sorbo sorbon university. he tried to stop the suspect khazzani whenehe came out with the weapons and he was shot in the neck. spencer stone who tackled the gunman down saved his life by taking care of him, even though stone was bleeding heavily himself. betty? >> france's highest award for all they have done. 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 was devaluing its currency. nancy is live in london for us this morning. is wall street bracing for another down day? >> i'm sorry so say but it looks like that is the case, betty. u.s. futures are pointing to a lower open in the neighborhood 2% to 3% across the major indices and it was brutal last week across markets. the s&p 500 wipe off about 1.1

trillion dollar cap for the entire week and dow jones industrials wiped off 338 billion so a lot of loss across the board and indiscriminate selling across the sector and blue chip names in the dow are in bear market territory with apple down off 21% from recent highs. walmart is down just about 27% from its high in january. so some real concerns here for investors but we have been talking to analysts all morning and the messages do not panic. a lot of fear being generated around china. but we still have some uncertainty in that region and a lot of people are waiting for the chinese central bank to come in with additional easing measures and that could give markets a bit of a boost. for the moment, it is not looking pretty. another down day on wall street. >> looks like another rough zone for investors who better buckle up. thank you, nancy. a terrifying scene at pocono raceway in california. 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. dozens fire crews are out on the line right now. in washington, thousands are still under evacuation orders but some are refuse to go 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 are going to build a walk. >> 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 illegally.

>> 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. 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. coming off the weekend. it's a workweek ahead and it's a monday morning. a lot of people not totally excited about today. but maybe you'll bring some sunshine? >> there is a lot of that to be found. i got to show you a little piece of video that is interesting first. you don't want to get caught in the water when a big storm is coming your way. how about caught in a kayak? eric wallace in florida had a haul. this storm snuck up on him last week and he did make it back to shore but the lightning was dangerously close. he did caught in a little bit of rain and definitely gusty winds. he even put the face gear on there to protect himself. this weekend, we saw really bad air. all of the fires continue in the northwest and fires didn't flare up much but the air quality was

horrible so that continues today. gray quality are air quality alerts. today the change mixed more as a thermal trough moves through and the fires could flare your significantly. dangerous firefighting weather. in the east humid warm air continues from the mid-atlantic to the northeast and chicago, right through the great lakes, cool air for you. this cold front as it plows to the east today, will spark additional showers and storms and not severe. lightning the biggest threat. 5:00 p.m. to albany and scrantoa and washington, d.c. possibility of showers and storms and those will weaken tonight. tuesday, the front will move through new england. areas like hartford and manchester, the storms are heading your way. a lot of sunshine on the board as betty mentioned so not a bad day for travel. that is a look at the national weather so on now here is a closer look at your day today. the southeast a little bit of break and not widespread of rain the exceptions along the

southeast coastline. i mentioned the beautiful cool, almost fall like air. green bay today with a high of only 63! the warm weather will continue but it doesn't look to be anything too exceptionally hot. >> all right. no complaints here. 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.

welcome back on your monday. 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. two major air show tragedies over the weekend to tell you about. in england, a vintage fire jet crashed into a busy road and leaving 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. >> good advice there.

it is panda monia 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.

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. 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 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 23- the championship in the pga. 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 or can barely say it. the only one built in the world with a 4. liter v-8 engine and yielding 1,018 horsepower and the car was also featured on jay leno's garage. take a good look because most of us wents be able to get on't be able to get near that thing. 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. what is all of the commotion? well, members of the westboro baptist church got a visit from the foo fighters singing "never going to give up." >> rapper wiz khalifa was detained at l.a.x. he was forced to lie on the ground and ordered stop resisting. tracy morgan tied the knot with his long time girlfriend last night.

it's been a little over a year since he was fatally injured in a car accident so congratulations to them. the winners at the box office this weekend include "straight outta compton" earning 29 million second week and "mission impossible" 11 million in its third week and "stiner 2" saw 10.5 million in its opening 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. i'm betty nguyen. we hope it's your first stop on

nbc.

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 e 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. >> no better story this weekend. >> for it to come to fruition like that. it's beautiful. 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. rons here are our birthdays for today.

keep it here for more news, weather, and sports. i'm betty nguyen. we hope you have a great monday. . right now. a young boy is in critical condition as we look at these live pictures from an early morning fire in brooklyn.

a member of mayor de blasio's security detail shot with a pellet gun. new information in overnight. americans credited with bringing down a gunman on a paris train are receiving france's highest honor. "today in new york" starts now. good morning everybody. 4:30 a.m. on this monday, august 24th. i'm michael gargiulo. i'm kerry barrett in for darlene rodriguez today. >> raphael miranda is in for chris. >> you felt the mugginess creeping back over the last couple of days. it's warm and sticky outside. 74 degrees. partly cloudy skies. we have showers off to the east for the east end of long island. rain this morning. otherwise, mostly sunny and warm. up to 82 by lunchtime. today's high 85 degrees. a hit or miss storm can't be ruled out to the west of new york city. we'll look at the showers for eastern long island. lauren scala has a look at your commute. >> good morning everyone.

we have a couple of trouble spots already. we'll head to lakewood new jersey where route 88 is shut down between south clifton avenue and lexington avenue. let's head to the whitestone bridge. also a crash there. some delays. more weather and traffic on the 4s. an overnight house fire left a child fighting for his life. katherine creag is in marine park with more. >> reporter: neighbors describe seeing chaos, people screaming, paramedics carrying out that little boy. right now, you can see police officials, some fire investigators here still on the scene. this was about 1:15 this morning when fire broke out. what neighbors are telling us that they saw a lot of the damage on the second floor of the home. that's where they believe the child and his family lived in an upstairs apartment. 1:15 when fire broke out and

neighbors tell us it was heartbreaking seeing that little boy. >> the baby looked not well. the baby looked lifeless. it didn't look good. >> reporter: and this family, we are told by neighbors, again, that moved into this apartment, into this house only about four years ago. michael, it's still being investigated what exactly caused this fire. back to you, michael. >> kat, thank you very much. we're learning new information about a pellet gun shooting that sent a member of mayor de blasio's security detail to the hospital. "today in new york's" lori bordonaro is on the upper east side where two people are being questioned, right? kerry. yes, two teenagers, both 19 years old. a male and female being questioned here at the 19th precinct in connection with that pellet gun shooting that happened outside gracie mansion. take a look at this video that we got outside of the mansion on the upper east side. shields.