it's monday august 24th, coming up on "early "today". moments ago, three americans honored as heroes by the french for stopping an armed attack. stock markets around the globe are down big time following the dow's 500 drop on friday. where will stocks go today? as president obama gets back from vacation, more signs that his vice president may throw his hat into the ring. plus an indy car driver is in a coma after being hit by flying debris in an accident. usain bolt remains the fastest by a hair. and much more as question kick off a busy week. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm melissa rehberger. moments ago, the president of france honored the three

americans who helped subdue a gunman on a paris-pound train. spencer stone and alek skarlatos and anthony sadler and two other men jumped into action to save passengers catching the suspect and beating him until he was unconscious and tieing him up until authorities arrived. claudio lavangos is live in paris for us this morning. this is a remarkable story. it's heroism really. the three received france's highest honor because of that heroism. >> reporter: well, that certainly is the highest honor that could get here in france. the legion d'honneur is given to people. this is exceptional circumstances as the president of france holland during the ceremony said with their bravery, they have probably, almost surely, prevented a blood bath, a carnage. >> i saw he had an ak 47 and it looked like the jammer wasn't

working and he was trying to discharge the weapon and we said let's go. >> i'm glad they quickly took action. >> belgium authorities identified the gunman as khazzani he was on the watch list but still allowed to board the train in brussels. his lawyers said he was homeless and wanted to rob people on the train. >> to the point he was trying to rob the train, it doesn't take that to rob a train. >> he seemed like he was ready to fight until the end. so were with. >> the gunman had nine magazines, an assault rifle, and box cutter.

spencer stone had his thumb partially cut off. doctors were able to reattach his thumb. thank you so much, claudio. we do appreciate that. always are a wall street today after the dow jones industrials fell more than 500 points on friday. the stocks began falling last week with when mine announced it -- china announced it was devaluing its currency. >> it was a crazy week for wall street last week and a complete sea of red. we could see more red arrows at the opening bell this morning. the dow fell 531 points. it's the worst day in four years. the slow down in china's economy could affect the rest of the world. speculations over when the fed will hike interest rates and the continue decline in oil prices. here is an interesting snap the dow losing more than 1,000

points last week, only the second time that's happened. the other was in october of 2008 during the financial crisis. wall street may be waiting for a move by the fed, which means in two weeks we could get some news whether a rate hike is coming when a vice chairman speaks at wyoming. oil prices are falling again today below $39. gas isn't following suit. it held steady at $2.71 a gallon. prices are higher in the midwest due a refinery outrage offsetting declines elsewhere. and the market may look scary, but investors should be taking the long-term view. they recommend you reevaluate how you divvy your assets in stock, bonds, or cash. right now the dow features are down around 400 points but pointing to a sharply lower open and a long day ahead. >> thank you. a terrifying scene at pocono

raceway in pennsylvania with 21 laps to go. he hit the wall around 220 miles per hour. he walked out of the car and into an ambulance under his own power. driver justin wilson was not as fortunate. wilson was hit in the head by a large piece of debris that knocked him unconscious causing him to veer into the wall. he was air-lifted from the raceway and currently in a coma in a clinic in allentown. more than a million acres have been scorched by wild fires in the pacific northwest. hundreds of homes are burn there had. the government is spending $150 million a week in federal money to fight the flames. dozen of fire crews are on the line now. in washington thousands are still evacuation orders. some are refusing to leave their homes. >> i see several structures burning. pretty sad. >> in oregon, cooler temperatures and lighter winds have helped firefighters tackle some of the flames.

right now, though, there are more than 100 fires kicking up dangerous levels of smoke all across the west. president obama's vacation has come to an end. he returned from his two-week stay in marriage's vineyard last night. starting today he has a full plate. after meeting with vice president joe biden, president obama is off to las vegas this afternoon. while he is there he will deliver remarks at the national clean energy summit. environmental concerns will likely be the topic of conversation in upcoming meetings with pope francis and the president of china. on top of all that he has to deal with congress. a looming government shutdown at the end of september, not to mention infrastructure spending and the export and import bank. there is good news for the president yesterday. senate majority leader senate majority leader -- senate minority leader will support the agreement. that means president obama needs seven more to assure the iran deal's passage.

