michael rapaport joins us next. he's hanging out in the bud light lime greenroom. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this morning on "early today" the gloves are off. president obama goes after republicans over tax breaks, accusing them of siding with america's wealthiest. rock and a hard place. the search is on for two men seen vandalizing a dam in an on-line video they posted. and swept away. a massive mudslide shuts down the trans-canadian highway in a massive mudslide shuts down the trans-canadian highway in british columbia. 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, and today we begin with no more mr. nice guy. yesterday in president obama's first formal news conference since march he delivered a presidential tongue lashing. his target? lawmakers in congress who he said aren't doing enough for americans, mocking them for their procrastination on the debt ceiling deadline. nbc's kristen dahlgren reports. >> reporter: for most of his press conference a frustrated president obama took congress to task. >> my expectation is that leaders are going to lead. >> reporter: accusing republicans of playing a dangerous game as the august 2nd deadline for an agreement to raise the debt ceiling looms. >> if the united states government for the first time cannot pay its bills, if it defaults, then the consequences for the u.s. economy will be significant. >> reporter: at one point the president said even his daughters sasha and malia were more disciplined with deadlines

than a congress often in recess. >> they're in one week. they're out one week. then they're saying obama has to step in. you need to be here. >> reporter: he insisted democrats have agreed to spending cuts and a look at entitlement programs like medicare and urged republicans to consider eliminating tax breaks to the wealthy. >> you can't reduce the deficit to the level that it needs to be reduced without having some revenue in the mix. >> reporter: but on capitol hill republicans fought back insisting raising taxes is still off the table and promising to pass a balanced budget that is meant to reign in spending. >> 49 states are required to balance their budgets. individuals are required to balance their budgets. >> reporter: both sides in a tough war of words. with the battle over the budget and debt ceiling still locked at an impasse. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, washington. elsewhere federal appeals court handed president obama a victory over his health care law yesterday, ruling congress can

require americans to carry insurance coverage. the court said congress's decision to compel americans to purchase insurance by 2014 or face a fine is legal. it marks the first time the federal appeals court has ruled on the initiative, and it's also the first time a republican-appointed judge has sided with the administration. opponents have argued the requirement could lead to financial hardship on those forced to buy insurance. the issue is widely expected to eventually be decided by the supreme court. lawmakers in greece approved a severe round of spending cuts and tax increases yesterday to secure billions of dollars in ger national aid to keep the country from going bankrupt. in athens yesterday police used tear gas to battle angry protesters incensed by the passage of the harsh and unpopular austerity package. as thousands flooded the streets outside parliament, at least 50 people, including one greek lawmaker, were hurt.

we'll have much more on the reaction on that news back here on wall street coming up in just a few minutes in business. first, a computer attack has shut down a website used by al qaeda to distribute its messages on the internet, and experts say it could be several more days before it's back up and running. counterterrorism analysts say it's unclear who carried out the highly sophisticated attack. a similar hacking occurred almost a year ago that was eventually traced to the english government. late last night the defense department said it was aware of reports that al qaeda's internet operations have been disrupted, but would not comment on the specific incidents. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. over this past weekend mount rain year was the spectacular sight of snow and ice. the avalanche was captured by two climbers who made sure to keep a safe distance. locals say the mountain has been recently rocked by some of the

biggest avalanches in years. in wyoming a dim-witted attempt at fun has some unidentified men in hot water with the federal government. the men posted video of themselves using a carjack to launch a boulder into the dam's spillway. it's federal land, it's illegal and the nearby community is outraged. the feds are investigating and searching for the men. and in florida, a team of treasure hunters discovered their own pieces of history when they found over 50 gold and silver coins. the rare spanish colonial coins were pulled from a 350-year-old shipwreck. the crew is unsure of the coins' worth, but they say the real value comes from just finding the treasure. yeah. now for a look at your national and regional weather. here's your nbc meteorologist

bill karins with your weather channel forecast. do you believe that? >> that's my backup career, treasure hunting. >> it is treasure finding. >> if this doesn't work out for us, we'll go treasure hunting. >> sounds fanstic. >> well, good morning, everyone. we had severe thunderstorms rolling through the west yesterday in the inner mountain west. this morning the biggest story is tropical storm arlene making landfall a couple hours ago down in mexico. actually increased in intensity and almost became a hurricane before landfall. they are getting flash flooding and rains in mexico, but hardly any moisture is making it northward. everyone in the u.s. is safe from the storm. the storm system yesterday creating problems is creating wet weather in much of the terrain in utah. still a chance of thunderstorms near salt lake city up to wyoming, same for you. a little cooler in arizona for at least one day. then the furnace is on full blast through the upcoming weekend. high pressure off the coast will keep a now marine influence in much of the northwest, that's why it will be cool with some showers.

