[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today." the clock is ticking. house speaker john boehner spends precious time drumming up support for his june debt limit plan. so what's next? torrential rain leaves dozens dead in south korea. and cosmic catalog. astronomers discover a massive neighbor in earth's orbit. 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 amara sohn. today we begin with the debt scramble.

house speaker john boehner's reworked debt ceiling proposal will be put to the test today with an expected vote in the house. realistically, it's going nowhere fast. in the unlikely event it passes, the house and senate, the president has vowed to veto the plan. where do things go from here? tracie potts has more from washington. the racie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. democrats say it is going nowhere and will never land on the president's desk. budget officials found another $60 billion in savings. >> the speaker's plan is on life support and it is time for him to pull the plug. >> you're not worried? >> lefr let them see you sweat. >> reporter: a trillion dollars in cuts. his own party wants more and complains his plan would add $7 trillion to our national debt.

>> that is unacceptable and unsustainable. >> reporter: house republicans want to cut more but democrats won't budge. >> you need a partner to dance with in the senate. we don't have one. >> it will not pass. every democratic senator will vote against it. >> reporter: democrats argue the boehner bill doesn't cut enough so our credit rating could suffer and interest rates may go up anyway. >> that's $100 billion out of the pocket of the american taxpayers. so that's an enormous flaw in the boehner plan. >> reporter: the white house is trying to keep congress focused on next week's deadline. >> from midnight august 2nd you are running on fumes. >> reporter: if democrats don't go for this do they have something else to put on the table? yes, they do. there's an alternative plan in the senate but it has not even hit the floor yet. we are running out of time. >> we are running out of time. tracie potts in washington, thank you. new census numbers show small america is now disappearing. this accounts for 60% of the

nation's population, the lowest level in ever. in comparison to a century ago, three quarters of the u.s. population lived in rural areas but small towns have been turning into ghost towns with more and more residents heading to larger metro areas and cities. the share of americans living in the suburbs have climbed to an all-time high of 51%. cities have increased their share to 33%. a tropical storm is barreling towards texas at this hour and for once that's being eegrd asee good news. tropical storm don is in the gulf of mexico tracking towards the southern part of the lone star state. it's expected to make landfall tomorrow. fortunately, forecasters don't expect the storm to strengthen into a hurricane, but the area should get some desperately needed rain. up to one or two inches. meteorologist bill karins will have much more coming up shortly. now here's a look at somesore stories making news early today in america. mother nature brought some rare unwelcomed storms to upstate new

york on tuesday. officials have confirmed at least two tornadoes touched down, leaving trees uprooted and downed power lines in their wake. the unusual twisters measured as ef-0s, but they did produce strong enough winds to cause structural damage. there was a concern in southern california after a train derailment led to the evacuation of over 250 homes. at least 21 cars derailed, some carrying hazardous materials, which prompted the evacuation order. investigators checked every car and didn't discover any leaks or spills. the maiden voyage of an unmanned blimp took a dive. a technical glitch caused the high-tech blimp and very expensive air ship to go awry crashing in a wooded area two hours after takeoff. fortunately, it was filled with nonflammable helium, and no one on the ground was hurt. finally, there were some competitors in wisconsin looking for some wiggle room on their way to the winner's circle. over 60 teams of kids dug deep with hopes of picking a winner

at the great library worm race. the event has been around for over 20 years. the only competition where worming your way to victory is the only way to win. i'm glad those children don't get grossed out by those worms. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel. good morning, bill. >> i guess the kids don't mind the creepy crawlies. well, good morning, everyone. here's what's happening with tropical storm donon we are hoping this will get a little bigger. i didn't say stronger, i meant bigger because the bigger the storm is the more rain it will produce. we don't want any devastation or damage or anything, but texas rain. the cc1: i mean, it is probably the most drought-stricken state in the country right now. it is a weak system that's supposed to head here towards late friday night into saturday morning. most likely a 50 to 60-mile-per-hour storm.

