should text him tonight, antwerp is spelled a-n-t-w-e-r-p and it is pronounced heist. heist. >> the sentencing phase begins today. plus, emotions ran high during congressional hearings

into the benghazi terror strike that killed four americans. richard engel returns to syria for the first time since his kidnapping and on a much lighter note, surfing's best rides and worst wipeouts. good morning. we begin this morning with new developments out of cleveland where prosecutors have filed charges against ariel castro accused of keeping three women as prisoners for more than a decade. castro will be arraigned in an ohio courtroom today facing seven felony counts of kidnapping and rape. we're also learning horrific details about what life was like in that house. nbc's ron allen has more. >> reporter: on a brilliant afternoon, a scene many feared would never happen, gina dejesus arrived home, her face hidden but with a big thumbs up as family, friends, and neighbors cheered all around her. >> i never gave up.

never gave up searching for her. >> reporter: just hours earlier, another reunion, amanda berry, the woman who led the escape from the captors with her 6 # 6-year-old daughter. the third woman remains hospitalized in good condition. police announced charges in the case. >> i just signed criminal complaints charging ariel castro with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. as it relates to pedro and neil castro, no charges will be filed on these individuals at this time. >> reporter: the police report illustrates living conditions for the women. all three stated ariel chained them in the basement but did free them to let them live upstairs. that ariel kept the doors locked and did not let them out. if they were allowed outside, they had to be heavily disguised and police say the outside trips were rare. according to the police report, the victims have reported multiple pregnancies, rapes, and miscarriages. meanwhile, investigators

continue to collect evidence at the house on seymour, a home that county records show is a modest two story colonial with four bedrooms, attic and large unfinished basement. >> we're truly sorry for their pain. >> reporter: from the suspect's family, an apology. >> we're so happy that they have been found. >> that was nbc's ron will enreporting. now to another story that captivated the nation. jodi arias has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, travis alexander. faced with the prospect of life in prison or the death penalty, a stunning revelation from arias moments after the verdict. >> i believe death is better to freedom. i'd rather have my freedom as soon as i can get it. >> she gave that exclusive interview to fox 10 not long after the jury delivered the guilty verdict to a packed courtroom. after revealing she would much rather die sooner than later, arias was moved to a jail psychiatric ward and placed

under 24 hour suicide watch. outside a phoenix court, a chorus of cheers, clapping and celebrations from a community that did not believe the 32-year-old's claim of self-defense in that gruesome murder that saw alexander stabbed nearly 30 times and shot in the head. >> it's the dream case for a prosecutor to get this case. i'm just glad that the jury realized jodi is a pathological liar and gave her what she deserves. >> i'm so happy. i knew it was going to be first degree. it had to be. she got what she deserved. now let's get her the right sentence. >> jurors will return to court today to begin the sentencing phase of that trial. a top u.s. diplomat gave an emotional account wednesday of what really happened in benghazi, libya, on the night of the terrorist attack. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: gregory hicks, a career diplomat, was holding down the fort in tripoli last

september 11th when he reached ambassador chris stevens in benghazi. >> i got the ambassador on the other end. and he said, greg, we're under attack. >> reporter: the line went dead. he called washington as the benghazi mission was overtaken by terrorists. at 3:00 a.m., libya's prime minister called. >> it was the saddest phone call i've ever had in my life. he told me that ambassador stevens had passed away. >> reporter: after hearings last fall and winter, a damming report by an independent review board, hillary clinton took the blame in january. >> i take responsibility. >> reporter: house republicans said clinton and the review board didn't good far enough with that admission. >> i find it stunning that four and a half months after the attack secretary clinton still has the gull to say it wasn't us. >> reporter: as the attack raged on and a second assault on a cia outpost, hicks testified he and a defense person tried to send

special forces to benghazi but the pentagon told them to stand down. >> i will quote lieutenant colonel gibson. he said this is the first time in my career that a diplomat has more. [ beep ] than somebody in the military. >> reporter: the pentagon says f-16s were hours away and couldn't have got threaten in time say democrats. >> of all the irresponsible allegations leveled over the past two weeks, this is the most troubling. and based on what our military commanders have told us, this allegation is simply untrue. >> andrea mitchell reporting. hicks said he told secretary clinton it was a terrorist attack, not a demonstration. and another striking claim, he says the state department demoted him in retaliation for speaking out. the department denies punishing anyone and says congress withheld money needed to protect outposts like benghazi. and now here's your first look at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." in minnesota, supporters held a prayer vigil last night before

