this morning on "early today," diplomacy on tap. a president, a professor, and a police officer sit down for one of the most highly anticipated rounds of beer ever served. program overload. it's so popular the government's cash for clunker initiatives runs out of gas. flash photography. a florida man experiences the powerful force of lightning a florida man experiences the powerful force of lightning firsthand. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

hello and good morning. i'm lichristina brown. yesterday the nation was given the chance to watch one very memorable happy hour. president obama and vice president biden sat down with the two men at the center of a controversial arrest that ripped the skap off the national issue of race. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: president obama called it just having a drink at the end of the day. but the nation was watching. unexpectedly vice president biden was at the table in the rose garden sitting next to harvard professor henry lewis gates jr. they drank from frosty mugs and munched peanuts and pretzels. cameras kept too far back to hear what anyone said. it was the first time gates and kruly had spoken since the

arrest two weeks ago. earlier, president obama tried to lower expectations. >> this is not a university seminar. it is not a summit. it's an attempt have some personal interaction. >> reporter: sergeant crowley left the rose garden and reacted. >> we had a cordial and productive discussion today with the president, vice president and professor gates. we have all agreed that it is important to look forward rather than backward. >> reporter: in a statement, professor gates said, i am hopeful we can all move on. the beer summit, or whatever you wanto call it, barack obama hopes it puts an end to the story. steve handelsman, nbc news, at the white house. new vehicles flying off the lots at the nation's auto dealerships. thanks to a government program to trade cash for clunkers that's exactly what's happening. but there's just one catch.

the effort has proven so popular, officials may have to suspend it. nbc's jay gray explains. >> reporter: the federal government is apparently putting the brakes on the so-called cash for clunkers vehicle trade-in. according to sources on capitol hill, transportation secretary lahood notified key senators late thursday that the rebates would be suspended amidst the proam setting aside billions. wildly popular, the program gave consumers up to $4500 if they traded in a gas guzzler for a more fuel-efficient vehicle. and hope to rev up the sputtering auto stroo. >> since friday we have increased our business probably 30%. >> reporter: in less than a week, more than 22,000 people took advantage of the incentive plan, spending $96 million. >> there's a lot of people that weren't going to get a car but $4,500, that makes a big

difference in the car purchase and it brought them off the sidelines. >> reporter: but a huge backlog in processing thousands of deals, auto dealers ma have already driven past the 250,000 vehicle limit funded by the program apparently prompting the feds to park the initiative for now. jay gray, nbts news, los angeles. now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. a florida man got a lot more than he bargained for when he tried to get a little closer to nature. he was taking pictures of a violent storm from his porch when a lightning strike landed right inprr frtonf o m.hion itas sooud the iact knocd him back. fortunately that storm proved to be all bark and no bite. several areas in north texas are oraling with damage from the st. storm. a powerful bolt struck a large home creating a massive hole in the roof. in co koshgs a moose is headed back to the mountains.

after it was found meandering through one metro area, the curious animal drew quite the cloud before officials intervened to tranquilize it. it actually took six men to move the 750-pound animal. in the end, it was safely relocated. one woman in illinois is celebrated her 105th birthday. she took it all in wearing her very own tee ara typical of smop who friends say is always the life of the party. and her secret to longevity may be genetics. dad reached 9 # years old and her mom lived to be 102. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. you have certainly been warning us all week about the weather. >> it's been an interesting week. >> absolutely. >> the seattle heat wave was incredible in itself. 103. as i said yesterday, it's not going to happen for a very long time.

and then we have severe weather. yesterday in downtow memphis we had a tornado. it's been an active end towards july. looking at the weather map today, that continues. yesterday, the storms that hit memphis for all in this region. now they're shifting east. bring your umbrella today. everywhere from new england down to the mid atlantic, southeast, we have a lot of rain "early today." heavy rain moving up through the cleveland area, pittsburgh. not thunderstorms or severe just a good soaking. to the south we're seeing more stronger storms. i think we're going to get strong strms, it's going to be he pulse-type storms in georgia and the carolinas. what's behind it, saturday is okay for the east. this area here. but here comes the next storm. this could ruin people's sunday on the eastern seaboard. so it's not the best forecast. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. so hartford, connecticut, storms

and 78. cleveland, ohio, you may start off with early rain. then you'll clear out during the day. the stormy area is really going to be from wilmington southward down to georgia. well, christina, one thing i also failed to mention is a lot of areas in the great lakes and the ohio valley, this is the last day in july and this is going to go down as the coolest month on record. >> good news for some. thanks bill. g.m. jumps, disney gives and oil gushes. plus, it's got a million things going for it, but some problems too. it will win at the box office, but by how much? manny ramirez and david ortiz were here rows in baltimore when they won the 2004 world series. ut if you believe the report, fe. w youth'r before. 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 this morning. search warpts in the case of michael jackson's death labeled the pop star an addict. they also show several state codes may have been broken, including excessive prescribing and prescribing to an addict. sources sajak son's doctor, conrad murray, gave him a powerful sedative the day he died. >> the house approved a $636 billion defense spending bill yesterday. they asked money for the f-22 jet program, they kept funding for several programs the administration did not want, prompting a possible white house veto. thursday, witnesses say iranian police beat protesters and memorial for post-election violence in iran.