those winds could knock down a couple tree branches, but nothing devastating. this is the path in between brownsville and corpus christi. notice that houston looks like the rainfall will miss you. then it should head to san antonio with embedded rainstorms during the day saturday. there's nothing to talk about here on the west coast. we have a stationary front touching off showers from last night in northern portions of utah. also the hot conditions have returned to the desert without a doubt. sunshine throughout much of california. you can see where the coastal clouds are along the coast. even those burn off late this afternoon. it should be a very enjoyable forecast. temperaturewise, pretty seasonable. this is where we should be. areas that are hotter than normal include the medford reason up to boise, vegas and phoenix. there's warm air out here in the valley of california where we are in the 90s. then going to the coast after burning off the clouds and sunshine, we'll be in the 80s near l.a. 74 in san francisco. portland, seattle, you'll take the temperature comfortable in the mid-70s. that's a look at the national fo i93.

red block, or red plouffe, very warm at 98. one of the quietest weather weeks we have had in the summer. it will continue into tomorrow. >> no one is complaining about that. thank you. stocks tank, oil tumbled and pristine italian-forced cars discovered in texas. your morning business headlines are straight ahead. and battered and bruised, the show must go on for alec tribec. a big trade and a wedding. you're watching "early today." c:

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." here are some of your top headlines this morning. at least 47 people are dead

and four are missing in south korea in the wake of torrential rains, landslides and flash flooding. more than 16 inches of rain fell on the capitol of seoul in 24 hours. south african health officials on wednesday described this appalling. the case of a man rescued from a morgue refrigerator after being presumed by his dead and an undertaker. the man was locked in a morgue drawer for hours before he awakened and screamed for help. authorities are investigating the incident. the international space station will be sent plunging into the ocean as early as the year 2020 when it stops operating. the original plan was to bring the space coast down in 2015 but the european space agency extended its life. and astronomers have discovered the first trojan asteroid. a 1,000-foot wide space asteroid

along its orbital path along the sun. here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,302 after tumbling 198 points. the s&p 500 sank 27 points and the nasdaq plunged 75. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei dropped 145 points. but in hong kong the hang seng added 29. down data, weak earnings, and no movement in washington sent wall street reeling to its worst day in eight weeks. more than ten stocks fell for every one that rose. the major indexes all gave up their gains for the month. the 2,000 index said small companies lost under 3% in one day. wall street's fear index rose over 13%. techs had been the market mainstay, but a profit warning from juniper sent its shares tumbling and jolted the sector.

stagnating orders at emerson electric sent its shares down almost 7%. in data new orders for durable goods fell unexpectedly in june. the release of a fed survey showing slower growth around most of the nation led to nearly half the dow's losses in the last two hours of trade. pessimistic speculators sent oil futures plunging $2.19 a barrel. investors did gobble up shares of the dunkin brands ipo. the stock soared over 46%. amazon was up after tuesday's posting of higher than expected earnings and revenue. after the bell visa reported better than expected quarterly results and plans to buy back $1 billion in shares. also, after closing, upscale grocer whole foods reported beat the street profits and it raised its four-year forecast. call it the ultimate barn find. the website jalopnik shows three

rare italian gems, two ferraris and a maserati will be sold at auction in california next month after spending more than 30 years in a texas storage shed gathering dust. gathering dust and appreciating in value. the pirates and braves go extras again. the mets play let's make a deal. and lots of shuffling on the first day of moves in the nfl. plus, why is angel pitcher urban santana celebrating like he just won the world series? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. tropical storm don has a little more than 36 hours before it arrives on the texas coast. your early morning forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sports pitcher ervin santana put an exclamation point on his otherwise hum drum season yesterday throwing the first no-hitter by an angel in nearly 27 years. here's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. you know the old saying, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. well, that sums up ervin santana's no hitter perfectly. here we go to cleveland. angel pitcher got off to a rocky start. an error, a stolen base, and

this wild pitch led to an unearned run. the indians are up 1-0. from there santana cruised. he struck out ten and had help from his friends. kendrick great driving stop to get the run at first and preserve the no-hitter. michael brantley, a deep right to center. not deep enough. santana no-hit the indians. third no-hitter of the season. about the only thing that could cool santana was an ice bath after the game. angels won it 3-1. after a flown call ended a 19-inning marathon on wednesday, the braves and pirates needed extra innings again last night. david ross singled in a run. nate mcleod safe at the plate. no controversy. just another braves win 2-1 in ten. home run against the reds. victor has had 11 rbis in six games back. the mets won it 7-4, and they're going to need to stay hot. they traded slugger carlos beltran to the giants right before the game. speaking of wheeling and dealing, a few notable deals in the nfl.

