this morning on "early today," record blachltz colorado crews struggle to contain the worst wildfire in that state's history. supreme decision. the highest court in the land prepares to hand down a historic health care ruling. and mission accomplished. the u.s. navy scores againith the high-stakes ballistic task. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with a firestorm. a giant wildfire continues to burn out of control in colorado's second largest city.

it's causing massive evacuations. the waldo canyon fire is being called the worst in history. president obama plans to tour colorado's fire-damaged areas tonight. nbc's jinah kim has the latest. >> reporter: as clouds of smoke choked colorado springs firefighters waged war against flames that threatened to swallow entire counties in the northern part of the city. in mere hours it managed to jump two sizes. >> it journeyed two ridges. >> reporter: the smoke is so thick and the heat so intense, fire crews can't even estimate how many homes have been destroyed. >> it's been house to house, door to door, street to street, hill to hill kind of activity all night long. it's continued all day today. >> reporter: more than 30,000 people have been forced to evacuate, including part of the u.s. air force academy campus. residents wait in agony not sure

if they have homes to return to. on wednesday winds whipped up to 50 miles an hour changed direction. >> wind is obviously again kicking up and causing us problems out there. >> reporter: the weather is also hampering evidences near boulder colorado. in all, a half dozen major fires are burning throughout the state. this year is being called the worst fire season in colorado history and it's only just begun. in colorado springs, jinah kim, nbc news. to washington now where it is decision day for the nation's health care reform law. the supreme court is expected to hand down its historic decision today. with one of three options to uphold the law in its entirety, keep parts of it or strike it down all together. tracie potts joins us outside the supreme court with all those details. tra trac tracy, good morning to you. >> good morning. the court is looking at three

big questions. one is the big mandate, in other words can the federal government require everyone to buy insurance and can the law survive without it. the more popular parts of the law, protection for people who do have insurance. also they'll be looking at the medicaid expansion. can the federal government require the states to bring in more poor people into the system. and then, finally, is it really too soon to eve decide this case? do they have to wait until that penalty kick in in 2014? those are the questions we expect to hear from the court today if they strike down any part of this law, especially the mandate. it's going have a huge impact on the obama campaign. in fact, whichever way they decide, this decision, this ruling today that we're expecting today is going to have a huge impact. the white house saying it's confident the republicans are already vowing to repeal whatever may be left. lynn? >> all right. tracie potts for us there at the preem court. tracie, thank you. elsewhere the house is

expected to vote today on a come temptive controversial attorney general eric hold e. that could allow the house to go to court to try to force holder to turn over certain documents from the gun-tracking operation known as fast and furious. president obama has asserted executive privilege to keep those documents secret. house republicans say that last-minute talks with the white house failed to head off the contempt vote. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. and now for a look at your in florida a small plane went down but the pilot survived because he literally found a safety ned. a netting that coveraged a large garden of ferns was just enough to cover the cushion that impacted the emergency landing and ba us of that no one was hurt. to arizona now where a massive haboob cloud filled the skies of phoenix. the dust storm was more than 15 miles wide and all to more than a half mile high. drivers were warned to stay off

the road. in texas a man accused of stealing $40 million of oil of olay has surrendering after seeing these images on the local nbc station in dallas. he was accused of swiping the product over 30 times in more than a six-month period. police bleeb he was trying to resell it after losing his job. and finally, in new york it's the one time anyone is happy to be tepee'd. these bridal gowns are made of toilet paper. that's right. they're part of a contest in which they used ten jumbo rolls to create their dress. the outfits were adorned with jewelry and as one contestant said, they're much lighter than the real thing. i'm sure bill has a joke waiting. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> potty humor is not allowed on this show. >> when was that? i thought it was written in the

contract. lynn, yesterday was an incredible day. yesterday in goodland, kansas, it was 110 degrees. it was the hottest place anywhere on our planet. pretty incredible stuff in the middle of our country. kansas city has been baking literally, pavement baking over the last couple of days. still hundreds. mostly kansas, oklahoma, and texas. but now the heat beginning to spread. it's flattening to the north and spread the heat to the east and settle there for maybe four or five days we have heat advisories and warnings up. the warnings are in original including kansas city, indianapolis. chicago, you're under an advisory along with st. louis. the good thing about this heat wave, it's not all that humid. i guess you want to call it a dry heat, almost like what phoenix would skpern during their summers. but, today, just incredible. 107 possible in st. louis. 105 in indianapolis. we're going to be experience some all-time record highs.

and as we look at tomorrow, it's kind of similar, maybe a couple of degrees cooler, but you notice the heat begins to expand, even 100s in the mid-atlantic. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. prevalent heat expected in many areas. tennessee will be around 100 degrees. milwaukee still very warm for you, 94. dallas, you continue your streak of 100-tee degree days. and hot right through the weekend for the eastern seaboard. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. coming up, oil bubbles up a major company breaks up and a wedding band that prevents cheating. a little bit of everything. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus can a teenager score the year's biggest album debut. you'd better believe it. coming up they're bitting by the bug, the rockets make a bale deal and a duo in the pool heats up. you're watching "early today."

