i'm lynn berry, and stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. and we begin this morning with risky business. three executives at jpmorgan chase are expected to pay the ultimate price for mistakes that led to startling losses that sent shock waves throughout the financial world. the bank's chief investment officer is among the reported resignations. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: from the ceo of jpmorgan chase, an unambiguous explanation on a stunning $2 billion trading loss. >> we made a terrible, egregious mistake. but there's almost no excuse for it. >> reporter: jamie dimon shrugged off mounting concerns last month that something was terribly wrong with a $100 billion hedge investment that

now is being described as a bad bet. >> we know we were sloppy. we know we were stupid. we know there was bad judgment. >> reporter: it is a nightmarish reminder of the wall street meltdown that upended the economy four years ago. main street americans paid a steep price for those bailouts, and the economy is still crawling toward a recovery. this time around, jpmorgan's reputation and its stock price are taking a hit, but the company still expects to turn a profit. for democrats this is a warning sign. >> we're not trying to stop banks from losing money. we are stop trying them -- stop them from losing money in ways that will cause damage to the rest of the system. >> reporter: congressman barney frank was co-author of the dodd/frank law designed to rein in wall street, but republicans say it's just stifling investment. >> you have so much government regulation coming in that you can't see the forest for the trees. >> reporter: a fight over regulation that now has a new

focus. jpmorgan chase. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. well, elsewhere lawyers for former presidential candidate john edwards will begin his defense today at the trial in north carolina. he's accused of campaign finance violations to cover up an affair, and it's a conviction that could send him to prison. nbc's frances kuo has more. >> reporter: after three weeks of at times gut-wrenching emotional testimony, today the john edwards defense team will get their first chance to present their case to the jury. last thursday the prosecution rested after bringing dozens of witnesses to the stand. they tried to shred the credibility of the former presidential candidate, including presenting edwards' 2008 interview in which he denied fathering a child with mistress rielle hunter. analysts say that video puts pressure on edwards to testify. >> i think the heat is really on john edwards to take the stand. >> reporter: the government alleges that funds used to cover up his affair with hunter were actually illegal campaign

contributions, a charge edwards denies. >> it's going to be up to him to be able to look this jury in the eye and convince them that he did not violate the campaign finance laws. >> reporter: whether edwards or hunter take the stand remains to be seen. >> the more they're concerned about the jury coming back with a guilty verdict, the more likely it is that we'll see john edwards and rielle hunter, and it's rielle hunter who can -- who can bring that negative focus back on andrew young, and i think the edwards' defense team may feel like they need that now. >> you have a nice weekend. >> reporter: a focus the defense hopes will convince the jury of edwards' innocence. frances kuo, nbc news. well your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in denver, a bizarre scene after a driver lost control and just smashed into a house. police ended up finding a dog in the backseat and, of course, that canine appeared frightened. but officers were able to recover him, and he didn't appear to suffer any injuries. in new mexico, frightening moments as a tornado bore down

on a neighborhood sunday afternoon. the twister was like a category 1 with speeds of up to 100 miles an hour. neighbors had to run for cover, but no one was hurt. locals say it's the first tornado in the area in more than 50 years. in nashville, a 72-year-old atoned for a crime he committed more than half a century ago. he planted new flowers in a city park after stealing some from the same place back in 1958. he took the hydrangeas to give as a mother's day present because he was too poor to buy his own. well, the new ones came from the same root system he planted on his mother's farm. and, finally, a college graduate got more than a diploma this weekend. she got a marriage proposal from her boyfriend. the student and her new fiance met during their first week of college. she said yes. their families urged them to wait until they were done with school to take the next big step. well, he did wait, if only by a

few seconds. got it in right under the line. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> prom season is over with. schools are starting to get out. >> that time of year, i love it. >> summer. >> bring it. >> it felt like it in some places. mom was putting on the sun block and heading to the shade. as far as yesterday with the high temperatures across the country we had incredible warmth out in the desert southwest and record highs, phoenix, 103 but we were still pretty warm and beautiful. many other areas too all the way from montana through the northern plain, everyone here in the middle of the country was nice. few spots were cloudy and cool, showers and rain around denver then west texas and also around atlanta, you were 69 with your friends to the north were 80 from d.c. to philly to boston. there is a storm system that rain on some people's parades in kentucky, tennessee, especially down in georgia and south

carolina and now that slow-moving system is moving up the seaboard. areas beautiful mostly for new england along the coast of the m midtoday, cloudy and on and off periods of rain. the steadiest through ashville and watching from knoxville up 81 through roanoke, some areas of teddier rains and will move into the big cities later on today. we could get a soaker out of this. it's so slow-moving if you get thunderstorms over the top you could get a quick 2 inches of rain and had the possibility of some spots getting 2 to 4 inches including roanoke to washington, d.c. possibility of an inch and a half of rain, new york city to boston about an inch, same for burlington, vermont. pretty widespread. the rest of the country is looking nice today. just one area of thunderstorms heading down through west texas. if you're in del rio you have rain heading your way. east coast, umbrella day. kansas city to denver all

through the inner mountain west, lynn, i'd say 80% of the country is beautiful today but that 20% is the east coast which is millions of us. >> yes, it is. thanks so much. well, coming up, yahoo!'s ceo tumbles, avon will make the call, and world record guaranteed to make you shake your head and say really? first look at your business headlines is straight ahead. third time's a charm for the clippers, a pair of walk-off grand slams, and the kings of the road do it again. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink?

♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry, e-trade's got a totally new investing dashboard. everything's on one page. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade. but not for your eyes. they're still so tired looking. with olay challenge that, with regenerist anti-aging eye roller. its hydrating formula with caffeine conditioning complex, perks up the look of eyes. it works in the blink of an eye.

you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories.

welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. in one of the most shocking and gruesome acts seen in mexico's ongoing drug wars, 49 mutilated bodies were found dumped on the highway a little over an hour's drive from the texas border yesterday. the dead are thought to be victims of an escalating battle between two rival cartels.

in afghanistan, a top peace negotiator was shot and killed on his way to work in kabul. the taliban denied involvement in the killing of arsala rahmani just a week before a key nato summit meeting in chicago where afghanistan will be a major topic. in southern yemen, 42 people have been killed in fighting between the army and al qaeda militants. the militants used warplanes and heavy artillery in the battle, which killed at least 30 militants. in denmark, more than 127 pounds of explosives were used in the implosion of two apartment buildings in copenhagen as a large crowd watched. the towers were built in the '50s and were condemned as no longer safe to live in. and in england, prince william and his brother harry played in a polo match that raised a little money for charity supported by the royals and william's wife kate was on hand to award the prizes, which included kisses for the prince.

and now here's your first look at the wall street is fairing. dow jones down 34, the s&p 500 up 4.60. nikkei was up 20 but the hang seng fell 299. i'm sorry. 229. shake-ups will have attention today. shares of jpmorganchase could come under more pressure as that trading blunder is expected to claim the jobs of three top executives including the bank's chief investment officer. according to this morning's "wall street journal," before scott thompson resigned as yahoo!'s ceo, he told them he's been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. thompson stepped down after it was discovered he apparently never received a computer science degree listed on his

official resume. in deal news avon says it will respond within a week to coty's sweetened $10.7 million takeover bit. looking ahead, investors will keep an eye on greece this week as failed talks to form the coalition government closer to a possible exit from the eurozone. retail stores will also be in focus with first quarter results jcpenney, walmart and home depot. wall street will find out if there's been any improvement in the housing industry with a report on housing starts and building permits. >> today is mark zuckerberg's 28th birthday but the real celebration could be on friday when facebook is expected to debut on the nasdaq. and finally, an ohio man is not letting unemployment keep him down, instead he kept his arm up for 17 hours straight, hoping to score a guinness world record for the longest continuous fist pump. he prefers the so-called jersey shore style where you use your elbow and you roll your fist.

no official word on the record. the games in london have the olympic or bit. the strange twisted red metal reaches almost 380 feet in the air next to the main olympic stadium. rags martel of itn has been gathering options. >> reporter: at 115 meters tall, it's britain's highest structure. but it's attracted the weight of criticism. likened to mutant contortion of metal that looks more like a roller coaster than a piece of art. >> pple will be critical of it. that's okay. all big buildings or edifices in big city have to deal with criticism. >> reporter: own only when you get to the top you get a sense of its height, 22 meters taller than the statue of liberty. it was assembled by just four

people is the incredible thing. built in sections, two drains placed them on top of each other, a pair of workmen bolted them together all the work completed in just 18 months. the orbit comes with a heavy price practicing, 23 million pounds but it's almost entirely funded by steel magnet latchme matel. >> it is absolutely correct to say that the genesis of this project was in a 45-second conversation in a clerkroom. no secret about that but the result was 19 million pounds' worth of sponsorship. >> reporter: many living in its shadow think the cash could have been spent elsewhere. >> people need housing. >> i don't really understand what it represents and for that reason it's definitely an eye sore. >> when i found out that doesn't really have a purpose, just kind of a watch tower, i thought it was even more useless.

>> reporter: entry prices will also be steep, 15 pounds a ticket but could also include a sneaky view of the olympics itself. the heat beat the pacers, the kings rather top the coyotes, and whose turn was it to win this weekend at golf's player championship. plus, a cincinnati slugger goes yard three times, including a walkoff grand slam. your first look at sports is separate ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

recently, students from 31 countries took part in a science test. the top academic performers surprised some people. so did the country that came in 17th place. let's raise the bar and elevate our academic standards. let's do what's best for our students-by investing in our teachers. let's solve this.

welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. in sports yesterday, in the nba playoffs for the second day in a row the los angeles team won the showdown. here's nbc's mario solis. hi, there. good morning. third time's a charm for the l.a. clippers. after squandering a 3-1 serious lead the clippers finally got it right in game seven against the grizzlies. the bench getting it done in the fourth quarter scoring 25 of their final 27 points. nick young draining 13. clippers send the grizzlies to an early hibernation hibernation they advance to play the spurs. to miami lebron james getting his mvp award. then he shows everybody why he's the most valuable player in the league, scoring 32 points against indiana. in fact, lebron and dwyane wade outscore the entire pacers team by four points in the second half. heat take game one 95-86.

