this morning on "early today," political star power. president obama pulls out his ace as he ramps up his re-election bid. tragedy in the bronx. seven people are killed when an out-of-control van careens off a new york city highway. and a great leap forward. a spectacular nighttime launch marks another space a spectacular nighttime launch marks another space accomplishment by china. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and a very good morning to you. welcome to our viewerses across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with a campaign contribution. president obama has called on

former president bill clinton to help him with fund-raising and his re-election effort against republican challenger mitt romney. nbc's tracie potts joins us now from washington with details. tracie, good morning to you. >> veronica, good morning to you. they were campaigning together last night in northern virginia at a private fund-raiser. and that's pretty important because the president carried virginia last time around. this time it could be tougher though for democrats. he's also featured president clinton in a new ad talking about the death of osama bin laden. in it former president clinton said mr. obama took the harder, more honorable path. democrats say this is fair game for the campaign because it speaks to the president's tough decisionmaking, especially after a new time article shows a lot of the president's advisers were not on board initially with that decision. republicans and advisers to mitt romney are suggesting that this is not fair game. it's politicizing what was a national unifying event. and it's a political attack.

a sign, as they say, of a desperate campaign. the two of them we will see more focusing on each other especially as this week newt gingrich drops out of the race as of wednesday. according to some reports saving the taxpayers $40,000 a day in fees for his protective service. veronica? >> tracie potts in washington. tracie, thank you. the obama administration appears to be moving quickly to settle a potential diplomatic crisis with china over a blind dissident who fled house arrest last week and is reportedly under the protection of the u.s. embassy in beijing. kurt campbell, the state department's top diplomat for east asia, appeared unannounced sunday in beijing. legal activist chen guangcheng had been under house arrest for opposing china's use-of-force sterilizations and abortions while enforcing its so-called one-child policy. both countries are said to be eager to reach agreement on chen's fate before annual high-level talks with secretary of state hillary clinton begin

on thursday. police in new york city are trying to determine what caused a tragic crash on sunday. seven people, including three children, were killed when their van plunged off an elevated parkway and landed on the grounds of the famous bronx zoo. jonathan vigliotti from nbc station wnbc 4 new york has details. >> reporter: the dense wooded area of the bronx zoo's southeast corner hides the tragic scene that first responders describe as one of the worst they have ever seen on the job. >> sometimes you come upon events that are horrific, and this was one of them. >> reporter: fdny deputy chief ronald warner says when crews finally made it through a thicket of trees, weeds, and vines, they found a van upside down completely crushed. inside, seven people, the youngest, an infant, the oldest, 84. none of them made it out of this urban jungle alive. >> they went through a triage process, and based upon the horrific injuries, there was nothing that we could do. >> reporter: police say that van was heading southbound on the bronx river parkway when it

somehow lost control, hit the median, then took a fatal plunge. >> it traveled over the railing and a distance of 75, 80 feet before it came down and hit the ground. it fell a hundred feet from the overpass. >> reporter: zoo officials say the van landed in a remote area near the zoo's spare parking area for its trams. at no point, they say, were visitors, staff, or animals in harm's way. still this chilling accident has reached everyone in this corner of the bronx among the cheerful sound of a weekend ice cream truck, you can clearly hear the gasps as passersby wonder aloud what went wrong. >> and that was wnbc's jonathan vigliotti reporting. now here's a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. in colorado, chilling video of a store clerk shot in the arm during a hold-up. somehow the victim was able to stay calm, even opening the cash register for the two robbers after being wounded. the gunman then fired even more shots, panicking customers inside. the clerk is recovering.

no arrests have been made. in southern california a wayward dolphin has become stranded in a wetlands channel. the seven-foot dolphin may have been chasing some fish from the pacific ocean when it became disoriented and started swimming in circles. experts say if it can't figure its way out soon or high tide doesn't push it back out to sea, they'll use a harness to get the job done. over the weekend in kentucky churchill downs had to suspend racing after thunderstorms brought in hail. fortunately the big race, the kentucky derby, is still a few days off. two inches of hail fell, causing power outages and damaging some cars. finally, talk about going green. a high school junior used the tabs off cans of soda to create her dress for the prom. more than 5,000 tabs were used to assemble the aluminum gown. and, no, she swears that she didn't drink all of those sodas herself. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill

karins with the weather channel forecast. 5,000 cans of soda. how long did that take her to do? >> i don't know. that was original. last year we had a story about a duct tape dress. >> this year somebody also did a doritos dress and a cardboard dress. >> cardboard, that's cheaper than most dresses. good morning. hope you had a wonderful weekend. a slug of rain has pushed into washington state in the last half hour. spane picking up rain and portions of idaho, too. this is a warm-weather system, one of the warmer ones we've seen this spring. we don't have any snow, even at the highest elevations. this is blowing through the entire state. portland is getting a break right now. as far as seattle goes, some light shower activity. keep the umbrella handy.

