this morning on "early today" deal or no deal? is washington any closer to reaching a compromise on the nation's debt limit? phenyl liftoff. atlantis gets ready for its last launch, but will weather delay the mission? and don't burn your bridges. pennsylvania blows up a bridge that stood for over a century. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and a very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. >> today we begin with hard

bargaining. that's what president obama has in mind for congressional leaders. while the president called yesterday's bubbling talks at the white house constructive, it appears there is still a lot of hard work ahead before any deal gets done. nbc's michelle franzen has more. >> reporter: raising the stakes, but still no deal on raising the nation's debt ceiling following president obama's meeting with house and senate leaders. the president said republicans and democrats will work through the weekend. >> everybody acknowledged that there's going to be pain involved politically on all sides, but our biggest obligation is to make sure that we're doing the right thing by the american people. >> reporter: lawmakers have until august 2nd to keep the government from defaulting on loans. before the meeting house speaker john boehner once again said raising taxes is not an option, but for the first time he opened the door to roll-back on some tax credits and closing tax loopholes. >> we believe that comprehensive

tax reform would make america more competitive, help create jobs in our country, and is something that is up for discussion. >> reporter: there are reports the president may be open to medicare, medicaid, and social security reform, a move that put him in the hot seat with progressive democrats. meanwhile, obama says the ongoing talks are just that. until a deal is done. michelle franzen, nbc news, washington. florida's kennedy space center severe weather is threatening to launch nasa's historic space shuttle program. jay gray joins us from cape canaveral. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, veronica. yeah, launch teams continue to go through their preparations here getting ready for what they hope is the final shuttle launch here in atlantis's launching pad, and so far they're working no technical issues. i the weather you talked about that seems to be the biggest problem that they face at this

point. yesterday the clouds moved in, and so did the rain. a little bit of lightning out near pad 39a, but nothing affected. there everything still safe and ready to go. the forecasters continued to look at the conditions. they continue to report back to mission control, and right now i can say it's still at 70% no go. a 70% chance that atlantis will not launch today. that has not stopped close to a million people from flooding into the space coast hoping to get one final glimpse at history. right now it looks like that history, though, may be delayed, veronica. >> jay gray, thank you. in a florida courtroom yesterday casey anthony was sentenced to four years behind bars for lying to police investigating her daughter caylee's death. the maximum punishment for the four misdemeanor charges she was convicted of. anthony looked relacked as she sat with her legal team awaiting the judge's decision yesterday morning and remained stoic after learning she wasn't going home

just yet. initial calculations projected a release date of next wednesday. however, prison officials later pushed that date back to july 17th. in texas tragedy struck at the ballpark yesterday when a fan took a fatal fall over the railing while trying to catch a baseball. nbc's fred roggin has more. >> thank you, veronica. in an erie coincidence, almost a year to a day that a man fell out of the stands and fractured his skull, it has happened again. only this time the fan died. the rangers josh hamilton joined the ball -- that man was trying to catch it. he tumbled over the railing and tumbled 20 feet. withins say he was conscious. he had died at a local hospital. the team was heavy-hearted about this. hamilton, who threw the ball, was destroyed. our thoughts and prayers go out to the family. >> fred roggin, thank you. now here's a look at other stories making news early today

in america. approximately 200 pounds of dynomite set one pennsylvania bridge out with a bang. the bridge that stood for the last 111 years came crashing down. the bridge was determined to be structurally deficient. a new bridge has been not just a few feet south of the old one. sfwlirchlgts a couple of milwaukee teens involved in this mob of vandals and thieves have been arrested thanks to their mother. yeah, the mom recognized her 13-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son when she watched a news report on the store robbery. saying she didn't raise them to act that way, mom ratted out her own children to teach them a lesson. finally, in utah a pair of conjoined robins are reaping the benefits of being in the right place at the right time. fortunately, the birds were discovered by an animal rescuer. the birds are connected at the wings and unable to fly, so they're bound to become easy prey. the rescuer is hoping they can

