this morning on "early today," after the apology. congressman anthony weiner faces mounting calls to resign in the wake of his twitter scandal. lightning round, a powerful storm makes for a powerful storm in toronto. >> and firing brimstone. scientists capture swirling lava at one of the world's most active volcanos. and swirling lava at one of the world's most active hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with truth and consequences. representative anthony weiner's

political career hangs in the balance this morning as a number of women are claiming to have had online relationships with him. this as fellow democrats fail to come to the new york congressman's aid while republicans call for his resignation. nbc's trait tracy potts joins us with more on this. >> reporter: republicans have been quite outspoken. there are a number of lawmakers who want him to step down. >> i wish there was some way i could defend him, but i can't. >> if congressman calls him for advice. he'll say -- >> call somebody else. >> reid is one of the few democrats who spoke out of the w weiner admitted sending his lewd photo of himself to a sledge

student. >> i think they should be kicked out of office for betraying the people's trust. >> i think the lying part was worse than the pictures. >> a poll found that just over half of voters think he should stay unless he was sexting at work on government phones or computers. >> unless he was using government money or resources. >> we have the responsibility to look in every corner. >> the blogger who broke the story says there is one x-rated photo that he won't release. >> i don't think i want to put his family through that type of thing. >> reporter: he could end up losing his seat anyway. one of those districts lynn, could be his. >> tracy thank you.

elsewhere last night in the white house, it was all about elegance at a state dinner for angela merkel. she games one of the few dignitaries to receive the presidential award for freedom. prior to the low key dinner, the president tackled more serious issues, including bad news on the economy. steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: president obama was on the defensive in a news conference with german chancellor angela merkel. >> the recovery that we're on is not producing jobs as quickly as i wanted to -- to happen. >> reporter: he says the biggest problem now is high fuel prices. the labor department reported private sector hiring dropped almost 5% in april. it leaves him open to attack by republican candidates like tim pawlenty. >> the president wrongly thought the stimulus, the bailout were the solution. he says they worked, they did

not. >> reporter: president obama takes credit for averting disaster and for future hiring. >> we have set a path that will lead us to long-term economic growth. and so our task is to not panic, not overreact. >> reporter: a plea for supporters to hang in, even though the recovery has stalled. steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. the night sky over northern rhode island turned orange after an eight alarm fire erupted inside a historic mill. rhode island and massachusetts fire companies were on the scene as the inferno gutted the factory once used to make world war ii attack boats. the massive fire on the seven acre site caused power outages and forced officials to evacuate the area before it was brought under control. the warship connected to the burial of osama bin laden is back in american waters. the uss carl vincent docked in u.s. waters receiving a hero's

welcome from about 100 greeters after its historic mission. the ship's senior officers refused to disclose details but did say the mission was conducted in a manner that brings pride to the nation. the u.s. geological survey has received new video of a fresh lava spilling into a lake. this new activity doesn't pose any danger to hawaii's big island, but scientists say it is causing disruption with the volcano's crust. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> that is pretty cool. >> it is amazing video. luckily it is not harming areas near hawaii. >> we'll do the best we can to bring that to you, bill. >> let's show you what is happening in the forecast. >> we are starting to see the

weather pattern changing in the west. look at that temperatures in minneapolis. it was hotter there than it was anywhere in arizona. weird anomoly. the weather pattern is going to flatten itself out. by that we'll see the warmer air being pushed to the south. the cool conditions will mild up on the coast. yesterday it was cool. 60s, 74 in la. we don't have stormy weather out there. only one upper level low spinning up here in areas of eastern washington state. we're dry everywhere else. the jet stream has this big buckle in it. that is going to bring us to a more typical june weather pattern. getting warmer in phoenix and la 71 near the coast for you. temperatures are a little bit

below average in the northwest. arizona 81 and ew gene 69. slow improvement in the west. >> better than what we did. >> thank you so much. coming up big ben bumps up the street. a big when for nbc and a woman whose facebook friends are more than ever. >> prizes are in store later this morning as "today" says farewell to meredith. >> game four comes down to the final shot. 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. arizona's mammoth wildfire has chased thousands from their homes, burned ten structures and 486 square miles. no one has injured by the blaze, which was captured by a massive satellite along with another major fire burning in the state. loud explosions have been rocking tripoli amid a sudden spike in nato air strikes. parts of libyan ruler moammar gadhafi's compound have been flattened. despite the assault, he is vowing to fight to the end. mother nature put on a show in canada yesterday. lightning lit up the skies of toronto striking the city's sea end tower. the bolts were created by storms rolling through ontario. and one missouri ice cream shop is getting bugged for

serving an untraditional flavor. health officials have told it to sop serving secada flavored ice cream. that's right, secada. the first batch of the cold treat was sold out within hours. >> and now here's an early look at one of your health headlines. the government reports largely due to salmonella, more victims fell to food poisoning last year. salmonella cases haven't dropped in 15 years and they've risen over the last few years by 10%. 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 12,070 after losing 19 points yesterday. the s&p dipped 1 point. the nasdaq shed 1.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei inched up 6 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 207. worries about the struggling economy dragged the blue chips into the red for a fifth straight day yesterday. stocks gave up early gains after fed chair ben bernanke blamed high gas prices and japan's disasters for what he called a frustratingly slow pace of economic growth. predicting the rate will pick up in the months to come, bernanke offered no new stimulus measures, which came as a disappointment to some. adding to those woes, the labor department report businesses posted about 100,000 fewer jobs in april than they did in march. after the bell, home builder hovnanian reported quarterly losses that dragged its shares lower. in deal news, international paper's hostile takeover bid for rival temple-inland drove that company 40% higher and raised speculation that rival

