good tuesday morning. on "first look", president obama heads back o to the jersey shore while john mccain's surprise visit o syria is raising eyebrows. court begins in a few hours for george zimmerman's defense team as they find out what evidence can and cannot be presented at trial for the murder of trayvon martin. an update on the royal caribbean cruise ship. plus tornadoes are expected this week with wednesday being the worst day. plus paul mccartney channels elvis. good morning, everyone. . we begin in the middle east where two big stories are

leading the news. a wave of violence in iraq killed 70 people and a secret trip inside syria by one of the country's most prominent voices on expanding military involvement there. richard engel has the report. >> reporter: violence is spreading across the middle east and it's all interconnected. it was a horrible day in bagh d baghdad. at least 15 explosions, most of them car bombings, most of them in poor shiite neighborhoods. this is another sign that despite years of american sacrifice the civil war in iraq appears to be coming back. but violence is not just in iraq now but also here in lebanon and, of course, in syria. syria is at center of this. the war in syria is dragging the countries around it back into chaos. senator john mccain put himself right in the center of this storm. he visited syria. he visited in secret. it was a surprise visit. he stayed on the ground just for

a few hours. senator mccain wants more to be done for the rebels. he wants weapons to start fl flowing and that might be likely after the european union is lifting an embargo. making it legal for them to give. or sell weapons to the syrian opposition. richard engel, beirut. president obama is taking a detour to the jersey shore today. he will survey the progress of rebuilding along the coastline with governor chris christie. . it's a replay of a scene we saw days after the president's reelection in november. tracie potts is in washington with a preview of this. good morning trace. >> we're looking at the political impact. many say it had an impact on the election. now the tables are turned.

we have governor christie, a republican governor in a heavily democratic state that the president easily carried, now again walking together, talking about cooperation. their focus today is rebuilding the enginejersey shore. 130 miles of shoreline that was devastated by hurricane sandy. we saw over the memorial day weekend stores that reopened. the boardwalk has been reopened. the state pouring $25 million into an ad campaign trying to get people back to the jersey shore. today president obama will be talking with some of those small business owners that the government is sending money to jersey to help. he will be talking with residents who still have not been able to start the process of rebuilding and the white house says he's using all of this as a background of how to help middle-class families get back to work. >> a lot going on there, thank you. shifting gears now to a report out this morning sounding the alarm on the nation's

vulnerability to cyber attacks. an article appears on the front page of "the washington post" says numerous designs for weapons systems have been hacked by the chinese. the paper looks at previously undies disclosed sections. it cites two dozen weapon systems whose designs have been breached. among them u.s. combat aircraft as well as programs critical to missile defenses. experts warn it could give chinese access to more advanced technology and weaken the united states's military advantage. in january a government advisory panel warned that the pentagon is unpe prepared for a cyber conflict. president obama is expected to raise the issue when he meets with china's president next month. sglanchts court hearing this morning will determine what kind of evidence a jury will see in george zimmerman's second-degree

murder trial. they are hoping to use data obtained from trayvon martin's cell phone which includes a photo of the 17-year-old blowing smoke and what appears to be a marijuana plant. prosecutors say there's no evidence martin was under the influence or that marijuana contributed to his death. also at issue, the defense's request to delay the june 10th trial. zimmerman pleaded not guilty in the fatal shooting that ignited racial tensions around the country. george zimmerman has sued nbcuniversal for defamation and the company has denied his allegations. another burn to the cruise ship industry also reeling from mishaps. a fire aboard one of their ships is forcing passengers back home from the bahamas. the damage you see it there clearly visible. it extinguished the fire within two hours and the ship never

lost power. they are giving passengers a full refund and a certificate for a future cruise. let's get a look at the weather. actually we're going to look at the morning dish of scrambled politics first. a change in the security process for tourists visiting the statue of liberty is raising eyebrows. the park service wants to screen visitors on liberty is and ellis islands instead of keeping them in lower manhattan. senator chuck schumer says that idea poses greater risk for security breaches. >> it's sort of saying we're going to screen people at airports after they get off the plane rather than before they get on the plane. it's that simple. and that ridiculous. >> the statue is set to open to the public for the first time since hurricane sandy on july 4th. some of hollywood's actresses are in the running to play a 26-year-old hillary clinton. scarlet johansson and reese

