somewhere and i promise to find it for you. i'm jim cramer. i'll see you tomorrow. this today," executive push. president obama prepares a list of legislative demands for congressional leaders. great gorge, heavy rain create a massive drainage ditch near houston. and fit for a queen, a century's old diamond passed through generations in european royalty goes to the highest through generations in european royalty goes to the highest bidder. 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 presidential to-do list. president obama is holding a rare meeting with top congressional leaders from both parties today.

the president is pushing an ambitious election year agenda that includes raising the debt ceiling by increasing taxes on the rich. nbc's brian mooar is in washington with those details. brian, good morning. >> hi, lynn. the president is hosting a bipartisan lunch at the white house and some of the items on the menu, republicans will find hard to swallow. today, president obama is issuing a to-do list for congress, and holding a rare hit-down with top lawmakers from both parties to get it all done. one of the first orders of business, raising the debt ceiling so the government can pay bills. house speaker john boehner is already drawing a hard line. >> when the time comes, i will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase. >> reporter: that is setting the stage for yet another partisan showdown on capitol hill. >> american people had enough of this brinksmanship.

they want us to get things done. >> reporter: on "the view" the president wants to do what republicans won't, raising taxes on the rich. >> everybody sitting on this couch will have to pay a little more in taxes so we don't have to raise taxes for middle class families. >> reporter: the president declined to give economic policies a letter grade, saying he has a to-do list of his own. this, of course, is an election year and there's a huge difference between talking about things to do and actually getting them done. lynn? >> all right, brian mooar in washington, thank you. the daughter of former senator and presidential candidate john edwards may testify today at her father's trial on charges of using campaign contributions to hide his extramarital affair. we don't know the question if edwards himself will take the stand. yesterday, the defense called several key witnesses to testify about the money trail. nbc's jay gray has more. >> reporter: the pace of the trial increased dramatically for the defense. >> it really was speed defending, you know, five witnesses in just the morning session.

>> reporter: a group that included former fbi agent jim walsh, who told jurors fred baron continued to deposit tens of thousands of dollars in rielle hunter's account, undercutting the government's claim it centered on his run for the whites house. also today, former federal election commissioner scott thomas took the stand, though his testimony was limited. outside the presence of the jury, thomas had told the court, quote, this is a clear-cut case that the payments were not campaign contributions and that edwards had not violated the law, but judge catherine eagles ruled those opinions were inadmissible. >> he was able to tell the jury how complex the federal election laws are and that in his 38 years of experience, both at the commission and in private practice, that he has never addressed the situation where a third party is asked to pay the debt of another third party. >> reporter: we also learned the defense is not likely to call the woman at the center of the legal and political soap opera. >> they have previewed to the

judge the witnesses they intend to call. between now and then. rielle hunter is not on the list. >> reporter: edwards' daughter cate is on the list. >> the defense will be able to put a little more emotion back in the case, perhaps humanize john edwards a little bit and share some insight into what was going on in the edwards' family as the drama was unfolding. >> reporter: drama that continues to play out publicly inside the federal courthouse here. jay gray, nbc news, greensboro, north carolina. now here is a look at other stories make news early today in america. in texas last weekend storms have now created a massive different that just keeps on growing. they call it the grand canyon, though it could just as easily be mistaken for an earthquake fault. neighbors are worried it could eventually swallow up their homes. officials warn rushing water that ripped off the concrete from a natural gas line is running alongside the gorge. in colorado, two overenthusiastic wild fire spectators had to be rescued after hiking up the side of a

hill to get a better view of the flames. the men got stuck in a crevice and sat there for hours until rescuers to reach them. they used a trail that was closed due to the fire to get a better view. in kentucky, they are bridging the gap. time lapse video shows cranes hoisting a 200 ton section of bridge in place, after a cargo ship ran into the bridge four months ago. it's been closed ever since. finally in georgia, a real cat's eye. researchers placed a video camera on the collars of outdoor house cats. the cats can be seen crawling through storm drains, hiding under cars, hanging out with chickens, you know, a regular day at the office for them. one even busted out, sneaking away to spend time at another family's home. sneaky. new for a look at your national and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. i'm glad we got to the bottom of what house cats -- >> you know in the middle of the night where you hear the loud

screeching back and forth. >> like us before the show. amazing. >> put a little camera on your collar. interesting. >> we don't want that. >> interesting. good morning, everyone. another hot day in the west, not much bad weather to talk about. just talking mostly about a temperature forecast. yesterday 106 in phoenix and that blew away everyone else by far. we're still in the 70s from seattle to portland and we're still very warm in the intermountain west. salt lake city near 90 degrees yesterday and today it's going to be very similar, this upper-level low trying to spin near salt lake city bringing you clouds, cooling off a little bit and a couple weak fronts trying to push through the northwest that has knocked your temperature down a little bit. today's forecast will call for 66 in seattle, partly cloudy skies, and really you don't need the umbrella anywhere in the west today. san francisco, 64, l.a. looking about perfect with 79 and sunny. san diego you're looking great, too. once again, from vegas to phoenix, a very warm day. so usually i've been saying, claiming that when the west is very calm, alaska is stormy. not quite the case today.