to hockey, game one in the western conference finals, kings and coyotes. dustin brown with another huge goal. seems like every game the captain steps up in a big way. kings are a perfect 6-0 on the road. they win, 4-2. golf, the tpc at sawgrass was pretty in pink for mother's day and so was matt kuchar. donning the pink hat for par on 3, draino. then a tap-in on the win. he takes the players championship by two strokes. fourth career pga victory for him. >> to the diamonds, earlier this year the marlins mike stanton changed his name to juan carlos stanton. we're just going to call him the closer. has a grand slam and marlins score six in the ninth to win, 8-4. if you like that, you'll love this, unless, of course, you're a nationals fan. the reds' joey votto hits not one, not two but three homers in cinci. votto makes the nats see red. they win 9-6 in dramatic fashion.

and that's your first look at sports. i'm mario solis. >> well, another look at the weather and here's bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> a plus in the northeast for all the moms out there but it looks like as we go throughout the workweek, once again a slow-moving rain system three weeks in ray row during the middle of the week we've just been murky and gloomy all through the mideast and north atlantic. temperatures very mild to start your morning. don't need the jacket anywhere. clouds increasing, do not expect a lot of sunshine all through new england. the light rain now moved up to the capital district and back down towards the appalachians from d.c. to roanoke all the way down to tennessee areas of light rain, in the d.c. area greater d. clarification area do expect on and off again periods of rain with steady rain developing later today. not an all day rain for anyone but it will be on and off and hit and miss, the worst for new

york city to boston will be tomorrow morning. as far as the middle of the country goes, what a great day, st. louis to chicago. west coast looks great. hot in phoenix and as we say -- as i mentioned, lynn, tomorrow, another rainy day in the northeast. >> all right. let's get it out of the way during the week so by the weekend -- >> i'll take seven days in a row. >> how about that. whoa. maybe next week. one film that missed the mark, not "the avengers" which steeps astounding shattering record after record. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. puts you at 5 times greater risk of stroke. don't wait. go to afibstroke.com for a free discussion guide to help you talk to your doctor about reducing your risk. that's afibstroke.com. but not how we get there. because in this business, there are no straight lines. only the twists and turns of an unpredictable industry.

so the eighty-thousand employees at delta... must anticipate the unexpected. and never let the rules overrule common sense. this is how we tame the unwieldiness of air travel, until it's not just lines you see... it's the world. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. [ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks.

i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪

political news, next month president obama will hold a fund-raiser at a theater here in new york called barack on broadway. it's true. yeah, obama is not the only one trying to win over the theater crowd. look at mitt romney's latest campaign poster. everyone is getting the blue man dudes, yeah. amazing, i read that a man in his 70s is prepare to climb mt. everest from both sides. of course, no one has the heart to tell him he's standing near an escalator at the mall, but, still, i'm going to climb both sides. reading about this hooters is offering customers 10 free chicken wings on mother's day. and 45 really uncomfortable minutes with your mom so, good, mom? >> tonight, jimmy welcomes gordon ramsay. country music legend willie nelson. and animal expert jeff musiel at

12:35 on your local nbc station. all right. can you guess what we'll talk about in entertainment? i wonder. "the avengers." was that your best superhero voice. it keeps breaking box office records. it took in $103 million this weekend to easily -- hold on. easily hold on the top spot and become the first film to make more than $100 million in its second week of release. it also became the fastest movie to reach both 300 million and $350 million in earnings and the movie with the highest ever eight-day, nine-day and ten-day grosses. >> i get it. >> have we lost you? including worldwide earnings, disney announced that as of last night, it's expected to break the $1 billion mark in just 19 days in international release making it the 11th highest earning movie over --

80 extra brinks trucks. finishing a distant second was "dark shadows," the remake of the popular open opera from tim burton and johnny depp taking in $28.8 million. >> you understand why "the avengers" is such a big thing. >> unbelievable special effects. kids were lining up to see it four times in a row. >> you were only asleep for a portion. >> don't out me on that. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. i'm lynn berry. heads roll at jpmorganchase as three top executives including the woman who oversaw the unit whose gamble set off the more than $2 billion loss announced last week. the question is will this moment on wall street change the way investment banks are regulated? we'll talk live in a rough to aaron ross sorkin.

"newsweek" dubs president obama the first gay president. rainbow halo included days after "time" put a mother nursing her giant 3-year-old on the cover. will where this magazine arms race take us next. a story out of hollywood. a janitor at columbia university walks the stage and gets his diploma after taking classes in between his shifts. the question is, what's your excuse for not studying. it's "way too early" for this. good morning, i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show not afraid to all get up in a big gulp of mountain dew before this show at 5:30 a.m. i'm glad you're watching or listening live on sirius xm radio. tweet me