presidential backlash. the country's top business leaders dump trump after his charlottesville remarks. monumental challenge. americans of all stripes speak up and act out after saturday's violence. taking back charlottesville. hundreds gather for peaceful vigils in memory of three lives lost. plus, an all-out manhunt out for the culprits of a brazen jewelry heist. after 13 years a long lost ring is found. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. this morning the president of the united states is dogged

by his own words with one of the nation's leading newspaper calling congress to censure mr. trump. they released their own statement saying intolerrance, racism and violence has absolutely no place in this country. and stepping down from the two advisory councils forcing president trump to disband them himself. >> it comes as former bush presidents called on the country to reject racial bigotry and hatred. nbc's peter alexander picks up the story from there. >> reporter: before dawn in baltimore, crews taking down four confederate monuments to avoid violent protests like those in charlottesville. >> i said with the climate of this nation that i think it's very important we move quietly and quickly.

>> reporter: here in leesburg, virginia, this confederate statue still fuels deep divisions. but in the wake of president trump's controversial comments -- >> you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. >> reporter: zack defends the president's words. >> when you have violence you need to call it on both sides. >> is the president getting a bad rap? >> i believe so, yeah. >> reporter: that outrage blaring from the newspaper headlines. in chicago, fake president. >> definitely makes himless creditable as a president to not speak as a leader and bring the country together. >> reporter: superstar lebron james chiming in. >> it's not about the guy that's the so-called president of the united states, it's about all of us looking in the mirror what can we do better? >> reporter: religious leaders equally emphatic.

>> this is the time to stand up and scream loud and clear that is not who we are. >> reporter: pastor robert jeff resone, one of the president's evangelical advisors speaking out. >> if we denounce some racism we ought to denounce all racism, that's the point the president was making. >> reporter: a fierce debate sparking anger and action. peter alexander, nbc news, leesburg, virginia. this morning, several leading newspapers are reporting on internal strife within the white house, with reuters claiming trump's comments could spare white house departures. the washington post reported on a dismayed chief of staff. there's sure to be headlines following trump all the way to his bedminster club this morning, that's where he wakes up to finish off his working vacation and that's where we find kristen welker. >> reporter: president trump is back in bedminster today on his working vacation,

and the fallout is mounting after his controversial comments about those clashes in charlottesville. the president comparing white supremacists to those counterprotesters and now, business leaders are turning their backs on the president and that could hurt his agenda. in addition, more and more republicans are denouncing him, including two former presidents, but the question is, what will it all mean for tax reform and his broader legislative agenda? senior administration officials trying to hammer those details behind the scenes but some are still fuming after the president's comments. a sign his inner circle is getting smaller. hope hicks will serve as his interim communications director until a permanent replacement can be found. and looking ahead to friday, the president will head to camp david where he and his top advisers will discuss the strategy moving forward in afghanistan. back to you. >> all right, kristen, thank you. overnight in charlottesville, more than 1,000 people attended a memorial for heather heyer.

many mowner -- mourners wore purple. her father praised her as a passionate and loving person. >> she loved people. she wanted equality. she wanted to put down hate. and for my part, we just need to stop all this stuff and just forgive each other. >> heather's mother also spoke. optimistic at the legacy her daughter leaves behind. >> they tried to kill my child to shut her up. well, guess what? you just magnified her. this is just the beginning of heather's legacy. i rather have my child, but by golly if i got to give her up, we're going to make it count. >> on friday, there will be another memorial service for the two virginia state troopers who died in a helicopter crash.

military officials say the helicopter went missing tuesday night during a training mission. a debris field was found a short time later after the western shore of oahu. officials say the effort is first and foremost a search and rescue mission with the cause of the crash coming secondary. london police are searching for thieves. we're live in london. what can you tell us about this very brazen heist? >> well, phillip, it was a daring daylight smash and grab robbery that would have been straight out of the movies and one of london's most expensive neighborhood. the gang of six men on mopeds, raided the high-end jewelry

store, smashing cabinets and ransacking the place. video footage show them making their getaway with loot in hand. value of the jewelry stolen hasn't been e revealed and no arrests have been made. police say a man hunt is under way. phillip, this exclusive jewelry store has been around for 200 years. it's known for its stock of very high-end gems and the family-run business appeared on a documentary a few years ago showcasing their most expensive collection of jewelry. at the time, an emerald necklace worth at the time $1.3 million. moped-enabled crime has reached almost epidemic portions in london. >> back to you, guys.

hurricane gert is creating dangerous conditions on the northeast coast of new jersey. a rip current almost pulled a young girl out, the life guards made this dramatic rescue. they say the ripe tide struck suddenly. nbc meteorologist bill karins is joining us now, watching some severe weather in the middle of the country. >> nine tornadoes reported in southern portions of minnesota. we'll have some travel delays out there because of this. $10 million people at risk of severe storms. so, northern portions of the great lakes and also heading into the areas of north texas. many areas from denver to montana, beautiful today. no problems, salt lake city. gorgeous day today in los angeles. that's a look at

no one cares about today's forecast. they wouldn't to know about monday's eclipse forecast. move over jennifer lawrence a new high roller in town. forbes has named emma stone as the highest paid actress for 2017. she raked in $26 million this year. she edged out jennifer aniston in the number two spot airing $25.5 million and also jennifer lawrence dropped to third with $24 million. when you have a small little friend, nice, golden oscar helps you with the big bucks. >> that's right.

