good morning. coming up on "early today" -- it's the world's biggest hack job. over a billion computer users passwords exposed. who's behind it all? a new nbc news/wall street journal poll shows how politics impacts our daily lives. >> the latest on the assassination of america's highest ranged military officer since 1970. >> plus could you work in this beach scene environment. >> the big crash at the crossroads of the world and a hotel unlike any other. it is wednesday, august 6th. "early today" starts right now. and good morning. i'm richard lui. it's the biggest cyber heist in

history. a russian crime ring has swipe ed 1.2 billion user names and passwords. the cyber thieves hit up 400,000 websites in and out of the u.s. it gets worse here. 542 million e-mail addresses also grabbed. the hackers targeted fortune 500 sites and everything in between. they used bot nets or zombie computers to do that. this crime spree was international but a milwaukee security firm caught it. the 3-year-old hacking group has no apparent link to the russian government. there was a sliver of good news to tell you, though. the stolen information has not been sold yet. instead the thieves are using it to send spam to places like twitter and collect a fee along the way. looks like your retirement account could take another hit this morning after the dow slid again tuesday. renewed jitters over russia and ukraine are to blame. the dow falling nearly 140

points, closing at 16,429, the lowest drop since may. the s&p lost 18, the nasdaq 31. russia reportedly now has 20,000 troops sitting on ukraine's doorstep. the border bulk up comes after russia was hit with tougher sanctions. all those concerns hitting the dow and markets. news on one of the last votes of the primary season winding down. tuesday kansas senator pat roberts beat out tea party challenger milton wolf in the state's republican primary. the closely watched race tested the ability of republicans against establishment candidates. to that effect senator roberts had a message for his party during his victory speech. >> republicans in kansas and nationally cannot afford the kind of interparty fratricide we have seen recently. we cannot afford a fractured party. the stakes are just too high. >> republican congressman kerry

bentivolio is now the third sitting member of congress to lose in a primary this year. the freshman congressman lost to dave trot by a two-to-one margin. another political dynasty, debbie dingell wife of outgoing congressman john dingell won in michigan. if they wins the general election she will become the third consecutive dingell to hold the seat. in missouri voters turned down a new measure to create a lottery ticket to fund veteran programs. a poll shows americans unhappy with washington in particular. one pollster calls this the summer of our discontent. the president and congress in the dog house here. tracie potts is in washington. how big of a dog house are we talking about here? >> pretty big and a lot of people in it too. it is packed if you look at the poll, richard. take a look at some of the results, 79%, eight in ten, almost eight in ten americans say they're dissatisfied, fed up

with the u.s. political system, seven out of ten think our economic problems are a result of the elected officials here in washington not getting the job done. we looked at approval ratings. president obama's sank to a new low. it's at 40%. however, that was higher than democrats as a group, republicans as a group, wall street, a number of other world leaders, domestic leaders, and, of course, congress which is at 14%. finally, some people were so frustrated, almost six in ten said they would be willing to carry a sign expressing what they're frustrated about and those signs run the gamut. some of them said impeach obama, others said democrats and republicans, do your job, close the borders. that was another one, immigration has been in the news a lot lately and as we look forward to november and the november elections it's not really one issue people seem to be coalescing around. republicans have a little bit of an edge, but not much going into

that election. >> you know, one thing that just came in here, i got a wire here, tracie potts, a new poll shows you have a high favorable rating though. >> why didn't we lead with that? that would have been great. >> next time we'll do that. >> tracie potts, thank you so much as always. new this morning for you, another insider attack in afghanistan. unfortunately to tell you about. an afghan police officer at a checkpoint reportedly turning on his colleagues killing seven there, in addition to the two-star general killed in tuesday's insider attack in afghanistan. major general harold greene is the highest ranking u.s. military official killed in combat since the vietnam war. known as harry to his family and friends, general greene was in charge of training the afghan national security forces. the new york native leaves behind his wife, a son in the army and a daughter who just graduated from college. here's greene's friend, retired army colonel gregory fields. >> he's always willing to help soldiers. that's what i always liked about

