this morning on "early today," mass exodus. a setback for republican presidential candidate newt gingerich as several of his top aides quit. staying put, embattled congressman anthony weiner refuses to resign. and birds of prey. residents of a los angeles neighborhood come under attack in a scene reminiscent of a hitchcock film. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across

the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the bumpy road to 2012. gop presidential hopeful newt gingerich says he is still in the race for the white house, despite yesterday's unprecedented mass exodus of several key members of his campaign staff. brian moore joins us from washington with more on that as well as the latest details on the road to 2012. good morning. >> good morning. newt gingerich's campaign manager and several other top aides have jumped the bandwagon gingerich says he's very much still in the campaign. that is the eve of a big debate that will be attended by non other by mitt romney. that's a clear sign that he wants to side step the social issues and focus on the economy. sarah palin is about to have to face 24,000 pages of e-mails

that are being released by the state of alaska. this is in response to media request made during the 2008 presidential campaign. >> brian, thank you. elsewhere, in a courtroom in orlando yesterday, there was high drama as jurors got their first look at the graphic crime scene photos in the trial of casey anthony, a woman accused of murdering her young daughter. jay gray has details. >> reporter: day 14 was an emotional one in the trial of casey anthony. >> the next witness that will testify will testify concerning certain crime scene photographs. jurors were stunned. anthony appeared to cry and turned away from a courtroom monitor as graphic photos of her 2-year-old's skull were entered as evidence. >> this is a close-up photograph

of the duct tape that was on the front of the skull. in the photograph, you can also see the clothing remnants. >> before seeing the pictures, jurors listened to a 911 call from the day the remains were found blocks from the anthony home. >> i found a human skull. >> oh my gosh. >> testimony began thursday with anthony's brother back on the stand. did your sister describe to you how she was held down? >> lee outlined a story casey told him about zanny. >> in zanny's opinion, casey hasn't been a good mother to caylee and she was taking her from her to teach her and lesson and told her not to go to the

police or anything like that. >> both the prosecution and defense have acknowledged there was no nanny. >> reporter: court ended abruptly thursday. judge belvin perry indicating he adjourned the proceedings early because casey anthony had become, quote, ill. jay gray, nbc news. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. aerial assaults on unsuspecting residents in los angeles turned one street into a yet. the fowl looked more like jets swooping down on people if they walked anywhere close to a nearby nest. no bird-related injuries have been reported. the nation's heat wave baked a stretch of michigan highway into total submission. the road buckled after fail to go with stand the 116 degree temperature on its surface. the road condition did not cause any significant accidents or delays.

>> the heat wave lead to pampering to one of circus's biggest performers. hole company donated iced cold treats to help show's elephants cope with the heat. florida teen pulled off a record-breaking juggling act. the 11th grader set a new world record by juggling ten balls, catching them 26 times, three more times than the previous record holder. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> i was more in pressed that he was able to do that in doors.

>> probably the end of the heat wave for the end of the country. in the west, still on the cooler side. the bigger weather story has been a hurricane off the pacific. it is going to stay off not going to affect anyone. at far as the pacific season. category four hurricane adriane. this is going to weaken here and go into cooler water. as far as the weather goes, not much happening. huge area of high pressure out in the pacific. going to drift away. still watching for on-shore flow. still watching the june gloom, areas inland, nice conditions. temperatures close to average in the northwest we may warm it up a bit. especially in oregon as we go through the weekend. shower or two in the mountains and a quiet weather pattern. that is why temperatures in arizona will begin to rise. 101 in phoenix, 98 in vegas.

along the coast it looks cool and it will be. but once you go inland to the valley, it will be fine. getting warmer near 70 warmer t seerly summer type day. weekend forecast coming right up. >> bill, thanks so much. also coming up, stocks finally rise. hillary is staying put and an honesty test most people would not pass. your early morning business headlines are still ahead. plus, will a sci-fi tale from two powerhouse producers fly or fizzle this weekend at the box office? coming up, the twins are on a role, philadelphia is the new windy city and the mavericks heat the heat with their best shot.

you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. despite calls for congressman anthony weiner to resign over lewd photos he sent to women, he tells the new york post he's not quitting. meanwhile, a new york poll finds 56% of the voters in his district think he should stay in office. in a deal with the justice department, an ex national security agency official facing ten felony counts that could have sent him to prison for the rest of his life will plead guilty to one lesser charge and in return serve no jail time. he was suspected of supplying information to a reporter who wrote a series of articles on the secret agency of the "baltimore sun." alabama's governor has signed what's being called the most restrictive immigration law in the u.s. it requires schools to find out if students are there lawfully

and makes it a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride. authorities say a 386,000 acre wildfire in arizona is just 5% contained. so far, it's destroyed 22 homes. and an aide tells the arizona rep that five months after being shot, it's unclear if congresswoman gabrielle giffords will return to work. she has limited speaking ability and relies on hand gestures and facial expressions to communicate. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow climbed 75 points yesterday. the s&p rose 9 points. the nasdaq added 9. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 47 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng lost 189. it didn't take much to break stocks out of a week-long stump yesterday. news that u.s. exports rose to a record level in april eased some

