coming up on "early today," the u.s. deals with wild weather in sin city, plus california's level five, the highest danger rating in the nation. and the rest of us may need to brace for this. >> this is the godzilla el nino. if it matures and actually comes to fruition. >> then to the iowa state fair, gop candidate said descend, this as buzz is growing on the democrats side. >> new updates on the massive china blast. and the nfl is back in full swing, including a surprise from tom brady, all on a busy friday, "early today" starts right now. well, good morning

everyone. nasa is calling it godzilla, the dangerous weather pattern looming out west with some of the strongest storms in decades. el neen know. here's why it's so scary. look at what sudden heavy rain can do to an area riddled with drought. it was too much of a good thing in vegas yesterday. a tree that caught fire but for now the big problem is still wildfires. idea >> reporter: this is what they call level 5. the highest fire danger rating in the nation. it signals tinderbox conditions on the verge of exploding. this year of extremes feeding on each other. fire fuelled by crippling drought, exacerbated by heat wave and now the forecast calls for a monster el nino this year, storms capable of triggering floods, mudslides and mayhem.

>> we have four-year record drought. we had late string rains and now seeing conditions firefighters have never seen. >> reporter: this year already proving historic. nearly 40,000 fires torching 6.4 million acres. firefighters from every state mobilized and moving west. when fire season is finally over here, a new threat will begin. these drought stricken hills will be ripe for mudslides if el known owe predictions hold true. the potential for once in a lifetime storms. this el nino could be among the most powerful ever. >> this is the godzilla el nino if it matures and come to fruition. great droughts always end in great floods. >> reporter: a year of extremes after an explosive start. miguel almaguer, nbc los

angeles. the race for the white house is heating up with rumors about former vice president al gore throwing his hat into the ring. buzzfeed said al gore supporters are kicking around the idea of a white house run. then hours later, gore's hometown paper accomplishes this article. sources, al gore not considering 2016 bid. >> meanwhile, it seems iowa will be the center of the political universe for the next few days. literally every candidate is expected to be at the iowa state fair. so it seems like some of the candidates are getting a lot of buzz ahead of the fair. a few names are coming to mind. you take it away. >> reporter: a long with a butter cow, fried food on sticks, those presidential candidates are in iowa. the road to white house leads to

the iowa state fair. >> 17 republicans are coming to iowa to ask for your support and votes in the caucuses. >> i am unbought and i am unbossed. >> reporter: looking to break through. iowa is looking for something different. >> i think people are tired of not get anything done in washington. >> i think people are angry. >> reporter: there's plenty of time for some campaigns. >> i'm just a humble candidate running for president. >> reporter: but not everyone has that luxury. rick perry is running out of money and time, but vows he's not ready to drop out. someone else not ready to drop out, front-runner donald trump will be winging his way into the fair, landing in his helicopter and heading to that iconic soap box to not only sound off but take some questions from caucus

goers. >> we learned what food mike huckabee likes to snack on. >> pork chop on a stick. trust me. it's what's for breakfast, lunch, dinner and knack. >> really. all right, well, maybe martin o'malley took his advice. no word on what food donald trump might try at the fair. but according to the des moines register he will be making that big entrance by helicopter. chuck todd will go one on one with donald trump in an exclusive face to face interview you will not want to miss. we have a new look at that blast in china.

the second one packing the force of 21 tons of, th tnt. 50 people are dwaead with more than 700 hospitalized. rescuers found a surviving firefighter 31 hours after the explosion. it happened at a company which stores hazardous chemicals. all that on top of more bad news for china and just how bad their air pollution really is. it's killing 4,000 people a day in the country. the study blames emissions from burning coal. one researcher says nearly everyone in china experiences air that is worse than the worst air in the u.s. investigators are trying to determine why a school bus packed children crashed into a

liquor store. that new jersey bus hit the suv going head first then into the building. 14 people taken to area hospitals, 11 of them children. remarkably, none of the injuries appears life threatening. the driver of the bus says the brakes failed & in miami, a big deal for the city k9 cops after a life saving donation by the national police support team, every police dog in the miami pd now has its own bulletproof vest. that's good news there. >> let's take a look now at your friday weather. we ha >> it is going to be a scorcher. we are looking at, yeah, excessive heat warnings through the desert southwest. it will be very hot today and unfortunately much of the