interstate the 0 and interstate interstate 90 and interstate 5. we'll keep showers in the forecast, still unsettled, steadier rains look like they're ending. dry and mild throughout the desert southwest. this storm will escape to your north no issue whatsoever. with t expect any rainfall this this system. without the sunshine this time of year, temperatures in the 50s and 60s. take a look at the extended forecast for the rest of the week coming up later. >> when is it going to be sunny? that's all anybody cares about? >> in the northwest? >> yeah. not for a while. >> could take a bit. >> it is may after all. the economy sputters, airfares soar and do we need

another titanic? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. and this weekend's blockbuster office news comes from overseas. an ejection, a remarkable comeback and a playoff performance fit for the record books.

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. a gun blast in eastern nigeria this morning has killed seven people. this comes one day after an attack on christians at sunday services killed at least 16 people and wounding 22. meanwhile, an attack on a church chapel in another part of the country left five dead. an amazing tale of survival. a 59-year-old hiker survived four days in the remote utah desert with a broken leg and no food or shelter. she credits both her outdoor and medical experience for her survival. she is expected to make a full recovery. residents of an apartment

building near london's olympic park say they've been told surface-to-air missiles could be placed on their rooftops during the upcoming olympic summer games. they would be the first such missiles deployed in london since the end of world war ii. and a spectacular nighttime launch in china as the country sent up a pair of navigation satellites, part of an independently built global navigation system. here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study sends a warning to overweight teens about developing diabetes and strongly urges prevention. that's because almost half of teens who have diabetes fail in their attempts to control it. the study found for those who develop diabetes, the most effective way to keep it in check is through drug treatment combined with diet and exercise. for more information on this and other health news, you can always head to the health page online at msnbc.com. and now here's an early look

at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,228 after adding 23 points friday. the s&p was up 3. the nasdaq gained 18. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei was closed today for a holiday, but in hong kong the hang seng jumped 352. well, stocks may get a bump today on speculation weaker than expected economic growth may prompt the federal reserve to act. friday's gross domestic product data show that overall government spending cuts slowed down the economy in the first quarter. still u.s. markets finished slightly higher, with the dow gaining just barely enough to return to positive territory for the month of april. hong kong shares rose today, led by chinese banks posting quarterly profit growth with the hang seng poised in april in the black after a slide of over 5% in march. elsewhere airfares are headed up this summer with domestic ticket prices about 3% higher than they were last year,

and international fares are 20% higher than two years ago. in spain, thousands protested yesterday against cuts to health and education services as the government tries to fight the debt crisis that has sent its economy back into recession. nokia, once the world's biggest seller of mobile phones, is now falling farther behind apple and samsung with its basic sales down 16% in the first quarter. and 100 years after the sinking of the titanic, there are plans to build a new 21st century version of the luxury ocean liner by 2016. one of the richest men in australia announced today he will build titanic 2 in china, but with big changes below the waterline to make it more fuel efficient and safer. well, the clippers stun the grizzlies, the coyotes elude the predators, and the flyers scorch the devils in overtime. plus, tensions rise in atlanta as a boston celtic is ejected for bumping the ref. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. you know, it looks like the

start of may's going to be just like the end of april. very stormy. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

hey, there. a very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports a record-breaking playoff performance yesterday by a los angeles laker, but

probably not the l.a. laker you're thinking. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. hi, there. good morning. the opening sunday of the nba playoffs had just about everything, an ejection, a stunning comeback, and a bit of history. to los angeles where andrew bynum hosted a block party, an nba record-tying ten blocks. and when he wasn't swatting everything in sight, he was pulling down 13 boards, rounding out the triple-double with ten points. lakers beat the nuggets in game one, 103-88. l.a.'s other team had to rally from 27 down against the grizzlies, nick young sparking the comeback with a flurry of three-pointers. final seconds, memphis down one. rudy gay for the win, but he can't get it to fall. clippers end the game on a remarkable 28-3 run and absolutely stun the grizzlies, 99-98. to atlanta, the celtics without ray allen, and they could have used him. hawks up 14 at the half and led from start to finish. frustration boiling over in the final minutes.

