this morning on "early today," covert conquest. new details on the secret mission that took down al qaeda mastermind osama bin laden. mississippi rising, powerful and deadly tornado tears across new zealand's largest city. and a former reptile has a run in with the law. hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. welcome band good morning.

today we begin with sacred ground. as details emerge of the military's mission to take down osama bin laden, white house officials say president obama will visit 9/11 grounds this week. last night, lawmakers from both parties applauded the success. praise the commander in chief was quick to pass on. steve handelsman reports. >> i want to, again, recognize the heros who carried out this incredibly dangerous mission. tonight, it is my fervent hope that we can harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront testimony challenges that we still face. >> reporter: with osama bin laden buried at sea, the president called some of the navy commando team and heard their story. the president knew the s.e.a.l.s had rehearsed the raid, but he agonized.

watching and listening in realtime at the white house. u.s. intelligence found bin laden last summer, trailing a courier to his hideout. but they were never sure. >> the president had to evaluate the strength of the information and then had what i believe is one of the most gutsiest calls of presidents in recent memory. >> his call? in send in the s.e.a.l.s, not just bomb the place. and risk never confirming bin laden dead. one chopper went down hard, but the radio message came soon after. gironimo, code for osama bin laden found dead. he was found on an upper noor and shot on the head. where bin laden hid, his plush compound near pakistan's capital, just down the road from the army's academy suggest al qaeda's leader was protected by the pakistani government. >> they have a lot of explaining to do. >> reporter: steve handelsman, nbc, washington. as the news of bin laden' death takes hold around the country, americans begin to ask

how the world's famous man was able to hide inside a hideout in a country that claims to be our ally. andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: in this sleepy mill town, bin laden million dollar compound was a mcmansion. with 12 to 18 foot walls topped by barbed wire. the luxury home, eight times the size of nearby houses had no internet access or phone service. the bin ladens even burned their trash. in these cia satellite pictures, neighbors are almost next door. and less than a mile away, pakistan's military academy, pakistan's west point. >> it is a little incredible. my personal view is that they certainly probably were aware of it. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence concluded it could only have been built for bin laden. how could pakistan's army and

spies not notice? >> it could be a case of eyes wide shut, decided to keep their eyes opened, but closed as far as americans are concerned. >> the neighborhood certainly noticed the raid. blogged in realtime on twitter. helicopter hovering above is a require event. now i'm the guy who live blogged the osama raid without knowing it. the u.s. has poured almost $20 billion into pakistan without getting a reliable ally. last year, hillary clinton said what many were thinking. >> but i believe that somewhere in this government our people, who know where osama bin laden and al qaeda is -- >> reporter: andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. back here at home, let's take a look at other stories making news early today in america. chaos opened inside a courtroom a defendant punched a district attorney in the face.

several deputies pounced on him before dragging him from the courtroom. the d.a.'s injuries were minor. a florida gator was involved in a bizarre fender bender with a police cruiser. the officer quickly learned this gator would not go peacefully. it latched on to the car's bumper. even holding on when the car backed up p ish the seven-foot gator was later captured by a trapper without further incident. to hawaii where ugly weather produced an awesome sight. that is a water spout captured on camera. the funnel shaped cloud did not cause damage or flight delays. just a picture to take home from your daycation. can you imagine sitting and looking at the ocean. >> i can't imagine dealing with

weather like that. it was an incredible scene yesterday. we had people without power. this storm system is lingering. a line of showers and storms continues to push through the island chain. if you are going to be traveling today. bumpy flights. and anytime you could get a downpour as the showers should intensify. it should weaken in the days ahead. it should call for more wet weather. keeping temperatures down a little bit too. the storm system, the cold front slipped through, showers out there. in areas like seattle to the north of pordland. it is not all that bad. completely sunny through the day today. into california and arizona.

the warmth there be temperaturewise. the cold front went down to here. south of there will be fine and warm. things are continuing to warm up in phoenix. a warm day for you at 90. here little bit. enjoy the warmth. >> wednesday forecast coming up. >> that is where all the nice weather has been hiding bill. >> the sony playstation hack keeps getting worse. and why less homes in america have televisions. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. pr plus charlie sheen speechless?

>> coming up, the sacramento kings make a big distinction and one chicago bull wins while his team loses. you are watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. on the same day libyan ruler moammar gadhafi buried his son, the swiss government says it has identified $415 million of potentially illegal assets linked to him. another $473 million has been tied to former egyptian president hosni mubarak. switzerland has ordered banks to freeze possible assets of both men along with tunisia's ousted president. a second black box and the cockpit voice recorder of an air france plane that crashed in 2009 killing 228 people were found. they were found by a submarine

probing almost 2 1/2 miles below the ocean's surface. and new zealand's largest city has been hit by a deadly tornado. at least two people were killed. more than a dozen were injured. >> and now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study from sweden followed close to 9,000 twins for 30 years. and it found that those carrying around extra pounds during middle age had about an 80% higher chance of developing some form of dementia later in life. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,807 after dipping 3 points yesterday. the s&p shed two points.

