i love you too, dad. happy birthday. all right. end of personal digression. we now return to our regularly scheduled programming here on msnbc. i might get fired. here on msnbc. i might get fired. "first look" is up next. good thursday morning. right now on "first look," state of emergency. california is facing evacuations while record heat is blanketing much of the southwest. casey found. late breaking news overnight on the location of radio legend casey kasem. miraculous rescue. a small child attacked by a vicious dog is saved by the family cat. plus emotions running high at the site of the turkish mine disaster. also, bill clinton defends hillary by comparing karl rove to hobgoblins. hello, everyone. welcome.

wildfires in san diego county force thousands from their homes. look at this fire tornado. there are nine different fast-moving different wildfires burning across southern california right now. choppers, planes, and super tankers like the one you see here are dropping water and fire retardants on those flames. >> reporter: as sun set on one of the warmest may days in southern california history, the unprecedented heat and dryness made for catastrophic fire weather. >> i never thought our house would be in danger like this, but it's really scary. >> reporter: homeowners forced to evacuate as flames chase them out of their neighborhoods. some will have nothing to come home to despite their best effort to clear brush and be fire safe. >> i tried to make it as good as possible, but naturally who cares right now?

house is gone. >> i've never seen anything like this in 20 years. >> reporter: it's a frightening preview to what will be a dangerous fire season. the santa ana winds howling through are not typical so early in the year. >> this is something i have not seen in my career. i've been in this fire service for 27 years. i haven't seen it this dry, this hot for this long in may. >> reporter: homeowners like christopher plan to make a stand to save his home. >> just trying to prepare, perhaps embers or something might carry over into god knows what. but definitely trying to prevent a nightmare. >> reporter: a nightmare that may be far outside of his control. nbc news. >> california temperatures hit a new record high in more than a dozen cities. los angeles broke a record set back in 1890. san diego, long beach, and

newport beach are some of the other areas to reach new record temperatures. missing top 40 legend casey kasem has been located. a representative for kasem's children made the announcement overnight. he was found in washington state just a few hours after his children filed a missing person's report yesterday. his kids blamed his wife jean for his disappearance. they say she has kept them isolated from their father. kasem suffers from advanced parkpark parken sons and can no longer speak. there's grief over a mining disaster that has killed people in turkey. it has turned violent. the prime minister went to the scene of the search and ended up angering the crowd by saying, accidents happen. people attacked his car shouting murder and chanting he should resign. meanwhile protests are breaking out across turkey calling for him to step down. just a few weeks ago the ruling party voted down on

investigation into the safety of those mines. hundreds are still believed to be trapped. a 15-year-old boy is reportedly among them and hope for survivors is fading. former president bill clinton is firing back at the 2014 fiscal summit yesterday he defended hillary clinton's handling of benghazi. he also responded to recent questions regarding hillary's health from former white house depth chief of staff karl rove. >> first of all, i've got to give him credit. you know, that embodies that old saying that consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. first they said she faked her concussion. and now they say she's auditioning for a part on the walking dead. i mean, you know, whatever it takes. >> do you think this is their way of inserting her age or her physical capabilities into the 2016 debate? >> i don't know, but if it is,

you can't be too upset about it. it's just the beginning. they'll get better and better at it. well, from the business of politics to what is sure to be an emotional day. the september 11th memorial and museum will officially open this morning. it's been 12 years since the september 11 attacks. today president obama will join victims' families, survivors to open the museum. jay gray, what do you expect to see there today? >> reporter: good morning. it's going to be an emotional day for sure. difficult day for some of the victims, survivors, and first responders. it won't open to the public until the middle of next week. we did get a sneak peek, a walk through what is the darkest time in our nation's history. the words and images imtdly surround you. along with the haunting pieces

of the buildings and lives ripped apart. the world trade center tridents, a section of the massive radio and tv antenna that came from the roof, pieces of the jet that slammed into the north tower, and the ladder truck from company 3 mangled by debris as the tower collapsed. remnants of the terror attacks that now share this space with overwhelming memories, emotions, and a strong message of determination. >> we can't let this happen again, but they didn't win. we came out of this stronger and more determined than ever. >> reporter: this museum and memorial is a clear symbol of that result. >> at the very site where terrorists sought to destroy us, we have rebuilt. >> reporter: to create a place for people to remember and reflect. >> for me this is the beginning. this is the beginning of this institution's true mission to

engage and inspire the generations that follow us. >> reporter: and to make sure that they never forget. as we talked about, we'll hear from the families, victims, survivors, first responders at the dedication of it here this morning. then for the next few days, the museum will hold private screenings for those families before opening to the public before next wednesday, may 21st. i'm jay gray. back to you. >> thank you very much. and don't miss our live coverage of today's dedication ceremony beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on msnbc. all right. let's get the latest in sports from my friend richard lui. good morning. >> good morning to you, betty. nba conference finals picture getting clearer. started with this doozy of a finish in miami. watch. >> lebron for three. got it. >> lebron james kicking off a huge miami comeback. brooklyn goes cold hitting only

