we're going to begin this morning with a killing spree. seattle is still shaking this morning after a gunman fatally shot four customers at a cafe yesterday, police believe the same man killed a won during a carjacking before taking his own life. seattle has seen 21 homicides so far this year. jim foreman from nbc's king five news in seattle reports. >> i think i could have easily been shot also today. >> reporter: the two crime scenes converged. >> i heard about all that had happened here and i think -- i think just the huge loss of life. >> reporter: when joanne came here to the cafe racer, joanne says she was downtown when she came face to face with this man, identified by the times as ian stewicki. the first gunshots were at 11:00 a.m. at the cafe.

and then a half hour later he when he shot and killed a woman at eighth and seneca and sped off in her suv. after the carjacking, the suspect headed to east seattle, by late afternoon convinced the shootings were connected, a team spotted the suspect, when he turned the gun on himself. the suspect's brother tells the "times" he was mentally ill. >> he would be totally normal, educated and all of a sudden, he would just crack and become slightly deranged, possessed, insane, crazy stuff. at a certain point, the cafe kicked him out. this morning they said you're 86ed, can't be here, would you like a coffee to go? he was nice, courteous, he walked to the door and turned and started shooting.

the u.s. imposed new financial sanctions on syria, aimed directly at those responsible for the massacre last friday. hoping to add economic pressure on the syrian president, the treasury department targeted the syrian international islamic bank for its role in helping other syrian banks evade sanctions. the new penalties prohibit the bank from financial transactions in the u.s. and freeze any asset under u.s. jurisdiction. it's hoped the move will make it more difficult to pay the salaries of the pro government thugs who perpetrated that grisly massacre in houla. u.n. observers say 13 bodies have been bound and shot in eastern syria. this report contains graphic images that you may find disturbing. we've been following story from cairo. >> reporter: the u.n. observer mission in syria says it is

appalled and disturbed by new revelations of yet another gruesome attack inside syria, in the eastern part of the country. amateur footage posted online which we couldn't independently athent indicate shows bodies laying on the ground with their hands tied behind their back, apparently killed execution style. this comes on the heels of a massacre in the town of houla on friday. with many western powers expelling syrian diplomats. >> i don't know what would possibly justify going into homes with guns and shooting children and women in their own homes. >> reporter: while the french president suggested there was the possibility of military intervention with the approval of the u.n. security council, russia and china, two of syria's closest allies say they would reject any type of foreign military intervention inside syria. nbc news, cairo. here's your "first look" at other news going on around america today this is

incredible. it's from minnesota, and it shows a pickup truck plowing into a bar. you can see there's six people, including the driver were injured. amazingly, no one was killed. the driver apparently had a medical condition. in illinois, a state lawmaker lost his cool. big-time. representative mike bost exploded after he says a bill was sent to a vote before he and colleagues had any chance to read it. take a listen. >> not the american way. these damn bills, all the damn time. come out here the last second, got to try to figure out how to vote for my people. >> whoa, his tirade went on for about two minutes before he slammed the microphone away. in texas, the best tip this waiter ever got. this is an understatement. a married couple who are long-time regulars at his restaurant gave him a $5,000 tip

on a $27 check. not a bad day at the office. after hearing his car had broken down and he was taking cabs and buses to get to work. in ohio, if you ever dreamed of having someone come in and magically clean your home. think twice, someone broke into this house, proceeded to tidy up the place without permission and then left them a bill for their work for $75. she actually identified herself in the note as well. no word yet if the maid will face any charges. now for look at your national weather, we turn to meteorologist todd santos with your weather channel forecast. i wouldn't call that a bright thing to do. >> i would call that very aggressive advertising. >> breaking and entering, probably not a good time. hey, a few areas are going to need bigger clean-up, through portions of north carolina. we did have as beryl left the

coastline. a quinn spin-up of an ef-1 tornado. thankfully, no injuries, but some 67 homes were actually damaged there. because of the system. a number of out buildings as well. again, max sustained winds with that, 110 miles per hour. so scary times there, the system is well off the coastline now and pushing further away. and actually no longer a tropical system. so no worries for us. but across central portions of the u.s. showers and thunderstorms will be focusing on central, lower portions of the mississippi valley and showers just moving into the chicago area. o'hare and midway, last check had light rain moving in. not a huge disturbance to travel. but to the south, better chances for thunderstorms themself. the forecast frontal boundaries as we get through the next couple of hours to show you this system as it pushes east will start to influence the chances around the lower mississippi valley, but even into mississippi itself. northern florida 0 get showers going and northern maine,

