i'm jim cramer. see you tomorrow. this morning on "early today," power play? a bold move by president obama sets the stage for another bitter battle over tax cuts on capitol hill. river of ruin. the worst wildfire in colorado's history turns a whitewater river jet black. and gush hour. a water main break in china makes for a messy morning a water main break in china makes for a messy morning commute. 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. and today we begin with familiar ground. battle lines are being drawn on capitol hill after president obama proposed to extend

expiring bush era tax cuts, but not for everyone. this as the republican-led house plans to revisit the nation's health care reform law. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with the latest on this. brian, good morning. >> good morning, lynn. the house is heading forward for what looks like a show vote, but for the republicans, it's an important show in this election year. >> the gentle lady yields back her time. the gentleman from florida's recognized. >> reporter: house republicans head back into battle today against president obama's healthcare reform law. >> they would make you believe that it's all free, but it's not. it's going to cost somebody, and that's going be the american citizen. >> reporter: the house is brushing aside the supreme court decision upholding the law and senate democrats sure to shoot down any repeal. the senate is already looking ahead to the next big battleground, overextending the bush era tax cuts. >> the economic consequences of taking more money from successful people. >> reporter: senate republicans are pushing back on president obama's call to extend the cuts

for one year, but only for those making less than $250,000 a year. >> let's not hold the vast majority of americans and our entire economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy. >> reporter: mitt romney in a radio interview called the proposal an economic misstep. >> we just saw a terrible jobs report just last week, and now to add a higher tax on job creators and on small business is about the worst thing i could imagine to do if you want to create jobs. >> reporter: the president's telling congress not to even consider an across-the-board extension. he says he'll veto it. lynn? >> all right. brian mooar for us in washington. brian, thanks so much. well, thankfully temperatures are falling in many parts of the country, but the problems created by the devastating recent heat wave are still on the rise. according to the u.s. government, record heat has left corn and soybeans in the worst shape since 1988's american farm

belt drought, and that means higher food prices could be on the way. nbc's jay gray has details. >> reporter: as a record heat wave finally begins to break, the concern, damage, and deadly effects still linger after temperatures over 100 degrees across much of the country for the past two weeks. >> it's a very dangerous circumstance. >> reporter: the extreme conditions are being blamed for at least 74 deaths across 14 states, and noaa scientists confirmed what many of us already have felt. the first six months of this year have been the hottest ever on record. >> we've seen worsening conditions across much the intermountain west, stretching through the central plains and into the ohio valley, and that's having a lot of impacts on the ground such as with the wildfires we've been seeing and also with agriculture. >> reporter: a cold front this week could drop temperatures in many places by 10 to 15 degrees, bringing some relief and much needed rain. >> our farmers right now are really hurting. >> reporter: drought conditions stretch across more than half of the country right now, creating what scientists call the largest

drought footprint of the 21st century. corn stalks and many other crops have withered and died, and any rain now is really little more than an insult to so many farmers who've already lost the season. >> the rain today is not going to do us any good. it's over with on corn. and mother nature hasn't been very good to us this summer. >> reporter: a blistering summer that's really only just begun. jay gray, nbc news. well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in colorado, a whitewater river has turned completely black, this thanks to runoff from weeks of wildfires. kayakers shot this video, showing the result when heavy rains helped fill the rushing water with ash, charred debris, and mud. the contamination came from the high park fire, which burned for more than three weeks. in virginia, a security camera captured the force of a micro bhurs with winds up to 80 miles an hour.

debris was sent crashing to the ground. nearby a dance studio and cheerleading school were ripped apart with kids and adults inside. two were hurt. in new jersey with lightning threatening, a teenage girl jumped from a chairlift along the jersey shore rather than just wait for her turn to get off. the ride was stopped when the storm moved in that left her waiting in midair while others were being removed. the girl did admit she freaked out, but said she was willing to risk breaking bones rather than being struck by a bolt. and, finally, in new york, who knew animals could be such squares. a new zoo exhibit features giant lego replicas not far from their real-life counterparts. one of the animals took 37,000 bricks and nearly 400 hours to create. you can see why. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist todd santos from the weather channel. he has your forecast. good morning to you, todd. people are excited that the heat wave is over.