harry. he he wanted the best equipment and systems for them to go into battle with. >> the attack happened at this military training academy in kabul. major greene was on a routine visit there. witnesses say a lone gunman wearing an afghan military uniform entered and opened fire with an assault rifle. more than a dozen u.s. and coalition troops were injured. breaking overnight, a big get in the middle east. it involves the kidnap and killing of the three israeli teens. the suspected ring leader behind it has been grabbed. the 40-year-old man from hebron reportedly confessed. he said he was paid by hamas. meanwhile for a second day, the skies over gaza and israel were silent. the cease-fire apparently working, but on the ground a harsh reality. look at that. so much damage. the cost in gaza alone close to $6 billion. inside the battle zone, all israeli troops are now gone. also gone, 32 terror tunnels used by hamas. in cairo, long-term peace talks will intensify today.

israelis, palestinians and members of hamas will be involved in that. so you know she had no ticket, bypasses airport security, gets on the plane undetected, well nbc bay area says marilyn hartman snuck on a southwest san jose to los angeles flight while in the air attendants became aware of hartman. when it landed law enforcement was waiting for her. she's tried this at least a half dozen times before. this time she got caught. after a teen months ago snuck into a wheel well at the same san jose international airport. double trouble for hawaii residents as hurricane iselle and tropical storm julio head toward the island. locals are stocking up. iselle is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm before hitting land. it's a rare event for a state only hit by 8 named storms since the 1950s. now for a look at the national weather here's ja neth caya. >> good morning. >> that's a new thing to happen.

>> the reason why because we typically this time of the year, storms will move west ward from mexico and we are tracking these two storms and conditions are less favorable here for the storms to continue to head towards hawaii, but it looks like these two are really holding on to their strength. we have hurricane iselle and julio, julio becoming a hurricane. iselle looks to hit the big island as late as thursday and julio could hit the hawaiian islands into the weekend. we're going to keep an eye on that. thunderstorms will be a problem, flash flood watches and warnings out for northern nevada and southern idaho. flooding again will be a major concern across the interior west. that's a look at your national orecast.

especially in the afternoon with a high of 75. san diego, a high near 77. and that's your wednesday forecast. richard, we are going to keep a very close eye on the two systems in the pacific but we can't forget about the storms across the interior west that will bring an official rain and flash flooding. >> not a good thing to hear about. thank you. what might be a first, the donald wants the trump name removed from some properties. plus, hillary's surprise guest appearance on stephen colbert. the california wildfires are about to get a whole lot tougher to put out. all of that. you're watching "early today" coming up. [ female announcer ] how do you eat your eggo? ♪ you can start with the syrup, pour it on top, maybe not ♪ ♪ apple chunks and cinnamon and honey if you got ♪ ♪ bring on the chocolate spread ♪ ♪ somethin' green, somethin' blue, somethin' orange, somethin' red ♪ ♪ ham and egg, tomato sandwich ♪ cut it nice and do some damage ♪ ♪ cream cheese, pomegranate ♪ make it look like jack or janet ♪ ♪ x's and o's and a tic tac toe ♪ ♪ you can fill in the holes, let the syrup flow, yeah ♪ ♪ stack it, snack it, maybe you can bend it ♪ ♪ you can slice it up and dice it up ♪ ♪ and big it up and friend it [ female announcer ] there are millions of ways to eggo! try one of our fun recipes on facebook... and eggo your way!

