it's tuesday, july 21st. coming up on "early today," one of the most influential newspapers in election politics calls on donald trump to pull the plug on his sideshow. but new poms show just the opposite. and beyond the political heat our planet just smashed temperature records for the past month and first half of the year. new details surrounding the chattanooga shooting. did others know beforehand? and a surfer who escaped a shark attack speaks out. and ashley madison hacking. a major country music break up and so much more. "early today" starts right now. good morning everybody and thank you for joining us on this tuesday. donald trump seems to be

taking a step back on kerry's senator john mccain's war hero status. to be clear he's still unapologetic in an interview. trump offered this compliment to john mccain. >> i'm going to say this. i have respect for senator mccain. i used to like him a lot. i supported him. raised a lot of money for his campaign. and certainly if there was a misunderstanding i would totally take that back. but and hopefully i said it correctly and shortly thereafter i said it correctly. >> trump is blaming the media for the whole controversy, he's reiterating, he does think john mccain is a war hero and that's what he meant over the weekend. well, here are some of trump's original comments so you can judge for yourself. >> somebody should run against john mccain who has been, in my opinion, not so hot and i supported him for president. i raised a million dollars for him. that's a lot of money. he lost, he let us down.

so, i never liked him so much after that because i don't like losers. he's not a war hero. he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people who weren't captured, i hate to tell you. he was a war hero because he was captured and perhaps he's a war hero but right now, he said a lot of bad things about a lot of people. >> this morning the biggest newspaper in iowa is calling for trump to drop out of the presidential race. in an editorial, it called trump to pull the plug on his bloviating sideshow the "des moines register." writing he has polluted the political waters to such an extent that serious candidate said can't get their message across to voters. >> and new york mayor bill de blasio said they're not looking

to do any business with them going forward. and trump isn't just treeding water, he's surging. a new poll has him first among candidates with a double-digit margin over second-place scott walker. it shows trump is not losing any steam. although california suffering from an historic drought, the rain over the past few days was too much, too fast. all time rainfall records for the month of july set in los angeles, and san diego and a dozen other cities. nbc's halle jackson has details. >> reporter: the record breaking storm slamming the west are triggering flash floods, like the one that wiped out an interstate bridge near palm springs. another flooded homes near san diego. >> the mud was coming through right here. >> the storms stranding cars shutting down l.a. beaches, and

for the first time in ages, the angels baseball game. >> they haven't had a rain-out in 20 years. baby raccoon, their home wiped away, forced to ride out the weather somewhere dry. more rain this month than san diego has seen the last 100 julys. >> it's california it never rains this bad here. the rain is helping firefighters in southern california, now getting a handle on the 400 acre blaze. that torched 20 cars in the kahone pass. but overall, the double whammy is leaving stretches of burn zones where the land was so dry, water rushes right off. making mudslides more likely. another risk from wet weather like the west coast hasn't seen in decades. >> that was halle jackson reporting. meteorologist bill karins has more on the record-breaking heat just ahead. this morning we're learning more details about the gunman who opened fire at two military facilities in chattanooga, tennessee. there's no official motive for the shooting.

a family representative tells nbc news that mohammad youssuf abdulazeez battled depression since childhood, fought substance abuse and wrote about child abuse in a journal. investigators are looking into whether two of the gunman's acquaintances knew about the attack. before it happened. authorities released new video from the county jail where sandra bland was found hanged to death in her cell. the video shows a female attendant checking on bland and running to tell an officer what she had found. other officers go to check on the cell and later an ems crew arrives. bland was in jail following a controversial traffic stop. she was found dead three days later. the texas district attorney says the probe into bland's death will be treated as a murder investigation. her death has been labelled as suicide but family asking for a independent autopsy. and we're hearing from the pro surfer who fought off a shark attack. mick fanning was in the waters

off south africa when a shark came right up behind him. the whole ordeal was captured live on television. fortunately, he was not hurt. and he talked about it back home in australia. >> i don't have a scratch on me. more of an emotional, mental, sort of trauma right now. >> it will probably take i don't know a couple weeks, month, i don't know how long it's going to take. but i'm lucky to have really good people around me and friends to pick me up. >> fanning described the situation as a moment of fight or flight. he said he's thankful he'll be able to get back in the water at some point and do what he loves. what does it take to escape from prison? convicted murderer david sweat is telling investigators how he and richard matt were able to break out.

according to sweat, he spent months going through tunnels every night and searching for a route that would leave outside. he and matt did manage to escape from the clinton correctional facility in june. they were on the run for three weeks. matt was shot and killed by a federal agent and sweat was recaptured by federal law enforcement. internet infidelity and inside job, this morning, a possible connection with those three as there could be a suspect in the mass hacking of ashleymadison.com. an online group said they stole the private information of millions of users, people they call dirt bags. it's a side for people looking for adult rouse relationships. it's the second largest paid dating internet site. their motto "like is short, have an affair." the ceo of ashley madison's parent company said they may know the hacker. the alleged culprit is not an employee but they had been involved with their technical services.