we're seeing the effects of it. >> we're still seeing the effects of it. yesterday with the corn prices that started to skyrocket, still some of the compounded kind of effects from the heat and dry conditions. we'll talk about a few areas where the dry conditions are not a factor. we do have our -- the strongest storm so far this year. category 4 emilia. that system 140-mile-per-hour sustained winds. why i'm talking fascinating as opposed to concerned, it's moving away from land hot on the heels of daniel. did want to show the tracks of both of those systems. both continuing to weaken as they get towards the cooler waters there. emilia, by thursday she'll be back down to a category 1, if not by friday. increased surf into hawaii. beyond that, a good stretch of the area. warm scenario for many of us with temperatures running above average this time of year, even down to phoenix. 5 to 8 degrees above average. there he is a look at some of

the showers across northern portions of the rockies. the chimney of idaho. few showers, thunderstorms. some might produce small hail. temperatures, starting point fo digits. sacramento, 101, full sunshine. so for the most part looking pretty good across a good stretch of the west, lynn. coming up, we'll talk about the forecast for tomorrow and see where the heat 3450i9 relax. todd, thanks so much. well, coming up, earnings start off down, china shows no sign of heating up, and what is by far america's favorite flower? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, they may have a prenup

over money, but on all other issues, katie holmes has apparently muscled an overwhelming divorce settlement victory over tom cruise. coming up, prince is king of the home run derby, and the bronx cheer for a yankee slugger. 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. russia's foreign minister met in moscow with syrian opposition leaders. russia promised not to sign new weapons contracts with syria or deliver arms that had been ordered until the syrian crisis is resolved. government regulators say more than $200 million in customer funds appear to be missing from the accounts of u.s. futures broker pfg best. the company's founder tried to commit suicide outside its headquarters in cedar falls, iowa. a federal judge tossed out cyclist lance armstrong's lawsuit aimed at blocking the

u.s. anti-doping agency from moving ahead with charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs. the judge said armstrong seemed more interested in whipping up public opinion in his favor than presenting the facts. >> an elaborate drug-smuggling tunnel running more than 750 feet has been discovered under the border between mexico and arizona. the tunnel had electricity, ventilation, and even small cars to transport the drugs. and when you make a mistake at work, how many people notice? well, in china, a work crew accidentally punched a hole in a shanghai water main, and it sent a huge geyser of water more than 16 feet into the air. well, now here's an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,736 after dipping 36 points yesterday. the s&p lost 2. the nasdaq fell 5.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei skidded 39 points, while in hong kong the hang seng was down 31. for a third straight session, stocks slid monday, thanks to worry over euro debt, asian weakness, and lower second quarter earnings. aluminum maker alcoa kicked off earnings after the bell posting a loss. nevertheless, alcoa's revenue and profits still beat expectations, and the company forecast growing aerospace and auto demand. alcoa edged up in late trade. overseas spain's ten-year bond yield rose above the 7% crisis level. eurozone finance ministers are now said to be ready to give spain new loans and an extra year to slash its budgets and agree to bailout terms for its country's banks. >> in asia, more signs of a chinese slowdown. imports rose less than expected in june while inflation eased to a 29-month low. back here at home, visa and mastercard fell on a downgrade, blaming slower consumer spending and sluggish global growth.

advanced micro devices tumbled after warning revenue would fall on soft chinese and european sales. reduced demand for coal and rising costs drove patriot coal to file for bankruptcy. the bright spots? amerigroup soared on its sale to wellpoint for $4.5 billion. intel will buy 15% of dutch chip maker asml for more than $4 billion. campbell soup will pay $1.5 billion to buy juice maker bolthouse farms. consumer credit expanded at the fastest pace in five months, a sign americans are still spending. and, finally, when it comes to flowers, nothing smells sweeter business-wise than a rose. the u.s. imports roughly $1.5 billion a year, easily the nation's top-selling cut flower, with most exported from colombia. well, at baseball's all-star celebration in kansas city, a new york yankee is thunderously

booed, and a detroit slugger makes home run derby history. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we all survived monday, so let's take a look at the middle of the week coming up. you're watching "early today."

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

and in sports last night, detroit tiger prince fielder became the second player in major league history to win multiple home run derby titles. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. last year robinson cano was a home run derby hero, and yesterday he was treated like a zero. a bronx cheer for the yankees slugger, cano booed during introductions and cheered every time he hit the ball. the captain of the a.l. team was hearing it from the crowd because he didn't pick the royals' billy butler to take part in the derby. and to the delight of the crowd, cano didn't hit a single home run. the n.l. captain matt kemp didn't fair much better. hit just one. but there were plenty of home runs by everybody else. if butler was to take anyone's spot, it would have been mark trumbo's. the angel outfielder proved why he was a worthy choice for the derby. peppered the roof in left field several times.

