i'm jim cramer and i'll see you next time. this morning on "early today," east coast swelter, more than a million people are still without power, and a brutal heat wave with no relief expected for days. there she blows. a world war ii naval ship is sent to its final resting place off the coast of florida. and rockets' red glare. the sun unleashes a solar fireworks display just in time the sun unleashes a solar fireworks display just in time for the fourth of july. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and a very 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 mid atlantic meltdown. in the middle of a stifling heat

wave, more than a million people are still without power this morning. crews are working feverishly to restore electricity, but officials warn it may still be out for several more days, raising fears the death toll now at 22 could continue to rise. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: washington, d.c., on day three of the massive power outage. it's another scorcher, and still no air conditioning for a million households from north carolina to new jersey. >> it's preposterous. so at this point what are we left to do? what are we left with? >> reporter: well, trees. work crews have thousands to lift off homes and cars. utility crews have to rewire a grid that's been ravaged. pepco, the utility serving washington, has crews in from georgia, texas, even canada. >> it's tree trimmers, contract line crews, our crews, we're really starting to -we're going to make a dent in this, yes. >> but you know people are not happy. >> absolutely. and we get it. >> frustrated. highly frustrated. >> reporter: david rutland's

refrigerator and his neighbors' are full of spoiling food. >> most of the stuff would probably be discarded. >> reporter: with gas stations unable to pump and thousands of people crowding malls and cooling shelters and libraries and schools, word is power might not be back on for many till friday. >> we've put a lot of money into restoring and/or hardening the system, but this was an extreme event. >> reporter: the first storms blasted through friday night, 90-mile-per-hour winds. >> you could see the rain coming through, trees falling, trash getting lifted off the ground. it was chaotic. >> reporter: more storms, heavy rain in chicago. wind in north carolina toppled more trees. one killed a couple on a golf cart. another killed a man taking refuge in a barn. the death toll when the storms passed, 22. and today will be even hotter from coast to coast and in the mid-atlantic. more potentially powerful storms are forecasted. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington.

in his first comment since last week's contempt-of- congress vote, attorney general eric holder says republicans voted against him to make attorney general a proxy to attack president obama. holder told the "washington post" he won't resign after becoming the first cabinet member to be held in contempt. the attorney general said he is angry but not surprised by the vote over the justice department's decision not to turn over documents from the "fast and furious" gun-tracking operation. he said in an election year, quote, you would have to be exceedingly naive to think that that vote was about documents. >> a surprising new poll finds climate change is no longer america's chief environmental concern. according to a new "washington post"/stanford university poll, 29% of americans consider water and air pollution to be the world's biggest environmental problem compared with only 18% now worried about global warming. that is down from 33% back in 2007, around the same time a major u.n. climate report and al gore's oscar-winning documentary about global warming "an

inconvenient truth" were released. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. off the florida coast, a ship from world war ii was blown up on monday. the "uss mohawk" is a coast guard cutter that was intentionally destroyed and sunk so its remnants can be turned into an artificial reef. it took just three minutes to down the vessel, which will now rest at the bottom of the gulf of mexico, attracting sea life, divers, and anglers. in georgia it's called the century plant, but it actually took 35 years for this piece of greenery to have a sudden and dramatic overnight growth spurt. its might stalk now hovers high above a home in savannah, but it won't last long. century plants die off quickly, often leaving behind only small portions of their once towering presence. and, finally, in indiana, you know the old saying about the mail getting through no matter what the weather's like? what about the mailbox? this one made of plastic was no

match for the intense triple-digit heat as it seemed to, hmm, i don't know, just give up? yeah. the owner says the next time he thinks that he will buy a metal one. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i'm going to go visit my mom in vegas. it's 105. >> no plastic mailboxes in vegas. they know better. >> believe me. >> we used to get the frying egg on the sidewalk. that's a new one, the melting mailbox. good morning, everyone. the heat that covers the east coast to the rockies, this map everywhere in red shows you where the temperature was 90 degrees and above for a high yesterday. we go all the way from the interior valleys from california to nevada, salt lake city area and cover all the midwest to the east coast. the only exception is the northeast and the northwest. this is where we continue. seattle to be one of the coolest places in the entire country. only 66 yesterday.