66 in portland. 64 in seattle. 108 in phoenix. i was just looking at the forecast two days from now, you'll be near 116. that's incredible stuff. that's a lookf sack are moan sacramento is looking nice with a slight chance of showers in oregon. the heat is going to increase in the southwest. it is already 107, that's pretty incredible. >> i don't know where else they would go. thank you so much. coming up, american airlines goes shopping. justin timberlake goes into yet another business, and you won't believe who is getting paid to make political tweets. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's back. lindsay lohan's house arrest ends. coming up, the yankees find

a new job for joe gerrardi. a stunning upset at wimbledon, and a mix-up at the mound that backfired in the worst way. 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. in new mexico a 125-square-mile wildfire burns nearby. the government has a plane equipped with radiation monitors flying over the los alamos nuclear laboratory. authorities say the monitoring is just a precaution. federal regulators say the owner of the west virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 29 men last year misled investigators with its bookkeeping on safety problems. they say massey energy kept two sets of record books. one sanitized for the government and another internal set documenting the actual safety situation. rhode island governor lincoln chaffey says he will sign into law a bill that allows

same-sex couples to enter into civil unions. the state's senate approved the measure yesterday. in canada a massive mud slide has buried a highway in british columbia, while the wall of mud did snag a train. fortunately, there were no serious injuries. an official portrait of prince william and his new bride, catherine, duchess of cambridge, has been released to mark their north american tour. the trip that begins today in canada will eventually take them to california. it is their first official foreign trip as a married couple. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,261 after inching up 72 points yesterday. the s&p added ten points. the nasdaq was up 11. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei rose 18 points, while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 336. as we mentioned earlier in the show, greece approved a

controversial five-year austerity plan yesterday, and that sent markets higher for a third straight day. the crucial loan will keep the debt-ridden country out of default for now. however, investors are still skiddish about the long-term effects of european debt. financials got a boost yesterday after bank of america agreed to pay back $8.5 billion to investors over bad mortgage-related loans. credit card companies rose after the fed/debit card swipe fees that banks charge retailers. energy stocks climbed as the price of oil settled above $95 a barrel on news u.s. crude supplies fell last week. strong earnings from chemical maker monsanto drove the stock 5% higher. meanwhile, bj's rose on two private equity chains that will buy the wholesale club chain.

american airlines is in talks with airbus and boeing to replace its entire domestic fleet for an estimated $15 billion. goldman sachs says it could lay off as many as 230 workers of its new york state workers by march of next year. after playing a social network investor on screen, justin timberlake has reportedly joined the california-based media company paying news corp. $35 million for myspace. news corp. paid $580 million to myspace just six years ago. and, finally, is lindsay lohan trying to connect with cash-strapped americans on twitter? actually, yes, but for a fee. it turns out her recent rant criticizing the fed for food and gas prices was a sponsored tweet paid for by the national inflation association. the sox get spanked again. the cubs walk off winners, and yet another wimbledon surprise. plus, you make the call on

jorge pasada's drive to right. home run or no home run? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. of course, the busy holiday forecast is coming up. friday is a get-away day. we'll have those details coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if are you just waking up, this is "early today." in sports last night game two of an interleague matchup between two of baseball's elite teams ended up closer, but with the same result. here's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. with pitchers like lee, haladay, and hamels you wouldn't think a guy named advance wirley would keep them in check. who is that? we didn't know either, but he made a name for himself last night. he struck out five in seven innings. we go to the seventh. john lackey was taken for a ride. that's the difference. they won against the red sox 2-1. in chicago is giants tied it in the top of the ninth with the cubs coming back right again in the inning. the cubs snapped the win streak 2-1. we know the dodgers are having financial issues, yet the yankees seem to make it work. maybe this is why. yanks are getting their money's

