this morning on "early today" -- still no deal. president obama says enough is enough in debt negotiations while moody's puts the u.s. on notice. excessive force. three tennessee officers come under fire after a brutal beating is captured on dash cam video. and a spectacle. the u.s. mount roars to life with a dazzling nighttime show. 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. this morning we begin with boiling point. budget negotiations at the white house grew heated yesterday as lawmakers failed again to compromise on spending cuts and tax hikes as part of the plan to raise the debt ceiling. all of this as moody's investor service puts the country's stellar credit rating under review. kristin dahlgren joins us with more this morning. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. just when you thought it couldn't get any uglier, word of the tepsest talks yet. republican house majority leader eric cantor is saying the president said to him, eric, don't call my bluff, and then stormed out of yesterday's meeting. now, democrats say those reports are overblown. they admit the president did say, enough is enough, and he urged lawmakers to stop the political posturing and do what's right. both sides say the president has set tomorrow as a deadline to reach some type of agreement on

how to move forward from where they are. that as the pressure increased, as you said, moody's, one of the biggest nation's credit rating, said they could downgrade the aaa credit rating if no deal is reached if it looks like the u.s. is going to default. what about senator mcconnell's plan to give the president authority to raise the debt ceiling himself? senator harry reid praised it as senator mccain and a lot of other republicans say it is a sellout plan. they will be back at the table later on this afternoon. kristin dahlgren, thank you. rupert murdoch is feeling the financial and political fallout from a phone-hacking scandal that rocked his media empire. giving into pressure from england's parliament, murdoch dropped his $12 billion bid for a full paid tv network. and new this morning the former executive editor of the defunct

tabloid "news of the world" has been arrested. the ninth arrest resulting from police investigations into phone hacking and bribery of police officers. the scandal now spans at least two continents but the u.s. congressman peter king chairman of the homeland security committee calling for the fbi to find out if murdoch's news corp tried to illegally obtain phone records of 9/11 victims. authorities in india are still searching for the culprits behind wednesday's deadly bombings that left at least 18 people dead and 133 more injured. residents are still shaken up after coordinated explosions that rocked three separate neighborhoods in mumbai happened during rush hour on wednesday. the attacks came just months after india resumed peace talks with pakistan. so far, no group has taken responsibility for the bombings and indian officials are not speculating on who may have been responsible for the blasts. secretary of state hillary clinton says she will proceed with plans to visit the country

next week. now, here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. video from a dash cam has three tennessee sheriff deputies in hot water. the officers took down an allegedly intoxicated man and then repeatedly punched, kicked and tased him. although the man was handcuffed and half naked, the officers claimed he was resisting arrest. the incident is under investigation and all three officers have been placed on administrative leave. an attorney in louisiana is being forced to answer some tough questions. after surveillance video showedá him fighting in a bar located in the town he represents. the attorney said he was defending himself and sued the bar for lack of security. the owners countersued, saying the attorney's bar tab was unpaid. in ohio, a 19-year-old champion stacker is leading the charge to have sport stacking recognized in collegiate athletics.

andy, the seventh-ranked sport stacker in the nation, has organized his school's team and hopes to get other universities to start up teams which he hopes eventually will lead to college scholarships. finally in texas. taxidermists are helping pet owners deal with the los of their furry loved ones. families are having their deceased pets preserved. the process takes more than two weeks but more than a few are jumping at the chance to keep a watchful eye on their pets in the afterlife. an ominous looking guy there. now for a look at your national and regional weather, a our nbc meteorologist, bill karins. >> where do we draw the line? >> i thought pets were the line, but now we are crossing it. >> just stop everything. >> let's talk about the forecast going throughout the day. good morning, everyone. yesterday another cool day,

temperatures this morning similar. we are in the 50s right now in san francisco. 55 with a cooler spot in all of the western half of the country. even the desert areas really aren't all that hot this morning. 7in vegas to start your morning. we have enjoyed a cooler period in the deserts after brutal heat over the last two weeks. it is just all our friends on the coast would like to get a little taste of the warmer air. you can still see the spin up here to the north now, north of seattle up here in british columbia. that's the culprit, the upper-level low for drawing down the cooler air and continuing to move off the water. you can see this morning how far inland, you can see the gray right here into california, i mean, the marine layer is well inland so it will take a while to burn off once again. showers up near bellingham near the upper-level low. some could clip seattle, not a lot of wet weather, but a bit. after we get rid of the clouds later today we'll warm to 74 in l.a., 97 in vegas.

