good morning. it's friday. here's what's coming up on "early today." president obama is in mexico talking immigration, illegal drugs and syria. the first woman ever on america's most wanted list of terrorists. the reward has doubled to $2 million. so much for spring. paof minnesota, wisconsin, wyoming are digging their way out of 15 inches of snow. the boston marathon bombers originally targeted infuriate of july. the freedom tower reaches its peak at 1776 feet. be careful when approaching the pay tolls, a warning to drivers. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for friday, may 3rd. good morning, everyone. i'm dara brown. hundreds of residents are being ordered out of their homes in southern california.

as a raging wildfire continues to burn more than 8,000 acres. this morning red-flag conditions continue as workers are working overtime to contain a series of blazes on multiple fronts. >> reporter: fire officials are calling the hot dry conditions the perfect storm for wildfires burning in southern california. dangerous santa ana winds and record temperatures fan flames in ventura county north of los angeles. fire destroyed homes, vehicles and anything in its path including this agricultural complex. a smoke advisory was issued due to concerns of chemicals in the air. the blaze broke out early thursday morning, wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour caused it to burn out of control. by midday 500 firefighters were on the front lines. >> if we can use fire as a method to help us strengthen our fire lines, and if we can do it safely without escape, we'll do it. >> reporter: more than 1,000 homes were under a mandatory evacuation order. >> our car is packed up with

pictures and everything else that, you know, that we can't replace. >> reporter: students at california state university channel islands were also told to leave their campus. air tankers battled the blaze from the air. some residents took matters into their own hands. >> what you do is you try to get everything moist so that it slows it down. >> i've got to get the hose back from my neighbors so i can get these flames back down again. >> reporter: a handful of other fires are burning in southern california including this summit fire, about an hour east of los angeles that left two firefighters injured, burned one home and charred 3,000 acres. stephanie stanton, nbc news. the national rifle association's annual convention kicks off in houston. despite months of backlash and a battle following last year's tragedy at sandy hook, organizers are predicting the largest crowd ever including a high-profile lineup of current and former conservative lawmakers. nbc's tracie potts has the details.

good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the nra wants to make a big deal of the fact that this could be their biggest convention ever. 70,000-plus members expected, and that is in light of the fact that polls have shown the majority of americans support background checks. the nra does not. and so they're certainly trying to highlight the fact that there's a lot of support at this convention. we expect to hear from sarah palin, texas governor rick perry, and texas senator ted cruz who really led the fight here on capitol hill against gun control, a fight that he won 54-46 just a few weeks ago. rick santorum, glenn beck among those who will be speaking at that convention over the weekend, not to mention the protesters outside and the ads on the airwaves are being saturated down there in houston. meantime, outside of texas, lawmakers are being hammered for their votes on gun control. most notably new hampshire senator kelly ayotte who in town

hall meetings back home has just been questioned repeatedly about why she did not support these background checks. dara? >> thank you, tracie. investigators say the marathon was not the original target of the tsarnaev brothers. suspect dzhokhar say he and older brother tamerlan originally planned the attack for the fourth of july but they moved it up after finishing their bombs early. then they decided on the marathon as their target. dzhokhar also reportedly confirmed the explosives were built in cambridge where authorities found bombmaking residue. thursday family members claimed tamerlan's body transferring to a funeral home outside boston. meanwhile, also new this morning we're learning the number of aims added to a database used to track suspected terrorists has spiked over the last five years. some 875,000 names are now on the list including tamerlan tsarnaev who was added in 2011.

president obama was in mexico thursday highlighting his push for immigration reform. speaking alongside mexican president enrique nieto, he praised the relationship between the u.s. and our neighbor to the south while vowing a future of cooperation on security and immigration reform. he also cautioned against a rush to further action in syria. >> we want to make sure that we look before we leap and what we're doing is helpful to the situation as opposed to making it more deadly or more complex. earlier thursday defense secretary chuck hagel told reporters the u.s. is rethinking its opposition to arming syrian rebels. the new york city skyline is one step closer took restored this morning. thursday workers raised an 800-ton spire to the world trade tower in lower manhattan. once permanently attached the new trade center will stand a symbolic 1776 feet making it the tallest building in the western

hemisphere and slated to open next year. this could be old man's winter last hurrah. a winter storm dumped 16 inches of snow in minnesota and wisconsin. stranding drivers and knocking out power lines to tens of thousands of people. the heavy snow caused a roof to collapse in minnesota. while sioux falls, south dakota saw it first may snowfall in 37 years. nbc's bill karins has the weekend forecast. bill, this is a crazy story. why are we having snow in may? >> extremes. i mean, in the midwest, people have snow days in may. an interesting story out of the northwest up in the bellingham area, there's actually a school, bellingham christian school, and here's their web site. school has been canceled for great weather today. three-day weekend. the principal let parents know earlier in the week that the forecast looks great and they wanted to enjoy what he called a promote positive school culture day. congratulations to that principal and all the other teachers and kids are jealous in the west. weather is as kwi eight as it

