very good monday morning to you. right now on "first look." we're tracking the whereabouts of edward snowden the admitted leaks of nsa state secrets. we're live in moscow. nelson mandela's health has deteriorated and become critical. a live update from south africa. the second degree murder trial of george zimmerman in the trayvon martin shooting begins today. plus death-defying moves. the super moon, did you see it? and lebron james cashing in on yet another $7 million a year. does he need it? very good morning. it's nice to see you, i'm veronica de la cruz. he's arguably the most wanted man in the world. edward snowden is evading u.s.

authorities in a game of cat and mouse, fleeing hong kong sunday and flying into moscow. after spending the night in russia, snowden is reportedly flying into cuba today and then venezuela. u.s. lawmakers are not pleased. they want him brought back to the u.s. >> what's infuriating here is prime minister putin of russia aiding and abetting snowden's escape. the bottom line is very simple. allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways. and putin almost seems eager to put a finger in the eye of the united states. >> i want to get him caught. and brought back for trial. and i think we need to know exactly what he has. he could have a lot, lot more. it may really put people in jeopardy. >> joining us now by phone in moscow is nbc news contributor and producer anna nemtsova.

anna, good morning. >> good morning, veronica. >> what more can you tell us? >> right. i was checking in to havana and i asked the lady at the desk if mr. snowden has registered for the flight and she checked her system and, indeed, mr. edward snowden is on the flight to havana for today. and sarah, his companion, traveling companion, she is seated next to him. so hopefully i will have a chance to speak to mr. snowden on the flight in an hour. >> anna in moscow. we'll be checking back with you throughout the day on msnbc. we appreciate it.

>> let's get to florida. danielle lee has the preview. danielle? >> good morning, and this is the day that the defense and prosecution have spent months preparing for. today's opening arguments are going to set the tone in this highly anticipated trial as the jury of six officially begins determining george zimmerman's fate. >> reporter: the prosecution gets the first word this morning in the second degree murder trial of 29-year-old george zimmerman. it's been more than a year since the former community watch volunteer told investigators he fatally shot 17-year-old trayvon martin. >> and i just grabbed my firearm and i shot him one time. >> reporter: now six female jurors will determine whether zimmerman murdered martin or fired in self-defense. >> a good lawyer looks at their client irrespective of race,

age, gender. >> reporter: he wants to clear his name. >> it's the waiting that is frustrating for everybody, particularly him. >> reporter: on saturday judge deborah nelson ruled that a 911 call recorded the night of the shooting where someone is heard screaming for help can be played at the trial. >> so you think he is yelling help? >> yes. >> all right. what is your thought? >> gunshots. >> reporter: the juror will not hear from audio experts who says the voice may be march continues. she will allow the prosecution to use words like profiling and other phrases the defense calls inflammatory and wanted blocked. >> it's an interesting language of semantics. the state has to be very cautious. they could cause a mistrial. >> reporter: what's still not clear if zimmerman will take the stand and defend himself in a trial that could put him in prison for life. >> reporter: you can see the court behind me because this case has prompted a national

debate about race and also gun use. the court is also set up just to my right a special area for protesters. a spokesperson for the court said that opening arguments in the second degree murder trial typically take all day. the entire trial is expected to last two to four weeks. i'm danielle leigh, veronica, back to you. thank you. george zimmerman has pleaded not guilty claiming self-defense in the shooting death of trayvon martin. george zimmerman has sued nbc universal, the parent company of this network, for defamation. the company has strongly denied his allegations. >> reporter: good morning, veronica. you can see the media gathered outside the hospital behind me here. some of them at least in

pretoria. meanwhile, in the last hour in johannesburg the president has been giving a news conference in which he says that nelson mandela's condition remains critical this morning. he describes coming to the hospital late last night to meet with nelson mandela's medical team and to talk to nelson mandela's wife. he says he saw nelson mandela briefly in his hospital bed. he describes him as sleeping. he was asked for more detail about nelson mandela's medical condition and he said i'm not a doctor and so i can't tell you based on what i have seen and also referred to patient confidentiality and the hope for the family that nelson mandela's privacy will be respected. but he does say that the doctors are doing everything possible and that nelson mandela is in good hands. we have as well heard from nelson mandela's daughter who

says that every day the family's taking one day at a time and praying to the good lord. i just want to read you a bit more of her quote. she says all i pray for as a daughter is that the transition is smooth. he is at peace with himself. he has given so much to the world. >> what has the mood been like there in south africa? >> reporter: well, people are watching and waiting. it goes without saying how much nelson mandela is loved here and around the world so people have seen him come into hospital two weeks ago. they heard the good news, that he was getting better despite being serious but stable. so it is a blow over the weekend to hear that he has got worse. but what president zuma said today that people should keep praying for him to recover. >> keir simmons in pretoria.