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no! no! >> i learned that from george lucas. >> funny stuff. welcome back. man versus nature in california, more than 1100 firefighters battled two major blaze blazes, scorched 28,000 acres and destroyed 8 homes already. nbc's miguel almaguer got a bird's eyeview with the fire chief. >> we're literally only in the first week of august. we have a long fire season ahead. >> a bird's eye view of the fire and it's aftermath. >> when the fire hit this hillside it took off like a blow torch. just around the bend here there is more fuel to be burned. it was a double decker demolition. two busses colliding in new york's times square, 14 injured, three seriously. the bustling area gets an estimated quarter of a million people passing through each day. video of that burglar who looted a million dollars in designer

items from a home closet, lights off, gloves on, the suspect moved around the 3,000 square foot room. the owner told the houston chronicle it looked like the person was going shopping. no fingerprints were caught anywhere in what some call the largest closet in america. free taliban prison sergeant bowe bergdahl will meet with an army general today, part of the investigation of his disappearance after five years in captivity. let go in a prison swap in may. let's get down to business with courtney reagan. good morning to you. >> good morning. rupert murdoch pulls his $80 billion to buy time warner. he said time warner's board refused to discuss the deal even though the offer was compelling. apple reportedly set to unveil the new iphone september 9th. the company traditionally shows off its latest model in the fall. the iphone 6 expected to come in two versions with a 4.7 inch or

5.5 inch screen. amazon is expanding same day delivery to more cities, new york, philadelphia, baltimore, washington, indianapolis and dallas. you can order as late as noon and get things delivered the same day. am ma zon prime members pay 5.99 for unlimited delivery. everyone else pays 9.98 for the first item and 99 cents for each additional item. all about being first to deliver these days. back to you. >> it's all in the delivery. thank you. other business headlines, donald trump is suing to have his name removed from two atlantic city casinos he once controlled. the donald wants trump plaza and the trump taj mahal which has fallen on harder times to drop his name. a snowflake shaped floating glass hotel. a netherland's developer plans to open the 86 bedroom luxury hotel called crystal. it will offer guests amazing views of the northern lights from their beds. what about privacy?

and one japanese company has created a beach atmosphere complete with two tons of sand and the sounds of waves crashing on the shore. a 3d projector helps complete the scene that offers employees a serene feeling to help them be more productive. maybe not. just ahead, "sports illustrated" ranks the fittest male athletes. who's number one. two cyclists trade blows and have to be separated in the middle of a race. sports is next. is coming up... have agreed to... kid for a night. so we can finally get some sleep. the hotel has to be right. you can get a 4-star hotel for up to 60% off, even at the last minute. in the neighborhood where we wanna go? yes. you just won't the name until after you book. hmm. ooh. definitely. it's all about sleep. it's not all about sleep. yeah, well, for me it is. lucky me. ♪

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this morning on "today," it's a supermarket showdown in boston. why thousands of employees are rallying together after their company's ceo was ousted. to the latest in sports. a case of two not being better than one. cleveland hit deep into right field, ball bounces off the wall, just to confuse things in comes an overthrown ball from the bull pen. both balls coming in the same direction. the runner is safe on second, but a confused runner on third, caught off the bag. the play stands. cincinnati goes on to beat cleveland, 9-2. another bizarre moment in chicago, down 15-0 in the ninth to texas, the chicago white sox summon slugger adam dunn to what? to pitch. this is not what he does. information, in his first ever pitching appearance, he finished with one walk, two hits and a run earned. not so bad.

the biogenesis founder was arrested and will agree to plead guilty for distributing steroids to athletes. more than a dozen pro players have been connected to the anthony bosh clinic. yankees alex rodriguez is serving his one-year suspension as well as nearly 20 florida high school students. bosh will cooperate with the investigation which means more players could be named. "sports illustrated" ranked the 50 fittest male athletes. voted on by "si" rioters and editors. at number one, do you agree, king james, scoring a perfect 40 out of 40. scoring perfect tens on four criteria, speed, strength, agility and endurance. soccer star cristiano ronaldo and speed ster usain bolt, boxing great may weatherer and dez bryant finish it out. >> this is obviously a huge opportunity but again it is basketball and, you know, so i'm very confident in that area. >> six-time wnba all-star becky hammon, now assistant coach with

the reigning champs, san antonio spurs. ham mon is first woman to be hired in the full-time paid coach in the nba. and to a crash at the race. or rather the fight after or during. one right-hand punch and then another right-hand punch by sports bystanders i think i rank it in the school-yard fight category. both were suspended by the way. just ahead, new rumors about a replacement for craig ferguson on "the late late show." daredevils are jumping from one of the most stunning places in the country. why some want it banned, though. you're watching "early today." huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know the great wall of china wasn't always so great? hmmm...what should we do?