. a chaotic start to fifa president's sepp blatter's first public appearance in the wake of a corruption scandal. a british comedian crashed blatter's press conference on monday. take a look at this. >> excuse me. sorry. >> we're having a press conference. >> it's my security. come on. >> here we go sepp. the protester told bladder that money was for north korea's bid for the world cup in 2026. they said that the election to have a new fifa president will be held in february. nbc meteorologist bill karins has your forecast. >> it's all about the heat and the numbers, we is have a big heat wave coming to the middle of the country and are adding up the numbers for the past six months. noaa said this past june was easily the hottest june we've

ever seen and we're still on pace for the hottest year ever. you can see in june it was very hot in areas of the west coast. the only spots that were cooler in the blue there, in the north atlantic. let me take tout next event we expect these summer heat waves, we're about to get a pretty big one. we've had a mild one going. we haven't been shattering record highs, but it's been warm and the heat index has been 105-110. savannah, 108, dallas about 106. that stays hot and the heat dome is going to intensify over this region. it will build a little further west and then it's going to pump up the humid air. areas like st. louis that haven't had a hot summer are going to get very hot. everyone is going to be 10-15 degrees above normal. friday 105, wichita, 105 little rock. that's pretty hot. on saturday we jump to 109 in st. louis. 107 in shreveport. and it looks like the next event will peak on sunday.

shreveport could be 114 at 4:00 p.m. on sunday. all the way up to st. louis at 109. the middle of the country, feel for them they're about to see thei hot, a little cooler today, around 99 degrees. and with a full-fledged el nino going, maybe going to get stronger through the winter? this year will easily be hottest year we've ever seen. one of the world's most brilliant design tists is now on the search for extra-terrestrial life. plus how much are americans willing to pay for their favorite truck? that people think i'm a big deal. and boy, are they right. ladies, i can share hundreds in savings with all of you!

just visit progressive.com today. but right now, it's choosing time. ooh! we have a winner. all: what? [chuckles] he's supposed to pick one of us. this is a joke, right? that was the whole point of us being here. headache? motrin helps you be an unstoppable, let's-rock-this-concert- like-it's-1999 kind of mom. when pain tries to stop you, there's motrin. motrin works fast to stop pain where it starts. make it happen with new motrin liquid gels.

prep trauma unit 5. what've we got? bp 64/40 sterilize sites. multiple foreign objects in the body. tweezers. (buzz!) (buzz!) if you're the guy from the operation game, you get operated on. it's what you do. (buzz!) if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance you switch to geico. it's what you do. stories making news this morning. u.s. secretary of defense ashton carter met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu

earlier today, on the agenda is the multination nuclear agreement with iran. net netanyahu has been fiercely against any deals with iran. in "time" magazine see what jfk's new extravagant pet terminal will look like. >> it is dubbed the arc and will be able to service 70,000 animals every year. there's a pool for dogs and multiple stables for your horses. >> in los angeles, police find 1200 guns and two tons of amo where a body was found dead in a car parked down the street. officials have investigating his death and whether or not his guns were link dodd any crimes. massachusetts police are putting up 84 billboards throughout the state in an effort to identify baby doe. her body was discovered in a bag in boston harbor. famous physicist, steven

steven hawking is on a mission to communicate with aliens. his breakthrough listen project will involve sweeping the skies for signals from possible extra-terrestrial civilizations, a russian billionaire will fund the 10-year initiative. good morning to you. ford is betting consumers will pay up for high-end pick-up trucks launching a luxury version of the f-150 that could cost well above $60,000. among the standard features multicontour massaging seats. half the ford f-150s sold last year were the preluxly models. amazon shopping club launches today, the founder sold the previous company to amazon a few years ago, jet is offering 10-15% discounts and extra savings when you combine multiple pel orders into one shipment or use debit versus

credit cards. and markets look to gain after advances on monday the nasdaq closing at a record for the third straight session. we get results from verizon, microsoft, apple and yahoo. just ahead, an american will be on the cover of the next fifa game magazine. it might not be who you expect. plus this ball sold for more than a bmw, we show you why in sports. real lemonade blended or over ice get together with the refreshing new real lemonades from mccafe. made with no artificial flavors.

this morning on "today," hear from dr. kent brantley who contracted ebola in liberia last year and then made a full recovery. now for the latest in sports, i send it over to my friend betty nguyen. good morning. >> good morning, melissa. zach johnson won his second career major yesterday at st. andrew's a four-hole playoff to claim the covet ed claret jug and the first since 2009. johnson was overcome with emotion following this major victory. >> you don't like to see the tournament another miss. i hate that. and louie is a champion and a friend. but i'm grateful and humbled. thankful, i'm honored. i mean, this is the birth place of the game and that jug means so much.

