remember discipline. that's your only friend in a tough time. like this, always a bull market i to try hght ter fore i yght here for you right here the ahmad money. i'm jim cramer. i'll see you this time. this morning on "early today," declassified documents. papers seized from osama bin laden's lair reveal his final thoughts. super moon, why this full moon this weekend will be bigger and brighter than any other day this year. and cinderella story. the nation's tallest man finally finds a shoe that fits. this is "early today" for friday, may 4th, 2012. hello, good morning i'm lynn berry. welcome to our viewers across the nation. today we begin with bin laden's words.

one year after u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s killed osama bin laden, some documents seized from his compound in pakistan have been released. they show his concerns about his weakened organization but he was still plotting attacks on americans. nbc's michelle franzen has details. >> reporter: the compound in pakistan where osama bin laden lived in secrecy and died after u.s. special forces tracked him down, is gone. destroyed without a trace. but documents, letters and other evidence seized the night of the raid left a trail showing the al qaeda leader still had aspirations to attack the u.s. >> as a former professional intelligence officer, there is nothing i would like to have more than the capacity to read my enemy's mail and in this case, we are actually reading ten years of osama bin laden's mail. >> reporter: the intelligence community and public are getting a snapshot look at some of the documents, analyzed over the past year at west point's combatting terrorism center. the west wing gave west point the green light to publish 17 documents and letters on its

website, originals, written in arabic and translated in english, dated from 2006 to april, 2011. >> because of the renewed interest in on this anniversary in the mission that led to his demise, this was deemed an appropriate time to release them. >> reporter: terrorist experts say it shows bin laden foi cussed on grand plots following 9/11 including an outline to assassinate president obama and then nato commander, david petraeus. >> there is no question of his aspiration here, he wanted to kill the president of the united states. >> reporter: the documents also exposed cracks within the terrorist organization, world-wide. >> this shows an organization in decline, under siege and really feeling the pressure. >> reporter: the threat of al qaeda diminished with bin laden's death, experts say, but not gone. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. oh, for the incredible drama

of a blind chinese dissident continues to complicate secretary hillary clinton's visit to beijing. now china says chen guangcheng can apply to study abroad in a possible step toward resolving the diplomatic stand-off. chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: at 4:00 a.m. in this beijing hospital surrounded by security, chen guangcheng answered a phone call from human rights activists as they meet with republican members of congress. he told them he wants to come to the u.s. to rest. he worries about his family and wants more help from hillary clinton. >> translator: i want to meet with secretary clinton. >> reporter: clinton walking a diplomatic tight rope told chinese leaders they need to address human rights. >> all governments do have to answer to citizens aspirations for dignity and rule of law. and that no nation can or should deny those rights. >> reporter: that was a softer version than her prepared remarks which included a warning to china not to punish

dissidents. it has already become an issue in the campaign. mitt romney says the administration was too eager to keep the summit on track and should not have handed chen over to the chinese. >> if these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom, and a day of shame for the obama administration. >> reporter: ambassador gary locke said then was not pressured to leave the u.s. embassy. >> he jumped up and said "let's go" i asked him again, is this what you want to do? do you want to leave the embassy? are you ready to go? he said yes. >> reporter: in the eye of the storm since his weekend escape from house arrest, chen made a series of emotional calls including to nbc news. locke says chen has clearly had a change of heart and they will visit him again to find out what he really wants. but as clinton tries to pressure china for help on iran, syria and north korea, and treasury

secretary geithner on the economy -- >> we meet at a time of challenge in the global economy. >> reporter: both must deal with chen and how china deals with dissidents. issues they had hoped to downplay. >> this is a lose-lose proposition for the united states because the administration will be criticized for failing to stand up tall enough in defending him. that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. here is a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. in southern california a mama bear and her two cubs are now spending time in a residential neighborhood. they may be there for a while. the bears wandered down from the los angeles national forest while sheriff's deputies have warned people living in that area to keep an eye out, there has been no attempt to use a tranquilizer for fee of injuring the cubs. in florida, a massive

sinkhole has turned a backyard into a crater. 100 feet wide and 50 feet deep. it came within three feet of the house. county officials have declared the home unsafe and firefighters helped the family remove as many items as possible. finally, in massachusetts, america's tallest man showed up at reebok's headquarters with a simple plea. just give me a pair of shoes that will fit me. he stands 7'8" and his feet are size 22. it makes a very painful and nearly impossible to get around with normal shoes. so reebok is donating the footware which the company says costs upwards of $20,000 to design and produce. hopefully it goes with everything since he is only going to have one pair of $20,000 shoes, i would imagine. >> i can't imagine, size 22 feet. >> that's cirrus. >> add two feet to my height. >> that would help.

