wicked weather. monsoon moisture, sweltering triple-digit temperatures, and dangerous wildfires ravage the pacific northwest. a dramatic overhaul. the president eyes a massive change in immigration policies that's worrying both advocates and lawmakers alike. a city grieves. a massive explosion blows apart a private christian academy as the community mourns those lost. plus, tv's highest paid actress bears it all. wall street reaches a major milestone. and seven priests walk into a bar, and you'll never guess what happened next. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm philip mena. of course, we're in the middle of summer right now, and soaring

temperatures are creating really dangerous conditions all along the western united states. normally mild states like washington and oregon are now seeing triple-digit scorchers. and in the southwest, punishing heat is bringing severe rains with little relief in sight. nbc's miguel almaguer has a look at the brutal conditions. >> reporter: in portland, oregon, temperatures are soaring over 100 degrees, breaking records. >> i don't want to be dramatic, life or death, but i mean, it could be death very much so. >> reporter: a blanket of heat also searing seattle. only a third of homes have ac. >> i'll just sweat it out in my apartment and hope that my fans work. >> reporter: with 15 million under heat advisories or watches, the hot weather is fueling fires in washington state. >> check out this rain! >> reporter: meanwhile, in southern california, sudden summer storms. [ screaming ] monsoon moisture creating life-threatening conditions.

>> oh, my gosh! >> reporter: hail, lightning, and wind. outside phoenix, sandstorms are blinding. more dangerous weather is on the way. >> holy smokes! >> reporter: for "early today," miguel almaguer, nbc news. the nation's immigration system could get a profound shake-up if president trump has his way. after throwing his weight behind a new immigration proposal from two republican senators that looks to dramatically change policy from coast to coast. the plan would slash legal immigration by half over the next decade as the administration eyes strict, new conditions, including an english-speaking litmus test. that's causing an uproar in some circles. nbc's peter alexander has more. >> reporter: president trump vowing to dramatically cut legal immigration by prioritizing english-speaking immigrants with skills that help grow the economy. >> this competitive application process will favor applicants

who can speak english, financially support themselves and their families, and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy. >> reporter: the president's proposal going beyond a campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration. >> these illegal workers draw much more out from the system than they can ever possibly pay back. >> reporter: mr. trump's message reinforced by one of his top aides. >> we're saying our compassion first and foremost is for struggling american families. >> reporter: senior policy adviser stephen miller clashing with reporters. >> i just want to say -- >> almost like you're trying to engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country. >> jim, that is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant and foolish things you've ever said. >> reporter: the new bill backed by two conservative republican senators already facing fierce backlash on capitol hill. >> the biggest flaw in this proposal is the notion that there are long lines of americans waiting to pick fruit and to work in hospitals and

hotels and restaurants and meat processing plants. exactly the opposite's true. >> this immigration proposal's not going to go anywhere because it really would devastate the economy. >> reporter: the president trying to get back on message with his base, drawing a hard line on immigration. this morning, president trump insists the proposal, if passed, would be the most significant change to the nation's immigration system in half a century, but saying it and doing it are two very different things for a president still waiting for his first legislative victory. >> peter alexander from the white house, thank you. we now know the identity of the second victim from the deadly explosion in minneapolis that blew apart a private christian academy. school officials say 81-year-old john carlson was killed in the blast. he graduated from the school in 1953 and had been working as a part-time janitor. the school's receptionist, ruth berg, was also killed. she had worked there for 17 years. nine others were hospitalized. and while five have been released so far, one victim

remains in critical condition. the blast happened in a utility area as students were playing basketball and soccer nearby. >> it felt like we got bombed. like, that's -- it was pretty big. it was a pretty big explosion. >> contractors were working on the school's buildings at the time and investigators believe it was caused by a gas leak. this morning the president is facing tough questions over his controversial politically laced speech to the boy scouts last week. in an interview with the "wall street journal," mr. trump said the head of the boy scouts personally called to say his speech was "the greatest speech that was ever made to them," but the boy scouts is denying that call ever took place, just as the white house faces new questions about another phone call the president claimed to have made with mexican president pena nieto. >> and even the president of mexico called me. they said their southern border, very few people are coming because they know they're not going to get through our border. >> well, mexico is denying that call ever took place. and here was white house press