worth out of manager joe girardi. he is worth the turnstile punching tickets before the game, and then catchers plummeted out a home run. pasada and martin went deep. new york won it 6-2. a number three roger federer was cruising up two sets when the wheels came off against joe wilfr ed saga. he won the next three sets. it's the first time federer has collapsed like that in a grand slam. finally, back to baseball for a bit of miscommunication by the new york mets. we go to detroit. seventh inning. that calls for a relief pitcher. here is bobby parnell out of the bull pen. he is ready. wait a minute. we don't want you. we want the other guy. parnell walked back with his tail between his legs. here comes tim byrdak. that's the guy they really want. the only problem, he wasn't warmed up. scrambled to get his glove, ran to the mound. first batter he faced, home run. i'm no manager, but i don't think that was the right decision.

luckily, the mix-up didn't hurt the mets, they won it 16-9. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, shila labeouf tries to extract his foot from his mouth. your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. sure, it's one of the busiest airport, but never too busy to appreciate mother nature at work. we'll explain. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday. nothing too dramatic to report to prepare you for your day. just a chance of showers and cool weather near oregon and washington state. the storm system moving through the inner mountain west causing storms for montana and salt lake city. the heat the next two days will be increasing in many areas of the southwest and southern areas of nevada and also california. be prepared with temperatures going up. if you are watching us on kiem news channel 3, eureka, california, the morris graves museum of art is your pacific event of the day. check it out to see what that's about. let the world beware. lindsay lohan is a free woman. that means good-bye ankle bracelet, but her home score card was checkered angered by

photos of rooftop partying with friend, the judge told her to knock it off. and while lohan dodge d court problems over a failed alcohol test, it still could make insurance for film work more expensive. hundreds of community service hours old. the hollywood reporter billed this as a becomes office shocker. knocked up and super bad director is hollywood's king of guy humor. as of this morning the highest grossing movie ever is the female comedy "bridesmaids." next week "bridesmaids" will overtake "sex in the city" as the biggest female comedy of all time. finally, after blabbing about his fling with megan fox, shila labeouf said he is learning how to edit himself and say no comment.

>> so the intern trags is that he officially admits he's been cut off by starlets. >> don't you think it is interesting he just got that last point out before he -- >> if you are going out with a bang -- >> that's the way to do it. this comes to us from new york city at one of the busiest airports thanks to a runaway reptile invasion. a parade of turtles brought take-off at jfk international airport to a screeching halt. the terrapins searched across the runways snarling takeoff traffic. officials diverted planes to other runways while work crews scooped up 150 turtles for an express ride to a nearby sandy and safer habitat. iowan i'm lynn berry. this is "early today." just your first stop of the day on your nbc st

for one town in spain -- food fights are for kids. wine fights are for adults. over 5,000 people participated in an annual wine spraying showdown. a tradition dating back to the middle ages. it took more than 13,000 gallons of vino to super soak the crowd. the event takes place in a region known for some of the finest red wine in the world. what a waste of good wine. well, here's a sport that combines mud with mayhem into one big mess. the swamp soccer world cup took place in scotland with the team from moscow beating out england and russia. the sport started five years ago.

it's just like normal soccer, but all the grass is removed from the field with water added to make the sloppy ground, and the only real rule? have some fun. one couple in france take their work home with them. literally. without a child of their own, a couple who work as zoo managers adopted a female gorilla, whose mother rejected her. digit the and entertains guests and goes home with her new parents at night. it seems now both parties found what they're looking for. that's a gorilla in your living room hanging out with you. >> she must be potty trained and -- >> we hope so. that's quite a grocery budget, would i imagine. takes a lot -- >> the midnight frig runs. >> i would imagine. well, time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. the senate will vote on president obama's nomination of general david petraeus to become cia director. a vote expected to result in his

confirmation. petraeus has been in charge of u.s.-led international forces in both iraq and afghanistan. the pentagon will bid farewell to the nation's 22nd secretary of defense, robert gates. president obama is scheduled to deliver remarks on his final day. gates was appointed to the position in 2006 and will be replaced by cia director leon pinetta. and on this day in 1953, the first corvette rolled off the assembly line. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories and others as they break on msnbc. be sure to catch brian williams with nbc nightly news, and here's a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. the latest on the casey anthony murder trial as her father breaks down on the witness stand. and a live report from monaco as rumors swirl about prince albert's royal wedding this saturday and whether the bride-to-be tried to flee. 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.