85 in medford wasn't too bad. boise was pretty toasty, 97. warm air up through the inner mountain west but not through the northwest. as we continue to have our flow coming off the water. another storm off shore. rain overnight and it continues through this hour. it's a pretty good soaking. coming up through seattle puget sou sound. if you're driving north of portland you will be in and out of rain this morning on your drive. looks like it's starting to break up and becoming a little more showery on the coast. also our friends out here from medula to lewiston, it's ending there. spokane, a few more showers for you. the majority of your day will be on the dry side. again, on and off showers during the afternoon hours up in the northwest where it's cool. we're still pretty warm in the inner mountain west if not103.

washington state with clouds and cool air. you're the only ones. it just continues. it's a broken record in the northwest. the fourth of july forecast looks good. >> good news. thank you. >> i'm hpy to bring it. manufacturing shrinks, deals are made, and you won't believe the latest thing up for sale on ebay. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, the latest on the big break-up of tom cruise and katie holmes. the nets make a huge trade, and deja vu for the pirates. you're watching "early today." well, good morning and

well, good morning and welcome back to "early tod." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the arab league is calling on exxon syrian opposition figures to unite as another 85 soldiers including a general and 14 other

officers defected across the boarder to turkey. and syrian president bashar al assad says he regrets the shooting down of a turkish plane but will not allow tension with turkey to turn into open warfare. two boys in england managed to get past security and tried to grab the olympic flame as it was being carried by torch bearers in coventry yesterday. police were able to intervene and escort them away. and in london, the gold, silver, and bronze medals for the olympic games have been taken to the tower of london for safekeeping. the tower has been used for over 600 years to store england's crowned jewels, and it will hold the 4,700 medals until the 2012 games end in august. >> okay. so which state consumes the most beer per person? a new beer institute report on consumption found that residents in new hampshire drink more per capita than any other state, followed by north dakota, montana, south dakota, and nevada. utah with its large nondrinking

mormon population was last in beer consumption. the sun shot out a flare yesterday that was big enough to disrupt radio communications in europe. the eruption of electrically charged particles might sweep past the earth's magnetic field in time to spark an aurora fireworks show somewhere on the fourth of july. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,871 after losing 8 points yesterday, but the s&p was up 3. the nasdaq added 16. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei gained 63 points, while in hong kong the hang sang shot up 294. stocks reveled to stay out of the red monday after some sobering economic data. news that u.s. manufacturing shrank for the first time in nearly three years raised red flags about the economic recovery. the slide raised more hope about the stimulus down the road, but industrial stocks still took a beating. best buy jumped 6% on reports

its founder is nearing a deal to take the company private. amylin pharmaceuticals rose 9% after bristol-myers squibb agreed to buy it for $5.3 billion. and dell won its $2.4 billion bid to acquire software maker quest. meanwhile drug client glaxosmithklein agreed to pay $3 billion, the largest fine ever in a health care fraud case, for years of illegal practices, including kickbacks, false advertising, and failure to warn of health risks. elsewhere microsoft admitted more than $6 billion it spent buying an online ad company that basically went to waste. barclays' chief bob diamond has resigned in the wake of an interest rate rigging scandal that caused the bank's chairman to step down yesterday. a little good news if you are getting away by car for the fourth. on average, gas prices are 22 cents cheaper than last year at around $3.35 a gallon. and speaking of getting away, a new survey shows around 51% of executives are not checking in

with the office while on vacation. back in 2010 only 26% went offline while away. finally, forget the bake sales. one pennsylvania high school is hoping to raise funds by auctioning itself on ebay. bidding was set to begin bidding at $600. at $600,000. the winner won't own the school, but he or she will get a free large pizza, naming rights, and a chance to deliver a speech at graduation. a costly error and no need for a coin flip or a runoff for the olympic tie-breaker. plus, back-to-back jacks that will have you thinking that you have seen double. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in your fourth of july forecast is going to feature thunderstorms. mother nature's going to have a little show of her own in the northeast. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

a very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports the nba's brooklyn nets have made a big off-season acquisition. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. it was the first big move of the nba off-season. and, no, it wasn't dwight howard or deron williams, but it did involve the brooklyn nets.

according to reports, they traded five players in a first round picks to the hawks for joe johnson. the all-star guard averaging 19 points last season, the nets are hoping the acquisition of johnson will convince deron williams to re-sign with brooklyn. track and field, allyson felix and jeneba tarmoh tied for third in the women's 100-meter final last week. they were supposed to have a runoff yesterday to determine who would have the last spot and race the 100 in the olympics, but tarmoh backed out, conceding the race to felix. but all is not lost for tarmoh. she will be an alternate for the olympics. baseball now, yankees and rays tied at 3-3 in the seventh. mark teixeira is a four-time gold glover, but you wouldn't know it on this play. elliot johnson squeaks one by teixeira. in comes the go-ahead run. rays win, 4-3. seven years ago, jeff samardzija was catching touchdowns for the notre dame fighting irish. last night he was mowing down the atlanta braves, a career-high 11 strikeouts. luis valbuena does the rest. bases loaded in the seventh, and valbuena scores three. don't look now, but the cubbies

