a long journey. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. this morning on "early today." no apologies. president obama refuses to back down. dust bowl. new data ranks this year as one of the worst droughts in u.s. history. and off course. at france's bastille day, a parachutist is way off his mark. >> announcer: this is "early today" for monday, july 16, 2012. hello and very good morning to you you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with a war of word. the race for the white house is getting testy with president obama not letting up his attack

at bain capital and the outsourcing of jobs. meanwhile, romney's team has been out in force defending their campaign. >> reporter: if mitt romney is waiting for an apology, it might be a while. from president obama, no apologies for the sharp new attacks on republican mitt romney and his leadership time at bain capital. >> no, we won't be apologizing. >> reporter: an obama campaign, said romney is lying about when he left bain capital or filing false documents. >> he files an fec saying he was ceo. >> team romney is blasting the president for going negative.

>> this is not the candidate of hope and change. this is a candidate of hoping to change subject. >> reporter: romney wants to shift is back to the economy. but for now mitt romney is on defense, forced to explain the business background that's the part of his resume. later this week the romney campaign is reportedly going to attack the president as a politician who does favors for big money donors. the severe drought is expected to show drought among the ten largest in the past centuries. today's report is expected to put 2012 in tenth place for the largest severe drought since 1985 and the parched conditions could get worse. many of the worst droughts

peaked during july and august. secretary of state is in israel after an historic visit to meet with the new islamic president, and met with the head of the military, but he said he would not let the muslim brotherhood to dominate. they chanted monica. meanwhile egypt is working to free two american held hostage by tribesmen hoping to exchange them for an egyptian prisoner. they are reportedly treated well by their captors. here's a look at other stories making news in america. in illinois, a 40-year-old dormitory was blown up on the campus of western illinois university. the dorm housed more than 20,000 student in their lifetime but

took seconds to come crashing down from the implosion. in central oregon it was all systems go for the launch of a pair of lawn chairs strapped to more than 350 ba lons filled with helium. they hoped to break the guinness record by flying to montana but bad weather forced them to try just 50 miles. they are going to try again taking their attempt to iraq. in california the victory was sweet for the winners of an ice cream eating contest. dozens of sweet teeth competitors tried to challenge their competitors. in the women's competitors shoved it down in 1:23. in texas the biggest problem for a skunk is usually the odor but this little guy got a bottle stuck to his face and wandered around for a few minutes with a

container. animal control showed up and removed the bottle. the skunk was said to be confused but doing just fine. for a look at your national and regional weather, bill karins. >> go back to the ice cream story. how would you have done? >> pretty good. i hate to say it but i could have blown them out of the water. >> i get impran freezes. >> give me a banana split i could have taken you out in a minute flat. >> i would have watched. another heat wave in the middle of the country but the heat is going to peak. yesterday 95-plus club with washington, d.c., chicago, st. louis, indianapolis, des moines, kansas city, wichita, kansas city, and 102 in rapid city, and denver hit 100 also. the next heat wave we're not

watching that way in the way of wet weather to provide us any relief or cloud cover for that matter. we have heat advisories for many areas of south dakota, southern wisconsin and heat advisories in place around new york, st. louis, philadelphia and portions outside of washington, d.c. today we will see 90 degrees, mid-90s from new york city down to raleigh. it's very humid so not very enjoyable. the last heat wave was dry. you weren't drenched in sweat but this is more humid. today up to 100 in minneapolis. des moines in 97. through the three-day heat wave, we should see it through wichita, mid-90s around chicago, and d.c. by the end of the heat wave has a chance of hitting near 100 degrees. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather

outside your window. today will be very warm. we'll see a few scattered storms, areas of florida typical this time of year. if you're lucky around charlotte you'll see a shower or storm, but no luck from our friends from kansas city to indianapolis. another heat wave. we barely got done with the last one. >> you're going to sound like a broken record. >> could be every certainly. just like last year. >> don't say that, please new big ben walks up the hill, pump prices fall and an exciting difference on the internet. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. cool, cartoon critters at the box office. and jeremy lyn's net career over. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the international red cross has declared the fighting in syria as civil war. the united nations observers have been gathering details on a reported massacre in hama province which may have been aimed at activists and army defactors. in china flash floods from heavy rain rose in buildings and low lying areas were covered by raging water. in japan, at least 26 people were killed by severe flooding and mudslides that forced 250,000 people from their homes. many are returning but thousands are still cut off by blocked roads. in eng lajd, cooling towers at a former coal fired power plant were demolished in a controlled explosion. the towers, which had stood on the site for more than 50 years,

came down in a matter of moments. and france's annual bastille day parade started the french revolution with military units, jets in the sky overhead and a less than perfect parachute performance. the new french president visited a parachutist who injured a knee after straying off course. the dow opens at 12777 after zooming 203 point. the s&p spiked 22 and the nasdaq jumped 42. taking a look at overseas trading in tokyo the nikkei added four points while in hong kong the hang seng gained 28. wall street will spend this week wondering what uts been all summer. when will more stimulus come from the fed? ben bernanke presents his sem any annual report to congress monday and tuesday. the imf releases its outlook

