does merkel blink? it's all up to her. there's always a bull market somewhere. i promise to try to find it just for you. this morning on "early today," political divide. republican governor scott walker of wisconsin narrowly fends off a recall challenge. what's wrong with this picture? a routine traffic stop produces a bizarre photo op for california police. and crown of thorns. miss pennsylvania resigns with some shoing claims about the miss pennsylvania resigns with some shoing claims about the miss usa pageant. 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 staying alive. wisconsin republican scott walker still has his job this

morning after becoming the first governor in u.s. history to survive a recall attempt. scott walker's win is not only a defeat for milwaukee -- default for milwaukee mayor tom barrett but also the union leaders who rallied against his controversial cuts. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: it was closer than many expected. but the win could make wisconsin's republican governor scott walker a gop superstar. for taking on the unions in his state. and surviving their countermove to take him down. >> tomorrow, the election is over, it's time to move wisconsin forward. >> reporter: the recall was born last year when walker stripped public employee unions of the right to bargain. some saw the vote as a preview of the presidential election. conservatives had pumped $47 million in walker's campaign, a record. mitt romney backed walker and said voters rejected runaway

government costs and liberal ideas. president obama backed the democrat, but fearful of alienating wisconsinites, he stayed away. as presidential preferences, in exit polls, wisconsin voters backed obama over romney by nine points. the republican governor won, but wisconsin could stay in president obama's column in the fall. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. symbolic of how high emotions in wisconsin ran over this recall, take a look at this, last night mayor barrett was slapped by one of his own supporters, who thought he conceded to walker too early. th death of al qaeda's second in command is called the biggest victory in the war on terror since the death of osama bin laden. u.s. and pakistani officials confirmed a u.s. drone strike in northwest pakistan has killed abu yahya al-libi. the so-called media savvy

general leader of al qaeda was captured about a decade ago but later escaped in 2005. the white house called al libi's death, quote, a major blow to the terror group. nine members of a jury have already been selected for the trial of former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky. sandusky is facing 52 criminal counts for the alleged sexual abuse of ten boys over 15 years. some of those alleged victims are expected to testify. prosecutors reportedly have incriminating and bizarre letters that sandusky allegedly wrote to one of his accusers. nbc news has learned that prosecutors plan to start their case next week by reading copies of what are described as love letters to support the state's charges that sandusky repeatedly had improper sexual relations with the boy. in england, the finale of four days of the diamond jubilee celebrations marking 60 years of the reign of queen elizabeth. the celebrations concluded with

the royal family appearing on the balcony of buckingham palace with a fly by from modern and former royal air force aircraft. in a two-minute taped tv broadcast the queen thanked her subjects for what she called the countless kindnesses shown to her. the queen's husband, prince philip has been unable to attend ceremonies the last two days due to hospital treatment for a bladder infection. prince charles says his father is getting better and watched festivities on tv. now for a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in philadelphia the violent arrest of a man is under investigation. cell phone video shows the 18-year-old suspect clearly resisting two police officers. but when two other officers arrive on the scene, they are shown punching him, kicking him and swinging their batons at him. police say he resisted arrest after a car crash. the family of the suspect says he has staples in his head as a result of the scuffle.

the officers have been placed on desk duty for now. in colorado, what's wrong with this picture? plenty, say police. shows a child safety seat being used to hold a gas can instead of the toddler sitting beside it. the mom at the wheel claimed her little boy constantly crawled out of the safety seat. she was cited for that and because she and her teenager weren't using their own seat belts. in florida, fireworks used to celebrate high school graduation misfired. one of them blew up in the bleachers. six people suffered minor injuries. finally, did you see it from california to connecticut, stargazers put on special glasses and telescopes to look carefully toward the sky and catch a rare sight of venus crossing between the sun and the earth. it's only been seen six times since the 17th century and if you missed it, bad news, sorry, won't happen again for more than a century.