weekend. we're still dealing with this monsoonal moisture. it's going to help drop the temperatures with moderate to heavy rainfall from oregon through washington. down through the desert southwest that's where we're going to see the extreme heat that is going to play a major factor for this weekend. los angeles, yuma, phoenix, you are all in the zone of getting temperatures in excess of 110. we could even see as high as 117 through today. the forecast is very hot for phoenix. 114 is the expected high. those temperatures are going to stay pretty warm right through the weekend as well. los angeles coming in about 94. much of the same through stays hot through the weekend down to the south. and that's a look at your friday

forecast. have a great weekend. >> okay. we will. thank you. just ahead the feds okay a powerful pain med to kids as young as 11 years old. >> today the us gets ready to fly old glory in cuba. sure! i offer multi-car, safe driver, and so many other discounts that people think i'm a big deal. and boy, are they right. ladies, i can share hundreds in savings with all of you! just visit progressive.com today. but right now, it's choosing time. ooh! we have a winner. all: what? [chuckles] he's supposed to pick one of us. this is a joke, right? that was the whole point of us being here. from the leader in longwear smudge-proof fade-proof formulas for life-resistant wear. revlon colorstay collectiontm over 20 new shades

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angel soft. u.s.-cuba relations. for the first time in more than 50 years the american flag will fly above a u.s. embassy in havana. john kerry will attend the ceremony. fidel castro marked his 89th birthday. he says the united states owes socialist cuba millions of dollars caused by its decades long embargo.

they say it is the second time isis has used chemical weapons. the first occurred in recent weeks in syria. the fda has approved limited use of the powerful pain killer oxycontin. for children as young as 11 years old. the drug will be prescribed for kids suffering severe, long-term pain. they're extremely powerful, highly addicted and very tightly regulated. >> two months after a u.s. court declared same-sex marriage constitutional, a county court in kentucky is still refusing to issue marriage licenses to couples. they ruled rowen county clerk to start issuing licenses but she maintains it violates her christian believes. none of the prisoners on the state's death row can be executed. the court said it does not work

as a crime deterrent. >> this is a solemn day in connecticut. we have to keep in our minds how difficult this is for victims and victim's family. >> since the ruling is based on the state's constitution it cannot be appealed to the u.s. supreme court. >> let's get down to business. good morning, landon. >> hey alex. good morning to you. $42 a barrel. that's great for drivers as gas prices fall. some say they could drop below $2 a gallon. not everywhere. they're spiking in the midwest due to a refinery outage. the auto maker is ramping up production of its profitable big suvs and trucks to meet demand. it's adding shifts at its plant

near dallas. and this episode of sesame street is brought to you by hbo. starting this fall they will air the show before they air on pbs nine months later. alex, back over to you. happy friday. >> just ahead, man, doesn't it feel good to have some nfl football back on the tv? we've got highlights. plus, he's back. super hero or super villain. tom brady takes the field once again. how often we were changing the roll. it really started to add up. so we switched to charmin. with more go's in every roll, charmin ultra mega roll equals mega value. each sheet is 75% more absorbent so you can use less with every go. which means charmin ultra mega roll lasts longer than even the leading thousand-sheet brand. cha-ching!

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this morning on "today" could your irregular or unpredictable work schedule have a negative impact on your children? a new study says yes. find out why later on "today". and patriots, packers. tom brady made a surprising start. just one day after facing the nfl in federal court. brady completed one of four passes, playing just two series. on the other side, aaron rodgers completed 11 of 19 passes. 117 yards. packers win it 22-11. and robert griffen the iii throws but it's the potential touchdown pass dropped. and johnny manziel doesn't see