the largest wild fire continues to grow and spread. this morning there are 11 wildfires burning covering more than 130 miles. officials have named them the westport complex fire and are tempting to keep them out of nearby residential areas. they've already evacuated south fork. now here is your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. as the senate gets ready to vote on the immigration reform bill, new york senator chuck schumer says he thinks that massive civil rights rallies may force the house to pass the bill. >> i do believe that having a significant number of republicans will change the dynamic in the house. individual congress members from red districts, if they've seen their senator has voted for it may decide to do the right thing. there will be huge pressure on speaker bins boehner not to block immigration reform.

>> republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina believes that the immigration bill is important to the gop saying if it does not pass, quote, our party is in trouble with hispanics. politico reporting that vice president joe biden says that five senators have called him about changing their votes to support expanded background checks because their approval ratings have gone down. on the eve of massachusetts's special election ed marky has a slim lead over gabriel gomez, 49 to 41%. important decisions are expected from the u.s. supreme court this week including rulings banning same-sex marriage as well as the constitutionality of the defense of marriage act. the high court will also decide the fate of the voting rights act which require states with a history of discrimination get approval before they change how they conduct elections.

finally, house minority leader nancy pelosi was heck ld at the netroots nation conference in california over the weekend when she talked about head ward snowden leaking classified information. >> he did violate the law in terms of releasing those documents. and that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. now for a look at the weather, the weather channel's todd san foes santos is here. i'm not going to boo you. >> heat advisory for new york city. >> no rain, right? >> maybe a chance of storms. >> boo. >> all right. i'm getting heckled here this morning. you'll have showers, chance of thunderstorms. in the heat of the afternoon. not full coverage across the entire east coast there. we may see better coverage across portions of the dakotas

back down towards even northern iowa. showers and storms this morning. central nebraska, central iowa, even northern illinois. producing lightening. may be able to slow things down at the airport as we work our way through the next couple of hours. as far as the best chance area of storms, hail, wind producing storms. yellow area. keep that in mind. make sure you have a way to get your warnings. not completely out of the question that we could see an isolated tornado. it will bring showers down towards the bay area. that's the cool part of the country. east coast starting off with temperatures in the mid '70s. by later this afternoon lower 90s. that heat advisory means you have the heat and humidity combining to make it feel more like the upper 90s. so be safe outside. veronica. >> that one i learned from you. it's going to be soupy out there. >> i'm not a big fan of it. >> thanks, todd. an american killed in retaliati

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good morning. welcome back. police search the home of patriots tight end aaron hernandez over the weekend. the 23-year-old has been in the middle of a murder investigation since a body was found less than a mile near this home. one american was among nine tourists killed at a campsite in northern pakistan. the taliban claiming responsibility for the attacks saying it was revenge for drone strikes. funeral services will be held thursday in new york city for late actor james gandolfini. his body arrived overnight in his native new jersey. the phenomenon known as super moon lit up the night sky over the weekend. from jerusalem to los angeles, stargazers looked upward to catch a glimpse of the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. finally, daredevil nik wallenda completed a tight rope walk last night near the grand

canyon. he performed the stunt on a steel cable 2 inches thick and 1500 feet in the air over the little colorado river gorge. and winds, get this, they were gusting up to 30 miles an hour. brave man. now for your first look at business, we turn to cnbc's berth th bertha coombs. investors are reacting to the fed meeting and supporting economic data out of china. this week we'll get data on u.s. durable goods, housing and income. prices at the pump are falling which is unusual. the average gas price dropping four cents to $3.59 a gallon.

but, another part of fuel is going up. starbucks is raising drink prices by as much as 10 cents starting tomorrow. however, the coffee chain says less than 1/3 of its beverages will be affected by the chain. drip coffee will not be affected. commodity costs make up less than 10% of starbucks overall expenses. got to have that coffee in the morning. >> fuel. you're speaking my language. thanks, bertha. according to forbes, nba championship will net lebron james $7 million in income. twinkies lovers have a twinkle in their eye. the super sweet sponge cakes will be back on the shelves on july 15th in what they're calling the sweetest comeback in the history ever. the latest survey shows

americans are feeling better about their position. they don't have any emergency savings at all. only one in four have a sufficient six-month cushion of emergency funds. today wendy's begins rolling out this prize. it's pretzel premium burger. should be available coast to coast in two weeks. is that 3500 calories or something like that? bruce springstein's major tribute to james gandolfini is next and all your sports highlights are next. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly, faraway places don't seem so...far away. ♪

