this sunday, no deal. debt talks abruptly break down in washington as the president and the house speaker blame each other. >> one of the questions that the republican party's this morning on "early today," one week to go. debt limit talks hit yet another snag as house and senate leaders begin working on rival backup plans. nation in mourning. norway remembers the victims of its worst ever peacetime attack. and deep space oasis. scientists discover the largest water reservoir yet ten billion scientists discover the largest water reservoir yet ten billion light years away. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

this is "early today" for monday, july 25th, 2011. >> hello and good morning. i'm amara sohn. we begin with running out of time. it was a working weekend in washington as the president met with congressional leaders trying to come up with a plan on tackling the debt limit. but in a sign of the deep divisions on capitol hill, two rival plans now appear to be in the works. for more, we go to tracie potts in washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the bottom line this morning, still no deal here in washington. ever so close to this deadline for default. republicans, democrats, the white house, all working overtime this weekend to try to come to some agreement. president obama had top democrats at the white house working on their backup plan. john boehner, the house speaker meet with conservative republicanlast night telling them that they need to be ready to compromise and deal with some changes from what they originally wanted.

there are two different versions here. democrats looking to, in fact, insisting that we deal with all of these cuts through 2013. republicans saying they want to do it step by step, which could mean more negotiations before the 2012 elections. the big concern this morning, will the markets be spooked by all of this just over a week from the deadline? we're already seeing lower asian markets. and in an interesting twist, the high-level english official says that it's in his words, the right wing nutters who are causing more of a threat to the world economy than problems in europe. amara? >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. the man accused in the massacre and bomb attack in norway is asking for an open court hearing so he can explain himself according to his lawyer. anders bref sick due to be arraigned today. this as a shaken nation mourns the 93 victims who died. emma murphy from itn reports.

>> reporter: in a country struggling to comprehend the events of the past days, there are few rituals to bring comfort. but hour after hour in the driving rain, the people of norway have lit candles and laid flowers in memory of their dead. they seek solice together, but it is a terrible shared pain. some of those who were injured in the attack joined with norway's king and queen at services to try and understand the massacre brought on this country. was the worst peacetime attack norway has ever seen. prime minister stoltenberg whose friends have lost children struggled to contain his obvious distress. on the verge of tears, he told a stunned nation, every single one of those we have lost is a tragedy in itself.

together, it is a national tragedy. and this is the man who says he kauched such heartbreak. anders behring breivik, a right wing extremist. that bombing targeted the heart of government, but it wasn't those in power who died. exactly how many were killed is still unclear. norway's death toll is already horrifyingly high. but there is a fear that it will rise again. many of the buildings behind me are still too unsafe to search and may contain more bodies. anders breivik says he acted alone. a one-man campaign that has left an entire nation questioning how they can move forward from here. emma murphy, itv news, oslo. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. wedding bells rang throughout new york on sunday from the big apple to niagara falls. same-sex couples took the plunge taking advantage of landmark legislation that permits gays

and lesbians to marry in the state. the first day of legalized same-sex marriages did have a few protests, but they fizzled quickly as scores of gay and lesbian couples said i do. new york is the sixth and largest state to allow same-sex marriage. hundreds turned out in california's imperial beach to watch a group of artists playing in the sand. each craftsman attempted to carve their place among elite sand sculptors, turning out amazing works of art. this year, 32 teams competed for a $21,000 grand prize. and finally in florida, several men did their best impersonation of ernest hemingway. the annual look alike contest at the festival pitd over 100 clones of the famous writer against one another. the winner, a 63-year-old biomedical engineer said along with his looks, he shared hemingway's fondness for sport fishing and writing. now for a look at your national and regional weather,

here's bill cairns with the weather channel forecast. >> also partying in key west should be added to the festivities. >> that's what we do in florida. >> there's a reason a lot of people head down there for that celebration. good morning, everyone. we left you on friday with record-breaking heat. incredible story around the country. and now we still have a little bit left. 26 states under heat advisories or warnings as we went into the weekend. now down to eight. the core of the heat has returned to where it's been all summer long. back to the midwest. oklahoma city to dallas, back up to tulsa to little rock, st. louis and just south of kansas city. that's where the worst of it will be today. although still hot and sticky in the mid-atlantic. it won't be that dangerous heat index like we saw over the weekend and at the end of last week. still very warm morning. 88 to start your morning. also very warm in new york at 77. washington, d.c., still has a heat index at this hour of 89. orlando there at 86. as far as what we're going to deal with for your friday