be successfully separated. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i don't know what to say about that. >> nature is strange. >> apparently one is bigger than the other one, and he drags the other one around. it would be best to separate them, i guess. well, good morning. atlantis, we would like to get it off the ground, and the beautiful blue sky launch. that's not going to happen today no matter what. we're going to see plenty of clouds, and this is the radar. the green on the map is showing where you the rain is. there's very strict criteria. if there is any rain or even a thunderstorm within about 20 to 30 square miles of the cape canaveral launch pad, they're not going to go off. right now most of the rain is off the coast, but as the daytime heating goes on, we're still seven hours to go, but rain will close in on that area, and that's why tear saying a 70% chance of a no go at launch because the showers and

thunderstorms and also the winds are up a little bit out of the south too. as far as other areas are concerned, rain around memphis, and we have showers and storms in kentucky earlier this morning. passing showers and storms overnight through colorado. pneumon numerous areas will have the typical thunderstorms. i showed you that rain down in florida. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. showers and thunderstorms could be plentiful today. especially in virginia. that's where we could see as much as one to two inches of rain getting caught in the storms. we'll watch d.c. down south towards to richmond and then towards the coast. also the heat continues in texas. of course, weekend forecast coming up. >> sounds good, bill. thanks. retail sales rise. jobs jump, and a trashy tabloid bites the dust. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, can a star-packed comedy about killing mean bosses beat out the raging robots at the box office? coming up, a hit parade in

boston. two of the prettiest goals you will ever see. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and wack back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. in texas a mechanics calling national died by lethal injection after the rape and murder of a teenager. in a rare move the white house lobbied the supreme court to delay the execution over concerns it would violate an international treaty. the court refused. before his death the man apologized and then shouted viva mexico. in michigan authorities say a man suspected of killing seven people, including his daughter in a horrific rampage, took his own life, ending a standoff involving random hostages. the hostages released unharmed and among the dead were two children. prince william and wife catharine were in calgary yesterday.

they visited a hospital where william tried some life-saving techniques. today the royals head to los angeles. and imagine this. a storm as wide as earth with lightning 10,000 times more powerful than normal flashing ten times per second raging for eight months. i did say eight months. a nasa spacecraft captured such an event known as the great white spots on the planet saturn. very cool. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. in 1995 no state had an obesity rate above 20%, and today all the states do except for colorado, which stands at 19.8%. mississippi is the heaviest state with an adult obesity rate of 34.4%. four years ago only one state had an adult obesity rate above 30%, and today a dozen states top that 30% mark. for more information on this and other health stories, you can always head to the -- check the health page on-line at msnbc.com.

>> narrator: early today health is brought to you by vagisil wash with odor block. the confident clean. and now here's an early look at wall street. the dow opens at 12,719 after rising 93 points yesterday. the s&p was up 14. the nasdaq gained 38. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei added 66 points. the hang seng grew 196. well, the rally returned thursday as a big rebound in retail sales and strong jobs. the nasdaq notched an eighth day of gains and was at its high for the year. retailers had their best june in 12 years as warm weather and deep discounts lured shoppers. kohl's, target, and urban outfitters each gained more than 6%. first time unemployment claims

dropped. a sign of fewer layoffs. companies added more than double the number of jobs economist had forecast for june and a huge jump from the previous month. all that boosted up for today's all important government report at unemployment for june. yesterday deutsche bank raised their forecast for the month's job creation by a whopping 75,000. there was some bad news. oil rose over $2 a barrel as speculators gambled global demand will rise, and gas prices, which had dropped since may, are up about a nickel since just the end of last week. rupert murdock put 200 out of work abruptly shutting down "news of the world." they lost advertisers after it allegedly hacked the voice mails of thousands to the families of england's war dead. the scandal has also frozen murdock's attempt to take over a hugely profitable pay cable

channel. it's now thought murdock will run a sister tabloid "the sun" on sundays. crazy red sox, the cleveland clinchers, and the comeback cubs. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather as we approach this hot weekend, we're also going to see numerous areas dodging thunderstorms. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

well, good morning to you. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sports the yankees' derek jeter continues his grinding towards the baseball milestone of immortality, 3,000 hits. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. we begin with your daily derek jeter update. no, he has not hit number 3,000 yet, but he did get one step closer. jeter wasted no time against the rays, but with the first pitch he saw for a double. he is two hits shy perform 3,000. one of the finalist foz are the last all-star spot had more of this. he would have been a starter. apart from 3 for 3 and a home run, they beat the yanks 5-1. to boston where the red sox were swinging for the fences.

