my job is trying to find it for you. i'm jim cramer. i'll see you tomorrow. this morning on "early today," document drop. hundreds of pieces of newly released evidence sheds new light on the trayvon martin killing. once bitten, a north carolina man has a scary encounter with an alligator. and last dance, legendary disco queen donna summer loses and last dance, legendary disco queen donna summer loses her battle with cancer. 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 the evidence. the state of florida has released nearly 200 pages of documents they will use in the trial of george zimmerman for the shooting death of

trayvon martin most of it unseen by the public until now. curt gregory has the story. >> reporter: more than 180 pages of documents, witness statements and photographs were released late thursday by special prosecutor's angela corey's office. evidence the state says support their charges against george zimmerman. among the pages, never before seen photos of injuries allegedly sustained by the 28-year-old zimmerman during his confrontation with trayvon martin. and images of the scene where the shooting took place, on february 26th. zimmerman is charged with second degree murder, but has pleaded not guilty under frida's stand your ground law. also within the documents are reports from investigators including one that describes an interview with martin's father, tracy martin, two days after his son's death. the investigator reported "i asked mr. martin if the voice calling for help was that of his son. mr. martin clearly, emotionally

impacted by the recording quietly responded no." martin's mother, sabrina fulton, has insisted that the screams audible on recorded 911 calls are that of her son. also among the documents, the medical examiner's report, which states the teenager was killed by a gunshot to the heart. toxicology tests performed found that martin had thc, the active ingredient of marijuana, in his bloodstream. >> whether or not he smoked a joint a week before it does not matter. this was an unarmed teenager in a place he had every right to be, who was confronted by a man with a nine millimeter gun. >> reporter: pages upon pages of evidence in a case that has held the nation's attention for months. curt gregory, nbc news. the fate of john edwards now rests in the hands of a jury, which will begin deliberations today. in closing arguments yesterday, prosecutors said the former presidential candidate broke campaign financial laws to cover up an affair. the defense argued that while

edwards' actions may have been morally wrong, they weren't criminal. nbc's jay gray reports from greensboro, north carolina. >> reporter: the final round in this high-stakes high-profile case was an epic legal battle. >> it was like a great title fight. this isn't a game or sport, but it felt like ali versus frazier. >> reporter: the first punch thrown by prosecutors who said john edwards planted the "seeds of destruction" before he announced his bid for the white house in december of 2006, with his wife and mistress both in the crowd. the government's lawyers led by robert higdon painted a picture of a greedy, ego-driven politician who, quote, clearly knew the law and decided to violate it in order to val vaj his -- salvage his campaign. >> it didn't focus on the criminal intent but higdon made clear edwards should have known, had to have known these types of moneys, hundreds of thousands of dollars, would violate the $2300 limit. >> reporter: next the defense got their turn with the jury.

>> really took it to the government head-on. said their entire case relied on andrew young and that the government had a legal standard they couldn't meet. they never were able to show that john edwards knew he was violating the law. >> reporter: attorney abbe lowe called this the most important day in edwards' life, and saide please don't let the sad chapter end and stop with your verdict of not guilty, stressed edwards may have been a bad husband and lied to his family as many or moral wrongs, he has not committed a legal one. after lengthy and strict instructions from judge catherine eagles, the focus shifts to the jury. jay gray nbc news, greensboro, north carolina. both wall street and main street will be watching when the worldwide social network that got its start in a harvard dorm room, becomes a publicly traded company. >> thanks to pricing its stock at $38 a share, before selling a single share, facebook has reached record status as the biggest initial public offering in history by an internet company. the deal will raise the social

networking giant around $16 billion in proceeds and value the company at more than $100 billion. we'll have more coming up in business. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. in north carolina, an alligator attacked a man who was trying to capture the reptile along the side of a highway. the victim was bit in the arm but amazingly only suffered minor injuries. he works for an aquarium and was called to the scene after a driver spotted the gator, which was eventually caught. in rhode island, could be a breakthrough for those paralyzed. researchers at brown university have just released this video showing a robotic arm responding to basic commands given only through a person's thoughts. the robot was able to give the paraplegic patient a bottle to sip from. the device was attached to the woman's brain allowing a computer to decode messages from her mind and send them to the

