good wednesday morning. coming up on early "today," the clock is ticking on morsi to respond to an ultimatum as the future's country lays in the balance. outrage over a police officer shooting and killing a dog while its owner is being arrested. the president returns to an unexpected setback for obama care. plus, flash floods out west. baseball's first no-hitter of a year. and a fish tale complete with a 200-year-old fish, is that true? "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, july 3rd. good morning, everyone. defiance in egypt as president mohamed morsi reject's the

ultimatum demanding he listen to the protesters who want him out. in an emotional speech tuesday, morsi pledged to stay in office. nbc is in the egyptian capital for us. usef, what's the latest there? >> reporter: we are on day four of protests in egypt. what a night after mohamed morsi made a speech at midnight making it clear he would seek out his term and also calling on the military to step away from its imposed deadline. the military would eventually respond and say it would do everything to protect the egyptian people and that shows you the rhetoric is getting sharper and the political impact is more intense. that raises the stakes when it comes to possible violence. there is talks on the supporter of the president that this equates to a creeping military coup. more violence overnight close to

cairo university. clashes killing at least 20 people. the military remains on high alert with few hours to go until the deadline, then the road map will be implemented. no details on that, but that's it for now. >> thank you. back in the u.s., the white house is putting the brakes on a major part of president obama's health care law and republicans say it is further proof the entire law should be scrapped. tracie potts is in washington. explain what the latest move means. >> reporter:f you own a business with 50 or more employees, you had until next year, 2014, to get health insurance for all of them. now you get an extra year. the obama administration has decided to extend that after business groups lobbied and said, look, the reporting requirements are just too tough. they are too complicated. didn't have to do with the cost of the health care, had to do with reporting to the government who's got health insurance in that company and who does not. if you work for one of those companies and don't have insurance, it means you may not

get it for another year. here on capitol hill, republicans have argued that this entire health law is, as speaker john boehner put it, a train wreck, and this is further evidence that the whole thing needs to be scrapped. they've been trying to do that here. but also a political question. now one of the key provisions has been moved after the 2014 congressional elections. democrats and republicans are trying to keep their seats here in washington, was that calculated? some critics here argue, yes, it was. bottom line, employers now have an extra year. >> thank you. now to florida and the george zimmerman trial. prosecutors tried to chip away at zimmerman's claim that he feared for his life the night he shot and killed trayvon martin. ron mott reports from the courthouse in sanford. >> reporter: a medical examiner identified george zimmerman's injuries. >> all the injuries come from a

single punch or single blow? >> yes. >> reporter: an expert witness said his head wounds were not life threatening and not in line with his accounts of being slammed into a sidewalk over and over. >> are the injuries to the back of the defendant's head consistent with being slammed into a concrete surface? >> no. >> why not? >> if you look at the injuries, they are so minor. to me, the word "slam" implies great force, and the resulting injuries are not great force. >> reporter: but the defense got her to admit zimmerman's injuries could have been caused by multiple impacts. >> anything that would medically exclude that the right side was hit four times? >> possible. >> reporter: zimmerman, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, said he shot trayvon martin in self defense. chris serino returned to the stand for a second day, with

attorneys grilling him about his interviews with zimmerman. >> any inconsistencies you think are inconsistent? >> none i can challenge, i'd say no. >> reporter: reporting a suspicious person in his neighborhood. >> in your opinion, calling somebody and referencing them at [ bleep ] punks? >> it is ill will and spite. >> reporter: ill will, spite, intent, all factors to prove. also there's the theory zimmerman profiled martin, but mark o'mara questioned whether zimmerman committed a crime by following trayvon martin. >> you said following isn't illegal, correct? >> it's not illegal. >> reporter: ron mott, nbc news, sanford, florida. there is growing outrage in southern california after a

fatal police shooting involving a dog. officers say they were in fear for their lives while animal rights activists call it unsubstantiated use of force. video has gone viral and we want to warn you it can be hard to watch. on sunday, police were arresting the dog's owner for refusing to turn down his car radio. that's when you see his 2-year-old rottweiler jump out of the open window and approach the officers. just seconds later after failing to get the dog under control, one officer fired four shots, killing the dog. that officer is now reportedly getting threatening phone calls. >> we're a little bit concerned about their welfare, too. i don't think the officer who actually fired his weapon woke up that morning with any intent to go out and shoot a dog. he's an animal lover himself. >> the hawthorne police department responded to the incident saying, "fearing the

