good tuesday morning. coming up on "early today" president obama heads back to the jersey shore for a look at the recovery from sandy. while senator john mccain makes a surprise visit to syria is raising eyebrows. court begins in just a few hours for george zimmerman's defense team as they find out what evidence can and cannot be presented at the trial for the murder of trayvon martin. updates on that royal caribbean cruise ship fire and the 2200 passengers on board. plus tornadoes are expect this week with wednesday being the worst day. paul mccartney channels elvis at graceland. and "fast and furious 6" blows them away at the movies. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for tuesday, may 28th. good morning, i'm dara brown.

we begin in the middle east where two big stories leading the news. a wave of violence in iraq killed more than 70 people, and a secret trip inside syria by one of the country's most prominent voices on expanding military involvement there. nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, is in beirut and has our report. >> reporter: violence spreading across the middle east and it's all interconnected. it was an especially horrible day in baghdad. at least 15 explosions. most of them car bombings. most of them in poor shiite neighborhoods. this is another sign despite years of american sacrifice the civil war in iraq appears to be coming back. but violence is not just in iraq now but also here in lebanon but of course in syria. and syria is at the center of this. the war in syria is dragging the countries around it back into chaos. senator john mccain put himself right in the center of this storm. he visited syria. he visited in secret. it was a surprise visit.

he stayed on the ground just for a few hours. senator mccain wants more to be done for the rebels. senator mccain specifically wants weapons to start flowing to the rebels and today that may look a little bit more likely after the european union announced it's lifting an arms embargo on syria making it legal for european nations to give or sell weapons. to the syrian opposition. richard engel, nbc news, beirut. in the wake of controversy plaguing the white house, president obama is taking a detour to the jersey shore today. he'll survey of progress of rebuilding along the coastline with governor chris christie. it's a replay of a scene we saw right after hurricane sandy and just days before the president's re-election in november. nbc's tracie potts is in washington with a preview. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. think about the impact that picture had days before the election, a democratic president getting a pat on the back from a republican governor who's been touted as a possible 2016

presidential candidate. that seems to have a bit of a boost for president obama. now the tables are turned. governor chris christie presiding over this rebounding jersey shore. he'll take president obama on a tour. today they'll talk with business owners who have been able to rebuild their businesses over the last seven months. in part because of federal money coming into new jersey. they'll talk with homeowners who are still having a tough time rebuilding their homes and their lives. and now, as i said, the tables have turned a bit because governor christie, a republican governor, is trying to get re-elected in a heavily democratic state that the president won and won big last year. so besides following the money and besides following this rebuilding that's happening in jersey that we'll see today, we're also following the political impact of this visit. dara? >> tracie, thank you. shifting gears now to a report out this morning sounding the alarm on the nation's vulnerability to cyber attacks. an article appearing on the

front page of today's "washington post" says numerous designs for u.s. weapons systems have been hacked by the chinese. the paper looked at previously undisclosed sections of secret findings prepared for the pentagon by the defense science board. in that report, it cites more than two dozen major weapons systems whose designs have been breached. amon them, u.s. combat aircraft and naval ships. as well as programs critical to missile defenses. experts warn it could give the chinese access to more advanced technology and weaken the united states' military advantage. in january a government advisory panel warned the pentagon is unprepared to counter a full-scale cyber conflict. president obama is expected to raise the issue when he meets with china's president next month. a court hearing this morning will determine what kind of evidence a jury will see in george zimmerman's murder trial. his defense team is hoping to use data obtained from trayvon martin's cell phone which includes a photo of the 17-year-old blowing smoke and what appears to be a marijuana plant.

prosecutors say there's no evidence martin was under the influence or that marijuana contributed to his death. also at issue, the defense's request to delay the june 10th trial. zimmerman has pleaded not guilty in last year's fatal shooting in florida. that ignited racial tensions around the country. we should mention george zimmerman has sued nbc universal for defamation, and the company has strongly denied his allegations. another burn to the cruise ship industry already reeling from several high-profile mishaps, a fire aboard royal caribbean's grandeur of the seas is forcing more than 2200 passengers back home from the bahamas. and while no one was injured, the damage is clearly visible. the company says it extinguished monday's early morning fire within two hours, and the ship never lost power. royal caribbean has apologized and is giving passengers a full refund and certificate for a future cruise. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with the forecast. and bill, are we going to have more severe weather this week?

this has been a crazy spring. >> we definitely will. yesterday something rare happened. we had a storm chaser go through the center of a strong tornado. he actually purposely did it. this is what they call a tornado intercept vehicle. it weighs about 1400 pounds. and they estimated it was 150 to 170-mile-an-hour winds. i say estimated because at 150 miles per hour, the wind gauge on top of the vehicle snapped and broke. i mean, this is a vehicle meant to do this. it actually has hydraulics that lower it to the ground so the tornado doesn't pick up the vehicle. really crazy footage there. yesterday from northern kansas. it was a big tornado. and thankfully it was mostly over the farmers' vehicles. this is a picture of the vehicle to let you know what went through. it looks like literally a tank. it weighs like it, too. it has steel reinforcement on it. more storms are likely. more tornadoes as we go throughout this week. the cool weather and the storm that went through the west yesterday will be the one responsible for all the nasty weather in the midsection in the days ahead.

