/s they say this is a once every thousand-year flood, and we had two of them in two years. >> memorial day in ellicott city maryland will be one for the history books as torrential rains caused flash flooding and damage on a wide ranging scale. this as alberto slams several states in the south and now the storm shifts west and is gaining strength. the u.s. delegation is back in charge of setting the groundwork for june 12th's nuclear talks with the north koreans. then to the amazing cleveland cavaliers, lebron james who is returning to his 8 th straight nba finals. plus protecting yourself and the must-have info for anyone hitting the sun today. and remembering america's

braveest who made the ultimate sacrifice on the special memorial day edition of "early today." good morning, i'm phillip mena. frances is off today. memorial day weekend was a wash out for one maryland community as a powerful flash flood surged through ellicott city. fire officials responded to reports of buildings collapsing as the baltimore suburb was ov thi damage to be worse than the massive flood from two summers ago that claimed two lives. >> it's really truly devastating. i would say it's as bad or worse than the storm two years ago. they say this is a once every thousand-year flood, and we had two of them in two years. >> our washington, d.c. affiliates darcy spencer with wrc tells us more. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. we are here in ellicott city, maryland. it's a small town that has experienced devastating flooding for the second time in less than two years. it was just incredible to see

the pictures and the video coming out of main street here in ellicott city this evening. there were so many people who were trapped inside businesses on this holiday weekend. people out for perhaps a bite to eat. also workers unable to leave. one young person told me she saw a jeep floating down main street, just to give you an idea of that devastation. there were many people who were rescued. a state of emergency has been declared here in the town of ellicott city. now, crews will begin to assess all the damage at first light, but the good news here, there were no fatalities reported. i'm darcy spencer for nbc news in ellicott city, maryland. >> certainly a silver lining. thank you, darcy, for that report. u.s. gulf coast is bracing itself as alberto the first tropical storm of the season rapidly approaches. punishing rains and strong winds are intensifying threatening to bring with it tornadoes and dangerous rip currents to the region. the storm is expected to dump up to a foot of rain across parts of florida, alabama, and

mississippi. states of emergency already declared in all three states. and over 20 million americans are now facing flood watches. the subtropical storm already slamming into cuba, dumping 4 1/2 inches of rain there in less than 8 hours. this as florida's governor is urging residents there to prepare themselves. >> the big thing is down here everybody has -- this is unpredictable. >> after the storm makes land fall today it is expected to move across the south. let's go to meteorologist bonnie schneider. >> good morning. in maryland we still have flood warnings because it's going to take awhile for that water to reseed. a lot of the bulk of the heaviest rain working its way toward south florida. as we watch the map for alberto, we'll be looking at the heaviest rainfall accumulating when the storm makes land fall later this morning, early this afternoon right along the panhandle of florida so pensacola, panama city, this is where we could see some of that really heavy

flooding rain from alberto. the first named storm of the season. then what happens after that? we'll be watching for alberto to work its way further to the north. so much of the gulf coast and southeast still impacted by the storm, and even the mid south. it's ghg to be a rain maker over the next couple of days as the storm works its way from south to north making land fall later today. something to keep close watch on, phillip. the storm getting an active start to hurricane season which officially begins june 1st. >> don't tell that to mother nature. bonnie, thank you. former president george h.w. bush is back in the hospital this morning after experiencing low blood pressure and fatigue. a spokesman for the 93-year-old says he will likely remain at the hospital in maine for a few days for observation. just saturday the former president visited with veterans at an american legion pancake breakfast in kennebunk port. the office said he is awake and alert and not in any discomfort. in the on again off again high stakes u.s./north korea summit, it is apparently game on again. president trump now saying he

and kim jong-un could still meet for that historic meeting in singapore on june 12th. the president confirmed on twitter that a team of u.s. officials has now arrived in north korea to, quote, make arrangements for the summit. that as we hear a third person could be in the room for the crucial meeting. let's go to nbc's janice mackie frayer in seoul. good morning. >> reporter: phillip, the urgency happening behind the scenes is proof that all sides want this june 12th summit to happen. we got the confirmation in that tweet from president trump saying that u.s. officials are now meeting with north korean officials. they're in direct talks just 35 miles from here at the dmz. leading the delegation is sung kim. he's a former u.s. ambassador to south korea and nuclear negotiator with the north. now, analysts who have been watching this situation closely for any signs of improvement are saying finally there is some progress here as the trump administration is now bringing

