there's always a bull market somewhere, i promise to try to find it just for you on "mad money," see you tomorrow! this morning on "early today," the heat is on. president obama and mitt romney spar over energy policy and key battleground states. texas barnstormer. a fast-moving storm sends an entire structure crashing to the ground. and starstruck. an annual meteor shower puts on and starstruck. an annual meteor shower puts on a dazzling display of lights. 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 an energized race. from their respective battleground states, the president and his number two traded jabs with team romney/ryan yesterday. they are just 12 weeks to go until november, and all the biggest issues are fair game

from energy and jobs to medicare and wall street. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: they clashed over energy, barack obama in iowa, mitt romney in ohio with coal miners, slamming the president for toughening regulations. >> if you don't believe in coal, if you don't believe in energy independence for america, then say it. >> reporter: wind is one alternative the president pushed. >> the wind industry now supports 7,000 jobs here in iowa. that's worth fighting for. that's what's at stake right now. >> reporter: an election about big choices. that was the president's theme on his iowa tour. and the challengers, romney raised medicare in a new ad. >> now when you need it, obama has cut $716 billion from medicare. >> reporter: that's a cut to doctors and hospitals, not seniors. romney's running mate, paul ryan's medicare plan, would keep those cuts and in ten years make private coverage an option. ryan was in colorado.

>> a failure of leadership, to get the economy growing, to create jobs, to get our spending and deficit and debt under control. >> reporter: in virginia vice president biden charged romney would drop tough new rules on big banks. >> unchain wall street. they're going to put you all back in chains. >> reporter: staffers quickly clarified. biden meant deregulation would hurt the middle class. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. well, elsewhere, the results are in from three republican primaries. wrestling executive linda mcmahon won the senate nomination in connecticut. she spent $61 million combined in the primary and her failed senate run in 2010. in wisconsin, former gop governor tommy thompson fought off three rivals for the senate nomination. and in florida, long-time republican congressman john mica beat a tea party congresswoman to win the nomination in a newly

formed district. well, authorities in central washington state say a fast-moving wildfire has destroyed at least 70 homes a fire commander says the 40-square-mile blaze on the eastern slope of the cascade mountains is now just 10% contained. at least 900 people have been evacuated. meanwhile, as higher temperatures and a lack of rain continue to plague much of the nation, u.s. farmers are still struggling to cope with the worst drought in 50 years. nbc's jay gray visited one missouri farming community. >> reporter: for many in missouri and across the midwest, it's never been as difficult as this year. >> this year it's just the intense heat we've had with the lack of rain. we've had two measurable rains since april 30th here at our dairy. >> reporter: burned out fields and cracked and broken earth while in town restrictions are in place because city wells are running low on low water. >> the drought has been in place

in this region for several weeks. and it's not just that we've had 100-degree temperatures, but that they started so early. >> reporter: all 114 counties in missouri have been declared disaster areas. 93% of the state is suffering through extreme drought conditions. it's the worst the francka family has seen in more than 50 years of dairy farming. their ponds are dried up, their pastures haven't produced any hay or a place to graze, so they have to pay for feed, costs that will be passed on to consumers. >> this is just the beginning of of something that's not going to be very good for everybody because you're going to start feeling this in a few months at the grocery stores. >> reporter: until some substantial rain comes down. jay gray, nbc news, polk county, missouri. and all day today nbc news will have in-depth coverage of the historic drought of 2012, how it's affecting everything from the environment to prices you pay at the supermarket. this will be across the many platforms of nbc news.

all right. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a powerful storm blew through northern texas, and a homeowner ended up documenting the destruction of his own barn. a home security camera shows the roof being ripped away by winds reaching nearly 70 miles an hour. the storm damaged several other homes and knocked out power to hundreds. >> in nashville, a ground collision between two planes left one on top of the other. the faa says the bigger plane, a gulfstream jet, was being towed when it broke loose and ran into the smaller twin-engine propjet, which had been sitting parked. luckily no one was hurt. in colorado a bear decided to hang out in downtown aspen. the cub was spotted wandering along the ledge of a condo complex, just hanging out, before making his way to a tree during his escapade. it is one of three area bear sightings in recent days. and, finally, in new york,

ds christmastime in august. the radio city rockettes took over the street right in front of our studios here at rockefeller center, and they gave the crowd a preview of their 2012 christmas show spectacular. santa claus even braved the less than wintry weather to help the ladies kick off their new season. now let's get a check of your national and regional weather. here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. shaking your head already. >> 100 degrees everywhere in the country. it's a little hard to get into it. >> why do i feel it could be 100 degrees come christmas time as well. >> no. >> i know. feels like it, doesn't it? >> yeah. unfortunately, who knows. march was incredibly warm. maybe this will last into october and november. here's what we're dealing with. of course the drought of 2012. it really has stretched throughout much of the country. the numbers are pretty staggering. most of us have never seen a drought this bad. it's being compared to the