are the big winners. temperatures of much of southern california, including sacramento, lower 90s. the weather pattern not changing. >> i have no more good or bad news. >> are you getting paid today, bill? >> just today, i'm not sure about tomorrow. >> thank you. big ben boosts stocks. oil bubbles up and what not to wear this summer on the job. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, he pushed a friend to do it for his country. now he's been asked himself. will he come through as well? the u.s. women punch their ticket to the world cup final. and what would you rather have, a world series ring or your own baseball card? how about both? 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. a new reuters/ipsos poll have mitt romney leading michele bachmann in a head-to-head match-up 40% to 23% among republicans and independents. in southwestern china he have heavy rains have stranded residents and caused extensive power outages. no injuries have been reported. sicily's mount etna began spewing lava and ash yesterday and continued for nearly 12 hours forcing a local airport to close. etna is europe's largest active volcano. there were no borings on the final famous running of the bulls in spain. there were no injuries from the falls. this might make you think twice about a social networking

romance. a detroit area woman is suing a washington state man for more than $8,000 in damages after a six-month romance sparked over facebook went bad. she claims misrepresentation and defamation of character and is seeking to reclaim money spent on gifts and travel. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. two studies from africa have shown for the first time aids drugs designed to treat hiv can also be used to dramatically reduce the risk of infections among heterosexual couples. growing evidence suggest medicine described since the mid-'90s to treat those already infected may hold the key to slowing or even halting the spread of the sexually transmitted disease. for more information on this and other health stories, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by

vagisil with comfort clean. now an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,491 after gaining 44 points yesterday. the s&p was up 4 points. the nasdaq rose 15. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei fell 27 points, but in hong kong the hang seng added 13. a hint of another boost from the fed helped stocks to halt a three-day slide wednesday but those gapes were challenged after the bell by a threat to the u.s. credit rating. moody's investors service announced it might cut america's aaa rating due to rising chances the debt ceiling may not be raised in time to avoid default. that sent stocks diving in late trade. earlier in the day stocks flew after congressional testimony from fed chief ben bernanke suggesting the fed would consider additional stimulus measures.

two previous stints of the fed buying hundreds of billions in bonds, which finished in june, was supposed to lead to expansion and jobs. about the only clear thing it led to was a sustained rally in stocks. so, the mere suggestion the fed was considering another round led the three majors higher. energy and material shares were the top gainers. copper and gold jumped 2%. oil was up, settling once again over $98 a barrel. scandal battered news corp. was most active on the nasdaq. up almost 4% after giving up its pursuit of total ownership in a major english pay tv network. jpmorgan chase and google both slated to deliver earnings tomorrow, slightly higher. after the bell yum brands rose on better than expected profit and a boosted outlook. after closing, despite posting healthy results, marriott international fell. finally, according to a

national survey, when it comes to summer work attire, flip-flops are the number one don't. with mini skirts coming in second, followed by strapless tops. good advice for you there. the u.s. women's hopeful march toward world cup soccer glory, a late goal in the second half against france gives them a lift they'll take all the way to the finals. early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and once again, the heat is going to build in the middle of the country. this is the least thing they need. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, america's world cup women's team has definitely won over the nation. suddenly, people that didn't know a free kick from a corner kick a few days ago can't wait to see them take on their next opponent. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. hi there, good morning. every few years the nation stands up and takes notice of usa soccer. it happened last world cup for the men and now all eyes are on the women. faces france for a spot in the world cup final, the americans strike first.