warehouses would make a play for international paper. nbc won a bidding war for the rights to broadcast the olympic games through 2020. comcast, the parent company of this network, plans to spread the olympic coverage across its cable and digital outlets. nintendo unveiled its new gaming season in l.a. featured hd graphics and a six inch monitor built into the handheld controller. check your facebook settings. the site has enabled its new recognition technology which allows you to tag photos of your friends. it will be difficult for one woman to unfriend anyone on facebook after she had all 152 of them tattooed on her arm. pretty good tattoos, too. the red sox and yankees

square off, tiger dropped out and the nhl throws the book at a cheap shotter. plus, dirk and the mavs end up their final matchup with the heat. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. our impressive early season heat wave is spreading into the mid-atlantic and the northeast. it's your turn. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, dallas maverick dirk nowitzki fought off both the miami heat and illness last night the even up the nba finals. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. despite a temperature of 102, dirk nowitzki once again led the mavs to another comeback win in the nba finals. game four in dallas. lebron james to dwyane wade, alley-oop. wade had 32. miami up by as much as 7 in the fourth. the mavs dug deep and found a way to win. dirk found the energy to put the mavs up three with 14 seconds left. heat had a final shot. wade mishandled the ball, somehow got it to mike miller who hoisted a three, air ball. mavs came back and evened the series with an 86-83 win. the puck drops for tonight's game for the stanley cup finals,

aaron rome will be on the sidelines. he's suspended for the rest of the series for blind siding horton. horton will miss the rest of the season with a concussion. for months, tiger woods said he would be ready for the u.s. open and guess what? he's not. baseball, mark teschera hit by a fastball by the red sox. he limped off the field. x-rays negative. he's got a bruised kneecap. carlos beltran with a shot to center. gomez tracked it down and made a leaping grab. thievery. unfortunately, not enough. brewers lost it, 2-1. congratulations to the national softball team. it's the sun devils' second title in four years and for

coach clint myers, you're never too old to get a pie in the face. congrats, coach. now shower off. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. the price paid for one newspaper for hacking a star's phone. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll introduce you to one little girl who proves heros come in all shapes and sizes. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this wednesday morning. a little mix of sun and clouds in a lot of other areas. still cool in san francisco a peak at tomorrow. not a lot changes. warmer though. medford 81. still la and san francisco around 70 degrees. if you are watching us in portland, oregon. see a collection of photographs, at the portland art museum. that is your pacific event of the day. >> thank you so much. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. one starlet has apparently scored hollywood's hottest new bachelor and it has his perks. "us weekly" reports through venice and the french riviera, leonardo dicaprio and blake

lively took in a trip to disneyland. following her mtv movie awards appearance. once source told the magazine, quote, i've never seen him like this with a girl. >> sienna miller has settled phone hacking claims against news of the world, an english tabloid run by rupert murdock's news corporation for over $160,000. miller accepted damages. her legal costs and an unconditional admission of liability by the paper. finally, meredith vieira's nearly five years as coanchor of "today" comes to an end as she leaves the show to spend more time with her family. a very special sendoff is planned for this morning. one you're not going to want to miss. it's all coming up right here on this nbc station. they have some surprises in store. >> we already got a little inside info. we can't give anything away.

>> she will be missed. this comes to us from jacksonville, florida, the home of a very different kind of hero, on of the cover of a cereal box. haley received and recently won a two-year battle with bone cancer to commemorate her big victory, she's been given access to a very exclusive club. the 10-year-old's picture and story will be placed on boxes of cereal and breakfast treats. haley appreciates the honor, but she's even happier than her story will give other cancer patients something to believe in. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

one newborn hippo may be little, but he's quite important. once of less than 3,000 pigmy hippos known to exist today, this little guy is a sign of hope for his species. not only are they endangered, but males are even more endangered in captivity. zookeepers hope to raise the awareness with his presence. new technologies including touch screen consoles, internal cameras on video game systems and video call capabilities impressed the crowd yesterday. the week-long expo proves the standard joy stick is long gone. being stuck in traffic may

not be so bad. if you come across this intersection in the philippines, ramiro is delighting drivers and pedestrians with his one of a kind moves. the 53-year-old dancing traffic cop says he never let's the responsibilities of his day job suffer and some of his colleagues have even begun to imitate his style. you often are the singing weather guy, so you can become the dancing weather guy, as well. >> only wearing key lime. >> i think it would. do you think a key lime suit would do me well? >> i think it would. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. a detention hearing will take place for two iraq citizens arrested in kentucky last month charged with trying to provide cash and weapons to al qaeda militants in their home country. the two, who have pleaded not guilty could face life in prison if convicted.

on this day in 1906, president thee row door roosevelt signed the antiquities act into law giving himself and future presidents the right to landmark historic structures. 800,000 acres of the grand canyon have been preserved thanks to that act. and happy birthday to barbara bush today. 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. the latest on the twitter scandal surrounding congressman anthony weiner as calls for his resignation mount. and the latest details in the casey anthony case after witnesses contradict each other on the stand. 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 --