this morning on "early today." treasure trove. what investigators are learning from the cache received from osama bin laden's compound. memphis misery. more residents are told flee as the mississippi river nears its crest. and far from home, an alligator wrestling class popped up in the most unlikely of places. hello. good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. for almost a decade, osama bin

laden made threats against the west. now the tables are turned with the u.s. releasing videos of the hermit-like master mind found in his compound. jim miklashevski reports. >> this is the video that the white house wants the world to see, osama bin laden, once the world's most notorious terrorist seen here armed only with a remote as he dials up old videos of himself from the time that the mere mention of his name brought fear. these are the images of an old man in a stocking cap bundled up against the cold, in spartan surroundings. unlike other videos where his beard is black, here it's almost totally gray. in fact, it's the same gray beard bin laden had when the navy s.e.a.l.s shot and killed him. >> in the end, here he died a prisoner in isolation as if he had been in maximum security.

>> reporter: others showed bin laden stumbling through remarks looking off camera for some direction. if bin laden was so out of touch, how did he avoid detection for five years, 35 miles from pakistan's capital and in the shadow of the military's top academy. president obama suspects bin laden had to have had a support network inside pakistan. >> we don't know if people had been inside of government, people outside of government, and that's something we have to investigate and more importantly the pakistani government has to investigate. >> reporter: many in congress have their doubts. >> extraordinarily hard to believe that he could have survived there for five years or more in a major population center without some support and knowledge. >> reporter: not only survive,

tom donalin tells meet the press" that osama bin laden was calling the shots for al qaeda. >> he was in the propaganda efforts, obviously. >> reporter: before his death, bin laden was intent on killing americans, attacking u.s. targets such as trains which would result in mass casualties. >> that's nbc's jim miklashevski reporting. meanwhile, when it comes to the final photos showing a dead osama bin laden, most americans agree with the president's decision to keep them from public view. nearly 2/3 backed president obama with 52% saying the president should not release the photos. 12% agreed with the photos, though not as strongly. by comparison, 29% want the images unsealed. meanwhile, here in america, many residents of memphis, tennessee had to abandon their homes and head to higher ground as the swollen river brings more flood waters to the saturated

region. jim gray has the report. >> reporter: across memphis, the water continues to rise, pushing up against sidewalks 20 miles from the normal shoreline. >> it's overwhelming. it's just overwhelming to see it so high. >> and getting even higher. emergency teams are helping dozens move to higher ground, some loaded to city buses to push through the water. arrive to safety before all of the roads in the lowest lying areas are blocked. in downtown memphis, the fight to keep the water out continues. men and machine working around the clock and against the clock with the near record crest expected later today. jay grey, nbc news, memphis. other stories making news early today in america. cup cake frosting and pacifier on the hood of a car provided

evidence of a horrific ordeal. a driver under the influence of pcp barreled through a children's birthday party. the driver never stopped plowing through an inflatable bouncer with several children inside and he collided with an offduty police officer who made the arrest. three children were sent to the hospital. a group of children playing on an inflatable slide in california saw their day of fun turn disastrous. eight kids were injured when the slide collapsed. the accident occurred when too many people were on the slide. all of the injuries were minor. in colorado, some people are facing all with gators for the front of it. in the alligator wrestling class, the gators are real and the student learn moves to get the upper hand if they happen to encounter a gator. running is apparently not an option.

bill karins is here with the weather channel forecast. those people pay to get in that pool with those alligators. >> when i lived in florida i'm told you don't run straight. if you zig zag they can't turn as well. it was one of those dumb things. let's chat about the mississippi river. right now north of memphis where the shiny dot is, the water is still rising south of there. we still have a week to ten days until the crest makes it to the gulf of mexico. it will go up six inches more from where it is now. the damage is done. we have to wait until the 19th

to get the crest down that far. now in the west, it wasn't the best. it is snowing in the high elevations right now. cloudy and cool. it is damp, cloudy and wet. western november we are watching showers and storms. temperatures have trapped o dro phoenix. outside of boise, coast we'll see area nice into see

yach yachtle. rain in vegas. >> just some showers today but they like it a change of pace. tough start to the business day in asia. apple bumps google, and the fat cats are getting fatter. the early morning business headlines are straight ahead. and last week, "fast five" didn't win, but it did the next best thing. the hawks soar, and in dallas, the mavericks complete a sweep of the reigning champions. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. welcome back to "early today," i'm veronica de la cruz. here are top headlines this morning. egypt's government is promising to enforce law against places of worship and freedom of belief following a flareup of sectarian tensions over the weekend.

fighting between muslims and christians killed a dozen and left some injured. one christian church was burned. strike with an iron hand all of those who seek to tamper with the nation's security. pope benedict enjoyed one of venice's famous attractions. a ride on the gondolas. the first papal visit since 1985. the island nation of samoa announced it will be jumping forward in time by one day. it's switching to the website of the international date line. samoa marketed itself as the last place on earth to see the sun each day will share a similar time with its neighbors including australia. now a look at how wall street will open. the dow opens at 12,638 after gaining 54 points on friday. the s&p rose five points. the nasdaq added 12.

