in the bag? today mitt romney looks to lock up his position as the republican presidential nominee. making it rain. debris falls from the sky as continue air canada jet makes an emergency landing in toronto. and burger heaven. which cities sizzle when it comes to one of america's favorite meals? good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. and we're going to make it official today possibly for mitt romney. he is expected to lock up his

party's presidential nomination in today's texas gop primary. later, he's going to team up with donald trump to raise funds in las vegas. yesterday, president obama and romney spent memorial day on the campaign trail. nbc's tracie potts joins us with more on this from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn. good morning. call today sort of pre-official for mitt romney, if, in fact, he's able to get those delegates from texas. he can go into this republican convention three months from now confident he'll take on president obama in the fall. texas is expected to put mitt romney over the top today giving him the 1,144 delegates he'll need to win the republican nomination. >> a big day tomorrow. looking forward to the good news. >> reporter: he'll make his case from battleground colorado toorksd then las vegas at a fund-raiser with donald trump. romney brushed off concerns about associate with trump who is still questioning president obama's birth certificate.

>> i don't agree with all the team who support me. my guess is they don't agree with everything i believe in. but i need 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. >> reporter: romney spent memorial day with veteran senator john mccain while president obama paid tribute at arlington cemetery and the vietnam memorial in washington. >> you are true heroes and you will never be forgotten. let us never use patriotism as a political sword. patriots can support a war. patriots can oppose a war. and whatever our view, let us always stand united in support of our troops who we've placed in harm's way. >> veterans make up 13% of the vote. with polls tightening in swing states, both candidates are pushing hard for their support. especially today in texas. texas has 152 delegates at stake in today's primary. mitt romney only needs 58 of them to secure this nomination.

lynn? >> tracie, thanks. elsewhere, violence flared in egypt monday in the wake of the country's first election since the ouster of hosni mubarak. an angry mob set fire to the campaign headquarters of mubarak's last prime minister just hours tafr was announced he'd face the muslim brotherhood's candidate. several muslim protesters took to the streets to demonstrate. some to protest the election's winners while others protested against their candidate's losing. yesterday in canada, drivers near toronto suddenly experienced pieces of debris falling from the sky. they apparently came from an air canada jet that had one engine fail on takeoff. reporter steven desousa from the canadian broadcasting company picks up the story from there. >> reporter: sarib had just put gas in her car monday afternoon when something fell from the sky. >> i was just surprised when i heard a noise. i didn't expect it.

>> reporter: she emerged to find damage on the side of her car and windshield. >> we saw some pieces made of metal. it was so hot. you could not even touch it. >> reporter: the damage to jonathan's car was even worse. >> just really, really strange. not something i expected to happen today, having airplane debris fall through my winshield. >> reporter: an air canada plane was making an emergency landing at toronto's airport. the plane took off just after 2:00 p.m. eastern for tokyo. passenger jason flick describes what happened next. >> midway through, the air conditioning kind of popped which doesn't really happen and then we stopped accelerating. the plane continued in that angle of acceleration but nothing happened. >> reporter: one engine had shut down. the crew flew over lake ontario to dump fuel. the planes are designed to fly on one engine. the boeing 777 circled back around returning to pearson after being in the air for more than an hour and a half. >> we came in fast. very fast.

like twice the normal speed. i was just glad. even at that speed to see ground that close. and then fire trucks came everywhere and apparently overheated brakes was the only concern at that point. >> reporter: crews met the plane on the tarmac and no injuries were reported. the debris fell at this gas station less than 5 kilometers from the airport. an air canada spokesman says they haven't confirmed the debris came from the plane. transport canada and the transportation safety board are looking into it. she's just glad no one was hurt. >> it would be worse if people were working. good thing nothing happened. we're safe. only the car. >> that's for sure. here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in texas, word this morning that the man who was barricaded for hours in the top of a crane hovering above southern methodist university is now out. the man either fell or jumped. no word on his condition. the carjacking suspect spent all afternoon and evening holed up

150 feet in the air claiming he had a gun. in california, this is heartstopping video. it's gone viral. here's why. it shows an 80-year-old woman's near fatal plunge after a skydiving accident. it's almost hard to watch. she slipped from the harness connecting her to the parachuting instructor. amaze league, her partner was able to hang on to her. later this morning, she's going to sit down with nbc's matt lauer for an exclusive live interview on "today" on your local nbc station. wow! also in california, humans weren't the only ones who got a chance to relax this holiday weekend. look at that guy. a bear made its way into a los angeles area swimming pool just to chill out. i probably would, too. that looks pretty nice. those home at the time had the presence of mind to both stay inside and then grab their video camera. in utah, a family of kittens was found alive after being

trapped for two weeks in cement. construction workers poured the foundation for a garage floor while building a new house. they started hearing meows but didn't know where it was coming from. they even ripped out some walls but finally they cracked open the pavement. there were the kittens. adorable as ever. and they saved them. now for a look at your national weather we turn to todd santos with your weather channel forecast. that doesn't happen every day. >> it does not. good thing for the air pocket there. it worked out well. >> for 12 days. >> used up a few lives there. you know, many of us made it through yesterday in a pretty decent fashion. want to take a quick look as far as the very latest with now tropical depression beryl. we're still talking max sustained winds at 30 miles per hour after the very latest advisory from the hurricane center. just a short time ago. it's continued to make that turn towards the north. moving in around 2 miles per hour. so starting to slowly move off towards the north and east. the steering currents are going to gently pick this up and