we're relatively cloud-free, over interior alaska. our friends in fairbanks are starting to warm up with 57 and anchorage around 56, that's any big ce for this time of weather concerns. doesn't look like we have any chances of rain in the forecast in many areas. once again, looks like it's going to remain dry and beautiful throughout the country. >> lucky them. thanks so much. gold tumbles and you may want to think again about the so-called sugar boost. your early morning business headlines are still ahead. breaking box office records, but how much are the major stars of "the avengers" making from the mega hit? coming up, president obama takes a shot at david beckham, the kings continue their road to

dominance and with a game on the line you will not believe who took the final shot for the heat. you're watching "early today."

good morning welcome back to "early today" i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. presumptive republican presidential nominee mitt romney notched two predictable primary wins in oregon and nebraska yesterday. former nebraska senator and governor bob kerrey won the nomination to run for his old senate seat. in syria an explosion yesterday hit near a vehicle in a convoy of united nations cease fire monitors. no one from the un team was hurt. father thomas williams, a high-profile catholic priest, is apologizing after admitting that he fathered a child several years ago. father williams, a tv commentator and the author of more than a dozen books on spirituality is dean at a papal

university in rome. one of the world's famous diamonds sold at auction for $9.7 million. that is twice what was expected. the pear-shaped stone has been worn by the queen of france as well as members of other european royal families over the last 400 years. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. new studies under way aimed at preventing alzheimers. one of the studies will test a drug that attacks a protein thought to be the cause of alzheimers in people genetically predisposed to develop the disease early. the second study will test use of an insulin nasal spray that has shown memory improvements in people with mild to moderate alzheimer. for more information on this and other health stories check out the health page at msnbc.com. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,632 after falling 63 yesterday. the s&p was down 7 points, the

nasdaq lost 8. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei dipped 99 points while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 634. he's still chairman and ceo of jpmorgan chase but it is safe to say jamie dimon has been stripped of his golden boy status. as protesters gathered outside tuesday's stock holders meetings, dimon apologized for a $2 billion trading loss he said should never have happened. jpmorgan stock climbed for the first time since last week's revelation but the drama is far from over. the fbi has now opened an inquiry into those multibillion dollar losses and the house financial services committee will begin its own hearing in the trading blunder. overnight asian stocks followed u.s. markets lower on fears greece could default if the country's anti-bailout leftist leaders gain power in new elections next month. that turmoil has global investors selling gold and

seeking safety in the dollar. overnight the precious metal plunged to a four-and-a-half month low. meanwhile oil fell to fresh six month lows, below $93 a barrel. j.c. penney tumbled 12% on weak earnings report and news it's doing away with quarterly dividends. the same week facebook is going public, general motors is pulling the advertising on the social network but will keep the facebook page. finally, here is some food for thought for you. before you reach for that sweet at your desk today. a new study at ucla finds eating too much sugar can eat away at your brain power. this based on effects observed on lab rats, memories. just a little bit of sugar, got to have that. spurs wear down the clippers. l.a. is king of the road and the major league soccer champs visit the white house. plus, things get heated in miami as the pacers flex their muscle. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

the middle of may is a stormy period in the middle of our country. not this year. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports, last night in the nba playoffs with the miami heat down a major big man due to

injury, the indiana pacers got physical. here is fred roggin with a early look at all your sports headlines. good morning, so much for the heat rolling in the eastern conference finals, the pacers had other ideas. early onslaught, lebron james with two of the game high 28. indiana hung around and took a lead, danny granger a jumper, part of a 12-0 run. granger fouled lebron, james not having it, these two have a history. fortunately cooler heads prevailed. fast forward and late in the fourth, miami down three, eight seconds to play. the question with the heat who will take the final shot? it wasn't lebron, it wasn't dwyane wade. mario chalmers. came up empty. the pacers earned a split in miami, 78-75. spurs had ten days off since the last game and rest did them good. came out firing against the clippers knocked down 13 three-pointers. when they rns hitting weren't hitting from the outside, tim duncan getting it down on

the inside. 26 points. spurs won it 108-92. one other note, the bulls derek rose recovering from successful surgery on his torn acl, expected to miss 8-12 months. hockey, kings jeff carter has been relatively quiet this postseason until now. scored a goal in the first, had another in the second, another in the third. kings dominated the coyotes, now a perfect 7-0 on the road in the piece of season. they won it 4-0. david beckham, and the rest of the l.a. galaxy honored for winning the mls championship and president obama didn't miss the chance to take a shot at the aging superstar, david beckham. >> i have to say i gave david a hard time. i said, half his teammates could be his kids. a rare man who can be that tough on the field and also have his own line of underwear. >> that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin.

