[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" debt divide. another day of debt crisis negotiations sees party leaders move further apart. tabloid trouble. new accusations in the growing scandal surrounding the empire of media mogul, rupert murdoch. mad ddash, two people are gored on the sixth day of mad ddash, two people are gored on the sixth day of spain's running of the bulls. 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 deficit dirty work. another day of high level debt talks at the white house yesterday and congressional leaders seem no close doer a compromise deal. however, president obama did add clarity to the seemingly stall ruling out a stop gap plan. nbc's kristen dahlgren joins us from washington with more. >> reporter: this will be the third meeting in as many days. just three weeks to go and the two sides still far air part. especially on issues like spending cuts and the biggest stumbling block remains taxes. in a news conference yesterday, the president said he will take the heat for putting the democratic sacred cows of social security and medicare on the table, in exchange for republicans bending on closing tax loopholes. republicans continue to insist on any tax increases would damage job creation. they say those remain off the

table for them. they're continuing to look for smaller $2 trillion, to $2.5 trillion reduction deficit deal to help pay the bills through the year 2012. the president said one thing is certain, he is not going to sign any type of short-term extension for this. the heat is up and they'll meet later on today. the hits just keep on coming for rupert murdock's embattled media empire. amid a fresh round of allegations that reporters of two of his other english newspapers "the sun" and "the sunday times" packed boo the bank account, legal files, and medical records of former prime minister gordon brown. stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: the tabloid news of the world" is finished, but the allegations keep coming in.

former prime minister gordon brown is accusing "the sunday times" another murdock paper, of illegally pursuing private medical and financial information about him and his family. there are also reports that a member of the royal protect guard responsible for the royal family security sold a list of phone numbers to "the news of the world." >> the things we're hearing are appalling. what people need to know is i am determined to get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: there are already sign s that the expanding crisis is affecting news corp.'s business. the deputy prime minister nick cleg called on rupert murdock to back down on his deal to merge with a british tv network. cleg met with the parents of milly doweler. "news of the world" reporters hacked into the young girl's phone after she was abducted and murdered. the deputy p.m. did not mince his words, asking murdoch to look at how the country has reacted with revulsion. and it's time, he said, to do the decent and sensible thing

and back off this deal. stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. well, two crew members of the u.s. space shuttle atlantis have a busy and memorable day ahead. removing ae busted cooling pump from the international space station during the shuttle program's final space walk. yesterday the station's robotic arm transferred a bus-size container of supplies that atlantis hauled up from earth. nasa says the atlantis crew will stay in space one day longer than planned to help put away the nearly five tons of food, clothes, and household goods that will keep the station going for an entire year. now here's a look at other stories making news today in america. whether it is winter or summer, chicago manages to keep its windy city reputation intact. a violent storm slapped the city and nearby suburbs on monday pounding morning commuters with heavy rain, downed trees, and blowing out power to over 800,000 residents and businesses. there were no reports of any storm-related deaths.

it took seconds for explosives to bring down one historic pennsylvania bridge. the decision to replace the 105-year-old span was made after routine inspections revealed structural damage. construction on a new bridge is scheduled to begin shortly. a florida alligator that thought it found the perfect neighborhood to get some sun had its sun bathing cut short by wildlife officials. residents watched as the seven-foot gator put up quite a struggle before tiring itself out. it was eventually removed, and will be euthanized, due do its size. finally, at a minor league game in washington a routine play on a ground ball led to a major league bench clearing brawl. look at that. the melee was triggered after the player thrown out brushed against one of the opposing outfielders. it took 15 minutes to restore order. several players were ejected. now for a look at your

national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, some parts of the west are lucky to be as far away as -- >> you're going to upset people. >> some people want to be warm. >> well, some people don't want to be in the 110-degree heat. >> i know. there's not too much perfect weather out there today, lynn, good morning, everyone. today the temperature in memphis, will probably be about 115 with the heat index. the temperature in coastal california, around san francisco, will probably be half of that. so just kind of a lot of extremes out there today in this weather pattern. the big, huge trough on the west coast, a little unusual for this time of year has got the marine influence along the coast, it's keeping everyone cool, even a few showers, while everyone else, this will be one of the hottest days of the year throughout much of the east. i put out our enhanced satellite. you can see where the trough is in here. and it continues to spin just off the coast. all of these clouds, you see them off the shoreline.

