this morning on "early today," mile-high fallout. investigators continue to comb through evidence from one of the deadliest shootling rampages in the nation's history. blink of an eye. dramatic video captures the beginning of flash flood near tucson, arizona. and bone of contention. archaeologists may be one step closer to unraveling one of the world's most enduring mysteries. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with final good-byes. as colorado shooting suspect

james holmes sits in solitary confinement this morning, relatives of those killed in last friday's theater massacre have begun the grim task of planning their funerals with the first one being held today. nbc's jay gray reports from aurora. >> reporter: the focus on aurora today turned back to the suspect's apartment. prosecutors in james holmes' state appointed defenders getting their first look inside while back at the crime scene, a chain link fence went up around the theater, evidence teams continuing their search. as more seek for comfort in the wake of the tragedy. >> it's just a feeling of sadness and such loss. such loss for all the families. >> reporter: families like the teaves. >> he was probably one of the best sons any man could ever have, and i've been honored to know him. >> reporter: when the shooting started, 24-year-old alex teaves threw his mom and girlfriend to

the door and died taking the bullets. >> got sent me an angel not just that night, but for three and a half years. he sent me an angel. >> reporter: emotions continue to spill over at makeshift memorials outside the make shift memorial. >> i'm overwhelmed by the tragedy of all of it and senselessness. >> reporter: they draw strength from hugs and being taupe with hope from stories of heroes like alex and survivors still looking. since colorado shooting gun control advocates from around the country have called for more restrictions on sales of assault weapons and large amounts of ammunition either in person or on the internet. however, in colorado gun sales have increased since the shooting with people seeking background checks up by 40%. elsewhere, the increasingly

combative tone on the campaign trail has taken a toll on president obama and mitt romney. this is all according to a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll that saw boast candidates hit a negative ratings all-time high. brian mooar has those details. brian, good morning to you. >> good morning, lynn. the campaign has taken a negative turn on both candidates. mitt romney accused the obama white house for leaking information for political gain. >> this conduct is contemptible. it betrays our national interest. >> president obama is accusing romney of being left. >> less than honest. the mud-slinging in this presidential campaign has been early and often. the latest poll shows both candidates are taking a hit. president obama's seen negatively by 43% of voters. that's his second lowest number.

romney faired slightly worse at 40%. his poorest number yet. ♪ america america >> voters see the obama campaign as slightly more negative. >> he tried. he tried. it's okay to make a challenge. >> 46% of voters say they don't like mom personally. only 31% say the same about the president. that's even though romney is seen as the best to improve the economy by a seven-point margin. both campaigns have eased back on the attacks, but then, again, the conventions are just over a month away. lynn? >> all right. brian mooar for us there in washington. brian, thanks so much. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in arizona they don't call them flash floods for nothing. a couple near tucson captured these images as the rushing waters overtook a creek bed in just seconds. recent wildfires have wiped out a good chunk of the land that would normally control the runoff there.

in oklahoma, please had to use a robot to move and then blow up explosives found in a home in tulsa. officers stumbled upon a cache after a routine traffic stop. they also found a cannon along with more than a dozen firearms and drugs. two people have been arrested. in new york, a sailboater had to be saved after his vessel capsized in the new york harbor. the drama played out close to liberty island, which, of course, is home to the statue of liberty. the boater was able to swim to safety once a rescue team arrived. he was not hurt. and finally to massachusetts, where this is one big bad lobster. that's for sure. a 21-pound crustacean was caught off the coast of cape cod. but don't even think about putting a bib on it unfortunately. this guy is headed for a new life at the new england aquarium in boston. although the super-sized creature is not going to break any records.

