captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today." it's 7:00 a.m. on the west coast on a friday. i'm matt lauer. >> i'm ann curry. the clock is sticking. there's still no end to the debt ceiling crisis, and this has investors nervous. >> really nervous. just 30 minutes into the trading day, the dow down about 100 points already. this comes after a heated night on capitol hill where john boehner failed to find enough votes within his own party to push his plan through the house. as we said, we're expecting to hear from the president in just a short while. we'll get the latest from washington and wall street just ahead. also ahead this morning, a children plot to kill u.s. soldiers foiled near ft. hood in texas. investigators say the alleged attack was imminent and that a fellow soldier was behind it. we'll get details from ft. hood coming up, matt. >> and we want to tell you about another royal wedding in britain. the queen's eldest granddaughter is getting married this weekend in what's sure to be a more down to earth affair than the last one we saw. we'll have the latest on the ceremony from scot land. and we have one of the most popular bands of all time standing by for a huge summer concert. journey will be live on our plaza a little later on. >> a lot to get to, but let's begin with the debt ceiling crisis and its impact on wall street. cn cnbc's melissa francis is watching the markets. good morning. apparently the markets do not like cliffhangers. >> no, absolutely not. traders are saying this morning it's time to consider the unthinkable, and that's that a deal in washington may not coming to. we saw the dow drop right out of the gate this morning. all through this crisis i've been talking to investors and ceos across the country and they've said they're not worried about it, a deal will come together at the last minute. when i skds, what's your contingency plan, most have said, i don't have one. now we're down to crunch time and the market is getting nervous. where we aren't seeing it is the bond market, where the government borrows money, where treasuries are sold. so far that money has continued to flow and the yields have stayed low. where we are seeing it is gold. gold this morning popping to a new record $1,637 an ounce. the market's looking very nervous this morning and waiting to hear exactly what's going to happen but more nervous than we've seen them before. another huge issue this morning is gross domestic product. that is how much the economy is growing. that question was answered this morning, and it's not a whole lot. right now gdp in the second quarter standing by 1.3%. that's less than most economists expecteds, although for the average american that's not a big surprise. a lot of people out of work. they also revised how much the economy grew in the first quarter all the way down to just a teeny bit, 0.4%, a really small number, so that, too, weighing heavily on the markets, matt. >> we'll follow them closely. me lis is is a francis, thank you very much. three minutes after the hour. here's ann. in washington there's been a lot of movement on the debt crisis this morning but still no deal and no vote on the gop's proposed bill in the house. nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell has the latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. lawmakers have cnbc on in their offices. they know what's going on with the market, and there has been a lot of movement this morning. house republican aides tell me that they in a meeting will present to their members an alternative to the bill that just went nowhere into the wee hours of the night. they believe that can be a pass forward. now, on the other side of capitol hill, democrats, majority leader harry reid, he came to the floor and said time is up, he must act today with his own alternative bringing yet another solution to the table that could be considered. he said if he doesn't do it today there won't be time to have a vote before default. then the republican leader in the senate countered and said that's a blocking strategy, back boehner. that's where we are as all sides are trying to find a way out. >> it's time for somebody in this town to say yes. >> reporter: if it were only that simple. but a handful of house conservatives bucked the speaker, refusing to go along with john boehner's proposal to raise the debt ceiling. >> and i know there are people in my party that want to keep beating up on me because i can't vote for a bill that only cuts $1 trillion. >> reporter: earlier in the day, the get in line message had brought some tea party freshmen on board. >> is this as big as you want to go? heck, no. we wanted to go bigger. we ran on going bigger. but this is the only proposal on the table that accomplishes the goals that we set out to do. >> reporter: but by evening, the plug had quietly been pulled. the critical vote on hold. >> further consideration of 627 is postponed. >> reporter: that sent democrats on stand by to defeat boehner's bill. >> and we are simply four days away from one of the worst financial catastrophes that could face this country. >> reporter: they were told to get dinner and hang out. >> i don't expect or anticipate any action here before 9:00. >> reporter: a parade of those rebellious holdout republicans were summoned to the speaker's office. hour after hour, the arm twisting went on behind closed doors. few said any minds had been changed. >> the old saying goes, if you like sausage, don't go where they make it. sometimes it takes a little time, but democracy a always worth the time. >> reporter: house democrats passed judgment, too. >> but the party of no is saying no to their own deal. the party of no is putting at risk the american taxpayer, the american family, and america itself. >> reporter: so you get a sense of the chaotic nature of things. we feel this morning something could break one way or another at almost any moment. majority leader reid, a democrat in the senate, he is saying to republicans, trying to do it just with republican votes has failed. come back and work with democrats. and encouraging them to look at some of the examples of republican senators past and prenltsd who are saying it's time to kind of take your chips and go. and reid is saying there are no new taxes in the plan that he's offering. that should be appealing to republicans while raising the debt limit and ending this crisis. but time and the rules of congress and how that works will really be deciding factors here. and today will have to be a critical day to avoid august 2nd and what everyone is saying could be a catastrophic default. ann? >> kelly o'donnell this morning. kelly, thanks. chuck todd is nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent. good morning. >> good morning. >> so much at stake. the president is about to speak. what's he going to say, chuck? >> reporter: he is going to try to do the same thing harry reid did on the floor of the united states senate, say it's time to compromise, time to bring this together. no one party can do this. he's simply going to try to put a little bit of a shoulder into this and seeinging if his words can help bring a deal together here at the last minute. that said, i think we're seeing harry reid decided he's going to act on his own regardless of whether he gets a bill out of the house. politically, ann, what's going on here is if boehner can get a bill out of the house, republicans think they have have a little bit more leverage going into these final days and shaping this deal. what is the sticking point? this idea of a second debt ceiling vote in six mos. you know what, this rhetoric the democrats have been using the last two days, saying do you really want to do this again, ill's starting to resonate with some republican senators. they're going to be the key, about a block of 10 to 15 of cc: them. they're ready to deal now, ann. >> let's talk about this harry reid plan. he's reaching out to mitch mcconnell. is there actually a chance that mitch mcconnell will go along with harry reid's plan? and could that satisfy key party members in the house? >> reporter: there are two ways mitch mcconnell with can go along with harry reid's plan. he can go along with it publicly, forge the deal, agree senate1: s is vote on sunday, a house vote on monday. or he can publicly say that what he's saying so far which is i'm for speaker boehner, i'm for that bill, i'll stick to my gun, but he'll let his people go, meaning he'll let republicans go on their own, cut a deal if they want with reid, and he won't block it. he won't try to stop it. he won't try to enforce party discipline. that's what to watch for in the next i think six to eight hours. bottom line, ann, expect a senate vote on sunday, which also could be a cliffhanger. but then we're going to have another one of these. regardless of what the house does today, monday will be even nuttier. why. >> because at that point you'll democrats a hundredcc1: and 116 republicans voting for the same bill. that is going to make markets and those folks biting their nails like you've never seen. >> all right. along with the rest of us. chuck todd, thank you so much. nbc news will be carrying the president's statement live as it happens. but for now it is 7:09 pacific time.cc1: here's matt. ann, thank you very much. an awol army private has been arrested near ft. hood in texas where he allegedly confessed to plotting an attack on fellow soldiers, this nearly two years after a gunman went on a deadly rampage at ft. hood, killing 13 people. nbc's janet shamlian is there this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, matt. good morning to you. this soldier had everything ready to go -- a motel room full of gunpowder and ammunition, even instructions on how to make a bomb. authorities say his plan could have succeeded if p it weren't : for an alert citizen who saw something