this morning on "early today," who's on the line? a cell phone found in the osama bin laden raid provides clues to possible pakistani links. fearing the worst. north dakota residents on the run as they're chased by rising floodwaters. and fight in aisle three. what one minnesota store clerk used to defend himself from a what one minnesota store clerk used to defend himself from a robber. 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 critical clues.

the "new york times" is reporting a cell phone seized in the raid that killed osama bin laden contained contacts to a militant group that has ties to pakistan's militant intelligence agency. the phone belonged to one of bin laden's trusted couriers who was also killed in the raid. according to the "times" the discovery was that bin laden used the group as a network inside pakistan. it raises questions about whether the military organization supported him on behalf of pakistan's spy agency. but officials tell "the times "there was no smoking gun showing that the agency had protected bin laden. it is a race against time for the community of minotte, north dakota. calls for new evacuations has thousands fleeing to higher ground as a giant surge of water heads their way. reporting from minot, is kevin tibbles. >> reporter: national guard

troops racing against the clock and the relentless surge of the souris river. already many homes have succumbed, and predictions of even higher levels, nine feet higher when water is released from nearby dams. >> there is a pending sense of doom out there, and the outlook isn't good. >> reporter: with some 12,000 minot residents now uprooted, many cram into red cross shelters. >> last time it was let's pray that the levees hold. this time it's -- it doesn't matter if they hold. they're going to go over. it's going to go over it. >> reporter: michelle has five children. the youngest is 4 months. >> it just makes me want to cry. i don't want to be here that long. my place is going to go under water. >> reporter: the last big flood here was 1969 but the current all-time record was set back in 1881. this flood is projected to dwarf even that. barriers protecting vital infrastructure are now being reinforced, like this bridge. if it goes, minot would be

literally cut in half. covering the story for weeks now is tom ross of nbc affiliate kmot. he doesn't just work here. he and his family have lived here for generations. >> being a member of this community, it's tough. it's tough to keep that emotion out of it. >> reporter: what's equally tough is knowing nothing can be done to hold the water back. >> that was nbc's kevin tibls reporting. to washington now where it appears there's been a collapse in bipartisan budget negotiations after a sudden walkout by republicans. for seven weeks vice president joe biden and a handful of lawmakers have been working on a deal that would allow congress to raise the debt limit. but republican congressman eric cantor led the pull-out yesterday because of an impasse over tax increases, which democrats want. now republicans are demanding to speak to the president directly about the issue. he's the accused mob boss who managed to elude the fbi for

16 years. that is until his arrest wednesday. now one of the agency's most wanted criminals has been ordered held without bond and will be transferred to boston to face murder charges. james whitey bulger appeared in court yesterday along with his longtime girlfriend following their capture in california. officials say he was found with $800,000 cash in his apartment along with more than 30 firearms. bulger is accused of 19 murders, along with other charges, including drug dealing and extortion. now here's a look at other stories making news today in america. a shelf full of canned goods came in handy for one minnesota store clerk during a robbery. the man, a former i'll jeerian government bodyguard, was able to fight off a gun-toting suspect by hitting him over the head with a can of tuna. the armed robber retreated, leaving the store after being hit several times. a violent crash on a houston

highway tore a bus literally in half, killing the driver. according to police, the bus driver lost control and slammed into a cement pillar. no passengers were on board at the time of the accident, and transportation officials are still investigating. a rescue operation inside a milwaukee street drain led to a reunion between a mama duck and her ducklings. a public works crew executed the sewer rescue saving all the ducks by using a nearby fire hydrant to flush them out. finally, downtown pittsburgh was taken over by a band of furry suit-wearing revelers. attendees affectionately called the furries have arrived in the steel city for an annual event that kicked off on thursday with thousands expected to attend. bill karins has your weather forecast. >> when are you going to arrive

for the family reunion in pittsburgh. >> oh, bill, good one, good one. >> it's all right. it wasn't the best. good morning, everyone. thunderstorms not many of them in the middle of the country. we're drying it out there. much of the west is completely dry. the temperatures are soaring once again. the heat that was confined to the desert southwest has now escaped into mexico. look at albuquerque with 99 yesterday. areas near oklahoma city were near 100. the heat kind of got knocked down a bit. not quite as hot as the front went through areas like boise yesterday in the 80s. this morning still 90 at this hour where it's 64 in l.a. it's been a very cool spring and very cool start to your summer along the california coast. that's not going to change, not with this weather pattern. the winds are still coming from the marine influence. these areas a weak frontal boundary. the only sprinkles we have anywhere in the west is up there in the pacific northwest. seattle, you're not going to get