today's scheduled vote in the state house to legalize same-sex marriage. the governor said he would sign the bill if lawmakers pass it to make minnesota the 12th state to legalize gay marriage. new hampshire's senator is criticized for her position on gun reform. now she is in a new tv ad. >> seen this tv ad paid for by new york city mayor michael bloomberg? don't believe it. kelly ayon voted for a bipartisan plan to make background checks more infective. >> 22 members of the last congress have now taken jobs with lobbying firms. that's up 14% from last year. for the first time in history, blacks in america voted at a higher rate than whites. over 66% of black voters turned out for the 2012 election that, is compared to 64.1% of white

voters. president obama's approval rating is back in positive territory at 51%. by comparison, only 22% approve of the job republican leaders in congress are doing. senate majority leader harry reid refused to meet last week with former senator pete domenici of new mexico who was a powerful republican for decades. he said it's because of his extramarital affair with the daughter of another senator. a judge in texas ruled that high school cheerleaders can display banners with verses from the bible at football games. a complaint was made but the ruling says the banners are allowed by the constitution. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren is president obama ing a bill to give students a break on high interest rate loans which are expected to double july 1st. >> in other words, the federal government is going to charge interest rates nine times higher than the rates they charge the biggest banks. the same banks that destroyed

millions of jobs and nearly broke the economy. that isn't right. >> and that's your morning's dish of scrambled politics. and now for your morning forecast, here is bill karins. >> good morning. >> interest rate, i never heard that before that interest rates are going to double. >> yeah, they're trying to get them low. >> they're college kids. >> adults still have loans. >> i'm still paying mine. >> a lot of people are. it wasn't as far as the ordinary forecast in the central plains, that's where we dealt with strong storms and even a few tornadoes. none of them were too strong. we didn't have a lot of damage. a lot of reports of damaging hail. our severe weather season kicked off in the central plains. we have a line of strong storms about to roll through tulsa and to the north of oklahoma city. be careful driving there interstate 44. later today, south of chicago, central illinois and central indiana, could see a few strong storms there, damaging winds and hail. also once again central texas

all the way up through central oklahoma we could see strong storms. yesterday we got drenched, over three inches of rain in new york city. we're still dealing with that same storm system. more rain is on the way right during the heart of the rush hour, too. philadelphia, heavy rain now and some that will be up towards new york city as we go throughout your morning. keep that in mind for your travels today once again looks like another wet, damp morning in the northeast. >> all right. >> yesterday was bad. >> yeah, it was pouring this time yesterday. well, it wasn't your ordinary chewing gum. and now it's being pulled off store shelves altogether. plus, the widow of alleged boston bomber tamerlan tsarnaev hires an attorney. we'll tell you why when "first look" returns in three minutes. [ children laughing ]

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some stories making news this morning, eight people died when fire swept through a bangladesh clothing factory yesterday. the news comes two weeks after a building housing another factory collapsed in the area killing more than 900 workers. a utah teen has been charged with homicide by assault after

punching a soccer referee in the head last month. the man later died from his injuries. the teen reportedly didn't like a call the ref made. the minor's name is not released. he may be tried as an adult. the winner of boston marathon bombing suspect tamerlan tsarnaev hired a criminal lawyer known for his experience in terrorism defense cases. she continues to field questions regarding her late husband's involvement in the attack. a small helicopter lost power and crashed on a busy honolulu street yesterday afternoon damaging a parked car. the fire department spokesman said it was miraculous that nobody was badly hurt since the usually crowded street is home to a large apartment complex and a university campus. and veteran screen actress jeanne cooper died. she earned 11 day time emmy nominations during her 40-year run on the soap opera "the young and the restless." turning now to business

where cnbc has your thursday morning headlines. good morning. >> retailers report april sales today. although only a small handful of stores still report monthly numbers. sales are expected to be impacted by the continued cold weather across the country but also by falling gas prices. in other news, senator john mccain is expected to introduce a bill this week requiring cable and satellite companies to give customers the option of buying individual channels instead of packages. the idea is gaining traction as costs for some sports channels skyrocketed. americans will be spending more on mom this year. the national retail federation finds consumers will spend $169 for mother's day, up 11% from last year. flowers and jewelry will be the top gifts. >> that's definitely news that moms like to hear. thank you. we'll see if today's weekly jobs report pushes stocks to another record high. weekly jobless claims are out at

8:30 this morning. 324,000 were reported last week and more than five-year low. overnight, sony reported it is back in the black thanks to cheap yen that boosted the profit to the highest in five years. green mountain coffee and starbucks have a fresh five-year deal to triple the number of starbucks keurig products and green mountain soared after hours on better than expected rngs. wrigleys is pulling their caffeinated gum off the shelves. former enron ceo jeffrey skilling could get out a decade early. the judge has yet to announce the deal. new this morning, the number of homes being foreclosed on in april fell to a six-year low. and electric carmaker tesla motored its way to a profit for the first time ever with plans to deliver 21,000 cars this

year. that's not many, right? but it's still three times the number of lamborghinis that will be sold in 2010. fiat is dropping production below 7,000 to retain exclusivity. take a look at this. the world's greatest surfers and biggest wipeouts honored at the global big wave awards. 40-year-old hawaiian surfer shane dorian walked away with one of surfing's biggest accolades, the ride of the year award. [ female announcer ] switch to swiffer 360 duster extender,