robot. unreal. a florida couple had a different kind of self-serve at the gas station. a mom-to-be was in labor and dad couldn't quite make it to the hospital in time so he pulled into the pumps and ran right over to the passenger's side and guess what, he delivered his own son. the fire department did show up moments later. they cut the umbilical cord and thankfully everyone is doing just fine. now for a look at your national and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> at first thought you're like gas station, a horrible place to stop. but they got everything, bathrooms with running water, papal towels, food. >> snacks. >> milk duds, whatever you want. >> great place to deliver. good morning, everyone. around the country we've had a very quiet may and in the west it's been very warm lately and in the middle of the country just been quiet. haven't had many tornadoes. some severe weather reports in georgia and south carolina but the big story is the lack of tornadoes. this is the peak of the season. this would be like going through the peak of hurricane season

with no hurricanes. we're not really watching many things of concern this weekend either. so far this month of may, we've had 71 tornadoes reported. preliminary number. 257 is the average. now, we still have the rest of the half of the month to go but there's really nothing happening over the next four or five days even. that looks pretty good. as far as the west, another hot day in the deserts yesterday, two in a row for 100 plus in vegas. another warm day today. the front is trying to push from the south so it may be a tad bit cooler today. we'll call it 09 from vegas to phoenix. we're pretty nice, even in the northwest, partltly cloudy, too temperatures there in the upper 60s. >> i'm not saying you should try to have a child at a gas

station. there's worse places to pull over. >> we do not endorse it, but we are thankful everyone is just fine. thanks for clearing that up. i was confused about it. coming up, the big ipo, sharpening the ax at hp, and the shocking price paid for a manhattan penthouse that hasn't even been built yet. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. will the stars and special effects of "battleship" or the crazy comedy of "the dictator" have what it takes to knock "the avengers" out of the top spot at the box office. coming up the los angeles kings one win away from the stanley cup finals and frustration boils over for the miami heat. you're watching "early today."

good morning welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. >> here's some of your top headlines this morning. newly released video from syrian activists shows the aftermath of a roadside bomb attack on a convoy of united nations cease

fire monitors in syria. for their safety the team was forced to spend the night with rebel forces. the observers were unhurt, and later safely evacuated. singer donna summer whose hit included "last dance" has died at the age of 63 of cancer. in the 1970s era of glitter and platform shoes, summer was known as the queen of disco. queen sophia of spain will not be attending a lunch to celebrate the diamond jubilee of england's queen elizabeth. the snub was ordered by the spanish government in response to a recent trip by prince edward to gibraltar territory which has been disputed by the two countries for many years. in canada, officials say a suspected thief now in prison stole a $20,000 diamond from a jewelry store, and then swallowed it. now prison guards are waiting patiently for nature to take its course.

now here is an early look how wall street will kick off the day. dow opens at 12,442 after plunging 156 points yesterday. the s&p sank 19 points, nasdaq tumbled 60. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 265 points, while in hong kong the hang seng skidded 249. the big question on investors minds this morning will it live up to the hype? facebook begins trading around 11:00 a.m. this morning under the ticker symbol fb. after becoming the world's largest internet ipo there is no doubt facebook stock will pop, but the question is how much? and for how long? will it be able to buck the recent downward trend? broader markets will be under pressure after asian stocks plunged to the lowest level in six months this morning. a downgrade to greece's credit rating and escalating banking crisis in spain are adding to

concerns of a eurozone breakup. in addition to europe's debt worries, weak earnings from caterpillar and gamestop were the biggest drags on the dow and s&p. meanwhile, the tech heavy nasdaq was heavily weighed down by losses from apple and qualcom. walmart impressed investors with its best first-quarter results in three years. improving sales at gap helped the struggling retailer overcome rising costs. >> tough times at hewlett-packard have the company planning to cut between 25,000 and 30,000 jobs from its work force to fund more than $1 billion in savings. verizon wireless customers are in an uproar over the decision to force customers who were grandfathered in unlimited data plans to switch to more expensive data sharing plans. and finally, a new record for real estate in manhattan, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, an anonymous buyer shelled out more than $90 million for a penthouse.

it's not even built yet, still under construction. unreal. the heat go stone cold, the spurs clobber the clippers, unbelievable juggling act by a pittsburgh pirate. the surprising los angeles kings find themselves on the brink of playing for the cup. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. i have your weekend forecast and i think you're going to like it. that's coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning, if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports, last night in indianapolis, it became clear a big underdog story may be brewing in the nba playoffs. here is nba's fred roggin with a look at all your sports headlines. good morning, the miami heat already playing without chris bosh and dwyane wade has disappeared. game three between the pacers and heat, forgettable for wade, scoreless in the first half, finished with just five points. frustration boiled over in the third. weighed and the coach got into it on the bench. while miami was losing its cool, indy was busy winning the game. roy hibbert, 19 points, 18 boards, do you think the heat are missing chris bosh? i would say so. indy blew out miami, 94-75, they lead that series two games to one.