$20,000. yesterday, we saw the storm system pushing onshore during the morning hours headed through the region. up in montana heading into southern canada. you drag the front through. it didn't cool things off too much. this morning, in the 40s in most areas in the northwest. higher elevations, a little cooler than that. holding on to the heat. this is time of year where the heat really starts to linger. usually, it doesn't go away. we don't see too much fronts heading this way in southern california. once we get to the couple weeks into may. here is where that storm was. it has exited and lingers back through idaho and northern california. a little impulse behind it kicking through and sparking some showers. that's why we need the umbrella they are hit and miss, very scattered in nature. but that's about it. just a few showers out there. forecast temperatures will be in the 50s in the northwest. southern california, getting a little bit warmer asunderway.

the temperatures will warm up. of course, the big event on nbc this weekend, the kentucky derby. that forecast will be a little interesting and i will have that coming up. coming up, as well, wall street waits on jobs, facebook values shares, pepsi brings back the king of pop. the business headlines straight ahead. marvel superheros unite to kick off the summer blockbuster movie season. coming up the career of mariano rivera may have come to an abrupt end. while the knicks playoff woes appear to be far from over. you're watching "early today." oh

good morning welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are top headlines this morning. at least 20 people were killed today in a suicide bombing in a tribal region of northwest pakistan. officials say the bomber struck near a market and security checkpoint. the white house says it may be time to admit defeat in the attempt to end the violence in syria that killed 9,000 people. government forces have largely ignored a united nations cease fire. nasa astronomers have a rare graphic representation of what happened to a star that got too close to a black hole. for the first time, they identified the star in a galaxy three billion lightyears away, ripped apart by the black hole. and this weekend, be sure to look up, we'll see a super moon on saturday night, the full moon will be closer to earth than any other time this year. it should be 30% brighter and as much as 14% bigger than other full moons. now, here is an early look at

how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,206 after losing 61 points yesterday. s&p lost 10 points, the nasdaq fell 35. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei up 29 points. in hong kong, the hang seng fell 163. it is finally friday, and on wall street, it's all about jobs. yesterday better than expected weekly jobless claims offset fears from wednesday's grim private sector tally, but all the speculation ends this morning when traders receive the broader monthly jobs report from the government. the retail sector dragged stocks lower after several chains including target and gap missed april sales estimates. after the bell linkedin racked up better than expected earnings, and announced plans to buy presentation service slideshare for $118 million. green mountain coffee bitter earnings report cost the company

nearly half the market value yesterday. meanwhile, kraft foods edged higher on sales. >> facebook's ipo could set a record if they debut at the the top end, they would be valued at $96 billion. walmart is being sued by a major shareholder. the california state teachers public pension fund. in the wake of the company's recent bribery and cover-up scandal in mexico. yahoo admits what it calls an inadvertent error about the education of its new chief executive. whose bachelor's degree is in accounting, not accounting and computer science as his resume stated. and a grim twist in the cola wars. pepsi is resurrecting michael jackson's sponsorship deal to pump new life into its new marketing campaign. a billion new pepsi cans will feature the late king of pop's silhouette. the heat scorched the

knicks, the thunder stormed the mavs, devils topped the flyers in overtime. potentially career ending injury for baseball's all time saves leader. your you recall early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. i'm still crying over that one. the weekend forecast, you will be happy with it, details coming up you're watching "early today."

good morning, if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night, mariano rivera tore his acl while chasing a fly ball during batting practice. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning, mariano rivera faced this question dozens of times, is this his final season? could be, but nobody thought it would end like this. rivera twisted his knee chasing fly balls before the yankees lost in kansas city. manager, joe girardi, said mariano tore his acl, that is an injury that ends his season and perhaps his career. the nba playoffs have not been kind to the knicks. madison square garden, amare stoudemire sitting out, chris bosh back after his wife gave birth to a son thursday morning. >> in the fourth quarter, j.r. smith an amazing reverse double

bump jam left the garden crowd in awe. lebron james made him feel awful, 17 of his 32 in the final quarter, heat beat the knicks 87-70. new york has not won a playoff game since 2001. heat go for the sweep sunday. mavs couldn't keep up with the thunder. kevin durant scored 31, oklahoma city routed dallas, 95-79. they lead three games to none and can sweep the champs tomorrow night in dallas. day after the shocking death of junior seau, medical examiners ruled his death a suicide. researchers hope to study his brain to see if football-related concussions may have played a part in his decline. let's go to the ice hockey playoffs in new jersey. devils and flyers, jersey caught a line change. alexi ponikarovsky stopped once, won't be denied the second time. devils won in 0-2. new jersey leads the series two games to one. kings hosting st. louis in the third. drew doughty locked and scored.

