[ cheers and applause ] captions paid for by nbc-universal television john boehner tries to salvage his debt krelg plan after a concept short on spending cuts. teetering on disaster. an english woman spends 20 hours trapped in her car on the side of a cliff. and fashion first. meet a 12-year-oldmateur fashion designer with an executive dream. hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone.

today we begin with back to the drawing board. as the clock ticks down on the country's spotless credit rating, house speaker john boehner is scrambling to rewrite his budget bill after the congressional budget office said his proposed spending cuts failed to meet his estimates. tracie potts joins us from washington with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that spotless credit rating spotless no more in a few days. we'll hear from a couple ratings agencies to day here on capitol hill. they're testifying. meanwhile,john boehner is going back to the drawing board after saying his plan is $150 billion short of the savings he promised. he can only lose 22 republican votes and still get this plan through the house. ten have already said -- ten republicans have already said they won't vote for boehner's plan. conservatives saying this is a deal, not a solution. that's what they're looking for. on the other side, on the senate side, the democratic plan, harry

reid's plan may actually cut more. but it doesn't touch medicare or social security. republicans are saying we need to make deep cuts in real programs. democrats are saying maybe it goes too far. but we actually need to get something done. so we'll vote for it. still, a lot of controversy about that plan. that one, postponed for vote as well. >> all right. tracie potts for us in washington. thank you for that. facing intense pressure step down amid sex allegations david wu will resign. his hometown perry reported last week that a california woman claimed to have an unwanted sexual encounter with wu. following the report, wu said he would not seek re-election. yet he would stay in office until the end of his term. but fellow democrats put the pressure on wu who's raised eyebrows in the past sending a photo of himself in a tiger costume to staff members. he gave into calls and left

congress after the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis. as norwegians struggle to come to grips with last week's massacre by one of their own, police are slowly releasing the identities of the 76 victims. this, as we learn more about the state of mind of the admitted assassin, a lawyer says he believes his client was insane describing him as cold and detached from the world. he believed he was at war with. meanwhile, police found and detonated a hidden supply of explosives at a farm he was renting where he was stock piling large amounts of fertilizer used to make bombs. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. off the coast of erie county this week, several water spouts towered over lake erie just before thunderstorms rolled through the area. amazing images of one water spout was captured on home video before it dissipated. there were no injuries or damage

reported in connection with any of the funnel shaped clouds. it's that time of year again in ohio. organizers of the state fair unveiled this year's butter sculpture linking the dairy industry with the nasa shuttle's 30 years of space exploration. both sculptures have been associated with flying over the moon and an astronaut is eating freeze dried ice cream in the cockpit. finally in, texas, a 12-year-old wanna be fashion designer may have caught the eye of the first lady. michelle obama is looking for a dress for a utah fund-raiser and she's considering grant's design. he battled school bullying to become an accomplished designer began drawing up the dress after a trip to the smithsonian. he headed to utah hoping to schedule a fitting for the first lady. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is bill karins with the weather channel forecast.

good morning, bill. >> good morning. who knows, maybe some famous designer in the west coast will say this kid hahas talent. >> maybe he wants his own business. oh, yeah. >> shoot for the stars. good morning, everyone. the heat around the country continues. a little warm in many areas of the west. not in the pacific northwest. we did sneak up into the 70-degree range, barely, in seattle. interior california was warm. l.a. had a beautiful day at 84 degrees. the real story is in the middle of the country where the drought is getting worse. 102 in dallas. that was the 25th day in a row that dallas has hit 100 degrees. incredible. now as far as what vegas did yesterday, 100. phoenix, 105. that's very typical for this time of year. medford saw a great day. where do we stand today? nothing much changed. the storm system that brute the co brought the cold front through is leaving the area. coastal clouds barely hugging

the shoreline south of san francisco and off san diego. except for that, a little weak little impulse going through the mountainous areas in washington state. there's not a lot to talk about. it's a really simple forecast. it's going to be sunny in most areas. you know, fair weather clouds at worst. temperatures are very nice. boise at 90, salt lake city at 90. l.a. right around 80. interior california should easily noob the 90s. interior california should easily noob the 90s. not bad in the northwest either the 90s. humidity is very low so it should be enjoyable. that is shaping up as one of the best weather weeks we've seen on the west. not too hot, not too cold, lots of sun. stocks stumble on washington on certainty. amazon surprises.