heather o'reilly to lauren cheney who scores, america up 1-0. france would tie the game in the second half. about 20 minutes later team usa takes the lead once again off the corner, and stop me if you've heard this before, abby wambach, header and goal. the second straight game she's headed one in. americans up 2-1. in the blink of an eye they add some insurance. alex morgan, cool, calm and collected waits for the goalie to go down and chips it up and over. the u.s. runs past the french and into the finals with a 3-1 win. >> i know that we're going to pull through. i just have a belief in this team. and everybody feels it. we had to play nearly perfect. they obviously got a goal on us. in the end we're in the finals and that's all that matters. >> i knew from the very beginning we were going to find a way to win. that's this team's mentality. we do it for our country. we do it for our nation. it's our mentality. we're going to win. >> when they did, the u.s. will play japan in the world cup final. that game sunday at 2:00 eastern. finally, we've been telling you about yankee fan christian lopez who is in financial trouble after the team gave him

tickets and memorabilia in exchange for derek jeter's 3,000th hit ball. facing thousands in taxes for the gift items, lopez was given a $25,000 check and a 2009 world series ring courtesy of the modell's sporting goods store and will get a percentage of their sales this week. miller brewing company stepped up paying whatever tax lopez has to pay. the coolest of all, lopez is getting his own baseball card. no word if bubble gum will be included. that's a look at sports today. i'm mario solis. >> things really turned around for him. what is next for lady gaga? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, you want to be like them, right? no, you really, truly want to be like them? if so, have we got the place for you. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday morning to "early today." don't blink, i'm going to show you the thursday forecast and then the friday, but the pattern won't change much. what you see today you will get tomorrow. vegas, phoenix, the coastal areas, morning clouds with temperatures recovering. notice seattle gets showers today, but tomorrow you at least change a little bit. we'll get rid of the rain drops. if you are watching us on kcra 3 sacramento, california, treat the family to a night of flashy

cars and pulled pork sliders. hear music from a live band at twilight thursday at the sacramento zoo. that's your pacific event of the day. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. there are reports of one marriage of fashion minds that makes perfectly weird sense. the designer who created princess beatrice's pretzel hat reports lady gaga wants to be his intern. "access hollywood" reports mila kunis must back out on her date with a marine sergeant due to shooting commitments on a movie. no word from kunis if this is true. either way, remember how justin timberlake prodded the marine to accept the offer? it's his turn. corporal chelsea posted her own youtube video calling out timberlake asking him to come to

the marine corps ball with her. will he do it? >> i don't know. 10 or 20 people have probably asked him to go. >> true. good point. this comes to us from wsls 10 on your side in roanoke, virginia, where nearby campers are getting a real life lesson in wizardry and magic. kids from all over the country are getting to live out their harry potter fantasies at the hogwarts summer camp. the camp mixes fantasy with science giving the children to stir up real life potions stirring up chemistry. the film franchise is reaching a conclusion that they say with a camp like this, the magic will never end. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

reporters got more than they bargained for when on assignment in china. they were casually looking for antelope when they came across two grizzly bears battling each other. experts say they weren't exactly fighting but exercising and practicing their survival skills. it all lasted for more than three hours until the bears exhausted themselves and simply walked away. guests at one zoo get a two-for-one special. an albino snake on display in a ukrainian zoo was born with two heads. one that's said to be more passive than the other. zookeepers there say they react

think and act separately despite sharing the same body. sometimes the heads fight amongst themselves for food. >> one criminal's yearning to perform did him in. on the loose for 13 years, an escaped inmate from northeast china was spotted on a tv dating show. after killing someone in 1988, he disappeared until showing off his singing and dancing talents. a viewer recognized him and called police. he was arrested and eventually confessed to the crime. he should have been put away for those dancing moves. i feel bad saying that, but he's a convicted killer. >> that shanghai jail will be pretty entertaining. >> get that guy a microphone and it wouldn't be so bad. it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. the department of defense will announce its strategy for operating in cyberspace, a rare instance of the release of such unclassified details. in the past, little has been

said publicly about how the department would defend against cyber attacks or threats. nasa aircraft will take to the skies over maryland flying in low altitude to take air quality measurements, part of a mission to enhance the capability of satellites that measure ground levels from space. on this day in 1881, william bonny alias billy the kid was shot and killed by sheriff pat garrett in ft. sumner, new mexico. you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. pressure for a deal on the debt mounts after the nation's perfect credit rating is threatened. hear the very latest details on the tense negotiations. it's a big morning in hollywood as prime time emmy nominations are announced. 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.