zimplt good morning. coming up on "early today." it's official. arthur is a hurricane that will impact beach goers in coastal towns from carolina to maine. >> we are taking the storm very seriously. i ask that all coastal residents and visitors do the same. there's a heightened state of alert for foreigners coming into the u.s. clashes continue as israel drags gaza. also, a bizarre turn of events as police dump this man from a wheelchair. scenes the u.s. economy is humming along on all cylinders. it is thursday, july 3rd. early today starts right now.

good morning. i'm dara brown. just a short time ago the national hurricane center announced that arthur is now a hurricane. this year's first. a larnl portion of north carolina's coast is under a hurricane warning, and ar high pressure is gaining power as it moves northward. this is what the storm looks like from the international space station. an astronaut tweeted it "looks mean." tara is in the outer banks that could take the biggest hit. good morning, sarah. are people taking this threat seriously? >> they are taking it seriously. yet, a lot of people not quite willing yet to give up on their holiday beach week. here at killdevil hills we're not under an evacuation order. a lot of joggers this morning. two neighboring islands it's a different story. one mandatory evacuation and one voluntary evacuation there. people are packing up their cars and hitting the road before things get really nasty.

now, right now, as i said, beautiful conditions. about 80 degrees out here, but it is sure going to change in just a few short hours. there are runs on supplies like batteries and lanterns. people were out in force swimming and grilling. enjoying one last full day of fun in the sun. >> you know, i have been coming here for the last 38 years of my life op the fourth of july on this fantastic vacation. i'm kind of bummed it's going to happen. >> i think it's going to be pretty big. going to have to evacuate soon. >> no storm is going to scare you guys away, huh? >> no, ma'am. >> spent the money already. we're going to stay and enjoy it. >> yeah. >> the hurricane is expected to deliver what is being tracked as a glancing blow here to the outer banks, but still, officials are urging people not to take things too lightly. in the words of north carolina's

governor, don't put your stupid hat on. pay attention to all warnings and cautions and stay out of the water. they're expecting very dangerous riptides mad to the extreme rains and winds. dara, it could be a recipe for disaster on this busy holiday week. back to you. >> thanks. stay safe down there. now we're going to turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins who is tracking the storm. >> sarah is located all wait back up here, so she's still pretty far away prosecute the center of the storm. the eye of the hurricane. it's a very weak hurricane. about as weak as they could possibly be. there's want a lot of rain on the western side, which is the land side of the storm system. the north carolina to the outer banks already seeing the first rain bands moving on shore. this is where the storm will have the most significant impact. we never give up on these storms. you know, you never know when they can flare up in a hurry. hopeful lit this one won't. it's so far been behaving. it's been forecast to be a low

end hurricane, and it's forecast to go into the outer banks for a couple of days now. the forecast has been excellent to this point. moving to the north at 9 miles per hour. it's about to accelerate. that's when the worst will be over areas of north carolina. in and out in a hurry. a glancing blow with rain. then our friends in canada and nova scotia expected to take a direct hit from the storm as we go through friday night. tighter security measures are expected to roll out at airports overseas because of growing instability in the middle east. the department of homeland security is concerned commercial aircraft heading into the u.s. could be the target of extremists who are now fighting syria. in an exclusive interview with msnbc's rachel maddow, homeland secretary jay johnson had this to say. >> we're tracking that population, and we're very concerned about it because there are extremists within the border of syria that would like to

indoctrinate these people and send them back to their home countries with a different purpose. we're having to spend a lot of time tracking these individuals, and we spend a lot of time talking to our foreign allies about the same problem. they're concerned about it as well. >> with increased security, passengers are likely to see more random patdowns, more screening of carry-on bags, more swabbing for explosive residue, and extra scrutiny of electronics. this will only affect select airports overseas. there was a day of violent clashes in the streets of jerusalem. palestinians are accusing israeli extremists of abduct and killing an arab teenager and burning his body beyond recognition. palestinians watched from behind improvised barricades. an nbc news crew, including foreign correspondent amman, was caught in the middle of it all. >> reporter: we are trapped hnd a car with other reporters. yelling at the israeli that is we are journalists as incoming

fire lands inches away. we try to get out of harm's way, but israeli soldiers take aim at us and order us back. >> the family of the palestinian teen is calling his death a revenge killing for three israeli teens whose bodies were found earlier this week. 3,800 acres, 1,000 firefighters, 380 buildings at risk. the wildfire that broke out in california yesterday is still going strong. residents of the wrar best mn for vineyards have been ordered to evacuate. several structures have been damaged. officials say the fire is 30% contained. brisk winds that blew the flames northeast are causing concerns of an even bigger blaze. luckily, firefighters on the scene have slowed it down some. in the face of thousands of emgrants, their fate remains unclear. families were welcomed by activists in san diego. local charities collected food, water, and toys. it was a different scene in marietta, california. three busloads of immigrants had

