off and running. president obama officially kicks off his reelection bid, while speculation over a running mate for mitt romney intensifies. smash-and-grab. surveillance video captures a brazen store robbery in ohio. and wave of terror. dozens of feared dead after a mountain river bursts its banks in nepal. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. and we are going to begin this morning with ratcheting up the campaign.

august conventions may be months away, but mitt romney is already move on to the next phase in his race for the white house -- selecting a running mate. meanwhile, president obama spt wasting any time taking shots at his presumed republican rival. . >> reporter: president obama took off the gloves and took on mitt romney. >> i don't care how you try to explain it, corporations aren't people. people are people! >> reporter: now that romney is it the presumptive republican nominee, his former rivals are helping him bring the party together. >> if you look at mitt romney, it's all about his proven track record and what he's done with his life. >> so you have endorsed him. >> as far as i'm concerned, yes. >> reporter: marco rubio could help deliver hispanic voters aa a running mate. >> this president asked us to hire him four years ago on the promise he knew how to fix the

economy and he would be different, that he would unite this country. >> reporter: freshman center kelly a yod of new hampshire may help close the gap for women. >> i have more experience than barack obama had when he ran. >> reporter: a president whose 2012 campaign motto no longer promises hope or change. >> and we're not going back. we're moving this country forward. >> reporter: "forward," that is the battle cry for a president fighting for another four years. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. elsewhere, a u.s. drone stroke has killed a top al qaeda leader in yemen. it hit him as he stepped out of his vehicle in southern yemen. one of al qaeda's senior leaders, he was on the fbi most-wanted list for his role in the bombing of the "uss cole" in tw 2000 which killed $17 soldier and wounded 39. after years of delay, a dent

tiff trial delay has been set for next year for the defendants in the september 11th attacks. an arraignment hearing was held featuring more delays. nbc national news intercorporate michael izikoff reports from cuba. >> reporter: at guantanamo bay it was a difficult day for a military xruj judge and painful of the families of 9/11 victims. khalid shake mow humid and his co-defendants were brought in to be formally arraigned that they plotted the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people more than a decade ago. but mohammed and his co-defendants were defiant, repeatedly refusing to answer the judge's questions or put on headsets to hear translations of what he had to say. one of the co-defendants, ben al shibh, stood up and shouting that guards at guantanamo were trying to kill him. but the judge moved the case forward and agreed to hear a defense motion to delay the trial for up to a year.

meanwhile, the defense lawyers held a press conference. >> these men have endured years of inhumane treatment and torture. this treatment has had serious long-term effects and will ultimately infect every aspect of this military commission tribunal. >> i have viewed scars on his arms and that we have reason to believe that he has been subjected to mistreatment while in the camps. >> reporter: they suggested that their clients' behavior in court was peaceful resistance to what they said was their torture by the u.s. government and an unjust military commission system. michael izikoff, nbc news, guin thanh mow. >> here is your "first look" at some of the other news going on around america. in ohio, surveillance video captured a thief's dramatic efrnt rance into a store. he smashed through the front with an suv, taking out security fencing. he then crawled under the wreckage to begin his heist. but for all that trouble, the store manager says the burglar only got away with a tv and that

he may have damaged that on the way out. in massachusetts, police say a speeding driver slammed his car full of passengers right into a building. that driver was killed immediately. rescuers had to use the jaws of life to get three other passengers out who are expected to recover. witnesses say the man at the wheel was also driving erratically. and, finally, we reminded of this on friday, but did you look up saturday? this is the look from tampa, florida, very cool time-lapse images of this weekend's supermoon, saturday night's lunar spectacular brought the moon to its closest point of the year, about 4,000 miles closer than usual. it made the moon appear about 3% brighter. here is a look at your national weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> i heard it was great. >> i heard it was fabulous. your excuse is you had kids so you were probably asleep.

