this morning on "early today," snowball effect. top democrats urge embattled congressman anthony weiner to resign, as yet more bizarre photos emerge. fiasco in france. a horrifying crash at the famous le mans endurance race. and don't mess with texas. the dallas mavericks best the miami heat to win their first the dallas mavericks best the miami heat to win their first nba championship. 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. and today we begin with leave of absence. congressman anthony weiner is still refusing to follow calls to resign over lewd photos. but suddenly, he is requesting a temporary break from his job. he's getting professional treatment. this, as still more photos surface of the embattled new york democrat. nbc's brian moore reports. >> reporter: outside the new york office of embattled congressman anthony weiner a small but vocal group demanded he resign over a growing internet sex scandal. >> in order to be an effective leader, you have to be respected. >> reporter: hours earlier, tmz.com released a new batch of suggestive photos. apparently self-portraits taken in a congressman gym. now, the congressman is being forced to explain his online communication with a 17-year-old girl. >> it's nothing explicit, nothing indecent. >> reporter: though he's taking a leave of absence to deal with his problems, top democrats have heard enough.

>> we have made clear that he needs to resign. >> i don't see how he can proceed and effectively represent his constituency. >> reporter: at home in new york, some are standing by their congressman. >> if he were to lose his job, it should be our decision of the people, his constituents, and it should be over issues, not over his personal life. >> reporter: the congressman's pregnant wife has left new york but still is in the spotlight. in the middle east, traveling with her boss, secretary of state hillary clinton. brian moore, nbc news, washington. for months now, we've been hearing about the miraculous progress being made by wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords. but this morning, we're getting to see it. giffords, shot in the head in january, has released her first photos since the assassination attempt. and there's more encouraging news on her recovery. nbc's frances coe reports. >> reporter: the first photos of gabrielle giffords released on her official facebook page. in one, she's shown smiling, her hair shorter and darker than before. in the other picture, the

representative is seen with her mother by her side. these are the first clear images of the congresswoman since the january shooting in tucson, arizona, that injured her and 12 others and killed 6. in the months since she suffered a gunshot wound to the head, giffords has been going through rehabilitation at a houston hospital. before these photos, the most recent sighting of giffords was in april, when she left briefly to travel to kennedy space center to see her husband, astronaut mark kelly. >> and liftoff. >> reporter: fly into space on shuttle "endeavour's" last mission. giffords' aides say now that she may be able to leave the hospital again at the end of the month. >> we really had a wonderful conversation. she spoke to me in full sentences, initiated those sentences, instead of just responding. which is what she's really only been able to do recently. she's making remarkable progress. >> reporter: she could be released to an outpatient rehab program that will include continuing speech, occupational and physical therapy.

>> she's working so hard. she's got a long way to go. but you can just see how beautiful she is, and we are longing and looking forward to her coming home. >> reporter: another step on one remarkable road to recovery. frances coe, nbc news. elsewhere this morning, a funny thing happened on the miami heat's march to the nba championship, the dallas mavericks. nbc's mario solis brings us the upset title victory. >> good morning, it was their first nba finals as the big three but lebron james, dwyane wade and chris bosh didn't see it ending like this. the dallas mavericks have won the nba championship and it was a total team effort. despite a poor shooting night from their star dirk nowitzki, jason terry and company picked up slack, grabbing a big lead in the third quarter and held on to win game six, 105-95. it's the mavericks' first nba title in franchise history. we'll have much more from the finals plus postgame reaction coming up in sports.

>> now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. a severe storm rolls through south florida pounding the area with quarter-sized hail. along with dumping damaging hail, the storm also produced 60-mile-per-hour winds that aided in the destruction of several pool enclosures and patios. luckily, no injuries have been reported. nearly 100 firefighters battled a massive fire late saturday night in los angeles. the fire began in a parts depot and quickly spread to an adjacent junkyard. it took over an hour to bring the inferno under control and eventually put it out. an investigation has now been launched. and finally to georgia, where one man is using his herd of sheep to turn the backyards of suburban atlanta into a cash cow. brian is the only sheep herder in the big city. residents wanting to avoid pesticides and poisonous sprays have rented his herd to clear their yards of poison ivy or other unwanted plant life.