rajon rondo bumps the ref. that's a no-no. he's tossed. hawks win game one, 83-74. spurs quietly doing their thing against the jazz. tony parker looking more like peter parker, an acrobatic move fit for spider-man himself. spurs churn down the jazz, 106- 91. in nhl, this might be the weirdest goal of the post season. coyotes and predators. keep your eye on number 11 in white. the puck goes in the air, he catches it, throws it over the net, and right to radim vrbata. he scores to give phoenix a two-goal lead. coyotes win, 5-3. and, finally, how about some overtime redemption? devils and flyers tied at 3-3. danny briere scores what appears to be the game-winner. but take another look. the puck goes off his skate. they review it and say he kicked in the puck. that's a goal in soccer but not in hockey. ol' danny boy would have the last laugh. minutes later he unleashes just a rocket from the point. that's a goal in any sport. briere can celebrate, and so can the flyers. they win, 4-3 in o.t. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis.

did a slew of new films challenge for the top at the box office or cancel each other out? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, he's fighting for his life, but that hasn't stopped him from thinking on others. you're watching "early today."

good monday morning to you. welcome back to "early today." rain moving through washington state, northern idaho at the

current time and northern portions of oregon. it will push into montana this afternoon. dry from san francisco, sacramento, l.a., vegas, all the way into phoenix. looking at a nice forecast today. going into tuesday, we will see more scattered showers in the northwest. that's not a lot of rain, just hit and miss afternoon showers. also warm down in the desert southwest, 90s in vegas. if you're watching us on knbc, nbc 4 in los angeles, explore mid century california design through furniture, fashion, ceramics and more at living in a modern ray at tway in the museu modern art. >> that sounds like a good one. >> yeah. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment news. for the second straight weekend, the film beat the experts at the box office. despite predictions it would slump, the relationship comedy, "think like a man," earned $18 million to grab its second straight number one finish. bill is running to see that one.

>> that looks good. >> it's great. and in another upset, the animated film, "the pirates: band of misfits," opened with more than $11 million to take second. zac efron's "the lucky one" also did better than expected, taking in over $11 million to finish third. but producer judd apatow's "five-year engagement" clunked, disappointing with earnings of just over 11 million. >> the title is horrible. >> everything he does is good, show. jason statham's "safe," underperformed, opening with $7.7 million, as did john cusack's "the raven," debuting with just $7.3 million. and, finally, once again this news came from overseas. "the avengers" opens next friday, but it's already had a superhero foreign debut, earning over $178 million. it finished number one in all 39 markets. >> it will be huge here. >> it opened and notched the biggest opening weekend ever in 12 markets. it will be absolutely huge. >> it's the trend. the comic books, blowing up

things. >> people want those epic films. the ones they can feel in the theaters. this now comes to us from ktuu channel 2 news in anchorage, alaska, where a little boy who is battling leukemia is not only brave, he's also generous. before heading out on a trip to disneyland, 5-year-old leland told the make-a-wish foundation he wanted to do some volunteering, and that's exactly what he did, serving dinner to other kids at a kitchen that provides free meals to children. he's so cute. he says he wanted to give back after so many people had been there for him, saving the last plate for himself. >> my hero. >> yeah. seriously. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

well sports enthusiasts in norway are going vertical. you no longer need a plane to fly now that norway's first human wind tunnel has opened. anyone over the age of 5 can soar almost 40 feet through nothing but air. costing over $6 million, organizers of the new attraction hope to attract both practicing skydivers and amateur thrill seekers. that guy looks like he's got some experience there. you can call these seven competitors in one chinese event real swingers. billed as the highest swinging challenge, the contestants were hooked up to an almost 330-foot long rope attached to a crane.

participants leaped into the air swinging back and forth trying to get as much height as possible. in the end, a chinese and canadian swinger tied for first place. in peru, puppy love is definitely in the air. a pair of peruvian hairless dogs were married in a canine wedding ceremony. dressed for the occasion, the two barked "i do," and then they put their paw prints on matrimonial documents. the newlyweds are now expected to do their part to help save the breed by having puppies. gosh, i hope some day i look that good in my wedding dress. did you see her? >> it was quiet a dress. it was quite the outfit. >> they're so cute. >> yeah, i'm not a big fan of the hairless. >> no? >> no. >> oh, come on, bill. and now here's an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. in new york, one world trade center, the new structure being built on the site of the fallen twin towers will pass the empire state building as the tallest in new york. after workers erect a steel

column, the skyscraper will reach 1,250 feet, just enough to eclipse its predecessor. legendary hollywood universal studio pictures marks its 100th anniversary, the subsidiary of nbc universal as is nbc news, the studio plans to restore and release essentially all of its classic features in honor of the milestone. and singer willie nelson turns 79 years old today. happy birthday. 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. just three years after losing farrah fawcett to cancer, actor ryan o'neal opens up about facing his own cancer diagnosis. and actress diane keaton will be live in studio with a preview of her newest film, "darling companion." now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday.