but don't be greedy in that group. the quarters won't be fine. i'm jim cramer. see you tomorrow. this morning on "early today," dangerous escalation? the u.s. accuses russia of sending attack helicopters to syria as fears grow of an all out civil war. texas terror. police dash cam video shows a toddler being thrown from a rolled over suv during a high-speed chase. and weather whirlwind. panic in venice, italy, as a rare twister tears across the panic in venice, italy, as a rare twister tears across the island city. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with confronting

russia. this morning the u.s. is challenging russia, questioning that nation over sending attack helicopters to the syrian government. secretary of state hillary clinton says the delivery of those helicopters will, quote, escalate the conflict quite dramatically. she wants the president in russia, vladimir putin, to stop the helicopter shipment. amateur video appeared to show heavy shelling in homs, a day after united nations monitors said syrian attack helicopters fired on rebel strongholds there. meanwhile in moscow, tens of thousands of russians are all across the political spectrum took to the streets to protest against president putin for the first time since he retook that office last month. they denounced the government for rounding up many opposition leaders on monday. well, back here at home, wildfires are still raging out of control in parts of the west as tireless crews face stubborn winds and parched terrain. in just a few days, the high park fire in colorado has mushroomed to a 68-square-mile expanse of smoke and flames

that's killed one person and engulfed more than a hundred structures. officials say it's only 5% contained. meanwhile a state of emergency has been declared in southern new mexico where the little bear fire has damaged or destroyed upwards of 200 homes. well, day two of the testimony in the child sex abuse trial of former penn state football coach jerry sandusky was marked by tears and more disturbing testimony. nbc's brian mooar reports from bellefonte, pennsylvania. >> reporter: day two of the jerry sandusky child sex abuse trial wrapped up with bombshell testimony from one-time graduate student mike mcqueary. he is the only third-party witness to sandusky's alleged crimes, and he told the court he caught his coaching mentor and a boy in a locker room shower. mcqueary testified that one night in 2001 he heard a skin-on-skin slapping sound and caught a glimpse of sandusky and

a preteen boy for only a second or two. instead of going to authorities, he told his father and later penn state coach joe paterno. >> he's a very convincing witness. he's very clear, he's very sharp, and he's very confident. >> reporter: mcqueary was barred from telling the jury what paterno said because the legendary coach died back in january and his statements are now legal hearsay. the day began with a distraught 18-year-old known as victim number one describing what he said was his first sexual encounter with sandusky. i froze, he said. my mind was telling me to move, but i couldn't do it. i couldn't move. he wasn't yet 13 and testified that sandusky's seemingly innocent touching escalated into repeated sexual contact. >> when you start adding these victims together, we start to get a whole complete package and each victim reinforces the other. >> reporter: under persistent questioning the witness broke

down again, admitting he didn't tell the truth because he was afraid and ashamed. a social worker verified the young man's account, saying sandusky admitted to having various forms of physical contact but said there wasn't any sexual intent. like the previous accuser, this second witness acknowledged he has a civil lawyer but denied he once said the case was going to make him rich. brian mooar, nbc news, bellefonte, pennsylvania. well, the survivor of the arizona shooting rampage that wounded former arizona congresswoman gabrielle la giffords has won a special election to fill her seat in congress. democrat ron barber, a gifford staffer who was wounded in the tucson shooting that killed six people in 2010, had been expected to win yesterday's special vote. during the run-up to yesterday's vote, giffords campaigned for her former district director. well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. this is just some shocking dash cam video. it's from a texas police cruiser and shows the amazing survival of an 18-month-old little girl who was ejected from an suv.

and miraculously the toddler rises to her feet, then chases after the vehicle, whose parents were both in the suv. the high-speed chase began after one of the occupants robbed a woman at gunpoint. police arrested four teens. cameras inside a kentucky courtroom were rolling when a scuffle between a bailiff and an inmate burst through the door. an attorney and additional officers immediately rushed in to help. it took three men to hold down the 260-pound inmate before he was shackled and then taken back to jail. california sanitation workers showed that they're tired of cleaning up one bank's mess. the group tussled with security when they attempted to dump trash bags in the lobby of the bank's headquarters. they accuse the bank of ignoring an ordinance requiring maintenance of foreclosed homes. and, finally, tall ships from around the world ended their stay in norfolk. the visiting fleet of vessels were a part of the opsail 2012,

a tribute and celebration of u.s. maritime history. the ships were scheduled to arrive in baltimore this morning. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your rainy weather channel forecast for a lot of the parts of the country. have you ever climbed to the top of a mast. >> i've never thought of doing that. >> extremes here. someone else is changing the light bulbs. good morning, everyone. we saw extreme heat yesterday. death valley, one of the hottest days of the summer was up to 115 degrees yesterday. phoenix was 107 so the heat is almost mid summer like in the desert southwest right now. that onshore flow is an interesting split. on shore flow right along the coast. probably in the low 70s from san francisco to l.a. interior california, from the mountain areas, very warm air spreading north wards to the mid 80s. boise all the way up to salt lake city. here's what we're dealing with.

