this morning -- after the storm. millions of americans are left in the dark and in hundred-degree heat. charred remains. victims of colorado return home to assess the damage. and outrageous reptile. a massive crocodile in the philippines shatters a world a massive crocodile in the philippines shatters a world record. ptions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with a blackout. more than 2 million people are still without power following friday's violent storms in the mid atlantic region as

temperatures soared past the 100-degree mark. those storms are being blamed for at least 17 deaths. >> reporter: residents across the mid-atlantic are cleaning up. after a fierce storm that knocked down power lines and wreaked havoc across several states. >> this storm had all of the impact of a hurricane without the warning. >> reporter: crews are working around the clock, but officials say it could take a full week before power is restored to the more than 2 million left in the dark. >> this particular storm, almost twice as many as hurricane irene least summer. this is on the level of hurricane isabelle. >> reporter: with temperatures soaring past the 100 degree mark in many places for a third straight day, dozens of communities have opened cooling stations. >> it's here for the people who don't have electricity. they can come here, cool off. >> reporter: some gas stations are seeing long lines too, while others have closed with no power or fuel. >> frustrated.

highly frustrated. >> reporter: david retland of washington, d.c. echoes what many are feeling. >> most of stuff will be discarded, most of my neighbors have packed up and left somewhere. >> reporter: just some of the millions without power headed into a sweltering fourth of july holiday. nbc meteorologist bill karins will have more on that in a few minutes. meanwhile, firefighters made significant progress over the weekend despite harsh conditions and searing heat. officials say the 26 square mile waldo canyon is now 35% contained. most evacuation orders have been lifted but some 3,000 residents in and around colorado springs are still unable to return home. after more than a week the record blaze has destroyed nearly 350 homes. well, the debate is still raging over health care.

what happens next after the supreme court upheld the controversial law? both sides appear ready to battle it out right up until election day. nbc's brian mooar has the details. >> reporter: the supreme court may have delivered the ultimate verdict on the health care law, but that is far from the final word. >> this has to be ripped out by its roots. this is government taking over the entire health insurance industry. the american people do not want to go down the path. >> reporter: in this election year republicans want to make obamacare and its removal a campaign issue. >> let me tell you what we're not going to do. we're not going to tell the health care system into a western european health care system. >> reporter: and it's a fight the white house doesn't mind. team obama is trying to present the massachusetts law as a middle and presumptive nominee mitt romney as the god father of obamacare. >> the fact that 1% pays the penalty tells you a great deal. this was a plan that governor

romney supported. i think it's something he would have been proud of. >> the republicans are certainly going to lose the election in the house, the senate and the presidency if they make this their number one issue. >> reporter: the high court's decision seems to have caught both sides off guard. but republicans and democrats seem to agree that disagreeing on health care is the way to victory. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. and now here's a look at some other stories making news today in america. in arizona, a wild scene as a naked carjacking suspect was arrested. cell phone video captured the bizarre end to a chase in which police say the man crashed his open car, took off his clothes, then carjacked another vehicle, wrecked that one as well and was about to carjack yet another victim when officers finally caught up with him. witnesses say he was also chanting and singing. seven people were injured including a woman who was pregnant. and in boston, the holiday celebrations, the famous tall

ships sailed into town for the boston harbor fest which runs into july 4th. they're making the bicentennial of war of 1812 which established the u.s. navy as a force to be reckoned with. finally, thousands of fans gathered in los angeles for the it 1st annual animae expo. they went to concerts and dressed up as their favorite characters. celebrating that craze that first started in japan. now, for a look at the national regional weather, here' nbc meteorologist bill karins with the forecast. bill's marcing it on his calendar as we speak, right, you and me next year, animae expo. >> i would check it out. it sounds fascinating. the pictures, the people. >> you would dress up as? >> i don't know. we'd have to work on that one. >> the guy with the horse head. >> yeah. either you go all in or you don't do it at all.