at night they move in, they move along the coastline. they burn off hopefully by about mid day or so. you get some sunshine in the afternoon and it keeps things really cool. there's a lot of drizzle with the clouds, too. we have showers from portland northwards. it won't pour, just occasional showers, temperatures in the 60s. and there's the 66 in san francisco, where fingers crossed for a little bit of sun late in the day. that's not a promise. that's a look86 for your high. san jose, 73 for you. not a lot is going to change in the west, it's going do remain cool. if everyone in the rest of the country is too hot, get a plane ticket. well stocks stumble, big deals in the works and a costly online business hiccup. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead.

plus, doing her duty for her country. actress mila kunis goes above and beyond. the sluggers swing for the fences and one player turns a home run derby into a family affair. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. afghan president hamid karzai's half brother was shot and killed today in his own house by a friend. to critics, ahmed walid karzai, head of the provincial council, had become a symbol of corruption within the karzai administration. the taliban has claimed responsibility. the justice department has issued new gun shop rules for the four southwestern border states requiring dealers to alert the federal government to frequent buyers of high-powered

rifles. it's part of an effort to stem the illicit flow of weapons into mexico. two people were gored this morning, on the sixth day of spain's failous running of the bulls in pamplona. officials say one person suffered a horn injury to the back, while another was hit in the shoulder. and a possible curve ball for the fan who caught derek jeter's 3,000th career hit. and then graciously gave him back the ball. "the new york times" reports that christian lopez may have 0 to pay tax on the value of his reward. four tickets to the yankees game for the rest of the season. an early look at wall street for the rest of the day. the dow opened at 12,505 after falling yesterday. the s&p tumbled 24 points. the nasdaq sank 57. in tokyo the nikkei dropped 143 points, while in hong kong the hang seng lost a whopping 684.

panic is spreading through europe's financial markets this morning, as investors worry italy and spain, nations seen as too big to be bailed out, are sliding into the region's debt crisis. stocks, the euro, and government bonds are all tumbling. with the yield on ten-year italian bonds now over 6%. more than a percentage point higher than just two weeks ago. since italy worries drove stocks to their worst day in nearly a month monday, that doesn't bode well for today's trade. yesterday, the nasdaq tumbled 2%, the s&p 500 wiped out its gains for the entire month. wall street's so-called fear index spiked more than 15%. financials were hardest hit. citigroup dropped over 5%. bank of america lost more than 3%. jittery investors flocked to bonds, the ten-year treasury

yield fell below 3%. plagued by a phone-hacking scandal news corp. dropped more than 7.5%. the most on the s&p. arch chemicals being bought by swiss drug maker, lonza, shooting up 12%. international paper has bid $3.3 billion for smaller rival, inland. after the bell, alcoa posted a big second quarter profit. wall street will listen for fed chief ben bernanke's testimony in the house. finally an online shopping site in new zealand made customers temporarily happy monday. charging only postage and handling for pricey tvs and ipods. unfortunately for them, the company caught the glitch and is offering only cancellation or purchase at the proper price. well golf's u.s. open for women goes into overtime, and baseball's home run derby goes

for distance. plus, something about the home run contest for new york yankee, robinson cano made it an extra special affair. your early morning sports headlines straight ahead. while most of the country is suffering through a brutal heat wave, the west coast is the cool spot. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sports last night baseball held an event that's become almost as popular as the all-star game itself. the home run derby. here's mario solis with a look at all your sports headlines. >> hi there. good morning. before tonight the midsummer classic. the sluggers took the field for the annual home run derby. to phoenix, where the red sox' adrian gonzales made a big splash. hit the second homer of the opening round into the pool in right field. he hit a best nine homer to get things started. prince fielder was the king of distance smashing this one-half way to albuquerque, 474 feet, two feet longer than robinson cano's best. boston's david ortiz was a captain of the a.l. team, he hit nine home runs, but fizzled in the second round, setting up a final between baseball's best rivalry, red sox versus yankees.

