i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. this morning on "early today" -- from one extreme to another. wildfires worsen in the west while the southeast gets slammed by nearly two feet of rain. bugging out. a california town encounters an infestation of almost biblical proportion. and gun blazing. a piece of wild west history and gun blazing. a piece of wild west history goes under the hammer. captions paid for by nbc-universal television i'm veronica de la cruz. today begin with burning out of control. high winds are fanning the flames of two wild fires that

have forced hundreds of evacuations in colorado and new mexico. fire officials say it has destroyed or damaged 18 structures and scorched 20,000 acres. lightning is the cause of the fire, which officials say the fire is zero percent contained. strong winds grounded aircraft in a 40 square mile wildfire in new mexico that's burned through some three dozen structures. across the country, torrential rains brought damaging floods to the southeast. particularly the florida panhandle. heavy downpours soaked pensacola with more than 13 inches of rain on saturday, blocking roads and stranding residents and cars in the knee-high water. more than 100 people were forced to evacuate their homes. parts of southeastern alabama were drenched during the severe storm. we'll find out when the rain-soaked area can expect to dry out. that's coming up in a moment in weather. news this morning of a bizarre series of traffic accidents this weekend allegedly

involving john bryson. the l.a. county sheriff's department reports he was involved in two separate traffic collisions in nearby california counties. he was found alone and unconscious. he was hospitalized. he was cooperative and there is no indication alcohol or drugs played a role. the first collision is under investigation as a felony hit and run. back to alabama now. a statewide man hunt is underway for a gunman that opened fire at a party near the campus of auburn university, killing three people and wounding three others. two former auburn football players were among those killed. nbc's kurt gregory has details. >> reporter: a gunman open fire during a fight at a party held at an off-campus apartment complex near auburn university on saturday night. >> it happened so quick. >> reporter: three were killed in the shooting, including two former auburn university players. edward christian and ladarious phillips. three more were injured in the gunfire, one is a current football for the university.

>> very sad time for the auburn community, auburn university, auburn university athletic department. >> reporter: head coach gene chizik released a statement in part saying, my thoughts and prayers are with their families and all those involved in this tragic incident. >> not only university students and athletes, but it's -- it's young people. it's six young people that have been shot. >> reporter: authorities are hunting for the suspect, desmonte leonard, charged with capital murder and considered armed and extremely dangerous. >> we won't rest until he's located. >> reporter: as the search for the suspect continues. >> don't know what i'm going to do. i'm lost, you know what i'm saying? might live long or something like that. i grew up with him. >> reporter: as victims' friends and an entire community search

for reasons why. curt gregory, nbc news. opening statements are scheduled today in the trial of former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky. sandusky is facing 52 criminal counts for the alleged sexual abuse of ten boys over 15 years. some of the alleged victims are expected to testify when prosecutors start presenting their case. they reportedly will also show letters sandusky allegedly wrote to one of his accusers. if convicted, sandusky could spend the rest of his life in prison. here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. residents near sacramento are experiencing what some may call a nuisance of biblical proportions. an army of locusts devouring plant life everywhere and homeowners feel helpless. locals are worried the hungry insects could target vineyards and dairy ranches. over a million mexican free tail bats have turned an austin bridge into their own came. locals are loving it.

they gathered to watch the night creatures take flight. the summer feeding period has become a summer spectacle. low tide in southern california giving marine and people with gigantic snails are showing up, some as much as three times their normal size. finally, a mother and her ducklings brought traffic on a washington freeway to a standstill. police and motorists spent several minutes attempting to secure safe passage for the animals. they didn't make it easy but the family was eventually relocated. it's now time for a look at your national and regional weather forecast. did you see that, bill? he went from locust, bats, sea hear hares to bill karins. >> hopefully we're going up the evolutionary ladder, not down. the rainfall was amazing in florida this weekend. areas of the west that don't get a lot of rain, it's hard to

picture and imagine with this much rainful in one day would be li . we ended up with 13 inches of rain in pensacola on saturday. we added another 1 1/2 inches on sunday. in mobile we added over almost 10 inches of rain combined over the weekend. you have thunderstorms over the top of you this morning. if this much rain fell in the west we'd be talking about epic flooding. this was florida. it was bad. it caused a lot of damage and monetary value. it would be a lot worse if this much rain fell anywhere else in the country. we had a dry weekend in many areas of the rockies and all through the west. hot but very typical for this time of year. 102 in phoenix, 90 in veg gas. temperatures cool in the northern rockies. that's where the cold front pushed through. where do we sit today? the next storm will be coming sooner or later. temperatures are still pretty typical. 62 waking up in l.a. 57 in san francisco. there's a weak storm trying to push into the areas of the pacific northwest. it will bring some clouds today.

