this morning on "early today," high-stakes ruling. the supreme court upholds president obama's sweeping health care reform. mile high destruction. hundreds of homes go up in flames in colora's worst ever wildfire. and dazzling display. royal diamonds take the spotlight to mark queen elizabeth'diamond jubilee. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with a landmark decision. republicans say the fight is far from over, but democrats are calling the supreme court's decision on president obama's health care reform law a major victory. in a 5-4 ruling tipped by the

court's chief justice, the affordable care acted was deemed legal and constitutional. bc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: the court outside the court was surprised. the obama health care law was upheld. conservatives were outraged. conservative chief justice john roberts sided with court liberals to say the penalty in the obama law for not buying health insurance is a tax. because the constitution commits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it. the court did limit the federal government's power to force states to take more medicaid patients but the affordable health care alkt goes forward, guaranteed coverage, every american included, like it or not i was hoping the whole thing

would come down. >> we have to unite and fight this. >> i'm very happy with the decision today. >> we've worked for this for a long time. >> reporter: president obama praised the high court's decision. >> with today's announcement it's time to move forward, to implea mp and where necessary improve on this law. >> reporter: but the house republican are going to appeal. >> if bewant to get rid of obama care, we're going to have to replace president obama. >> reporter: but it's barack obama who got a boost. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. elsewhere attorney general eric holder has become the first cabinet member to be held in contempt of congress. all but two voted in a resolution in a dispute over access to documents from the gun trafficking operation known as fast and furious. the house could try to go to court to force the attorney general to hand over the documents, but that could become a long court fight. holder called the vote a

politically motivated act in election year. well, president obama travels to colorado today to get a firsthand look at the areas devastated by the wildfires. the waldo canyon fire has destroyed some 346 homes in colorado springs and is making it the most destructive fire in that state's history. so far one person has been found in one of the destroyed homes. nbc's jinah kim has more. >> reporter: after waiting in agony for much of the week, hundreds of evacuated families in colorado springs learned they no longer have homes. >> we have preliminarily 346 residences that have been destroyed. >> today we're going to be inl cred incredit ebbably defensive on the fire. >> reporter: fire crews nearing 1,500 switched from defense to offense for the first time in four days. >> as far as what's happening up in the forests and the areas we

can't get to, it's going be difficult. it's going to be smoke for quite some time. >> reporter: for evacuees like stephanie it's been emotional and a physical roller coast sneer we're evacuated due to the smoke, came back, had a mandatory evac again and came to monument and now it's on preevacuation. >> reporter: it's just one of nine major wild fires burning throughout colorado. there are several other fires burning in other western states. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in new york city police have released draw might video of a gunman opening fire in what's being described as a wran dom attack. investigators say the man walked up to two people and just started shooting. the victims were wounded but are now in the hospital recovering. the trigger man is still on the loose. in texas, tragedy at a

construction site. a worker was killed after becoming trapping in the collapse of a tracrane north of houston. the cause is under investigation. and, finally, in ohio it's okay to envy these kids just having some fun. they were able to beat the sweltering heat and have a great time doing it after the mayor of columbus ordered a small group of fire hydrants opened under supervision. it's something that's normally forbidden but allowed under the city's operation cooldown. the hydrants will likely be turned on again today as the thermometer inches closer to that triple-digit mark. and for more on that we head over to the national and regional meteorologist who has everything covered. bill karins. it's going to be hot begin today, huh? >> i think it's going to be the duration of the heat storm. yesterday we had all-time june, hottest temperatures. never been this hot before in recorded history. in st. louis, 108 yesterday.

little rock, all-time june-high record, 107. louisville, 103. and indianapolis, 104. you can tell from which ka to the ohio valley, that's where the heat wave was at its peak. it was humid in chicago. we had it at 114, so it wasn't exactly feeling lovely there. now this morning the heat dome is settling its over tennessee drifting toward the east coast and that means the hot air's spreading that way too. we have a little bit of thunderstorm activity, bringing a little heavy rain to areas around philadelphia, new jersey, new york city, now trying to dive down toward york, pennsylvania. we've had some thunderstorm warnings with these. but these are going to make their way to baltimore and philadelphia for your morning drive. keep that in mind. there's a few storms heading to the new york state throughway. we do have heat advisories, heat warnings in place from kansas city to indianapolis and a heat warning around philadelphia. how hot? look at that.

charlotte, around 104. d.c., around 100. and we're still just as hot all the way through the mississippi river valley. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. no break today. we're watching the heat continue to spread. raleigh, 102. another very hot day around cincinnati. if you're lucky, you'll get some of the thunderstorms and clouds to heavy cool you off. triple-digit heat continues in the areas right through sunday. >> thanks so much. coming up euro steps to the plate blackberry sours and a six-figurier cab nair that comes with its own wine maker. sounds good, isn't it. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus woman versus beast and newcomer ted vie for the top spot. coming up a maeg ga deal for sidsny crosby, history in the

nba draft and a stunner at wimbledon. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. another big decision from the supreme court yesterday. it struck down a federal law that made it a crime to lie about having received a medal of honor and other prized military awards because the law violated freedom of speech. at ft. bragg, north carolina, a u.s. soldier shot and killed a by tallian commander during a safety briefing. he shot and wounded himself and is in custody. major defense kon drakter united technologies has been fined $75 million for violated u.s. export laws. the company admits covering up the illegal sale of software to china that was later used to develop beijing's first attack helicopter. a source tells reuters that