again, the areas of yellow, severe weather risk today. and then tomorrow, a possible tornado. possibly more strong tornadoes right through the heartland. as far as the weather on the west coast goes, we're watching the storm exiting but still have a pretty strong jet stream bringing in clouds and cool air, on-shore flow from san francisco northward. so the forecast today, it's cool for this time of year. temperatures will be in the low 60s in san francisco. sacramento will probably be lucky to be up there in the 70s. and most of the stormy weather will be in the intermountain sacramento. maybe at most, 880. 80. we won't get a lot of big storms this week in the west, but that on-shore flow keeps it cool because of the pacific water. >> taking a little break from that. that's good. thank you, bill.

a passenger tries to open an airline door in flight. and one of the dumbest and most dangerous parenting techniques i've ever heard of to get a baby to stop crying. plus bernie madoff's brother's house is a steal, and it is for sale. "early today" is back in two.

welcome back to "early today." an air force pilot has been safely rescued after his fighter jet went down this morning off the coast of japan. u.s. military officials the pilot ejected over the pacific ocean when the f-15 began experiencing problems. the name of the pilot has not been released. the cause of the crash is under investigation. officials found six homemade bombs and molotov cocktails under the floorboard of an oregon teenager's bedroom. 17-year-old grant accord was arrested for allegedly planning a columbine-style attack. his mother said he suffered from a rare form of ocd. a passenger aboard an alaska airline flight monday was arrested for trying to open an

emergency exit mid-flight. fellow passengers restrained the 23-year-old using shoe laces and seat belt extensions. he's been booked on charges of interfering with the flight crew. two governments in south america are issuing red alerts for an increasingly active volcano. officials in chile and argentina say the volcano could erupt any day. they're now preparing to order evacuations for more than 2200 people. and more celebrities are signing up for tomorrow's concert benefiting the victims of last week's oklahoma tornado. usher, rascal flatts and ryan tweeter from one republic will join country star blake shelton to raise money for storm relief. you can watch that tomorrow night at 9:00/8:00 central right here on nbc. now for a look at our business headlines, we turn to cnbc's bertha coombs. good morning. >> good morning. rupert murdoch is meeting with investors node. news corp. will discuss the future of the media giant. the remaining publishing

business which includes "the wall street journal" and "new york post" will keep the news corp. name. disney is not the happiest place on earth. australia is. a new report finds the land down under is the happiest place to live. it ranks jobs and education. the u.s. came in sixth. wall street looks to regain its footing amid comments by fed chairman ben bernanke about the bank's comic stimulus programs. investors get information on housing and consumer confidence. back to you. >> thanks, bertha. now to some other business headlines. oil prices have fallen below $94 a barrel ahead of those data reports bertha mentioned. general electric says it's investing billions of dollars on fracking, oil and gas drilling. ge has spent about $15 billion over the past few years, buying up related companies and opening a new lab in oklahoma. canadian drugmaker vallion pharmaceuticals says it will buy

b bausch & lomb. "the new york times" got a firsthand view of this mansion which comes complete with a pool housh, lavish gardens and filled with paintings, silver, antiques and plenty of crystal. starting salaries for companies have risen to $95,000 a year this year, that's up from $90,000 in 2012. and the obama administration has proposed raising taxes on air travel by about $14 per flight. the money would help reduce the deficit and pay for improvements at airports as well as at customs staffing. the airline industry, though, opposes such a tax increase. rutgers university just keeps stepping into the same problems. a new official accused of abusing past athletes. plus, major controversy over danica patrick's boyfriend causing her to crash.

tony stewart is not happy about it. next.

now to some sports and the nhl playoffs. chicago forces a game seven against detroit. game six tied at 2-2 in the third. and chicago's brian bickel scores the go-ahead goal. the blackhawks go on to a 4-3

win, forcing a winner-take-all matchup in chicago wednesday night. in the nba playoffs, san antonio got out the broom in game four of the western conference finals, beating the grizzlies 93-86. in the wnba, britney grinner dunked in the fourth quarter, the first one since 2008 and became the first player to have a second dunk in the same game. but chicago beat phoenix 102-80. the new athletic director at rutgers, julie herman, will not lose her job according to the university president. she was brought in over the scandal after basketball coach mike rice abusing players, but herman's former players also accused her of abuse which she says she cannot remember. in baseball, players on all teams wore camouflage caps and jerseys with camo numbers and letters as a memorial day tribute to members of the american military. the central oklahoma broncos won the ncaa division ii softball national championship.

they honored the tornado victims in nearby moore, oklahoma, by wearing blue ribbons in their hair, and it read "pray for ok." at the coca-cola 600, ricky stenhouse jr. bumped danica patrick, causing her to crash. the kicker is that patrick and stenhouse are dating. but patrick's team owner, tony stewart, says he is fed up with stenhouse for blocking other drivers. an nfl quarterback robert griffin iii has sent handwritten thank-you notes to many fans who showered him with gifts before his upcoming wedding. "early today sports" is brought to you by just for men mustache & beard. keep your edge. just ahead, president obama is about to do something that will surely tick off most republicans. plus, six is a charm for parent company nbc universal. details next.