forecast, cooler air has arrived for areas like new england. still hot in the mid-atlantic and still very steamy oklahoma city to dallas. here's a look at the weather outside your window. some thunderstorms will pop up this afternoon. your typical summertime variety. but they will be widespread throughout the appalachians back up to central new york. raleigh, pittsburgh, cincinnati. you'll all have a chance of an afternoon storm. the heat is going to be the story as we go throughout this week but nothing compared to last week. >> they're roasting in texas, that's for sure. we need some reprieve. bill, thank you. how no debt deal is affecting markets. what ipo to look for on wall street this week and what not to do when you think you've been sold a lemon. your early morning business headlirns straight ahead. plus, was it might or magic this weekend at the box office? up first at the tour de france, plus three new hall of famers and three walk-offs.

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm amara sohn. here are some of your top headlines this morning. according to "the washington post," a military-led investigation has concluded that u.s. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the taliban. the report which focuses on a more than $2 billion transportation contract says there have been cases of money laundering and kickbacks given to afghan officials and police. secretary of state hillary clinton says a senior north korean official will visit the u.s. this week to discuss the possible resumption of long-stalled talks on ending pyongyang's nuclear program. sources say congressman david woo will not run for re-election but won't resign despite allegations the oregon democrat had an unwanted sexual encounter with a teenage girl. house democratic leader nancy

pelosi is seek an ethics investigation into the accusations. and astronomers have found the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected. the water is equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in the earth's oceans. it voursurrounds a huge black h more than ten billion light years away. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study suggests many uninformed voters cast their ballots based on candidates looks, especially frequent tv watchers. analyzing a broad previous study, researchers found among those least knowledgeable, a 10-point increase in a candidate's appearance yielded a much higher percentage boost in support from those who watched the most television. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> announcer: early today health is brought to you by vagisil

cream. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,681 after falling 43 points on friday. the s&p gained 1 point and the nasdaq rose 24. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 82 points while in hong kong, the hang seng dipped 151. sign posts in the weekend ahead will point to where the economy may be headed for the foreseeable future. number one will be the debt ceiling deal or the lack of one. look for volatility on wall street to pick up the longer the stalemate lasts. in fact, already an overnight asian trade without a weekend deal, the euro gained against the dollar. the dollar fell to a four-month low against the yen. wall street futures fell and gold hit a new all-time high. the most important data this week will be a first reading of u.s. growth for the second quarter expected to show the economy grew at the same meager rate as it did in the first

quarter at 1.9%. sunday, treasury secretary timothy geithner was lowering expectations while stressing optimism things will pick up. still, one fund manager pointed out the ominous fact that since 1960, every time year on year growth has fallen under 2%, where we are so far for 2011, the economy has gone into recession. earnings will again be in focus. today we'll hear from netflix. tuesday, amazon. automakers ford and chrysler and u.p.s. thursday, exxonmobil. this week is loaded with 12 ipos. dunkin' brands group will be the biggest. the average price of a gas jumped nearly 9 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. and finally, a massachusetts man angry the car dealer who sold him a lemon wouldn't take it back. intentionally crashed into seven cars at the dealership causing an estimated $20,000 damage. the state consumer affairs

office suggested he should have called their hot line. a bit too late, don't you think? cyclists from down under comes up big. who is new in baseball's hall of fame? and almost every possible way to win in a walk-off. plus, the san diego outfielder makes about as good a catch as you'll ever see. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. a record-breaking heat wave is ending in the east. but the middle of the country, no relief for you. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, will there or won't there be a football season? here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> hi there. good morning. with everyday and minute we get closer to an nfl season. the latest news coming yesterday with the players approving the owners cba proposal. the only thing left is an official vote and the nfl will be up and rung later this week. baseball last week, roy halladay had to leave a game because of heat exhaustion. yesterday he was scorching hot, strike out eight over eight innings. but the play of the game was turned in by the padres. the bomb to center and den offerio defusing it. takes away the sure home run