slowly accelerate it. so that's going to allow the circulation to remain intact. we'll track this. for many of us, still dealing with heavier showers. especially palm coast and florida. upwards and over five inches of rainfall. still chances for easily three additional inches if not more than that. that's going to soak a good stretch of 95 here through eastern georgia, northeast florida. and the low country of south carolina. also through these areas in northwest florida along 75. heavy showers to contend with travelwise this morning. there's a look at the latest. with the latest update from the hurricane center, want to mention as we get in through wednesday late afternoon and evening, latest forecast still has beryl developing again back into a tropical storm just off the outer banks of north carolina. at least folks across southeastern north carolina, even down towards wilmington, keep a close eye on the forecast with this system. may be dealing with strong onshore winds as we get into the daytime tomorrow and then that system accelerates off into the north atlantic.

so still a few things to watch here across the central u.s. also yesterday a number of storm reports scattered across a large area. hail and wind reports. no tornado reports. did want to mention a few areas this morning dealing with thunderstorms through central southern illinois and now getting in towards indianapolis. so this morning, maybe dealing with that even through far western kentucky depending on what time you are leaving for work. a few other areas we could see redevelopment in through this afternoon of thunderstorms especially through the northeast initially it's more of a low cloud ceilings, fog. boston, half mile visibility. initially not much of an issue. we'll see this start to fill in a good stretch of pennsylvania and new york throughout the day today with chances for showers. expect some of those and more warm temperatures. that's a look at yesterday with the record high in chicago. >> toasty. todd, thanks so much. coming up as well, euro fear grinds on. a big law firm goes belly up. n easily the creepiest elvis auction that's ever been held. your first look at this

morning's business headlines is straight ahead. a strikeout sale for a white sox lefty. the celtics get closer to retirement in miami. and a special memorial day moment. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink?

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welcome back. i'm lynn berry. here are some of the top stories making news this morning. russia is calling for a full investigation of the syrian government's role in the recent massacre of more than 100 people in the village of houla. meanwhile, a united nations probe has shown that children were among those executed in that attack. u.n. envoy kofi annan was horrified by the killings and will talk with bashar al assad about them today. an italian news agency is reporting at least five are dead after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake.

scandal is spreading at the vatican as the pope's butler who was arrested for allegedly having confidential documents in his home has agreed to cooperate with investigators. that raises the possibility that higher-ups could be implicated. and details on power struggles, corruption and intrigue inside the highest levels of the catholic church may be revealed. bluefin tuna carrying radioactive contamination that leaked from japan's crippled nuclear plant have arrived on the shores of the united states. the levels of radioactive cesium were ten times higher than the amount measured in tuna off the california coast in previous years. researchers have captured a stunning image of a newly created molecule. they are calling it olymposene. it got its name because its five-linked rings resemble the olympic symbol. and travel & leisure has a new survey with the city with the best burgers. the number one city is

providence, rhode island. philadelphia ranked second. chicago came in third. now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed on friday at 12,454 after falling 74 points. the s&p lost 2. the nasdaq was down 1. taking a look at overseas trading. in tokyo, the nikkei gained 63 points while in hong kong, the hang seng rose 254. after the long holiday weekend, europe's ongoing debt saga will take center stage once again. fears spain can't afford to bail out its largest real estate lender weighed on asian markets after sending spanish bonds to record highs monday. the price of copper slipped on fears europe's debt crisis may dampen the region's metal demand. meanwhile, greece handed $22 billion to its fourth -- four biggest banks reinstating their access to european central bank funding. as greece's currency hangs in the balance, a new pew research

poll of eurozone countries, including greece show that even though a majority of citizens say the euro has not been good for them, they don't want to go back to their old currencies. in the wake of a phone hacking scandal, tony blair told the public inquiry that murdoch wielded, quote, substantial power but denied cozying up to him in exchange for political support. "the wall street journal report"s the u.s. justice department is investigating whether executives at bp lied to language about how much oil linked in the 2010 gulf oil disaster. dewy and leboeuf filed for bankrupt protection. and it's a chance of a lifetime for diehard fans of the king. elvis presley's original crypt at the forest hills cemetery in memphis will go to the highest bidder at auction next month. he was interred there for two

months and later reburied at his graceland home. the angels walk off. the cubs snap back and smooth sailing against the rays. plus, a memorial day surprise for one family at a big league game in atlanta. your first look at sports is straight ahead. this was great. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪ how are things on the west coast? ♪ ♪ i hear you... ♪ rocky mountain high ♪ rocky, rocky mountain high ♪ ♪ all my exes live in texas ♪ ♪ born on the bayou

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thought they were dead. [ laughter ] [ grunting ] huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. america's number one weed killer. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. guaranteed. weeds won't play dead, they'll stay dead. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. last night in the nba playoffs, the miami heat took their first tilt in the battle with the boston celtics. here's nbc's bill seward.