making her an icon for the opposition. and in central texas, nearly 80,000 people were evacuated from one time because of a fire at a chemical plant. the blaze was so fierce that a&m university's campus was closed. fortunately no serious injuries have been reported. now here's an early look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 9,154 after adding 83 points thursday. the s&p was up 11 points. and the nasdaq gained 16points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei rose at 191 to close at a new 10-month high. and in hong kong, the hang seng shot up 339 points. after a big day on wall street yesterday, asian markets rose higher this morning on continuing positive earnings news and optimism the global economy may be turning the corner. markets in japan, hong kong, south korea, shanghai, india,

taiwan and singapore all showed significant gains. even bad news was good. the electronic giant sony posted a loss but smaller than forecast, so traders were upbeat. oil also jumped above $67 a barrel in asian trading this morning after jumping over 5% here on thursday. its biggest one-day gain sinc april. on wall street yesterday before a late-day dip in trading, the s&p 500 pushed to its highest interday level. the nasdaq briefly rose above 2,000 for the first time since october. ge's parent company of this network gave the dow its biggest boost on speculation from lawmakers that the company may not have to sever its finance arm, g.e. capital. that sent shares soaring nearly 7%. also, fueling traders, the

number of americans filing for unemployment last week was several thousand less than wall street expected. driving stocks today, the dgp report is due out. analysts show it will shrink the economy 1.5% from april to june this year. economists hope the slower rate of shrinkage will be a sign the economy may have hit bottom. keep an eye on walt disney. after the bell, disney reported a 26% plunge in its third quarter earnings report. shares fell3.5% in after hours trading before making up some ground. finally, wouldn't it be gray to just roll out of bed in the morning if your bed made itself. the self-making bed was just one of the highlights at the 2009 expo in chile. also on display, a lighting system that serve as a wall. baseball news from the field

and from behind the scenes with the trade deadline approaching. plus, revelations more big names tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, the heat wave is finally over in the northwest, but all the rain continues in the east. your regional forecast is coming up. you'relyod." so when you said you bring fiber optic

all the way to the home, you meant... we bring fiber optic all the way to the home.

um... which gives you more bandwidth than cable. so you can upload faster. so it's like comparing a horse and buy to a sports car. am i the, uh, horse? (announcer) it's a internet. makes uploading as downloading. because your not fast's unless it's two-way fast. good morning. 'mebs.kr i >> 'm i>>'mra barba harrison. >> evidence is outlined in the man charged in the chandra levy case. why the government's cash for clunker's program is running on empty. good food at a good price. the best

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, red sox fans this morning on reel willing after a news report that two of their biggest stars from the 2004 world series were performance-enhancing drug users. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. for some this may come as a surprise. for others it's a no-brainer. "new york times" reporting manny rodriguez and david ortiz one of 104 who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. they were on a list supposed to remain anonymous. it's the same one that included sammy sosa. ortiz claims he had no knowledge of testing positive for any type of drugs.

>> honestly right now i don't have no information about it. get more info about the situation. >> just hours after the news, ortiz was busy hitting the go ahead home run against the a's. three-run to shot gave boston 6-5 lead. a standing ovation. ortiz goes from zero to hero in a matter of hours. 8-5. dodgers trying to stop a four-game skit against the cards. they needed extra innings. kemp ripped a single to left and scored a pair. dodgers back in the win column with a 5-3 victory over st. louis. dodgers acquired cheryl.

finally, check out this shot from the women's british open. becky brewer short approach on 11 up and into the cup on the fly. no bounce needed for that bird. off the pit and in. can't get much better than that. what a shot by brewerton. tht's an early look at sports on "early today." have a good weekendment i'm fred roggin. the expert forecast for your weekend at the box office. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a rubber ducky dream a e true a far a llor f worthy cause. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this friday morning. here's the problem. storm system in the tennessee and ohio valley will slide through the east coast today. early morning rain in the great lakes region and it should push into the east. very heavy rain is likely this afternoon from boston to new york city. washout type rain. one to two inches possible. washington, d.c., same for you. even the southeast. on saturday, the northeast gets better but still stormy down here in the south. well, if you're watching us on wxia 11 alive, atlanta, georgia, mellow out with smooth jazz tunes as you take in some of the nature's most alluring aquatic animals at jazz journeys at the georgia aquarium. and that's your eastern event of the day, christina. jazz and dolphins, not bad. >> that's an interesting

combination. thanks so much, bill. now, here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this year's box offices audiences have really constantly made the experts look silly. when it comes to the winner, the so-called experts are really scratching their heads. first, the easy stuff. research shows the family adventure fant say aliens in the attic not surprisingly doing best with boys. should open at 13 million. g-force will lose to aliens in the attic but will beat it for revenge taking in 18 million. harry potter and the half-blood prince will benefit from 160 imax openings, earning 15 million. now here's comes the hard part. funny people starring adam sand her and seth rogan. the 40-year-old virgin and knocked up, which starred rogan were smash hits.

