this morning, debt talk deadlock. a rare sunday meeting between president obama and congressional lawmakers ends with no deal on the raising the nation's debt ceiling. collision course. nasa tracks a piece of space junk that could be headed for the international space station. and crash carnage. a media car takes out two cyclists in the famous tour de a media car takes out two cyclists in the famous tour de france. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning, i'm welcome to our viewers across

the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with the debt ceiling deadline. as the clock tiks down on the nation's credit limit, president obama and congressional leaders will head back to the bargains available today after a special sunday night meeting at the white house failed to bridge the gap between lawmakers divide over how to fix nation's broken budget. nbc's kristen dahlgren joins us from washington with more on this. kristen, good morning. >> good morning, lynn. yesterday's meeting was short and described by at least one person as a bit tense. there were no ties. the dress was business casual. as they gathered around the table. but they met for less than an hour and a half and were unable to come to any agreement. the president says that social security and medicare are on the table in exchange for closing some tax loopholes, but republicans are standing firm saying no changes in taxes at

all. they're looking more for a smaller plan about 2 to $2.5 trillion. the president asked going in are you going to be able to get something done in the next ten days. his answer, we'll need to. he has a press conference scheduled for 11:00 eastern time. then in the afternoon he'll meet with congressional leaders again. he's told them be prepared to meet every day this week. he also told republicans to bring more specifics. >> kristen dahlgren in washington. thank you. officials at nasa are closely monitoring a piece of so-called space junk which is on a potential collision course with the space shuttle "atlantis" and the international space station. nasa estimates the object will come dangerously close to the now-joined shuttle station tomorrow at the worst possible time, right in the middle of a planned space walk. right now there are a total of ten astronauts on board the station including the "atlantis"

crew of four americans. news of the approaching piece of space junk came soon after "atlantis" successfully docked with the international space station sunday. for the very last time. news corp's rupert murdoch flew to london sunday to personally deal with the phone hacking scandal that threatens to hobble his media empire. this, as new allegations have surfaced that journalists from murdoch's now infamous "news of the world" newspaper may have also tried to hack the phones of 9/11 victims. england's "daily mail" reports a former new york city cop now working as a private investigator claims "news of the world" reporters offered to pay him for victims' phone numbers and details of the calls they made and received in the days leading up to the 9/11 attacks. despite murdoch shutting down the 168-year-old paper in an effort to extinguish the scandal, it is now seen as threatening a multibillion dollar pay tv deal.

in russia, 13 people are dead and more than 100 are missing after an overloaded ferry boat sank on the volga river sunday. russian authorities said 208 people were reported to be on board the ageing boat that had a maximum capacity of 120. the crew was only able to deploy one lifeboat before the cruiser went down. dozens of children are believed to be among the missing. now here's a look at some of the other news making headlines early today in america. in california the call of duty led to a horrific crash. two police officers responding to an early morning robbery in progress collided with each other. the head-on collision killed one of the officer and hospitaled the other with serious injuries. the surviving officer is listed in stable condition. in michigan, the driver of a semitruck died after barreling

into a supermarket. the truck veered off the road before launching up an embankment into a wall located at the rear of the store. one man inside the store was injured, and police are investigating the cause of the accident. navigating the water off the florida keys were safer than the roadways divers and snorkelers took part in a jam session. divers dressed as bob marley and elvis presley. finally in texas, a mom and dad learn there is nothing little about their new bundle of joy. look at that guy. jamichael came into the world with a full head of hair weighing 16 pounds 1 ounce. his parents will be on the "today" show this morning to talk about their supersized surprise. congratulations to them. now a look at your national and

regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins. you've got a little boy. they can just skip to nine months clothing. >> my boy is like a year and a half and 23 pounds. that kid is almost the same size. that's ridiculous. good luck to mom. she must be relieved but, i mean, wow. good morning. temperatures in the west will remain cool. amazing how this weather pattern has been with us since the spring. it won't change any time soon. the temperatures in the middle of the country were brutally hot. 110 this weekend inth oklahoma city. we've cooled it off in vegas. only 99. we say only 99. typically you're hotter than that. temperatures only in the 70s in the northwest. temperatures this morning if you head out the door, 50s and 60s are widespread. a storm system dropping down from canada. this will bring a reinforcing shot of cool air. they had moisture with it where you got that unusual rain in

