good thursday morning. coming up on "early today" win, lose, or draw. excitement builds for today's big battle in brazil as the u.s. tries to stay alive at the world cup. a flood emergency in the upper midwest with rivers at the breaking point. landmark ruling. a federal appeals court says states cannot ban same-sex marriage. plus, serena williams gets, shall we say, up close and personal with wimbledon fans. prince harry's emotional encounter. and a "facts of life" reunion and an epic selfie. it's thursday, june 26. "early today" starts right now. good morning to you. i'm richard lui.

this is the big day. finally here. that means productivity, as you know, in many of your offices may not be so hot. the u.s. men's soccer team will have its chance to advance to the knock-out round when it plays germany today. nbc's kirk gregory has more for us. >> reporter: the u.s. men's soccer team putting a few final touches on the ball as the americans head into their last group game of this world cup. >> we are getting better. we are getting stronger. with every game that we play, you know, we can build more and more a stronger foundation. we want to beat germany. we want to be first in our group. we're not thinking about a tie. >> reporter: a tie would advance the u.s. into elimination play, but a loss, well, then it becomes more about mathematics than match play. the u.s. is definitely in the round of 16 if ghana and portugal tie, but if either ghana or portugal beat the other

handily, well, the u.s. could see its hopes fade. one thing is for sure, u.s. fans in brazil -- >> everything is possible. anything is possible, but confident we're going to come out on top. >> reporter: and all across the nation. >> brings everybody together as a nation. it's really cool. >> reporter: will be watching this game in huge numbers. >> it's different than football. one day, once a year. it's only once every four years. the passion is there. >> reporter: from coast-to-coast on screens big and small. cheering on team usa. >> usa, baby. >> reporter: kirk gregory, nbc news. >> the game starts at 9:00 a.m. pacific time on espn, but you may have already started celebrating. residents across the midwest are bracing for more bad weather today. a massive cleanup operation is going on in indiana after a tornado ripped through the town of plainfield. in minnesota several communities

remain under water as rivers continue to rise. john yang reports from st. paul, minnesota. >> tornado! come on! >> reporter: violent summer storms track through the midwest this week. in indiana tornadoes. in minnesota record rain and widespread flooding. across the region thousands have been driven out of their homes. an ef-1 tornado touched down in southwestern indianapolis late tuesday ripping the siding off several houses. >> i could see it starting to form, and it wasn't maybe two minutes later i started seeing debris everywhere. >> reporter: from minnesota to ohio, flash flood warnings. >> at least up to my knees, down the street. >> incredible because this doesn't happen. you get a little flooded in the spring, but this is unbelievable right here. >> reporter: torrential stormdz, downed trees and power lines. disrupting even the most important plans. this is the wettest june on record in the twin cities area.

more than 25 inches of rain so far prompting 35 counties to declare emergencies. >> to have river flooding like this in june is completely out of the ordinary and something our community -- >> reporter: a wet spring and early summer have swollen rivers in four states. dozens of river gauges are reporting flooding. in st. paul the mississippi river is at 20 feet. six feet above flood stage. >> that's john yang reporting. a landmark court ruling has been hailed as a victory for same-sex couples. a federal appeals court has struck down utah's ban on same-sex marriage declaring it unconstitutional. the three-somewhere panel voted yesterday 2-1 in favor of allowing couples to marry regardless of sexual orientation. the state of utah will appeal to the u.s. supreme court. same-sex marriages will not take place while the appeal is being heard. the verdict sparking mixed reactions. >> this decision is an absolute

victory for fairness and equality, for all families in utah, in every state in the 10th circuit, and every state in this great nation of the united states. >> i'm disappointed because i do believe that states do have the right to the democratic process to make the determination on the definition of marriage. our people have spoken on that issue, and that's part of our law. that being said, the sooner we can get to the supreme court, the better i would like it. also, being called a major victory for privacy rights in a unanimous vote the supreme court has ruled police officers must obtain a warrant in order to search a person's cell phone. 13 million people are arrested every year, mostly more minor offenses. for a century the courts have said that police can search a phone for evidence of a crime. now cell phone searches will be off limits unless there is a warrant. the supreme court also dealt a

blow to a company called aereo that allows paying users to watch over the air tv on a computer or mobile device in order to get around a law that protects public perform wranss like tv shows. aereo claims every user got a private performance with a separate antenna and separate video recording. the courts rejected that claim saying the company was improperly distributing copyrighted programs without paying for them. heavy rain across china causing a spectacular avalanche. the dramatic mudslide prompting over 350,000 skubic feet of water to knock all that earth on a nearby highway. flooding has led to approximately 300 reported landslides in central china. officials expect the cleanup job for last five days. bill, that's a lot of earth.

