but i think the economy is the number one issue. >> thank you very much. you can find our big question and weigh in on the debate on good morning. coming up on "early today" -- terrible trouble in toledo where the water is still not safe to drink. from the west coast, california's battling torrential rains and mudslides in some areas, while in other parts of the state fire crews continue to battle 14 wildfires. promising updates for the american ebola patient and some controversial comments from donald trump on the whole matter. plus, rfk junior ties the knot with a hollywood starlet. a million bucks in loot stolen from a texas-size closet. "the guardians" ruled at the box office. monday, august 4th, 2014. "early today" starts right now. good morning.

i'm dara ban. a ban on drinking water in toledo, ohio, remains in effect this morning for a third day in a row. toledo's mayor announced just a short time ago that toxins are still in the drinking water after overnight testing. by the looks of this sample, a scary situation for 400,000 residents is far from over. nbc news' anne thompson has more. >> reporter: this is no way to spend a weekend. the city of toledo is under a state of emergency with no usable tap water. >> yesterday morning, you know, the individuals are coming from all over, different suburbs, different cities. >> reporter: nearly 500,000 people in and around the city all the way up to parts of neighboring michigan have tap water tainted by a toxin from lake erie. >> i'm concerned about doing the dishes, doing my laundry, taking a shower. >> reporter: safe water rolls into the area. the ohio national guard alone provided some 50,000 gallons of water. the national wildlife took journalists for a boat ride to see the source of the problem.

an algae bloom that one federal agency says is close to the intake valve for the area's water supply. the bloom is fueled by a farm and sewage treatment plants, a problem environmentalists say won't end with this crisis. >> there's a systemic challenge that we face in the great lakes but it's much bigger than this one crisis. and unfortunately, this crisis could just be the tip of the iceberg unless we begin to address it. >> reporter: residents are under order not to drink, wash dishes, brush their teeth, or give it to their pets, and not to boil it for use because that makes the toxin more concentrated and more harmful. that's because ingesting the toxin can cause vomiting, diarrhea and dizziness. it can also do serious damage to the liver. one more day lining up for water in what no one wants to become a late summer tradition. >> ann thompson reporting there. officials in neighboring chicago

are testing the city's drinking water as a precaution in case the toxins affecting lake erie affect the supply in lake michigan. none of this should be a surprise since just a month ago the national oceanic and atmospheric association predicted last month there would be another algae bloom late this summer. heavy rains and flash flooding are being blamed for this muddy mess in southern california this morning. and now more than 2,000 people remain stranded in their homes in two mountain towns as a result of mudslides and roads being blocked with rock and debris. crews also trying to reach a campground where as many as 500 children are trapped. one person is dead after pulled into a creek. and the storm dumped as much as 3 1/2 inches of water and caused the asphalt on interstate 10 to buckle and wash away. meantime, officials in northern california say a fast-burning wildfire destroyed eight homes and led to the evacuation of a

small long-term care hospital yesterday. it's one of 14 wildfires burning throughout the state, but more help is on the way. governor jerry brown who declared a state of emergency over the weekend has ordered two specialized planes from the national guard. altogether, the fires have consumed 183 square miles of timber and brush which were already parched by the state's historic drought. a certain american infected with the deadly ebola virus is expected to return to the united states monday. american missionary nancy writebol will be flown into the united states to emery hospital. both nancy writebol and dr. kent brantly were working in the same hospital in liberia when they contracted ebola. public health officials insist treating the two pose no health risk for the united states. other countries are on high alert because of the ebola outbreak. in the philippines the department of health is monitoring all airports and is

prepared to carry out quarantine measures if necessary. and real estate mogul donald trump is getting attention for his tweets about ebola. he tweeted "the u.s. cannot allow ebola infected people back. people that go to far-away places to help out are great, but must suffer the consequences." he also tweeted, "the fact that we are taking the ebola patients while others from the area are fleeing to the united states is absolutely crazy." in the middle east a seven-hour cease-fire that never got off the ground. israel called for it and backed it. hamas did not. the new call for calm came after a weekend of bloodshed both sides matching missile for missile with one dropping near a u.n. school. ten died in that attack.