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here is what everyone is talking about. big celebrity gossip. it's rumored that kim kardashian and paris hilton ended their so-called feud after eight years. and then john kerry said, man, that was rough, now on to the middle east. here we go. one down and one to go. >> oh if it were only that easy. well, when craig ferguson steps down from "the late late show" rumor has it james corden will take over there. before you ask who is that, cordon is a tony award-winning actor who starred in such films as "the history boys" "gullivers" travels and "begin again." i was going to ask, who is that. may be the final curtain call of the house of blues.

the building is going to be demolished in 2015 and replaced with a complex consisting of hotels and condos. it looks like "the office" is making a comeback. ricky gervais will reprise his character from the british version of the comedy to are star in a film starting production next year. visitors to universal studios will get to experience a battle of a lifetime. get to travel through the alien versus predator maze during the theme park's annual halloween horror nights. the force will be strong with disney next year. it announced tuesday a greater presence of the "star wars" franchise will be felt in its theme parks. no complaints on that one. i'm richard lui. this is early "today," we hope the first stop of your day, right here on nbc. i'm always talking with my hands so they have to look their best... new revlon colorstay gel envy™ a revolution in modern nail enamel. now, in just two steps, i get what i want.

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leading the news from the associated press, aid group, americans with ebola, weak but improving. the husband of nancy write bol says their family was once considering funeral arrangements but now feel cautiously optimistic. 59-year-old writebol was flown from liberia to emory university yesterday. thrill seekers pushing the limits at some of the most stunning places in the country in utah daredevils are flying across one popular tourist attraction. this puts knots in my stomach. some saying this dangerous activity should be banned. here's jacob ras kohn, more on this high-flying feat. >> reporter: they have always been the stunning centerpiece of utah's canyon country. but now, moab's majestic arches are a daredevil's dream.

this youtube video posted two years ago, is credited with fueling these extreme rope swinging craze. it's had 23 million views so far. and has made this 140-foot free fall one of the country's most popular stunts. >> that first step, it really takes your breath away. you want to scream, but it won't come out. >> reporter: despite efforts to keep rope swinging safe, three people have died here in the last two years, including kyle stocking, killed when he miscalculated the distance to the sandstone floor. the bureau of land management is also concerned about the daring rope swings turning deadly and is considering a ban. their plan is to close the arch for two years to rope sport whils they study whether it is safe and has a negative impact on the arch itself. the debate over access to this fran gill land pits its caretakers against thrill seekers everywhere. jacob rascone, nbc news, moab,

utah. 133 feet. >> would you do it? >> no, i would not. >> come on, richard. >> i'm scared of heights. i started climbing so i could kind of train myself to handle heights like that. forget about it, not on a rope. >> i am too but i would give that a try. i wouldn't do skydiving but probably give that a try. the scenery helps. >> you do 15 ropes what is you would do. a look ahead, three federal appeals judges will hear same-sex marriage cases from four states. appeals from ohio, michigan, kentucky and tennessee. many observers believe the issue will end up in the u.s. supreme court. happy birthday to punky brewster, sew lay moon fry, 38. six sense writer, director m. knight sham milan turns 44 and ten-time hall of famer david robinson. mr. robinson is 49 years old. no shorter, though. keep it here for sports, weather. i'm richard lui and the entire "early today" team, thanks for

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from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." well, good morning, everyone. it's 4:30. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning. let's first check the forecast with meteorologist rob mayeda in for christina. >> seeing light rain. wet roads around san francisco. and the radar shows fast moving line of mainly light showers are from north to south, down the peninsula, passing san mateo into palo alto, los altos, sprinkles towards east bay, near 680 through the tri-valley, west out to castro valley. line from north to south. towards afternoon,