the nasdaq lost 9. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was closed for a holiday, but in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 87. well, this might make you think twice before giving our your personal information online. one day after sony made a public apology to some 77 million playstation users whose personal data had been hacked, the company revealed nearly 25 million online entertainment accounts had been compromised. sony is offering free service in exchange for the unprecedented intrusion. osama bin laden's death gave stocks a higher open yesterday. positive earnings from dishnetwork, humana and chrysler. investors' biggest worry, gas prices. the national average is now $3.96 a gallon. warnings pricey gas could eat into high-end grocery budgets

sent whole foods down 5%. in deal news, teba pharmaceuticals will pay $6.8 million for drugmaker cephalon. timothy geithner says due to stronger than expected tax receipts, the white house and congress has three more weeks to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling. watch massey energy today. after the bell, massey reported its fourth consecutive deals loss. and according to nielsen, the number of american homes with tvs has dropped for the first time in 20 years thanks to both a new generation of online viewers and households that can't afford to upgrade their analog sets. the bruins nip the flyers in o.t. and the hawks fly past the bulls. plus, speaking of the bulls, will derek rose become the second chicago player after michael jordan to win the league's mvp award?

your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and it's a little too late, but finally, the water logged mississippi river valley is going to dry out in the days ahead. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, after a spectacular season that saw derek rose lead the chicago bulls to the league's best record, the big question now is has he sewn the nba mvp trophy up? here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it wasn't a matter of if, but a matter of when. according to sources, derek rose has won the mvp most valuable player award. at the age of 2 2 rose is the youngest player in the nba to receive the honor. how many times have you seen this? the spin and in from rose. he had 24. atlanta hung around all game. joe johnson caught fire from beyond the arc. a perfect 5 for 5, finished with a game high 34. they may have the mvp, but the makes have the game one, 103-95.

lakers and magic came down to one final shot. kobe bryant for a win at the buzzer. brick. dallas held on to win it, 96-94. and the sacramento kings are officially staying put. they'll stay at least one more year in sacramento. that gives mayor kevin johnson a year to follow through on his promise, to build a new downtown arena. bruins and flyers, david krachee with a blast that won the game, or did it? the referee blew it off. play continued for 20 seconds. the call was then reviewed. the puck hit the middle bar and in the net and bounced out, that is a goal. bruins won it 4-3 in o.t. they lead that series, 2-0. finally, it may be coincidence, but we'll call this perfect timing. a day after osama bin laden's death, rick antiel with a diving grab in the center and jerry hairston jr. comes up with the

sliding grab. nationals put on a show for america's finest. they beat the giants, 2-0. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. another celebrity does the mugshot walk of shame. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, america has waited for almost a decade for the end of bin laden. but we'll introduce you to one man who promised not to shave until it happened. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. yesterday we saw the horrible weather going through the hawian islands. you can see the blue skies in the backgrounds and the funnels coming down through the water. today we expect more weather there. sunshine in nevada and arizona. northern portions of the forecast. rainy today just a chance of showers. if you are watching us on news 4. learn about their habitats and raptors and that is your event of the day. >> look at him. thank you.

now here is an early look at this mornings's headlines in entertainment. charlie sheen has taken on many varied real life roles yesterday. yesterday, good will ambassador wearing a university of alabama jersey and cap, sheen toured a neighborhood decimated by last week's tornados. sheen says he's working with local officials to organize a benefit. still waiting for the names of the lodgeng awaited much publicized twins. and 80s rocker rick springfield to the celebrity mugshot club. got his hair done before his mug shot apparently. the 61-year-old was arrested in malibu sunday night for driving under the influence. >> and finally, no prenup for william. according to a friend, despite legal advice to consider a prenup agreement, prince william refused, saying he loves kate implicitly.

>> the same reason you didn't make your wife sign a prenup. >> born in high heels, i guarantee. >> this comes to us from washington, where the death of osama minute laden allowed one teacher to rid himself of a dark day in history. it was september 11, 2001, when gary told his science class he would not shave his beard until the mastermind of the attack was killed. over the years he took a lot of ribbing, but stayed the course. nearly a decade after sticking to it, finally, gary was able to lather up and take it all off. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

well, it was an old fashioned duel with paint brushes. teams from the u.s. and france faced off to see who could provide the best paintings. the artists had 2 1/2 hours to paint a masterpiece. their work was put to a public vote. home team had the advance and france took top prize. china hosted a special event for the special bond between twins. the festival was held in an area of the country known for having an unusually large number of twins. floats carried the pairs from around the globe.

more than 1,000 siblings carried the floats as part of a local tradition of luck. although the kentucky derby is a few weeks away, the celebration in kentucky is under way. the bed races never disappoint. competitors took sharp corners around the basketball courses. we put those crashes in there for you. >> berry week is so much fun. >> have you ever been? >> no, i haven't been. >> you need to do that. >> i enjoy that. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. fresh off celebrating the wedding of his son, prince charles will make a trip to our nation's capital. he'll visit the supreme court and tour an urban farm in washington. today is world press freedom day. it's an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental of the area.

on capitol hill, lawmakers will be on hand for the dedication of a statue in honor of former president gerald ford. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. "today" takes you inside the situation room where president obama and his national security team mapped out the strategy to kill mastermind osama bin laden. and matt lauer sits down with steven tyler to talk about his revealing new memoir. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com