i'm john seigenthaler. good thursday morning. right now on "first look." guns blazing as murderous bank robbers take hostages and police on a 45 minute chase, and three people are dead. israelis target a beach where palestinian kids are in the line of fire instead of hah mass militants. a big night and so much more. good morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. we begin with three people dead after a bank robbery led to a wild shootout, high speed chase, and a hostage standoff. it began wednesday afternoon in a bank at stockton, california. police spotted three men taking

three women at gun point. they stole an suv and led police on a 45 minute chase. two hos tamgs thrown from tthe with gunshot wounds. >> they were fire upon, and the suspects had mass amounts of ammunition taped to or strapped to their bodies. the gunfire was relentless. >> a lot of guns, an ak on the shoulder, and they were not afraid. the women were screaming, so distraught. gave me chills. >> 14 police cars and number of homes peppered with shots along the way. chase ended with a shoot out after police disabled the vehicle. the remaining hostage and robber were found dead in the suv. the other two suspects taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds. one did later die.

after ten days of fighting, israel and hamas agreed to a five hour humanitarian cease fire taking time this morning. during that time, civilians are stocking up on food, water, and other necessities. air strikes continued overnight. officials from gaza confirmed aircraft struck homes including those of two known hamas leaders. one israeli missile striking gaza city killed four boys. we have the latest from tel-aviv israel. >> reporter: our camera recorded the shock. israeli shell smashing into the gaza city port. it was broad daylight. there was no warning. it was not the precision war israel says it's fighting. a group of boys, cousins, playing on the beach now running for their lives until seconds

later, another shell hit. they claimed they were firing on hamas mill tonights in the port, but the dead were four young boys. several others from the same family were wounded. one crawled up the beach to a nearby hotel. medics rushed the boys to a hospital. parents started to arrive. unsure what happened, but expecting the worst. a mother asked, where is my son? where is my love? then her worst fears came true. pray for your son, pray for your son, a relative said, he's now a martyr. as word spread, other boys' family arrived. what were the boys doing, a father asked, they didn't have

any rockets. he was my only son, said another. inside the hospital, nbc spoke with a wounded boy who could barely talk, shaking and bleeding. we were playing, he said, i was with my cousins. then they died. >> that was nbc richard i thien. they are investigating the report, but blame hamas. this time a brazen attack on kabul international airport. that attack lasted about four hours, four militants armed with automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades opened fire on the airport from the roof of the nearby building. all four kill and no claim for responsibility on the attack.

world leaders react to president obama's of new economic sanctions on russia. russia's president putin says this rounds of sanctions hurt not only russian, but american businesses. after announcing the sanctions, president obama mentioned using diplomatic resources between israel and hamas to end the fighting. there's a lot of focus on foreign affairs this morning. >> absolute hly, betty. there's no easy solutions and stresses the need for u.s. leadership. russian president putin today shows no signs of backing away from ukraine despite a new round of sanctions by the united states and european union. while ratcheting up the pressure, president obama sounded more hopeful than tough. >> we hope the russian leadership will see again that its actions in ukraine have consequences.

>> reporter: those consequences, though, fall far short of u.s. and european threats to hobble key sectors of the russian economy. the latest actions aimed at companies and individuals. >> they are very small. they are not meaningful, but they are better than what they have been doing for the last several months, which is nothing. >> reporter: the president spoke out in the defense of israel with the latest show down in gaza. >> there's no country on earth expected to live under a daily barrage of rockets. >> reporter: president obama promised the united states will press for peace and a diplomatic solution. the president is calling for a return to the 2012 cease fire starting with that deal that israel accepted and hamas rejected two days ago. betty. >> thank you very much. back to california where a high paid escort charged in the overdose death of a former google executive pleaded not guilty.

alex tickleman injekted alex haste with a fatal dose of heroin before leaving him to die on his yacht. they offered this defense. >> it was about two adults consenting in drug usage. in the context of the sexual encounter initiated and encouraged by mr. heys. there was no intent to harm or injury much less kill him. why would she? he was a lucrative source of income to him. >> tickleman is held on $1.5 million bail. meanwhile, they reopened a reinvestigation of the 2013 overdose death of her former boyfriend. we are getting the latest from justin lee. good morning to you. >> making that stuff up, debett? >> every day something new,

right? >> full of jokes, both bad and good. >> turn your face. >> that's drake's spain on the ear blow in the nba playoffs. the night filled with speeches, michael sam awarded the arthur ash courage award. >> the way i see it, my responsibility at this moment in history is to stand up for everybody out there who wants nothing more than to be themselves openly. >> now, some of the night's big winners, seattle's richard sherman gets best breakthrough athlete. best male athlete, kevin durrant, and congrats to all. one perk, by the way, the gift bag, some items were a

