it is friday. coming up on "early today," elaborate scheme. a veterans hospital whistle-blower details a cover-up as the pressure on va secretary shinseki grows. severe weather from texas to minnesota, twisters touching down, major damage left in the wake, and some major flooding. so what's ahead for your weekend? fighting back, a new audiotape surfaces of donald sterling making new claims. plus, a multibillion dollar deal for apple and dr. dre's beats and who is the most admired first lady. it is friday, may 9th. "early today" starts right now. good morning, everyone. happy friday to you. i'm betty nguyen.

secretary of veterans affairs eric shinseki has been called to testify before congress. it stems from allegations of mistreatment at va hospital in phoenix where as many as 40 veterans reportedly died while waiting for medical treatment. and now a house committee has vetted to subpoena all e-mail and correspondents related to that va hospital and a possible cover-up. let's bring in tracie potts from washington. good morning to you. what happens if the subpoenas come up empty? >> reporter: they're probably going to dig deeper. lawmakers believe the answer is in there somewhere. what may be thousands of pages of documents they want to look through every democrat, every republican voted in favor of this subpoena. they want to get to the bottom of who made it difficult for these vets to see a doctor quickly. >> i'm now going to sign a subpoena for production of -- >> reporter: lawmakers are giving the va until may 19th to turn over e-mails and documents about who destroyed a secret waiting list at the phoenix va

hospital. steven cooper was a doctor there and had stage four prostate cancer. the va said he had to wait four months. >> they should be held accountable because it is a crime. >> reporter: president obama spoke about the controversy last night. >> if we are serious about making sure that our veterans are properly cared for, then we have got to fix congress. >> reporter: congress, democrats and republicans, are backing va secretary eric shinseki, the american legion wants him to resign. >> i don't believe that just changing someone at the top is going to actually get to the solutions that many of us are looking for. >> we need good information before we start chopping people's heads off. >> reporter: the white house says the va's backlog of cases has been cut in half since last year. shinseki's ordered a review of all va hospitals. he testifies here this week.

and that testimony we have learned is happening on thursday before the senate veterans affairs committee. a half committee that subpoenas the record. the senate wants to hear from him next week. >> a lot of questions to be answered. tracie potts, thank you. the house has agreed to create a select committee to investigate the 2012 terrorist attacks in benghazi. the vote was split among party lines, seven democrats from conservative leaning districts voted in favor of the committee. this morning, house democrats will need to discuss how they're going to proceed. they were given five spots on the panel while republicans were given seven. house minority leader nancy pelosi insifts the committee should be eventually split while house speaker john boehner called this 7-5 split fair. it remains unclear whether democrats will participate at all. dallas is drying out this morning after powerful thunderstorms moved through the area. heavy rain triggered flood advisories and warnings yesterday. at least five kids had to be

rescued after getting caught in a flooded creek. a dallas fire and rescue team had to use rescue boats and ropes to reach all of them. authorities say the kids were playing and got overwhelmed by the rushing water. and there was a wicked weather in minnesota too. a tornado touched down in st. james and it was all caught on camera. look at this. the storm system that caused this twister generated two other tornadoes in nearby towns. luckily, no one was hurt and there was no major damage reported. two men are facing charges this morning after separately throwing objects on to the white house lawn at the same time. it caused the second lockdown this week. secret service agents say one man threw a cassette tape. the other through miscellaneous papers over the north and south fence. white house workers were not allowed to exit the building. now, president obama was in california at the time. the white house was put on lockdown earlier this week when a vehicle following the motorcade came through the gate.

there is a new reported audiotape of donald sterling and according to radar online, a new recording was secretly taped by a friend of his. in the days following the initial scandal, sterling has been publicly silent. the new audiotape has in the been authenticated by nbc news, but in it the man identified as sterling defends his ownership of the clippers. >> you think i'm a racist? you think i have anything in the world but love for everybody? you don't think that. you know i'm not a racist. >> sterling is banned for life from any association with the league or the clippers. he's also been fined $2.5 million. a powerful earthquake rattled the southern pacific coast of mexico thursday. it happened about 170 miles southeast of mexico city. but it was still felt in the capital. the magnitude 6.4 quake sent people running into the streets. some homes and actually a bridge also collapsed near the

epicenter. so far there have been no reports of serious injuries. apple could be on the verge of striking a huge deal with hip-hop artist dr. dre. the iphonemaker is reportedly close to buying beatz electronics. it was founded by dr. dre and producer jimmy ivine is known for the high end headphones. one pair can go for more than $400. it would be apple's largest acquisition to date if it goes through. working for a little less than a billion is bill karins. >> a little. >> just a tiny bit. >> the next time i negotiate it won't be so easy. >> share some of the wealth, especially with mom. >> a lot of people had plans, going to brunch or a nice picnic outside. we'll get to this in a second. let's show you what happened yesterday. we showed you pictures earlier of the outbreak in the central and northern plains. this was to the north. southern minnesota, portions of

