good thursday morning. coming up on "early today," state of emergency. california faces evacuations while record heat blankets much of the southwest. casey found. breaking news overnight on the location of radio legend casey kasem. miraculous rescue. a small child attacked by a vicious dog saved by the family cat. plus, emotions running high at the site of the turkish mine disaster. also, bill clinton defending hillary by comparing karl rove to hoff gueoblins. good morning.

i've richard lui. the governor of california declares the state of emergency. nine wildfires burning across san diego county forced thousands to flee and at least 140,000 students to stay home today. this fire tornado shows how wind and heat is developing in the region. not often caught on camera, these fire vortexes can spin 20 miles an hour. now, to battle that, choppers, planes and supertankers are dropping water and fire retardants. jennifer bjorklund has the latest on the wildfires. >> reporter: as sun sets on one of the warmest may days in southern california history, the unprecedented heat and dryness made for catastrophic fire weather. >> i never thought our house would be in danger like this. but it's really scary. >> reporter: homeowners forced to evacuate as flames chased them out of their neighborhoods. some will have nothing to come home to, despite their best efforts to clear brush and be fire safe. >> i tried to make it as good as

possible, but naturally who cares right now, you know? >> i've never seen anything like this in 20 years. >> reporter: it is a frightening preview to what will be a dangerous fire season. the hot santa ana winds howling through southern california neighborhoods are not typical so early in the year. >> this is something i have not seen in my career. i've been in this fire service for 27 years. and i haven't seen it this dry, this hot, for this long, in may. >> they have been asking to evacuate. >> reporter: homeowners like christopher plan to make a stand to save his home. >> just trying to prepare, perhaps embers or something might carry over into god knows what. but definitely trying to prevent a nightmare. >> reporter: a nightmare that may be far outside of his control. in carlsbad, jennifer bjorklund, nbc news. >> some expensive homes there. record temperatures in more than a dozen cities are not helping with containing fires. it was 99 degrees in downtown los angeles yesterday.

that beats the old record going back almost 125 years. san diego, long beach, new port beach, are some of the other areas to reach new record temperatures. we'll have more on what to expect today with bill karins in a little bit. authorities saying top 40 legend casey kasem has been located. kasem was found in washington state just a few hours after his children filed a missing persons report yesterday. a representative for kasem's kids said they are doing everything they can to bring their father home. kasem's kids have blamed his wife jean for his disappearance. they say she's kept them isolated from their father. he suffers from advanced park parkenson's and can no longer speak. the prime minister went to the scene of the search and ended up angering the crowd by saying accidents happen. people attacked his car, shouting murder and chanting he should resign, kicking that car.

people protests are breaking out across turkey asking for him it step down. eye few weeks ago, a ruling party voted down an investigation into the mines. some 150 people are still unaccounted for and a 15-year-old boy is reportedly among those. no miner has been recovered alive since yesterday. for president bill clinton, he's firing back at the summit yesterday. he defended hillary clinton's handling of benghazi and responded to recent questions regarding hillary's health from former white house deputy chief of staff karl rove. >> first of all, i got to give him credit, you know, he did -- that embodies this old saying that consistency is the hoffgoblin of little minds. first they said she faked her concussion. and now they say she's auditioning for a part on the walking dead. i mean, you know, whatever it takes. >> do you think this is their

way of inserting her age or her physical capabilities into the 2016 debate? >> i don't know, but if it is, you can't be too upset about it. it is just the beginning. they'll get better and better at it. >> and now to the national september 11th memorial and m muumuu zm museum. today, president obama will join victims' families, survivors and rescue workers to dedicate that museum. let's bring in nbc's jay gray. jay, what can we expect today? i know you have a preview of it too. >> reporter: yeah, richard, look, short of the emotional issues talked about, but an important day for many here and across the country. museum won't open to the public officially until the middle of next week. we did get inside, had a sneak peek this morning at what is an overwhelming, very powerful display, a walk back through one of the darkest times in our nation's history.

the images and words immediately surround you. along with the haunting pieces of the buildings and lives ripped apart. the world trade center try dent, the survivor stairs used by hundreds to escape, a section of the massive radio and tv antenna that once climbed from the roof, pieces of the jet that slammed into the north tower, and the ladder truck from company 3, mangled by debris as that tower collapsed. remnants of the terror attack that now share this space with everwhelming memories, emotions and strong message of determination. >> we can't let this happen again, but they didn't win, we came out of this stronger, more determined than ever. >> reporter: this museum and memorial is a clear symbol of that resolve, standing in the original footprint of the twin towers. >> at the very site where terrorists sought to destroy us, we have rebuilt. >> reporter: creating a place where the world can gather to

