this morning on "early today," nature's furry. more nasty weather in the south as the search continues for hundreds still missing in joplin, missouri. all access, the cia gets cleared to search osama bin laden's compound and new details on how the al qaeda leader planned to stay off the spotlight. and end of an era. two astronauts step into the record book. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the final battering. the southern and eastern portions of the u.s. are now dealing with their share of a deadly spring storm system. thunderstorms are being blamed for at least three deaths in georgia. meanwhile, in charlotte, thousands of nascar fans who were gathered ahead of a weekend race were evacuated from a celebration there due to the weather. fortunately, no injuries were reported while the worst appears to have finally passed. we're going to have your holiday forecast coming up in just a bit. but first, search and rescue crews continue to sift through the debris in joplin, missouri, where hundreds remain unacted for in the wake of wednesday's deadly tornado. brian moore is in joplin with us with the latest on those search efforts. brian, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. we saw the death toll up to 136. 232 people are on the official list of the missing, but the

associated press is reporting this morning that it is starting to go through that list and has found at least a dozen people alive and well. the fifth first small steps toward recovery are beginning. people are sifting through their life as they start the rebuilting process. as the search continues as wipeds into recovery and rebuilding several. officials say they are appreciating the help and president obama will be here to talk to how the federal government will help. with minutes to spare, president obama approved an extension of expiring provisions of the patriot act last night. with the president currently in france for the g-8 summit, the white house said that mr. obama

used an auto pen machine that can only be used with proper authorization from the president. congress approval had been held up so close to the expiration deadline mainly due to resistance from republican rand paul who expressed reservations over privacy rights. the legislation renews three provisions including one that constituents government surveillance of loan wolf suspects, foreigners suspected of but without confirmed ties to terrorist groups. there appear to be signs of progress in repairing u.s./pakistan relations strained since the raid that killed osama behind laden. pakistan has agreed to let the cia send a forensic search team into the compound where bin laden was killed by navy s.e.a.l.s. they will be looking for al qaeda materials that may have been hidden, for instance, inside walls or buried in the ground. documents already seized from the compound show that bin laden and his aides discussed making a deal with pakistan.

the agreement would have had al qaeda refrain from attacking pakistan in exchange for the group receiving protection inside the country. meanwhile, secretary of state hillary clinton has arrived in pakistan, a trip seen as further effort to rebuild support damaged after the bin laden raid. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in montana, rising flood waters left one man stranded, clinging to the limb of a tree there. there's no word on how the man got stuck, but rescuers were able to pull him to safety from the hood of their truck. the swollen muscle shell river is expected to crest sometimes this weekend. in connecticut, dash cam video captured a vehicle smashing into the front of a patrol car. a quick-thinking officer used a pair of bolt cutters to smash in the window after he realized the driver was unconscious. fortunately, he and a paramedic were able to pull the driver out of the car. police say the driver is currently recoverying.

in louisiana, one talented second grader is showing off his speed reading skills with his hands. 8-year-old donovan is legally blind, but has been reading braille since he was 3. now he reads at a sixth grade level and he's about to compete in the national braille challenge. way to go, donovan. nascar fans at the speedway are going to be watching this weekend's race on the largest big screen tv. that's right. this wide screen giant clocks in at 200 feet wide and 80 feet high, which according to raceway officials is actually taller and wider than the dimensions of the white house. how do you like that in your living room? now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> morning. we didn't have the tornados, but we still had damaging winds and

hail. this time theoved through newen land three fatalities in georgia. now in the west, we have been watching the storm system pushing in georgia. moving the clouds from west to east. showers along the california coast. we have showery weather. it is not a lot of heavy rain. this system is spinning off of vancouver island. that on-shore flow will continue to keep it nice and cool. starting to warm it up. that is an understatement considering it is 102 in phoenix. vegas at 96. notice where that system is caught up.

showers and possible thunderstorms as we go throughout the afternoon. co a thunderstorm during the afternoon. tucson arizona you are a chance of hiting 100 today. all about the weekend forecast coming up. thank you so much. coming up. jobless claims rise. tiffany shines and your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. ready for your holdiweekend hang over. >> coming up extra innings in baltimore. the miami heat are in the nba finals you are watchingarily.

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. a wisconsin judge has struck down a controversial law stripping collective bargaining rights from most collective workers in the state. the law, championed by republican governor scott walker was passed in march despite massive protests. the court ruled that republicans in the state senate violated wisconsin's open meeting law. the supreme court has ruled that states have the right to shut down businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants. the court upheld a 2007 arizona law rejecting arguments that control over illegal immigration is solely a federal responsibility. the last of three men blamed for instigating ethnic cleansing during the bosnian war will face charges on genocide. ratko mladic is accused of

massacre of 18,000 boys and men in serbia. two astronauts are taking the final walk on the fourth walk of this next to last mission, astronauts are installing an extension pole on the space station, officially ending its construction. no walk is scheduled for the final shuttle mission. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,402 after adding 8 points yesterday. the s&p was up 5 points. the nasdaq rose 21. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei shed 40 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng gained 217. after a bumpy start, upbeat earnings helped stocks rise for a second straight day thursday. most of the morning, wall street flowed up and down on news about europe's debt crisis.