could be in the west. florida through the midwest including more snow this morning. we showed you the picture of the fire weather along with the dry conditions and sometimes when the high pressure is situated like this, we get those gusty winds out of the mountains. that's the case again today. down in the coast, cooler in l.a. near the airport at 79. once you get into the city limits interior, it's easily going to be 90 to 95 again. yesterday near one of those fires, the spring fire, it was 97 degrees with a dew point of negative four. that is exceptionally dry. that's why it's been so dangerous with those fires and so easy for them to >> we'll have to go outside today. >> in the northwest. >> yep. >> as far as the weekend goes, we'll give you that forecast

coming up. >> we're looking forward to that, bill. and i want to see sunshine. >> okay. want to know how to measure real happiness? we'll tell you how. plus billionaire warren buffett did something yesterday that grew faster than any of his investments. get ready for one of the most unpredictable events in sports, the kentucky derby airing right here on nbc.

welcome back. u.s. military transport plane carrying fuel has crashed near the kazakh/kyrgy border. it was owned by the u.s. transit center in kyrgyzstan that supports american operations in afghanistan. early this morning, gunmen killed a pakistani prosecutor investigating the assassination of benazir bhutto. police tell nbc news he was targeted while on his way to court and shot multiple times by men on motorcycles. the reward has doubled for the first woman ever placed on the fbi's most wanted terrorist list. a former member of the black

liberation army escaped from prison in 1979 where she was serving a life sentence for the 1973 murder of a new jersey state trooper. rhode island has become the tenth state to legalize same-sex marriage. the governor signed the bill just after yesterday's vote. maryland has become the 18th state to abolish the death penalty. the bill signing attracted so many advocates that the traditional photo of the event had to be taken five times to get everyone in. security video out of china looks more like an action movie. an investigation is under way after a truck driver plowed through an empty toll booth miraculously arriving along with his passenger. to cnbc's kayla tausche. good morning. >> good morning. investors awaiting the big economic report of the day, the april jobs report out before the opening bell. forecasts call for payrolls to rise by $148,000, rebounding from march but still not enough to offset recent signs the economy may be slowing.

unemployment is expected to hold at 7.6%. and barnes & noble is beefing up the nook to make the tablet more competitive with the kindle and ipad. the hd version will come with google's app store and other google services such as g-mail and google maps. and apple is closing in on a big milestone. 50 billion apps downloads. to mark the occasion, the company will give a gift card to the person who helps put it over the top. an explosion in downloads having hit 35 billion just last october. dara? >> thanks, kayla. elsewhere, crude oil had its best day of the year. imports hit a 17-year low due to increased production here in the u.s. news of the deadly factory collapse in bangladesh has brought to light disney's decision to pull its business from factories in that country. that decision came before april's collapse. at least 500 bodies have been pulled from the rubble. just in time for warren buffett's annual berkshire hathaway shareholder meeting,

the oracle of omaha joined twitter. his first twitter out of the gate, "warren is in the house." he's got 247,000 followers. one of the first to tweet him back, twitter newbi bill clinton tweeting "what took you so long?" it's resulted in a 44% pop in sales. and speaking of bourbon, at the kentucky derby, a classic mint julep will either cost you 8 bucks or $1,000. in addition to muddled mint bourbon and sugar, the latter gets you a sterling silver cup and gold-plated straw. proceeds go to charity. straight ahead, a triple crown for louisville's rick pitino. he won a national championship, was enshrined in the basketball hall of fame and could goldencents complete the triple for rick? next.

in sports, rick pitino's had a pretty good last two months. his team won the national championship, he was selected for the hall of fame and now his horse is an 11-2 gafavorite in e kentucky derby. will he get another tattoo if goldencents is victorious? we shall see. the senators skated past the canadiens in their playoff series. there was a scary moment when

defenseman eric gryba blindsided eller who was left motionless on the ice. griber was assessed a game misconduct and will likely space a suspension. in hoops, deron williams, brook lopez and joe johnson each scored 17 and the nets again avoided elimination, beating the bulls 95-92. the series goes back to brooklyn for game seven saturday with the winner getting miami in the second round. in baseball news, chicago cubs' owner tom ricketts announced that he would consider moving the team out of wrigley field if plans for renovations were blocked. the chaumburg boomers offered think park. $10 will get you a seat behind home plate. $7 a 20-ounce beer and a hot dog and free parking. sounds like a deal. just ahead, your national

weather. steven spielberg takes over american sniper. can "iron man 3" bust the weekend box office? you're watching "early today."

here's a look at your weekend forecast. of course, we need changes in southern california especially. no more hot and dry weather. today's not the day for it, though. 95 in downtown l.a. it will also be pretty windy as temperatures kick up later this afternoon. we are warm all the way up to about portland at 78 degrees.