>> hi, everybody. game one of the eastern conference finals started with a healthy dose of lebron and ended in a blowout. to miami. james hit the court running. flies past a pair of celtics for the layup. heat with an early lead. moments later, mario chalmers up top to lebron for the alley oop. james with 11 of miami's 21 points in the first quarter. celtics made it a game in the second. paul pierce, three ball, corner pocket. boston rallies to tie the game at the half. but that's as close as they would get. simply too much lebron for the aging celtics. finished with a game-high 32 and 13 boards. miami opens the series with a 93-79 win. game two is tomorrow. baseball, yankees and angels tied in the ninth. a jumbo for trumbull. a walk-off homer. halos win their seventh in a row. to chicago, the wind blowing out at wrigley. good news for the cubbies.

four homers against the padres. they snap an 11-game losing streak. cubs were hitting them out and the white sox chris sail was punching them out. striking out 15 over 7 1/3. sail was a strikeout shy of a team record set all the way back in 1954. chi sox beat the raise, 2-1. yesterday was a memorial day that one family will never forget. the atlanta braves invited the family of master sergeant david simms to turner field. between innings, they watched a recorded message from sims who was deployed in afghanistan. big setup. as sims gave his family the shock of their lives by walking out of the stands. his wife and four kids immediately maul him. the crowd gave the family a standing ovation. a terrific moment to cap off memorial day weekend. that's your first look at sports. i'm bill seward. >> doesn't get better than that. now for another look at the weather, here is meteorologist todd santos. he has your weather channel forecast.

that whole family was like a little army. like all of them running out just attacking dad. it was great. >> the best stories ever. cool there at turner field. i want to take you into one more radar image. didn't want to just show some of those showers heading into indianapolis, ft. wayne, even cincinnati over the next hour or two. travelwise, something to keep in mind. also into the northeast into vermont, a few severe thunderstorms this evening. i showed this the end of the last hit. you absorb what we're dealing with some of the great heat across the area up towards chicago. a record at 95. warm across a good stretch of the eastern seaboard. right now it's taken awhile to cool down across some of these areas. 76. 73 in atlanta. by later on this afternoon, you do also see some of the cool spots on the map. getting denver into about the mid-70s. i wanted to show this with the contours so you can see where the core of that heat across the southeast. birmingham. the only thing that may cool you down will be the chance for some showers. here's a look at some of those

same numbers with the actual forecast on there. atlanta may get some thunderstorms going. of course, tropical depression beryl will still be an issue across northern florida, low count south carolina, southern georgia as well. if your traveling through there. northeast will see thunderstorms early on, especially in through northern vermont and new hampshire. we'll get some of that going in toward boston as we get to late afternoon early evening. into the evening commute, maybe dealing with some of those. toward billings, showers and thunderstorms as well. wednesday, a little better toward new york city. still hanging on to the warmth there with temperatures in the 80 pps boston, maybe a chance for thunderstorms into the daytime on wednesday. kansas city also dealing with some of those temperatures. 75 degrees. a quick look into thursday. coming up, who is engaged? who got married? and black is back in fashion at the box office. plus, after what it took to get back on stage after giving birth, guess what beyonce wants more than anything else? your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look." [ barking ] i'm your dog,

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welcome back to "first look." time for entertainment news. it's official. the alien hunters have taken out the superheroes at the box office. "men in black iii" earned $70 million over the four-day holiday weekend. not quite what was expected, but still one of the year's best openings. "the avengers" took second. it is very close to knocking the dark knight rises out of third place on the top all-time money list. elsewhere, three years after getting engaged to the same-sex marriage rally, sunday, cynthia nixon and christine marinoni

married. keira knightley is engaged to james righton of the klaxons. jessica biel and justin timberlake celebrated their engagement this weekend. and hopefully by now beyonce has rewarded herself because saturday night at her atlantic city concert she told her audience that since giving birth she's been running on the treadmill, she's been eating only lettuce and she officially lost 60 pounds. she finished off by promising tonight i'm going to get chocolate wasted. of course that's from the adam sandler movie. i digress. but 60 pounds. that is unbelievable. >> that's a lot of lettuce as well. >> i guess lettuce and ice chips will do the trick but just doesn't seem to be that enjoyable. >> the chocolate waste is something women would understand. guys just saying -- >> don't rub it in, todd. don't rub it in that you can eat whatever you want. >> i'm not pregnant. >> there you go. hopefully not. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look."

stay tuned "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. horrifying images ouftd syria of the alleged targeted slaughter by the government there of civilians. mostly women and children. it puts new pressure on the u.n. to step in and stop the bloodshed. with a cease-fire proving meaningless, have the events made it more likely now that the world will intervene? after a couple of months of calling mitt romney the presumptive nominee, with the win tonight in texas, we'll be able to call him the republican nominee for president. with every poll showing it's about a dead heat the day after memorial day. what issue or event will shift this race over the next five months. lebron continues his playoff tear in game one of the eastern conference finals. last night against the celti