>> darn. >> is right. >> now for a look at your national and regional weather here is meteorologist bill karins, he has your weather channel forecast. >> i feel unfulfilled now. >> i do too. in new york city it's hard to see the sky so i'll just stick with straight ahead of me. >> the video good enough for me. a special treat for you, beautiful, gorgeous photo of mother nature's power and also beauty. this is a super cell thunderstorm that was taken yesterday in denton, montana, courtesy of roger hill. that is the tornado taken from a distance. a very large tornado actually on the ground in here. this is the super cell structure, almost picture it spinning in the sky and then the lowering of the base here and then the tornado on the ground. so just gorgeous. didn't do a lot of damage but just a great photo. probably use that photo in a lot of weather classes that teach thunderstorms and super cells. as far as forecasting goes, that storm system is heading out of montana, cold air wrapping behind the storm system, still raining around spokane and bonners ferry and snow in

portions of the northern rockies. quite the storm system that moved through through the beginning of june. as far as the rest goes, high pressure is building in, temperatures have dropped about everywhere. only exception the cold front hasn't quite made it through southern arizona. tucson to phoenix you'll keep it warm. the cool air is in place. we're at 40 in boise, 48 in salt lake city after a very warm period, little shock to the system as you head outside. forecast wise, only rain left, little bit in seattle and spokane, should be exiting during the day. that's a lookhe desert southwes. still hot around tucson. quite a storm for zune june. very impressive. >> the picture was insane. coming up, is stimulus coming from the fed? more facebook doldrums, who is

coming to the aid of women in the business world? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus a stunning health revelation from singer sheryl crow with a happy ending. coming up, a homecoming, extra innings and game five of the eastern conference finals goes down to the wire. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. scientists say early stage breast cancer patients may be able to tell if their disease is likely to occur or spread with a simple blood test. the test detects cancer cells that have broken free from a tumor in the breast and could help researchers develop tailored treatments based on a woman's likelihood of a cancer resurgence. the issue of same sex marriage is one step closer to being decided by the supreme

court. the california federal court that struck down the ban on gay unions refused to reconsider the ruling and supporters have 90 days to petition the supreme court. in mississippi, henry curtis jackson, jr., was executed by lethal injection for the 1990 murders of four young nieces and nephews. he was put to death despite the pleas of his two sisters to spare the brother that killed their children. miss pennsylvania has resigned charging last weekend's miss usa pageant was fixed. she claims someone correctly told her the pageant's top five finishers before the show started. she called the pageant, among other things, fraudulent and trashy. pageant officials deny the charges and claimed she told them she was resigning due to the inclusion of trans-gendered contestants. here is a look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,127 after adding 26 points yesterday.

the s&p was up 7, the nasdaq gained 18. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei jumped 151 points, while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 261. a little upbeat economic data helped stocks recover some lost ground wednesday. -- tuesday. data showing the service sector improved in may outweighed worries about the euro zone's fiscal crisis. financial stocks got the biggest boost. bank of america rose 3%, jp morgan added 3. investors hoping for signs of action from the european central bank's interest rate meeting today. after yesterday's emergency g-7 talks offered no new debt solutions. today the fed releases its beige book survey, as speculation swirls around whether it will step in with another round of stimulus. a possibility, the wall street journal reports, is back on the table. among market movers, jc penney fell 4% after the ceo says the new pricing strategy

confused customers. the nasdaq will reveal how it plans to compensate firms that lost an estimated $100 million in the botched facebook ipo. yesterday facebook hit a new low after falling nearly 4%. government backed mortgage giant fannie mae has appointed its top lawyer to replace its yacht going ceo. in washington, state republicans blocked a democratic bill calling for equal pay in the work place saying the protection for women already exists, and that the bill would only create more paperwork for the government. finally on the more proactive side, italy is trying to revamp the face of board rooms with so-called pink quotas, requiring public companies ensure one third of their board members are women by 2015. coming up, a yankee goes yard, the dodgers rally and the nats walk off in extras. plus the celtics dispel any lingering notions they're too old or tired.

your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we're going to continue to watch strong thunderstorms today, this time in florida. 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's eastern finals, the celtics had an answer to every miami move. taking them one win away from the finals. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning, chris bosh returned for the miami heat last night, but even that was not enough to stop the boston celtics. game five of the eastern conference finals, bosh received a standing ovation when he entered the game in the first quarter. played just 14 minutes and had nine points. boston never led in the first half but capped off a 15-1 run. keyon dooling from downtown and the celts up by five. miami answered back with a run of their own. took back the lead with nine straight points. dwyane wade had 27. but down the stretch it appeared boston simply wanted it more. brandon bass was blocked by wade. rajon rondo kicked the rebound to michael pretruss, drained the three and silenced the crowd. on the mad scramble for the ball, ray allen found paul pierce, swung it to pietrus for