>> we have notified the israeli army 35 times about the fact there were people at this shelter, this school. >> with international outrage growing over the number of dead, israel has begun to reel in its ground troops leading them away from populated areas. and in cairo the push for peace hit a snag. israel is now a no-show allowing egyptians to work with palestinian leaders. rescue operations continue this morning after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit southern china, killing at least 391 people. about 2,500 have been sent to the region, and the red cross is already headed to the site. power has been restored to 19,000 homes just this morning. and newly released aerial footage shows thousands of home destroyed by sunday's earthquake. so far, it's unknown how many people could be trapped under the rubble. a texas burglar scores big pulling off a $1 million heist in what else -- a closet.

this three-story closet belonged to a businesswoman, theresa roemer. it was the site of a professional job. the thief broke a window with a glass cutter. the man then left no fingerprints at the scene. she and her husband were out to dinner at the time. $80,000 rings and $150,000 watches were a few of the items taken. the closet made a splash around the web with some calling the 3,000-square foot space the largest closet in america. it was "camelot" meets hollywood over the weekend as robert f. kennedy jr. married actress cheryl hines of "curb your enthusiasm" fame. the ceremony was held at the iconic kennedy compound in hyannisport, massachusetts. rfk junior is the son of late robert f. kennedy. and guests included larry david, "seinfeld" actress julia louis-dreyfus, ethel kennedy. this is rfk, jr's third marriage

and cheryl hines' second. >> good for them. >> yes. now, a look at your monday weather, here's meteorologist jeannette calle. thanks for joining us today. >> i fwood to be here. i'm battling a cold, but it's great to be here on this monday morning. we expect to see more showers and thunderstorms across the interior sections of the west. the monsoon flow will continue to keep things quite active. we expect to see showers and thunderstorms anywhere from idaho down to utah, including nevada and northern sections of arizona. scattered showers and thunderstorms farther inland from billings down into albuquerque. l.a. partly to mostly sunny. meanwhile, it is warming up in seattle and portland. plenty of sunshine with high temperatures ranging about ten to 15 degrees above the normal. spokane, washington, really feeling the heat once again today. it is going to get a lot cooler later in the week in the pacific northwest there. >> i like that sunshine in

seattle. >> yeah. >> that's a look at y. especially in the afternoon. sacramento, a high of 91. and dara, while the rain is certainly welcome for the drought-stricken area, flash flooding will continue to be a big threat. >> thank you for that update, jeanette. the islamic militant group isis is back in the news after bloody and bold actions over the weekend. plus, a brazen smash and grab caught on tape. and a police stopped for speeding may have saved the passenger's life. you're watching "early today." t. setting up the perfect wedding day begins with arthritis pain and two pills. afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns... that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain...

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has died from a suspected drug overdose at a music fest. it happened at the mad decent block party. at one point 20 people were hospitalized. it's not known what drugs were used. inside iraq, the extremist islamic militants known as isis is grabbing more land. it has just taken over three kurdish towns boarding syria and turkey. they also seized a vital dam that provides power to the city. and an american jailed in cuba has reached his breaking point. alan gross has reportedly said good-bye to his family. he was arrested in 2009 for bringing banned internet to cuba. gross was sentenced to 15 years and since jailed, his health has spiraled. he's lost 100 pounds and cannot see out of his right eye. in houston, a smash and dash. thieves rammed a car into a verizon store. and the security cameras caught the crime but cops still haven't caught the thieves. in maine a cop turns into a lifesaver. it happened during a stop for speeding. >> dial 9 1!

hurry up! call an ambulance. >> the driver was in cardiac arrest. and the cop jumped into action. he began doing chest compressions. it wasn't working, so he grabbed a defibrillator. the 85-year-old driver finally responded and he is hospitalized and he is going to be okay. let's get down to business with cnbc's courtney reagan. good morning, courtney. >> well, good morning, dara. markets are coming off a down week. now, with new economic data today, but we will get reports on the services sector, trade deficit, and worker productivity. the u.s. government is reportedly los to deciding to continue to prohibit cell phone calls on planes. regulators are focused more on the disruptive effect of voice calls versus text, had they allowed on flights last we're. well, wal-mart wants to make your shopping experience more personal. a new feature on wal-mart.com let's customers see more items

they may like based on past purchases. the home page will also be customized with where you live with local weather and events. dara, back to you. >> thank you, courtney. gasoline prices are at their lowest average since 2010 according to price tracker gasbuddy.com. regular gas has dropped about 15 cents a gallon since july 4th, and the website predicts prices will continue to drop. paramount pictures scored big with "transformers: age of extinction" the first movie to earn $1 billion. general motors has begun accepting claims to a fund set up to help with deaths and injuries caused by the faulty swimpz. it has already accepted a $400 million charge to cover potential payment. the nfl's 2014 season gets underway. while rory roars back to the world's top spot. all that and the rest of your sports highlights. this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers... you know who you are...