rottweiler would imminently bite the officers, one officer fired his duty weapon striking and killing the dog." the dog owner is also speaking out. >> when he came this way like this, he had his gun drawn already. so, he came over here to kill him. the dog jumped like this at him, and he said pop! then he said, pop, pop, pop. three more times. >> a lot of outrage from that story. along with devastating wildfires, mudslides are causing some problems in the western states. a landslide shut down all lanes of interstate 80 in both directions. our sacramento affiliate described it as a size of a football field. for the rest of the forecast, we're joined by dylan dreyer. size of a football field? >> the problem, it's been so dry, then you have the torrential down pours that come down, there's no grip to the dirt and mud. that's why it rushes down the

hill with gravity. a football field, yeah. >> haven't seen anything like that. >> it's insane. the rain is needed in parts of the southwest, especially, just like the past couple of days, we will see the afternoon showers and storms, but with those storms comes lightning and that's going to be more of an issue, especially with the wildfire threat because of just how dry it is out there with that area of high pressure in control, we're not going to see that on-shore flow any time soon. that would really start to cool things down. as for rain, most is sitting down across eastern arizona and parts of new mexico and some isolated showers across central and northern nevada, but it's more about the heat than anything else. excessive heat warnings still in effect. all throughout the rest of this week, unfortunately, even though temperatures have been dropping, they are only dropping by a degreefornia.

not a whole lot of rain showing up on the west coast. we do have to keep an eye out for those thunderstorms, because lightning is, you know, such a trigger for those wildfires. >> definitely what we don't need to see more of. thank you, dylan. john paul ii, closer to sainthood. a former v.p. charged with stealing over a million in jewelry. and the woman who sued paula deen, she is speaking out. plus, the tale behind this fish believed to be 200 years old.

here are the stories making news this morning. a plane was forced to land in austria after both france and portugal refused to let it cross

their air space. the plane originated in moscow and there were rumors edward snowden was aboard the aircraft. the rumors have been proven false. according to arizona officials, the sole survivor of the 20-person hotshot firefighter crew was doing exactly what he was supposed to. he was posted as lookout and notified the other members of his team that the winds were changing rapidly, causing him to move to a new area. north carolina state senate voted tuesday on requiring abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgery centers. and a second miracle by pope john paul ii was approved. it is now up to pope francis to officially declare john paul ii a saint. now for your first look at business, we turn to cnbc's

sema moty. >> oil prices surge on over $100 a barrel on the worries. and crude is showing a surprise drop in u.s. oil inventories. starbucks is testing spiced root beer and ginger ale. starbucks is expanding its menu beyond coffee but won't say if the drinks will be rolled out nationwide. freebies, several retailers are rolling out special holiday offers to try to increase holiday traffic. among the promotions, boston market giving 50% off family meals and jamba juice offering a buy one, get one smoothy. >> free, one of my favorite words. thank you. the woman behind the paula deen lawsuit is speaking out. lisa jackson released a statement saying, quote, this

lawsuit has never been about the n-word. it is to address ms. deen's patterns of degradation of people she deems. deen has said she has never in her life intentionally said anything hurtful or unkind. the tsa reports that so far this year 894 air travelers were packing heat on themselves or in their carry-on bags. that's an increase of 30% over the same period last year. you can call it an inside job. a former vice president at tiffany and co. has been arrested and charged stealing $1.3 million worth of diamond bracelets and other jewelry. talk about a fish tale. henry leeman caught what's believed to be a 200-year-old fish. apparently, they can live that long but researchers are checking the 40-pound rock fish caught off the coast of alaska.

if this fish were, in fact, 200 years old, james madison was president and the u.s. only had 18 states when it was born. straight ahead, the first no-hitter of the year and all the sports headlines. we'll be right back.

and for some big excitement

in cincinnati, the first no-hitter of the season. homer bailey of the reds got to the ninth inning with no hits by giants batters and only one walk. he fielded a bouncer back to the mound for the first out and then got his ninth strikeout and finally, the historic third out. >> a strike away, an out away, is homer bailey. ground ball to third. graizer gloves. throw to first, and homer bailey, for the second time in his major league career, has tossed a no-hitter. >> no homers for homer. the reds beat the giants 3-0. bailey also pitched baseball's last no-hitter in september of 2012, so he is only the sixth pitcher in baseball's no-hit list consecutively. congrats to him. a-rod played his first minor league game last night and grounded into a double play. he also struck out, but says he

is just happy to be back playing. nike football spain, started using smartphones and a special van to create this, a temporary soccer field for a pick-up street soccer game with at least eight players. right now it's only available in a few places in spain. to chicago now, patients and staff got a close-up look at the nhl stanley cup won by the blackhawks last week. the three-foot-tall cup is bigger than some of the kids posing with it. look at that little one, especially this very tiny newborn. that is a picture to be remembered. could be a future player, too, who knows, starting early. still ahead, the offers keep flowing in for baby kimye. has anyone heard of flordia? major highway sign fail when "early today" returns.