and said something. this is the motel where police arrested 21-year-old private first class on wednesday with room, explosives in hiscc1: officials say, to make at least two bombs. >> he's a very dangerous individual, and he's where he needs to be. >> reporter: it's all thanks to the alert owner of this gun store. federal officials say he tipped off police after abdur arrived : by taxi on tuesday, buying three boxes of shotgun ammunition and a magazine for a semiautomatic pistol. the clerk became suspicious when the soldier indicated he didn't know much about what he was buying. >> we rang him up. he pays cash for the purchase. put it in the bag. he grabs his bag and out the door he goes. he didn't even wait for a receipt or his change. >> reporter: it's the same store investigators say major nidal hassan bought the gun used in the 2009 shooting at ft. hood that killed 13. citing his muslim beliefs, asked for conscientious objector status. >> my stance with is god is more important than my stance with the military. >> reporter: he spoke to nbc about the request. the military, dcc1: obvious obviously i had different views on war, i had different views on what islam as a peaceful religion allowed and did not allow me to do. >> reporter: his discharge was delayed after he was chargeeds with possessing child pornography. he faced a court-martial for that last month but then went awol from ft. campbell in kentucky. authorities believe he planned to act alone and detonate those bombs not on post but somewhere nearby, a place like a restaurant where soldiers would be congregating. >> janet shamlian this morning. thank you very much, as always. >> a check of the morning's top story. natalie is at the news desk. good morning, everyone. more news on the u.s. economy. it slowed in the first half of this year to its slowest pace since the recession ended in 2009. the commerce department today reported that consumer spending was flat this spring with spending on big-ticket items such as cars and appliances falling. and in a separate report, officials said the recession already the worst since the end of world war ii was worse than previously thought. some important health news for you today. johnson & johnson is lowering the maximum daily dose of its extra-strength tylenol pain reliever from eight pills per day to six. it is the worst storm the to hit south korea in a century. more than 70 people have died in the severe flooding there. and caught on tape, this dramatic video from the bridge of a landslide near seoul. the u.s. is citing new evidence that iran is funding al qaeda. it's the most serious allegation to date against iran. meantime, the two american hikers detained in iran face a final hearing in the espionage case against them. the hikers say they entered iran accidentally while hiking in neighboring iraq back in 2009. and a fender-bender you could only get in monte carlo. a woman in a $400,000 bentley convertible caused a five-car pileup with a mercedes, a ferrari, a porsche, and an aston martin. to make matters worse, the passengers couldn't flee the embarrassing scene as a crowd gathered around. their car doors were jammed shut in the crash. it is 7:13 pacific time. back to matt, ann, and al. the guys particularly hurt seeing those cars damaged. >> not a lot of sympathy. >> insurance is going to be high. >> the grille on the bentley. mr. roquer. we've got tropical storm don to talk about. the good news is we don't think this is going to be a really potent storm. the bad news is we were hoping it would bring much-needed rain to drought-stricken texas. 255 miles southeast of corpus christi, 55-mile-per-hour winds moving west-northwest at 14 miles per hour. tropical storm warnings. the rio grande, matagorda. it will make landfall sometime tomorrow morning. but that path brings the kwlefs rain to the south of the eye and that is mostly going to be in mexico along the brownsville border so maybe 3 to 5 inches of rain south of brownsville, maybe 1 to 2 inches brownsville up to corpus christi. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good friday morning. san francisco, the low clouds, misty skies, different story around san jose. sunshine, 59 degrees. the fog is going to stick around for the coast in san francisco, 60s again today, 70s for oakland, fremont and san jose, 80s and as you head inland, livermore, highs in the low 90s today. for the weekend not much change in the temperatures. look out for thundershowers possible along the coastal range. and that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thanks very much. this morning the fbi is joining the investigation into a series of sexual assaults in ann arbor, michigan, pretd t ti close to university of michigan campus. nbc's ron allen has the details on that. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. yes, there have been six attacks in 12 days, and they have stunned this prominent, progressive academic community. one woman was groped walking down the street. another was sexually assaulted in a parking garage. we were able to talk to one woman who came forward to report her story of a horrible crime. >> i just felt extremely violated. >> reporter: two weeks ago, this young student was walking alone near her off-campus house when she was attacked. >> a man ran up from between some house, ran up behind me, and he lifted up my dress above my hips and started grabbing at me. >> reporter: her assailant fled when an eyewitness ran to help her. the victim does not want her identity revealed, fearful of the assailant who's put this entire community on edge. >> we believe that he's a predator. we believe he's doing some type of feed work, lying in wait for an opportunity. >> reporter: there have been six attacks or attempted attacks on women here since july 15th. the women, all 18 to 22 years old, were all walking alone late at night or early in the morning. two were students at the prestigious university of michigan. the attacks happening at a time when the campus is welcoming thousands of students for freshman orientation. >> you want your children safe. >> reporter: i don't know who's going to protect me. >> reporter: police have released this composite sketch of a possible suspect. they are not sure if it is one serial attacker or two different men. matt mcnelly found one of the victims moments after she was dragged over a wall and sexually assaulted. >> looked out the window and there was a girl sitting there, crying on the telephone, and we heard her yelling help. >> reporter: community members gathered thursday night for a take back our streets rally. despite her frightening experience, this victim considers herself fortunate. >> it's so scary to hear about what's happened to some of these other poor girls. and it's -- i don't know if he had that in mind for me. >> reporter: university officials are refusing requests for interviews about this incident. they just don't want to talk about it right now. they say they are increasing police patrols on campus, working more closely with the ann arbor police off campus in the community as they try to catch this man or men who police are calling a predator. matt? >> all right. ron allen in ann arbor this morning. ron, thanks very much. coming up, another disturbing story. two young women discover hidden cameras in their apartments, showers, and bedrooms. now police want to know who put those cameras there. cc1:cc1:cc1: back now at 7:20. 30 years ago today, the world stopped to watch the fairy-tale royal wedding of lady diana spencer and prince charles.cc1: of course three months ago, their son william tied the knot in another grand affair.cc1: today great britain prepares for yet another royal wedding. stephanie gosk is in edinburgh, scotland, with more. >> reporter: that's right, ann. this is the first royal wedding in scotland in 20 years. it's the queen's oldest granddaughter marrying mike tindell, the captain of england's rugby team. the ceremony is here tomorrow afternoon at that church behind me. any other year at any other time this would be the wedding of the year. but just three months ago, william and kate set the bar for that honor pretty high. dara phillips, prince william's first cousin, is tying the knot same year with their grandmother on the wedding list. but that is just about where the similarities end. nearly 2,000 guests packed into westminster abbey in london. there will be 400 in edinburgh. cam flas the abbey broadcast the wedding to billions around the world. here the doors are closed. instead of a crowd of over a million, there will be a modest 2,000. the marrow streets of the scottish capital can't handle much more than that. but you get the sense from phillip and her rugby star mark: tindell that is exactly how they want it. the couple has been dating more than seven years. they are both described as laid back and down to earth. both are athletes.cc of thecc1: rugby 1: team, an honor reflected in the number of times his nose has been broken. phillips is an accomplished equestrian. there is a chance she will the1: 2012 olympics. >> to be a part of the olympic games as an athlete would be an honor and a massive dream come true. >> dara and her brother, pete doeshgs not have title, a princess heir mother,cc1: anne made, when they were born. after the wedding, tindell won't get one either. some believe this is a good example of how the royal family is adapting to a new era. >> this modern couple, mike and dara, no title, no royal money, no royal bodyguards compared to the great state occasion of william and catherine. it shows the way the monarchy is changing. >> reporter: dara has often exercised her independence and her relationship with mark tindell is no exception. but it is still a royal wedding, and for those lucky enough to get close, there will be quite an entourage. cousin brie tis and you jennie and hopefully their hats are on the wedding list.