now to san antonio, game two spurs and clippers looked like game one. everybody in the white jersey contributed. five different players scored in double digits. tony parker led the way with 22. celebrated his 30th birthday with a victory. spurs dominated 105-88 they lead the series two games to none. hockey, the l.a. kings are one win away from the stanley cup finals since 1993. kopitar faked out the goalie, slipped the puck between his legs. his fifth of the playoffs tied it at one. stayed that one until the third, rookie, dwight king, has been on a tear lately, kept it going last night, fourth goal in the last three games. king's won it 2-1, could sweep the coyote with a victory on sunday. game four is on nbc. baseball, the pirates an drew mccutchen did it against the nationals. gave pittsburgh the lead. in the fifth came up big with the glove.

adam la roch, to deep center, mccutchen made a leaping grab, bobbled the ball, crashed in the wall and made the grab. the sixth, andrew again, another solo shot. two home runs and catch of the night, doesn't get much better than that. the pirates won it 5-3. >> that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. the low down on the new films trying to knock "the avengerss" off this week's box office list. your entertainment headlines straight ahead. a special bond in an age when parents and their kids seem to spend less and less time together. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." a good friday morning. beautiful weather continues. our streak of dry days will continue into the weekend for areas in the pacific northwest but may not last through the whole weekend. today is just a dry day, little cooler in the desert southwest. as we head through saturday, still dry everywhere. onshore flow keeping it cooler around l.a. and san francisco. sunday looks like later in the day we'll have our chance for some rain in areas like seattle. looks like saturday is your better bet of the two days. if you're watching us on knsd nbc, san diego, california, learn how cats prowl and snakes slither. enjoy animal themed evening of fun with the kids at kindernights at the san diego zoo. that's your pacific event of the day. >> thanks so much. an early look at the headlines in entertainment, look

for more records to fall this weekend at the box office as "the avengers" rings up yet another number one finish. after earning $50 to $55 million by sunday, its 17th day of release, "the avengers" should reach $450 million total, a record. it never ends with this one. "battleship" stars liam neeson and slew of young draws including rihanna, look for all the hype and its $200 million overseas "battleship" won't challenge "the avengers," see it taking in 35 to $40 million. >> i'm an expert and think it's going to win. >> we'll see on monday. >> so much for my credibility. >> in weather not movies. >> most of the other weekend, "what to expect when you're expecting" will attract many women not interested in comic hero effects. >> i'm living it. i don't need to watch the movie.

finally, sacha baron cohen "the dictatodictator" is expecto respectable business. >> that part looks funny. >> like "bruno" but not blockbuster, should take in 15 to $20 million. from wptv in west palm beach florida, will del ray beach, a tradition between a father and daughter has walked off into the sun set. every day for the last ten years, frank has walked his 13-year-old daughter laura to school and they took that journey more than 1600 time. but now, laura is off to high school. so they have made their final daily track. they still plan on walking it once a year to remember the bond they formed along all those miles. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a musician in croatia is adding chock la tear to his resume. a singer and producer of punk rock is playing out his sweet tunes through chocolate, cast into vinyls and the sweet sounds started as a joke but the musician realized the cocoa canvas produced quality sound. the band's single will hit shelves in sweet shops and record stores soon. >> here is one way to make your workout interesting. one man in australia is running a half marathon while riding in a hot air balloon. it took about three hours to run the 13 miles on a generator powered treadmill in the basket. longer than normal because he could only take little steps. he is raising money for charity and will take his skills to land and sea as well. finally, it looks like prom fever isn't just for high

schoolers. a pet daycare center in north dakota hosted the fourth annual puppy prom. the guests, some decked out for the special night, walked the red carpet and posed for their prom pictures with their furry friends. the organizers set up a web cam for puppy parents making sure they could watch from work and not miss out on all the excitement. how many parents wish they could do that with their high schoolers. >> they voted on the song "who let the dogs out." >> you are going to start early this morning. okay. more to come. it's time for a look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. spacex, a private aerospace company will brief the media ahead of the planned launch of the cargoship dragon to the international space station saturday. should the mission succeed, the capsule will be the first privately built spaceship to dock with the outpost and score $1.6 billion contract with nasa to haul cargo to and return waste from the station. cities all over the world

will be celebrating international museum day. check your local museums for perks like free admission, discounts and special events. tina fey turns 42. all day long, stay on top of the latest developments on those stories and others as they break on msnbc, and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc nightly news. finally here is a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. ben stiller and eva longoria will join ann as she reports live along the french rivera on the cannes film festival and usher kicks off the "today" summer concert series live in the plaza. 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 great weekend.