concerns about a stalled economic recovery while a lack of any big surprises from the latest jobless claims helped stocks hold on to most of the day's gains. a spike in oil prices helped lift energy stocks as crude climbed above $110 a barrel. for now, though, pump prices are down to an average $3.70 a gallon, nearly 22 cents cheaper than last month. texas instruments ticked higher, despite the tech company trimming its earnings and revenue forecast. citi group is replacing credit cards for about 100,000 north american customers after revealing some 200,000 of its online banking accounts had been hacked. aides for secretary of state hillary clinton says she is not pursuing a position as the next world bank president, angrily refuting reuters report she's in negotiations to leave the obama administration. payments tied to the federal

foreclosure prevention program have been suspended for wells fargo, bank of america and jp morgan chase after the banks failed to meet basic program requirements. in a rare reversal, apple has scaled back its demands that publishers sell subscriptions through its apple itunes store. finally, one customer got a big surprise when he found a bag of $17,000 next to an atm. turns out an armored truck service left the cash and an honest man returned every cent. kent clobbers another, the phillies flop unflubed and the sox sink the yankees. plus, the mavs go from downtown to beat the heat and grab the lead in the nba finals. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. speaking of the heat, it continues into the upcoming weekend along with some severe thunderstorms. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sport, throughout the nba finals, the dallas mavericks have had to show they can come back. now it's the miami heat's turn. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. dirk nowitzki has been the story

this postseason, but trailing to the heat in the fourth quarter. the mavs turn to their supporting cast. dwyane wade led the heat, knocked down the three and miami had the lead. mavs would tie and dirk would put them on top with a quick move to the basket. he had 29. then dallas turned to their sharpshooters jason kidberry to three with moments to play. the mavs pulled away to win 112-103, dallas a win away from their first nba championship. game six is sunday. in the nhl, the stanley cup finals are tonight. on nbc. alexa casia, twins beat the rangers 5-4. red sox and yankees delayed because of rain. boston rained runs down two scored seven in the seventh. red sox flip the yanks in new york.

phils and cubs delayed but for an entire different reason -- wind. as if the night wasn't long enough, they also went into extra innings. a routine play to third. tyler colvin scored on the air and the cubs won it 4-3 in 11. from the padres/nationals game, check out the reflexes. spectacular grab on the line drive. look out there. take your time to get up, levo n. that was a scorcher. to the fence, robbed danny espinosa of a home run. padres won it, 7-3. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> hear why experts might agree which film will win at the box office this weekend, but they have no idea exactly how much it will make.

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll introduce you to a man who truly believes there's nothing he can't do. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here is a look at your forecast on this friday.

forecast in the west coast 76 in m medford. 65 in seattle. let's take you through your weekend forecast. this is where we will see warming up. 77 in medford. phoenix up to 101. 102 in phoenix, 95 in vegas. sunday's forecast look iing mil there. if you are watching us on knbc, tee the tale of a writer trying to live under the same roof? that is interesting. that is your pacific event of the day. >> don't forget the sacandlesti maker. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this weekend's box office winner will be a film that reminds us not all summer blockbusters have to be about super heroes. kids and extra terrestrials are back together in "super 8."

thanks to the paring of steven spielberg and j.j. adams, the it features no stars. most people aren't exactly sure what the film is about. that leaves experts mixed with some predicting an opening over $25 million while others look at high 50. still, almost all expect a long, successful run for "super 8." hanging tough in second will be last weekend's champ, "x-men first class" which should still take in over $20 million. and lastly, one film worth noting, "judy moody" could surprise at over $10 minute. >> i can't wait. >> i know you have been telling

me about this book series. ever. >> do you have your justin bieber shirt pressed and ready to go? >> just in tiny font. this comes to us from wgal news 8 in lincoln, pennsylvania, where one man is showing he can swim lapse around life's challenges. born without legs or arms, craig has amazed many with his accomplishments. he's a newlywed with his sights set on his greatest challenge yet, swimming a 4.4 mile race across the chesapeake bay. he trains for hours, constantly motivated to push himself past his motivations. isn't that remarkable? >> niss this is "early today." just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

if at first this seems bizarre, let it grow on you. in a move to promote vegetarianism, an actress modelled a gown made entirely of lettuce leaves. she is trying to warn others about the negative health effects of a meat-heavy diet. one clever adventurist is using modern technology to just say hi. for 63 days, he traveled over 1,500 miles by bike, kayak and foot carrying a gps device. then the locations were transmitted to google earth to spell the word "welcome" over a map of croatia.

it is meant to be a unique way to attract tourists to his home country while promoting an active lifestyle. who knows if cats have nine lives, but a feline in england has more than one. this little guy is recovering after being shot in the head with a 12 inch cross bow. his owners rushed him to the hospital. after four hours of surgery, besides a scar, he doesn't seem any worse for the wear. his name, ironically, is spike. his owners are upset because they think it could be a jokester or something like that. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. the miracle on the hudson plane is expected to wrap up its week long road trip to south carolina. it's headed to an air museum there to be resembled as a complete exhibit.

nasa will launch a satellite from california's vandenburg air force base to observe levels of salt on the earth's ocean. and sasha obama, the president's youngest daughter, celebrates her tenth birthday. all day long, you can say 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. find out what's next for newt gingerich after friction on the campaign trail leaves the gop contender's top aides to call it quits. and the irish singing trio the script performs live on the plaza for the summer concert series. 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