good thursday morning. coming up on "early today," -- hundreds killed, thousands injured as egyptian police clash with demonstrator s and's country's future becomes even more uncertain. the investigation continues into why this u.p.s. plane went down in a deadly blaze. shocking details revealed in the abduction of hannah anderson. plus, president obama playing cards the night of the bin laden raid. alfonso soriano collects a month's worth of stats in just two games. and the study on what kind of cars the biggest jerks on the road drive. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for thursday, august 15th. good morning. i'm richard lui.

new and staggering numbers of dead in egypt. the government now saying at least 525 civilians and 43 security forces have died. this from wednesday's government crackdown on supporters of the deposed president. newspapers at home and around the world all capture the deadly violence on today's front pages. egypt's vice president and international respected diplomat also resigning. leaders are wondering if today will be another day of chaos. ayman is live for us. it's 1:00 p.n. in cairo. how is the government now explaining the staggering numbers we mentioned of casualties? >> good morning, richard. it's mind boggling and not only tharkts it's expected to rise in the coming hours because as we've been reporting, there are still a lot of bodies being held at a field hospital. actually it's a mosque being used as a field hospital for families to come and identify missing relatives. that's been taking place all morning along and that's what's

explaining the sudden spike in the official death toll. we are expecting it to continue to rise. this is not the final number by any means. the government for its part is justifying this crackdown saying these protests have become a national security threat. yesterday the minister of interior said his police force was simply using tear gas and acting in self-defense. they showed footage of people coming under attack. an armored personnel vehicle being thrown over a bridge showing their soldiers coming under attack and that led to 43 members of the security forces being killed. but this is being described as a massacre. it is drawing international condemnation from the world over. human rights activists are asking whether or not disproportional use of force was used by the police. that is what is staggering about this. that they did use live ammunition for what has been a very well documented protest. these protests for the most part had women and children and for the most part had been relatively peaceful, despite some of the grievances that many residents in egypt as well as security officials had been

complaining about. richard? >> we hope, of course, friday tomorrow that during prayers it also will remain peace tlfl in k egypt. investigators are trying to piece together how a u.p.s. cargo plane crashed early wednesday morning. the two pilots died there. they're trying to recover the cockpit voice and data recorders. part of the plane is still smoldering. jay gray reports from birmingham, alabama. >> reporter: witnesses say there were signs of trouble even before the crippled jet went down. >> i see the sky lighting up orange. i see the plane on fire. i was like, he's not going to make it. i just heard loud noises. >> several people heard whining and sputtering, then a loud thrashing as the plane ripped through the trees, followed by the sound of a violent impact. >> a bomb was blowing up. like the whole house just shook. >> reporter: flames intensified as the plane tearing apart slid for more than 200 yards. >> it went up the hill where it came to the top of the hill and

came to its final resting point. >> reporter: the two pilots on u.p.s. flight 1354 died in the crash. ntsb investigators say there's no record of a distress call from the cockpit. and because the nose of the plane is still in one piece, they believe the tail section may have hit the ground first. >> the tail section of the aircraft is still smoldering, still smoking. and for that reason, we have not been able to get in and get the black boxes. >> reporter: flight recorders that investigators hope will provide details about how and why the jet slammed to the ground just a half mile short of the runway. jay gray, nbc news, birmingham. chilling new details about suspected murderer and kidnapper james dimaggio. unsealed search warrants say he tortured hannah anderson's mother and brother, then set his home on fire with them inside. he then abducted hannah who has since been rescued. dimaggio also shot and killed the family dog. the exact nature of the alleged

torture is unknown but when police arrived at dimaggio's burning california home, they found 8-year-old ethan anderson, his body so badly burned, it took days to identify. they found 44-year-old christina anderson under a tarp in the garage next to a crow bar. dimaggio was a longtime friend of the andersons killed saturday in idaho during a shootout with police. officials suspected dimaggio's sister may have been helping him the day he abducted anderson because of a, quote, unusually large volume of calls. new scrutiny this morning. famous photos show president obama hunkered down in the situation room as navy s.e.a.l.s carried out the raid to kill osama bin laden. now the president's former bodyguard, body man reggie love, says the commander in chief was not there the whole time. he said that he reportedly played cards to distract himself from the day-long ordeal. >> most people were like down in the situation room. he was like, i'm not going to be

down here. i can't watch this entire thing. so he, myself, pete, the white house photographer marvin, we must have played 15 hands -- 15 games of spades. >> many officials declined comment but former counterterrorism adviser michael lighter who is now an analyst for nbc news, says mr. obama was present during the time of the actual raid. a wildfire in park city, utah has destroyed 14 homes and is threatening hundreds more. it's also burned several outbuildings and boats. it's scorched now 2,000 acres and is just 25% contained. wildfires are now burning in at least 11 western states from alaska to new mexico. tearful testimony from michael jackson's ex-wife at his wrongful death trial. debbie rowe says his tolerance for pain was low.