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it's time to dig deeper in s our top political stories. joining me is bob franken. let's start with the benghazi hearings. some on the left are calling this a witchunt. did we learn anything at those hearings yesterday that would suggest wrongdoing by the state department or the white house? >> well, we certainly had new questions raised. i think the characterization of its being a witchunt, we have to point out that sometimes a witchunt does find some witches and that is what the republicans obviously are trying to do right now. they had testimony from number two man to the ambassador chris stevens would was very, very critical of the state department, very critical of washington saying that it was very slow to react at the very least and saying in effect that the state department subsequently engaged in a cover-up.

>> if clinton decides to run for president in 2016, could the benghazi issue be used by critics to attack leadership and intel r integrity? >> let's do the requisite "if" she decides to run. that is a couple of years away. as we discussed before, americans have the attention span of a nat. i'm not sure it will be an issue. you can certainly believe her opponents will raise it. i want to shift gears to mark sanford's congressional win. >> that is indeed a switch. >> sharp turn. they're raising the question of what his win means for anthony weiner, of all people. does it bode well for political come backs? >> i suppose so. i suppose that if anthony weiner would probably try and avoid doing some tweeting on the appalachian trail or something like that, i think they're very separate venues. we're talking about south carolina versus new york city. we're talking about different

circumstances. and i want you to note that i'm probably the only person who has come on television who has not made a joke about mark sanford. >> bob franken, thank you for your time. we appreciate it. and now to the deadly civil war in syria which claimed by some estimates more than 70,000 lives. the stories of the atrocities there are tough to cover as our own chief foreign correspondent richard engel knows all too well. they were kidnapped in syria in december but thankfully they made it out okay. now they're back to investigate allegations of chemical warfare. >> reporter: rebels bring noose syria, laid waste by more than two years of war and constant brutality. we're taken to a headquarters bombed just days earlier to discuss allegations of chemical weapons. a young activist shows us video he says is the aftermath of an attack. villagers choking, gasping. among them, this woman, slipping

in and out of consciousness. rebels blame chemical weapons, smoke from something dropped by a government helicopter. they show us two photographs but experts tell us these devices closely resemble tear gas canisters. a doctor tells us he treated this woman. she was unconscious, sweating, he says. she had white liquid at the mouth. she was struggling to breathe and had small pupils. we were shown blood and urine samples, evidence of a chemical attack the rebels take, but it proves nothing. >> take it out and have a look. >> a chemical weapons specialist tests the urine sample provided by the rebels and found no evidence of any chemical warfare agent. >> that's richard engel reporting from inside syria. just ahead, david bowie's latest music video is slapped with an adults only viewing label.

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bill clinton said that despite all the speculation, hillary hasn't said anything to him about running for president in 2016. though in fairness, she hasn't said anything to him since 1998. >> ouch. well, it's a tale of two bikinis, britney spears debuts her beach body on the cover of "shape's" june issue and kim kardashian downed a bikini in

her third trimester. >> can you imagine anyone else playing iron man? marvel contract is officially over and the studio has no problem getting someone else to play the lead for much less money. marvel may have a problem because according to a new poll, the avengers two neenz it to be a hit. according to us weekly, liam hensworth siblings tried to break off his engagement to miley cyrus. the couple has been engaged since june. david bowie's new music video is so racy that youtube slapped it with a strict adult only rating along with bowie, the video stars gary ogman. and "the hangover 3" comes a day early. they moved the films release to the thursday before memorial day giving it a 24-hour head start on "fast and furious 6." i had no idea it was coming so soon.

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" starts right now. tonight, i am angry and for once that doesn't make me happy. and i think you know why. >> scandal tainted former south carolina governor mark sanford won back his old seat in congress tuesday. the republican defeated eed th sister of stephen colbert. my sister lost. how could this happen? i was so sure lulu had won because cnn called it for

sanford. the voters of south carolina have spoken, mark sanford beat my sister and i think that means he is now my sister. >> this is "way too early." thanks for being up with us this morning. we have a lot of news to talk about on this thursday, may 9th. emotional testimony on capitol hill as congress continues to investigate the death of three american diplomats in libya last september, the revelations that came to light and how the white house is now responding. a jury convicts jodi arias of first-degree murder for killing her boyfriend. the next step in the salacious case, will the 32-year-old face the death penalty? we'll hear from the newly convicted murderer. we begin in cleveland. 52-year-old ariel castro, new face of evil, has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape just days after three women and a young girl were rescued from his home. castro's two brothers were also arrested but have not