secretary sarah huckabee sanders tangling with a reporter on those phone call points. >> did he lie? >> no, on mexico, he was referencing the conversation that they had had at the g-20 summit. in terms of the boy scouts, multiple members of the boy scout leadership following his speech that day congratulated him, praised him. >> so, he lied, he didn't receive that call? >> i wouldn't say it was a lie. that's a pretty bold accusation. arizona senator john mccain is opening up about his health and plans for his return to d.c. in a radio interview with kfyi's mike broomhead, mccain said he's feeling fine after getting treatment for an aggressive brain tumor. the republican also spoke about his vote that helped sink the senate health care bill, saying the lack of debate would hurt his constituents. >> arizona was about to get screwed, if i may -- >> you can say whatever you want. >> -- under this plan. unfortunately, they wanted to hand it over to a house and

senate, quote, conference, which was a handful of senators and house members. i wanted to go back to the regular order. >> mccain said in the interview that he hopes to rejoin congress in september. >> now to that heat and nbc meteorologist bill karins about the historic heat wave bringing misery to the northwest. a lot of people don't have the ac. >> and the problem is, it's at night. you can't really open up the windows and get much relief. we missed the all-time record high by one degree. still exceptionally hot. and today we go all the way from seattle southwards down into northern california, almost into central california. 50 million people and 900-mile stretch of i-5 is under excessive heat warning. so, the strong ridge is in place. here are some of the selected highs today. notice they're all about 15 to 20, even 22 degrees above normal from redding all the way up to olympia, even voiwal walla wall. seattle's in the mid-90s, portland we're thinking about

105. your all-time record high 107. it could be close. yesterday, byhe way, t y the immediate coastal areas. and even areas of california are just as warm. have you seen this video yet, this dash cam footage? this is of a plane crashing on highway 69. there it is. it had just taken off, and it just kind of gradually, and then at the very end does the little dive down. two men were injured in the crash. one was treated and released, while another remains in serious condition. authorities, of course, are going to investigate what happened, but i guess they're probably thankful to be alive. >> yeah. >> scary to see the cars ahead there. so, definitely missed those. bill, thank you. just ahead, wall street hits a major milestone and what this historic rally means for you. plus, an nbc exclusive finds

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from metamucil. [ stock bells ] [ applause ] leading the news, hot stocks continue to rally as the president takes credit for the dow cruising past 22,000 for the first time. it's great news for 401(k)s but not so great for everyone. nbc's jo ling kent explains. >> reporter: the dow is now up 20% since president trump was elected. that's the story of one economy. while many americans feel like they're living in another. why are you here at amazon? >> i was originally working retail, and it just, you know, wasn't enough money. >> reporter: frustration shared in 12 states as thousands of people lined up at amazon job fairs, all hunting for work, because while the stock market hit new highs, gdp is growing and housing prices are at record levels, wages are only up by

0.5%. >> consumer spending makes up something around two-thirds of the economy. if wage growth is slow and people just aren't spending the dollars, you're not going to see continued economic growth. >> reporter: a frustrating reality for working america, facing an economy far removed from wall street. for "early today," jo ling kent, nbc news, robbinsville, new jersey. so, where do the markets go from here? let's ask contessa brewer. >> hi, there. wall street could take a breather today with the markets poised to pull back at the open, following the milestone for the dow yesterday. asian and european markets are in the red today. investors will get several economic reports this morning, including on manufacturing, unemployment, and the nation's services sector. you can watch shares of tesla today. the electric carmaker reported a big quarterly loss last night but revenues topped wall street's forecasts. tesla says orders for its older cars, the model "s" and model "x," are picking up even as customers await the new and cheaper model 3.