doctors sometimes tried to do -- tried to outdo each other and lost sight of jackson's care. she worried they were giving him too much medication. rowe is the mother of jackson's two oldest children, prince and paris. they were married for three years in the late '90s. now for a look at the weather. nbc meteorologist bill karins joins us. good morning, my friend. >> remember those sprinkles we talked about? a little bit of rain went through, but much of the west continues to bake in the heat. yesterday we showed you the fires in utah. 99 in salt lake city. 100 in boise. very hot in the intermountain west. continues to be one of the hottest summers in some of these locations. the eastern half of the country, the middle of the country is fall-like. no moisture in the air. the dew points are very low. these numbers show you how much moisture is in the air. the higher the number in general means more moisture. the lower the number means there's little. hardly any moisture at all in

the intermountain west. fire danger. 71 in salt lake city. 67 in portland. so pretty mild air just about everywhere. the storm that kicked through yesterday is now spinning along the british columbia coastline. the cold front will try to move into the northwest. could be a few more showers out the there. maybe a little more drizzle and clouds in the north. that will keep your temperatures down. day.'s your national forecast. sacramento not far away either. a little change in the northwest with the storm that came in. now back to nice, beautiful weather once again. >> okay. looking forward to the weekend forecast because that's coming right around the bend. prince william compares caring for his newborn to military duty. plus, who are the highest

paid nfl players this year? and a study shows which drivers really are, well, jerks. we've got that. "early today" is back in two. >> announcer: brought to you by the makers of centrum men and women.

welcome back. the united nations announced wednesday that u.n. experts are headed to syria to investigate possible chemical weapons use. they will be visiting three different sites where chemical attacks are sai to have occurred. mideast peace talks between israel and palestinians are taking place in jerusalem. it's the first time since negotiations broke down in 2008. bradley manning taking the stand during the sentencing phase of his trial wednesday. he read from a prepared statement. the army private convicted of leaking classified documents said, quote, i am sorry that my actions hurt people. i'm sorry that they hurt the united states. manning faces up to 90 years in prison. ex-congressman jesse jackson jr. was sentenced to 30 months in prison. he used $750,000 in campaign

funds on luxury items. his wife sandi was sentenced to 12 months for tax fraud. his father, reverend jesse jackson, shared his thoughts. >> jesse has been very sick. this time a year ago, i really thought we may have lost him. i think he's strong enough now to accept the challenges put before him by the judge. a new study from the university of california berkeley shows bad driving habits may be linked with wealth. they say people who drive bmws were more likely to show road rage like behavior and less likely to stop for pedestrians. prince william talked about baby george. he compared fatherhood to running military missions. >> he's pretty loud and, of course, extremely good looking. i have to say that i thought search and rescue duties were physically and mentally demanding, but looking after a 3-week-old baby is right up

there. now for business and cnbc's seema mody. good morning. >> richard, futures right now are lower after stocks fell for the third time in four days. the dow dropping by triple digits on continued concerns the fed may soon start to pull back or taper its massive bond-buying program which has helped to keep interest rates low. americans are being better at managing their money. the fed says household debt fell this spring to the lowest level since 2006 as more consumers are paying their bills on time. watch shares of cisco systems today. the stock dropped 10% last night after the tech bellwether reported disappointing earnings and cut 4,0$4,000 jobs. the ceo says the economy is still, quote, challenging. back over to you, richard. american airlines heads to bankruptcy court today to fight for their merger with usairways. american believes the department of justice got this one wrong. they say the suit ignored a number of benefits of the merger.

famous and fabulous. that describes you. facebook may have an app just for you. the world's vips. it's being tested and could soon give celebs an exclusive app to interact with their fans. forbes annual look at the business of football is out. they list the top earning players in terms of salary and endorsements. drew brees is number one earning $51 million. aaron rodgers second at 49 and number three, tom brady with 38.3. joe flacco at $36.8 million. and rounding out the top five, peyton manning at a cool $30 million. in straight ahead, yanks alfonso soriano does something that lou gehrig and the babe never did. that and the rest of your sports next.

cowboys still tops there. let's get the latest in sports. team usa's record was in jeopardy, down 2-0 to bosnia. but what's my name? josie altadore, three goals in just the second half. usa with a 4-3 win. that 12th victory in a row is the longest streak on the globe. pats fans hearts skipped a beat yesterday. qb tom brady on the ground grabbing the knee. watch that red jersey there. that knee was the one that was operated on in 2008. an mri showed just a sprain, good thing. they were practice with tampa bay. one of brady's favorites, tight

end rob gronkowski doing a little mansion flipping. his almost 5,000-square-foot bachelor pad's price, well, $2.4 million. the tampa mansion has gulf of mexico views and a boat dock for your yacht. a stunning announcement. wimbledon champ marion bartoli is retiring. just 28 years old. she says the trek to win her very first grand slam took its toll and must retire because of leg injuries. you didn't want to miss the first inning of the yankesis/angels game last night. alfonso soriano blasting a grand slam there. on fire. in the fifth, soriano with a home run. yankees win, 11-3. can we talk runs batted in. count them. seven just on that one day. six the night before. soriano is only the third player to do that since records were kept. also better than babe ruth or lou gehrig. bad bat on the field. bat on the field. the flying kind of animal we mean. the shortstop picks up the normally sleeping tooth critter with his glove.