so far business is booming with many taking advantage of the environmentally friendly yard crew that has no problem working through lunch. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> he didn't look stressed there. we'll start our own sheep business. >> plan "b." >> good morning. hope you had a wonderful weekend. the weather has been okay, hasn't been great, hasn't been bad. i mean, we watched another little weak system coming through the west as we went through yesterday and into this morning. then kicking up into idaho with some showers. nothing spectacular to talk about. we're in one of those june weather patterns where there's no big storms any more like we had a week or two ago. now tranquil. low clouds each morning. we're starting to heat it up in the deserts. but the northern rockies, you're still waiting for that summer

weather pattern to develop. hopefully it will. a weak front is washing out as it tries to move on shore. that's not strong as it tracks to british columbia. the roads may be a little wet around interstate 84 including boyz with overnight showers. some of those are heading to twin falls. temperatures are cool. we're in the low 50s. clouds today. only 63 for you in seattle. even l.a. today only 74. that's a look at your monday forecast. steamy. there 101. nothing spectacular today and tomorrow kind of a repeat. >> thanks. coming up, what to look for this weekend on wall street. europe looks to stave off a

greek default and bill gates makes gossip news? plus the reason why so many people in hollywood are happy this film did well this weekend.

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. "the new york times" reports the fbi is giving significant new search powers to its agents. they'll be given more leeway to search databases, go through household trash, and use surveillance teams to scrutinize targets. even in investigations without firm evidence for suspecting criminal or terrorist activity. "the new york times" is also reporting the u.s. navy recently forced a north korean ship suspected of carrying missile technology to myanmar to return home. it happened two weeks ago, resulting in a standoff at sea for several days. following diplomatic pressure

from washington and asian nations, the ship turned around. although arizona's massive wildfire is only 6% contained, it has burned 700 square miles, fire crews now say they're finally turning the corner in their fight with the inferno. christchurch, new zealand, has been rocked by another wave of earthquakes, including a 6.0. two people were safely pulled from the rubble of one building. this comes almost four months after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed 181 people. and this weekend there was a horrific crash at france's famed 24-hour le mans race. remarkably, the english driver involved walked away. unharmed. nearby photographers hit by debris suffered just minor injured. hard to believe looking there. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,951, after dropping 172 points on friday.

the s&p slid 18 points. the nasdaq lost 41. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 66 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng added 87. this week investors will be looking for firm signs of what direction wall street and the economy is headed. since the end of april, the s&p 500 has tumbled nearly 7%, following one piece of gloomy news after another. setting off a debate over whether the economy is headed for a double-dip or merely a glitch in the recovery. this week's data, including producer prices, consumer prices and lead can economic indicators, are mostly expected to show further gloom. another reason for possible volatility at the end of the week, quadruple witching. when four various types of stock options for june all expire. overseas traders will eye greece's continuing debt crisis. friday, germany demanded private investors contribute to a second

greek bailout. but rating agencies warned any type of restructuring would likely be considered a default. watch allied world assurance today, which agreed to buy transatlantic holdings for $3.2 billion in stock. shares of toyota slid today, after the company forecast a larger than expected fall in operating profit. toyota's numbers would put it behind gm and possibly volkswagen in its year's global sales rankings. a stake at new york's smith and molinski starts at about $37 but this year with warren buffett for charity goes for 2.63 million. and finally, did bill gates just slip into an interview with england's daily mail by calling mark zuckerberg's girlfriend his fiancee? well, facebook is denying any zuckerberg engagement, calling gates' comment a misunderstanding.

but coming up, more on dallas taking down miami's millionaires. dirk and the mavericks bringing the nba crown back to the lone star state. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather we're starting off the work week just like last week. hot conditions in the south and storms in the north.

good morning, if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, as we reported earlier, the mavericks upset the miami heat in the nba finals, bringing dallas and dotcom billionaire owner mark cuban a long-awaited championship. once again here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> hi there. good morning. the miami heat may have the three best players in the world, but the dallas mavericks have the nba title. to miami where game six was a must-win for the heat. tension high, and it boils over in the second quarter. after an eddie house three, udonis haslem and deshawn stevenson exchanged words at center court. that turns into pushing and shoving as more players get involved. no punches thrown as cooler heads prevail. despite dirk nowitzki shooting just 1 for 12 in the first half the mavericks had a two-point lead at the break thanks to jason terry scoring 21 of his 27 in the half. the supporting cast keeps it