today. lower estimates for lower economic growth could fuel fed action. in earnings the last four big banks, citigroup, goldman sachs, bank of america and morgan stanley. investors will watch for struggling yahoo! tomorrow. without a ceo since may, the company suffered a massive hack exposing log-in information for half a million users. general electric, considered a bellwether for economy, and retail sales figures are due out today that and cpi should give a gauge of current consumer karma. jobless claims would bring it back into focus on thursday and ipo are slalted for palo alto, fender and derada therapeutics. palo alto is expected to attract the most interest. the price of a gallon of gas

dropped seven cents over the last few weeks snoou. comcast has acquired microsoft 50% stakes in the website msnbc.com. it is now nbcnews.com. one man does it all for the nationals and one man is posing problems for the new york knicks. plus, one yankee slugger loses his grip. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather we're watching this heat wave spreading from the midwest to the east coast. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. this is "early today." in sports, there was no power shortage in the rubber game of the angels/yankees weekend match up. here's nbc's bill seward with a look at your headlines. >> good morning to you. if you like home runs, yesterday's game was for you. in the first, aybar hit a solo shot pujols followed that with his own yk back-to-back yaks. a-rodriguez, 14th of the year, three home runs before fans were

settled in their seat. trumbo buried them with this bomb in the ninth. the team had eight home runs, winning 10-8. nats and marlins. we know stephen strasburg can hit but he can pitch. fanned seven over six innings, picki picking up his tenth win. the knicks acquired felton from portland. kidd was arrested for driving intoxicated after driving his suv into a telephone pole and now according to sources knicks will not re-signing lyn. he signed with the rockets. the knicks have until tuesday to match tuesday's office but it appears lyn-sanity is over in new york. the biggest fan made the catch of the day.

teixeira, bat goes flying into the crowd. a lucky fan made the grab and doing the right thing by being in the perfect spot and that is spike lee. even showed off his swing. by the looks of that hack, he might want to stick to directing. that's a look at sports on on "early today." madonna em broadwayed in french politics. a self-appointed judge for "american idol" judge. and katie says no is to suri. plus, we'll introduce to you a one-of-a-kind mayor of this alaskan town. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this monday morning. the heat is the story this week once again along with the increasing drought conditions around the nation. 100 in minneapolis. that heat is moving and building on the eastern seaboard. mid-ninl mid-90s from new york city down through the carolinas. if you're watching us on valley news live in fargo, north dakota, take a break from the heat with an afternoon game, contests and activities poolside, waterama at madison park your early event of the day. >> i want to do that.

>> super soaker action. >> banana split eating contest. >> love your ice cream. >> perfect day. here now is an early look at this headlines. amazing spider-man has done something no other spider-man has done finished second in second weekend and took in a respectable $35 million. "ice age: continental drift" outearning spider-man overseas also. elsewhere, aretha franklin wants to be a judge on "american idol." one condition is petition labelle has to be a judge alongside here. france's front party will see madonna after a paris concert showed a swastika on her forehead. katie holmes has enrolled her daughter.

and uri in a catholic school. and holmes was forced to say no to her daughter after her daughter saw a puppy. most mothers aren't caught by the paparazzi and she was taken out of the store in tears. >> i have a weakness in pet stores. >> i feel bad for the pets personally. >> you want to take them home. no, rescue pets are the way to go. i agree with you. this comes to us from ktu channel 2 news in an corage, california, the long time mayor took power away from the people but they think he's. perfect for the job. the cat stubs pounced on the position after winning a write-in vote. he's also a hit amongst

tourists. he made it in politics without having to claw his way to the top. >> i always love those stories, you know, that have pets for many, many years. you get to know them. you can walk in and they're friendly. >> he's the mayor. he's not a pet. he's the mayor. >> that's true. he's more than just the dog in the window. >> hence, my speechless reaction. >> he's in charge of the whole town. >> all 900 residents. >> maybe he'll do a better job. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today" just four first stop of the day on your nbc station.

it's a warm start to the morning after some showers. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm angie goff in nor eun yang. metro service is expected to be back to normal this morning after a crippling computer problem stopped service twice this weekend. a glitch in the computer system that the metro rail command center left controllers blind, unable to see where trains were on the lines or the control switches remotely. metro is is stressing that the systems that keep trains spaced at a space distance worked fine during both incidents. >> i don't know all the details

about -- what about what happened over the weekend, but we know that the staff will bring the board up to speed so we can get to the bottom of it. >> metro declined our repeated reques for an on-camera interview about the computer problem. in a statement, the agency says it will have additional rail and i.t. people on hand today in case something happens during the morning commute. also today, transportation officials will discuss the elements of the first ever federal safety standards for rail transit systems. the bill was introduced by maryland senator in the wake of the metro rail crash in 2009. that accident killed nine people and injured dozens. the standards up for discussion today include improved evacuation and rescue features and a new requirement that metro trains carry data recorders. today could be decision day on whether maryland tries to expand gambling this year. governor martin o'malley will sit down with pri