good wednesday morning. coming up on "early today," a blockbuster decision from the supreme court that's being felt all across the country. a texas showdown over abortion rights, including an 11-hour filibuster and the vote. plus, key testimony in the george zimmerman murder trial. the latest on nsa leaker edward snowden and michael jackson's son, prince, prepares to take the stand. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, june 26th. good morning. we begin with late word out of texas in an attempt to pass one of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws. wendy davis spoke for 11 hours before being ruled out of order.

republicans eventually forced a vote on the bill, but it came after the session ended, so now governor rick perry will have to call the legislature into a special session and the bill supporters will have to reintroduce it. the measure would ban abortions without exception for rape and incest. civil rights activists are calling it a devastating ruling. in a 5-4 decision on tuesday, the superior court shut down the most important piece of civil rights legislation in history. the reaction, it is spreading across the country, ruling resets voting rights fight. the new york times declares it hits at the heart of the voting rights act and states are moving forward with controversial changes to voting laws and civil rights activists are vowing to fight for ballot protections. nbc's pete williams has more. >> reporter: the ruling deals a

crippling and potentially fatal blow to the response to widespread efforts in the south to prevent blacks from voting. >> we'll march in today to dramatize to the nation. >> reporter: john louis, now a georgia congressman, watched as the bill was signed. >> without the voting rights act in 1965, there would be no barack obama as president of the united states of america. we've come too far to go back. >> this presents a serious setback for voting rights and has the potential to negatively effect millions of americans across the country. >> reporter: in a 5-4 ruling, the court's conservatives said the areas covered by the voting rights act has changed. the act requires states with a history of voter discrimination to get permission from the federal government before changing how they dealt with elections, but it shut down the coverage formula of where the

formula lies. chief justice john roberts says the map is based on decades-old data and eradicated practices. african-americans have a higher voter turnout percentage than whites. opponents of the law that helped challenge it hailed the ruling. >> we just elected a black president of the board of education over a white incumbent in a countywide election. >> african-americans are an integral part of southern political life, and that's a good thing and that's never going to change. >> reporter: writing for the court, ruth bader ginsburg says it's like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you're not getting wet. civil rights groups plan to rally as they did 40 years ago. >> the only way congress will act is if we march, call,

pressure, make clear we do not intend to go backwards on voting. >> one state said it would start enforcing one of the nation's strictest voter i.d. laws and may also redraw congressional and legislative districts after no longer covered by the voting rights act. >> that was nbc's pete williams reporting. joining me now on this ruling, good morning, thanks for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> absolutely. help us break this down, because chief justice john roberts said this doesn't basically say discrimination is a free for all, but what does it do? >> basically, what it does is there's always been a coverage formula and preclearance provision in the voting rights act of 1965, and while it did not strike down section 5, it basically crippled the voting rights act, because what it did is say all of the jurisdictions

covered under the coverage formula, because they had a history of discriminatory classes when the voting rights act was passed, basically there's no longer a coverage formula and jurisdictions that have to be precleared and that's extremely troubling at this point because we've had an opportunity to see just as recent as 2012 what voter suppression looked like inhis country and above section 5, it's possible many of the rulings we had that were successful would not have taken place. >> kopg can step in and redraw that map, if you will, to see which states are at risk, but is that really likely to occur? >> i think we've all had an opportunity to look at congress at work over the last year, and congress has not been effective in moving things forward that are important for the country, so we are of concern. that doesn't mean we're letting congress off the hook, by any means.

we're going to advocate with congress, use whatever mechanisms we can, but we expect congress to act forcefully and expeditiously and they have a bipartisan agreement to come forward with a new coverage formula. >> in the meantime, though, states really can do what they want. are we going to see a free for all when it comes to redistricting maps and who will that effect? >> we take a look just yesterday after the ruling was announced, texas implemented their ridged photo i.d. law. i know it's rigid. >> also talking about the voter i.d. laws, as well. >> that's right. in texas, i was co-council in that case, so i saw the evidence that was put forward, and i know african-americans and latinos will be extremely vulnerable and likely be hurt by this new bill going into effect. >> we'll see how it all plays out. seems there is a fight ahead, indeed. thanks for being with us.