a lot of wet weather out of this today. maybe just a sprinkle or two. 75 in medford. boise 76. still hot in the desert southwest. not many changes for the weekend forecast either, lynn. pretty warm. coming up, how the dow clawed back from triple digit losses. not so fast. the winklevos twirns already back in court. plus lightning mcqueen get revved up for their return to the big screen. coming up, draft night in the nba. the flyers trade away two of their stars. how do the washington nationals

win and lose in the same day?

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. still no decision from the new york state senate on whether it will take up a historic gay marriage bill. meanwhile, at a new york city fund-raiser last night, president obama said he believes gay couples deserve the same legal rights as other couples but stopped short of endorsing gay marriage. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan, general david petraeus, told lawmakers thursday that president obama's troop reduction plan is more aggressive than what he had recommended. petraeus, however, said the military would do everything humanly possible to execute the plan. two men have been arrested and charged with plotting to attack u.s. service members at a seattle recruiting station. the suspects were picked up during a weapons sting. the fbi says they were, in part, inspired by the 2009 fort hood

massacre. computer hackers who previously broke into a u.s. senate server and brought down the cia website struck an arizona police website thursday. lowell security released documents over the internet including names, phone numbers, and personal e-mail all to protest arizona's tough anti-immigration law. and treasure divers searching for a 17th century sunken spanish ship off the florida keys have made an incredible find. a 10 karat emerald ring estimated to be worth around $500,000. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,050 after falling 59 points yesterday. the s&p dipped three points. the nasdaq gained 17. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei dropped 81 points, but in hong kong the hang seng climbed 412. the dow did finish in

negative territory, but things could have been much worse. with the index down 240 at one point. rescue came from reports that greece forged a deal with the eu and imf on a $40 billion austerity plan. the agreement aimed at helping athens avoid debt default, came after greece committed to more tax increases and spending cuts. the news buoyed the dow, but wasn't enough to totally erase losses driven in part by a drop in oil prices. oil stocks slipped after the international energy agency said 60 million barrels of oil will be released from reserves. half of it will come from the u.s. the goal is to make up for the loss of libyan exports. a stock to watch today? h & r block. after the bell it reported that its q4 profit fell 5%, missing expectations. also coming in below forecast, micron. revenue fell 7% with the memory

chipmaker warning of a softening in desktop and netbook sales because of the tablet. also disappointing tech news from oracle. net income was up 36%. revenue 13%. while that beat expectations, analysts were worried about oracle's hardware sales sparking concerns about a sharper than expected slowdown in tech spending. yesterday we told you that the winklevoss twins are not taking their feud with facebook founder mark zuckerberg to the supreme court. it turns out the battle is not over. the twins are now pushing ahead with a new filing in massachusetts. they claim evidence was withheld during the $65 million settlement they reached in 2008 over whether zuckerberg stole their idea for facebook. never ends. well, an abrupt resignation from one of the hottest teams in baseball. plus the cavs tap duke for the top nba draft pick. your early morning sports

headlines are straight ahead. the forecast for our first summer weekend is going to feature heavy rain and thunderstorms through much of the middle of the country. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sport, the cleveland cavaliers got first crack at the

nba draft last night. in an attempt to rebuild the team that has crumbled into ruin. here's nbc's fred rogan. he has an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the last time the cleveland cavaliers had the first overall draft pick, they selected lebron james. we know how that turned out. they are hoping this year's pick doesn't leave them high and dry. >> with the first pick in the 2011 nba draft, the cleveland cavaliers select kyrie irving from duke university. >> irving was sidelined last season with a foot injury, but that didn't stop the cavs from making him the first overall pick. with irving off the board, the timberwolves selected derek williams as number two. he's a big body down low. he can also knock down threes. some other notables. kemba walker will go to charlotte. and burnett was picked by the bucks, then traded to the kings.