breathalyzer -- important, it's party. a shower head with a wireless speaker, a vacuum, and various trip and membership packages to get away after the big day with the reported value of $23,000. >> that's a gift bag. >> almost as much as yours, right? >> not even close. >> maybe sweeter, a lindt sponsored tennis match in the switch alps. there's lindsey vaughn, and vaughn says federer was surprised how good she was. >> oh, come on, she's an athlete, should be good, right? >> do not underestimate vaughn, do not. >> do not. there is a flash flood threat in texas and oklahoma. is that going to last long? >> about two days. >> really? >> yeah, they need it, but we don't want deadly flash flading, the biggest killer we have as far as weather disasters in the country. the white is the clouds, green is the rain. there's a lot of rain in

oklahoma and texas. we have exceptional droughts in the wichita falls area. they are in a four-year drought, driest year on record in the city, they got an inch of rain in the last couple hours, and there's more rain on the way. there is benefits to the rain. so far, it's not made it to dallas. that will change throughout the morning working south, and that bull's eye, the yellow and orange, that's 2 to 3 inches of rain, possibility of 4 inches of rain. tonight and tomorrow moves into arkansas and louisiana. there's a slight risk of severe storm with large hail and wind damage in the strongest of the storms. the rest of the country is quiet, cool in spots, and appreciate it because it warms up towards the weekend in many areas. >> back to summer then? >> yes, but a nice break for people. indeed. the justice department invest gaits the irs and road rage taken to a new level, and marvel moves into new territory.

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it is time to get down to business. the "wall street journal" reports an investigation into the loss of irs e-mails in connection with the agency's treatment of conservative groups. james cole will testify today before a house oversight committee on the matter. honda improved its humidnoid robot. runs at 5.5 miles per hour, opens a bottle, pours a drink, and follows multiple people speaking at the same time and tell their voices apart. fascinating. employees at microsoft prepare for layoffs today. the purging is expected to be larger than the previous largest layoffs in 2009 when 5800 people were let go. there will be a new documentary on the beetles, directed by ron howard, focusing on the band's 1960s tours career and includes

footage. it's made in cooperation with paul mccarteny, and in discussing the legendary band, howard says, quote, their impact on culture and the human experience cannot be exaggerated. yesterday, marvel announced four would be a woman and today another block buster, another ajen ver. 18 years in federal prison, that is the sentence for the texas woman who acceptability risen-laced letters to president obama and michael bloomberg. she apologized saying, quote, i never intended for anybody to be hurt. we are getting a new look at the near miss in florida. helicopter camera crew was filming a charity run in may when there was a lit up drone in the distance that approached on a collision course only narrowly missing below. the pilot said if it hit his row

tar, he could have crashed on to 2,000 people below. drones like this are still largely up regulated. talk about a road rage situation. a man confronts the driver behind him. on the way back, the driver accelerates and hits him. the driver gets out to examine the bmw, not the guy he hit, and he just pulls away. police are still looking for that driver. in usa today, giant crater in siberia near the end of the world. the hole is 260 feet wide, a mystery as to what caused it. scientists ruled out a meteor strike and others believe it was caused by melting permafrost and gas released like a champaigne cork effect. the rock lays a smackdown on a chris cristie ad. scrambles politics is next. [[[jq

you read the labels on the foods you eat - but do you know what's in your skincare? neutrogena naturals. a line of naturally derived skincare with carefully chosen, clinically proven ingredients and no harsh chemicals. healthy skin-starts from within. neutrogena naturals. now here's your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. one in six americans now say immigration is thee most pressing problem facing the united states. that is a big jump since june. last month, just 5% of people cited immigration as a top concern, and now 17 % of americans feel that way. an important congressional candidate from arizona is in damage control after he mistook a bus of campers as a bus of undocumented chirp. he took a picture of the bus and tweeted bus coming in, this is

not compassion, but ab gags of the rule of law. when he learned they were not undocumented children, he back pedals. >> i apologized. i was leaving when i saw them. i said i saw children. i saw children. those were not migrant children, that's fine. >> well, the u.n. high commissioner for human rights is praising government leaker edward snowden delivering a report warning about government surveillance saying, quote, we owe a great deal to him for revealing this information. maloney got married last month, and now the f organization a is investigating the wedding video. there was a photographer to film the day using a camera mount to a drone. the faa, however, bans drone flights for commercial purposes. great shot, though. new jersey governor chris christie had to change a political ad after a complaint

by dwyane "the rock" johnson. the video made to promote his summer tour, but at one point in the end, you see the rock walking past app explosion and fire, and an attorney for the wrestler asked it be changed. the governor said, unfortunately, the rock is on high demand and will not appear in the summer flick. that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. smackdown by the rock. in washington, i'm joined by syndicated columnist bob franking. good morning. >> i have to follow the rock? >> no, it was a smack down. it is hard to follow the rock. >> it is. >> you don't have the same kind of guns, unfortunately. so president obama slapped russia with another round of economic sanctions for the role in ukraine so who is actually going to feel the pinch this time around, bob? >> well, he's getting more specific. he's going after the energy sector in russia he's going after the major financial institutions, and he's going