iowa. seven tornadoes, none of those big, huge and strong. no fatalities, no injuries. today we'll still have a chance of strong storms in the middle of the country, i get it, do not think we'll see a lot of tornados with that. the rain just won't turn off. someone needs to shut the faucet in the northwest. a wet spring. one of the weste eswettest we h seen. it continues to rain at this hour. we're getting some shadowing effects. we're getting more rain, the higher elevations, the mountains, and getting some blockage there in areas of seattle right now drying it out. idaho soaked too. for your friday forecast, we still have the lingering storm system and an shore flow. the storm is sitting over the top of us. that's how we have the chance for more downpour even aand a r of thunder or two.

so much of the west will remain kind of cool and bring you your mother's day forecast shortly. >> looking forward to that. thank you, bill. a new poll lists america's most admired first ladies. and ukrainians hit the polls in spite of russia's putin. and venezuela's violent clash. we have details in two minutes.

welcome back, everybody. well, despite protests from russia president vladimir putin, pro russian insurgents in eastern ukraine said they will go ahead with this weekend's referendum to secede from ukraine. this as putin mobilizes the russian military in a dramatic

show of force in moscow today. the celebration the defeat of nazi germany on this day in 1945. though the vote to secede will take place, a new pew poll finds that a large majority of ukrainians actually want the country to remain whole. 77% say they think ukraine should stay united. while only 14% say they want to allow regions to secede. the state of oklahoma won't be performing any execution for at least six months. courts say time is needed to investigate exactly what caused last week's botched execution. the delay will only affect charles warner who was scheduled to die right after that accident. but oklahoma governor says the state won't carry out any executions for the length of the stay. more deadly clashes in venezuela between police and people protesting the socialist government. 42 people have died now as a result of protests since

february. new details are emerging on that deadly fire at the tampa mansion owned by former tennis star james blake. authorities say a man, his wife and two teenage children were shot before the home they rented burned down. investigators found a gun and fireworks throughout the home. murder/suicide has in the been ruled out. so who is the most admired first lady over the past 25 years? well, a new nbc news/wall street journal poll finds that it is a tie. barbara brush aush and hillary n at the top with 27%. and my sheany michelle obama ca close with 24%. there are reports that the company will unveil the iphone 6 in august. snap chat, the app that promises your images will disappear forever has settled with the federal trade commission. at issue, some customers said

the company deceived them about the nature of the disappearing messages and also about collecting users contacts without permission. the company behind five singers shoes has offered to settle a class action lawsuit by reimbursing buyers up to $94 for every pair of running shoes purchased. the suit argued the company made unsubstantiated claims that they helped avoid injury and strengthen muscles. the federal election commission unanimously approved the use of bitcoins for political donations, but the fcc wants campaign treasurers to make sure they're vetted to avoid any evidence of illegality. the nfl draft and all the sports highlights. we'll be right back.

this morning on "today," loving the skin you are in. how one woman's mission to show the world what real weight loss looks like went viral. she is live in studio with a big announcement. now to sports. and the first round of the nfl draft. giant men with tears of joy. as expected, the houston texans chose jadeveon clowney as the number one overall draft pick.

he goes number one. some other notables, the bills traded up to the fourth spot to claim sammy watkins. earlier in the day, eblanc proposed to his girlfriend. check this out. how sweet. after seeing teammates chosen ahead of him, johnny manziel got called up as the 22nd pick to the cleveland browns. rounds two and three of the nfl draft are tonight. now to the nba, in san antonio, a shocking surprise for trailblazers forward thomas robinson before the game. he found this, a three to four foot baby rattlesnake in his locker. this picture was taken by mo williams. nobody was hurt, just a little rattled. in the first half, tony parker takes the ball down the court and uses tim duncan as a human shield to finish the fast

break. up 19 points. then in the fourth, mano ginobili kicks out a pass to leonard who nails his fourth three-pointer of the game. 114-97 and roll to a 2-0 lead in this series. in miami, fist quarter, check this half-court alley-oop from mario chalmers to re lebron jam. a three-point frenzy before the half. ray alan fires back with the monster three-pointer right there in the fourth. the heat win it 94-82 with a lead in the series. to the ice, the ducks finally got their groove after leading both games at home during a power plant, though, corey perry with the quick shot for the goal. 2-1. ben lovejoy with the goal to seal the victory. 3-2. kings lead the series 2-1. check out this celebration after scoring this goal to tie the score. watch this lithuanian player run

right past his teammates, in the visitors stands, sit down and applaud himself. that's one way to pat yourself on the back. confidence there. just ahead, your mother's day forecast, and neighbors and animal house, details next. you're watching "early today."