in seasoned experts to help keep this on track. it will be a challenge, though, to come up with the agenda for this june 12 summit because it is unclear at this point whether north korea will even talk about complete denuclearization, let aliona gree to it, aliona -- let alone agree to it. this is an important step in moving things forward. the central issue remains to be trust, considering we're talking about enemies who have decades of animosity between them and just the fact that they're even talking about the meeting is also seen as an improvement. consider where we were a year ago, north korea was still testing missiles. there were threats by the united states. now fast forward, and kim jong-un has had his second summit meeting with south korean president moon jae-in. that happened over the weekend, and there is some speculation in south korean media here that moon will actually join kim

jong-un and president trump in that room in singapore. but, of course, getting to the summit is one thing. the real work will begin after that meeting. phillip? >> all right. janice mackie frayer for us in beijing. thank you so much, janice. as the weather is heating up, health officials are warning about a disease that is on the rise. the number of people getting sick from bug bites, it's tripled in the last 15 years and that includes ticks carrying lyme disease which is notoriously hard to diagnose. scientists are developing a new way to fight it. nbc's medical correspondent dr. john torres explains. >> reporter: when karen blum came home from a hike with a tick on her knee, her worries began. >> i was concerned that it could have been lyme disease or another disease potentially carried by ticks. >> reporter: the cdc now warning that tick-borne illnesses have nearly doubled since 2004. mainly because the tick that spreads lyme disease called the black legged tick is spreading. >> more people are encountering ticks because ticks are in more

places. >> reporter: but a new weapon in the battle against lyme disease, instead of going to the doctor, karen took a picture of her tick and sent it to entomologist thomas mather who looks at the type of tick, where you live and how long the bug has been attached. >> what we can do is tell you that this tick has been attached long enough if it is infected, it could have transmitted something. >> reporter: that's the bottom line, get them to the point where they can make a good decision about what needs to be done after that. >> exactly. >> reporter: information that can help their doctors decide whether to start treating with antibiotics. mather says the best advice, though, is prevention. use bug spray that contains per meth rinne and spray shoes to keep ticks from crawling up pant lugs. good advice for karen blum who now knows her tick wasn't the type to transmit lime. learning your risk so you can have peace of mind. this is shaping up to be a bad year. we're expecting more ticks in more places which of course means more bites. daily tick checks on you and your children is important, but

it is also important to do the same thing for your pets since they can bring those ticks into the house. phillip? >> dr. torres, thank you. memorial day weekend commemorations are upon us. this weekend motorcycle riders from around the country took partth thunder rally riding past arlington memorial bridge in remembrance. and two world war ii veterans are commemorating this day by setting up a cross-country reunion. 95-year-old arthur unrue will meet up with john in cincinnati, ohio. these men will take part in a memorial day parade more than 70 years after they first flew on a mission together. later today president trump will lay the annual ceremonial wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at arlington national cemetery. thousands will be in attendance. let's check back in with nbc meteorologist bonnie schneider. bonnie. >> good morning, phillip. we're tracking alberto the first named storm. as it does come on shore likely

as a subtropical system below hurricane strength, we'll see the moisture travel well up to the center of the countriment at least of the moisture will be impacting many people with heavy rain in the panhandle. also since it is memorial day watch out for the risk of rip currents as we work our way around much of florida today an will be in the 70s as well. the rain has stopped in maryland, but the problem is we still have flood warnings in the area for ellicott city, phillip. unfortunately it will take awhile for that water to reseed. >> bonnie, thank you for that update. it was win or go home in game 7 of the eastern conference finals in boston. the celtics jumping out to an early lead but the cavs just