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good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. with time running out cog has worked out some deals to overhaul the highways, bridges and transit systems and keep interest rates from double on student loan. they're hurrying to finish their work before the fourth of july recess. new data say the largest cities are grower faster than their suburbs for the first time in the century. younger people are staying in the city to look for jobs and avoid buying homes. in alaska, the wreckage of a military plane is believed to be from a crash in 1952 killing ought 52 people yoon board.

they say dna testing could take up to six years. and the military conducted a second successful test of the navy's newest intercepter rocket. the "uss lake erie" fired a mistle which destroyed the target in the sky. and now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. the food and drug administration has approved the first priepgs drug for weight loss in more than a decade. it's going to be sold under the name belvik. it works by activating a chemical reseptder in the brain to help people feel full after eating smaller amounts of food. for more information on this and other health stories, can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil. bring yourself back. and now here is an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 12, 627, nasdaq

was up 21. in taking look at overseas trading the nikkei climbed 143 point bus in hong kong the hang seng dropped 151. well, as wall street waits on the supreme court's supreme court health care ruling investors will keep a close eye on the sum it zone leaders. before the meeting germany's chancellor angela merkel was there yesterday. she calls, quote, economically wrong. energy stocks led wednesday's gains after oil prices settled above $80 a barrel. meanwhile a rebound in manufacturing and housing data drove more positive sentiment on the stream. they shot up more than 29% after their anti-obesity pill was given the green light by regulators. rue put murdock rose after

they went into separate publishing and enter tanment arms. british barclays will pay fines after it admitted to plan in lating key benefits to benefit its own bottom line leading up to the financial crisis. court documents show madoff's brother is set to plead guilty and serve ten years in prison. european plane maker airbus is reportedly set to build its first u.s. assembly line in mobile, alabama. google launched a new tablet computer today. the neck sus 7. it carries a $199 price taig. and if you're in the market for a wedding band, here's a unique albeit cynical idea. okay. the titanium anti-cheeking ring leads an imprecinct i'm married just in case your bee trothed is tempted to slip it off, but,

ladies, if your man need this ring, you may already have a prom. coming up the mets slug the cubs and the rangers bash the tigers. plus, one angel takes flight and makes a home run-robbing catch. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and our record-breaking heat wave is peeking in the middle of the country and headed to the east coast. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports the new york yankees pitching rotation will get a makeover after they lost two starters in the same day. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all of you sports headlines. >> good morning, the yankees have the highest payroll in baseball and they also have the most players on the disabled list. cc sabathia the latest to join the walking wounded. it only got worse for the yanks. andy pettitte hit in the ankle by a comebacker and tried to stay in the game, but that wasn't happening. the diagnosis, broken ankle, done for six weeks. however, there was nothing wrong with robinson cano. they managed to beat the indians, 5-4. new york's other team put on a clingic at wrigley. score 15d runs. mets routed the cubs, 17-1.

daniel hit a pair of home runs and so did the rangers' david murphy. they won a slugfest, 13-9. mike trout flat out robbed the orioles' jay jay hardy. worth a couple more looks. timed it perfectly. got about four feet of air and made a leaping grab. heal had four hits. the 20-year-old started to make name for himself. the angels won big, 13-1. nba, another day, another trade for the rockets. sent the 14th overall pick and samuel dylan baird for the box. just the latest in a handful of moves for the rockets as they tried to acquire dwight howard. the nba draft is tonight. finally what michael phelps did four years ago, this time he has competition from teammate and friend ryan lochte. it was a race to the finish. a dead heat and phelps won it by a fingernail.

.05 to be exact. the two in the pool will be the best reality show on tv. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. act tress lindsey low hay puts another ugly chapter of her life behind her. plus a long overduhon for a proud group of u.s. marines. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday morning. the heat wave very impressive. 22 different states today will likely have at least one location hit 100 degrees today. so this heat wave is very widespread from chicago all the way to san antonio. everyone will be near and above 100 degrease and we're pushing that heat to the east coast. today in the 90s and then washed, you'll have a chance at your 100 degree day on friday. well if you're watching us on news 4 woia in san antonio texas, step right up and experience an amazing visual extravaganza at the american sideshow at the buckhorn museum. and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> bill, thanks so much. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. remember when justin bieber was just an up-and-coming pop star and we weren't obsessed with him? well, the 18-year-old's new album believe sold a million

copy in one week making it the biggest year. "believe" is the biebs' fourth number one album. does that make you a belieber, bill? so bad. this week comedian miami louis ck is selling his tickets to fans directly. after just 45 hours he sold 10,000 tickets and took in a whopping $4.5 million in sales all without fees. >> that's nice. >> yeah. lindy lohan has settled a lawsuit filed by three passengers she took on a high-speed ride that resulted in her second dui arrest in 2007. the terms of her settlement were not disclosed. "us weekly" reports true blood stars are expecting twins. and finally people for the ethical treatment of animal is blasting mary kate and ashley

olsen for creating a nearly $17,000 back pack made of animal fur. and this comes from our nation's capitol where a group of veterans were honored for their services and dignity. 400 who helped integrate the marine corps were commemorated with the congressional medal. a segregated base with pure coons but once in the heat of battle in the pacific, the racial divide disappeared. one recipient said, quote, thank god i lived long enough to see it. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

a live look outside at 4:28, as we consider 70 degrees is the temperature at this early hour outside our studios. and today begins a real warm-up, my friends. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm angie goff in for eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" on this thursday, june 28th. and this could be a historic day at the nation's highest court. today we will learn if the supreme court thinks president obama's health care law is constitutional. people were already lined up yesterday outside the court to hear the ruling. justices have to decide whether the law's individual mandate,

which requires every person to have health insurance, is legal. if the court decides that it is not, then the question is whether the rest of the law can survive. >> if the mandate goes away, that is a big revenue stream for insurance companies, then likely, the things that will cost the insurance companies more will have to go, too. >> house speaker john boehner says if any part of the law is allowed to stand with today's ruling, he will work with house republicans to repeal what's left of it. and we're going to have much more on today's supreme court decision throughout the morning. we'll also have live reaction from the court once the ruling comes down. and if you can't watch, we'll be posting constant updates on our facebook and twitter pages as well as our website, nbcwashington.com. and right across the street from the supreme court, lawmakers should vote today on a tentative deal to freeze student loan rates for another year. without a resolution, rates could double on monday from 3.4% to 6.8%. the deal would cost the government about $6