another three. everything going the celts way. under a minute to play, paul pierce, with the dagger in lebron james' face. boston grabbed the lead with a shocking 4 94-90 win. former yankee hideki matsui made his return to new york for the first time as a member of the rays. russell martin welcomed him back in grand fashion. bases clearing bomb to right field, yanks one 7-0. cliff lee was cruising along and then made a costly mistake in the eighth. the dodgers with a shot deep to left. juan pierre couldn't make the grab. in came two. dodgers take the lead, despite striking out 12 lee came up short. he's yet to win a game this season. dodgers rallied 2-1. no league was safe in washington. nationals tied the game in the 12th. bryce harper ended it, the first walk-off on the business, mets blew three different leads and nats made them pay, 7-6 in 12. that's your early look at sports on "early today."

i'm fred roggin. >> who got busted in the big apple and who is tweeting the president for help with her case. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. a champion for finishing first in one race, a greater champion how she finished the next. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this wednesday. all the stormy weather will be

exiting areas of the northern rockies slowly during the day today. kind of a raw, chilly morning out there. highs today only in the 60s from salt lake city to boise. this is completely different ball game than what you had earlier this week and last weekend. we'll slowly warm you back up even tomorrow in salt lake city we get up to 80. the northwest looks like showers will return for you. if you're watching us on kgw news channel 8, everyone owns something they could never give up like lynn. now hear the reasons for keeping those items at object stories at the portland art museum. that's your pacific event of the day. >> you have more than one, right? >> yes. >> thanks. >> here es a look at entertainment. breaking news regarding a grown up step by a former child star. listen to this "people" magazine reports 19-year-old miley cries you and 21-year-old liam hemsworth are engaged to be married. >> after how well, he's done i'd

marry him too. sheryl crow revealed yesterday she has a benign brain tumor. crow who battled breast cancer in 2006, forget the lyrics to one of her hits on stage in may and got tested and now she is very happy she's not going to be losing her memory. lose that tumor. >> scout willis, demi and bruce willis' daughter was caught drinking under age in public with a fake i.d. she has a july court date. elton john worried about the health of his son's godmother, lady gaga, elton john sounds like a ga mother himself. and amanda booins charged tuesday with dui over an april arrest. booins who denies she drinks at all took to twitter writing president obama of all people, quote, please fire the cop who arrested me. >> the bottom line, dear president i don't drink at all, how i got this dui. >> can you step in and make it go away. >> the cop made a big mistake. >> always.

>> from wdtn, in dayton, ohio, in west liberty, a high school student was a winner during a track meet because she was willing to lose. megan had won a 1600 meter race but then, during the 3200 meter race she watched a competitor stumble. instead of blowing past her, megan stopped and began helping her opponent limp to the finish line, that meant megan technically came in last but she won the respect of everyone who saw who selfless act. great lesson there. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today" your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in taiwan a three legged race isn't enough. try a 603 leg race. that is how many participants bound their legs together and set a new guinness world record. to coordinate people color coded each leg and followed signals from a commander waving corresponding flags. the group successfully walked 165 feet without anyone stopping or falling down for the title. runners in england decided to make their race more difficult. contestants had to complete the course with a sack of wool on their shoulders. a 60-pound sack for the men 25 pounds for the women, and tough terrain for everyone. the tradition stems from the 1600s when young men displayed strength by running the packs up steep hills to impress ladies.

finally, a dinner in belgium has promised to be an over the top experience or over the city experience. suspended more than 160 feet in the air, guests enjoyed an event called dinner in the sky. you can see why. the platform location changes weekly, giving diners the opportunity to enjoy various views of the city including the royal palace and other landmarks. can you guess where i will never eat continuer? dinner? >> i can. they are all a little too serious. >> they thought they would plunge to their deaths before dessert. >> death by chocolate. >> time for early look at stories we'll follow here on nbc marking the 46th anniversary of d-day, the national d-day memorial will hold the commemoration ceremony in virginia. this year the memorial will add the name of a sailor recently discovered to have been among those killed that day. in washington, house minority leader nancy pelosi will be honored by the national women's history museum for 25 years of service in the house of representatives. msnbc's rachel maddow will

moderate the event. happy birthday to former "early today" anchor and current "today" member natalie morales who turns 40. stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here is a look at what is coming up later on the "today" show. hear one man's ongoing struggle with his weight. how he lost 400 pounds only to gain most of it back again. jane fonda and jada pickett smith will be live in studio to preview their upcoming films. keep it on 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 on your nbc station. have a good one.