however, tesla's burning through cash as it ramps up production. and verizon has launched a new rewards program called up, but there's a catch here. reports say when customers sign up, they're also enrolled in a personalized app program that tracks data including browsing habits and device location, private information for a lot of folks. verizon then turns around and shares that information with several companies, including oath. remember, that's the merger of aol and yahoo? in a statement, verizon says the program is voluntary and you can just opt out. philip? >> info-sharing is becoming the normal, contessa. thank you. >> for sure. now to an nbc exclusive. president trump lashing out at his military advisers on afghanistan, demanding a new strategy and threatening to fire top commanders. the revelation coming the same day two u.s. soldiers were killed in a suicide attack against a nato convoy in kandahar. nbc chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has the details. >> reporter: an exclusive look behind the closed doors of the

situation room at an increasingly frustrated president, agitated with his military on afghanistan, even as he delays a decision on a new strategy in a fight his top generals describe as a stalemate. senior administration officials take nbc news inside that meeting two weeks ago, where the president's key advisers surrounded him, including secretary of defense jim mattis. those sources say the president lashed out, suggesting mattis should fire the general in charge of afghanistan, venting, "we aren't winning." influenced, it seemed, by a meeting he'd had earlier with veterans of the afghan war. those same sources tell nbc news some in the room were taken aback by an analogy the president made referencing the renovation of a favorite new york restaurant led by an outside consultant to illustrate how those on the ground might make better decisions than those at higher levels. >> his point was, perhaps it would have been better if that owner had gone to the employees who are working in the

restaurant, rather than hired someone from the outside, and it's wasted a lot of money. >> reporter: those officials say the president also seemed annoyed china, not the u.s., is making money mining rare minerals in afghanistan. sources tell nbc news the president left the meeting without deciding on a strategy and that his advisers left stunned. >> officials close to secretary mattis said that when he returned to the pentagon after the meeting, he was visibly angry and he went for a long walk by himself to think it over. >> reporter: now, questions of the president's confidence in his own team. msnbc's hugh hewitt with the national security adviser. >> do you have confidence yourself in general nicholson, the combatant commander in afghanistan? >> of course. i've known him for many years. i can't imagine a more capable commander on any mission. >> does secretary mattis? does the president? >> absolutely. >> reporter: the pentagon says mattis does have confidence inl. the white house declined to comment on internal strategy, but they say no decision has been made with options still being developed. bottom line, for america's

longest war, the wait for a new plan stretches on. hallie jackson, nbc news, the white house. >> hallie, thank you. just ahead, why did tv's highest paid actress take it all off? plus, a major travel warning from the naacp. you're watching "early today." (hard exhalation) honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort) can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever, to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood.

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warning about missouri. the state senator who sponsored the legislation, which will make it harder for people to sue over race discrimination, owns a business which is, in fact, being sued for race discrimination. nbc's ron allen has more now on this polarizing bill and the naacp's travel advisory. ron? >> yes, very tough language in that travel advisory. it urges people of color to exercise "extreme caution," warning that "race, gender and color-based crimes have a long history in missouri." and now it's all getting a lot of national attention also because next week, august 9th, marks the third anniversary of the michael brown killing in ferguson, missouri, that ignited a national debate on issues of race and policing. now in missouri, the issue is a new state law that critics call the jim crow law because they say it raises the bar too high to prove discrimination in cases like housing or workplace disputes. here's the state representative who opposed the bill. >> the bill that will allow

discrimination to run rampant in the workplace. we have actually rolled back protections from our most vulnerable citizens. >> missouri's republican governor and others who back the bill hope it ends what they see as frivolous lawsuits. "we need to prevent trial lawyers from killing good jobs," the governor said. the law goes into effect later this month. opponents are likely to be looking back to north carolina, where you will recall a state law seen as unfairly targeting the transgender community created a huge uproar. the state lost billions of dollars until the law was eventually repealed. in other states like texas and arizona, they have also been called out by progressive groups for various immigration laws. now the battleground, latest battleground is missouri. >> all right. thank you very much, ron. still ahead, a popular cell phone case is taken off the shelves over reports of burns. we'll have those recall details next. plus, sofia vergara proud to be posing nude, but what does her husband have to say? you're watching "early today." where's gary?