let me take you through the weekend forecast and the storm that is now affecting us in the northwest by saturday will still be be lumbering in ever so

slowly, moving through the west. we got a rude surprise for a lot of moms, and especially the inner mountain west. for saturday, showery weather continues out there. none of it really makes it down to l.a. and san francisco. temperatures cool, though, only 64 in san francisco. and warm up a little bit as we go through your mother's day in l.a. we're just fine from medford, southward, we clear the storm out for the northwest and passing, idaho looks better. if anybody has friends or doing any traveling, not a mistriprinn denver. the temperature tanks. it is going to snow in denver on mother's day. it happens in denver. they get snow in may. that's by far the worst mother's day forecast is denver. >> give mom a parka for mother's day. the amazing spider-man 2 will battle it out with neighbors at this weekend's box office. it took home $92 million last weekend, but neighbors may pull

off a surprise victory. citing religious reasons, noah has been blocked from being shown in the country. several nations have banned the film including qatar, bahrain and indonesia. rock 'n' roll legend chuck berry has received the nobel prize of music. i didn't know that existed, but it does. along with the honor of the music prize, the 87-year-old musician takes home a cash prize of $150,000. not bad at all. james smith responded to growing controversy over an instagram photo that shows her 13-year-old daughter willow in a bed with a shirtless 20-year-old former hannah montana star. upon riving at l.a.x., she had this to say to "access hollywood". >> here's the deal. there was nothing sexual about that picture or that situation. you guys are projecting your

trash on to it and you're acting like -- and that's not cool. fans of haley cuoco may want to look away. this is why. this star instagramed this photo of her getting covered in chimp-like hair. thankfully it is only part of an act. she was getting all monkeyed out for tonight's episode is what she wrote on her instagram. >> that's like a thriller type video. >> makes me itch looking at it. you know that that can't feel good. >> no. but you got to like someone that can laugh at themselves. >> totally. i'm betty nguyen. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in usa today, uconn boots sorority over a bacon hazing. they have been banned from campus until 2017 after a student claims she and other women were told to, quote, lay on the floor and sizzle like bacon all while consuming alcohol. and in the uk's telegraph, fake nelson mandela interpreter stars in bizarre advert. a company pulled him from the psychiatric hospital to film the commercial. he signed nonsense sign language at mandela's funeral which he blamed on schizophrenia. other stories we're following for you, 50 bodies have been recovered so far in a nigerian town after an attack by

boko haram. it was part of a series of terror attacks that also saw the abduction of more than 300 school girls last month. many nigerian are blaming security forces for failing to intervene despite several warnings. a group in colorado is trying to help veterans in a whole new way. grow for vets is providing medical marijuana to former service members free of charge. their goal is to help veterans with injuries or post traumatic stress disorder. check this out. in pennsylvania, it is not your average bear on the camera. i like that. it now only manages to avoid getting snagged by a bear trap, that big contraption there, it walks away with a doughnut that was being used to bait him. that is a smart bear. speaking of animals, zookeepers welcome two red panda cubs to australia's national zoo. the twins were born five months ago, but just emerged from the safety of their den for the very first time. the fluffy little guys look more

like foxes than giant panda counterparts but they still love bamboo and the zoo will hold an online contest to pick out names for those little cubs. >> like a raccoon and a panda had a baby. >> you see them climb in the tree, they do kind of look like a panda. though i don't see many pandas climbing trees. check it out. you'll see what i'm talking about. a look ahead and a look back. vice president joe biden heads south. the vice president will deliver the commencement address at the university of south carolina. he'll receive an honorary degree of doctor of public administration. on this day in 1914, president woodrow wilson signed a proclamation designating the second sunday in may as mother's day. the holiday was first conceived by this woman, anna yajarvis in 1907, to remember her late mother. happy birthday on this day to prince fielder of the texas rangers, 30. billy joel, 65. candice bergen, 68. i'm betty nguyen. thank you for watching "early today."

well, good morning, everyone. it's 4:30 on a friday. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm peggy bunker in for laura garcia-cannon this morning. a lot to get to. first a look at the forecast with christina loren. we made it to friday. >> there is some fog, i have to tell you about this and a little drizzle. this is, of course, the golden gate bridge. you can see a pretty foggy start to the day and light sheen and indication that your roadways are a little bit slick especially along the peninsula and at the immediate coast. temperatures right now in the upper 50s and down right mild out there and we're easily going to make the 70s for today