going in the third. jason kidd, the 17-year vet who had never won a title knocks down the three pointer. dallas builds a 13-point lead. he snaps out of his funk. dirk finds his touch, hits a couple jumpers to keep miami at bay. mavericks capture the first nba championship with a 105-95 win. dirk is the mvp while the big three will have to wait another year for a shot at the title. >> it feels amazing now to know that nobody can ever take this away from us again. and for one year we're the best team that was out there. it feels amazing. >> does it bother you that so many people are happy to see you fail? >> absolutely not. because at the end of the day, all the people that was rooting on me to fail, you know, they got to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. you know, they got the same personal problems that they had today. you know, and i'm going to

continue to live the way i want to live and continue to do the things that i want to do and me and my family will be happy with that. >> and that's your look at sports on "early today," i'm mario solis. >> "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men mustache and beard. keep your edge. a clip by tv writers sweeps the awards on broadway's biggest night. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus when these little furry ones get themselves stuck somewhere, normally the go-to guys are firemen. but if they can't come, who's next? we'll tell you. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. in the valleys of california, sunglasses will be need. that's where the best weather will be found. along the coast of california, clouds to start your day. 71, not bad in san francisco this afternoon. showery weather in seattle and portland. a weak front is trying to move through there. as we go into tuesday, just about everyone is dry. we really begin to crank the heat for the first time in a while in the desert southwest. everyone over 100. sacramento, california, hear stories of the caultural adaptation and triumph of the indians. bill, thanks so much. here san early look at this morning's headlines and entertainment.

at the box office, it wasn't a sequel or remake and didn't have any big name actors but that didn't stop "super 8" from finishing atop the movie heat. it easily claimed the number one spot after selling about $38 million worth of tickets. despite concerns its marketing campaign was too vague about what the movie was about. >> what is it about? >> i'm still not sure. "super 8" is the first original live action nonsequel to finish first in almost three months. we'll find that out for you, bill. last night at broadway's tony award, "the book of mormon" a spoof from the creator of tv's "south park" dominated the show winning best musical, original score, best book, best direction and best actress in a musical. i still need to figure out what that's about as well. >> where's that playing? >> exactly. you never made it to broadway. all the years he's been in new york, never made it to broadway. i think you may be the only person. >> broadway, yankee games.

always a tough choice for me. >> the championship, the tonys, which one you choose. and this comes from us from channel 2 news in dayton, ohio, where in nearby springfield a couple of plumbers use some special tools to free a pint-sized feline from a harrowing ordeal. her calls to save her kitten went unanswered until she called the local plumbing company. the rookie rescuers devised a plan after discovering the animal in a well shaft everynooet the home. using an open can of food, they lured the kitten into the basket, lifting it to safety, completing their first ever dramatic drainage rescue. first for everything. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today."

the late crocodile hunter steve irwin's legacy lives on with his wife and children. the irwins took on a frightening task of wrangling a crocodile at their zoo in australia. wife terry, daughter bindi and son robert pounced to restrain the croc who is being moved to a new and warmer enclosure. the fearless family then showed off their catch. well, thousands in hungary aren't afraid to get dirty in the name of some good fun. professional and amateur racing enthusiasts took part in the annual off-road festival. the location is key since it has the thickest mud in all of europe. that makes for a mess. and many of the cars actually fall apart.

but participants are able to put them back together within hours to get back on track there. well, getting in the record books is no small feat for one person in the philippines. a teenager was officially declared the world's shortest man by the guinness world records. measured at less than two feet tall, he was able to beat the previous record holder by about three inches. the official announcement came as he celebrated his 18th birthday. look at that little guy. his dad says that he stopped growing actually at about 1. >> at 1? his smile is great. i mean, he's completely happy. >> he's adorable. yeah. it actually was on his 18th birthday. so they had him, you know, with the cake and the balloons and everything. >> little kid, big heart, right? >> exactly. >> time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. on the 40th anniversary of the leak of the pentagon papers, the government will finally officially release the secret study of the vietnam war. in 1971, portions of the papers began appearing in "the new york times."

now the entire report will be unveiled with only 11 words remaining secret. the u.s. open swings into gear in maryland. the tournament is the second of golf's four majors. it will feature 156 golfers although tiger woods will not be one of them due to an injury. and happy birthday to both mary-kate and ashley olsen. the twin actresses turn 25 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 is a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. the very latest on the scandal surrounding congressman anthony weiner, as more photos emerge. and the 10-year-old girl who wowed audiences last summer on "america's got talent" performs live in studio. and 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.