remember and reflect. >> for me, this is the beginning. this is the beginning of this institution's true mission, to engage and inspire the generations that follow us. >> reporter: and to make sure that they never forget. along with the president, we'll hear from family members of victims, survivors and first responders at the dedication in a couple of hours here. then those families and other groups will get private screenings for the next couple of days before the museum opens to the public next wednesday, may 21st. back to you, richard. >> such an important part of the process, thank you so much, jay gray, with the latest there for us. appreciate it. a tornado tore through central ohio wednesday, the twister sparing the home of the cedarville man who recorded this video. several house s and farm buildings were destroyed there, no injuries reported there. let's get to nbc meteorologist bill karins. so i'm going to go farther west and let's talk about santa anas,

those are two words, i'm not used to hearing, until september. we're in may. >> yeah. i mean, the heat wave is just unprecedented for this iearly i the season. the earliest 100 degree temperatures for recording stations. look at the record highs for today. san diego, alpine, chula vista, el cajon, ramona, new port beach, laguna beach, riverside, every location will see the hottest temperature they heifer had on this date today. yesterday, 99 in l.a. today we're expecting to be around 100. that 106, by the way, the john wayne airport there on the south side of town. 106. no wonder why these fires, once they formed yesterday, flared up in a hurry. the winds will not be as gusty today. that's good. but it will be just as hot and relative humidity will be very low. fire danger is still very high with red flag warnings. forecasts for southern california. we mentioned just about all of these will be record highs today. vegas looks cool at 96. how many times do you say that? things will improve especially

where a lot of the fires were the worst. marine influence once again as you head toward the weekend. mid-60s will feel chilly in san diego by the time we get to sunday. that's your national forecast. >> so we just wait for the weekend weather pattern changes and hopefully won't do this again anytime soon. >> sure looks tough. you got the drought, the winds. >> triple whammy. >> mudslides coming. >> el nino comes, we get a lot of rain, yeah. >> bill karins, thank you. the south korean ferry. and the story behind a family cat stopping a vicious dog from attacking a 4-year-old child. "early today" is back in two minutes. i'll just press this, and you'll save on both. ding!

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california. just hours ago, a ruptured oil pipe near glendale spilled about 50,000 gallons of crude oil on to city streets before it was remotely shut off. that's according to the l.a. fire department. reports say the oil spread about half a mile and is knee deep in some areas. no injuries have been reported. we'll be watching that. south korea charges those believed to be responsible for the ferry disaster that killed more than 280 passengers last month. the captain and three senior crew members have been indicted for homicide. 11 others face negligence charges. prosecutors say the ship was massively overloaded before it set sail. president obama digs deep into the recent veterans affairs hospital controversy. one of his closest advisers deputy chief of stab rob neighbors will oversee a review of the department after allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths. according to page 6, a hotel worker was paid $250,000 for this video allegedly showing

solange knowles attacking jay saturday. . the hotel says it fired the employee that leaked it and will pursue all possibilities. a dog comes up behind a small buy and bites his leg. his feline friend tara scares it away, waits around to protect the boy. the boy and the parents and yes, the cat, will be on the "today" show later this morning. time to get down to business. the markets tumbling on wednesday with all the major averages losing ground. according to a report in usa today, a number of companies that do business in russia and ukraine are being hurt by economic sanctions. i have one simple request, and that is to have sharks with laser beams attached to their heads. >> well, austin powers, yes, coming from that movie, they're going to get it. the new audi supercar will have

lasers for headlights. there will be a converter that makes the lights white and a camera to detect oncoming cars and pedestrians and the laysers will adjust so it won't blind them. a strike for minimum wage of $15 an hour which most of the restaurant industry says is unrealistic. just ahead, we'll have some fantastic sports highlights to share with you. the nba included. including some bizarre soccer celebrations in brazil. i always wanted to design a bike that honored those who serve our country. and geico gave me that opportunity. now naturally, we wanted it to be powerful, innovative and we built this bike as a tribute to those who are serving, those who have served and their families. and i think we nailed it.

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this morning on "today," maria shriver has the story of a man and woman who are in love and engaged to be married. that are a typical couple, except both have down syndrome. their inspirational story ahead on "today." in sports, the nba conference finals picture gets a bit clearer with this doozy of a finish in miami. take a look. >> lebron for three. gets it! >> oh, yeah. lebron james kicking off a huge miami comeback. brooklyn's offense goes cold hitting only one of their final ten shots. their defense, well, they fall and they can't get up either. >> ray alan will take the three for the lead! >> miami taking the series in five games winning 96-94. next up, the eastern conference finals. next to san antonio, they had no

problem getting past portland. getting an 8-0 run in the second half. leonard with a punctuation point and this beauty of a dunk all alone. the spurs win takes the series in five games. next stop, the western conference finals. we shift to the nhl playoffs. do or die game seven montreal dominated boston with two early goals and the 3-1 victory. the canadiens take on the new york rangers in the eastern conference finals. that's into center field. come on! yes! what a play by lurie. >> that tying run at the plate, but that great catch sealed the white sox 4-2 win over the a's. welcome to ghost busters. have fun out there. >> not inebriated, bill murray does his best impression of harry caray, the diehard cubs fan shot the promo for the

toledo mud hens ghost busters night. i give him about an eight. did pretty well. brazilian fans celebrated in bizarre fashion. five gun toting fans spraying the air with machine gunfire. that's how they do it. all in the family there. the team owner is a notorious drug dealer. we're all hoping they changed this practice by the time the world cup gets there. just ahead, rams draft pick michael sam goes oprah on us. emma watson gets her degree. and justin timberlake gets down on michael jackson's new album. ♪