>> it was cloudy. i couldn't see the moon. >> i just forgot. i don't know which is worse. >> i heard it was great. oh, well. the pictures looked nice. good morning, everyone. a rough night just south of chicago, where the worst weather is found this morning. anyone traveling in areas of indiana and illinois, that's where we're dealing with probably the heaviest of the rain. this will continue to push into northern indiana as we go throughout the morning, notice we're looking at the radar here, chicago to gary, these bright yellows and reds, just downpours at this moment. as far as rainfall totals go, t estimating between bloomington and champaign, these totals in here ranging three to four to even as much as four and a quarter inches of rain. that's impressive stuff. as far as the next 36 hours, we're going to see the heaviest of the rain shifting more towards ohio, tonight into tomorrow areas of pennsylvania and new york state, and i think late this afternoon we do have a chance of slight risk of severe storms. watch out, memphis.

watch out around levxington and louisville. thankfully we have the derby done without dealing with rain. st. louis could have rain, too. back into texas, i think dallas-ft. worth is safe from rain, but south of you from austin south is where we could watch even san antonio a chance tore late-day storms. as far as the weather map goes, the east will hold on to the one nice day. if you're up in new england or right along the mid-atlantic, appreciate whatever sunshine you get today. it looks cloudy at least tuesday, wednesday, possibly even thursday, with on and off chances of rain. after a really nice sunday, it cob a nogloomy middle of the we. all because these storms in the middle of the country are going to move ever so slowly into this area of high pressure on the east coast. it's just a very slow moving weather pattern. once you get the rain settling over you and the clouds, it will be tough to break out of it. the forecast for today, we'll have a nice day from boston, providence, hartford, down the east coast. a slight chance of afternoon storms in the southeast, more of your typical summertime variety. as far as the stormy weather in

chicago, i think the worst of it for chicago is early this morning. you actually should clear it up this afternoon for a decent day. anyone traveling to the west coast, this is where all the beautiful weather is, lots of sunshine and springlike temperatures, lynn. bottom line for the eastern seaboard, lynn, another middle of the week gloomy pattern. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, european election results shake up the markets. facebook beats the drum. and elvis plus warhol equals big bucks. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. a wild sunday, including the knicks snapping their playoff skid, and albert pujols breaks a cold streak of his own. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues

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welcome back to "fist look". i'm lynn berry. here are some of the top stories. voters in france have elected a new president, francois hollande who opposed aus terty measures. president obama called to

convict grait grat late the winner, he defeated nicolas sarkozy. police are investigating the murder of a track worker at churchill downs, the sites of saturday's kentucky derby. the body of a groom from guatemala was found yesterday in a horse barn, but police say there's nothing to indicate the death had any connection with the derby. in san francisco, a fire destroyed a four-story wooden apartment building in the city's mission district. more than 30 people were left homeless by the fire. the actor who played goober pyle on tv for 30 years has died. george lindsay who starred as the smiling service station attendant on "the andy griffith show" and "heehaw" was 83 years old. in nepal, a wall of water destroyed a bridge, 47 are missing and presumed dead. the flash flood hit with almost no warning. rescue teams are still searching through the debris.

now here is your first look at how wall street is it going to kick off the day. the dow opened at 13,038 after tum willing 168 on friday. the s&p sank 22, the nasdaq 67. taking a look overseas, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 261 points while in hong kong the hang seng shot down 7549. after closing out its worst week of the year, it looks like election upsets overseas could send investors into another stormy stretch. asian markets took a beating told while the euro plunged to of sarkozy's defeat in france. likewise in greece voters swept aside leaders requesting budget reforms, triggering new doutds about greece and the wider eurozone. oil slipped below $97 a barrel this morning, bringing its losses over the last three days to about 8%. a third straight month of

disappointing jobs data from the government sparked a sell-off friday, impact that will likely linger today. the average price of regular it gas is down seven centers over the past two weeks to an average of $3.85 a gallon. ahead of next week's ipo, facebook ceo mark zuckerberg and other executives will meet with potential investors across the country this week. also this week, we'll see quarterly earnings reports from the likes of cisco, macy's and news corp. at&t will start selling home and automation and security services out of its retail stores starting in a trial this summer in dallas and atlanta. final 0ly, an andy warhol painting of elvis presley dressed as a cowboy shooting from the hip is set to hit the auction block this width. sotheby's expect it to fetch about $50 million. well, incubator farm programs are a new popular trend in the u.s., and they're helping those interested in farming learn the basics of the industry in a more affordable way.

