this morning on "early today," abuse of power. alaska governor sarah palin once again comes under fire over ethics. desperate measures. now that the details are out, there's an uproar over surprising cuts california us selo to close its $26 billion budget gap. and a rare phenomenon. a once in a lifetime solar eclipse blankets asia in near a once in a lifetime solar eclipse blankets asia in near darkness. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning.

i'm christina brown. today we begin with yet another palin probe. an independent investigator in alaska has found east side that governor sarah palin may have violated ethics laws in her attempt to pay mounting legal bills from multiple ethics complaints filed against her. the finding is just the latest in a long line of headlines hounding the former vice presidential candidate who stepped down from office this week. in a confidential report obtained tuesday by the associated press, the investigator characterized the governor's fund-raising as using her elected position for, quote, personal gain. the issue is foced on the so-called alaska trust fund set up by friends and supporters to help palin cover half a million dollars in legal bills. the investigator urges palin to refuse the funding and suggests the issue could be resolved without a formal reprimand.

the governor's office called the report inaccurate and said it was illegally leaked. while president obama sees health care reform, in his words, as closer than ever, there's growing concern of members of his own party for passing legislation and its estimat $1 trillion price tag. the president suffered a minor setback on tuesday as several top democrats suggested slowing the proposal's timeline until after the senate's recess next month. majority leader harry reid echoed those concerns saying the goal is, quote, reform, not deadline. and in another minor setback for the president, sate republicans have moved to delay the vote for supreme court nominee judge sonia sotomayor. republicans used procedural formalities to force the judiciary committee to push back its vote until next tuesday, even as a fourth senate republican announced their support for the nominee.

sotomayor is certain to win approval once the matters moves to the full senate. the whose did notch one big victory after they halted production of f-22 fighter jets. it follows a high stakes showdown over the president's efforts to strip a $1.7 billion price tag in defense spending from the fighter jets and toward a new generation of smaller aircraft. the 58-40 vote came down to a tough lobbying campaign between administration and lawmakers who worried that the cuts could impact jobs in their home states. well, tonight president obama will hold a primetime news conference primarily to push his health care agenda. nbc news wl bring you live coverage beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern time, 5:00 p.m. pacific right here on your local nbc station. in california, celebrations have really given way to chaos over a proposed deal to mend

that state's crippled budget. less than a day after governor arnold schwarzenegger announced a tentative agreement was being sent to the legislature for approval, state republicans are threatening to back out of the deal slated to cut 9 billion education dollars, eliminate health care for tens of thousands of people, and set free thousands of prisoners to finish out their sentence from home.s vo uldco tre place as eay as tomorrow. now, here's a look at some other stories making news today "early today" in america. a fatal school bus shooting took place two years ago. take a look. it shows a teenage file down the aisle of a bus at a rival gang member. instead, he hit and killed a girl on that bus and injured two others. well, the gunman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 100 years in prison.

a denver man caught some shocking video on camera while watching a storm from his lawn. a bolt struck a pine tree across the street. no one was huut he certainly has an electrifying story. one neighborhood looking like winter. heavy hail coated lawns in the area. a weak tornado nearby actually caused widespread power outages. and a trash remover in new york came across a very valuable rubbish. amidst the garbage in a deceased man's apartment, he came across mayan artifacts. they could be worth tens ofousa and in north carolina, a student was arrested for harmless but very illegal art. take a look at this one. using stolen construction barrels, he created this barrel monster. he was, however, later sentenced

to 50 hours of community service. he said he plans to resurrect the monster but next time he will buy the barrels. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. another form of punishment could be making him sit in traffic. >> it could. all the people that got caught because the cones were stolen. that would make sense. christina, it's a cool summer. in many areas from the great lakes, really from chicago through the great lakes, through new england, yesterday was just an example of another day that didn't feel like summer. it was only 67 in boston yesterday, 71 in new york, 76 in detroit. even the southeast was cooler than normal. i mean, mid-80s is still warm, but it wasn't the summertime heat you're used to. these are departures from normal. new york city, average high should be 80s. it was only 71. you can see everyone was a little cooler than they should have been yesterday. today, same story.