will joe biden or won't he? this morning, it's looking more and more likely. "the washington post" is reporting biden is now leaning toward a presidential run. that's after a surprise meeting yesterday with liberal wing darling senator elizabeth warren. meanwhile, gop candidates are clawing to pull ahead of the pac. nbc's brian moore reports. >> reporter: carly fiorina is fighting for a spot on the main stage in next month's gop debate. she wants to talk about taking on the economy and hillary clinton. >> she has lied about some on key things, benghazi, her e-mails, her server. >> we're going to build a wall. >> reporter: but donald trump's tough talk has the gop stuck on defense. >> i don't agree we should be trying to amend the constitution. >> i think birth right citizenship as a policy matter doesn't make sense. >> if folks want to come to our country, they should come

legally. >> reporter: an immigration plan that could cost between 100 and 600 billion dollars and not saying exactly how he would pull it off. >> it's called management. the first thing we have to do is secure the border but it's called management. >> reporter: managing the conversation, donald trump is still leading in the polls. brian moore, nbc news, washington. the fallout continues after the hacking of adultery site ashley madison. a married florida prosecutor is coming clean after having an ashley madison count. jeffrey ashton has admitted signing up for the site two years ago. he gained attention in the casey anthony case. on sunday, he said he committed no crime and never followed through with an affair. >> these were incredibly stupid choices. today, i'm not very proud of myself. >> meanwhile, two canadian law firms have filed an almost 600

million dollar class action lawsuit against the companies that run the ashley madison site. the law firm says the suit was filed on behalf of canadians who had their personal information leaked. the breach exposed 39 million memberships on the so-called dark web last week. >> i had no idea there were that many people on that site. 39 million and they're sues! we didn't have to worry about kilo in hawaii. danny in the tropics is not a problem either. we'll show you pictures of florida. he took the selfie video of himself as he was trying to kayak as a squall was moving in. it didn't close in on him, thankfully the lightning strikes were bare think in the distance. he did get drenched and made it back just in time. in the west red flag warning. we had a blanket over the fire. the fire didn't spread a lot. now we're going to mix the air more and get more windy

conditions today. we'll have more concerns of the red flag warnings and the fire weather watches in the region and the air quality very poor. everywhere in gray we're under air quality alert. as far as today the area of red we could have dry thunderstorms. thunderstorms with the no precipitation but lightning so new fires could form here and north it's going to be windy where we have the fires they could spread rapidly and it's very warm, too. boise at 96. salt lake city will be very warm. we have the dry air, warm and windyhot. temperatures on the continue to be a little bit above average. >> 107 in phoenix! oh, my goodness! wow.

bill, thank you. a big sunday surprise for former president jimmy carter. plus multiple deaths at two different air shows over the weekend. details straight ahead as "early today" continues. ♪

stories making news this morning, isis blows up ancient syria at palmyra's ruins. according to reports the group detonated one of the important temples yesterday in palmyra. the first time the islamic state are damaged a part of the ancient roman ruins. last week isis beheaded an 82-year-old scholar. two major air show tragedies over the weekend to tell you about. in england, a vintage fighter jet crashed into a busy road leaving two cars burning on the

highway. after the pilot failed to pull out of a loop maneuver. the likely death toll has risen to 11. in switzerland, two small planes collided while flying in a three-plane formation and one of the planes crashed into a barn and leaving it in ruins. the pilot of the aircraft was killed. luckily, the pilot of the second plane was able to eject himself to safety. for the first time since revealing his cancer diagnosis, president carter taught sunday school in his hometown plains, georgia, where hundreds lined up to hear him speak. >> if you have a setback, accept it and ask how much of it is our fault and then set a higher goal than you ever had before and strive for that. it is panda monium in the national zoo in washington, d.c. mei xiang had twin pandas. only the third time that has happened in the u.s. floyd mayweather latest outrageous purchase and this one is eye-popping. so what if it's just preseason? some of this weekend's greatest plays on the gridiron are next in sports. ♪

i'm a customer relationship i'm roy gmanager.ith pg&e. anderson valley brewing company is definitely a leader in the adoption of energy efficiency.

pg&e is a strong supporter of solar energy. we focus on helping our customers understand it and be able to apply it in the best way possible. not only is it good for the environment, it's good for the businesses' bottom line. these are our neighbors. these are the people that we work with. that matters to me. i have three children that are going to grow up here and i want them to be able to enjoy all the things that i was able to enjoy. together, we're building a better california. this morning, on "today" how safe is your ground beef? well, a new report out today investigates the kind of beef that you buy and that may affect your health. in sports now. i'll send it to my colleague betty nguyen. week two of preseason football. packers/steelers. first quarter aaron rodgers rolls out of the pocket and finds randall cobb for a 30-yard completion. rodgers completed 4 of 5 passes for 57 yards before he made his exit.