recognizing someone who regularly makes us laugh, the early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. not e-mail or texting, remember handwriting? you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." it's a very slow weather day. good time to take a peek at paradise and let our imaginati n imaginations rome. 83 in honolulu, most of the

islands looking good, typical afternoon shower possible in helio, but most of your day will be dry. in the west dry about everywhere. it's going to be hard to find any wet weather today. yesterday 90 in salt lake city, today 85, pacific northwest still a little bit cooler, some of the cooler air moved into seattle at 66 today, but the desert southwest still looks very warm and appears summer is here to stay. if you're watching us on kntv nbc 11 in california's bay area see ground-breaking art by pollic rofco at abstract expressionism at the berkeley art museum and pacific film archive. that's your event of the day. >> thanks so much. an early look at headlines in entertainment. with all that money rolling in for "the avengers" wonder how much the actors will make from it? robert downey jr. will make at least $50 million. >> big cha-chick. >> thanks to a deal he signed to get a percentage of any film he

plays iron man in. >> genius. >> sound loose like a good idea. >> samuel l. jackson and scarlet johanson who will appear in other marvel films apparently earned 4 to $6 million. >> they're struggling. >> chris evans, chris hemsworth, jeremy renner and mark rough lo earned 2 to $3 million. lady's gaga june 3rd concert in ja ka tar may be canceled after police failed to give a permit following islamic protests. john travolta's accuser admitted he had his dates wrong. ellen degeneres named the 15th prize for the mark twain prize for american humor. speaking of ellen, someone else has a lot of cash, ryan seacrest reportedly bought her 9 bedroom home in beverly hills for a bhoping $37 million. >> i think that would be some kind of a record. that's an expensive house. >> yeah. >> i can't even pay the property

tax on that. $37 million. >> for the mail, bill. from kxas, nbc 5 in dallas/for the texas where in denton a high school student became a national champion with the stroke of a pen. she is a seventh grader who had the best handwriting in the country. she beat out some 300,000 other students -- >> that's nice. >> that's how an "i" is supposed to look. >> cursive is supposed to look like. laura said she learned to slant her loops and they had to be perfect. >> look at that "w." >> in this age of technology she types 40 words a minute and a master in what many consider a dying art. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

cake enthusiasts in copenhagen celebrated the sweetest holiday of the year. folks lined up for a ticket to celebrate the day of the cake. sounds like my kind of celebration. bakeries from across the city offered signature treats to mark the 15th annual holiday. the desserts are all guilt-free. that is, all the profits are donated to charity. wildlife park in england welcomed the newest star attraction, a baby camel, named elizabeth in honor of the queen's diamond jubilee. >> i've never seen a baby camel. >> you have now. elizabeth's mother was unable to feed the infant immediately after she was born, so the park staff stepped in. >> two little humps. >> it's adorable. >> fortunately the mother managed to feed her baby the next day and all is well. in tokyo, one device is

performing quite the balancing act. what looks like a stool is a hands-free mobility gadget controlled by shifting weight in the direction you want to go. it responds to moving forward, backwards, and sideways, at maximum speed of 4 miles per hour and battery that lasts an hour. it's mostly practical for indoor use but then i would say where would you use that indoors? like -- >> not at a weight loss clinic. >> apparently not. if i can't walk from my office down here. >> what happens to the segway? i thought we were supposed to be riding around on segways by now. >> welcome to the future. still cars. >> still hoofing it. >> time for a look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day ons nbc. in washington the anti-nuclear advocacy group global zero will issue a report calling for 80% of reduction of the u.s. nuclear arsenal over the next 10 years. the report signed by a retired vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and several national security figures argues the u.s. needs no more than 900

nuclear weapons to maintain its security. in new york, funny lady betty white will be the latest celebrity to grace the hot seat at the friar's club roast of 2012. barbara walters has the honor of serving as roastmaster for the ceremony. janet jackson turns 46. 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." here is a look at what is coming up later this morning on the "today" show. hear from the father of a 22-year-old woman, hanna luce, the sole survivor of a fiery plane crash that killed four of her friends. >> matt lauer sits down with the mother of kardashian girls, kris jenner, to discuss the new season of their reality show. keep on it this channel for 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 one. hey, your high speed internet here at home...

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