our jet stream is it in a split flow. this usually means a pretty tranquil weather pattern. we don't get any big dips or dives. you won't see any big storms. high pressure is protecting nevada, the four corner region all the way back to california. a couple of weak storms over the next couple of days will push through the northwest. we'll probably see a nice period of weather towards the end of this week. right now just a few showers out there off i-5 into the mountains. a couple of them were in spokane. it's looking for a dry morning for many of us. just a chanceyable. flagstaff, arizona, still dealing with morning clouds. no big storms. pretty quiet and tranquil.

>> bipolar, thanks so much. coming up, stimulus buzz stimulates stocks. wall street big wig takes the hot see the. does a new dessert sound terrific or gross? you decide. early morning business headlines. lindsay lohan may have found a new role but it may not be the best role to improve her public image. coming up, game one of the nba fiejs. alexall royalty.

good morning, i'm lynn berry. shelly zimmerman, the wife of george zimmerman has been arrested charged with lying to a judge about how much money she and her husband had available at a bail hearing. the man who shot trayvon martin had been released on $150,000 bond but the couple actually had thousands of dollars in donations to a website.

catherine greig, girlfriend of reputed mobster james "whitey" bulger, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for helping him evade arrest for 16 years. she had pleaded guilty in march. legendary mobster henry hill has died at age 69. hill's life story was the basis for the movie "goodfellows." hill reformed later in life and was a frequent guest on "the howard stern show." a tornado-like wind swirled through venice, italy, yesterday causing some damage and uprooting trees. winds weren't fast enough to qualify as a tornado and there were no injuries. >> and you can bid on george washington's personal copies of the u.s. constitution and bill of rights later this month. the 223-year-old documents bound together in a book with washington's handwritten notes are expected to sell for $2 million to $3 million. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,573 after

jumping 162 points yesterday. the s&p rose 15. the nasdaq climbed 33. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei added 51 points, while in hong kong the hang seng gained 153. despite more signs of trouble out of europe, stocks staged one of their strongest rallies of the year tuesday. despite borrowing costs surging in debt-ridden spain, one fed official's comments in favor of more economic stimulus here at home sparked a surge of optimism on the street. on the nasdaq, short sales of zynga were halted after the social gamer tumbled 10%. michael kors jumped 7% on stronger than expected quarterly earnings. dell rose after announcing its first ever shareholder dividend. on capitol hill today, jpmorgan chase ceo jamie dimon will apologize to congress for what he calls a poorly conceived trading strategy that led to a stunning multi-billion-dollar loss. dutch bank ing has agreed to

shell out $619 million for illegally funneling billions of dollars through u.s. banks for clients from cuba and iran. in the wake of the massive data breach earlier this year, credit card processor global payments says more data may have been stolen than initially thought. yahoo! and cnbc.com, the website of our sister network, which like this network is owned by nbc universal, have inked a deal to create and share content on their respective sites. and, finally, just in time for barbecue season, burger king is getting in on that salty sweet food pairing trend with a bacon sundae. just in case you're counting calories, the vanilla soft serve with fudge, caramel, and bacon clocks in at 510 calories. i think i'll pass. coming up, the mets rock the rays, a yankee slams into the history books, and the phils get robbed by a fan. plus, a clutch performance in the fourth quarter decides game one of the nba finals.

your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. every morning we're tracking thunderstorms. i'll tell you whose turn it is tomorrow. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today."

and in sports last night in game one of the nba finals, the oklahoma city thunder maintained their perfect home record in the postseason, cooling off the miami heat. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. lebron james may be the mvp, but kevin durant proved once again why he is the scoring champ. game one of the nba finals in oklahoma city. miami riding high from their victory over the celts and kept it going against the thunder. knocked down six three-pointers in the first half. when they weren't hitting from downtown, they were forcing turnovers. lebron james with two of his 30. miami up by as many as 13. thunder cut the lead down to seven at the break. durant over chris bosh. it was a sign of things to come. okay. see, he looked like a completely different team in the second half. russell westbrook, the layup and the foul, the thunder with their first lead in the game. kevin durant took over in the fourth, off the turnover. coast to coast for the jam. 17 of his 36 came in the fourth. thunder ran away with game one, 105 to 94. best team in baseball just locked down one of their best players. the dodgers signed andre ethier