the training programs are part of the agriculture department's push to attract 100,000 new farmers over the next few years. nbc's francis koe reports. >> reporter: joe roland wrote this letter when he was 10 explaining why he wanted to be a farmer. >> you make your own schedule. you don't have to dress up. and you get to work with crops and animals. >> reporter: now he's left a corporate job and is making his dream come true with a program called incubator farming. this farm in concord, north carolina, is one of only about a hundred in the united states. it helps young farmers and plays into a bigger goal. the u.s. department of agriculture says we need new farmers. the american farmer is getting old, an average age of almost 60. the usda has earmarked $18 million a year toward the goal of attracting 100,000 new farmers. >> we would like to put a big sign in rural america saying, open for business, we want you young people come our way.

>> reporter: it's not lack of interest. young people just don't have the start-up money needed. the usda says the average income from a new farm in 2009 was minus $8,000. >> joe really is the future of farming. >> reporter: joe paid $240 a year to be part of this program and took an eight-week course to learn farming basics, like planting, but also how to run a farm as a business. >> have to turn this water back on here in a minute. >> reporter: the incubator farmers graduate to plots of land where they can practice the lessons of the classroom. >> where does somebody test the waters when you need a $30,000 tractor and when a 30-acre property like this is in the millions of dollars in this area. how do you tiptoe into something that has so many up-front costs? >> reporter: with a trend toward organic and eating local, consumers want to know where their food is coming from. >> everyone who eats should be caring about this problem of beginning farmers. >> reporter: in joe's case, it's

working. he's making a profit on the incubator farm and is signing a contract to buy an 18-acre farm. the fact he'll still be able to rely on the incubator project to loan his farm equipment and expertise will help him make that childhood dream come true. francis kuo, nbc news, concord, north carolina. coming up, the kings sweep the blues, the knicks stay alive, and hallelujah, an angel finally gets his wings. plus, a very bizarre moment in the l.a./denver playoff clash as a so-called nugget stalker invades the course. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ growls ] lucky for me, your friends showed up with this awesome bone. hey! you guys are great. and if you got your home insurance where you got your cut rate car insurance, it might not replace all this. [ electricity crackling ] [ gasping ] so get allstate.

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kellogg's® mini-wheats cereal. [ mini ] yee haw! a big breakfast in a little biscuit. welcome back to "first look." last night the lakers pushed the nuggets to the brink of playoff elimination. here's nbc's mario solis. >> good morning to you. playoff fever in full effect, start with a pivotal game four between the lakers and nuggets. in denver, a bit of a distraction. a woman walks onto the court during play. she has a history of stalking the nuggets. no one hurt, the game marches on. final seconds, kobe to blake, that's your ball game, 92-88, lakers secure a 3-1 series lead. to new york, amar'e stoudemire back for game four as the knicks try to avoid being swept. final minute, game tied, carmelo anthony with the clutch three. closing seconds miami with a shot for the win, dwayne wade

cannot connect, knicks win 89-87, their first playoff victory in 11 years. miami leads the series 3-1. to boston, mitt romney checking out the celtics and hawks. third quarter, rajon rondo fakes the hind the back past and lays it in. celtics win 101-79. they can polish off atlanta tomorrow night. hockey in new jersey, devils and flyers tied at 2, zubrus gets the go-ahead. devils go up 3-1 on the flyers. in los angeles, kings finish off the blues, final minute, blues pull off their goalie, but dustin brown takes the puck for the game winner. the eight-seed kings win 3-1 to sweep st. louis. baseball, it finally happened for albert pujols, angels and blue jays, pujols connecting in the fifth, his first home run as an angel, 33-game drought, the longest of his career. finally to boston, red sox and