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glitter iphone cases are being recalled after dozens of reported chemical burns. there are the samples. the cpsc says certain models like those from mixed bin electronics can leak and the liquid inside can cause skin irritation. and sofia vergara is bearing it all on the cover of "women's health" at the age of 45. in an interview with the magazine, the actress says she's proud to be posing nude, but her husband, joe manganiello, is wondering if this is going to be a regular thing, saying "are you going to be naked in everything now? why?" >> one of the highest paid, why not? and you're 45 and look like that? pretty obvious. >> absolutely. all right, still to come, details on what's being called a medical breakthrough in gene editing. plus, elon musk's hyperloop reaches a speedy, new milestone, next here on "early today." shawn evans: it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day

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it's not exactly relief, but through the weekend, areas like portland will drop from low 100s to low 90s. that's a little more like it for typical summer. that's the case pretty much everywhere. one of the most alarming things we've seen, even throughout the whole country, has been the number of hot car deaths with children, 11 in july, the most we've ever had in a decade in one month. this is a little graphic we did with 80-degree temperatures, just 80, with sunshine going through your car. in ten minutes, we go to 93 degrees inside the vehicle. in 30 minutes, it goes to 109, and within one hour, the car inside, 127 degrees. that's at 80 degrees, guys. i mean, temperatures today are going to be 100. >> yeah, extremely, extremely danger rou rouse. bill, thank you. a major scientific breakthrough. researchers have safely repaired a disease-causing gene in human

embryos. it was done by a team led by the oregon health and science university. they report that they were able to target a heart defect known for killing young athletes. so far, this application is limited to the lab, but it does suggest that scientists may eventually be able to completely eliminate some hereditary diseases from families. >> breakthrough with a lot of hope for people. remember president trump, now he's praising the white house after denying that he ever called it a dump. well, he reportedly bad-mouthed his home of six months while chatting with members of his golf course in new jersey. according to golf.com, he told them "that white house is a real dump." the president responded to the article, tweeting, "i love the white house, one of the most beautiful buildings/homes i've ever seen, but fake news said i called it a dump. totally untrue." the future of travel is one step closer to becoming a reality. hyperloop 1's passenger pod successfully tripled its speed in a recent test, reaching a

record of 192 miles per hour and covering over 1,400 feet of track. the magnetic levitation and depressurized tubes were able to reduce the friction with the pod and propel it at such high speeds. executive chairman and co-founder shervin peeshevar calls it a dawn of a new era of transportation. >> when you get the crash dummies out of the way, you actually get a living thing, i don't know who, but more power to them. so, seven priests walk into a bar. >> all right. >> it's not a joke. they actually did. the group of training priests went out to celebrate a friend's ordination, but when they showed up, a bar worker thought they were a rowdy group of bachelors. when they realized, they offered a penance for getting it all wrong. >> technically, the priests are right, because when priests get

together, it is a bachelor party, right? you've got a>> live look outside at san

francisco. good morning this thursday. you. let's take a live look outside over looking san francisco this morning, beautiful look city by the bay, transamerica pyramid so clear, so warm, those temperatures we're waking up to, my goodness. -cann. rning to you i'm laura >> and i'm scott mcgrew in for sam brock. she's wearing a sunny outfit this morning. >> sums it up. it's going to be pretty cloudy today. >> still hot. >> yeah, the humidity. >> the humidity is just unreal this morning if you haven't been out there. just crack open the window you may just want to be close it and stay inside today as we get a look at some of these temperatures now. get a look at that, 76 degrees in the south bay, san jose, the