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so it's no longer your grandma's 50. this week, "today's" hoda kotb is turning 5-0. "today" is celebrating all week long with some great advice. the special week-long series "this is 50" that's later on "today." football is back with a preseason hall of fame game between the giants and the bills. rough start in the first

quarter. bills rookie sammy watkins unable to connect with e.j. manuel, and giants quarterback eli manning is sacked on the second drive of the game. second quarter bills with the that short pass in the end zone to take the lead. and the 73-yard play to grab the win for the giants, 17-13. the nfl regular season kicks off on september 4th between the super bowl champions seattle seahawks and green bay packers. pharrell will perform pregame, and ariana grande will sing the national anthem. you can catch all the action right here on nbc. a tough weekend for pirates andrew mccutchen hit by a pitch in saturday's game. he leaves sunday game's early with left side discomfort after a game-time hit in the eighth. and the bad luck continues for the pirates tied at 2-2. pirates make it to play at second. and then go for the double play

at first but the runner bats down the throw. the diamondbacks would score a run during the play and the ump called the game. diamondbacks with a controversial 3-2 win. paul george begins his recovery after suffering a horrific leg injury during a scrimmage game on friday. nbc commissioner adam silver says he, quote, doubts this will make a major shift in the nba in international competition. and red hot rory mcilroy finished 15 under par to take home the title of the wgc in akron. tiger woods withdrew in the ninth hole after jarring his back during an abbing warred shot at the bunker. dale earnhardt jr. wins at pocono winning his first season sweep and the third win of the season. jeff gordon, though, leads in standings by 17 points. and a new record over the weekend, anthony brooks solved five rubik's cubes in 1 minute and 18 seconds. under water. he reportedly began training

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female. a buff chris pratt maybe has something to do with that. scarlett johansson's "lucy" earning $18 million. and the james brown biopic "get on up" in third with $14 million. spoiler alert. during a press conference friday megan fox was asked about the fact that in the new teenage ninja mute tant mute ant movies they were ail wrens. here's your chance to mute it. the turtles were, in fact, aliens. she said, "those people can't complain. they'll all go to the theater. they're going to love it." and if they don't love it, they can blank off and that's the end of that. and star of "the wire" and "12 years a slave" anwan glover was at a washington, d.c. nightclub early sunday morning when he was attacked and stabbed. his condition is not immediately known. what comes after a final "jeopardy!" tie. a rare sudden death "jeopardy!." that's where contestants earned the exact same amount resulting in a winner takes all one-question showdown. and during the filming of

the 2006 "blood diamond," this photo of leonardo dicaprio and nelson mandela was taken. however, when mandela tried to get an autographed copy to dicaprio got lost. and the owner found it. and said this is so special, after his passing i want it back. >> that is priceless. did you see the movie? >> loved it. >> good piece there. i'm dara brown. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc. kerri: kerri the sparkle® fairy here.

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leading the news on this monday morning from nbc sports, report says air force superintendent orders investigation into athletic department. it's after an investigation by the colorado spring gazette found cases of sexual assault, drug use and academic fraud. and in the huffington post, mysterious lake appears in the middle of tunisian desert. officials say the body of water seems to have emerged from the earth. one theory is that say tremor fractured a layer of rock holding an underground reservoir. >> here's a look at other stories we're following. according to german news weekly der spiegel, at least one other country's secret service listened in on secretary of state john kerry's phone calls that allegedly happened during peace talks with palestinians last year. and the man who filmed the deadly choke hold has been arrested. this video shows eric garner being placed in a choke hold by

a new york police officer went viral after he died. now the man who shot it 22-year-old ramsey orda has been arrested on gun charges. the tower of london turned red by a sea of poppies to commemorate the 100th anniversary of world war i. the art installation called blood swept land and seas of red featured 888,246 ceramic poppies. that is one for every british and commonwealth soldier who died during the conflict. a competitive august weekend, and here are three that we thought you should see. first up, american bartender shook his 47 competitors to their core and made the best cocktails. he earned the title bartender of the we're in london after a week-long competition. which one of these guys is dangerously hot? after consuming 14 increasingly spicy dishes, this man won germany's spicy food

competition. ouch. that's a tough one. this round outs our top three. men and women flex their muscle at the world handbag tossing championship. the winning group won for their distance and technique. now time for a look ahead and a look back. the inaugural u.s.-african leaders summit gets underway. secretary kerry is one of the speakers of the three-day summit that will focus on trade, security, and governance. the president of sierra leone and liberia are staying at home to deal with the ebola outbreak. happy birthday to nascar champion jeff gordon, who is 43. the commander in chief, president obama, he turns 53. law and order svu actor is 70. now, keep it right here for more news, weather, and sports. i'm dara brown with jeanette joining in. thanks for watching "today." have a great one.

from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." well good morning everyone, happy monday, 4:30 i'm scott mcgrew. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to, first, let's check the forecast. good morning. >> and good morning, interesting weather to talk about. that's not holding up to what you'd normally expect to see in august. we have a chance of showers from the east. right now rain in the sierra trying to creep over around tracy in the altamont pass. we had brief showers earlier this morning. that is a sign of things to come as the morning clouds break up. partly cloudy around midday. chance of showers especially up into the north bay. and increasing chance we could see thunder in the mix too. temperaturto