from ibanez. unfortunately, not enough. phillies win, 5-3. reds and braves tied at three in the ninth. first batter and first pitch of the inning gone. drew stubbs ending it with the walk-off solo shot. lucky home run 13 for stubbs. red win. cubs and astros tied at four in the tenth. marlon byrd. hunter pence igot it i got it, i don't got it. loses it in the sun. byrd is safe at third. that would come back to haunt the 'stros. a single down the line. in comes byrd. cubs walk off with the 5-4 win. one walk-off to another. cubs and pirates. running win on third. the deep fly ball. he delivers. scores xavier paul. effective. pirates win, 4-3. the baseball hall of fame inducted three new members. roberto alomar, pitcher bert blyleven who is fifth all-time in strikeouts and the general manager of three world series winners, pat gillick. three flew members there.

a new member to the list of champions theattour de france. australia's cadel evans became the first aussie to win the tour de france. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. after a record-breaking weekend, a big falloff for "harry potter." your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, brutal, oppressive, almost inescapable heat in texas where it's been the worst. one group has found a way to beat that heat and find their center. you are watching "early today."

welcome back. hope you had a wonderful weekend. update on your forecast. relief from the heat finally in areas safe from baltimore northward. still a little hotter than we'd like around d.c. better, 92. a chance of some afternoon storms in that region. the dallas area, this should be the 24th day in a row with 100-degree heat. expecting 103 today. also storms in the southeast. and tomorrow's forecast is similar around much of the country. no real changes in sight. if you are watching us on wvip nbc connecticut, that's in hartford. drive into this connecticut river's past and find out why it's vital to our ecosystem. at the connecticut science center. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> all right, bill. thank you for that. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. with "harry potter's" magic

fading, "captain america" muscled his way to the top at the box office this weekend. "captain america" opened number one stronger than expected with over $65 million and a 64% male audience. was a fifth of five superhero movies opening this summer. all debuted in the top spot. "harry potter and the deathly hallows: part 2." the eighth and final installment dropped to the second spot with slightly less than expected, just over $48 million. its audience dropped a whopping 72% from its record-setting opening last weekend. the weekend's other big release, the romantic comedy "friends with benefits." it opened third also with slightly less than expected at 18.5 million. earlier this year, "no strings attached" an extremely similar romantic comedy starring ashton kutcher and natalie portman

debuted with just under 20 million. >> only make the movie again with two new people for another 20 million. >> easy money. >> it still did all right. comedies are cheap to produce. this comes from kxan news in austin, texas, where on ladybird lake, some folks are using a unique exercise craze to help beat the scorching heat. it's quite a change-up from the standard river row in badleboard yoga. the group glides into the water hoisting their bodies and executing challenging moves balancing the board on water all while working your core. it isn't an easy task but once mastered, participants say they're able to calm, cool down and be at peace. that's quite a workout. i'm amara sohn. this is "early today," just our first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

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our time right now is 4:28. we have 79 degrees right now. here in the nation's capital. looks pretty steamy out there, though. the 25th of july. good morning to you. >> welcome to news 4 today for this monday, july 25th, 2011. this morning, a mother is pleading for the safe return of her 7-month-old son. >> kyon was last seen two days ago. police say his 16-year-old babysitter kidnapped him.

>> investigators searched montgomery and prince georges county for the pair. >> this is baby kyon birch. >> i pray for my son, pray that he's okay. he's only 7 months. >> he is missing and his family is desperate to get him back. >> she walked off with my son. and this happened 5:00 yesterday evening, and he's just calling the police this morning. >> reporter: kyon was last seen with 16-year-old jenay. no one knows where she is. >> she has friends in the prince georges county area. and so, you know, with that, we really want as much as possible to plead to get out. because every minute, every second counts, particularly in this hot weather that we don't want him in a hot car, in a hot home. just make the