witherspoon are among the names being thrown out. it will focus on her time as a lawyer during the watergate investigation. former governor jeb bush will be the keynote speaker at the michigan policy conference. he will address education and immigration reform to the regional chamber. 2014 looks like a rough year for michelle bachmann. the ongoing investigation into finances from her failed 2012 presidential run and a rematch from a strong the democratic opponent could sink the tea party favorite. senate gop leader mitch mcconnell could be facing a former miss america next year. heather french henry who won the title in 2000 is mulling a run against him. and school children will join first lady michelle obama today to harvest the summer crop

from the white house kitchen garden. among them are children from two new jersey communities hit by hurricane sandy. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. now let's get you some weather. bill karins is here with a look at the forecast. it's been rough this week. >> we had a huge tornado yesterday. possibly ef-4 tornado. but it was in a rural area. didn't take out any towns or cities and that's why it's not making big news. they have these vehicles meant to go into these tornadoes. they were on a dirt road and the tornado went right over the top of them. they had a wind gauge on top of the car that registered 150 mile per hour winds when it snapped and broke. so it was at least 150 miles per hour. look how violent. the cars weigh about 10,000 and are designed to go into the tornadoes but it's never been

tested like this before. it did not lift off the ground. one door did pop off. there were two people in the car. pretty crazy stuff. we had 14 tornadoes yesterday. we had a little mini tornado outbreak, but it was in rural areas. we have that complex that produced that tornado rolling through missouri this morning. no longer producing tornadoes, but a lot of lightning strikes with it. you can see about 2,000 there. that's all about to cross the mississippi river. it's not that it's severe, but we have horrible flooding in iowa and missouri. the mississippi river is going to be a major flood. and today more storms. chicago, watch out. kansas city again. not tornadoes so much today but as we go throughout this week, the tornado threat grows wednesday into thursday. it's may. we expect this. we just -- >> that's tornado alley. >> as long as they miss we're fine. just ahead, scare in the

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some stories making news this morning. a pilot has been safely rescued. he ejected over the pacific ocean when the f-15 started experiencing problems. the cause of the crash is still under investigation. officials say an oregon teen arrested for planning a columbine-style attack had a detailed checklist. 17-year-old grant acord was picked up after an anonymous tip. a passenger aboard an alaska airlines flight monday was arrested for trying to open an emergency exit mid-flight. can you believe that? several passengers retrained the

23-year-old using shoe laces and seat belt extensions. he's been booked on charges with interfering with a flight crew. two governments in south america are issuing red alerts for an active volcano. the it could erupt any day now and are now preparing to order evacuations for 2,200 people. celebrities are signing up for the concert to help tornado victims. country star blake shelton is raising money for storm relief. you can watch that tomorrow night at 9:00, 8:00 central here on nbc. now for a look at our business headlines. we turn to bertha kooums. >> they discussed the future of the media giant which is spinning off. the remaining publishing business which includes the

"wall street journal" and "new york post" will keep the name. disney isn't the happiest place on earth, australia is. it's the world's happiest place to live. the list ranks countries by criteria such as jobs and education. the u.s. came in sixth. wall street look s s to reg its footing after snapping a four-week win streak. comments about the central bank's stimulus programs. investors get data on housing and consumer confidence. other business headlines, oil prices have fallen below $94 ahead of the barrel. general electric says it is investing billions of dollars on fracking oil and gas drilling. ge spent $15 billion buying up related companies and opening a new lab in oklahoma. canadian drug maker says it

will buy bausch and loem. the home of bernie madoff's brother peter is up for sale. it's listed in long island for just under $4.5 million. they got a view of the mansion which comes complete with two bedrooms, a pool house, lavish gardens and filled with paintings, silver, antiques and plenty of crystal. starting salaries for mbas have risen to $95,000 a year this year. that's up from $90,000 in 2012. and the obama administration has proposed raising taxes on air travel by about $14 per flight. the money would help reduce the deficit and pay for improvements at airports as well as at customs staffing. the airline industry opposes such attac tax increase.

new official at rutgers is accused of abusing past athletes. plus controversy over danica patrick's boyfriend causing her to crash. tony stewart is not happy about it. that's next. i did? when visa signature asked everybody what upgraded experiences really mattered... you suggested luxury car service instead of "strength training with patrick willis." come on todd! flap them chicken wings. [ grunts ] well, i travel a lot and umm... [ male announcer ] at visa signature, every upgraded experience comes from listening to our cardholders. visa signature. your idea of what a card should be. there's a new way to fight litter box odor. introducing tidy cats with glade tough odor solutions. two trusted names, one amazing product.