and a fun park that was no fun for no couple. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, "playboy's" 85-year-old founder takes yet plus, "playboy's" 85-year-old founder takes yet the1: fiancee who dumped him days before their wedding. coming up, the marlins find a good luck charm and is michael coming up, the marlins find a good luck charm and is michael phelps leaving the u.s. team? you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." here are some of your top headlines this morning. north korea is calling for a peace treaty with the u.s. to officially end the korean war. the request comes on the 58th anniversary of the armistice deal that ended the fighting. the two koreas have been technically at war because there has never been a peace treaty. this comes as one of north korea's top diplomats visits new york to try to restart six-party

nuclear disarmament talks. the judge in the casey anthony trial is delaying the release of the names of jurors until october. he says he's concerned with their safety following their not guilty verdict and he wants to wait until things cool off. earlier this week, hundreds of tourists from around the world protested in peru after being denied entry into the ruins. it is being limited because of damage created by visitors. in england, a woman was rescued after her car veered off the road, plunged down a cliff. she was trapped in her car for 20 hours before she was spotted and brought to safety. and in philadelphia, one of the nation's earliest post offices in a building once owned by benjamin franklin, the first post master general may be shutting down. it's on the postal service's list of nearly 3700 branches that could be closed to save

money. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines. a daily worry session may help you destress. a study found when people with adjustment disorders burn out or severe work problems, confine their worrying to a single scheduled 30-minute period each day and also deliberately avoided thinking about those issues for the rest of the day, they were better able to cope with their problems. for more information on this health story, check out the health page at nbc.com. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,501 after sinking 91 points yesterday. the s&p 500 was down five points and the nasdaq lost two. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei dipped 50 points while in hong kong, the hang seng fell 30.

once again, stocks fell victim to debt deal pressure tuesday and it's only going to get worse until the issue is finally resolved. it was a dow's third straight down day, eight of ten s&p 500 company groups fell within only teches and telecoms rising. nasdaq stayed close to even thanks to tech suck us is. broadcom led the way jumping 10%. chinese search engine baidu rose 5%, a day after forecasting higher than expected revenue. 3m dragged down the dow posting results that met general estimates but softness in some divisions brought shares down. ford also beat expectations but was down due to its caution about future demand. netflix slid again after warning red hot subscriber growth would cool this quarter. ups fell after warning the uneven economy could affect its results. us steel fell 8% after warning

earnings could fall this quarter. ak steel tumbled most on the s & p over concern of higher raw material costs. after hours amazon zoomed higher on a better than expected revenue jump of 51%. in data, june's prices for new single family homes rose to a five-month high but sales slipped. june's consumer confidence rose slightly but remains relatively low. clorox rejected as inadequate investor carl icahn's almost $11 billion deal. a lesbian couple wants changes at the tennessee theme park dolly wood after an employee asked one of the women to turn her marriage is so gay t-shirt inside out to avoid offending people. a running roundtripper, a world championship wardrobe problem, and an ump blows a very big call. plus, a major league insession agent in the nation's capital. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

. the heat invaded the middle of the country. that's not going anywhere either. another heat wave is building. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today" n sports, heading into last night's game

in new york, the seattle mariners lost 16 in a row. so it was almost unfair that they had to face yankee ace cc sabathia. here's fred rowiggin with an eay look at your headlines. cc sabathia well on his game to pitching a perfect game, then came the rain. sabathia dealing against the mariners struck out ten in the first five innings. at one point, seven in a row. then the heavens opened. usually a pitcher's day would be over. but with perfection on the line, sabathia came back. it wasn't meant to be. brendan ryan singled in the seventh. cc finished with 14 strikeouts but no perfect game. yankees won 4-1. from great pitching to great running, phillies and giants, chase utley took barry zito deep. utley was off to the races. he missed two months with a knee injury this season. he got the green light to come home and beat the throw to the plate. a home run the hard way.

