good monday morning. coming up on "early today," california's massive wildfire near yosemite is only 7% contained and is now the size of chicago. the situation is syria is becoming dire as the u.s. pushes for proof of chemical weapons and tries to rally an international response. miley cyrus' performance at the mtv video music awards burning up social media around the globe and not for all the right reasons. plus donald trump sued over trump university. new works ahead from j.d. salinger and a baby panda has the country's attention. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for monday, august 26th. good morning. i'm richard lui.

firefighters battling a national wildfire in yosemite on high alert. the california rim fire is now the largest in history. this morning, firefighters are being told to protect yosemite at all costs. nbc's jay gray is near the wildfire in tuolumne, california. what are the challenges they are seeing today? >> reporter: good morning. the same as they've been. rugged terrain, high winds. like so many in the area on edge as the rim fire winds gusted. as the fire continues to grow this morning, so does the army of teams pouring into the northern california mountains to battle the massive blaze. >> all day every day. all night long. so we're up to more than 2800 personnel on the fire. it's the number one fire in the country right now so they're giving us what we need. >> reporter: air strikes,

hotshots along the leading edge of the flames. and heavy equipment digging out fire lines, moving out dried trees and other potential fuel for the flames. >> we're trying to save the public, save these dwellings and houses and make it safe for everybody. >> reporter: 11 homes have been lost and another 4,500 are in jeopardy right now. >> scary thing, but it's just a waiting game. you can't know what's happening. there's a fire on both sides of the highway, and our house is surrounded by fire. >> reporter: a fire out of control, spreading in most every direction, and swallowing everything in its path. and that's why so many fire teams have gathered here to protect this town and others from the path of those flames. richard, back to you. >> there's also some knconcern about san francisco with this fire. >> yeah, absolutely. nor than 100 miles away from the

flames but the water for that city as well as a lot of the electricity through hydroelectrical units is provided from the hetch hetchy reservoir. firefighters believe they can keep that area at bay, keep those flames away, but it's such a serious condition that the governor of california, jerry brown, has declared a state of emergency for the city of san francisco. so everyone watching very closely, richard. >> jay gray live for us in california. thank you so much. major developments in the suspected use of chemical weapons in syria. though a senior white house official says there's, quote, very little doubt they were used, it's still not confirmed. now syria will allow u.n. experts to visit the site of the alleged attack nap left damascus a short tim ago and are on their way for a fact-finding mission. >> all those in syria have a stake in finding out the truth. the whole world should be concerned about any threat or

use of chemical weapons. and that is why the world is watching syria. >> ayman moyheldin is watching this for us. what can we expect from the u.n. mission? >> reporter: the u.n. inspectors now on site near damascus where the alleged chemical weapons attack reportedly took place. and there have been some disturbing reports coming out. it's always difficult to confirm these in the early hours. but right now we understand that the actual u.n. team came under sniper fire while they were trying to visit the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack. and really what that underscores is the difficulty they will have in trying to determine what exactly happened. keep in mind all of their movement has to be coordinated with the syrian government prior to their arrival. now one of the things they've been trying to do is get to that site, get samples, interview

eyewitnesses who may have information. perhaps see any patients that may be in the area. the united states have already expressed doubt that they'll be able to produce anything tangible given the fact it's been several days since the syrian government allegedly carried out this attack. a lot of the evidence may have been damaged in continued shelling. so there's already a lot of uncertainty as to whether this inspection team will produce anything of significance that could then ultimately pave the way for massive or significant international response. richard? >> ayman moyheldin live for us, thanks. the state of new york is slapping donald trump with a $40 million lawsuit. the state's attorney general saying the mogul's trump university engaged in deception. claiming the school steered students into expensive and mostly useless seminars. the suit alleges it was all done with trump's knowledge and participation. they made the school change its name in 2011. it said the school lacked a license and did not meet legal definitions of a university. it's now known as the trump

entrepreneur institute. trump, meanwhile, says the move is false and politically motivated. he tweeted, quote, attorney general eric schneiderman is trying to extort me with a civil lawsuit. the donald will be on the "today" show this morning to answer questions directly. a follow-up of the iconic novel "catcher in the rye" could be in the stores. the author of the -- the authors of a new j.d. salinger biography claim the reclusive author could be out with five more books by 2020. a decade after his death. friends, neighbors and family members say he continued to write about into his final years. one of his books would draw on his world war ii years. no salinger book came ought after the early '60s. there's good news following the first examination of the new panda at the national zoo. it was born this pt friday. it showed vibrant signs of life

wailing and doctors were poking and prodding it during the check-up. at the end of the ten-minute exam they were excited to learn he has a steady heartbeat and functioning organs. organizers may be regretting the pick of metlife stadium for february. the farmer's almanac is predicting a piercing cold and messy championship game. next year's game is to be the first to be played at an outdoor venue in a cold weather setting, adding insult to injury, the almanac says it's right about 80% of the time. bill karins, it's a beautiful stadium, but when it's cold and open like that -- >> i think a lot of people want to see a messy game. i think people want to see a snowy super bowl. >> that's real football. >> it's february in new york. it's going to be cold. probably snows once every five days. we'll see how that all pans out there. in the west it's all about the horrible fire in yosemite. right now the latest report was almost 134,000 acres.