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apply online or visit a bank of america near you. welcome back. all the images and pictures from the fires yesterday, this one caught my attention. someone was landing into the san diego area and you can see in the background, not one, but three fires and three different locations. you can just imagine the difficulty of just -- that's with the geography and the topography but dealing with that many fires, that close in proximity to each other. in the forecast for los angeles, we have a hot day today, record heat, little cooler friday, back to normal for this time of year. by the time we get to the weekend, really no rain in sight, just a matter of what the temperature and winds are going to be. >> air quality always a concern there. worse for this time of the year. now for entertainment news, how i met your mother alum neil patrick harris telling howard stern he turned down the coveted spot of late show host. he met with cbs chief les

moonves but turned down the job because he feared he would get bored with that. does like to mix things up should have kept it to himself. a little rude to stephen colbert. emma watson, she gets to graduate from brown university where she earned a degree in english literature. there may be a new love in aaron rodgers' life. rumors are swirling that he's dating olivia munn. the two were spotted in malibu acting like quite the couple. i hate being aaron rodgers. might be great to be michael sam. the oprah network will produce a reality series based on him. it will look at the life of the first openly gay player drafted to the nfl. time will tell if the series alienates michael sam's teammates as lamar odom's show did to him. that show was, yeah, mixed reviews. justin timberlake is doing his best michael jackson impression to the music video

"never felt so good." it was co-written by veteran songwriter paul anka. ♪ ♪ baby love never felt so fine ♪ ♪ and i doubt it was ever mine ♪ >> i'm not sure. what do you think? >> i think it shows off how talented he is, in case you forgot. >> he's got to work on it, man. >> he's okay as an actor, but this stuff -- >> exactly. a reason to be jealous, certainly, just part of it. i'm richard lui. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of date here on nbc. it starts with little things. tiny changes in the brain. little things, anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence.

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leading the news in usa today, hackers ramp up computer attacks that demand ransom. malware called cryptolocker can destroy all data on your computer. if you don't pay a ransom within a set amount of time, experts say there is no fix. on nbc news.com, virginia teen says dress got her kicked out of prom. the 17-year-old says it was because some dads chaperoning the event for home schooled teens thought her dancing would give the boys, quote, impure thoughts. some other stories we're following for you on this morning. missouri's legislature has approved a bill requiring women to wait three days after visiting a doctor to receive an abortion. supporters say women need time to digest all the information, but others argue this puts women further into the pregnancy. missouri governor jay nixon has

not said if he will sign or veto. the former editor of great britain's news of the world has admitted to hacking kate middleton's phone 155 times before 2006. now, this all happened when she was, quote, a figure of increasing importance. clive goodman was cross-examined yesterday as part of the huge phone hacking trial over there. he also admitted to eavesdropping on prince william's voice mails 35 times and prince harry's nine times. makes you scratch your head about how easy it is to get into those things. two people in oklahoma fishing for catfish when they caught this. what is that? an alligator snapping turtle. national geographic says the carnivore can weigh over 220 pounds. though they have an unconfirmed report of one weighing over 400. those things -- >> that one looks big. >> gargantuan. back to the prehistoric days. this is one world record you

are to see to believe. bee keeper in china set the record for the most time spent with bees covering his body. over 100,000 bees for 53 long minutes. didn't seem to mind, even when they covered his face. the bee keeper claims he has grown immune to bee venom and has minimal sting stings. would not do that. veteran affairs secretary eric shinseki faces grilling on capitol hill they hold a hearing on allegations that va hospitals in the west delayed treatments for vets. 1928, mickey mouse premiered in his first cartoon. it was skreecreened for a test audience. its released a year later after the enormous success of steamboat willy. andy murray is 27. nbc sportscaster dan patrick is 58. and former secretary of state madeleine albright 77. i'm richard lui with bill karins and the entire "early today" team, have a great day ahead. enjoy your thursday.

new this morning, a flaming semi truck slams into a funeral home sending two people to the hospital. plus developing news out of san diego where more than half a dozen wildfires are burning out of control this morning. crews fighting through the night to gain control of the flames. the latest details there, coming up. two men in jail this morning accused of hacking large parts off of california redwood trees and then selling them. how police managed to track those men down. taking a live look outside this morning. a beautiful shot of the bay bridge. the water glistening there in the distance. this is "today in the bay." well, good morning, everyone. 4:30 on this fine thursday, i