the baseball bat flops, flips. so who do you call? of course, the bat boy. the whole incident driving the umpires a little batty. just ahead -- a reality star's death shocks fans of "the bachelor." we've got that next.

welcome back to "early today." cold front is going to hang up in the northwest. could be a few showers out there. if you really want to avoid every possible rain drop, bring

the umbrella but not much in the way of rain. 98 in boise. a lot of sunshine. hopefully won't be any fires nearby in idaho today. a bunch in utah. there's like 11 fires throughout the west right now. not much is going to change tomorrow. we're still going to remain very hot in the intermountain west and interior california. just, you know, we need a break for those people, for the firefighters, too it would be nice. in entertainment news, family and friends are mourning the loss of reality tv star gia allemand. she died after she was taken off life support. this just days after an apparent suicide attempt. she was only 29 years old. another pair of reality stars dealt with a different kind of crisis inside a new jersey courtroom. teresa and joe giudice of "the real housewives of engine" plead not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in a 39-count federal indictment. if convicted, they face 50 years in prison, hefty fines and deportation for joe who is not a u.s. citizen. good news for simon cowell's love triangle.

he mother of his unborn child has reached a divorce settetment. they finalized the language. andrew silverman was once identified as cowell's friend. was. woody allen's turn as a pimp in fading gigolo is sparking major buzz. in the movie, he sets up dates for his one and only prostitute, john tuturo. ♪ it ain't over until i say it's over ♪ eminem has returned to the spotlight in grand fashion. his new song "survival" is the featured track on the new "call of duty: ghosts." nick punto celebrated his team's win with danny devito. the actor was totally stoked to meet the 5'9" infielder. he's often jokingly compared to devito by his teammates. a new app called hey girl is turning web pages into ryan gosling's domain. with the click of a button, every picture is turned into a photo of the heartthrob actor.

as if he needed more buzz out there. >> it's like the instant gratification button. just all of a sudden, i'm bored. boom! there's ryan gosling. >> that's like a million sales. >> and this "call of duty" thing. they spend more money to make these video games. it's no surprise eminem is getting involved and all stars, than it is to produce big budget films. >> i think they are produced on the very same level. very good point. you look at the start-ups. these are movies you can be involved in. >> make a ton of money, too. >> all righty. i'm richard lu i. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc. a beautiful shot of washington, d.c. look at that.

leading the news in "usa today." housing, health care, fuel record costs to raise a kid. the government says parents with a baby born in 2012 will spend anywhere from $217,000 to $500,000 to raise their child to 18. that does not include college. in the week magazine, the happy ending in the beast jesus fresco fiasco. was called the worst art restoration ever. an 81-year-old spanish woman -- you have to laugh, right? she took it upon herself to restore a fresco. restore in quotation marks. with that botched touch-up it lured in flocks of tourists because they wanted to see that. it's like now she's being called a hero. getting people through the doors. stopping our news, the death toll in egypt staggering and

climbing. the health ministry reports 525 people are dead. civilians and more than 3700 injured following a bloodbath after troops cleared camps in support of ousted president mohamed morsi. president obama's former body man saying the commander in chief was not in the situation room the entire time during the raid to kill osama bin laden. he says the president reportedly played cards to distract himself from the day-long ordeal but former counterterrorism adviser michael leiter who is now an aichblt for nbc news, says mr. obama was present during the time of the actual raid. prince william speaking out on the new royal baby saying prince george is, quote, pretty loud and, of course, extremely good looking. like the parents, right? one artist found some hume nordetroit's bankruptcy claims. he put for sale signs throughout the motor city on street polls, sculptures, public buildings and other places. the city took his work down. even put price tags on it. but he hopes he was able to make people smile during such a

difficult time. maybe here making fun of also what they are trying to do. they are looking at, what, 60,000 pieces of art in the city in terms of what they are worth. it's a tough time for detroit. time for a look ahead and a look back. the 67th little league world series starts today. >> i'll watch. >> bill probably played in that. >> no, debit maidn't make it. >> they'll begin facing nauf williamsport, pennsylvania. in 1969, the start of woodstock. the four-day music festival brought almost 500,000 people to upstate new york. happy birthday to jennifer lawrence. carl edwards turns 34 and actor/director ben affleck is 41. here's what's coming up on the "today" show. a sneak peek of cory monteith's final movie before his death. and the one and only jimmy buffett performs some of his biggest hits live on the plaza. keep it right here for more news, weather and sports. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thanks for watching "early today." have a great thursday.

. troops are out in force in egypt this morning, tensions running high as clashes between the military and protesters don't appear to end any time soon. >> involved in a deadly shooting overnight. we'll let you know why he felt the need to pull the trigger. >> new mosquito fogging in the south bay. right now let's take you live outside. that's a picturesque shot. i like that one, inspiring from the south bay, looking over san jose, the perfect lighting there to set the stage for this thursday, also known as friday eve, august 15. this is "today in the bay."