>> it's like tooth picks falling down. it's no -- look how close they were. even the people videotaping that. >> i don't know how high those tries were. three stories tall? a lot of dirt. >> let's talk about what's happening today. we saw temperatures cooler than normal in oregon especially, and if you look at the medford area, 60. why was it so cool there in oregon? it was warmer up in seattle. this is a water vapor imagery. you see the spin, and it's now heading into idaho. it's that storm system we were talking about. it's also sparked rain this morning. we have showers out there. that's the portland wrar. heading out on i-84 on eastbound you'll also be able to have rain. the rainfall forecast over the next 36 hours, not overly impressive, but it tracks that storm into idaho up through montana and wyoming. anywhere south of salt lake city or vegas, san francisco for that

matter, no rain. your thursday forecast, hit and miss showers and storms of the intermountain west, and kind of cool and cloudy from portland to seattle. it should be windy the rest of the day. 107 in phoenix. people in the northwest wondering if the sun is going to return for their weekend. >> all right. if that's not a tease, i don't know what it is. just ahead, a powerful push to keep gm halting sales of its best-selling chevy. things go amok when a chinese tycoo offers a meal and cash to new york city's homeless. we'll tell you when when we return. so i get invited to quite a few family gatherings. heck, i saved judith here a fortune with discounts like safe driver, multi-car, paperless.

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welcome back. yesterday we told you house speaker john boehner was considering filing a lawsuit against the obama administration on behalf of congress. now he has decided to go ahead and do it. he is accusing the president of going around the law by using executive orders and it met says what he called afwresive unilateralism that could lead to "king-like authority." stay out. a stern warning from secretary of state john kerry. he urges other countries not to take action against insurgents in iraq saying it could worsen the country's sectarian turmoil. that turmoil is fuelled largely by isis, and there are new concerns about their next large scale attack. the "new york times" reporting terrorists are advancing on the country's second largest dam. it could cause floods. figures to the decision for older voters. cutting down to a five-day service could save the u.s. postal service about $1 billion a year. a tough moment for prince harry at an event for an at risk kids in brazil.

he reportedly cried when talking to two girls who lost their mother. the prince, of course, lost his own mother, princess diana, when he was 12. he told reporters he had never blubbed in public. courtney reaganan, good morning to you. >> well, good morning, richard. stocks rose on wednesday despite a report showing the economy performed even worse than previously thought in the first quarter. triggers are shrugging off the gdp numbers. look for data today on unemployment and spending. well, go pro goes public. the video camera maker prices its ipo at the top end of the expect yabt within range valuing the company at nearly $3 billion. it could be the largest consumer electronics ipo in decades, topping duracell in 1991. gm is telling dealers to stop selling the 2013 is and 2014 chevy cruze because of an

airbag issue. the driver's side airbag could have been installed with incorrect parts. gm could resume sales later this week. richard, back to you. >> thank you so much. struggling retailer barnes & noble closing the book on the nook. it is spinning off the digital book business, which has fierce competition from apple and amazon. that sent shares up 10%. homeless new yorkers say they were duped by an exsent rick chinese recycling sigh kuhn. he promised each of them $300 and a lunch at the boat shelter house. the guests walked away empty-handed, but they did get him hear him sing "we are the world" and get a meal. just ahead, a man wins $2,000 and one of the strangest soccer events you'll ever hear about. plus, giants pitcher tim works with his second career no-no. all your sports headlines next. geico's been helping people save money for over 75 years.

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this morning on "today" gm ceo mary bara for an exclusive interview. find out what she has to say about the millions of cars her company has recalled this year, and how she plans to turn it around. we take to you sports. that alleged bike, uruguay luis suarez is fighting back. he was a no show at practice.

maybe a little shy after his third time biting another player. then hoping to avoid a maximum two-year suspension. suarez's lawyer says the supposed bite was just "casual play." even saying it's a conspiracy losing opposing team has congered up. he says they are expected to side before saturday's game. one man taking -- swron than brack -- he bet $12 that suarez would bite at the world cup. odd. 175-1. the 24-year-old swede wins over $2,000. ghana's players say, hey, pay us now or who knows? we could strike. you see? bonuses normally paid after the tournament. teams get $8 million if knocked out in the current stage, so ghana's deputy sports minister says a portion of that, up to $3 million, is on its way to brazil. fifa is evaluating.

>> it looks like he has done it again. it is no hits. the san diego padres for the second time in two years. >> that, my friends, was only the second time in history a pitcher has twice no-hit the same team. san francisco giants pitcher tim lisocomb destroyed san diego. admittedly he passed his peak, some say, but admittedly, the last time this has happened, over a century ago. another moment in history, vanderbilt men's baseball wins the college world series for the first time. tied with virginia in the eighth inning. norwood gets a home run. he is in the history books for that. virginia cannot score losing to vandy 3-2. a long time coming after putting 73 players in the majors. vandy finally gets it.