the aquarium was once home to a 35-pound lobster known as lobzilla. now time for your national and regional weather. meteorologist bill karins. he has your forecast. >> you say the larger ones don't taste that good. >> no. the smaller ones taste sweeter. good morning, everyone. thunder storms in your area. in fargo, we picked up over two inches of rain as this complex moved the ed through. we're getting drenched. that's good. we're going to get drenched in duluth. minneapolis, this main batch looks to stay to your north. there's another batch rolling northward sought of bismarck. there's going to be numerous complexes. the first will roll through northern michigan and also northern wisconsin eventually and possibly down into michigan. there'll be numerous other storms late today that will move through areas of iowa and later

this evening probably after dark toward chicago, detroit, and areas like cleveland. now, we're also dealing with incredible heat in some of those same spots. we have heat advisories for chicago, indianapolis, and how hot will it get today? pretty incredibly warm out there. we're going to see temperatures near 100 to 106 from oklahoma city all the way up here through the ohio valley. ouch. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. today, call it 102 in indianapolis. the good news is that is probably the worst of the heat for that region. the cold front coming down will even bring a chance for rain in areas that desperately need it. so some of that relief comes tomorrow. details coming up. >> that's some good news. bill, thanks so much. coming up, apple sours, netflix flops, and like it or not, same-sex marriage is good for business. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, reports all is not well with hollywood's vampire

lover couple. more late-inning heroics, and philly plus the dream team makes a statement in their final exhibition game before the olympics. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by new preparation h totables.

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. the nonpartisan congressional budget office reports president obama's health care law will reduce rather than increase the nation's huge federal deficit over the next decade and he says the appeal over the law would increase budget deficits. >> monsignor william lynn, the first catholic church official covering up sex abuse claims against priests has been sentenced to three to six years in prison. the judge says lynn, quote, enabled monsters in clerical

garb to destroy the souls of children. sherman helmsley, the actor who played george jefferson in tv "the jeffersons" has died at the age of 74. police found him in his home. there's no word yet on his cause of dagt. actor chad everett, the star of "medical center" has died in los angeles at the age of 75 of lung cancer. and italian arc ohaeologist say they may have found the remain of the model they thought for the mona lisa. experts may be able to reconstruct the face to compare it with the one leonardo painted about 500 years ago. and now here is an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,617 after stumble 1g 504 points yesterday. the s&p dropped 12. the nasdaq sank 27. taking a look at overseas

trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei shot down 122 points while in hong kong the hang seng lost 25. well, bad news from apple after the bell was a fitting end to a dreary tuesday. apple tumbled in late trade after reporting a rare earnings and revenue slip, some of which was tied to pending sales of the new iphone 5 but could still weigh down text stocks today. weak manufacturing data and more troubles for europe added to the day's cautious tone. heavy hitting from ups and whirlpool all missed expectations. more layoffs drove cisco down. meanwhile weak enrollment is forcing job cuts at devie. the education company pledged 25% on the news. netflix spiraled after warning it may have trouble reaching year-end goals for new customers. on the bright side, wall street welcomed austin's

tex-mention restaurant chain chuy's to the nasdaq. overseas japan report add record $37 billion trade deficit for the first half of the year. meanwhile toyota said it sold just shy of 25 million vehicles in the first half which could put itm general motors. state farm insurance has pulled its broadcast from the penn state home games in the wake of the sandusky sex scandal. after more than a century of publication scholastic is discontinuing separate issues of "weekly reader." aepd finally it appears same sex marriage has sparked an economic boom for new york city. the big apple has raked in $259 million after one year of

same-sex marriages. >> coming up the red sox stop a skid, the indians squeeze by, and an early look at olympic gold. plus, the 2012 dream team sends a message to the world's second ranked team. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and after today, we're slowly going to end our amazing heat wave in the middle of the country. 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, for two nights in a row, the philadelphia phyllis have come back to win against the brewers. after trailing late by three or more runs. here's nbc's mario solis with a look at all your sports headlines. >> hi, there. good morning. the first half of the philly season was a major disappointment, but for the second straight night, they've given their fans a reason to smile. another game, another late-inning comeback in philadelphia. rallied from four runs down on monday and five runs down yesterday. carlos reworld series with a bases-loaded double. that clears the bases and ties the game at 6-6. next batter, hunter pence with a flair over rickie weeks' head. phillies put up six in the eighth and down the brewers. texas was an out and an inch away from getting out in the