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indiana who was hailed a hero for stopping an armed student inside his classroom was released from the hospital over the weekend. jason suffered gunshot wounds as he tackled the shooter who opened fire. a 13-year-old girl was also wounded and is listed in critical but stable condition. a big recall this morning to tell you about involving spam and another product made by hormel. the department of agriculture is recalling 228,000 pounds of spam and hormel's black label luncheon loaf. the move comes after four consumers complained about metal objects in the food. even minor injuries were reported. you can find more information about this recall on our website, nbcnews.com. the greatest spectacle in racing went down in indianapolis sunday. an australian driver willpower became the 72nd person to win the indy 500. it was his 11th try at the title. all eyes were on danica patrick. she took to the track for the

final time after announcing she will be retiring after that race. unfortunately as you see there, her career ended with a crash on lap number 68. this was eerily similar to her final nascar race, too. despite the accident, dale earnhardt, jr., tweeted at patrick, thanking her for everything that she's done throughout her amazing career. stay with us. you're watching "early today." a. party's over, 'six legs', she's got simparica now. simpari-what? simparica is what kills tick and fleas, like us. kills? kills! studies show at the end of the month, it kills more ticks in less time than frontline plus and nexgard. guess we should mosey on. see ya never, roxy! use simparica with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. the most common side effects are vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. say goodbye to ticks and fleas... with monthly simparica chewables. tand, our adulte children are here. so, we save by using tide. which means we use less. three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. those are moms.

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familiar sound, right? the count down is on as guns n' roses announce an epic re-release of their debut appetite for destruction. the new box set will feature a total of 73 tracks, 49 of them previously unreleased. locked and loaded, the remastered and expanded reissue is due out on june 29th. consumer alert for you this morning as we commemorate memorial day on this long weekend with the weather now heating up across the country and families breaking out those bathing suits, consumer reports has put dozens of sun screens to the test. not only revealing their top picks, but they are also breaking down what many of those popular claims on the bottle really mean. here's nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: consumer reports shining a light on sun screen claims, putting 73 lotions, sprays and sticks to thest. warning, companies don't have to back up some of the claims you see on the label, like sport,

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this morning as americans mark the unofficial start of summer, we also remember those who lost their lives while in service of our country. their sacrifice on full display from coast to coast as witnessed here at the national mall which has turned into a sea of red. with hundreds of thousands of poppies lining a new makeshift memorial, each poppy representing an american killed in international battle since the first world war. and today the president set to honor the incredible sacrifices of those men and women himself. let's go to nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house for what we can expect. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. on this memorial day, the president will keep a solemn tradition of laying a wreath at arlington national cemetery to remember the country's fallen warriors. this holiday comes as the

president says he is ready to revive the nuclear talks he canceled with kim jong-un. a u.s. team crossed into north korea over the weekend to lay some of the groundwork and preparations are also underway in singapore. south korea's president says he believes kim jong-un is serious about making peace and given these more positive signs, the president says he believes a face to face with kim is still on track for the original date of june 12 in singapore. phillip? >> all right, kelly o'donnell for us. kelly, thank you. this morning we are learning the president's legal team is now claiming the russia probe is no longer legitimate. cautioning him away from an interview with robert mueller and the special counsel's investigation. at least until the lawyers representing the president can review the classified information shared with congressional lawmakers last week on the fbi's investigation into the trump campaign back in 2016. with the president's personal lawyer rudy giuliani now claiming mr. trump's unproven claims of a supposed spy within his campaign ranks is all part

of a p.r. campaign >> they're giving us the material to do it. of course we have to do it. we're defending -- to a large extent, we're defending here it is public opinion. eventually it's going to be impeach, not impeach. remember they're going to be informed a lot by their constituents. as it should be. it's the american people, the jury. the american people, yes, are republicans largely. independents pretty substantially and even some democrats question the legitimacy of it. if you need another reason to hit that snooze button, sleeping in on your days off can possibly help you live longer. after tracking over 40,000 people, the study found that people under 65 who slept less than five hours a night faced a 52% higher mortality rate. thos

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just set the washing machine to cold. do your thing, with energy upgrade california. a live look outside in san francisco.. a very good memorial day to you as we look live outside in san francisco. a little bit of maybe fog we see there in the distance. thanks so much for joining us. >> marcus has the day off. mike has the day off. there's nobody out there. but the weather continues. it's going to be a hot one. >> it's going to be really hot. you can see a bit of fog in that san francisco shot. that fog is below 1,000 feet. as we get a live look outside, it is starting out all clear. let's go to campbell. our temperatures go from below 60s to near 80. we see the highs reaching in the