have won four in a row. they win this one, 4-1. here's a news flash. jose bautista can flat out crush the ball, his league-leading 27th homer of the year. but the biggest homer of the night was turned in by mike moustakas. a grand slam to straight-away center, royals win big, 11-3. and, finally, a bit of history in pittsburgh. fourth inning, garrett jones hits a solo shot off the right field foul pole. next batter, neil walker hits a solo shot off the right field foul pole. deja vu all over again. back-to-back jacks off the upright. first time that's happened since 2000. pirates beat the astros, 11-2. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. more trouble for mel gibson. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, many ways have been attempted to show the dangers of fireworks, but in new york state they've come up with a new one. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. let me take you through your holiday forecast. portland and seattle, a little shower activity. portions of the rockies and in idaho and montana. there's some smoke in the air from all of the fires nearby. 102 in vegas. coastal areas of california. right near the beaches, interior

sections very warm, upper 8 o 0s to 90s. fourth of july forecast, maybe into the 70s. dry fourth of july. we have cooler temperatures. monsoonal flow. rain for the desert areas. if you're watching us on kcra in sacramento, california, see famous cars driven by celebrities at cars of the stars at the california automobile museum. that's your pacific event of the day, veronica. >> do you think they have the tom cat car? >> i don't know. maybe. tom cat. i like that all right. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment news where the news is dominated by the split-up of tom cruise and katie holmes, surprise, surprise. holmes filed for divorce from cruise last week, according to several sources, because she feared plans cruise and his church of scientology had in store for their 6-year-old daughter suri. you heard about this, right, bill? >> mm-hmm. >> well, a source told "us weekly" holmes felt her every move was controlled and that she, quote, felt like she was in "rosemary's baby," the classic 1968 film in which a young wife

unknowingly bears a child for her husband's satanic cult. experts say holmes filed in new york for legal advantages. cruise reportedly plans to file in california where presumably he would have a better chance of at least partial custody of suri. >> i feel bad for the daughter. this is not going to be pretty. >> you're right. in the meantime bloggers are already asking does tom or katie keep their bffs, the beckhams. cruise says he wants to put soccer star david in action films, but fashion buddies, victoria and katie attend all the same shows, even checking in with each other on what the other one's wearing. what are you wearing? >> they have to choose one or the other or none of the above. finally, mel gibson's stepmother has filed a restraining order against the actor, claiming he's been violent with her. like all the tom cat stuff -- >> you can try to ignore it, but it's not going away. >> i know. it's such a private matter. >> can you imagine the number of

paparazzi that's staking them out. >> i know. really, really scary stuff. this now comes to us from wnbc news 4 new york where in nearby yaphank they're using a new way to make sure that you know the true risk of handling your own fireworks. officials stuffed a car full of pyrotechnics and then they set them off. they used roughly the same amount of fireworks they say people bring in illegally from out of state. new york and three other states have a total ban on personal fireworks. more than 1,700 explosives were surrendered yesterday by people taking part in an amnesty program. wow. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in hong kong dragons could be seen gliding across the water. the annual dragon boat carnival took place in victoria harbor, part of the celebration marking the 15th anniversary of hong kong's return to china. the carnival, now in its 36th year, features two different competitions and drew paddlers from 20 different regions and countries. in berlin, one group is making a living off recyclables and not from a bottle deposit. a musical quintet uses nothing but glass and plastic bottles for instruments covering a repertoire of songs ranging from classical pieces to movie themes to pop and rock. starting as street performers, the band first took the stage in 2003 and immediately began touring europe. so cool. in washington, motorists were hopping mad, i guess you could say, over an unexpected

obstacle. check this out. police responded to calls from drivers who claimed to see a kangaroo hopping along the highway. authorities tracked down the animal and managed to keep it off the road until they could locate its owner who was eventually able to capture the kangaroo safely. hello, sir. your kangaroo is hopping down the highway. who owns a kangaroo? >> not many, if they actually found the owner. i'm sure they don't have the tags on them like the cats and the dogs. >> like my dog does? >> exactly. it's time for now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. one year after casey anthony was acquitted in the death of her 2-year-old daughter caylee, the lead defense attorney is releasing a retrospective on the case in "presumed guilty: casey anthony: the inside story," jose baez claims anthony had serious mental health issues that detectives should have realized would cause her to lie. in washington the national park service will hold a dress rehearsal for the national fourth concert from the national mall. among those appearing, tony award winner matthew broderick

and conductor john williams. and today actor tom cruise turns 50. happy birthday. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and more 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. the best friends of a graduate student who was mauled by two chimps gives an update on his condition. >> and "america's got talent" judge howie mandel will be live in studio to highlight his favorite performances from the season. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. enjoy your tuesday and have a nbc station. enjoy your tuesday and have a terrific fourth of july holiday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com