wheeling and dealing in the nhl. flyers made a huge trade. half an hour later they said captain mike richards of the l.a. kicks for a couple of players and a draft pick. the move cleared cap space to sign goalie ilya brizgalov to a nine-year, $51 million deal. tim lincecum got out of his slump. kept the twins guessing all game. struck out 12 in seven innings of work. giants won it 2-1. strange day for the washington nationals. after the walkoff, the manager literally walked off. jim riggleman unexpectedly resigned. he wanted to discuss a contract extension with the club. the team didn't want to listen. nationals lost their manager but won the game. i'm fred roggin. >> early today sports is brought to you by lectric shave.

bieber fever causes a big scare in the big apple. never too late for love.

good friday morning. welcome back to "early today." take you through friday, saturday and sunday. just about everyone will be dry. maybe a sprinkle in seattle.

the heat continues in the desert southwest and interior sections of california. the coast will be cooler, of course. even this saturday, not a lot changes. vegas temperature drops a couple of degrees. salt lake city beautiful. boise sunny and nice. even into sunday. beautiful conditions. portland to medford. maybe don't want to go swimming quite yet, but at least it's sunny and dry. if you're watching us on kmtr, eugene, oregon, study african disguises, then create your own with face to face with masks. at the museum of natural and cultural history. that's your pacific event of the day. >> interesting. here's an early look at the headlines in entertainment. the talking cars are back and they're bad, apparently. a string of weak reviews call "cars 2" uninspired. it won't stop it from crossing the finish line with about $60 million. cameron diaz shows her dark side in the comedy "bad teacher"

with justin timberlake, her ex. it should debut in the mid-20 millions. a judge ruled lindsay lohan did not violate her probation by testing positive for alcohol but warned the troubled star should not have any more parties while under house arrest. that's always a good rule. the end of a legal battle between anna nicole smith and the estate of her former husband j. howard marshall. the state supreme court ruled that none of her heirs are entitled to the $1.6 billion fortune. quite a scare for justin bieber. >> he's okay? >> yeah. don't worry. let me get to the story. in new york to promote his new perfume, a cop mistook a fan for an attacker and there was a scuffle. >> imagine if that face or hair got hurt. >> what you would do with your

bromance that's going on. >> i have his perfume. >> it is for ladies, you know? >> oh, it is for ladies. >>'s. didn't get the memo. this from news in rochester, new york, there's to age limit when it comes to finding your soulmate. it took him nearly a century but the 99-year-old is a married man for the first time. they immediately clicked at their nursing home. the couple became an item, but they were banned from sharing a room until they made it official. the newlyweds are now living together and proving it is never too late to find love. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

talk about a loud wake-up call. in venezuela decorated dancers flooded the streets in one town moving to the beat of african style drumming. the sounds are meant to wake up the residents to join in on a dancing devil festival. the tradition which dates back to the colonial days has participants in elaborate costumes showing off some devilish moves. a little technology will go a long way. archaeologists in mexico have gotten a peek into an ancient mayan tomb inaccessible for 1500 years, with the help of a microscopic camera. it's believed to be the burial chamber of a mayan nobleman.

they're able to see red paint and drawings intact on the walls. forget sticky fingers. one bird in canada has a sticky beak. this pesky crow has been causing some trouble on a golf course stealing items from golfers' carts. chocolate bars, chips and sandwiches have all gone missing. he's just hungry, bill. a few hundred dollars worth of treats have been swiped so far, making him not the kind of birdie golfers usually want. a couple hundred dollars worth of chips? i mean, come on. >> chips are expensive on the golf course. >> i guess so. >> the cart girl comes around. >> i guess it's, like, $15 per chip. >> as long as the bird's not stealing beers, we're all right. >> exactly. he's full. time for an early look at the stories we'll follow today. the house is expected to vote on a resolution that would limit the u.s. military's role in libya. the resolution aims to cut off funding for operations against

moammar gadhafi's forces except for tasks in support of nato allies. president obama will visit carnegie mellon university as part of his initiative to increase u.s. competitiveness. churchill downs racetrack, famous for hosting the kentucky derby, is set to reopen tonight after a tornado damaged barns and stables on wednesday. all day long you can stay top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. chris christie talks about landmark pension reform and whether he's changed his mind about running for president. and grammy winner bruno mars rocks the plaza in the "today" 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. just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com