will all have been worth it, and it will still have been this amazing that this is how it had to happen. good work, olivia. you're almost there. olivia. you're almost there. best new thing in the world today. "first look" is up next. good wednesday morning, everybody. right now on "first look," mers in the usa. a patient with a deadly virus comes in contact with 20 health care workers as global health officials rush to contain it. sizzling san diego. massive wildfires are forcing more than 20,000 people to evacuate. 5% contained and winds making things worse. bounce house horror! check it out. a massive wind lifts a bounce house into the air while three children are still playing inside. plus, a major mining disaster with over 200 killed. we have breaking details. thanks for joining us, everybody. i'm betty nguyen. we begin with breaking news out of south africa, where the

judge in the oscar pistorius murder trial has ordered the olympic track star to undergo an evaluation for mental illness. the move will likely delay the trial for more than a month. the judge argues that a psychological evaluation would ensure that pistorius gets a fair trial. pistorius has admitted to shooting his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, last year. a psychiatrist told the court this week that he suffered from an anxiety disorder. well, at least 20 workers at two hospitals in orlando are being monitored after coming in contact with a patient infected by mers, or the middle east respiratory syndrome. and so far, only two cases in the u.s. have been confirmed. a patient in indiana was hospitalized 12 days and released last week. the second, a saudi resident who was visiting family, remains hospitalized in orlando this morning in good condition. a health advisory is now in effect at all major u.s. airports in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus.

the federal government is stepping up efforts to keep mers out of the country. >> the president has been briefed on this development. cdc is taking the current situation very seriously and is working in close coordination with local health authorities. >> now, mers started in the middle east and jumped from bats to camels and now to humans. there have been cases confirmed in 17 countries, most in the arabian peninsula. listen to this story. two children have been seriously injured after the inflatable bounce house that they were playing in blew away, apparently by a strong gust of wind. it happened in upstate new york. check this out. pictures taken by a witness show the bounce house almost 50 feet in the air. can you believe it? there were three children still inside at the time. two of them actually fell out of the bounce house when it reached a height of about 15 to 20 feet. >> first thing i thought is that, that was my sister falling through the sky, because all i

saw was arms and legs going. >> police are still calling this a tragic accident and say no charges will be filed. a brush fire has burned more than 800 acres in northern san diego. more than 20,000 homes had to be evacuated. the flames are only about 5% contained with hot, dry conditions fueling their power. san diego's fire chief indicates crews could be gaining an upper hand, especially once winds decrease overnight. officials warn all residents to remain vigilant, since wildfires, as we know, can move very quickly. a man has rammed his truck into a baltimore tv station lobby and then he barricaded himself inside for a five-hour standoff yesterday afternoon. the terrifying situation began when the 29-year-old was denied access at the secure front entrance. he yelled "let me in!" and then "i am god." that's when he got in his truck and aimed for the glass doors.

>> i'm sitting at my desk, and all of a sudden, boom! i mean, it was like. so, you're thinking that something blew in the basement or something like that. and the whole desk shook. and i took a look to my right and i see, you know, i see an indent coming. all of a sudden, glass is breaking and there's a truck coming in through the front lobby. >> police say 55 people inside were able to safely escape through a back door. that suspect is being taken for medical evaluation. criminal charges are expected to be filed. well, president obama awarded former army sergeant kyle j. white the medal of honor yesterday for his heroic actions in afghanistan. nbc's jim miklaszewski reports. >> reporter: army specialist kyle white at a rugged mountain pass in eastern afghanistan, moments before his world exploded in what he calls the worst day of his life. >> just seemed like the entire valley erupted. >> reporter: white's platoon came under heavy fire in an

enemy ambush. with nowhere to take cover, white himself was immediately wounded and feared the worst. >> i remember thinking at that point, i was like, okay, we're not going to make it through this one. >> reporter: specialist cane schilling was shot twice and seriously wounded. white ran through a barrage of live fire to reach him. >> kyle definitely saved my life. >> reporter: two others were wounded and down. white repeatedly exposed himself to intense enemy fire in an effort to save them. >> i told myself from the beginning of the ambush that i was going to die. if it's going to happen, it's just a matter of when, but why not try to do some good and help my guys out until it happens. >> today we pay tribute. >> reporter: at the white house, president obama presented white with the medal of honor. >> i can never repay him for saving my life, but this kind of, you know, something he