ninth. alex aviles with a bloop single. in coming the go-ahead rub. boston wins it, 2-1. it's one of the most exciting plays on baseball. runners on third and the indians pull off the squeeze. aaron cunningham pulls off the bunt. that's the difference. indians cage the tigers, 3-2. to chicago where the twins' josh williams hit not one but two home runs against the white sox. unfortunately he was the only minnesota play their did anything. sox win big, 11-4. to london where team usa played their final exhibition game before the olympics. got off to another slow start against spain. carmelo anthony sparks it. finishing with 27 points. the americans pull away in the third quarter off the turnover. lebron james flies in for the dunk. the dream team wins, 100-78. their first game of the olympics is sunday versus france. he's what they'll be playing

for. the medals of the 2012 olympic games were unveiled yesterday. there will be 212 awarded each with the emblem of the london games. the olympics starts this friday with the opening ceremony on nbc. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. well, the latest rumors on "american idol" judges. and kate gosselin ready for love and a new tv show. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a week ago he was on the red carpet for the premiere of his latest film. yesterday christian bale had a whole new set of priorities. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." your weather update, here's what you need to know as you head out the door this morning. heavy rain expected as we go throughout the morning hours through northern minnesota, eventually heading into northern wisconsin and the upper peninsula of upper michigan. temperatures south of that, chicago to kansas city to indianapolis, easily above 100. tomorrow some of the thunderstorms and that cold front will shift down and cool you off from kansas city to chicago. but areas from kansas southward, oklahoma, texas, no such luck for you. well, if you're watching us on news channel 7 in boise i dough learn about the differences at hands-on museum at visual fx. and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in

entertainment. now that "american idol" has filled its diva chair, could the show's next judge have some country flavor? the show reports it's considering brad paisley who's recorded on the show and recorded with the most successful idol winner to date, cari underwood. other reports that they may keep randy jackson and go back to a four-judge panel. e online reports kate gosselin has signed up to look for the new love of her line on the atv dating series. kind of pound your head against the wall stuff. it's a show that has not yet found a network home. >> please don't. >> i was waiting for you to say that so i didn't have to. finally the blogosphere is winding up on kristin stewart and robert pattinson. this is due to her carrying on

an alleged affair. this doesn't help. apparently she was caught in compromising photos with the married director of snow white and the huntsmen rupert sanders. it was called just a fleeting moment that shouldn't have happened. this comes to us from denver, where in nearby aurora the survivors of the theater shooting received much needed support from an actor that i had gone to see. christian bale made unannounced visits to the hospitals and thanking medical teams caring for them. he brought flowers to the memorial crosses created for the 12 killed. many there either didn't recognize bale or gave him some space to share in the grieving. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

beautiful start to this wednesday morning. a bit of a break from the summer heat coming our way today. good morning. >> welcome to news 4 today for this wednesday, july 25, 2012. we begin with a tragic scene in laurel and questions about what may have caused a teen to drown in a shallow pond. swimmers and drivers combed stagecoach pond, which is only about chest deep for about an hour before finding the teen he

was rushed to the hospital where he died shortly after midnight. a neighbor saw the boy being pulled from the water. >> all i saw them was pulling, the searchers went into the water, deep out into the water, when we came back, we saw them dragging something, you couldn't actually see it until they got the gurney and pulled him out of the water. >> there were reports that the teen was simply going for a swim on a hot night but police are investigating why he entered the water. about 30 tenants of a prince gorging county apartment building don't have a place to live. a fire damaged their home s las night that three alarm blaze started about 7:45, and spread pretty quickly. some residents say they only had a few moments to get out. >> it was an entire building. it was on fire. my money said, mom, i could feel the heat on my ankles. >> so we ran inside the building, knock o