good morning, everyone. incredible heat, incredible storms. we continue in the same weather pattern. it's not changing across the country. the heat wave, the record-setting heat wave peeked over the weekend. we saw high temperatures in the 100s from st. louis all the way to columbia, south carolina. there was one spot that hit 113 degrees. if that verifies at the weather center, that will be the hottest temperature ever recorded in south carolina history. we had 109 in tennessee that could also be one of the hottest ever. over the weekend the heat began to return to the west. we hit 100 in denver. salt lake city the temperatures soared, billings, casper, phoenix and vegas. the areas that haven't changed is the northwest continues to be cooler than we'd like. temperatures only in the upper 60s. this weather pattern isn't going to change. we continue to have the storms that come down. they dip down and go into british columbia. they're keeping this trough, reinforcing itself. at the same time the high keeps

rebuilding over the rockies. when that happens the weather pattern will remain like this. it will only make it up to salt lake city and the rockies. it won't be able to make it into the west until a ridge of high pressure comes to the west. a quarter of an inch in many areas. in the mountains it could get more than that. bellingham, 1/2 inch of rain. it's a very unusual weather pattern. today's forecast, not all that bad. most of the wet weather later on this evening. overall a dry day. just like yesterday, cool on the coast. of course into the 100s. look at seattle with the clouds still struggling. 4th of july forecast coming up. >> all right. i'm headed to vegas.

send us some good weather. >> you'll be used to the heat at least. >> that absolutely is correct. good news for europe's banks. bad news for one of europe's bankers and why the weekend was slightly longer than usual. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus is it a trash talking bear or hollywood hunks. the weekend box office. tiger stands alone, spain dominates, plus a heartbreaking end for a true olympic champion. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you. here's the top headlines. the party that dominated the mexican politics for 70 years appears to be headed back to power. enrique pena nieto won with about 40% of the voters in early exit polls.

iran says it's planning new missile tests and it's threatening to wipe israel off the face of the earth. yesterday, there was an oil embargo instituted against iran in an effort to force the country to halt the nuclear program. a federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of the mississippi law that could shut down the state's only abortion clinic. the law requires anyone performing abortions at the clinic to be an ob/gyn with privileges to admit the patients to a local hospital which can be difficult to obtain. endurance swimmer penny palfrey failed as she tried to be the first woman to swim from mexico to the u.s. unaided. the 49-year-old grandmother had to stop 29 miles short because of strong currents. and a salt water crocodile in the philippines has been confirmed by guinness officials as the biggest in captivity. take a look at this crock named lolong. as the biggest in history. it measures over 20 feet long

and weighs a ton. wow. now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the dow. opens at 12,880 after spiking 277 points. the s&p surged 33 and the nasdaq skyrocketed 35. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, the nikkei was down 3 points but in hang is seng the nikkei jumped 416. well, wall street kicks off a new quarter on a high note with a shortened but busy week ahead. u.s. markets close early tomorrow before shutting down for the 4th on wednesday. investors who haven't taken off the entire week will be looking to extend friday's rally which gave the s&p and the nasdaq their best daily boost since friday. the surge came after significant steps were taken to shore up the struggling banks in europe. overseas this morning optimism over europe's debt crisis helped most asian markets climb higher. the upbeat sentiment could

continue if the european bank decides to cut interest rates during its meeting this week. another big driver for u.s. markets will be the june jobs report due out on friday. investors will get an update on the june auto sales which have been strong all year. interest rate rigging scandal that rocked the global banking scandal last week has claimed the first victim. the chairman of barclays resigned today saying the buck stops with me after they suffered what he called a devastating blow. elsewhere, apple has agreed to pay $60 million to a company that claimed it owned the rights to the name ipad. one more leap second was added to june 30th to keep the world's atomic clock in sync with the earth's rotation. the dodgers snap a seven-game skid and tiger woods makes history. plus a heartbreaking fall for

one five-time olympic medallist. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. the fourth of july forecast looks very warm across the country. i'll have the details coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up this is "early today."

in sports now, yesterday, major league baseball announced the starting rosters for this year's al star team. here's mario so lis with all of your sports headlines. >> good morning. baseball fans voted and a record 11 million chose josh hamilton. he was among the rangers picked next week. robinson cano will be in kansas city next today. no one has been hitting the ball better, crushing another home run against the white sox. he has nine in the last 14 games. yankees won 4-2. the dodgers clayton kershaw is an all-star pitching like one yesterday. nine strikeouts, one earned over seven and, get this, the dodgers actually scored some runs snapping a seven-game losing streak with an 8-3 win. golf, tiger woods is getting back to his old form, winning the at&t national in maryland.