to a five-year $85 million extension. now to atlanta, the braves cruising along when the yanks grabbed the lead with two big swings. alex rodriguez tied the game with a grand slam. 23rd of his career matches lou gehrig's all-time mark. nick swisher followed that up with a home run of his own, a two-run bomb that gave new york the lead. the yanks tagged the braves for six in the eighth and won it, 6-4. mets also put up six in an inning. ike davis capped off the seventh with a 3-1 blast to right. mets over the rays, 11-2. enough of the home runs. how about some defense. a's and rockies. cliff pennington hit one deep but not deep enough. tyler colvin climbed the ladder and made the leaping grab. rob pennington of an assured home run. unfortunately not enough. the a's won it, 8-5. finally, catch of the night, not by a player but by a fan. a fly ball into foul territory. the phils' mike fontenot was there, but this kid wanted it more and he made the grab over fontenot. sign him up, the phils could have used that kind of glove in the outfield. they lost to the twins, 11-7.

that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: early today sports is brought to you by ice blue aqua develop va. men get it. the latest goofy celebrity baby name, the actor who wants his high school diploma, and who's been offered a big role in the next "hunger games" movie. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, seeing pictures of this fire that scorched texas last year, it is hard to believe that hope and beauty were created from its ruins, but we'll show you. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this wednesday. we have just a few showers, very few showers out there in the higher elevations of the extreme northwestern portions of washington state. we won't see much of bad weather. the marine layer, on shore flow is very light. lingering clouds. san francisco to l.a., that yields to late afternoon sun. that keeps things cooler than we'd like. if you're watching us on khq in spokane, washington, celebrate the recent donation of art. at uncommon gifts at the northwest museum of arts and culture and that's your pacific event of the day. i like that. >> not bad. i'll try that out.

well, now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. another day, another twist in the ongoing saga with lindsay lohan. you knew this was coming. now she's in talks to star opposite a porn actor playing a straight role in the canyons, a sex crime thriller that starts filming in july, that is unless legal troubles related to her latest traffic incident gets in the way. mark wahlberg, a ninth grade dropout, tells david letterman he's going online to earn his high school diploma. reports say philip seymour hoffman has been offered the first major role in the "hunger games: catching fire." that's the next film in the red-hot franchise. the "chicago sun-times" quotes a long-time associate of both courteney cox and david arquette as predicting their divorce which arquette filed for yesterday, saying it will be, quote, one of the most civilized divorces in hollywood history. the friends said it merely recognized the obvious. they have both moved on. and, finally, weird hollywood baby name of the day, bill doesn't seem to think this is so weird.

it goes to "how i met your mother" star alyson hannigan who named her baby girl keeva. that's unique. >> very good. unique. well, this coming to us from kxan news in austin, texas, where in nearby bastrop the wreckage of a devastating fire is helping one community heal. a group of local artists teamed up with a texas nonprofit organization to transform ruins from last september's fire. an exhibit displays artwork reflecting a wide array of emotions and painful reminders. proceeds will go toward restoration efforts, giving the town a much needed lift as it works to rise from the ashes. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in china two polar bear cubs have reason to celebrate. they were born earlier this year, and today marks their 100th day together. could that be any cuter? while the cuddly cubs appear to be harmless, zookeepers say the bears are rapidly getting stronger and they must use caution when handling them. officials believe they'll be old enough for public viewing any day now. ten cooks used seven cows to prepare the world's largest kabob, a traditional turkish dish with roasted meat cooked on a spit. measuring more than eight feet tall and weighing more than 2,600 pounds it had to be brought in by crane. nauseating. it shattered the previous record

set in dubai by about 1,600 pounds. and, finally, the london olympics will begin in typical english fashion. director danny boyle of "slumdog millionaire" fame unveiled details of the opening ceremony, the idealized version of an english countryside called green and pleasant. it will include real farm animals, recreations of british landmarks, and artificial clouds that can produce rain, making sure the weather is also reflective of the culture. >> forget the weather. where's the pub. >> no kidding. i want a pitcher of guinness to go along with that. do they really need to bring in the rain? >> shouldn't we be inside to avoid it? it's time for now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. in washington next week ahead of the g-20 summit, timothy geithner will speak about the state of the global economy. andrea mitchell, nbc's chief correspondent, will serve as moderator. also in washington bob

woodward will talk about his role in reporting the watergate scandal. sunday marks 40 years since a team of burglars broke into democratic party headquarters leading to the scandal that eventually forced the resignation of richard nixon. and twins mary-kate and ashley olsen turn 26. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and more as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. star jones offers her expert analysis of the jerry sandusky trial. and in a "today" exclusive, the parents of a 7-year-old who played darth vader in a popular super bowl ad speak up about their son's upcoming open heart surgery. 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. the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org.