>> thank you for having me. >> absolutely. later today the high court is expected to hand down ruling on two cases, including the defense of marriage act and california's ban on same-sex marriage, known as proposition 8. i want to switch gears now to sanford, florida. emotional day two of testimony in the george zimmerman murder trial. never before seen images and tales of the chaotic scene the night trayvon martin was killed. danielle lee is live with all of this. good morning, danielle. >> betty, good morning. today the jury is going to see more evidence and hear more testimony as the prosecution tries to contradict george zimmerman's statements that he killed trayvon martin in self defense. prosecutors will build on testimony at times so upsetting trayvon martin's father got up and left. the state showed the jury pictures of the 17-year-old's lifeless body, as well as the gun that killed martin. a police sergeant describes

trying to revive the wounded teenager. an eyewitness said she heard running and saw a commotion. >> i saw what looked like figures and arms flailing. >> okay, figures meaning more than one figure? >> yes. >> then the fatal shot. >> when i went to take the stove off, that's when the shot occurred. >> reporter: the defense questioned her motives for testifying. >> you thought george zimmerman killed trayvon martin and he should be prosecuted for it, right? >> reporter: in cross examination, the defense tried to humanize george zimmerman, who's pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, at one point asking a sanford police department employee about his character. >> he was very professional with me. he seemed a little meek to me. >> reporter: legal experts say the prosecution is methodically laying the foundation for one key witness. >> the young woman who spoke to trayvon martin by cell phone in

the last minutes of his life. >> reporter: a testimony the prosecution is expected to use to contradict zimmerman's account of the night martin died. this morning we are also waiting for a decision from the judge about five calls zimmerman made to authorities prior to the night martin died. the defense is trying to block the prosecution from submitting them into evidence. betty? >> thank you, we appreciate that. now for a look at the weather, dylan dreyer is here. good morning. >> we're going to see rain in the pacific northwest, it's been raining from seattle to northern california, and that's where the rain still is falling, stretching east into western montana and idaho, as well. temperatures are a huge story, especially down in the southwest. we are looking for highs today in las vegas to hit 108 degrees. we will be slightly cooler in the northwest, significantly cooler. 71 degrees in seattle. 82, though, in medford. las vegas extended outlook,

record high temperature of all-time is 117 degrees. by friday, rather, we should hit about 115, very, very close to that all-time record and prescott, 93 with blazing sun shine. the heat is on in the southwest, eventually it will start to warm up in the northwest once we lose some of the rain showers, which doesn't seem to happen any time soon. >> thank you, dylan. next we'll take you live to south africa for the latest on nelson mandela's condition. plus, an airport heist of $1.2 million in $100 bills. that's next.

welcome back, everyone. nelson mandela remains in critical condition in a south

african hospital. joining us now from pretoria. good morning, what do you know? >> reporter: good morning. we are waiting for tribal elders from nelson mandela's ancestral village to get to the hospital. yesterday, family members went there to the village to have a discussion, and we also hear the south african government is holding its cabinet and the condition will be discussed there. there are reports of some family members say that he is responding at times, but at the same time we hear that yesterday the archbishop of cape town was here and he with other family members around nelson mandela's bedside said a prayer. betty? >> thank you, keir. here are other stories making news this morning. pope francis looks into vatican bank amid new money laundering probe. also, vladimir putin says he has no plans to extradite edward snowden.

he's believed to be holed up inside moscow's airport. democrat ed markey will fill the senate seat vacated by john kerry. he defeated businessman gabriel gomez last night by ten points. prince michael will testify at his dad's wrongful death trial later today. the family is suing concert promoter aeg live for negligence. prosecutors want to know who took $1.2 million in 12 packs of $100 bills aboard a flight. investigators aren't sure if the money was taken in switzerland, the u.s., or somewhere in between. why don't you transfer it in a bank, what? for a look at the business news today, we turn to cnbc's bertha kunz. good morning. >> good morning, betty. seems one day up, one day down on wall street. stocks rebounding tuesday on the backs of better than expected data on new home sales and home

prices. the federal trade commission is telling yahoo! microsoft, and google to better distinguish between searchers paid ads as more consumers are using smartphones to search the web. and bp takes out full-page ads as it mounts an aggressive campaign to businesses hurt by the 2010 gulf oil spill. that's it from cnbc, back over to you. >> thank you. and straight ahead, a war of words between a-rod and his yankees boss. that's next.

