foreign-made goods to government customers. tobacco giant philip morris is suing the australian government for its plans to replace company logos on cigarette packs with grisly images of cancer-stricken smokers. the department of homeland security plans to unveil new software security guidelines today aimed at preventing design flaws that led to hacking. and first, it was a facebook page, and now the vatican is ready to leap further into the world of new media with this week's launch of new websites for all the latest pope-related news and information. well, tony stewart and brian vickers put on a show in nascar.

plus the phillies' roy halladay adds another ten-win season to his already impressive resume. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and the weather story of the week is going to be the incredible heat from texas to the desert southwest. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the l.a. dodgers rallied in the ninth against the angels, but it was a crushable play that stole the freeway series spotlight. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. to say it's been a rough year for the l.a. dodgers would be an understatement. their owners frank and jamie mccourt are going through a nasty divorce. the league has taken over day-to-day operation of the team. and the dodgers have one of the worst records in baseball. but yesterday the boys in blue had a reason to smile. freeway series in los angeles, angels up 2-1 in the ninth when the dodgers make a date with lady luck. aaron miles with the fly sac to center. gordon tags from third. the throw was there and they call gordon safe. but take another look, it appears jeff mathis blocks the play perfectly yet the umpire sees it differently. dodgers tie it at two. next batter, tony gwynn jr. with a page out of his father's playbook, a walkoff rbi.

dodgers avoid the sweep with the 3-2 win. up the coast in san francisco, the giants' madison baumgartner pitching a gem against the indians. strikes out a career high eleven over seven innings. the champs win their fifth in a row 3-1. speaking of pitching, the phillies roy halladay gets in the hen-win club. the man they call doc was surgical. pitching his fifth complete game of the season. the doctor is in, phillies beat the a's 3-1. barn burner in houston. the rays and astros combining for a total of 24 runs. evan longoria responsible for five of them. he hit a pair of homers. the final tally looks more like a football score, tampa wins 14-10. and finally safemart 350. you're riding along with tony stewart and he hits brian vickers from behind. the number 83 car goes crashing into the tire barrier. vickers was down but not out. despite the wreck his car is in decent shape, 50 laps later vickers returns the favor, waits until stewart passes him and

then boots him into the wall. stewart stayed virtually over finishing 39th. vickers gets the last lap. kurt busch takes the checkered flag. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. wedding bells ring for two actors across the pond. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a world war ii veteran finally gets the recognition he so rightly deserves. you're watching "early today."

good monday morning. welcome back to "early today." not many people need the umbrella. maybe a few folks along the coast of oregon could deal with showers including our friends in portland. cloudy and cooler, 78 there. warm, interior sections of the west. l.a. today 82. phoenix the poektd of 115. so that's it. we're getting way up there on the thermometer. that storm system comes in off the coast. showers and thunderstorms will be widespread. that will be a prty potent little storm. los angeles, kick the week off with a little rhythm and percussion. learn to play soothing african jazz hands on at the drum workshop. that's your event of the day. >> i can see you doing that. >> i did play drums for a while. >> you lead the drum circle next time. i'll follow. >> here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. no photo finish was needed at

the box office. disney's "cars 2" sped off with the top spot with $68 million in its opening weekend. that far outpaced expectations, and beat the original "cars" film. in distant second "bad teacher" starring cameron diaz and justin timberlake. it premiered with $31 million in ticket sales. last weekend's top flick, "green lantern" dropped to third. it rang up about $18 million, plunging 65% from the opening weekend. in other news, 007 has decided to settle down. james bond star daniel craig and fellow british actress rachel weiss tied the knot after just six months together. they sealed the deal in a super secret ceremony in new york. finally, jennifer aniston has gotten the name of the love of her life tattooed on her foot. and no, it's not for her bad boy beau justin thoreau, it is actually in honor of her dog norman, a corgi terrier mix that

died this spring. no word on whether aniston's ink-stained boyfriend recommended the tattoo, which is her first. >> this comes to us from news channel 21 in bend, oregon, where it was an awards ceremony 66 years in the making. he served on a navy destroyer during and after the attack on pearl harbor narrowly escaping death. at the time he earned several service medals which he never actually received. amazingly, the 90-year-old veteran never complained about the missing medals, but thanks to his daughter and son-in-law's persistence, the war veteran finally received the medals and the recognition that he did deserve. very nice. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today."

well, there were rainbows on the streets of brazil as thousands marched in what organizers say is the world's largest gay pride parade. the atmosphere was carnival-like as gays, lesbians and transgenders dressed in elaborate costumes. and this year's parade was particularly festive after brazil's highest court ruled same-sex unions must be recognized. and in the philippines, hundreds of skateboarders roll through the capital to celebrate their favorite sport. their goal was to raise awareness about the popular activity. some of the most daring boarders jumped, they flipped, they did tricks, all to gain attention. with gatherings like this, organizers hope to persuade the

filipino government to build skate parks. and finally, here's a birthday celebration that was, quite animated. hundreds gathered in mexico city dressed in blue, with their faces painted, to celebrate the birthday of the creator of the smurfs. combined with others around the world who also dressed for the occasion they broke the world record for the most people dressed as smurfs at the same time. wait, bill karins, is that you? >> no, i was gargomel. i was just off the screen. i watched way too many episodes. >> time now for an early look at some of the stories we're going to follow throughout the day right here on nbc. president obama and vice president biden will meet with senate majority leader harry reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell separately in an attempt to restart debt ceiling talks. last week's negotiations break down over democrats' demands that a deal include measures to raise tax revenue. an asteroid the size of an rv is expected to pass by earth about 7500 miles above the

planet, or 30 times closer than the moon. the asteroid will appear as nothing more than a speck to those in north america. experts say it poses no threat. and very happy birthday to actor tobey maguire who turns 36 today. happy birthday. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. 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. after the judge in the casey anthony murder trial abruptly called for a recess over the weekend, could a plea deal be in the works? and the fonz himself, actor henry winkler shares some of the most humorous and heartfelt stories from his new book. and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today." just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station. have a great monday.