josh redick hit back to back to back homers in the seventh. bogs hit six homers in all. they beat the 0's 10-4. indians down three in the ninth. they still need aid home run. travis delivered. walk-off grand slam. clooefrld scored five in the inning to win 5-4. if you like that, you'll love this. cubs rally from eight down to beat the nationals. they completed the comeback with an rbi single in the ninth. the cubs won it 10-9. hall of fame baseball manager dick williams passed away at the age of 28. led the oakland a's to back to back titles in the early 1970s. john mackey has died at the age of 69. he helped revolutionize the position of tight end as an offensive weapon. soccer fans around the nation will be watching the women's world cup this weekend when the usa plays brazil in the quarterfinals. last night some kids turned some in big-time goals. the under 17 world cup, mexico trailing 2-1. a chance to tie it with a corner kick, and they did just that. the ball untouched and into the

net. one of the toughest goals to score in soccer. then in the 98th minute mexico took the lead. gomez, a thing of beauty. a bicycle kick. injured his head earlier in the game. i think he is feeling pretty good right now. mexico put on a show and won it 3-2. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. a television star plants some prints at hollywood's famous theater. plus, one last chance to see the potter stars walk the red carpet. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this friday. let me take you through your weekend. in florida today hoping atlantis gets off the ground. showers and thunderstorms, though, could prohibit that launch. also, mid-atlantic is going to be a downpour today. late this afternoon watch out for d.c. down to richmond. on saturday nice weather in mid-atlantic northeast. still thunderstorms and rain down there in the southeast. then the rainy spot as we go into sunday is going to be the middle of the country from minneapolis possibly through nebraska. well, if you are watching us on nbc 10 in providence, rhode island, taste the evolving tastes over the years through a collection of classic cook books at the culinary art museum. that's your early today event of the day. >> can you cook? >> a little bit. >> well -- >> a little bit. >> i cannot at all.

unfortunately. all right. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment now. in its second week out the blockbuster "transformers, dark of the moon" will notch the top spot again at the box office this weekend, but there will also be strong showings by other debut films. after just eight days "dark of the moon" broke the $200 million mark in north america alone. this weekend it will earn about $45 million more give or take. the latest r-rated comedy "horrible bosses," boasting strong reviews and a great cast. it will take second with around $25 million. the not so well reviewed family-friendly animal talking comedy "zookeeper" starring kevin james, should make about $20 million this weekend. good enough for third, and it started earning back the $80 million that it cost to make. finally, not without controversy, jennifer aniston imprinted her hands and feet outside hollywood's chinese

theater thursday joining the likes of elizabeth taylor and marilynn monroe. hmm. sfwlirchlgts and this now comes to us from london, england, where thousands gathered to bid farewell to their favorite wizard and celebrate the final chapter of a classic magical story. fans from around the world camped out for days in soggy weather to be a part of the lavish premier of "harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2." the red carpet arrival of the film's stars sent spectators into a frenzy. many calling the last one in the franchise a fitting sendoff for the boy wizard they watched grow up. i'm veronica de la cruz, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

and this is friday. 73 degrees here in the nation's capital. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> sounds like the beginning of your own friday show. >> i'm eun yang. welcome this friday, july 8th, 2011. we begin with the final shuttle mission. stormy weather threatens to delay the final launch for space shuttle "atlantis." here's the final look from the kennedy space center. nbc's jay gray has a preview of the shuttle's final mission in the 30-year program. >> countdown has resumed towards

an 11:26 a.m. liftoff time. >> reporter: the countdown this morning is clouded by concerns about the weather. >> the weather is not looking good for launch, as you know. we've been talking about this for a few days now. as you can see outside, the clouds have rolled in. we're starting to see some showers. >> reporter: nasa cameras captured this lightning strike thursday afternoon, but overnight the weather did not delay tanking procedures, and at this point, the launch team is not working any technical issues that would prevent liftoff later this morning. as many as 1 million spectators are expected to flood the space coast for launch, many camping out overnight for a prime spot in case the clouds break. >> this is like the best, to sit here and see it all lit up. it's just crazy, crazy good. >> reporter: as the countdown clock continues to move towards zero, mission managers continue their final preparations, knowing full well the decision on the final sle