good morning, welcome back. hot in the southwest, 94 degrees already in las vegas, but as we go into tomorrow morning, parts of texas could see record low temperatures, so it's right in the middle of the country where the nicest weather is, but the heat is still on with those heat advisories and warnings in the southwest. 81 today in seattle. portland about 82 degrees. then for the fourth of july, scattered thunderstorms in billings, montana, but in the pacific northwest, some of the nicest weather across the country. >> okay, thank you, dylan. for some entertainment news,

avril lavigne and chad kruger exchanged vows in france. alec baldwin dreams of being a regular joe. good luck with that. he told "vanity fair" it would be heaven if his unborn daughter grew up with any knowledge of his public outbursts or hollywood history in front of the camera. paris jackson, she plans to receive treatment for the duration of her father's wrongful death lawsuit. the jackson family is currently looking for a psychiatric facility to help michael jackson's 15-year-old daughter recover from her suicide attempt last month. baby north west isn't ready for her closeup just yet. kanye west and kim kardashian turned down a whopping $3 million, can you believe it, from an australian newspaper for north's first pictures. and jay-z's new album will be certified platinum before it's being released. that is thanks to 1 million

downloads samsung plans to purchase and share. the rapper is also sharing his emotional side, talking about his new role as a dad. >> you know, my pop left when i was young. he didn't teach me how to be a man, nor how to raise a child. or treat a woman, right? >> yeah. >> of course, my karma, the two things i need, i don't have, right? you know, i have a daughter. >> yeah. >> changes your life. this is "early today," hope it's just your first stop of the day right here on nbc.

breaking news in the houston chronicle, texas house panel approves abortion limits. the republican majority voted early this morning to move forward with new restrictions, setting the stage for a full house vote next week. in the seattle times, state regulators are trying to find out how to concentrate hash oil. developing overnight, a u.s. drone strike in pakistan kills 17 people, all believed to be militants. local security officials say the drone fired four missiles. the pakistani government has strongly condemned the strike. if you think you're addicted to carbs, it's not just in your head. scientists say the brain's reaction to eating them could be

similar to an addict's gracravi for drugs. that's what it's about, i crave them all the time, the carbs, not the drugs. clinical nutrition say it activates reward and addiction centers in your brain. there we go. too many carbs this morning, it's not activating. and someone needs a better proofreader. not once, but twice the state of florida is spelling it wrong on this sign in jacks sosojacksonv. workers noticed it just before they hung it up, thankfully, making the sign company fix the typo for free. flordia? yeah, not on the list of states. atlanta sharing some exciting news. their giant panda is pregnant. this will be her and male panda's fourth child.

she is expected to give birth in two to three weeks, but zoo atlanta remains cautiously optimistic because giant panda babies are very fragile. this will be the first giant panda born in the u.s. this year. that is really a big thing, because it's difficult for them to come to term with the baby and for us to have one this year, that's fantastic. >> it would be a lot of fun. then the whole name game starts. full-titime now for a look and look back. ariel castro faces a competency hearing on trial for kidnapping. frank mcgee reported a death of a rock legend. >> jim morrison, the lead singer for the doors, a rock music group, is dead. he was 27. he died in paris, probably of heart failure, last saturday. keep it here for more news, weather, and sports. thanks for watching, have a great one.

decided we'll make more progress if we get some sleep. >> hours of talks and still no deal. union leaders and b.a.r.t. lock themselves in a room and talk well into the morning but still no solution. stuck in the middle of it all, hundreds of thousands of leaders who can't rely on b.a.r.t. for a third straight day. good morning, thanks for joining us. 4:30, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm jon kelley. good wednesday morning. a bit of good news, the first time two sides have held formal meetings since sunday. right now "today in the bay's" christie smith with the latest on the ongoing and continuing conversations. >> reporter: it was 3:00 in the