deserves. >> reporter: jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. >> a true american hero there. all right, now on to sports and my difference francis rivera. good morning, francis! >> hi, betty. good morning to you. let's start with the st. louis rams' draft pick, michael sam. he spoke out on media day about his sexuality and team. >> i said long ago that whoever picked me, whatever team that does pick me, they know about my sexuality, they know about everything about my past, and that's the team i want to play for. >> and fans are making their support obvious. sam's rams jersey is selling better than all rookie jerseys, except johnny manziel. in the nba, oklahoma city gets a dramatic win over los angeles, but not without controversial. westbrook gets three free throws after he's fouled and chris paul can't believe it. down by one, the clippers have a shot but lose the ball. oklahoma wins a nail-biter,

105-104 to go up 3-2 in that series. the wizards staved off elimination, out-rebounding the pacers by 39 and getting 31 points from martin gortad and 27 from john wall, playoff-high careers for both. washington 102-79. they still trail 3-2 in the series. to the nhl, new york capped a historic comeback with a 2-1 win against pittsburgh. the game seven victory is their third straight and the first time the rangers rallied from a 3-1 series deficit. they are now in the eastern conference finals. and a few kickers here. stunning artwork from artist mark paul darren. watch him at work. he uses paint and about 200 skateboards to create this kobe bryant mural. isn't that impressive? no word when or where it will be displayed. and a mixed martial arts referee pulls out his own moves to stop one fighter from going overboard.

look at that. look at the ref. he nearly chokes -- he chokes out the winning fighter after he continues to pummel his opponent. well, you can imagine the training there. the ref was also a trained martial artist. >> i was going to say, looks like he could get in the ring. >> that's where those moves came from. >> all right, thank you, frances. nbc's bill karins is here. he's a bit of a fighter this morning, right? >> me? >> you're more of a lover than a fighter, right? >> depends on the day, how i woke up. yeah, the fires out in san diego yesterday, a lot of the evacuations had to take place. we knew it was going to be a dangerous day, and the temperatures were just ridiculous. san diego doesn't get to 94 degrees that often, you know? it's particularly known for beautiful 70-degree days and sunshine. kind of extreme conditions there in southern cal. it was also 92 in d.c. yesterday. it was very hot in the mid-atlantic. the weather pattern just looks like a roller coaster ride right now. you go up over and then down through the middle of the country. the cool air from canada's made its way to texas while the hot air is pretty much on both

coasts, meaning we have a slow-moving storm system out there. we're continuing to watch the rain out of east texas, louisiana, a little bit of rain, up through arkansas. numerous showers still in areas of western new york, also western pennsylvania and now up near the capitol district near albany. so, there's going to be areas of rain during the day today, but not all of us will get completely drenched. nashville is one of those spots getting soaked this morning. the fire danger again today, the next two, three days in a row. >> really? >> l.a. could be 100 degrees. >> some places too much rain, another needs the rain. >> that's how it's been lately, feast or famine. >> okay, thank you. directly ahead, we are live in washington with the latest on the va health scandals. plus, new details on the turkish mining explosion. that's straight ahead as "first look" continues.

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let's get down to business with cnbc's jackie deangelis. good morning, jackie. >> good morning, betty. europe's highest court says people should have a say over what comes up when someone googles them. it's issued a ruling that experts say could force google and others to delete links to old debts, arrest records and

other unflattering information. now, the decision won't impact google's search results here in the united states. meantime, the u.s. now toasts more glasses of wine than any other country. americans tipping back 769 million gallons last year, edging out france for the top spot. the u.s. wine market is growing by 0.5% a year, while french consumption has dropped 7%. back to you, betty. >> all right, cheers to that! u.s. veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki is fighting for his career this week as he prepares to testify about veterans who died while waiting for care. nbc news has obtained an internal document suggesting top va officials knew at least a year ago that scheduling data was vulnerable to manipulation. nbc's danielle leigh is in washington with more on this. >> reporter: good morning, betty. a growing number of people are now calling for secretary shinseki to resign, as the number of dangerous scheduling practices getting uncovered around the country continues to grow. there is growing outrage this