anything he likes, scrambles 12 yards for it touchdown, and they win. 20-17. and the saints make their first ever trip to baltimore for a preseason game. drew brees in uniform but not playing. fourth quarter ravens with the bootleg. ravens win 30-27. and 8 yards for the score. chargers beat the cowboys. tannehill finished six for seven. that would be their only td, though. the bears win it 27-10. jets had a total of six first downs all game, compared to the

lions 26. lions demolish the jets 23-3. and round one of the last major of the year. rory mcilroy making a return to golf after break his ankle and he was trying to knock some dust off and he went on to save par and finished one under for the day. and tiger woods had a rough one. he said it was one of the worst rounds i've had in a long time. woods just could not get his putter going. he finished three over par. happy moment on the baseball diamond. daughter indians infielder mike aveals got a chance to throw out a first pitch with her twin sister. that happened yesterday. she was diagnosed with leukemia in may. both daughter s threw out the first pitch to their father. and lebron james family foundation is teaming up with the university of akron and they will sponsor more than a thousand scholarships in his i

promise program. lebron tweeting every single kid in my program will go to college for free. brian kelly picked josh and other son to model the new uniforms for the team's upcoming season. after, he announced he would be receiving a scholarship for that year. big deal. you can see his teammates are just as excited. really cool there. we want to wish a speedy recovery to lindsay vaughn. there is no word on the timetable for her recovery, but don't bet against her. just ahead, marvels superhero has been announced and she might not be what you expect. and a behind the scenes look at beyonce.

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the n.w.a. biopic straight out of compton. and nbc renewed jimmy fallon's contract through 2021 and it looks like he spent some of the money on show production. check this out. >> we have a sketch artist here at the tonight show. here's a sketch she made of quest love. isn't that nice? here's the one she made of higgins. and here's the sketch she made of me. look at this. >> that does not look like him at all, do you think? >> he's not going to let that go at all. we love jimmy fallon. glad he's around for a while. >> we hope this is just your first stop of the day on nbc. hey, you forgot the milk! that's lactaid. right. 100% real milk, just without the lactose.

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leading the news on time.com a man wearing a bear costume is harassing bears in alaska. apparently this guy ran up to bears and began running up and jumping up in down in front of bears feeding them salmon. reran off while fish and wildlife was trying to get his id. and in the washington post, here are the six summer reading by president obama. all that is james salter. all the light we cannot see by anthony doerr. the 6th extinction by elizabeth kolbert. between the world and me. and washington, a life. and now to the latest on the epa spill in colorado. they say the water is safe to

use and they've gone as far as telling the city of durango to continue getting water from the river from customer use. and police say a man was under the influence. witnesses say he violently tried to take people out of their cars and drive away. his behavior led people to tackle him and hold him until police arrived. and in new york, a new kind of hotel. frugal travelers now have the option of spending the night in a van or taxi on the street. really? who's going to do that? each vehicle has a bed and portable air conditioner, but no bathroom. prices start at just $39 a night. what a bargain. and now to australia, a group of kite surfers are going to spend 10 days surfing around the great barrier reef. their goal is to raise money for

motor neuron research. seems like a pretty fun way to raise money. >> beautiful. >> don't look down, though. >> screaming. >> now for a look ahead. and today marks the 70th anniversary of arguably the most famous kiss in u.s. history celebrating v-j day. today hundreds of couples are expected to recreate that kiss in the place where it happened, right here in new york's times square. and happy birthday to mila kunis and hallie berry. "magic" johnson turns 56 and steve martin turns 70. now, keep it here for more news, weather and sports. i'm alex. thank you for watching "early today." have a great weekend. we'll see you. sacrifing hilife-- try and sa a

sam/vo anduing thstate in lake to save another. details on a local deputy's brave efforts in lake tahoe. >> and suing the state in a sense is testify and high profile showdown, the right to die case against california heads to court. plus trying to breathe life into a cold case, the san francisco mom's efforts to bring her son's killer to justice. "today in the bay" starts right now. and a is he good friday morning to you. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm sam brock. we have more on those stories in a second is. first a little bit humid out there this morning. let's get a check of the weather with meteorologist kari hall. >> good morning. starting to feel those temperatures warming up, more clouds again this morning and it will be a hot day in some