ben roethlisberger also having a good passing day and finished the game 11 for 14 for 100 yards and one touchdown pass. steelers win it 24-19. cowboys in san francisco facing the 49ers. dustin von trying to get rid of it quick and an interception and he breaks two tackles and goes 37 yards for the score. third quarter, cowboys still struggling deep in their own territory. tom hornsy ready to punt it deep and it's blocked by 49ers and recovered in the end zone for the touchdown. niners win it 23-6. the pga championship. scott brown. this takes a couple of bounces and lands in the cup. a hole in one! he finished tied for third. the winner davis love 3-finished 17 under par to win his third wyndham championship and the

oldest player to win a pga championship. usain bolt is back as he took the championships in beijing. he finished in 5.9 seconds. he beat rival justin gatlin by just 100th of a second! boxing megastar floyd mayweather posted this picture on instagram over the weekend. my new 4.8 million dollar car. treveta. i don't know if i said it right. i can't afford it. the only one built in the world with a 4. liter v-8 engine and yielding 1,018 horsepower and it has a whopping 6 and a half force. it was also featured on jay leno's garage. take a good look because most of us won't be able to get near that thing.

john stewart was host of wwe summer slam in brooklyn last night. set ar seth are rowe lynns and jo s an cena. it seems only right stewart gets a belt, of course. ahead which former snl cast member got hitched this weekend? ahead, it's every teen's nightmare. why you may want to call this boy a different boyfriend. you're watching "early today." ♪

time now for some entertainment news. [ cheers and applause ] well, members of the westboro baptist church got a visit from the foo fighters singing "never going to give up." they held up a sign that said "you got rick rolled." it looks like they did. >> rapper wiz khalifa was detained at l.a.x. for riding a so-called hoover board in the airport. >> is that possible? >> apparently. i guess. apparently he got a forced to lie on the ground with officers yelling stop resisting. tracy morgan tied the knot

with his long time girlfriend megan wallover yesterday. it's been a little over a year since he was fatally injured in a car accident so the winners at the box office this weekend include "straight outta compton," earning 29 million it its second week and "mission impossible," 11 million in its third week, and "sinister 2" -- i haven't heard of that. saw $10.5 million in itsi openig weekend. one direction is about to go on hiatus. don't worry. they are not breaking up. a source close to the group said they needed a break and plan to reunite in the future. celebs hanging out with barbra streisand this weekend. what a completely amazing woman tweeted lady gaga. this is "early today."

leading the news in "usa today," police secretly track cell phones to solve routine crimes. they are looking for a surveillance tool called sting ray. it is helping officers in the fight against street crime. a disturbing story on nbc news.com. oklahoma labor commissioner stabbed to death allegedly by son. police say the incident happened last night outside an oklahoma city restaurant. also in the news this morning, this is yet another disturbing story. washington county, pennsylvania, saw 25 overdoses from heroin over a two-day period. eight of those in just a little more than an hour. three people died. but many were saved, thanks to an antidote which the responders

administered to the patients. now washington county has become an example of the heroin epidemic, but also of the life saving decision to equip first responders with the antidote. police, they are puzzled after the body of a 25-year-old girl was stolen from a texas funeral home hours after her funeral. staff found her body missing when they went to take her to be cremated. police say they were cautiously optimistic about her recovery. nepal is opening mt. everest that was hit by an avalanche this year and killed 19 climbers. climbers are supposed to start on the mountain on tuesday. how much do you love sunflowers? a man in wisconsin is honoring his late wife by planting a four-mile stretch of them along the highway. the sunflowers total more than 400 acres and they were his wife's favorite flower. she had plans to sell seeds to benefit cancer research and that dream will soon come to

fruition. these seeds will come from the flowers and then they will be sold as babbitt seeds. that could have been an attraction. the official sentencing hearing for the colorado movie theater shooter begins today. james holmes was found guilty on all counts but was spared the denial penalty. during the third and final phase, the judge will impose a sentence of life without parole and he may address the the court if he chooses. here are our birthdays for today. ron wees -- weasly from harry potter. steve guttenberg turns 57. i'm melissa rehberger.

thank you ancti sech is rni inthsou bafort

morning in the south bay for those responsible in a late night homicide as investigators comb through neighborhoods and school grounds. and the anniversary marking the strength and resilience of the napa community one year after the quake. plus a community grieving together for eight-year-old maddy middleton. "today in the bay" starts right now. a very good morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm sam brock. it is your monday morning. let's find out quickly what's going on on the weather front with meteorologist kari hall. good morning. >> we start out with temperatures now in the 60s and clouds but it will be another nice day. very much like yesterday with those highs topping put out in the 70s and 80s across mos