one of their final ten shots, their defense falls and can't get up. >> ray allen will take the three for the lead. >> yeah, miami takes the series in five games winning 96-94. now to san antonio. they had no problem getting past portland going on an 8-0 run in the second half. kauai leonard with that beauty of a dunk. the spurs win. also take the series in five games. shift it to the nhl playoffs. two early goals and a 3-1 victory. the canadiens will take on the new york rangers in the eastern conference finals. holy toledo. welcome to ghostbusters night. have fun out there. >> notice the background there. bill murray does his best impression of late announcer

harry caray? >> i didn't think it was that great. >> he shot the promo for the toledo mud hens ghost buster night. >> five gun toting fans spraying the air with a machine gun after a win. the team owner here is a notorious drug dealer. hopefully they celebrate in a different way. like screaming, chanting. >> confetti. anything but bullets would be nice. thank you, richard. all right. i want you to look at this amateur video right now. it captures the intense moments as a tornado tore through central ohio wednesday. several houses and farm buildings were destroyed. fortunately, though, the twister spared the home of the cedarville man who actually recorded the video. can you believe even with that, no injuries reported, bill. that was quite a tornado.

>> that was like auntie em. >> toto, we're not in kansas in im. >> the hail was huge. i mean, we had baseball size. imagine a four and a half inch stone falling out of the sky. it was incredible stuff. and the fires out west, just insane. the big story isn't that it's this hot. you know, it happens during the summer months. but this early in the season, people are like what's the rest of the year going to be like. the winds were gusting and howling. today it's going to happen all over again. it's going to be windy. we have red flag warnings. the fires that we already have could spark more and get more out of control. and new new fires that form will be a problem. calling for 100 today in downtown l.a. in the east we've got soaking rains, flood watches from north florida to buffalo. this is a slow-moving soaking rain this morning from georgia

to south carolina northward. we've got to watch the areas of virginia, west virginia, outside of d.c. real potential for flash flooding as much as 3 to 5 inches in the next two days. >> thank you. homicide charges for members of the deadly south korean ferry. plus the story behind a family cat stopping a vicious dog from attacking a 4-year-old child. i'm type e.

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time now to get down to business. the markets, they tumbled on wednesday with all the major averages losing ground. >> i have one simple request, and that is to have sharks with freaking laser beams attached to their heads. >> freaking laser beams. well, the new audi r-8 super car will have laser beams. it will also have a camera to detect oncoming cars and

pedestrians and the lasers will adjust so the beams don't blind them. fast food workers stage a strike in 160 cities in 30 countries. they're fighting for a minimum wage of $13 an hour which most of the industry says is unrealistic. some stories we are following for you, south korea is formally charging those believed to be responsible for the ferry disaster that killed more than 280 passengers last month. the captain and three senior crew members have been indicted for homicide. 11 others face negligence charges. prosecutors say the ship was massively overloaded before it even set sail. president obama is taking steps to dig deep into the recent veterans affairs hospital controversy. he's dispatching one of his closest advisers. depth chief of staff rob neighbors to oversee treatment delays and preventable deaths. well, it has been all over the web. you've probably seen it. that hotel video allegedly

showing solange knowles attacking jay z. now the hotel says it has fired the employee that leaked it but will pursuit, quote, all available civil and criminal. cat lovers, you are going to love this one. watch as a dog comes up behind a small boy, bites into his leg and that's when the feline friend saves the day. the boy, his parents, and the cat will be on the "today" show later this morning. can't wait to see that k cat. scrambled politics is next. more bill clinton on who's wittier him or hillary. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses,

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and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. now here's your first look at thursday's dish of scrambled politics. president obama reached a milestone on his trip to new york yesterday. it was his 1,000th flight on air force one. he has some catching up to do, though. george w. bush took 1,675 flights during his eight years in office. a new gallup poll finds a tough time tr incumbents. when asked if most members of congress deserve to be re-elected, only 22% of voters said yes while 72% said no. former president bill clinton makes the pitch for marjorie margolis before her run

in the 13th district. >> she'll make you proud. she'll vote right. and new today on msnbc.com, the clintons fight back. hillary clinton and former president bill clinton unleashed a defense of the former secretary of state's record and health in back-to-back appearances yesterday. here's bill clinton's takes on some of the claims hillary has brain damage. >> they say she's really got brain damage. if she does, i must be in really tough shape, because she's still quicker than i am. new jersey governor chris christie spoke at the same 2014 fiscal summit. here's his answer to how bridgegate could affect his political future. >> as far as the impact on my political future, i think it will have none. because i didn't do anything. i think this will be a footnote by the time any of those decisions need to be made. and louisiana governor bobby