to wimbledon. serena chases down a ball. gets close and personal, shall we say. on their way to a win. sfwlimplgts an upcoming must see event for all you 1990s kids. comedian seth roguen and -- >> north korea's leader thinks they did. find out why next. [ male announcer ] type 2 diabetes affects millions of us. and for many, it's a struggle to keep your a1c down. so imagine -- what if there was a new class of medicine that works differently to lower blood sugar? imagine...loving your numbers. introducing once-daily invokana®. it's the first of a new kind of prescription medicine that's used along with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. invokana® is a once-daily pill that works around the clock to help lower a1c. here's how. the kidneys allow sugar to be absorbed back into the body. invokana® reduces the amount of sugar allowed back in

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welcome back. heading out the door in the southwest. bring sunglasses with you. coastal clouds will keep you cool in san francisco today. 64. same thing in l.a. only about 6 77. still bringing showers there. the quick question we asked you is when will we get the sunshine? doesn't look like friday. still an on shore cool flow. as we head into the upcoming weekend, unfortunately, a little bit better on sunday. i'm hoping that we can break it to the sunshine, we would be in the 70s on monday, but, you know, we'll also maybe sunday. >> well, that's why the northwest is always so green. lots of wet stuff. now with entertainment news. may the odds ever be in your favor. just released the teaser for the last installment of the hunger games series featuring donald sutherland who plays evil president snow. >> if you resist the system -- if you fight against it, it is

you who will bleed. together as one. >> hang on a second. what's hero peter malark doing in the capital? >> are you a fan? >> i enjoyed number one. >> did you see number two? >> i did. not as much. >> not as much. >> with you? >> the first one exactly. >> total request live, an after school 1990s teen is back but just for one day. who is that? carson daley? no. a special episode will be aired of "trl." in honor of singer ariana grande whose single "problem" is number one. it was originally hosted by carson dal wr. it went off the air in 1998 after a ten-year run.

the duo infiltrates the country to sass nature its leader kim junk un. the stars don't seem to be bothered by pyongyang's claim that rogen tweet this people don't usually want to kill me for one of my movies until after they've paid $12 for it. it's a facts of life reunion. lisa, who played blair on the long-running sit comjust posted this picture with co-star charlotte ray, aka mrs. garrett, adding she gave me some good advice. just like old times. >> looks like ten years later for blair. >> i know. a fwret, great shot. age has been good to both of them. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day here on nbc. our new flatbread sandwiches may be flat... the flavors, are anything but. so whether it's taste inspired by the freshness of the mediterranean...

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leading the news, cops ban short skirts in russia after skirts get too short. russia's interior ministry is cracking down on rising hemlines. as for the high heels you see there, hey, they're okay. they're still part of the uniform there. on nbc news.com corvette museum decides to keep popular sinkhole. the sinkhole swallowed about eight classic cars in february. since then revenue is up 65%. that's why the kentucky museum is keeping a portion of the hole open. >> it's like artwork. >> it is an amazing thing of nature, though. some other stories we're following. overnight dozens were hospitalized at a boston concert. the boston globe reporting 36 people, many of them minors, were transported to hospitals. no reported deaths.

there are ongoing concerns about drug use at electronic dance events. the artist avicii tweeted "just hearing the awful nights about tonight a terrible thing. i really hope everyone is okay. my thoughts to those affected and their families. do older moms live longer? women who have children after age 33 were likely to outlive moms who had their child -- the last child before 30. a doctor says this does not mean you should wait to have kids to improve your chances. central florida, a manatee gets some help from beach goers. he got stuck on a disappearing island. manatees are also called sea cows which gives you an idea of how heavy that guy probably is, but they also -- >> sea girl. if to florida at some point in the wintertime and see them. >> they have this very welcoming look and feel to them. loo they're so rare. they're not many. they're peaceful, gentle giants. >> gentle giants is the word i was looking for. what do you get when you mix kites and surfing. kite racing. the annual african kite race

brings together some of the best competitors in the world and challenges them to battle in the sea and air vying for a $27,000 prize. day three of the five-day competition there starts later today. now a look ahead and a look back as americans get ready to hit the roads for independence day. triple-a planning to release its annual forecast. experts say the holiday weekend could be one of the busiest in years. gas prices haven't affected. prices are expected to reach their highest july 4th level in six decades. in six years. talking about years. 40 years ago today the supermarket scanner made its debut in ohio. a ten pack wrigley's juicy fruit gum costing 67 cents was scanned by a bar code. the unopened pack is on display at the smithsonian. happy birthday -- happy 40th to yankee derek jeter. mick jones, guitarist of the clash 59. for the entire early today team, have a great thursday and enjoy for the entire early today team, have a great thursday and enjoy the world cup.

from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." well good morning everyone, 4:30 on a thursday, i'm scott mcgrew. >> and it's close to friday, i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's take a live look outside this morning overlooking san jose. fresh and bright, roads are wet after overnight rain. time to check that microclimate weather forecast with christina loren. >> hey good morning to you, happy thursday, or friday eve as we like to call it around here. good-looking day shaping up. unusual to see this, but a fast moving batch of rain rolled through the bay area over the last three hours and there's more on the way. we're going to time the system out to your doorstep and let you know to expect shower activity