morning over reports of poor or delayed care at the hands of the veteran affairs health care system. in phoenix, arizona, at a packed american legion meeting, dozens of veterans and their loved ones shared their personal traumas. >> i could not get through. i could not get in line. >> i was never really seen. >> six months to another three months or four months. that gives me ten months out that i can't see a doctor. >> reporter: the va is auditing all of its medical facilities after whistleblowers claimed employees were manipulating patient schedules to hide long wait times, which in dozens of cases may have contributed to patient deaths. >> i think every american should be outraged at how our veterans are being treated. >> reporter: an internal memo from march 2013, obtained by nbc news, shows top va officials learned of the problem well before the current allegations and had been trying quietly to fix it. now the american legion and some lawmakers are calling for va secretary eric shinseki to resign. >> and a question of the

secretary is did he know? and if not, he did not know what was in a gao or inspector general's report, why not? >> reporter: the white house says president obama is confident shinseki will take the right action in response to this scandal. secretary shinseki will testify before congress tomorrow and he's sure to get hammered by democrats and republicans about these dangerous backlogs. in washington, i'm danielle leigh. betty, back to you. >> all right. thank you, danielle. developing news overseas for you now. a massive rescue operation is under way this morning in turkey after an explosion and fire killed at least 200 miners. more than 400 rescue workers are franticly pulling survivors to safety. meanwhile, grief-stricken families anxiously wait for news of the hundreds still trapped. authorities say the fire is still burning and the casualty number will rise. magic johnson is responding to comments made by clippers owner donald sterling. johnson told cnn that he got a

call from sterling, and instead of an apology, sterling asked magic to appear with him in an interview with barbara walters. johnson declined and went on to talk about sterling's recent comments. >> it's sad. when i saw that interview, it's sad, it really is. i'm going to pray for this young man. i hope donald can see the mistake that he has made and also the people he has hurt along the way. and then what's really sad, you know, it's not about me. but he is a man who is upset, and he's reaching. he's reaching. he's trying to find something he can grab on to to help him save his team, and it's not going to happen. and imagine going to the bathroom to find this on the toilet! a texas woman got quite the surprise. a 12-foot python. police say she left the door open after bathing her guinea pigs and it slithered right on in. don't worry, though, the guinea pigs are a-okay. here's a question for you,

are we spending too much time watching "dancing with the stars" and not enough focus on global warming? well, al gore says yes, we are. plus, the pentagon's plan to combat zombies. yes, "scrambled politics" is ahead. if ...hey breathing's hard...

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so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there ar24/7.branches? i'm sorry, i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? look! mommy's new vacuum! (cat screech) you feel that in your muscles? i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches let's us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. a new way to bank. a better way to save. ally bank. your money needs an ally. now here's your um hadp day look at "scrambled politics." primary results, they are in. tea party candidate ben sasse won the republican primary in arizona and is heavily favored to win the open senate seat in

the fall. in west virginia, the state is set for voters to elect their first female senator in november, thanks to primary wins from both republican congresswomen shelly moore cap toe and democrat natalie tenant. congressman john conyers has been serving in congress since 1965, but a county clerk has ruled he can't run for re-election this year. he is ineligible because he didn't have enough signatures on his nominating petitions. conyers is expecting to appeal the decision. speaking at the university of chicago's institute of politics on money, former vice president al gore shared his view on what future generations might think of inaction toward climate change today, saying this -- >> they would be justified in looking back at us and asking, what were you thinking here? what, were you watching "dancing with the stars"? what was the deal here? the latest data out of denver shows crime still hasn't gone up, four months after

recreational use of marijuana sales were legalized. overall, violent crime from january through april actually fell 5.6% compared to the same period in 2013. president portier? hmm, while casting the role of "west wing" president, aaron sorkin first considered another own than sidney poitier for the gig. and according to foreign policy, the pentagon has a plan to stop the zombie apocalypse. seriously, they do. in an unclassified document, the defense department lays out a zombie survival plan. a strategic command spokeswoman says the document is just a training tool. and yet, under disclaimers, a note reads, "this plan was not actually designed as a joke." that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." all right, so, i am joined now by "washington post"