after all, adam sand her is mr. box office, right? it is long, it is rated r and it's about a stand-up comic with cancer. it will win for sure, but the big question is will it be with 20, 30, or 40 million dollars. this comes from wmaq nbc 5 in chicago where folks were all kwauked up about this year's rubber ducky desher. it took 5 bucks to sponsor a race all about doing good. more than 22,000 special olympic athletes. and as if that was not enough, the owner of the winning duck also won a trip to the dominican republic. >> ♪ rubber ducky, you're the one ♪ >> that's all i know. keep going. i don't remember any of the other words. all right. well, i'm christina brown. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc

4:54 is our time right now. we have 80 degrees here in the nation's capitol. that is pretty warm for very early in the morning. we have cuds above us it looks like right now. we will get the latest in a moment. good morning, welcome to "news4 today." i'm joe grebs. >> i'm barbara harrison. we are glad you are with us. we will take a look outside and get our first forecast from chuck bell. good morning, erybo.dy yes,rrlofa c lyudy.sk strrl cloudy sky.inshirun fe thrrin sg inunshe first thing this morning. eavun h a threat finom cpg uerar te n.rnafoo afternoon. temperatures are on the warm side, indeed, torida fy y modarni morning startepp dpper 70s acrof the area. 76 in hagerstown, our dew point, up into the low 70tee hver o er h over the last six urhos, you can nats most of the rain srsweho are now mo wntngrneso ate nd central

pagia. w ey bthlovil m oeginver they will be mov ointo ta a o re inins d antourd re later on today. along with the showers will come a risk of strong to perhaps even some severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. be ready for that. clouds moving in. owers and thunderstorms likely before the day is done. some could be severe. highs today, mid to upper 80s before the showers move in. >> let's go to jerry edwards and the "news 4 traffic network." good morning to you. on a friday. >> it is friday, friday, friday. that's all i can say. good morning. so far, so good. as we get underway, 270, no early hangups. overnight road work pretty much wrapped up. the wilson bridge, we are okay through northeast new york avenue. kenworth avenue, off to a quiet start. barbara and joe, you. you. here now is a look at four big stories that are happening today. the man charged with the murder of chandra levy is expected in court today. the prosecutors told the court they have a new witness that will testify she was attacked

and stabbed on a jogging trail. the d.c. city council will vote on several tax proposals. council members tentatively approved a hike in sales, gas, and cigarette taxes. the revenue generated would help clothes a projected $662 million budget deficit over the next three years. washington redskins move into the second day of training camp. overnight, the team signed its first round draft pick. brian repko agreed to a five-year deal. he is expected to join his teammates in practice today. space shuttle "endeavour" returns to earth today, scheduled to ldn florida. lifted off on july 15th after having five launches canceled. the health care reform bill going on is focusing on traditional medicine, including going to see a doctor, taking prescriptions and hospital visits. >> new results of a government

survey finds that many of us are spending billions out of pocket on alternative therapy. tracie potts reports. >> reporter: nearly 4 in every 10 americans use what the government calls complimentary and alternative medicine. acupuncture, chiropractors, massage therapists or self-care like fish oil, herbs and other natural products. these treatments are not covered by insurance. so the government says americans are spending more than $33 billion a year out of pocket. >> if traditional care doesn't work, these alternative therapies seem to be safe and there is certainly a growing body of evidence suggesting that they are effective. >> very relaxing. >> reporter: allison stonebreaker started ac puncture for relief from insomnia and aeng jooit. >> my health today versus eight years ago new york's compison. >> reporter: she pays out of pocket but says it is worth it. >> it hasn't gotten rid of my

he headaches and reduces the frequency. i feel better. >> reporter: the recession appears to have had little effect. >> even with the economic downturn, people are still seeking our services. >> reporter: the government survey finds almost everyone using alternative also uses traditional medicine. >> we are not trying to replace conventional care but add to it. >> reporter: even with billions spent, these treatments only make up about 1.5% of what this country spends on health care. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. because all turn tiff medicine still makes up a small percentage of overall spending, lawmakerare not making it a larger focus. stay with us, everyone. news 4 "today" continues at 5:00 a.m.