strauss-kahn and his wife have separated. after making headlines in new york. and starting tomorrow some of the world's most spectacular diamonds will be on display in buckingham palace in london as part of queen elizabeth's diamond jubilee celebration. they're displaying the priceless and historic jewels until october. and now here is an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,602 after losing 24. the s&p was down 2. the nasdaq fell 25. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei spike 132 points, while in hong kong the hang seng skyrocketed 416. progress on europe's debt crisis could help stocks recover some of thursday's losses. asian markets rally this morning after eurozone leaders agreed to take emergency action to bring down italy's and spain's borrowing costs. the group also agreed on new

bank supervision and okayed bailout funding for its struggling banks. earlier the supreme court's health care ruling pushed hospital stocks sharply higher. meanwhile aetna lost 3% as investors worried about the impact of health insurers. blackberry's r.i.m. lost 15%. after the bell nike tumbled 157 on weaker than expected earnings. ford's next quarterly report warning europe's economic reports are taking a a bigger toll. jpmorgan fell after new york times reported losses from its recent risky trading blunder could reach more than $9 billion. that's more than four times the original estimate. barclays slumped 4% as britain brought in the fraud squad over an interest rate

fixing scandal. this morning three more banks, hsbc, lloyd's, and rbs are also implicated. and, finally, what do you eat with a $168,000 bottle of wine? i'd like to find out. but a better question is how do you open snit not to worry. if you're lucky enough to land one of the ten bottles of cabernet, someone will come to your house to open it for you. coming up, the rockies walk off in, extras, and a go-ahead homer in the ninth. plus, a shocker overseas kicks one team out of the euro 2012 tournament. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and this amazing heat wave continues right through the weekend. kind of jealous of seattle. 70 and showers. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

2012 tournament.

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports last night for the first time ever, three college freshmen were the top picks in the nba draft. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. unless you were living under a rock the past month you all right know that anthony avis was selected first in the nba draft. but who went number two?

>> with the second pick in the 2012 nba draft, the charlotte bobcats select michael kidd gilchrist of the university of kentucky in summer dale, new jersey. a pair of kentucky wildcats go one and two. florida's bradley beal received a perfect gift on his 19th birthday. he was slerkted third overall. ite tess first time all three were freshmen. a couple of big signings in the nhl. sidney signed an extension with the penguins and the kings locked down the stanley cup. now to the diamonds, rocky blew a seven-run lead but had enough left in the tank to pull it out. marco scutaro with an rbi single in the 11th. colorado did everything they could to lose but ended up beating washington, 11-10 in extras. yanks and white sox down a pair in the ninth. he gave the sox a lead with a three-run shot. they won it, 4-3.

finally a couple of upsets overseas. grab your passport. lucas russell from the czech republic, beat the number two player in the world in a five-set thriller. it's nadal's in seventh year. the second, a thing of beauty. got whiend the defense and unleashed a rocket. eat your heart out magic mike. super mario stripped them of an appearance in the finals. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, channing tatum and matthew mcconaughey steam up the big screen. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll introduce you to a former u.s. olympic athletes who inspiration knows no bounds. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." let me take you through your weekend forecast imt it looks hot and dry with a very few exceptions. we may see thunderstorms at times going through the great lakes and areas of new england. if you near the southeast, the heat continues today with the 100-degree temperatures if not 100s and 90s. we'll still be near 100 in washington, d.c. you'd still have two or three days in a row of 100-degree heat. all the way down to atlanta too. no relief for you.

even boston could be as warm as mid-90s and even new england getting a little taste of the heat wave. by the time we get to sunday, maybe slightly cooler air for areas of minneapolis, chicago. make thunderstorms could cool us down. no releechlt it's going be a very hot and steamy weekend. if you're watching us on kfor, news channel 4 in oklahoma city, solve a mystery using a forensic science and technology at whodunit, the science of solving crimes at the science museum of oklahoma. and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> all right. bill, thanks so much. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. last weekend's box office winner "brave" could be facing some fury competition. "ted" stars mark wahlberg whose best friend is a potty-mouthed teddy bear. sounds like bill. it's the first feature film from the "family guy" creators and should do well with the younger crowd. "ted" is expected to debut with around $40 million. >> that will be helping the

kids. >> channing tatum and matt mcconaughey star in "magic mike." inside irs say it's going go a big hit with females and could take in as much as $25 million. tyler perry returns as a loud-mouthed grandmother in ma dia's witness protection. it's the seventh of this kind. experts say it should fall in line with the other openings in the 20 to $25 million range. and the fourth release, "people like us" it's expected to bring in only $5 million to $7 million. see, people nay not know this whole "ted" movie. >> it's not the cutaway of like padding ton bear? >> no, no. when we say younger crowd, we mean college kids. >> if you know that, yes. >> we'll see what happens.

>> the potty humor, we don't appreciate on this show. >> exactly. we're so much more mature. this comes to us from new york where a near by rockport, a group of visually impaired children learn how to run. they couldn't find a better trainer than marla run on, the only legally blind pair a olympian ever to run in the olympics. she taught the kids even if they can't use their eyes they are able to run. one sixth grader said hit goal was to make it to the pair a olympics but now he wants to aim higher. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. we have some big thunderstorms to start the day today. severe thunderstorm warning in effect for baltimore, harford, and cecil counties. big storms dropping out of pennsylvania. the have this one right now in maryland is dropping down 83 in the wintry valley area and heading towards monkton. it is going to be bumpy to start the day. the warning is in orange and a severe thunderstorm watch until

8:00 a.m. will make it up to 99 this afternoon. >> sounds like a fun day. 4:57. 76 degrees on tv hill. >> the debate over health care and those from the court to the ballot box. >> many small businesses concerned after a major ruling by the supreme court. >> we are looking very nice on the area roads

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. happy friday. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> we have some thunderstorms moving in. moving in.