almost 3,000 firefighters fighting that blaze. and it's very rugged terrain. they are trying to prevent the eastern side from getting to highway 108. that's the left side goes up from sonora. it's burning out of control to the western edge of it. it's only 7% contained. this was a picture from nasa. sacramento, pretty much the entire state of california, the fire is located in the middle of the screen and the smoke plume going all the way up through nevada. huge smoke plume from this blaze. the other big story has been the rain in arizona and right along the border of california overnight. and as we go through the weekend, it's still raining pretty good in areas that don't get a lot of it. just exiting yuma. some of it is trying to make it there towards the las vegas area. your forecast today, that rain is not quite making it to the fire zone where we need it. that's unfortunate. that's your national foother ar

the west, just the smokey areas in the west. so the fires that are burning, we have 41 large blazes continuing to burn in the west. >> 41? bill karins, thank you so much. the situation is syria is causi causing israelis to stock up on gas masks. plus, one major sign that general motors has its mojo back. "early today" is back in two minutes.

some stories making headlines -- a 16-year-old boy will face a judge in court today charged as an adult in the murder of an 88-year-old world war ii veteran. police say dimitrius glenn robbed, beat and killed dell bert shorty belton. the search surnd way for a second suspect, keenan adams kinard. ruth bader ginsburg tells the "new york times" she vows to

stay on the supreme court as long as her health and intellect stay strong. the 80-year-old called the court one of the most activist courts in history. israelis are stocking up on gas masks amid fears a western attack on syria's chemical weapons could provoke a response from damascus. the demand has tripled. colin powell says martin luther king jr.'s dream is not fully achieved yet. powell also had this to say on the trayvon martin case as washington marked the 50th anniversary of the "i have a dream" speech. >> i think that it will be seen as a questionable judgment on the part of the judicial system down there, but i don't know if it will have staying power. these cases come along and they blaze across the midnight sky. and then after a period of time, they are forgotten. general motors is back in the super bowl. a year after gm passed on

advertising in the big game, the company will be launching 12 new chevy vehicles by the end of next year. right now for business and jackie de angliss. the exit of microsoft ceo steve ballmer may have been more sudden than portrayed by the company. he's stepping down within a year but reports are saying he hadn't planned on leaving his post quite so soon. that the exit date was moved up, fueling speculation of a rift between him and microsoft co-founder bill gates. facebook dropping its program allowing users to send physical gifts. this is interesting. this was a feature that had been seen as a threat to ebay and also amazon. facebook, of course, will still sell virtual gifts like gift cards. and subway, a new sandwich option coming out. they'll start offering garlic bread rolls next month after testing them in several cities. it's a limited time offer but could be added to the permanent menu. richard? >> maybe they should also consider breath mints. take a look at this picture.

what will smith and his family were reacting to at this moment during last night's mtv awards. plus, all your sports highlights next.

now let's get the latest in sports for you. first stop, the mtv video music awards where jason collins, the first openly gay nba player

spoke. his grandmother worried he'd face the same prejudice she did growing up in the segregated south. >> but i knew that hating someone for their sexual orientation is the same thing as hating them for the color of their skin. >> now to the nfl preseason, vikings/49ers. hawkins returning a 105-yard punt for a touchdown. he gets the flag, though, for taunting at the end of it. the niners do keep the touchdown. minnesota's adrian peterson had his preseason debut as well but only for two plays. 49ers take that one, 34-14. saints and texans. new orleans pierre thomas powers through the texans' defense after a pass from drew brees. a juke. quick turns. would he get a touchdown out of that one? texans matt schaub responds later to andre johnson. in the end, saints win, 31-23. mike tyson saying he's on

the verge of dying. during a press conference, tyson said this. >> i haven't drank or took drugs in six days. and for me, that's a miracle. i've been lying to everybody who thinks i'm sober, but i'm not. >> the little league world series ends with an incredible double play by japan to beat california. this was japan's ninth little league world series championship. the pga's barclays championship. tiger woods needed a birdie to force a playoff with adam scott but, no. misses by inches there. i'd grab my forehead, too. gary woodland misses a putt that would have tied him with scott. scott wins it all. golf fashion sidenote, this right here, rickie fowler and jone asblix made a pact to wear the same color if they ever were weared together. double check your spelling especially with tattoos. the word receive. look at it. but it's "i" before "e" isn't

it? except after c. indy car sonoma. scott dixon's bag tire brushes against a tire that a pit member was holding. the pit member hurts his ankle. dixon gets a drive-through penalty. that gave the lead to will power. power gets his 19th indy car victory. the extreme sailing regatta. the boats looking like they'll flip over. they are called extreme 40s. they can reach speeds of 40 knots. a team from switzerland oman tied for the lead there. the passing of an acting legend. plus is the band bon jovi breaking up?