now let's get the latest in sports. a historic first for ucla and the college world series. the bruins shut out mississippi state 8-0 for the first ncaa title. >> that's a fair ball. and the bruins have done it. they win their first-ever national championship in baseball and number 109 overall. >> the fireworks go off. the bruins win game one and two. to add to all those basketball and football titles. in the major leagues, the yankees got a walk off home run from ichiro suzuki to beat the texas rangers, but last night,

ailing yankees third baseman alex rodriguez tweeted he'd been cleared by doctors to start playing in rehab games, but a day earlier, yankees gm brian cashman said doctors had not cleared a-rod yet. and last night, an agitated cashman gave an interview saying, quote, when the yankees want to announce something, we will, adding alex should just shut the [ bleep ] up. that's it. i'm going to call alex now. uh-oh. day two, serena williams easily advanced to the second round 6-1 and 6-3. on the men's side, djokovic also advanced in winning in three straight sets. >> announcer: "early today" sports brought to you by touch of gray. a first for ozzy osbourne, that's next.

good morning, it is already hot in the southwest. temperatures well into the 80s right now in phoenix, we should top out well above 100 degrees. it's pretty cool up in seattle and portland, we'll tap out in the lower 70s with off and on rain showers. los angeles, topping out around 82 degrees today. tomorrow, we are still looking at scattered showers in seattle, but portland should start to warm back close to 80 degrees and even medford, oregon, temperatures should get into the lower 90s.

it's funny with oregon, especially. northwest oregon is chilly, where southwest oregon really gets the heat. >> thank you. for the first time in its 45-year existence, black sabbath topped the billboard 200 chart beating justin timberlake. miley cyrus has broken the record clocking in at 10.7 million views. liam neeson will be in "taken 3" and he's supposedly being paid $20 million, dylan, to reprise his role. we are in the wrong business, apparently. mumford and sons back on stage after the bassist underwent surgery. chris brown charged with a misdemeanor hit and run and if convicted he could face up to five years in prison.

finally, the rock has been eating, get this, seven meals a day in preparation for his hercules film. 13 egg whites and over three pounds of meat. i wish i could have a diet like that. little more tone. >> that would be weird if you looked like that. >> i don't want to look exactly like that. i had chocolate last night for dinner. that's not good either. >> hard thing is getting to the grocery store to buy all that food. >> grocery store is across the street from me. i don't have an excuse. 14 eggs, i don't think i could do that. >> that's more than a dozen. then you have to buy two things of eggs. >> apparently works. i'm only eating eggs now. this is "early today," hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc.

topping our news, an 11-hour filibuster for the win. the texas state representative wendy davis spoke out against what would have been one of the toughest abortion laws in the country, however, an eventual vote came after the session ended. vladimir putin says he has no plans to extradite edward snowden. he is believed to be holed up inside moscow's airport. well wishers, they are leaving flowers, drawings, and messages of support for 94-year-old nelson mandela. he remains in critical condition at a pretoria, south africa, hospital. his 95th birthday is next month. pope francis looking into vatican bank amid new money laundering probe. and you got to check this

out. a new art installation in london could really make you feel like a super hero. with the help of an overhead mirror, visitors look like they are scaling the side of a 19th century townhouse. the piece is the work of an argentine artist. i'd love to check that out. >> i love the costumes. >> little kids, little spid spider-m spider-man, right? >> that's awesome. glad to see adults, too. >> makes me nervous. i want the adults to be there for supervision. it's a visual thing, it's not really happening, but you think it is. time now for a look ahead and look back. president obama leaves today for his first extended trip to africa. the first trip was to ghana in 2009. on this trip, he'll tour senegal, south africa, and tanzania. 50 years ago today john f. kennedy made history by saying i

am a citizen of berlin in german. >> i take prides in the words -- [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> and we want to say happy birthday to nfl quarterback michael vick, who's 33, baseball star derek jeter, he turns 39, and actor shaun hayes, 33. matt lauer talks with celebrity chef paula deen about her controversial lawsuit and using racial slurs. and an online photography project helping mothers celebrate their body after the baby. like that. keep it here for more news, weather, and sports. thanks for watching "early today," have a great one.

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we love our family. we look forward to the day when we will be treated equally just like our neighbor's family. decision day. in less than three hours, we'll know if same-sex couples will once again be allowed to marry in california. live in washington, next. also let you know how the bay area's getting ready for the morning's historic ruling. and -- >> there's a huge explosion of water behind me and i knew something wasn't right. >> a story only he can tell. one bay area man's run-in with a great white shark. looks smooth here now. warm day starting out. a live look at the bay bridge. guess what? it is midweek. is it wednesday, june 26th.