take a look at the overseas trading, the nikkei dropped 64 points, in hong kong, the hang seng was up 176. investors will be looking for fresh clues on the economy after a much-needed dose of optimism gained ground on friday. after the drop in commodities, markets made a comeback thankses to a surprisingly strong employment report. commodities will be in focus when the government weighs in with the inflation index telling us how much prices have gone up on everything from food to fuel. we get the take on april's retail sales along with earnings from kohl's, macy's, and nordstrom. friday's positive sentiment had woes of on going debt problems. in a battle for global brand domination, apple has unseated google from the four-year reign

at the top according to the report out today. the driver of traffic to on-line news sites safe. according to a study, the search engine provides 35% of the top new web visitors. the median value of salaries, bonuses, and long-term incentive award for the ceos of the major companies surged 11% to $9.3 billion. speaking of big paydays, engineers are competing for a $250,000 prize for the first human powered helicopter. the hand and foot pedaled craft has to hover above the ground for 60 seconds to claim that prize. the red wings creep back, the hawks tie up chicago, and trick shots. plus the lakers bow out and look like sore losers doing it. your "early morning" sports headlines are straight ahead.

hot temperatures once again and severe storms. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

you're watching "early today."8 hey, good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this

is "early today." in sports, the defending champ, the l.a. lakers are not only out, but yesterday provided an ugly ending to the career of one of the nb a's greatest coaches ever. here's mario solis with a look at all of your sports headlines. hi there, good morning. we're here in dallas where phil jackson, the most decorated coach in nba history led his last game. jackson was hoping to end the career on top, but instead of chasing the mavericks, they put on a shooting clinic from beyond the arc. tied a record with 23 three pointers in the game. dallas led at the half. the game was virtually over. the defending champions unravel. lamar odom throws a shoulder to dirk nowitzki. he was rejected. andrew bynum was an uncalled for cheap shot on j.j. barea. he was tossed. the mavericks complete the sweep, blowing out the lakers. it was expected to be phil jackson's final game as the head coach.

jackson's former team, the chicago bulls fell short yesterday. the hawks pull forward late in the fourth. the two connecting for a pair of buckets down the stretch. the hawks even the series with a 100-88 win. nhl playoffs, the red wings leaving to play another day scoring three unanswered goals to get a game six against the sharks. the red wings win, 4-3. djokovic won the open but nadal turn in the shot of the day. game one. after a lengthy rally, in a doll with a drop shot. djokovic returns it at the corner. only one way to return it. between the legs. worth another look. with the back to the court, raffa pulls off an incredible point. but it feels nadal who stole the show with one of the best shots you'll ever see. that's a look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. >> early today sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all.

a key film makes big noise at the morning box office. the early morning headlines are straight ahead. and from friends, two make their way home. you're watching "early today".

>> welcome back.

as far as severe weather goes today, we're not expecting any tornado outbreak so we'll see strong storms, wind and hail temperatures dropped we are dry on the wef coast today. beautiful day arn medford. mice in the northwest. enjoy a break in the wet weather. if you are watching us in nbc los angeles. trees and plants that are essential to our eco system. >> liz was booming at the box office this weekend thathnks to the thunder. "thor" had the best opening of the year, the action film took

in $46 million overseas. 63% male and surprisingly, 72% were over the age of 25. bad news for last week's champ, "fast five" premiered with $86 million and a drop of a steep 62% to finish in second with $32.5 million. the good news, it debuted number one overseas breaking the all-time record for a foreign weekend. the wedding comedy, "jumping the broom" starring relative new byes won third place by a nose with $13.7 million. and finally, kate hudson's romantic opening "something borrowed" made $34 million and it disappointed finishing fourth with $13 million. were you one of those guys that

saw "thor"? >> i will see it but probably not in the theater. >> i will probably not see that. >> okay this comes to us from off the coast of the florida keys where two whaels have returns to familiar surroundings. only seven whales have survived. confined to a pen and treated for dehydration, blood tests revealed they were healthy enough to be released to deeper waters. one calling the turnaround amazing. i'm veronica de la cruz, this is your first stop today, today on your nbc station.

outside of athens, participants got to eat exactly as the ancient greeks did. the core foods included fish, bread, olive, and honey. and they ate with their hands. the ancients ate little meat and the staples such as tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants didn't exist yet. most found it healthy. but some said the food was just too raw. huh? only four-legged guests get to sample the food at one new hot spot in belgium. the first dog bar serves canines of all shapes and sizes. chicken, turkey, apples with wild rice. there's even a special beer to go along with all of that food. although it costs $10 a plate,

the first customers seem pretty satisfied. >> one man in argentina has built a castle from recycled material. cheetos spent almost 21 years collecting 6 million beer bottles for his creation which covers 5,000 square feet. the decorations were made from other reused materials such as bicycles and old tv sets. he describes his home as a ecological and economical. do you think he was singing like 599,000 bottles of beer on the wall. >> got four lines in and stopped. a look at the early stories we're following here on nbc. dean eller be sworn in as nevada's new senator replacing john ensign who resigned in the controversy surrounding an extra-marital affair. a transplant recipient will

appear in a press conference this morning. the texas man will be joined by doctors who led the transplant team in the procedure that lasted more than 30 hours. happy birthday to the piano man, billy joel. he turns 62 years old today, happy birthday. you can see the top stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's what's coming up this morning on the "today" show. find out the latest in a newly released bin laden tape from a live report in pakistan. watch what happens when meredith vieira joins the cast of one of england's hottest tv shows as a new tv series kicks off, "anchors abroad". i'm veronica de la cruz, thank you for watching "early today," just your first stop of

the day, today on your nbc station.