drought in 1956 and to the dust bowl eras in the '30z. worst crop conditions since 1988. the reason it's not as bad since 1956 is because the agricultural techniques have improved. this will cost us $10 billion as taxpayers to reimburse the loss. the drought map, everywhere it's colored in is some type of drought. many areas in the west are moderate to severe with a few spots that are now to the extreme conditions. the worst of it, of course, right in the hartland where a lot of the corn crops are. it's been a very dry first half of august. a trace of precip in many areas of the west. it looks like we could be heading into an el nino winter. that could be more moisture in the other areas. that doesn't begin until november or so. right now we're watching incredible heat. yesterday was 113 in phoenix. today we'll be once again easily into above 110 degrees. everywhere in the west, very, very hot. that's a lookir

standards. 106 today in red bluff, california. unfortunately, it's going to be even hotter tomorrow, especially in the northwest. >> no, no, no. >> yes. >> say it won't be. coming up, retailers rise, housing data on deck, and the overcharge that gives power failure a whole new meaning. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, rumors of more fallout from kristin stewart's cheating scandal and whether they're true. coming up, an unsung hero, mutiny in the red sox clubhouse, and charlie sheen. you've got to stay tuned for that. 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.

the former prime minister of syria who defected last week says the regime of president bashar al assad is collapsing and that government forces now control only 30% of syria. oklahoma death row inmate michael hooper was executed by lethal injection last night for the killings of his former girlfriend and her two young children. the u.s. supreme court refused to consider hooper's challenge of oklahoma's method of execution. the highest court in australia has upheld the world's toughest law on cigarette packaging. starting in december company logos will be replaced by graphic health warnings and images of cancer-riddled body parts. the annual perseid meteor shower lit up the night sky over hawaii. the shooting star streaking through the atmosphere are actually tiny pieces of a comet that's been seen each summer for more than 2,000 years. all right. now here's an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day.

the dow opens at 13,172 after adding two points yesterday. the s&p was down a fraction. the nasdaq lost 5. taking a look at overss trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 4 points, while in hong kong the hang seng plummeted 239. well, light volume and mixed data proved to be a losing combination for wall street tuesday. investors bought early on news that retail spending hit a five-month high in july, hoping the slumping economy may rebound later this year. however, selling set in after a slowdown and restocking and production signaled companies do not believe that spending will continue. among individual retailers, home depot got a boost after a healthy jump in quarterly income and a higher outlook. we'll see if that translates to good news for housing-related reports due out today. earnings from beauty brand estee lauder looks good, sending shares up 9%. meanwhile michael kors climbed 16% on higher profit in an

upbeat full year forecast. on the downside groupon shed a quarter of its worth after weak growth raised questions about its future. england's standard chartered bank has agreed to pay $340 million in civil penalties over an alleged money laundering scheme with iran's government. elsewhere atm maker ncr tumbled 10% on allegations it was doing business with black listed banks in syria. a suspect has been charged and arrested with stealing more than $60,000 worth of computers and personal items from the northern california homes of the late steve jobs. >> and, finally, imagine this. a connecticut woman recently found out she'd been paying the electricity bill for the street lamp outside of her house for the last 25 years. fortunately the power company paid her back with interest in the amount of $10,500. kind of makes you want to check

your bill, though, doesn't it? well, coming up, the reds' walk-off, double whammies by one "o," and the yanks' japanese starter tosses a two-hitter. plus, the wild thing makes his return to the mound. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and this cold front coming down through the northern plains means business. we're going to have some thunderstorms and a lot cooler air behind it. that's coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today," and in sports a season full of bad relations between red sox players and manager bobby valentine has turned uglier. here's nbc's fred roggin with early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. we all know when it rains, it pours. the red sox are having a dismal year, and now, according to reports, a group of players have told ownership they no longer want to play for manager bobby valentine, but the games must go on, and the sox definitely didn't look like they wanted to play in baltimore. mark reynolds hit a pair of homers, capped off a five-run sixth with his second of the game. orioles had their way with the sox. they won it, 7-1. the red sox hate this. the yanks' hiroki kuroda had everything going against the rangers. a no-hitter through six. pitched a complete game. gave up just two hits. nick swisher belted a home run for the second straight night, his 17th of the year, and new york led it, 2-0.