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go to citi.com/simplicity to apply. now, let's get the latest in sports from my colleague betty nguyen. betty, good morning. championship, an amazing chip shot from the green to send it to a birdie for a playoff. and then on a second playoff hole, ken duke sinks a birdie putt to win. it's the first ever for the 44-year-old. congrats to him. earlier, bubba watson got a little angry with his caddie because he picked up the wrong club. >> watch him try and put this in. >> oh, gust of wind. go! go! >> oh, man, really. wow. >> kind of had his grumpy pants on there.

well, in the nba we go, after days of on again/off again talks. the clippers and celtics have reportedly worked out a deal for boston coach doc rivers to become the new coach for los angeles. rivers gets a three year, $21 million contract and the clippers give the cell six a 2015 first round pick as compensation. according to nbc's prohockeytalk.com. a switcheroo for coaches in the national hockey league. recently fired john tortorella will become the new head boss for the canucks after the canucks former coach was given the rangers job. game six of the stanley cup final is in boston. the puck dropped at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on nbc. the chicago blackhawks lead the series three games to two and they could wrap it up tonight. in baseball, a great catch in milwaukee, carlos gomez. see that right there made a leap for the wall. what a catch that was.

and detroit's victor martinez knocked down a line drive and traveled into south territory. grabbed the ball. and without looking he flipped it backward to the pitcher right there to beat the runner for the out. now that, my friend, is talent. >> talent or just a lot of luck. >> i'd say talent. >> thanks, betty. betty and todd will be here for first buzz. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. its superior uva uvb protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer, all with the cleanest feel. it's the best for your skin. neutrogena® ultra sheer.

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welcome back. the monsters beat out the zombies at the box office this weekend. pixar's latest film "monsters university." it was able to scare up a

whopping 82 million. that's thanks to its family friendly fair. and brad pitt's "world war z" pulling in $66 million. bruce springsteen dedicated a recent concert to the late james gandolfini. they had a strong connection to the actor thanks to one of the band members who played his right-hand man on "the sopranos." >> it's exciting. the first one that's ever occurred. they're holding these trays with bottles of wine and glasses. they're trying to race around making sure that no one loses it. well, yeah, he's cheating there. you're not supposed to touch. a lot of people didn't do so well. but the golden corkscrew did go to a restaurant waiter there. he did a lot of celebrating.

>> that is something i would fail at. speaking of fail. epic fail. the world's ugliest dog was the cutest. did you see this thing? >> i did. i was disappointed. this dog is not ugly. >> at all. check out his opponents. >> that's a little freaky. >> that would win in my eyes. >> how did that happen? >> they need to rename that competition. >> that's a cute dog actually. >> cute. well-behaved. look at that. what about utah. i know that you are big on sailing. you bring us something. >> there was a crazy video that showed up on saturday. it was off the coast of dublin. check this out. 70 foot crashing. he was driving the boat. his brother went to the hospital. he broke his hip. it was just such an incredible video. it came basically with a big gust of wind. i wanted to share it not because of the crashes -- >> look at how much damage that did. monetary amount. that had to be pretty huge. >> scary stuff. >> glad everybody is safe. >> what kind of sailboats were

those. >> mod 70s. they were racing off the coast of dublin. they were at the threshold of where you don't race. too windy today. >> that's why i don't do that. don't get on those. >> i'm veronica de la cruz. stay tuned because "way too early" starts right now. i am. nik wallenda crossing the grand canyon on a wire. not exactly my idea of a good time, but for him it's a living and i emphasize living because he made t. we'll let you know what a guy like that thinks and talks about as he walks 1500 feet above certain doom. big week for the big court. we'll preview some major decisions that could come from the supreme court this week. it looks like moscow to cuba

for edward snowden. no confirmation if it's on aeroplot or not. that is up for big time debate. this is "way too early." yes, it is. good morning, everybody. i'm brian shackman. it is monday, june 24th. we begin with where in the world is edward snowden. except in this case, not a kid's game. after being formally charged with espionage, snowden has fled hong kong and arrived in moscow. from there he may head to cuba later today then possibly on to ecuador where he has requested asylum. after revoking snowden's passport they requested hong kong arrest him but the government declined. u.s. documents filed for the request did not comply with