becky hammon has made history once more. >> last year she became the first female full-time coach in nba history. and a year later she became the first female coach in any capacity. and to end to her endless list of milestones, she became the first female coach to win the nba summer league title. her spurs beat the suns. and for the first time a in fifa series a woman will be featured on the cover. ea announced that alex morgan will grace the cover of fifa 16. alongside lionel messi. and the canada team captain kristen sinclair will also be on there. and it will feature 12 of the top women's national team. and this fetched one of the highest prices ever fetched for a football at auction. $43,740 to be exact. it is one of the notorious deflate-gate team balls. a patriots wide receiver had

given the ball to fan after the team scored. it was sold yesterday on the six month anniversary of the victory over the colts. for the afc championship. just ahead, country music's top couple is calling it quits. plus miley cyrus twerks her way back to the mtv video music awards. lp as soon as i saw her. i found her wandering miles from home. when the phone rang at 5am i knew it was about mom. i see how hard it's been on her at work and i want to help. for the 5 million americans living with alzheimer's and millions more who feel its effects. let's walk together to make an even bigger impact and end alzheimer's for good. find your walk near you at alz.org/walk. you know your dentures can move, unlike natural teeth. try fixodent plus true feel. the smooth formula helps keep dentures in place. it's free of flavors and colorants,

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now, to entertainment news. country music royalty, miranda lambert and blake shelton, say it isn't so but they have announced plans to divorce. a statement from their representative reads in part this is not the future we envisioned it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. we kindly ask for privacy concerning this matter. the couple met in 2005 and married in 2011. the screen actors guild announced that carol burnett will receive a lifetime achievement award at the s.a.g. ceremony in january. it called the "carol burnett show" a masterpiece of variety programming. all right, so miley cyrus, she is back. she posted a picture of herself to instagram wearing a sign mtv won't let me perform, so i'm hosting this year's vma's. >> her album was 2013 so she's been kind of quiet lately.

i'm waiting for her next little thing. >> she'll get loud again. and matt wolf star of "paper towns" talked about getting pranked by robert denero. >> i sat back and i was chewing a piece of gum. and he said, hey, what are you going to do with that gum? and i was thinking of spiting it out before the take and he said you know what we used to do when i was a kid? we used to put it under the table. so, i did and he was like, this is the set, this kid just put his gum on the set. >> robert de niro pranked me it would give me a heart attack. >> you would do whatever he said wouldn't you? you would be afraid of the consequences. i would, i'm melissa rehberger. we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc. r bathroom you think it smells fine but your guests smell this... febreze air effects heavy duty has up to two times the

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leading the news on nbc news.com. north korea says, no thanks. to iran-like nuclear talks with the u.s. pyongyang's foreign ministry says its nuclear program is an essential deterrent against the quote provocative u.s. foreign policy toward north korea. and the second most read story in the "washington post" is that men who harass women online are quite literally losers. a new study finds. researchers observed gamers playing halo three and found that males were cordial to each other whether they were winning or losing but males made frequent nasty comments to female gamers. and vice president joe biden

suffered a minor bruise after playing with his dog. he was roughhousing with his german shepherd when he received a small, penny-sized bruise below his lower lip. and listen to this, a man who was once struck by lightning, won the lottery in canada. what are the odds of that? they're apparently something like 1.5 trillion to be exact. he will be splitting with his 1 million dollar prize with his co worker. he said he will pay off debt and take his wife on a second honeymoon. >> suddenly i could understand why those women i tried to make friendly conversation with looked at me with such horror. >> the creator and long-time host of the had yoe program "a prairie home companion" is retiring, end of an era. garrison keillor has been at the helm of the variety show since

1974. a guest host will take over after keelor's final show next year. the robot world cup as some people call it. is taking place. more than 300 teens from 47 countries are seeing who built the best robot. service robots rescue robots even soccer robots. it was created to bring scientists and engineers together so they could learn from each other's work. ohio governor john kasich is throwing his hat in the presidential ring governor kasich will become the 16th major gop presidential candidate. kasich is expected to be the last major republican to join the crowded field. happy birthday to "orange is the new black" star diane guerrero and former "snl" cast member jon lovitz turns 58. i'm melissa rehberger, thank you

for watching "early today."

rethinking immigration policy in the wake of kate steinle's death. today her father testifies before d.c. lawmakers looking to make sweeping changes. and shots fired in a normally quiet bay area neighborhood. why police say the officer felt he had no choice but to pull the trigger. but first rumble in the east bay. the modest quake that jolted some beds in the middle of the night. >> announcer: from nbc bay area this is "today in the bay." and a good tuesday morning, it's 4:30. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning including that earthquake but first a check of your forecast with meteorologist kari hall. good morning. >> good morning. i've got some