areas of high pressure are strong. it will deflect it and make it stall out. you will get partly cloudy skies up here. temperatures will be in the 70s. we'll have lots of sunshine. typical warmth for june in calisco should be in the 80s. monter monterey, you've been getting up into the mid 70s. look like a pretty decent week for the west. i'll have more updates coming up. >> perfect weather day on the west coast. seriously. lucky people. big bailout for spain. big speculation over apple. and the latest price for dining with the oracle. your early morning business headlines. the latest alien thriller has a whopper of an owning. still not enough to win the top spot at the box office. a thrilling end to the subway series. the orioles have a flair for the

drama particulars. the best acting job in baseball. you're watching "early today." ke

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. shell on the city of homs attempted to regain control of the opposition strong hold. former egyptian president hosni mubarak is reportedly slipping in and out of consciousness. mubarak who was sentenced to life is having difficulty. you don't know his name but you know his face. character actor frank katie has died at the age of 96. he played the general store owner on "green acres." . and legendary western sharp shooter ann any oakically's

shotgun has been sold at auction for $143,000. she became a superstar in the late 1800s starring in buffalo bill's wild west show. a total of half a million was paid for an any oakically's memorabilia. here's an early look at one of your top health headlines. many doctors are updating the way that they communicate with their patients. they send e-mails, text messages, identify medical problems via facebook and they track disease twends on twitter. some doctors still cling to pen and paper. the american medical association warns while there are benefits to using social media, doctors must protect patient privacy. for more information on this and other health stories, head to the web. check out the health page at msnbc.com. "early today" health is brought by vagisil cream. here's an early look at how wall street will open. dow opens at 12 j. 594.

the s&p went up ten. the nasdaq gained 27. taking a look at overseas trarding this morning. in tokyo the nikkei spiked 165 points while hong kong, the hang seng skyrocketed 451. coming off their best week of the year, stocks should get another lift today. eurozone finance ministers have agreed to lend spain up to $125 billion to help its battered banks. the deal removes a huge cloud hanging over financial markets for months. reacting to that news, analysts fear the relief could be short lived. worries about the outcome of greece's elections next sunday which could determine whether the debt ridden country stays in the eurozone will likely resurface later in the week. investors will also be watching jpmorgan jamie dimon talk about his trading phi as skoe. may retail sales are on deck this week. owe pack will discuss oil production levels this week as

previouses hover around eight months low. gas prices have dropped to $3.62 on average. a lot of eyes will be on apple today during its annual worldwide developer's conference. speculation is twirling about possible new software and hardware. united health care, the nation's largest insurer, says it will maintain coverage included in the nation's health care reform law. regardless how the supreme court rules on the challenge legislation. cnbc is saying they're ready to sue nasdaq from its boshed facebook ipo. big congratulations to the winner of warren buffet's annual charity lunch auction who forked over, get this, nearly 3.point $5 million to dine with the billionaire. the o's walk off, subway series swing and things get slippery. plus a spectacular cast that fools the empire. your early morning headlines are

straight ahead. after an incredible rainfall this weekend, we'll watch that storm heading up the east coast. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, two competitors competing sunday for one of tennis's top titles were forced to wait as mother nature refused

to cooperate at the french open. here's nbc's mario solis for a look at your sports headlines. good morning. for the first time in 39 years the men's final of the french open will be decided on a monday. rain ruling the day in paris. rafael nadal and djokovic played a wet and wild first half, nadal jumped out to an early two-set lead. something tells me novak wasn't too happy, takes out his frustration on the bench. that may have jumpstarted the number one player in the world. he comes back to win the third, ahead in the fourth when rain crashes the party. drizzle turns into a downpour. the match was suspended due to rain and darkness. they'll try to crown a champion this morning. start spreading the news, yankees have swept the mets after they tied it in the ninth, russell martin with a walkoff home run in the bottom of the inning, second of the game. get out the brooms, yanks win 5-4. more late inning heroics, red sox and nats tied 3-3 in the