he drains a birdie to take the lead and never looks back. it's his 74th career pga win. moving him past jack nicklaus for second place on the all time list. spain cementing themselves as the best soccer team in the world and quite possibly the best of all time. fernando torres scored a goal and added an assist. he won the tourney's golden boot award. spain wins back-to-back euro championships. they beat italy, 4-0. finally, it would have taken a miracle for nastia liukin to make the u.s. gymnastics team. the darling of the beijing games had a tough weekend and it only got worse on the uneven bars. couldn't find her grip, took a major spill. thankfully she was okay. a heart breaking moment for the five-time olympic medalists. she regrouped and she was able to finish her routine. she won't make the olympics, but will be remembered as a true olympic champion. kid friendly films and their reign at the box office. that's straight ahead.

and plus, a magical prom night for one couple and we are going to tell you why. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." a lot of people are on vacation. here's your forecast this morning. 105 in vegas. 107 in phoenix. the heat continues along with

the dangerous fire weather all through the intermountain west. the clouds and rain will be up in washington state. that's more or less tonight into tomorrow morning. temperatures will be very cool on tuesday in the northwest. then for the 4th of july, we'll try to dry most areas out. that will be good for all the fireworks displays. if you're watching us in klbi nbc 5, medford, oregon, in nearby ashland, challenge your athletic abilities while learning how your body works. that's sportsology. that's your pacific event of the day, veronica. >> sounds like a good one. >> enjoy. all right. a look at the head lines in entertainment news. a little teddy bear managed to claw its way to the box office while breaking a record. "ted" starring mark wahlberg and mila kunis and a teddy bear who comes to life for his owner brought in a whopping $54.1 million. that is the best showing for an

original "r" rated comedy. this weekend's other movie, "magic mike" finished in second with a stronger than expected 32.9 million. >> did you see it? >> no. >> are you interested? >> no, not at all. >> okay. >> that or the other, the bear one, no. i'll pass on both. coming in third, last week end's box office "brave" with an impressive $34 million. then tyler perry's madea's protection. finally, wanted to testimoll yo about this one. "people like us" start clies pine. it had 4.3 million despite positive reviews. not sure i'd want to see any of them. >> you like the more intellectually independent films. >> i do. >> you go against the mainstream? >> i do. >> that's fine. >> i don't like the big hollywood blockbusters.

i'm sorry. >> all right. >> this now comes to us from wnbc news 4 new york where in nearby huntington a pair of high school sweetheart with down's syndrome won a prize. they have been dating for four years. their friendship goes back to preschool. the other finalist for queen said she, too, voted for megan. they're just really cute together and everyone loves them. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today."

well, it appears it's not just the u.s. that's celebrating with fireworks this week. marking the 15th anniversary of hong kong returning to beijing's control, thousands flocked to victoria harbor for a spectacular fireworks display. 50,000 rockets went into the sky. just one part of the day's events that included parades and variety shows. very nice. in one race in moscow, creativity counts just as much as speed. 56 teams dressed in costume and raced four wheel vehicles in a soapbox derby. giant chilly peppers to coffins on wheels. competitors combined showmanship with their crafty cars. and they tried to pump up the crowd before racing down that track. and home is where you make it for one couple in england a self-employed 28-year-old and his 20-year-old girlfriend

transformed a double-decker bus into a two-bedroom home. it cost $17,000 and took four months to complete. able to operate as a fully functional bus, it has a kitchen, it has a bedroom, a lounge. all with electricity, plumbing, the works. what do you think of that? >> missing a man cave. >> and the jacuzzi. >> and the pool table. >> where's the pool table? >> need a triple decker bus. time for a look at the stories we'll follow today. the first orion capsule arrives at the kennedy space center this morning. nasa said it's scheduled for a test flight and it will carry astronauts further into the solar system and faster than ever before. today marks the 75th anniversary of the disappearance of famed aviator amelia earhart. a team of scientists from the university of hawaii will be

leaving on an expedition to find the wreckage. very happy birthday to actress lindsay lohan who turns 26 years old today. all day long, you can stay up to date with those developments and others. be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, a look at what's coming up on the "today" show. a live report on the surprise split between katie holmes and tom cruise that has hollywood reeling. and oscar winning actress sally field talks about her new roll in "the amazing spider-man." keep it here for much more. i'm veronica de la cruz, just your first stop today on your nbc station. your first stop today on your nbc station. see you back here tomorrow. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org.