kings beat the blues 4-2. they hold a 3-0 lead on the second-seeded blues. that's your early look at sports on early to"early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. actress demi moore undergoes a name change. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. most bundles of joy come after nine months of planning and preparation. but we'll introduce you to a new mom who didn't have that luxury. you're watching "early today."

>> right around 6:00 saturday evening, one of the bigger sporting events of the year takes place. it only takes two minutes. the kentucky derby will be run here on nbc. right now, it looks like a chance of thunderstorms. 40% chance during saturday afternoon. also some big races there at the oaks, where the phillies run. as far as what we are looking at in the west, some showers out there today. tomorrow, we clear it all out. what a finally nice weekend. not the warmest weekend in the northwest. sunday, even portland, we could jump you up to 70 o degrees. the west is best. if you are watching us on kobi, experience the science behind ferment tation in wine making. join lynn berry. oh, you are going to do that on

your own. you are just jealous. now here is an early look at headlines in entertainment. you don't need any super powers to predict which film will dominate the box office. the highly anticipated match-up the avengers. it already amassed a record-breaking $281 million at foreign theaters in just one week. the pg-13 film brings robert downie jr. iron man, chris evans at captain american, mark russell as the hulk and charlotte joe hanson is black widow. >> i only like movies only featuring her. >> you don't want anybody to steal her air time. >> yes. >> experts believe it could earn between $150 million and $170 million possibly breaking the opening weekend record held by the last harry potter movie. demi moore has a new twitter

handle, following her break-up with ashton kutcher. she called on fans to replace @mrskutcher. without further ado, her new name, @justdemi. keeping it simple. interesting. this comes from wsmv, channel 4 news in nashville, tennessee, where in lawrenceburg, a new mom didn't know she was pregnant until after the little girl came in the world. yep. >> how is it possible? >> last month, amanda fell ill and was air-lifted to a hospital where she went unconscious. when she woke up two days later, she was given shocking news that she had given birth despite the fact she had no clue she was expecting. con gralt grat lations to them. this is lynn berry, this is earl "today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

let them eat cake. that is the royal philosophy in london where over 3,000 minicakes are coming together to paint a tasty portrait of queen elizabeth to mark her diamond jubly. looks delicious. it's hand dipped in the correct color signifying each week of her reign. the display will be over 94 square feet in size. in washington, d.c., an unexpected musician is keeping things interesting at the zoo. a 36-year-old asian elephant has taken to playing the harmonica with her trunk. keepers say she is musically inclined, tapping and rubbing objects to make different sounds. the zoo has installed two

harmonicas on an activity wall where she can play as she pleases. one smart bird in japan gets around. a 2-year-old parakeet that escaped from its cage was returned to the owner after the bird told police its address, yes, that's right. it wasn't the first time the foul line has gone on the loose, the owner taught the bird the home address and telephone number in hopes it could find its way home so when asked, it could say 15 main street, officer, please take me home. bizarre. >> you're believing this story? >> we say so, bill, just go with it, okay? he's so skeptical of everything i say. hopefully, you aren't. it's time now for an early look at some of the stories we will follow throughout the day here on nbc. sanford, florida's new interim police chief is expected to start work today. richard myers is replacing billy who stepped aside in the wake of

the trayvon martin shooting case. presumptive republican presidential nominee mitt romney and his one-time rival rick santorum will have a private face-to-face meeting in pittsburgh. they are expected to discuss gop strategy for the fall general election. president obama welcomes members of the university of kentucky mens basketball team to the white house to celebrate their 2012 ncaa championship. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." here is a look at what is coming up later this morning on "the today show." stephen colbert will size up this year's election. get an inside look at churchill downs, the racetrack behind tomorrow's kentucky derby, which will be carried live at 4:00 p.m. eastern, 1:00 pacific right here on nbc. keep on it this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

have a good weekend!