to be turned away after being blocked by protesters. the mayor alan long says the city feels like it's being dumped on. texas congressman henry is stressing the dollar sign attached to the immigration crisis. >> in the last 60 days that's a $4.3 billion request to help with this crisis. this is a crisis that's going to get very expensive. >> so far republicans have refused to pass a senate immigration reform bill. democrats say inaction in congress will only intensify the problem along the southern border. more buses carrying immigrants are scheduled to arrive in marietta on friday. police are preparing for more protesters. new jersey governor chris christie has vetoed a state gun bill that would ban ammunition blag magazine zeens with more than ten rounds. christie returned it to the

legislature, and instead asked that the focus of the bill change to mental illness. in his message he wrote, "mass violence will not end by changing the number of bullets load into a gun. it will end with a serious commitment to elevating our response to mental illness." sxwlirchlgts this is what it looked like here in new york city last night. a strong storm pushed through the city bringing these incredible lightning strikes. nbc bill karins has another look at the weather. >> a lot of airport delays up and down the i-95 corridor. that had a ripple affect yesterday. in this west we actually had rain yesterday in the intermountain west. vegas had another very hot day. 111 yesterday. 100 in boise too. we did cool it off slightly in the northwest. we had a front move through. there's not a lot of rain out there at this hour, about the it will flare back up again m afternoon. starting to get a little monsoonal flow.

over the rain the next 36 hours the arizona region and also portions of northern new mexico with a chance of very light rainfall. it's about time we started getting them into their weather pattern that they're used to this time of year. we did get enough moisture in the late afternoon. a lot of those storms don't have a lot of -- the lightning can cause additional wildfires. hopefully we can prevent that. still very cool, l.a. to san s. 93 today. warm in red bluff at 102. we won't touch the temperatures too much this week. we've been going leak this with the deal in the west. up and down. it's going to be consistent through the holiday weekend. i'll have more for you coming up. the vaticans do take on exor

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welcome back. the iraqi government is stepping up after the militant takeover. fighter jets conduct hundreds of air strikes on isis controlled areas. president al-maliki called on his country to rise up against isis calling amnesty to anyone who does. firefighters in vermont scrambled to put out a house fire caused by lightning. then it struck twice. while they were there, a second bolt zapped the area. seven of them were taken to the hospital. they're all expected to be okay. a policeman in indiana is being punished for this. topping a paraplegic in a wheelchair. in october the cops had asked him to leaf school property because he told employees he had a gun.

in doing so he ran over the officer's foot. the policeman pushed him and will now serve a 30-day suspension. the vatican is now officially acknowledging the international association of exorcists. it's made up of 250 priests across 30 different countries. they aim to expel demons from the faithful. this video of a japanese politician bursting into tears is going viral. the politician is accused of misusing funds. in the video he is seen sobbing, yelling, and banging his fists on the table. he tried to apologize for his role in the expense scandal. now it is time to get down to business with cnbc's morgan brennan. good morning, morgan. thanks. hiring is expected to have remained strong for if the fifth straight month in june. we get the jobs report today. the forecast calls for companies to have added 215,000 jobs which will mark the fifth consecutive month of gains above 200,000. unemployment expected to hold at

6.3%. meanwhile, gm will soon start offering high speed internet service in all of its cars. the wi-fi options will let users link up to seven phones, laptops or other devices to the web, and customers will have to pay $10 a month for 200 megabytes of data. americans will be chowing down on a lot of food this july 4th. the national retail federation estimates consumers will spend $ 6.2 billion. $68 on burgers, snacks, and other items. back to you. >> thanks, morgan. just ahead, the president talked to america's most popular athlete, and the rest of your sports highlights. that's straight ahead. does in a day is building up layer, upon layer, upon layer of bacteria. and to destroy those layers? you need listerine®. its unique formula penetrates these layers deeper than other mouthwashes, killing bacteria all the way down to the bottom layer.

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this morning on "today" hear from troubled toronto mayor rob ford. just days after leaving rehab, he speaks out about his substance abuse and whether he plans to run again. that's later on "today." now let's get to the latest in sports. my good friend, betty. >> good morning. president obama talked to the members of the u.s. men's soccer team. >> how is it going? >> good morning, mr. president zoosh i just want to call to say you did us proud. >> he spoke with captain clint

dempsey and tim howard to congratulate them on the world cup. he even had add veez for howard when he gets back. >> i don't know how you are going to survive the mobs when you come back home, man. you're just going to have to shave your beard so they don't know who you are. >> well, the german making sfwleen that a world cup match between cameroon and croatia may have been fixed. fifa is asking the magazine to provide all of its conversations with a match fixer. the "new york times" obtained a confidential report by fifa and found that matches were fixed prior to the 2010 world cup, but fifa has been monitor and doubts that the fixing has gone on with this world cup. last year's wimbledon champion went down. dmitrov will face novak

djokovic. roger federer defeated a physical low swiss player. this will be his 35th major in his career. check out this foul ball made at the detroit-oakland game there. a vendor actually grabs it, yes, with his bucket. check that out again. luckily, he didn't charge for it. he actually gave it to a young fan. not bad for sportsman-like conduct. back to you. plus, a full house wedding with all the fixings. up next. would you consider a 4-star hotel that's up to 60% off,

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let's talk the fun stuff. let's talk about that fourth of july forecast in the west. fireworks, barbecue forecast. maybe a gray forecast. we are looking at a few chances of showers today in arizona. it's pretty much going to be a similar scenario as we go into your fourth. temperatures are pretty much average for this time of year. a little warmer than normal. boise and salt lake city. everyone else is pretty much where we should be for this time of july. we will see a chance of mother nature's fireworks, but not a lot. wrarz from the northwest will be very comfortable too. 73 in seattle. coolish there in san francisco. then as we get into the start of your holiday weekend on saturday, we're actually looking very quiet. we get rid of that thunderstorm threat there in the southwest. i don't see any reason why anyone's prad, barbecue, or fireworks should have any impact whatsoever at all. >> thank you very much. now for entertainment news.

big wedding news for two stars. david arquette is engaged to girlfriend christina mccarty with whom he has a 2-month-old son, charlie west. the news comes days after his ex announced her engagement to johnny mcdade. john stamos and -- uncle joey tied the knot to long-time girlfriend melissa. chris martin is writing the official anthem for prince harry's new charity. a paralympics style competition for injured service men. see the resemblance here? >> not bad, right? >> not bad at all. >> he is playing legendary richard pryor in an upcoming biopick. he has been growing out the facial hair, and he has been chain smoking, he says. pryor died in 2010 from a heart attack. >> the voice will be the hard part. >> he will do great.

sharknado is back. sharknado 2, the second one, airs on sci fi july 30th. russia says no to a request by netflix house of cards producers to film at the u.n. security council in new york. the kremlin says it wanted to keep the room available in case of emergency. all other members of the counsel and the office of secretary general had approved the request. >> are they planning an emergency? >> no, but if everybody else agreed -- >> maybe they saw the script, and there's anti-russian in there. >> did they get it over there? we'll have to see. i'm dara brown. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc. ♪

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a telegraph. one armed german man fined for having only one hand brake on his bicycle. authorities later apologized and reimbursed him three months later. the german law requires two hand brakes. love rat publicly outed by lovers with banner over motorway. steven fraser, you're dumped by both your girlfriends. it hung from a bridge in the u.k., and it was easily seen by thousands of commuters. that's better than a text message, right? in other stories we're following. we're learning more about a death following an on field assault by a soccer player in michigan. police released this 911 call just minutes after the incident. >> we also need an ambulance. the referee is knocked out. he is not waking up. >> what did they hit him with?

>> his fist. >> with his fist? okay. >> yeah in the middle of the game. >> i'm getting him on the way. okay? >> the suspect is currently in county jail. doctors say one of the 12-year-old girls accused of stabbing a friend is not competent to stand trial. she was reportedly trying to impress a fictional character called the flander man. the victim was stabbed 19 times, but luckily survived. a horse jockey in florida is charged with resisting arrest. the dash cam caught it all on video. he couldn't produce proper paperwork, and that's when the car accelerated. the jockey said he was just trying to get out of the roadway. just in time for the fourth of july. the declaration of independence and the bill of rights will soon leave the states for a visit to england. the british library will display them long side the magna carta. they do have to give them both back.

all aboard. thomas the tank engine in central japan, a steam engine was given a makeover, and it debuted as the memorable tank. children hopped on board for a test run. thomas will run through a railway, which is often taken for sightseeing. >> i thought it was just like a thing in the u.k. or here in the states. i didn't realize thomas was a worldwide attraction. >> yeah. well, it started in england and came over here and now -- it's now time for a look ahead and a look back. contestants of nathan's hot dog eating contest will have a weigh-in today. joey chestnut has the record set last year of the 69 hot dorgz. happy birthday to owe live wra munn who is 34. tom cruise is 52. montel williams turns 58. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today." have a good one.

from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." well good morning everyone, 4:30 i'm scott mcgrew, last day of your workweek. >> northeast likely. and i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning, let's check the forecast with christina loren. she's here bright and early. >> sounds like you two are pretty eager to get this day in the books. i can tellout it's going to be nice this weekend, and yeah the fourth of july, can you believe it's already tomorrow? 57 degrees in san francisco. 58 in mountain view and we're kicking off your day at 57 degrees this morning in san jose. now we do have dooming clouds out there, clinging to the coast, and standing inland as we speak. this is actually a live look at pavk ka where we can make out the structu