phillies beat the giants 7-2. braves and pirates played the longest game of the season and ended in controversy. bottom of the ninth, man on third. scott proctor with a grounder. julio lugo out by a mile. wait a minute. umpire jerry neil called him safe. that's got to be the worst call of the year. naturally the pirates went ballistic. the braves won it 4-3. apparently engineer quli breakfast plans and wanted to get the game overwith. now to d.c. where something was really bugging the marlins. a little guy enjoyed part of the game on top of clay hensley's head and crawled on to the dugout rail. in the blink of an eye, he went from praying to attacking. the man 'tis turned out to be a good luck charm. he hit a homer and the marlins won it 11-2. finally, you ever gone to the swimming pool and forgot your trunks? that is 14 time gold medalist michael phelps, that's not his swimsuit. he forgot his warmup trunks at

the world championships and had to borrow a pair. at least all the letters are right.dyslexic, it does read usa. you won't believe who twilight star christian stewart is turning her back on in a film project. you're early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, you've seen them in the skies. you've seen them on the pond. but not many people have seen them lording over a first class hotel. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this wednesday. more beautiful weather in paradise. many areas will feel like paradise today. not too hot, not too humid. we'll be beautiful in portland. 77 is a very comfortable temperature with partly cloudy skies. salt lake city and boys ji nice, too. hot in the deserts. getting toasty in phoenix at 107. a look at tomorrow, more sunshine and temperatures close to average in most locations. if you're watching us from portland, oregon, at the carnival, the head on over to the sheep rodeo at the hood river county fair at the hood river county fairgrounds. that's your pacific event of the day. i had cotton candy last week for the first i'm in two years. >> i love cotton candy. that sugar high is perfect for the mornings. bill, thank you. now here's an early look at

this morning's headlines in entertainment. morgan freeman wants the world to know he does not support right-wing causes. a representative for freeman told tmz he did not narrate an ad by a conservative group in wisconsin nor did he voice over an earlier ad for controversial governor scott walker. he accused a narrator of trying to sound like freeman. lindsay lohan has court issues this time it's small claims court. a man who installed her audio and video equipment says she hasn't paid him over $1,000. you know you're a big star like "twilight's" kristen stewart when you drop out of your very own mother's first film as a director to focus on other professional obligations. and finally, say what you will about 25-year-old crystal haira's dumping "playboy" founder hugh hefner days before the wedding. but did she have to good on howard stern and tell some not too flattering details about

their sex life together to the whole world? >> i think she is seeking revenge. he's been going at her pretty hard and making her look bad. >> a messy breakup. >> yeah. >> now quite malicious. >> now just gross. >> that, too. i agree. this comes us to from wmc action news 5 in memphis, tennessee, where a historic hotel is looking for the perfect candidate to pamper the resident wildlife without ruffling any feathers. the pea body hotel's duck master is in need of assistance. he needs help to care for the famous birds that roam the halls. hundreds have applied hoping to get a shot at one job, that is literally for the birds. this is "early today." just your first stop of the day to day on your nbc station. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

how much would a true wine lover pay to taste what's inside a 200-year-old bottle? a french wine steward and restaurant owner paid $123,000. a new record for commercial sale. most white wines don't age well but the natural sugars preserved and improved it since being bottled in 1811 during napoleon's reign. tourists and animal lovers got to see quite a spectacle off the cloest of colombia. six adult hump back whales along with calves. it's part of a mass migration that stretch as cross 5,000 miles of the oceans.

it provides a unique chance for people to catch a peek of the giant sea creatures. even in an age of astounding technological creations, the smart bird is a jaw dropper. developed by a german smart bird is a jaw dropper. developed by a german engineering firm, it has a 6 1/2 foot wing spanned and weighs less than a pound. it takes off, lands and powered by the motion of its wings. it's so natural looking it either fooled nearby birds into thinking it was part of their flock. and that is the coolest thing i've seen in a long time. >> that reminds me of a pigeon i was feeding in the park the other day. time for an early look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. walter reed army medical center's flag will be retired as it prepares to close its doors after a century of treating presidents and wounded american fighters. the ceremony symbolizes the unit's end as a facility as they move to a new location next month. english and canadian

embassies will host a ceremonial olympic torch relay in d.c. mark 3g 65 days until the 2012 summer olympics in london. the english ambassador to the u.s. is scheduled to speak following the four-mile relay. and on this day in 1940, bugs bunny made his official debut at the animated short "a wild hare." 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." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. there's another delay in the stalemate with six days left before the debt default deadline. a key member of the negotiations speaks out. and another countdown is on. exactly one year until the 2012 summer olympics, michael phelps talks about going for the gold again. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. thanks for watching "early

today," just your first stop of the day to day on your nbc station. have a good one.