the changes come over the weekend, though. for firefighters, mother nature provides her relief, about 79 on saturday. and then sunday, i think we're going to add even more clouds to the forecast. so it looks like a big change in the weather pattern, much cooler. and we needed it after this three or four-day stretch. it's been brutal out there for people on the front lines fighting those flames. >> it has been. we'll look for a break in that. thanks, bill. and it is called the most exciting two minutes in sports. tomorrow the 139th run for the roses, the kentucky derby, takes place in louisville. nbc's danielle leigh is live at churchill downs with a preview. danielle, good morning. >> reporter: dara, good morning. i am holding on to something pretty exciting right now. bourbon is the official drink of the derby. right here this is a $2,000 mint julep cup. this is brought to everyone by woodford reserve. this is one of the many highlights of the kentucky derby weekend people can buy these cups. of course, the second, all of the hats. and i've got my hat on right now. people have spent weeks picking out the perfect hat to go with

the perfect dress because as much as this is about the horses, it's also about the fashion, and it's about the food. i mentioned those mint juleps, they're expecting to serve 145,000 of them. also more than 500,000 meals this weekend. it is going to be quite the celebration. tracks open today at 8:00 a.m. the first race is at 10:30, and it is just jam packed with races all day today. today is about the ladies. the theme is pink. the fillies will be racing the main event later this evening. the kentucky oaks race with a $1 million purse. and this is all, of course, leading up to tomorrow's big event, the one everyone thinks about, the kentucky derby that all of the horses are getting ready for. that, a more than $2 million purse, and we are expecting more than 150,000 people to be right here at churchill downs for that. reporting live in louisville, i'm danielle leigh. dara, back to you. >> sounds great, danielle. tomorrow nbc sports network coverage of the 139th derby begins at 11:00 a.m. eastern. be sure to watch the race live

at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on this nbc station. robert downey jr. returns this weekend to theaters at "iron man." >> how many in the air? >> 13, sir. >> how many can i carry? >> four, sir. >> "iron man 3" is on track to become one of the biggest openings of all time with estimates between 150 and 180 million dollars. steven spielberg's next movie will be "american sniper." based on the autobiography of navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle. he was tragically killed at a shooting range in february. bradley cooper is slated to star in the project. jeff hahnemann, guitarist, of heavy metal band slayer died thursday of liver failure. he was one of the band's founding members. everyone thought lindsay lohan would be settled into rehab, but she had other plans. her lawyer was in court claiming she checked into morningside rehab center. lindsay was in a car on her way back to the airport.

it's unclear if she got on a plane and headed back to new york. >> we need a new saying for lindsay. usually some beat to their own drum. we need something else. she's just in her own world, this lindsay world. >> it's the world of lilo. >> that will work. >> i'm surprised they haven't put a gps on her. >> are you a horse person? do you have a horse? >> i'm going with rick pitino's. >> you are? i know he has a good chance of maybe triple crown they're talking. i've got oxbow. >> i heard there's a verrazano? >> second choice? you know your ponies. >> i do. thanks, bill. i'm dara brown, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

from talking ghosts to racing squirrels, our own mara schiavocampo has a look back at the week that was. >> what happened to spring? flash flooding and lots of snow. it wasn't the storms that tripped up a weatherman in houston. >> right in here -- excuse me. here's the big -- excuse me. a couple of thunderstorms during the overnight. >> reporter: the president got raves for his turn at comic in chief at the white house correspondents dinner. >> second term you need a burst of new energy, try some new things and then my team and i talked about it, we were willing to try anything so we borrowed one of michelle's tricks. >> reporter: but it was all business at the fbi with three new arrests in the boston bombing investigation.

the nba's jason collins out party of a lifetime. >> he came out as black and gay. even more shocking he came out as a player for the washington wizards. while the nfl tim tebow is just plain out of the jets' roster, that is. in baseball a real squirrel was escorted off the diamond while a fake one fast footed to victory in a race against a mere mortal. a swing and a lucky miss for a tv reporter who snapped a one-in-a-million selfie. psy scored a home run with fans at dodger stadium. tommy lasorda unimpressed. a mountain dew ad. pepsi pulled the spot calling it the most racist ad of all time. >> i don't think i can do this. >> reporter: at mcdonald's, hints of all-day breakfast. a cake swinging baker scored a well deserved record in china. virgin atlantic took a step closer to sending tourists here to space. and back here on earth now

appearing on yelp, prison reviews? >> a four star review of the arlington county detention facility by wendy l. "at no time about the officer violate any of my constitutional privilege and even gave me a juice box after i said i was thirsty." yes, you heard right they have juice boxes. >> you've got to love colbert. he makes me laugh every time. >> the goat was funny in the commercial, but the rest of it was not pc. >> no. i saw the goat yesterday in the commercial. and i just kept watching it going, what is he saying? thanks, bill. >> here's what's coming up later on the "today" show. the famous hats from the derby. al is live with the best and brightest the derby has to offer. and psy performs live on the plaza. >> now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today." just your first stop of the day on your nbc station. have a great weekend.

. . hundreds of homes threat nd and schoolsxd evacuated as a massive fire rages in southern california. i assure you, your police department is going to have a lot of activity. thetñd warriors from basketl téloving on in the postseason. one very special guest in the crowd to see it all, the young c boy. we'll tell you about, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. >> your police department is going to have a lot of activityc >> a promise of new protest, what brought