jindal is set to appear on the season premiere of "duck dynasty" on june 11th. he'll present willie robertson, ceo of the family's duck call company, with an award for entrepreneurial excellence. i'm joined now by bob franken. always a pleasure to see you. >> good morning. >> good morning. so former president bill clinton came out swinging against karl rove's criticism of hillary's age and speculation she has, quote, unquote, brain damage. saying it's just the beginning. they'll get better at it. is that an indication, one, that she's going to run, and two that they are ready for a tough fight. >> first of all, a less charitable person than i am might suggest this was a display of karl rove's brain damage. but again, i'm too charitable to say that. but, yes, it is the beginning. this is going to be a very, very dirty campaign. no matter who the nominee is.

and yes, i think this is just an indication that she's planning to run right now. it's not a done deal, but certainly they're giving indications that she's ready to enter an arena where it's going to be a really rough fight. >> it does seem like that. back to your comments about karl rove. has he done more to hurt the gop cause than help it with those comments? and, you know, bill clinton says he personally was just dumbfounded to hear some of those comments. >> you know, subtlety has never been in the karl rove repertoire. i think we're seeing a display of it here. i don't think nuance is going to be really a part of this campaign. it's going to be ugly. >> i'm going to switch gears now because a new msnbc news poll was just released this hour showing the botched execution in oklahoma didn't change views of the death penalty. does that surprise you at all? >> not really. i mean, i just happen to believe that for better or worse, the

death penalty is part of the american tradition which does set it apart -- this country apart from most of the countries in the civilized world. and it influences procedures and that type of thing. no, i think the poll is just showing once again it's part of the american tradition. >> all right. you're part of our thursday tradition. thanks for joining us, bob. >> thank you. all right. coming up, bill and richard are back for first buzz and we're talking about this video. it's the video of the day proving dogs aren't man's only best friend. [ male announcer ] staples has everything you need to launch a startup from your garage. from computers, smartphones, and 3-d printers to coffee, snacks, and drinks to fuel the big ideas. yes, staples has everything you need to launch a startup from your garage.

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all right. time for first buzz.

richard and bill are here. hey, guys. cat lovers or dog lovers? >> both. >> turtles, goldfish. >> i'm usually a dog lover, but today i say cat. this dog comes around, bites the boy on the leg. who saves him? the cat. the family cat not only scared him off, it seemed like it came back to check on the boy when you look at that video for a second. and actually, we will see more about this family because they're going to be on the "today" show today. >> it lingers -- there's the cat there. >> what's more amazing, the cat did this or we have two different angles of it on surveillance camera? >> three cameras. >>. >> that is interesting. >> maybe this has happened before? i don't know. >> i read that the dog itself never liked kids and never also liked bicycles. they're going to be putting it

to sleep. >> so michael jackson is back on the singing, huh? >> kind of. justin timberlake, huh? he's sot opportunity here. he's going to be -- what's he going to be doing? >> he's dancing. >> will you watch him? >> i think so. >> justin timberlake bringing back little michael jackson. can we hear a bit of it. ♪ ♪ baby love never felt so fine >> good stuff. there you go. >> makes you miss michael jackson. >> and he sounds great. >> speaking of missing things, some folks were missing quite a lot of cash. >> let's bring you back to college. you don't have any furniture, you go to the salvation army or wherever else, you need a couch. you can't be picky. three students, they found

$40,000 in their $20 couch from the salvation army. they debate what had to do. they found the woman's name on one of the envelopes, tracked her down, gave her back the money. >> and they got a thousand dollar reward for it. >> they did. >> good for them. thanks for watching. "way too early" starts right now. ♪ first of all, i've got to give him credit. you know, he -- that embodies the old saying consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. first they said she faked her concussion and now they say she's auditioned for a part on "the walking dead." >> secretary of explaining stuff, comes in handy pushing back on comments about his wife. nine different wildfires are tearing through parts of southern california. but is mother nature the fire crews' biggest foe right now? and how much did tmz spend to buy the footage of solange attacking jay z?

wait until you hear the figure. this is "way too early." ♪ my tie was a little crooked there. it's a thursday. i got to get this right. hi, everybody. it is thursday, may 15th. welcome to "way too early." the show that loves surveillance cameras especially when they are pointed at someone else. wait until you hear the number, though, that tmz allegedly paid to get that video. pretty shocking. we begin in turkey where the country is coming to grips with its worst mining disaster yet. officials believe about 150 others are still trapped inside after the underground explosion. more than 300 people have been rescued. rescue crews are pumping in fresh air, but a fire inside the mine is hindering those search efforts. violent demonstrations broke out around the country with es