the rain has made it to nevada. we're watching decent rains now. not in las vegas itself but up toward the mountains to your east. up 15 if you are driving. you'll get into some of that rain this morning. just drive carefully. give yourself a tiny bit xraf time. most of that moisture, this monsoonal moisture coming up from the south, will miss areas like san diego and l.a. it will be just there toward the border of arizona, california, the southern nevada. and as far as salt lake city goes, much cooler today. only 79. that's one of the cooler temperatures we've had all summer long because of the clouds in the area. in entertainment news, lee daniels the butler took the top spot at the box office again this welcome with $17 million. alec baldwin and wife hilaria gave birth to a baby girl friday. legendary actress julie

harris died on saturday at the age of 87. she was broadway's darling, still holding the title as the actress to receive the most tony awards. richie sambora can no longer be called the bon jovi front man. according to "us weekly" and rumorfix.com, the guitar man left after 30 years for a, quote, number of well documented issues. wonder what's happening there. during last night's video music awards, joseph gordon levitt premiered the tease for his new film "don jon." he wrote, directed and starred. one of the vma highlights was the 'n sync reunion during justin timberlake's almost 20-minute mini concert. then miley cyrus' duet with thicke. at the end of the vmas, barack obama showed his support for katy perry's finale by trading

tweets about obama care. thanks for spreading the word. #roar. >> lady gaga, katy perry. and miley cyrus steals all the headlines for what was just a spectacle. >> a spectacle of what she was wearing and doing twirking on robin thicke whose wife was sitting in the crowd. >> he's 36. she's 20. the whole thing was -- >> hannah montana fans going, i'm not so sure about that. >> hopefully weren't watching. >> this is "early today." we hope just your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the headlines this morning, on nbc news, investigations, billions wasted on fruitless bid to create paperless vet health records. $1.3 billion has been spent unsuccessfully over the past four years to develop an electronic health records system. in he "miami herald," drone could become mosquito weapon in florida keys. later today they'll test a new weapon against breeding areas for mosquitoes. topping our news -- at least 46 people are dead after a series of deadly attacks in iraq. the targets ranged from a coffee shop to a wedding party convoy to a car load of off-duty soldiers. it's the country's worst bloodshed since 2008. more than 3,000 people have been killed in just the past few months. a 12-year-old florida boy fighting a rare and deadly brain infection has died. zachary reigna was infected with

a rare amoeba while kneeboarding with friends in a ditch earlier this month. his family said sunday they plan to donate his organs and that he will save many lives. keep your eyes peeled for a follow-up on what's widely considered one of america's favorite books. the authors of a new j.d. salinger biography claim the reclusive "catcher in the rye" author could be out with five more books by 2020, a decade after his death. america's first great bull run. it mimics spain's running with the bulls as daredevils ran from a dozen charging bulls down a quarter mile dirt track. officials organized seven runs, splitting the participants into groups of 500. will you try this, bill? >> no. >> it might be coming to a city near us. most thrill-seekers survived unscathed but a couple were taken to the hospital with injuries. >> if you want to start a bull running tour. you want to go like city to city.

>> what's what they've done. ten cities. when you look at these bulls, they aren't quite as fierce as some you might see. these are 1,000 pounds. now time for a look ahead. army staff sergeant ty carter is signed for gallantry as military fighters tried to overrun his post in afghanistan. jodi arias is expected back in court today. a hearing will decide on the penalty phase after the jury could not agree on the death penalty or flf prison. happy birthday to chris pine, 33. melissa mccarthy, 43. and ben bradley, 92 years old. here's what's coming up later on the "today" show. donald trump speaks out about allegations at his trump university. and linda ron stat loses her singing voice. we'll find out how the rock legend is doing with her battle with parkinson's. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thanks for watching "early today." have a great monday.

. happening now, thousands of firefighters including local crews doing everything they can to gain the upper hand on a massive fire burning in yosemite that is directly impacting people in the bay area. we have new video of the moments leading up to a deadly shooting in downtown san jose. and the bay area soldier that's getting ready to meet the president and receive the military's highest honor. let's take a live look outside, a gleaming shot. that is your bay bridge over san francisco. a few cars out there for an early morning. we'll get you rolling on this monday, august 26. this is "today in the bay."