june. this will still dip to the south and bring cooler conditions. maybe some showers. not a lot of moisture with this storm system. today's forecast with the clouds only in the 60s in seattle. even l.a. at 76 today. if you've been near the coast, hasn't been much of a summer. we'll track that storm system into tuesday, lynn, coming up pncht thanks so much. also coming up, earnings results begin. italy is europe's new problem. and the new must-have benefit to attract a mate. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, in just two weeks, the robots rock their way into the record book. a thrilling and historic win for u.s. women's soccer. and the dukes of hazzard get a

wild card entry into the tour de france. 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. the u.s. is turning up the heat on yemen's president in the wake of the country's five-month uprising. in a face-to-face meeting, a senior white house envoy urged ali abdullah saleh to sign a deal that would have him transfer power to his vice president and step down. a weekend of vicious fighting between notorious drug cartels in mexico has left some 40 people dead. in one attack gunmen opened fire in a crowded bar killing 21. meanwhile mexican soldiers freed 20 hostages held ransom in a makeshift hut. prince william and his new wife catherine have wrapped up a three-day trip to los angeles.

stops included a tour of inner city areas and a charity polo match. geologists analyzing sonic data say they've discovered an ancient atlantis-like landscape beneath the atlantic. samples taken from the rock beneath the ocean floor reveal evidence of land dwelling life. pretty cool there. here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,657 after losing 62 points on friday. the s&p dipped 9 points, nasdaq down 12. taking a look at overseas trading. the nikkei fell 68 while in hong kong the hang seng dropped 379. after friday's stunning and disappointing jobs numbers, this week wall street will nervously focus on second quarter earnings. aluminum company alcoa starts

off the earnings season after the bell today. analysts have steadily been lowers estimates and traders, already jittery about the economy, are even more so after friday's awful june jobs report. earnings by s&p 500 companies are expected to have increased on average, just over 7% in the second quarter from a year ago. jpmorgan chase will be the first of the big banks to report on thursday. results from top tech player google are also expected thursday. also this week, investors will eye fresh economic data, starting with may's trade deficit on tuesday. also tuesday, minutes from the federal reserve's june meeting. wednesday, fed chairman ben bernanke delivers his biannual testimony to congress. retail sales and june's producer price index comes out thursday. and june's consumer price index is released friday. elsewhere, precision cast parts says it has agreed to buy

primus international for $900 million in cash. reuters reports there's an emergency meeting in europe this morning over the debt crisis. they're now possibly spreading to italy. the region's third largest economy. friday italian stocks and bonds tumbled in a massive sell-off. and finally, according to a new survey of college students and graduates, health insurance is the new love potion. 90% of surveyed students and 93% of recent grads said knowing a potential partner has health insurance would make him or her more attractive. >> well cc goes all the way. andre drives the dodgers and tumbles at the tour de france. plus america's world cup women triumph in a thrilling nail-biter against brazil. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, the heat is stealing the headlines. but thunderstorms will be widespread. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, with time almost gone yesterday the united states was about to make its earliest exit from the women's world cup. and then within a matter of minutes, in stunning fashion, they became the favorite to win

it all. here's nbc's bill seward with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> hi, everybody. the boys of summer have completed the first half of the season. but ladies first. we begin with a dramatic win for the u.s. women's soccer team. world cup quarterfinals. taking on powerhouse brazil. this one a match for the ages. pick it up in extra time. tied at one. brazil with a cross into the box and marta chips it in. beautiful touch. her second of the game gives brazil the lead. stayed that way until the final minutes. with their backs against the wall the americans responded. the cross, the header, the goal by abby wambach. down but never out the u.s. ties it with a thrilling goal to force penalty kicks. that's when the other star, hope solo comes up big. that was the save they needed. and ali krieger caps off the win with a goal. the americans advance with a remarkable victory, now a part of u.s. soccer lore. next up, france on wednesday.

baseball, pitchers duel in the bronx between james shields and cc sabathia. shields made one mistake all game and it was a big one. airmailed the pickoff throw to third, in came robinson cano. the race hand the yankees a run. that's all they needed, cc sabathia struck out nine for a complete game shutout. yankees beat the rays 1-0. out west, the dodgers' andre ethier celebrated an all-star selection with a pair of homers against the padres. break up the dodgers. they've won four in a row. oh, wait, they're already broke. and finally incredible sight at the tour de france. a french tv car swerves into a couple riders, sacre bleu. the car was trying to avoid a tree. clips the lead rider. take another look. he flips off the road and through a barbed wire fence. amazingly everyone involved stayed in the race. you know, if you ain't rubbing, you ain't racing, but i don't think this is what they meant. that's your early look at sports on "early today," i'm bill seward.