no big heat out here. the one storm just an exit. we have another one rolling through tennessee, kentucky, heading through indiana. and then a big area off the coast we're going to have to watch. all of this is going to try to converge over new england it looks like in two days. for today, a lot of that rain up through through indiana. that's a look at your national forecast. now a look at the weather outside your window. albany, new york, 82 degrees. providence, rhode island, 83. pittsburgh, pennsylvania, right around 79. louisville, kentucky, we'll call it 72. well, christina, that's a look at your soggy forecast once again. >> all right. thanks so much, bill. apple shines, starbucks bubbles, and are youready for chocolate made with camel's milk? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, it was an all-star week for cameron diaz.

she dated not one but two of the world's most desirable bachelor's. phillies extend their winning streak in dramatic fashion, and manny ramirez forced to leave the game early. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm christina brown. and here are some of your top headlines. across asia, nations were plunged into darkness by the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century. from india to china, millions watched as the moon moved directly between the sun and the earth. in some areas the eclipse lasted more than six minutes. in western japan, heavy rains triggered floods and landslides that have killed at least five people. among the fatalities several people from a nursing home where the military was called in to rescue stranded survivors. nearly half a dozen are still missing. in the denver hair, hail storms left tens of thousands of

homes in the dark yesterday. heavy rain and wind gusts hit 70 miles per hour. more injuries were reported. and in palm springs, california, residents were feeling the heat with temperatures well into triple digit territory. and the area is not expected to get a relief today with thermometers expected to soar well over 100 degrees once again. now, here's an early auto lookt how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 8,915 after rising 67 points. s&p up 3. nasdaq, 6. in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 253 points. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke returns to the hot seat std before comments before congress tuesday getting lukewarm reception on wall stre street. we're joined by louisa bojesen

from the london headquarters of cnbc. good morning, louisa. >> hi, christina. let's not forget a lot of what he said had been published in a wall street article before. maybe that's also part of the reason the markets didn't react more. he reiterated his outlook for the u.s. economy. it's improvinmproving, he said. most market participants focused on earnings, though. fall a little bit of late buying. dow closing just shy of 1%. nasdaq up for 10 straight days in a row. longest streak in 12 years. stcks to watch today include morgan stanley, qualcomm, ebay. apple's quarterly profits had better than expected earnings. they sold 7 times as many iphones as they did a year ago. 13% rise in laptop unit sales, a 10% drop in desktop sales.

caterpillar, 66% fall in second quarter profits. they're still cautioning on demand, though, for the near feature. starbucks profits much better than expected as they began reaping the rewards for slashing costs and closing stores. a lot of the criticism had been they were simply spending too quickly for their own good. it may be a little bit of a foreign concept, at least for now, christina, but the very first brand in the world made out of cow's milk, chocolate it is we're talking about, they will be expanding into the europe, u.s. as well. chocolate made out of camel's milk, five times as more vitamin c, less fat, lactose for the lactose intolerant. >> thanks so much, lee wees sa. >> yas leap frog the sox.

plus, one seattle outfielder may not make the catch but he wins points for crazy bravery. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. well, the weather pattern won't change. it's warm out west, cool in the east. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. the issue of sety is an i iss ue riders.tr h obl en tracutk. ouble on the track. plus, a lot of students are quarantined. how long health officials say they will stay there. a new website breaking it

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the philadelphia phillies not only enjoyed their 10th victory in a row last night, they did it in style with a walk-off homer. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. arguably the hottest team in baseball. the phillies are proving why they're the world champs. phils hosting the cubs. 1-0 lead after that pitch into the right field seats. chicago quickly tied it. it stayed that way to the 13th. jason wirth stepped in and saved it. three-run walk-off homer for wirth. their longest win streak in 18 years. speaking of straights, the yanks won five in a row after taking care of the orioles. part of a three-runnin'ing.

won it 6-4. sole position in the east after boston lost to texas. gary mullen. second inning. ryan deep to the gap. gutierrez hoping to make a play but crashed into the scoreboard. he was on the ground in obvious pain. he wasn't able to walk off the field. injuring his left elbow and knee. seattle lost, 9-7. dodgers hosting the reds. ramirez forced to leave in the third. ramirez later sent to a hospital for precautioner x-rays which were negative. he's day to day. germany voigt took a nasty spill out of nowhere. he lost consciousness. had to be helicoptered to a local hospital. his tour is is likely after. lance armstrong still in second place behind contador. he said he found a new american

sponsor next year. he will likely ride again in 2010. that's an early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. you will not believe by mary kate and ashley allison are being saluted. . plus, we'll take a look at one young man who is rock steady in more ways than one.aee wngn a