reporter, not zombie, ed o'keefe. good morning, ed. although it's really early in the morning, some folks are still in that zombie stage. >> yeah, that's hard to top, that report. >> yeah, it's not a joke, though. it is not. and this isn't either. a new report quotes karl rove suggesting that hillary clinton may have experienced brain damage after a fall nearly two years ago, which temporarily prevented her from, as you recall, testifying about the attacks in benghazi. is he serious? i mean, that's quite an allegation. >> well, he spoke with my colleague at the "post" yesterday and said, of course i don't think that she has brain damage, but what he did do is compel us now to talk about her potential fitness for office, and that was his point. i think he sort of stepped out over his skis, he's brought it back and now he's prompted this conversation about whether or not -- >> so, you're saying it's crazy like a fox? >> that's one way to put it, sure. but you know, he points out the fact that hillary clinton's going to be 69 by 2016, would be in her late 70s if she serves two terms. and the question is, is she

physically fit, mentally fit to serve as president? you know, it's a question that any presidential candidate, man or woman, would face as they head into advanced stage, older age. you know, ronald reagan dealt with this in 1984, bob dole in 1996, john mccain in 2008. the difference this time is that it's an older woman running for president. we've never really had that before. and i think rove here is suggesting, at least trying to sew seeds of doubt about the possibility that an older woman can do it. >> well, i want to speak to that point, because if we look at history now, let's take president reagan, for example. >> okay. >> he was, what, just shy of 70 during his first inauguration, right? and then 73 when entering into his second term. that being the case, does it really kind of allude to the fact that these comments might surely be a bit sexist, as you just mentioned? >> i think some people will see it that way. others pointed out after he said this that, look, age, health, fitness for office has always

been a concern. again, i think the reason some might suggest it's sexist is simply because we've never had an older woman run before. clinton herself has tried to turn this into a positive, suggesting that, you know, as people get older, men perhaps want to retire, they want to relax more, but women are seeking to continue to be active, and that's what she's trying to do in this situation. >> all right, ed. thanks so much for joining us this morning. as always, we appreciate it. >> take care. >> you, too. "first buzz" is just ahead, including the latest on jay z and solange and that controversy surrounding them. and it took 600 days and 125,000 miles to create the most epic selfie of all time.

all right, so, tomorrow morning, don't miss msnbc's coverage of the dedication of 9/11 memorial museum beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. and right now, you don't want to miss "first buzz." got a lot to talk about. what we're buzzing about today? definitely jay z and solange, the follow-through. what's happened since that beatdown in the elevator? >> new video! >> uh-oh. >> not of the elevator or any other kind of beatdown, but this time making nice. solange knowles and her brother-in-law, jay z. >> i'm not falling for this. >> you know, they're seen in a jewelry store, making nice, all nice and calm. >> of course they were. >> after this video was leaked from this hotel here in new york city. >> something went down. >> yeah, something went down. >> you do that and then you buy her jewelry? >> but you also don't delete all the pictures -- >> the pr people, you need to show up the next day together.

obviously orchestrated. this guy graduated from college and he went on a three-year trip around the world, over 65 countries -- >> awesome! >> it's the most epic selfie you will ever see. thanks for watching, everybody. we appreciate it. "way too early" with thomas roberts starts right now. ♪ jews, when they get successful, they will help their people. and some of the african americans -- maybe i'll get in trouble again -- they don't want to help anybody. >> maybe? maybe you'll get in trouble again? mm, jews helped, mm, blacks. unless maybe what he's doing here is workshopping material for his new hbo special "donald sterling's literally deaf comedy jam." >> the donald sterling ripple effect continues.

magic johnson now on record pushing back at the clippers owner and his highly personalized attack. the political whisper that became a roar. is karl rove back-pedaling on his hillary clinton brain damage diagnosis? and the thunder bounces back against the clippers, but is it the refs who really won that game for okc? this is "way too early"! hey, everybody! good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is wednesday, may 14th. welcome to "way too early," the show that loves ironic t-shirts, even if they're photo-shopped. that's going to make sense coming up in "the cooler," but we want to start overseas, where people and crews are racing to save hundreds of miners after a deadly accident in turkey. at least 201 people are dead with more than 200 others still trapped under ground. the coal mine is located in the town of soma, about 155 miles from istanbul. mo