after a couple of people close to vladimir pew tutin, and puti basically said, oh, big deal, so what will you hit us with next? >> he seems to say that every single time, but this time he said you're not just hurting us, but yourself too. how so? >> because we have an interwovn world now, certainly in the financial and energy sector, and american energy companies, of course, have their relationships with the russian energy sector, so if, in fact, there are going to be efforts made to attack ru russia's energy people, that could splatter on the u.s. energy people. >> could get ugly. speaking of the pal stestiniansd israelis, there's a five-hour peace, could there be an end? >> there has to be something behind the scenes, usually there is with diplomacy, but we have

the standoff, egypt, the int interlocketer has no connections with the pam stinian us because of the different leadership there. what we've seen in the past is the whole world can watch. israel has to be always conscious of the fact everything that happens in the gaza strip because of their attacks will be witnessed and the other way around. that puts a different dynamic on this. >> all right. bob, in my book, you can follow the rock any day. >> you mean that sincerely? >> i do, from the bottom of my heart. okay, take care. first buzz just ahead including the most adorable eating contest we've ever seep. plus, of all the ways to get rid of an itsy-bitsy spider, you should stay away from this one. russian jazz funk? next to swedish hip hop. when he knows what he wants... - thank you. do you have himalayan toad lilies?

spotted, or speckled? speckled. yes. he has to have it. a cubist still life of rye bread... sold. it's perfect. which is why we'll ship a canary yellow jeep with leather seats from dallas to burbank if it's the one frank wants. carmax. start here. thank ythank you for defendiyour sacrifice. and thank you for your bravery. thank you colonel. thank you daddy. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance can be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. is caused by people looking for parking. in a city that's remarkable that so much energy is, is wasted.

streetline has looked at the problem of parking, which has not been looked at for the last 30, 40 years. we wanted to rethink that whole industry, so we go and put out these sensors in each parking spot and then there's a mesh network that takes this information, sends it over the internet so you can go find exactly where those open parking spots are. the collaboration with citi was important for providing us the necessary financing; allow this small start up to go provide a service to municipalities. citi has been an incredible source of advice, how to engage with municipalities, how to structure deals, and as we think about internationally citi is there every step of the way. so the end result is you reduce congestion, you reduce pollution and you provide a service to merchants, and that certainly is huge.

all right. we have a new host and program right here on msnbc. you have to watch this. insightful politics and indepth report reporting on msnbc at 10:00 a.m. eastern. so check it out. >> this is what's great about it. you'd be doing this anyway. >> anyway. >> yeah. i still have to eat. >> right. >> and get a cup of coffee, but i figured out a way to make it a show. >> all right. time now for drinking coffee. i mean, that's what seinfeld is about. he can do it. starting with you, richard, this is the cutest video of the day. >> yes, remember the hamster,

right, with the burrito? well, that company and theirevi so they had a tiny birthday with a tiny hedgehog. it's a hamster and hedgehog. >> he's going at it. >> when they baked the cake, it's 100% hedgehog safe and hamster safe. >> who wins? >> you see if you watch the video. i will not tell you. give it to the birthday, the hedgehog guy. >> a spider in seattle caused a fire. here's why. the owner of the house tried to chase it up the wall by using a can of hair spray and lighter creating a blow torch, and that burnt the house down, $60,000 in damage. not fun at all. >> use a newspaper. >> expensive spider. this is quick, makes you feel

good there's nice people in the world. over in germany, dogs playing fetch. in wheel carts. there's five that do not have use of their leg, and they are playing with the big guy boys and having a great time. >> good for them. >> let them get the stick. so as we let you go, you're running? >> that's such a great question. you know, let me give you a different answer. because, you know, you were obnoxious to ask again. >> another potential presidential candidate not heard from when chris christie decides when to decide on 2016. more on hillary clinton's contract details emerge, but how much is too much for one hour of her time? d.c. loosening the pot law, and

who wants to pay for your fine if you get busted? this is "way too early." hey, everybody, i'm thomas robertson, thursday, july 17th. this is "way too early," the show that experimented with marijuana, but did not inhale. that's the steamer that gets the wrinkles out of our clothes here at 30 rock. i don't know what that noise is. the irs targeting conservative groups, the senior official at the justice department confirms that the doj's problem include looking into year's worth of e-mails that disappeared. it's part of the prepared speech and remarks that the deputy attorney general james cole will make at the house oversight committee today. e-mails from 2009 to