well, welcome back on this wednesday morning. earlier i had a little computer issue. said sunshine for louisville. trust me, it's not going to be sunny. it is raining. bring your umbrella for indiana, ohio and also all of -- mostly kentucky and tennessee. we have rain out there. going to be a cool more like a spring day in a lot of areas. cincinnati, only 72 degrees. nashville barely making it up to 80. chicago and detroit, stuck in the 70s. well, if you're watching wilx tv in lansing, michigan, feast your eyes on the colorful world of living reefs at clownfish, corals and conservation. clownfish are pretty. i like those. >> thanks so much, bill. now here's an early look at headlines in entertainment. warning, the following honor was actually bestowed with a

straight face. mary kate and ashley olson, who regularly make worst dressed lists are being inducted into the fashion designers council of america. english tabloids report over last week, cameron diaz reportedly had dates with jude law and leonardo dicaprio. i'm jealous. katherine heigl is at it again. she's serious this time. auto her first day back to the set, she had to work a 17-hour day. imagine that. she called it, quote, cruel and mean. speaking of public relations nightmares, jessica biel probably had no idea how silly and wasteful when she said she avoids overindulging in restaurants by always sending her meal back halfway through the meal. interesting. finally, misha barton is on

involuntary psychiatric hold. she was actually begged to seek help by none other than lindsay lohan, bill. lindsay lohan told misha stop partying. >> which are you jealous over? this comes from wvla nbc 33 tv in baton rouge, louisiana, where one school band has a star drummer, who by beating the drums, has really beaten all the odds. take a look at this guy. he is one of the best drummers in his home state of texas despite having to play without arms. and as if all that is not impressive enough, the inspirational team doesn't let his prosthetic leg stop him from marching with the band either. i'm christina brown. this is "early today," just your

good morning. it is 4:54. spotlight on the capitol dome out there this morning, 71 degrees on this july, 21st, 2009. welcome to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison. we want to start things off with a look at weather and aftrcment. tom keirein is here with the latest. we have some humidity in the air, but not too bad. the skies cleared out after overnight thundershowers passed to the knot of washington. we have one knot ofaf dinrirog ndsy clviayannt aouow n ing off to the tureea near he the trapesre nearea70 in washington. 60s in the rural areas. the forecast for today coming up in five minutes at 5:01. now to jerry edward to get an early look at the roadways.

>> it is only wednesday, i thought it was thursday, already. drat. at least it is not monday. we'll head out to see how we are doing. so far, so good on the topside of the beltway with no worries. any overnight roadwork on the 95 corridor in virnia is wrapping up right now. back to you. thank you, jerry. here's a look at four big stories happening today. metro confirms there are stretches of track that are, quote, problematic. however, officials say the concerns are not as bad as the recent "washington post" articles says. metro says they are not the type of anomalies to cause last month's crash. the president entertains foreign guests today. he meets with iraq prime minister you are innurak a ma lakey. today there's a status hearing involving rod

blagojevich. he is charged with 16 felony counts including racketeering and extortion. this involves him selling the seat of then senator barack obama. ben bernanke heads back to capitol hill today likely to face more tough questions about the central bank's extraordinary actions to rescue the economy. last year's taxpayer finance rescue of insurance giant aig and others have touched a nerve with lawmakers. the water gate hotel part of the huge complex made famous by the presidential hander is back in the news. >> residents and local businesses hope the hotel will some day get back in business. tom reports. >> reporter: at the water gate flower shop, joe has been the manager for 25 years selling to visitors, residents, and before it closed two years ago, the water gate hotel. >> we used to get a lot of

business from the hotel. not only the hotel itself, but also the guests staying and the event that is they have there. >> reporter: inside the walls of the water gate complex, a unique washington community of a multi-level plaza for shopping, many look past the history that made water gate famous. >> we have 55% garden space plus a grocery, drugstore, all kinds of shopping. >> reporter: gigi winston's father was the first general manager of the water gate. penthouses originally sold for around $200,000. the water gate complex was made famous by the 1972 burglary that led to president richard nixon's resignation. in recent years, the once busy water gate hotel fell silent as ambitious plans to remodel it

have turned it to coops in the failing economy. >> it help that is the people who live here and work here have a place to go. >> sell it for $25 million. >> reporter: at a crowded auction on friday, the water gate hotel was sold back to the new york lender, the only bidder, who owns a $45 million fee on the property. >> you are within walking distance to georgetown, to the metro, to the monument. >> the new york bank that owns the hotel hopes to find a new buyer for it. stay with us. "news4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m.