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well, here's one event at the iowa state fair, the annual cow chip falling contest. they throw manure chip hand free and a lots of hand sanitizer. all right, leading the news this morning, a horrific crash along a major highway. surveillance footage shows a semitruck ramming right into a barrier wall bursting into flames. it continues to skid along the interstate. the driver was briefly trapped inside the cabin but other motorists thankfully stopped to help him out. miraculously after that impact, he suffered only minor injuries.

a medical issue with the driver may have caused the accidents. third crash on that stretch of road in five weeks. police, saw him allegedly steal an suv, from there he abandoned the still-moving the car. he climbed on top of a crane and walked into a area with no railing. police said they waited below, after an hour long's standoff, he fell off the crane and was killed. not sure if it was an accident or if the man jump. just ahead -- how one single donald trump tweet sent one stock down $5 billion. daughter: uh oh. monkey swimming.

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fast forwarding into your thursday. vice president mike pence is in chile this morning. he'll make a stop in panama before heading home to the u.s. he's cutting his trip short to attend a national security meeting at camp david. the legacy stadium in katy, texas, will serve more than 77,000 students from eight high schools. it cost a whopping $70.3 million to build. and believe it or not, the world-famous radio city rockettes will kick off the holiday season with their christmas in august show.

on new york city's 6th avenue. they are promoting this year's christmas spectacular. halloween stuff is out in stores. that i can barely even handle. moguls prompted by president's recent tweet and speaking out on charlottesville violence. contessa brewer has those details for us. good morning. apple ceo tim cook over the president's handling of charlottesville. he said the events in virginia were repulsive. he said he disagreed with comments drawing a moral equivalen equivalence. he said the company will donate $1 million to each of the southern poverty law center and the anti-defamation league. separately apple may be ready going on a buying binge.

it's reported that it could spend $1 billion to spend on original content. about half what hbo spends on its original programming. hbo is television. amazon stock took a hit yesterday after president trump attacked the company. he tweeted amazon is doing great damage to cities and states, many jobs lost. we'll be keeping an eye on those stories here at cnbc. frances, back to you. >> contessa, thank you. >> jeff bezos also owns the washington post and we know how trump feels about the washington post. >> connect the dots there. just ahead -- the hottest food on a stick at this year's

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crazy. ♪ don't stand ♪ don't stand so close to me ♪ don't stand don't stand >> a look or a gesture says it all. the state fair of texas has announced ten food finalists for the 13th annual big tex choice. they included the fat and three deep fried cream puffs drizzled with sugar, chocolate and caramel. a bacon burger, sandwiched between two funnel cakes. fried fudge brownie sheet cake, topped with dr pepper icing. kettle corn dusted with powder. and deep fried froot loops. and marshmallow topped with glaze. how about this -- that right there is fried chicken noodle soup, served on a stick, served

with clicken broth on the side. the winner will be crowned on august 27th. all right, this is a case where -- ladies, we all -- a one carat ring. >> this week the woman turned up with the carrot. in it was pulled by her daughter in law in the vegetable patch. mary graham said she replaced the ring with a cheaper version of the ring. her husband never knew. >> he hid she hid it from him the whole time. and while people are spending time behind bars

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welcome back. the all-important eclipse fracht. are you tired of it yet? still four days to go. we're watching clear skies for the most part. newport, nearly perfect. some hit and miss clouds. it shouldn't block anyone's view. it gets more dicey when we gets into areas of nebraska and missouri. not horribly. some people get some cloud cover and south carolina, south carolina could be the worst forecast. they're looking a little bit better. >> good to hear. james matthew bradley jr. now faces a possible death sentence, the truck driver after ten undocumented immigrants died

and 30 were injured. and texas police just released this darkkam footage responding to a call from someone stuck in the truck. they followed the noise of someone banging inside and they found 17 immigrants. the officials detained the driver. trump or putin? a new poll asked just that and found most countries around the world prefer russian president vladimir putin. 36 of the world's nations found more countries trust putin over trump when it comes to foreign affairs. among those 22 countries were major u.s. allies, germany, spain. before trump set the world on edge with those threats to rain

fire and fury. guests aboard royal caribbean total eclipse crew will be getting an added bonus. ♪ total eclipse of the heart >> a live performance of bonnie tyler singing her hit "total eclipse of the heart ♪ travelers in thailand can now choose to spend the night behind bars. their choice. a hostel offers prisonlike rooms. inmates stay in cells with bunk beds and blacked out windows. prisoners even have their mugshots taken and have a curfew all the while wearing their optional striped pajamas. >> how about is one night in bangkok? >> all right, thanks for joining

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a very good thursday morning to you. we have been tracking a breaking story four, a deadly vaufser-involved shoot nlgt tri-valley. chain of events that led to officers shooting and eventually killing a man. good morning to you and thanks so much for joining us this early thursday morning. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm markus washington and right now we want to get a look at what's going on with the weather. >> it look good. as you head out the door this morning we're seeing clearing across parts of the inland areas and as we go through the day we're going to see a lot of sunshine. slightly warmer temperatures. we're start oug at 60 degrees in the tri-valley with mainly clear skies. you can see the low clouds in sfrans. it's 58 degrees with our high temperatures today reaching into the upper 80s for concord and antioch as wel