what a week it's going to be in alaska. you struggled through a very cold beginning of your spring, and this is picture-perfect weather. anybody taking a cruise up here or traveling, this is ideal. fairbanks, upper 70s to low 80s today. and that forecast holds through the end of the week. anchorage, beautiful today. remember, it snowed, was it last week, maybe ten days ago? today 74 and sunny in juneau. enjoy that. it's actually warmer in alaska than many spots of the western half of the united states. today we're still going to see showers and storms rolling through the intermountain west. a few sprinkles in washington. pendleton has had rain overnight. pretty much dry in california.

we're not cold or cool, even, in vegas and phoenix, but temperatures at 91 and 97 this time of year, that's probably a little bit below average. >> thank you, bill. we are going to move now on to entertainment. this memorial day weekend was a record setter at the box office. "fast & furious 6" led the pack at $120 million over four days. the high-speed sequel raked in more than $300 million worldwide, making it the biggest universal picture's release to date. >> and you want to see it why? >> it looks fun. and i've seen the other five. so why not see the sixth? >> you're a groupie. i had no idea. >> fast cars, what can i say? it looks great. now amanda bynes has an impressive to-do list according to the starlet's latest twitter rant. >> look at that haircut. >> that's a wig. >> she plans to sue not only the nypd but also her apartment complex for lying about her smoking marijuana late last week. she even talks about a future nose job and a career as a

singer/rapper. >> that would go great. >> yeah. >> wise career move. >> court first. first things first, right? moving on to paul mccartney. he paid homage to elvis this weekend. the former beatle visited the home of the late king of rock 'n' roll, and he left behind a guitar pick. >> that's cool. >> so elvis can play in heaven. that's an interesting idea. >> and the person immediately after him probably took it. >> yes. this is paul mccartney's. reality series "duck dynasty" has reportedly teamed up with hallmark to create a line of father's day cards. that will be a must-buy come father's day. >> are you a big fan of the show? >> no, haven't seen it. >> you're a company girl. >> i'll have to watch the duck hunters. in a recent interview with "the new york times," singer billy joel said he used booze as medication following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. joel had been in and out of

rehab dealing with depression and substance abuse for years after the attacks where he, quote, knocked the wind out of him. and in an interview with "entertainment weekly," rob lowe revealed his drastic transformation for "behind the candelabra." it required pulling his eyebrows backwards until closing his eyes was no longer an option. i actually watched part of this weekend. >> what did you think? >> you know, michael douglas, matt damon, two of my favorites, it was great. i remember liberace, you know, like on johnny carson and those kinds of shows. >> does it seem oscar worthy, you think? >> i don't know. i didn't watch the whole thing. i had to watch it in snippets. zbl you're the movie expert. >> you're watching "early today."

kentucky church is dropping its scouting program. the church with more than 30,000 members will break ties. and in "the new york times," obama plans three nominations for key courts. he'll try to fill three vacancies. and of course challenging republicans to find reasons to block the nominations. topping our news, chicago police say they have arrested the man who they believe shot and killed 6-month-old watkins in march. coleman willis is charged with first-degree murder. police say he was seeking revenge for a video game theft. his father, the intended target. the jersey shore revisited.

chris christie will give president obama a tour of the rebuilt shore. it's a replay right after hurricane sandy and just days before obama won re-election. they say you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. well, it looks like this horse in san rafael, made its way to the water but fell into the well. kntv reports crews rescues the horse monday after several hours after it was agitated and tired, but thankfully the horse was okay. one man in norway clearly had a lot on his mind. a norwegian crime novelist broke the world record for longest television interview ever. talking for more than 30 hours. wow! the novelist discussed everything from u.s. history to pudding recipes. and in england, an american army veteran took first at a centuries-old cheese rolling race. >> watch out! that's our man. >> they frown on this event because of safety concerns, but it goes on as scheduled every

year. and 23 competitors threw caution to the wind as they chased the cheese down the hill. i don't know what they do with the cheese after that. i'm curious. i wonder if they break out the rolls, bring out the beer. >> that's your trophy. it goes on the mantel. >> a lot of cheese to be had there. time now for a look ahead. an education nation event in washington today. education secretary arne duncan is joined by nba all-star chris paul and nbc's andrea mitchell. it's harvest time at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. first lady michelle obama will be joined by schoolchildren affected by hurricane sandy. to bring in summer crop from the white house kitchen garden. and coming up on "today," nick cannon talks about welcoming heidi klum on the new season of "america's got talent." keep it here for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc

station. have a great tuesday.

. . out of control, a growing wild fire cuts memorial vacation short near santa barbara causing hundreds to evacuate. robbing peter to pay paul. the controversial plan that has firefighters up today. up in smoke. one bay area city's plan to put a stop to smoke shops a live look at san francisco. the transamerica building standing tall. this is "today in the bay." good m