ninth. this is what you call a hit and run. bryce harper takes off from first, bernadino to the right, and harper turn on the after-burners, motors around to score the go ahead run. that is textbook baseball. nationals win 4-3. baltimore. if you're going to play the orioles in extra innings you're probably going to lose. one on for matt weiters, touring flight to right. hunter pence can't make the grab. adam jones hustles to first to score the winning run. o's have won nine straight in extra winning 5-4. the catch of the day, or was it? pirates and royals andrew mccutchen down the line, meyers over the wall. head-first over the wall. what a grab. wait. take another look. he goes head over his heels. that's the ball rolling around. he picks it up, shows it to the umpire. it's called an out but i call it the best acting job in baseball. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. a diva's concert casualty

and details on a hollywood we wedding in texas. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we're all suckers for a cute kitten but this weekend an entire community rallied to save the life of one. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." here's what you need to know heading out the door.

not much. leave the umbrella at home. we're going to have dry weather. we will see increasing clouds in the pacific northwest. not so much today. a nice, beautiful warm day. san francisco, 84 degrees. a lot warmer than you've been lately. as we go tomorrow we've cooled off a little bit in san francisco. unfortunately we have a chance of showers in the northwest. they'll be very scattered, light. quarter inch or less. if you're waking up and watching us here this morning and you want to head somewhere for you're vent of the day, hang out art gallery. san francisco, california, 10:00 a.m. this morning until 6:00 p.m. that should be a lot of fun. back to you. and now here's another look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this summer season real battle at the box office went to the animals. the cute critter of the "madagascar 3" with a better than expected $63 million debut. they also took in $75 million overseas.

another big opening had to settle for the second spot, ridley scott's alien saga "prometheus" taking in $50 million. lady gaga suffered a concussion during her final show in new zealand when a dancer accidentally hit her on the head with a metal pole. she is said to be doing just fine and still set to start her australian tour on wednesday. you saw the video? >> got hit hard. finally after five years and two years matthew mcconaughey and camilla alves were married in austin, texas. wedding guests slept over friday in luxury tents. he was wearing a dolce & gabanna tux. for the vows, the couple whispered into each other's ears. what does a luxury tent entail? >> a luxury tent. maybe it's a come if i, come if i bed. you can go places in the caribbean. >> king sized? i heard there was air conditioning. >> in the tent? >> in the tent, yeah.

>> tent. not green. >> it's now coming to us from wmc action news 5 where the city rallied to save one precious life. a team of plumbers, city workers and animal advocates worked tirelessly to free a kitten from an underground pipe while it was trapped. while it was trapped the kitten became a social media darling generating buzz on twitter. there's no official tally of how many of the cat's nine lives were used up but eventually it was saved and was aptly named, pipe kitty. i'm veronica de la cruz, this is "early today," your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

in chile, one man goes to great depths for his wine, literally. a winemaker has a new way of storing his red wine in deep in the pacific ocean. his label is called reserve marina meaning stored in the sea. he results is result in a fuller, richer taste and even offers his customers the opportunity to dive for their bottles for themselves. one festival will have you and everyone else seeing red. around 20,000 people pelted with 15 tons of ripe tomatoes in the 16th annual tomatina or tomato fight festival. the celebration lasts about two hours marks the end of harvest in the agricultural-based

region. and speaking of spain, one tradition there has devotes taking a leap of faith. men representing the devil dress in customary garb and they jump over young babies in a religious ritual aimed at chasing away evil spirits. it dates back to before the 1600s and represents the triumph of christianity. the babies involved are all less than a year old. it's just too nerve-racking for me. no pressure or anything, right, if you're doing the jumping? >> no moms around either if you noticed. >> yeah, all guys. good point. it's time for a look at stories we'll follow throughout the day right here on nbc. nasa will offer a status update on the landing of what it calls the most advanced rover ever to be sent to mars. nasa expects the rover will land near the martian equator on 1:30 a.m. on august 6th. justin bieber will perform a free concert south of the border. mexico city officials say they expect upwards of 200,000 fans to flood the city plaza.

on friday he'll be right here on our plaza for summer concert series. something to look forward to. and big happy birthday to actor gene wilder who turns 79. happy birthday. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on nbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later today on the "today" show. hear the remarkable story of a homeless teen who worked her way out of poverty and into the halls of harvard university. the cast of "dallas" reunites to discuss the soap opera's return to air. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, sports, weather and so much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thanks for watching "early today." thanks for watching "early today." have a terrific monday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com