look at david ortiz. oh, he knows trumbo belongs. mark finished with 14 bombs but lost in a swing-off to jose bautista for a spot in the finals. prince fielder had the longest home run of the night. the splash shot in the second round went an estimated 476 feet. nobody else even got close to that distance. but in the end, it was bautista and fielder. jose leads the bigs with 27 homers, but that meant nothing in the final. he could muster only seven in the last round. fielder nearly doubled that. smashed a beastly 12 in the final. ended the night with 28. the champ in 2009, prince is once again the king of the derby. he joins ken griffey jr. s the only other player to win multiple titles. the all-star game is tonight at 8:00 eastern. the giants' matt cain starts for the n.l., and detroit's justin verlander will take the mound for the a.l. back to the derby, and the catch tonight came off a mark trumbo home run. watch closely in the middle of the screen. one of kansas city's finest made the juggling grab. sign that guy up. the long arm of the law, that's some pretty good hands.

that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, the latest attempt to pump life into "american idol's" ratings, your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, if you're happy getting a couple hundred thousand miles out of your new car, just wait until you hear about this record breaker. you're watching "early today."

and welcome back to "early today." warm temperatures, 80 up to portland, 100 in boise. a chance for some showers mainly with thunderstorms from the mountains of montana extending back into billings. 101 in boise, 113 in vegas, still a chance of a few isolated thunderstorms in the four corners. if you're watching on the bay area news, in oakland, see real space gear and learn about astronaut life at beyond blastoff at the chabot space and science center. that is your pacific event of the day. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. well, 11 days after katie holmes shocked tom cruise with a surprise divorce filing, a deal has been reached. and apparently she gets primary custody of suri. "the los angeles times" is quoting a source and reports that holmes, who was raised catholic, also will control their daughter's religious upbringing. holmes' concern over cruise

indoctrinating her into scientology is in part what led to the split. holmes will also control suri's education. cruise will have visitation. with a prenup making money a non-issue, the settlement helps both cruise and scientology avoid drawing out what was already seen as a public relations disaster. elsewhere, fox executives desperate to revive "american idol's" sagging ratings may drop long-time judge randy jackson and replace him with one-time show runner-up adam lambert. and, finally, after witnessing a 100-mile-an-hour freeway game of cat and mouse between justin bieber and paparazzi last friday, an l.a. city councilman is warning of a, quote, tragedy waiting to happen. and this comes to us from bay shore, new york, where one man is celebrating what is arguably the best automobile ever. the volvo he bought in 1966 now

has more than 2 million miles on it. that's, that's the equivalent of 1,000 trips around the world. so now he is quickly closing in on 3 million miles. so he is the only guinness world record holder for a high-mileage vehicle, and he did it all with air conditioning because it cost too much when he bought the sports car for just over 4,000 bucks. these days no air conditioning would not work out so well. >> i'm assuming the air conditioning would not work so well. how do you record the mileage? >> they're going to go over it three times. well, i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

well, one bundle of joy wasn't good enough for a new mom in china. rose, the lioness, gave birth to six cubs aet the zoo, setting the new national record for the most cubs in one litter. while the normal is about four, zookeepers have their hands full with the rare group. rose is getting some much deserved down time while keepers make sure the runt of the litter is being fed and groomed. well, if you're a fan of fruit, one event in india has you covered. the annual mango festival brought out growers and enthusiasts of the group. visitors got a chance to sniff, squeeze, and sample the mangos, and the highlight of the three-day event was the mango-eating contest, which saw one woman scarf down 2 1/2 pounds within three minutes. and, finally, before the real athletes head to london for the olympics, another team is battling out for gold. the gentlemen.

at the annual chap olympiad, all things upper class are celebrated. chaps dress in their finest and compete in eccentric games like ironing board surfing and umbrella jousting. points aren't even awarded for winning but rather panache, good humor, and, of course, appearance. they give you discipline points for maintaining a perfect crease on your pants, which i suppose for guys, this dry cleaning thing, that's a big thing. >> it might be a little bit tough if you're riding a bicycle. the umbrella jousting may actuly be appropriate for the uk olympics. >> when it's raining all the time. it's time for now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. funeral services will be held for three children who died in a tragic fourth of july yacht accident in new york's oyster bay. a 12-year-old boy and two girls, ages 11 and 7, died when the ship sank following a fireworks display. investigators searching for

clues will raise the sunken vessel today. across the pond england's queen elizabeth will welcome olympic torch bearers as they carry the game's symbolic flame through the grounds of windsor castle. and happy birthday to singer, fashion designer, and new mom jessica simpson. she turns 32 today. 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. details in the case of a teenager who faces 50 years in jail for attacking a classmate and leaving her brain damaged. and actress sigourney weaver talks about her new tv debut "political animals." 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. the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com