adrian hit a shot and a fan made a diving catch. it turns out gonzales was sunk, hitting 11 homers, but that wasn't enough. robinson cano, putting on a show. he had his dad pitch to him. he had 12 home runs in six outs finishing with a total of 32 home runs. the yankees' robinson cano is your 2011 home run derby champion. the all-star game is tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. phillies ace roy halladay will take the mound. in golf, so yin yu wins it with a birdie on 18, the first major title for the 21-year-old south korean. finally, the home run derby is all about sluggers hitting the long ball, but for one moment a kid with a glove stole the show. cano hit a moon shot for his final out of the first round. several ball boys were there to make the catch, but one of them came up big. diving grab. sign him up.

cano may have the title, but that kid has the memory that will last for a lifetime. and that's a look at sports on early today. i'm mario solis. >> early today sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. >> scandal or no scandal. you can't keep arnold off the big screen. early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, guaranteed you've dreamed about it before while sitting in traffic bumper to bumper. well, now it's a reality. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. on this tuesday morning to early today. forecast as you head out the door today, showery weather from seattle to portland, the showers going to be hit-and-miss, it won't rain all dawe, but it will be cloudy and cool, san francisco and l.a., all locations along the california coast, dealing with the morning clouds, hopefully we'll get you some sunshine in the afternoon. and tomorrow, a lot of the map looks the same. not much of a change in store this week. if you're watching us on king 5 news in seattle, washington, see how one artist transforms trees and plant materials into larger-than-life-sized horses at the greg kucera gallery. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. two months after putting hollywood on hold in the wake of a damaging sex scandal, arnold schwarzenegger is ready to be

back. reports say the former california governor is scheduled to start shooting a modern-day western, "the last stand" in september. the project's south korean director describes the film as a cross between "die hard" and "high noon." in what could become the closest possible realization of a beatles' reunion, england's the "sun" reports paul mccartney and ringo starr have been approached by olympic organizers to perform together at the london games, along with family members of john lennon and george harrison. >> and mila kunis has accepted sergeant scott moore's invitation to attend the marine corpse ball in greenville, north carolina, on november 18th. moore was stationed in afghanistan and posted a clip on youtube, asking kunis to go with him. >> encouraged by recent co-star justin timberlake via twitter,

kunis replied, i'll do it, agreeing to be the sergeant's date. >> you watched the youtube clip, right? >> i did, it's great. >> he's not being serious? >> he's being a little over the top. but it's so cute, that he did that and she agreed to go. >> we'll have to hear from her afterwar afterwards. this comes to us from massachusetts where drivers of one new car can take off in more ways than one. the federal government has given the green light for the transition. america's first flying car to hit the roads and runways. it's a two-seat prop plane that can fly the friendly skies and transform to hit the highway as a four-wheel roadster. they're expected to roll out next year with a $250,000 price tag, giving drivers a costly option for beating traffic jams. >> the future has arrived. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today," just your first stop today, on your nbc station.

miles from the beach, artists gathered to show off their sand-sculpting skills. they came from around the world to create giant artwork inspired by the circus. it took several days to transform 500 tons of sand into sculptures. there must have been home field advantage in the end because the artist from latvia took first place. the bunny hop is popping up all over germany, and we're not talking about the dance. it's actually a sport for the cuddly pets. a bunny hurdle race is the test of intelligence over athleticism. the rabbits race and jump over hurdles over a foot tall.

winners go home with a medal and, of course, a big fat carrot. of course. well, players at one golf course are doing a double take when seeing their competition. at just 4 years old this point-sized putter already has two years of golfing under his belt, and now plays with 15-year-olds. he traded in toy clubs for the real thing. cut down to size, of course. he is too young to enter tournaments, but his instructor expects big things, once he does. he can already drive the ball 90 yards. he's like, two feet tall. >> he's got the hair. there's a guy named roy mcilroy who is a new, hot young golfer. >> he's like 22 rks he's got some competition already. time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. memorials are set for former first lady, betty ford, who passed away last week.

a private service will be followed by observances for the public. first lady, michelle obama and former first ladies, clinton, reagan and carter are expected to attend. president obama will award the medal of honor to u.s. army sergeant first class leroy petrie, only the second living recipient of the medal for actions in iraq or afghanistan. and tonight, at baseball's all-star game in phoenix, immigrant rights advocates are asking people to wear white ribbons protesting arizona's controversial immigration laws. all day long, you can stay on top of the 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 here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today show," the latest details on the case of a hollywood producer charged with murdering his wife during their cancun vacation last year. and grammy-winning artist, colbie callait performs next.

i'm lynn berry, thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station, have