mark teixeira followed that up with one of his own, back-to-back homers in the seventh. yanks shut out the rangers, 3-0. charlie sheen threw out the first pitch in toronto. a little too much tiger's blood on that one. charlie was wild, and so was the blue jays' henderson alvarez. tried to pick off that runner at first, and that didn't work. then came the go-ahead run. the white sox were "winning." they beat the jays, 3-2. with guys like matt kemp, andre ethier, and hanley ramirez, you wouldn't expect luis cruz to spark the dodger offense. that's exactly, though, what happened in pittsburgh. three hits, three rbi. dodgers won it big, 11-0. angels need something if they're going to get back into the a.l. west race. maybe this is it. albert pujols, a 3-1 blast against the indians, his 26th. angels win it, 9-6, and snap a three-game skid. now to miami, jimmy rollins fought off the game with a home run, and that was it for the offense. neither team scored the rest of the way. manager charlie manuel picked up his 700th career victory with the phillies. they beat the marlins, 1-0. from a home run to start a

game to a home run that ended a game, the reds' jay bruce with a walk-off shot against the mets. cinci won their fourth straight in dramatic fashion, 3-0. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, an olympic gold medalist goes hollywood, and which ex is taylor swift singing about now? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, if you've ever wanted to own a piece of u.s. history, now's your chance. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." it's going to be another dry, hot day. fires are burning in the west including the huge big one on the border in nevada. we are going to watch the temperatures soaring today into the 90s in portland. as we go to tomorrow, a chance at 100 in portland and seattle at 93. well, if you're watching us on knbc, nbc 4, see gold coins, treasures from sunken ships. i always wanted to find those. other california riches. california gold at the bowers museum. that's your pacific event of the day. >> that would be nice. >> i walk on the beach a lot and never find anything. >> use a metal detectors. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. so rumors surfaced tuesday that kristin stewart had lost a major role due to her recent cheating scandal. well, reports that stewart was dropped from the follow-up to "snow white and the huntsman"

but those reports were quickly countered by the studio, which insisted stewart's snow white could still be a character in the sequel. as for ex robert pattinson, he's reportedly landed the role of lawrence of arabia opposite naomi watts in the upcoming film, "queen of the desert." elsewhere, five-time gold medalist ryan lochte will play himself on an episode of the cw's "90210." >> don't miss it. >> apparently it's really great. they love it. the animal rights organization peta sent an open letter to lady gaga calling her a, quote, turncoat for wearing fur. tmz reports singer bobby brown has entered treatment for alcohol addiction. and, finally, let the guessing games begin. guys goat get a little nervous. taylor swift has released another song about an ex-boyfriend.

formers, john mayor, jake gyllenhaal, taylor lautner, and joe jonas are all potential subjects of the song titled, "we are never, ever getting back together." and this comes to us from garryowen, montana, where the entire town, a part of american history, can be yours. garryowen is the site of the battle of little bighorn, also known as general custer's last stand, and it's up for auction. it was made famous after the seventh cavalry was defeated by native americans in 1876. the interstate 90 tourist spot has a museum, a gas station, and a sandwich shop. it's sitting on about seven acres. bidding for the town starts at $250,000. squiet the steal. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

well, brussels smells better than ever. over 660,000 begonias were used to create this carpet. this year's theme was african tribes with several different patterns representing the continent. the flower carpet was created by 100 volunteers in just one afternoon. visitors have until august 19th to smell the fresh art. it takes two to tango, but in argentina it will take more than that to win. the 2012 tango championships kicked off in buenos aires. top dancers from across the globe strut their stuff in two categories of tango, the stricter more traditional salon form, and then there's the theatrical sensationalized stage sensation. that would be my bag. >> we're taking lessons. that would be my bag.

and, finally, one spooky tour in england could leave you trembling with fear. the ghost hunt of york is a popular way for visitors to learn the city's storied and frightening history. the tour is full of ghost stories and a stroll through what's billed as england's most haunting city. there's plenty to see down york's medieval streets, but there are no guarantees of ghostly specters. ♪ dunt dunt dunt >> it's kind of one of my things. i can't do a ghost tour. >> why? >> i would laugh the whole time. >> i would be the exact opposite, hiding. >> you would be spooked out? >> i can't even watch previews for scary movies. yeah. i'm a big wimp. well, time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. a federal program to defer deportation of illegal immigrants aged 30 and younger becomes official policy today. president obama announced the new initiative back in june to help illegal immigrants brought to the u.s. after congress failed to pass the d.r.e.a.m. act. the judge in drew peterson's murder case will announce whether he's decided to declare a mistrial after a series of procedural blunders by the prosecution.

the ex-cop is charged in the 2004 death of his third wife kathleen savio, and his fourth wife stacey peterson went missing in 2007. and happy birthday to ben affleck who turns 40. 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. innen exclusive live interview, two women open up about their story of survival and friendship during the colorado movie theater shooting. and country singer carrie underwood performs live on the plaza. and 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