orioles, 17th inning, darnell mcdonald takes the mound, davis takes him out for i three-run shot. 9-6 orioles. up to chris davis to close out the game, orioles win in the 17th win, the first baseman turned pitcher wins the game. that's your first look at sports. i'm mario solis. now for another look at the weather, let's check back in with nbc meteorologist bill karins, good morning again. >> maybe the first baseman can pitch, you and i could switch it up every now and then. >> i'm all for that. bill, you're just wa waiting for your moment in this chair. >> you're waiting for this moment. that would be more entertaining. good morning, everyone. i don't know if you would call what happened on saturday, but amazing pictures out of japan where a rare tornado, about 40 miles outside of tokyo, unfortunately killed one person, about 20 injuries, 400 homes sustained damage. this was a pretty

up-close-and-personal view. the tornado literally went right over the top of the building just across from the camera operator, even blew the windows out right outside the window from that view. once again, they only get about 20 tornadoes a year in japan, and they haven't had a deadly one since 2006. pretty rare event over there. as far as we're concerned here, tornadoes, we get them this time of year. we were okay over the weekend. we had weak ones without any damage. today a widespread area of a slight risk of severe weather, but i think it will be pretty isolated. don't expect a lot of tornadoes. if you're in the louisville area, indiana, all of ohio, much of tennessee, back down through areas around little rock and memphis, we have a chance for storms today. here is your forecast. dry from boston to d.c., late-afternoon storms possible pittsburgh to buffalo. that may even be after the dinner hour. in the southeast, pop-up storms, too, lynn. but once again so far, so good this may. not a lot of big tornadoes yet, knock on wood somewhere. >> exactly. bill, thanks. coming up, who's accused of going diva behind the scenes at

this weekend's "saturday night live." hint, it's not bill. he only does that on this show. craw sading superheroes break all kinds of records at this weekend's box office. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. "first look" on msnbc. look. it's so simple. [ male announcer ] in here, the right minds from inside and outside the company come together to work on an idea. adding to it from the road, improving it in the cloud all in real time. good idea. ♪ it's the at&t network -- providing new ways to work together, so business works better. ♪

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. welcome back to "first look." it's time for some entertainment news. did you see it? it's huge. >> we're so lame. this was the biggest movie of all-time. >> "the avengers," broke all records, justs above $200 million, knoxed the biggest ever opening by far rocketing past $169 million set by last year's final harry potter.

no technicality or doubt at today's average ticket prices it's estimated "the avengers" sold after 20.5 million tickets, including overseas earnings in barely a week and a half "the avengers" has climbed over $640 million. so it did well. elsewhere this weekend, ashton kutcher did the kentucky derby where he and miranda lambert made up and made friends. du know they were in a fight? >> they look cozy. >> she thought he made fun of country music at a recent awards show. see mint juleps solves all problem. tmz reports rihanna upset lorne michaels for missing dress rehearsal for "saturday night live." she claims she was sick but an hour later shows up for the live show. >> dress rehearsal is different because they have a live audience, people sleep on the sidewalk to go to the dress

rehearsal. >> you don't do that, rihanna. even if you're rihanna. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" is next. voters in france dump president nicolas sarkozy after one term and send a message to germany that they're not going to go along easily with european belt tightening. the question is, what do yesterday elections across europe tell us about the economic future of the continent? we'll have a couple of live reports for you. back here at home, president obama spent the weekend officially campaigning for reelection in ohio and virginia, while his vice president was back in washington declaring he's open to gay marriage. the question is, did joe biden go rogue? or was that the administration floating a trial balloon on the issue? and washington nationals' 19-year-old rookie bryce harper gets a little welcome to the big leagues from the philadelphia phillies. the question is, how did harper get his revenge after he was drilled in the back?