also darkening the mood, goldman sachs lowered its year-end expectations for the s&p 500 by more than 3%. gloomy data also didn't help. weekly unemployment unexpectedly rose. gross domestic product rose, but below expectations due to unexpectedly weak consumer spending. the bleak news drew investors into bonds, sending the treasury yield to its lowest level this year. later, though, stocks managed to come back, pushed by strong results by data storage firm netapp. microsoft dropped 2% after a major hedge fund manager called for the company's ceo to resign. tiffany zoomed almost 9% on a strong report and outlook. the day's flag was computer sciences. shares fell 15% after disappointing results and an announcement it's bp being investigated by the securities & exchange commission. those that think it was left

overvalued last week may see proof today when stock options start trading. finally, facebook's ceo, mark zuckerberg, has vowed to eat meat only from animals he kills himself. after slaughter, zuckerberg sends off the meat for processing. then he and his girlfriend cook it. if he eats out at a place he can't bring his own, i orders vegetarian. that is your bizarre news for the day. coming up, the a's rely on weather and the os get an extra inning walk-off win. plus, lebron james makes good on something he says he never could do in cleveland. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. today is a busy travel day getting ready for your memorial day forecast. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, when chris bosh dwyane wade and lebron james all signed with the miami heat this off season, they said their goal was to win a championship and now they have their chance. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines.

good morning. you could say the bulls withered down the stretch or that the better team won. call it what you will. the miami heat are going to the nba finals. bulls seemingly had the game in hand, when dwyane wade sparked a comeback. lebron from downtown, he had 28. next possession, the jumper for the lead, he got it. once down 12, the heat crawled all the way back. chicago had a last shot, but derrick rose was blocked by james. miami won it, 83-80. setting up a rematch of the '06 finals with the dallas mavericks. baseball, 41 different players made an appearance in wednesday's 19-inning marathon between the phillies and reds. one person who didn't play, this guy. actually, that's george washington. he definitely did not play. how about this guy, cliff lee. lee struck out eight over seven innings, but was even more impressive with a bat. drove in three runs.

no big deal, you say? he had one rbi his entire career. phils bead the reds, 0-4. walk-off rbi single, baltimore won its fifth straight. i have a feeling guerrero wishes he could have struck out. everyone in the team got in a free lick. he's going to have a headache after a 6-5 win. to toronto, the white sox wearing their road black, everybody except edwin jackson. he had a 50/50 shot of picking the right jersey. he flat out failed. rivera stopped and toss to first. they booted it. chicago took the lead, went on to win it, 3-1. from the bad to the good, a's and angels. teammates were there to stop him from going head overheels. a's won it, 4-3. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. guess who gets to do their memorial day jail time in a

luxury beach side town house? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, while we're out enjoying the holiday weekend, there will be some people dedicating themselves to remembering what this holiday is all about. you're watching "early today."

won't welcome back.

cool in the pacific northwest. chance of showers and rain. this storm system will be potent as we move throughout the northern rockies. rain likely. i hope we get heavy rain along wyoming. into memorial day. clearing out on the cool side for much of the coast. see local teams perform in a play titled cat's paw. that is your pacific event of the day. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. if there was any doubt about this weekend's holiday box office, it ended earlier this week when a judge allowed "hangover: part ii" to open as scheduled. the only question being how much

over $100 million will it take in? last weekend's champ, pirates of the caribbean on stranger tides isn't finished yet. look for it to grab the pg-13 crowd and check in with more than $40 million. elsewhere, tmz reports that although she has yet to file a petition, maria shriver has decided to divorce husband arnold schwarzenegger. finally, before dawn yesterday, lindsay lohan entered a woman's jail and was released before rush hour to begin serving a 35-day jail sentence at home for a parole violation. she left lockup with an ankle monitor and is paying for the cost of her confinement. sorry, guys, there was no new mugshot taken to add to the scrapbook of lohan mug shots i can't wait for the come back. >> is there going to be one?

>> this coming to us from virginia. at arlington national cemetery, the army's third u.s. infantry regiment or the old guard was out in force yesterday placing an american flag front and center at the graves of the nation's fallen heroes. the annual flags in ceremony has been going on every year since 1948. as part of the annual tradition, the soldiers stand guard to make sure every flag at the more than 260,000 grave stones stay in place all weekend. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

forget warming up. all these wrestlers need is a unique charge. robots do the fighting. they were built by students at a university in brazil for a row robot sumo championship. it involves strategy, strength and tactics. people in poland are breathing new life into their lungs more than 400 feet into the ground. an old salt mine has become a popular retreat for patients with problems like allergies and asthma. the salt floating in the air acts as a unique form of therapy. that's why the mine was shut down in 2007 and turned into a health spa. here is a strange way of going green.

folks in denmark are trekking into the woods to collect dinner. they're not searching for vegetables, rather those pesky weeds growing wild. a new trend of sorts is to teach people about the variety of foods in the wilderness that are safe to eat and actually taste good. weed experts join the group to make sure what's being consumed is nonpoisonous. >> as a kid, my grandmother used to make dandelion soup. >> that is supposed to be delicious. >> i was a brat and i wouldn't eat it. >> i stick with like the iceberg wedge. i'm much better with that. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. leaving france for poland, president obama will participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the warsaw ghetto ceremony. over 80,000 died of starvation and disease in only two years. thousands of others were deported or killed.

defense secretary robert gates will provide the key note address at the u.s. naval academy's graduation today. approximately 1,000 midshipmen are expected to receive their commissions during the ceremony. today, former secretary of state henry kissinger turns 88. 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. a preview of what to expect on the roads and in the skies as millions of americans held out for the memorial day weekend. and the "today" show summer concert series kicks off with singing superstar rihanna live on the plaza. 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