>> "early today" sports is brought you to by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. who's having babies in hollywood? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus it is never too late to recognize bravery and heroism. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday. temperatures continue to be

agent bit below average in many areas. they've cooled it off significantly in interior california. that will be the trend this week. portland at 70. thunderstorms will mostly stay from arizona to the intermountain west. tuesday, still a chance of showers in the northwest. nothing too dramatic up there. that next storm system isn't a big bad one like the one we had back in june. if you're watching us in anchorage, alaska, follow the trails of fortune hunters who headed north for the gold rush. that's your event of the day. time for an rly look at the morning's headlines in entertainment. in just two weeks, the big budget action film "transformers: dark of the moon" has skyrocketed to box office history. while taking top spot this weekend, as expected with $47 million, the blockbuster sequel became 2011's top hit with a

total so far of $261 million. shooting past "the hangover: part 2" to first place on the year's domestic charts. debuting in second with $28 million was r-rated comedy with an all-star cast "horrible bosses" where three friends plot to kill their mean bosses, including jennifer aniston. opening in third, with $21 million was the family-funny "zookeeper" with kevin james as a zoo worker who gets romantic advice from the talking animals he tends to. and finally, some hollywood baby news to report. victoria beckham gave birth this weekend to her fourth child and first daughter, with husband and soccer star david beckham. and kate hudson and fiance matt bellamy of muse had their first child together, a boy. with three boys, you got to imagine she was just praying for

that girl. >> wearing dolce & gabbana. >> heels and all. like mother and daughter. this comes to us from florida where a native son of norway was recognized for defending his birthplace during world war ii. 66 years ago bjorn and his team of norwegian-born american soldiers hammered the german military into submission, forcing them to withdraw from norway. his role in the country's rescue has not been forgotten. the king of norway gave the 87-year-old a medal, thanking him for defending his former homeland when it was needed the very most. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

couples said i do over the weekend, without really saying it. in peru, puppy love was the wedding theme. as dogs made their way down the aisle to be married. the canine brides were dressed for the special occasion. looking their best in white veils. they even sealed the deal with marriage documents using their paws to officially tie the knot. some fast fashionistas took to the streets of moscow during an annual high heels race. donning their favorite pair of pumps, competitors had to sprint over 300 feet to the finish line. the trick wasn't only to run fast and keep their balance. but also to keep the shoes from falling off.

some runners planned ahead and they taped their shoes on to keep going. very creative. one senior in romania took to the skies to celebrate a big birthday. at 90 years old, adina's birthday wish was to fly, so family members organized the adventure that took her 600 feet above the ground. for awhile, she was even able to steer the sail-plane herself. she's no stranger to thrills, though. adina recently rode a motorcycle and jet ski and even hopes to try bungee jumping. i don't know, that's about last on my list. >> i think you would try this one, right? you wouldn't go skydriving but you would do that, right? >> i really would not, no. but i actually did paragliding when i was in college. it all changed when i was an adult. >> you have a bad landing or something? >> no, not at all. it's weird. time for a look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. funeral services will be held for shannon stone, the firefighter who died last week

after he tumbled from the stands at rangers ballpark in texas. he lost his balance and fell while reaching for a souvenir ball, suffering fatal injuries. those who wish to visit the september 11th memorial in lower manhattan can begin reserving their tickets. the memorial is scheduled to open on september 12th, one day after the tenth anniversary of the attacks that killed approximately 3,000 people. and on this day in 1859, big ben, the bell inside london's iconic clock tower chimed for the very first time. 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. a "today" exclusive. hear from casey anthony's defense team just days after her murder trial came to a dramatic close. and actress, singer and american idol judge jennifer lopez makes a big announcement live on the show. 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.