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the president? >> i think it's important to know he has a strong history of foreign policy involvement, but it's rare and unusual for politicians to kind of go out and do their own freelancing in this way because the president has his own agenda and he's in a tricky situation with syria. the white house is talking about they are undertaking national security to see if the government there used chemical weapons and i think it is a bit of a concern if you have someone from the other party out there trying to find out on his own. i'm not sure it's the most helpful for the white house. >> president obama plans to fill three court of appeals say can sis all at once. that's likely to unleash fierce opposition because republican senators. to eliminate those spots. how will this play out? >> the president has trouble

getting normminees on to the courts. he recently did get one nominee in the last couple weeks. this is a strategy they are trying to put pressure on the republicans to cave here. i think in the light of how the political situation is in washington, it's not going to be easy. you're going to see a lot of backlash and republicans will be able to put up a wall of opposition. we'll see how it plays out. i think the it's a bit of a gamble. >> thank you for your insight. >> sure. now to sports and the nhl playoffs. chicago forces a game seven. game six tied at 2, a go-ahead goal. the blackhawks go on to a 4-3 win forcing another matchup in chicago on wednesday night. san antonio got out the broom in game four of the western conference finals beating the grizzlies 94-86. let's take you to the w nba.

she dunked in the fourth quarter, the first one in the league since 2008. not only that, she became the first ever to have a second dunk in the same game. look at that. here it comes. but chicago unfortunely went on to beat phoenix despite all that. the new athletic director at rutgers julie herman is not going to lose her job. that's according to the university the president. she was brought in after the mike rice scandal. but her former players accuse her of abuse but she does not remember. players wore camouflage caps and jerseys as memorial day tribute to members of the american military. that was nice. and the central oklahoma broncos won the national championship. they honor the tornado victims in nearby moore, oklahoma, by wearing blue ribbons in their

hair that read pray for o.k. ricki stenhouse bumped danica patrick causing her to crash. but patrick and stenhouse are actually dating. but patrick's team owner says he's fed up with stenhouse for blocking other drivers. and nfl quarterback robert griffin iii has handwritten thank you notes to many fans who showered him with gifts before his upcoming wedding. that was nice of him. coming up, bill karins will be back for first buzz. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. hey america, even though she doesn't need them, cheryl burke is cha-cha-ing in depend silhouette briefs for charity, to prove that with soft fabric and waistband, the best protection looks, fits, and feels just like underwear. get a free sample and try for yourself. ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy.

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this memorial day weekend was a record setter at the box office. "fast and furious 6" led the back at $120 million over four days. it raked in more than $300 million worldwide. can you believe that? making it the biggest universal pictures release to date. and i love this story. paul mccartney paid homage to elvis presley. he visited the home of the late king of rock and roll. he left behind a pick saying "so elvis can play in heaven." it's time now for first buzz. one of things that i found interesting is you're on twitter. thankfully megan mccain is on twitter because that's how she found out that her father snuck into syria. >> he didn't even tell her. >> no, it was a surprise visit. we have her tweet where she says "nothing quite like finding out

via twit thaer my father secretly snuck into syria and met with rebels there." . >> i mom keeps track of me through twitter. >> he's tight lipped about everything. >> lindsey graham chimed in. best wishes to john mccain in syria today. if he doesn't make it it back, c calling dibs on his office. >> that begs the question. sometimes you find out about your family and friends on social media. you may have seen this. everyone got done with memorial weekend. this was a picnic that went wrong in iceland. five american tourists set up chairs and a table near a lagoon. then the winds changed. the ice broke off. they literally had to be res kud on this mini iceberg with

freezing water. they are safe, but dumb americans unfortunately. >> thankfully they're safe. this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" starts right now. this time next year, we will mark the final memorial day of our war in afghanistan. and so as i said last week, america stands at a cross roads. but even as we turn a page on the decade of conflict, even as we look forward, let us never forget as we gather here today that our nation is still at war. >> paying homage. the president's memorial day message at arlington national cemetery as the war winds down in afghanistan. secret trip, senator john mccain slips into syria to meet

with rebel leaders. what the appearance could mean for u.s. policy as the civil war shows no signs of stopping. and staying put. rutgers new athletic director is also facing character questions after allegations of verbal abuse comes to light. why she's not even considering resigning. hey, wake up, it's "way too early." that's about as much verbal abuse as i can muster here on a tuesday. it's may 28th. it's always tough to get back to work after a weekend. i can't even talk. we're an optimistic group or at least slightly sarcastic. we want to know the best part about return iing to the job. post your answers using #backtowork.