the redskins dumped quarterback donovan mcnabb to the vikings. kevin cobb was sent to the cardinals, and antonio holmes was traded adds well. another fun wedding. a boston couple took it to a whole new level. the bridesmaids wore celtic green dresses, and then there's the stanley cup, and, yeah, there's the bride and groom, too. big year for the bruins. an even bigger year for this happy couple. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> early today sports is brought to you by touch of gray, get rid of some gray, never all. joe pescci gained weight, and he is suing because of it. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the majestic soaring symbol of america just welcomed some new members into its population in the wild. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday. my job is pretty easy this week and all the other meteorologists around the areas of the west. temperatures are really the only forecast problem. we don't have a lot of clouds to deal with, unless you are on the coast of california. that's the typical rain layer that will burn off. today, 81 in los angeles. 105 in vegas. a little warm in salt lake city. boi boise, warm. central valleys of california

will be in the 90s. boise, we'll cool you off slightly tomorrow. not a lot of changes. seattle, looks like you'll be in the low 70s today. tomorrow, about 75. and in medford, 97 to 94. what you see is what you get. a lot of that happening yesterday will repeat itself today. if you are watching us on knrb, reno, nevada, see how this captured end mat feature of nature was captured in his icon irk book in the nevada museum of art. that's your pacific event of the day. thank you, bill. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. jeopardy host alex trebek apparently doubled as a crime fighter. the 71-year-old snapped his achilles tendon and injured his other leg chasing down a burglar who took cash and a bracelet his mother gave him from his hotel wednesday morning. a 56-year-old woman was later caught and booked for felony burglary and possession of

stolen property. tmz reports joe pesci is suing the producers of the upcoming movie about mobster john gotti saying he was signed to play a role in the film for $3 million. he claims he gained 30 pounds to play the character only to have the deal pulled by producers. they claimed it was pesci who tried to back out of the deal. finally, you can't blame one star for going for it. following the recent trend of celebrity invites to the marine ball asking scarlett johannson to be his date. she declined due to previous commitments, but to her credit she sent the sergeant a case of malaise as a kind gesture. >> we all have that one star that we can dream of. >> scarlett is a request of many. >> yes. and this comes to us from wbir nbc 29 in charlottesville, virginia, where in nearby

charles city a large crowd witnessed the highly anticipated send-off of a few celebrities. a trio of young eagles soared to new heights after their release into the wild. thousands kept tabs of them after their birth on a web cam. after their mother was killed, they were adopted, and they were taught to fly by animal rescuers who marvelled at the sights of their star pupils spreading their wings. >> now it is very common they have is a lot of nests like that. >> when you see them from that small growing up and finally spreading their wings and leaving is an emotional moment. i'm amara sohn, and this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

an english youth soccer team received a warm welcome in columbia yesterday. security staffers and a parrot mascot greeted the team with an impromptu dance party. the england squad had just arrived to compete in this year's under 20 world cup. the players were definitely a bit hesitant at first, but eventually loosened up and joined in on the fun. a 30-year-old tradition had people smiling in mexico city yesterday. hundreds dressed as clowns made an annual pilgrimage to mexico. members of mexico's clown club attend a special mass asking the

saint to watch over their members and their families. imagine making a sandwich way over 100 feet long and still falling way short of a world record. at least mexico city got credit for preparing latin america's largest sandwich. at 164 feet long local chefs made it with more than 70 ingredients. the world record will be tough to beat. two italians hold the record at 2,066 feet. imagine that. >> of course the italians do. the italian bread -- that bread in that sandwich was a lot of carbs. >> yes, lots of fat in that food. now for the stories that we'll follow today here on nbc. it's the world's first hepatitis day sponsored by the centers of disease control and prevention. the day is meant to reflect on challenges faced in the global effort to prevent and control viral hepatitis. more than 1 million people die

from the condition each year. ten nfl teams, including the steelers and 49ers, start preparing for the season as training camp opens. it follows a four-month labor dispute that ended earlier this week. more teams are expected to begin training throughout the weekend. and happy birthday to cartoonist and garfield creator jim davis who turns 66. 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. house speaker john boehner's debt plan goes to a vote today as democrats move forward with their own proposals. brian williams takes us inside the heated debate. and a woman jailed for seven months for armed robbery speaks out after police say she was framed by her ex. now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm amara sohn. thanks for watching "early

today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com