northern vermont, a few patchy showers. once you get down towards boston, gloucester, d.c. and raleigh, very quiet conditions. at least nice to see the system well off the coastline. aside from at least maritime interests, no worries for the rest of us closer to the coast itself. this actually just expiredth. the severe thunderstorm watch box. little rock, memphis, down towards jackson, mississippi, the better chances for thunderstorms during the daytime. a few pushing towards shreveport. potentially gusty winds to south of the area. and a few thunderstorms moving into the chicago, milwaukee areas, but at this point the light side of things. coming up, your fears make for a downer day on wall street. facebook fallout hits its founder and the ultimate souvenir for t"the hunger games fanatic in your life.

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welcome back to "first look," here's some top stories making news this morning. the house may vote today on a bill that would make it a federal crime to carry out an abortion based on the gender of the fetus. critics call it the latest anti-abortion gimmick. if the bill passes the house it would face certain defeat in the senate. health care providers may hike their costs up 7.5% in 2013 according to a new industry report. more than three times the projected rates for inflation and economic growth. and canada, authorities say an adult film actor is wanted in the gruesome case of dismembered body parts. being sent through the mail.

a severed foot was found tuesday in a package mailed to conservative party headquarters in ottawa. and a hand was discovered in a postal warehouse. well new york city may ban the sale of supersized sugary drinks in restaurants, movie theaters and other places. mayor bloomberg is proposing the first in the nation ban to compete obesity. and & an english mansion build in the 1400s is up for sale, but it has no bathrooms. at the bargain price of $3.8 million, however buys it, i'm assuming is able to afford a few new amenities. well, florida's republican governor rick scott has launched a controversial attempt to purge noncitizens from the state's voter registration rolls. some of the voters targeted have proven to be valid u.s. citizens. a critic of the purge told

rachel maddow, she sees it as a clear-cut effort to discredit minorities who tend to vote democrat. >> the list is about 60% latino voters. while we know the state of florida has targeted black voters in the past, in 2000 and 2004, they also had a bad felon list that targeted black voters, this time they've come to latino voters. what we've said to the department of justice, it's time for you to step up. because the department of justice can stop this dead in its tracks. they can do it because the voting rights act allows them to do that. because latino voters are targeted. we've called on them and called upon the state to stop the letters. to cease and desist with the purges. because we know that it's unlawful because it's too close to an election. the federal law says you cannot do these purges so close to an election. a and why?

because we know that it's often done for partisan gain and that's what we believe is happening now. >> rachel maddow has in-depth analysis with guests if all sides. don't miss the "rachel maddow show" on msnbc 9:00 p.m. your "first look" at wall street, the dow opens at 12,419 after tumbling 160 points yesterday. the s&p dropped 19, the nasdaq defense 33. taking a look at overseas trading. in tokyo, the nikkei was down 90 points. in hong kong, the hang seng lost 6. stocks tumbled wednesday as tensions mounted over europe's ability to solve the debt crisis. fears spain can't save its troubled banks sparked a selloff. also new polls showing the political party against a greek bailout is gaining ground ahead of june elections. fuelled fears of a greek exit

from the eurozone. the yield on benchmark 10-year treasuries fell to the lowest level in at least 60 years. oil tumbled 3% on worries that a euro crisis would drain command for commodities. facebook's failed ipo has knocked mark zuckerberg off bloomberg's top 40 billionaires index. facebook closed lower for the sixth out of eighth day. meanwhile, fallout for facebook's ipo is causing some companies to reconsider going public. london-based jeweler, graff diamond postponed its billion-dollar ipo. and online travel company kayak has delayed its public ipo debut. the rename the sweetener high fructose corn syrup, sugar.

and you have until july 31st to bid for the land where "the hunger games" was filmed. the bidding begins at $1 toin 4 million. coming up, the heat sweat the celtics. plus, kings of the road. los angeles takes the opener of the stanley cup finals. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look." ir. one golden crown. come on frank how long have we known each other? go to e-trade. they got killer tools man. they'll help you nail a retirement plan that's fierce. two golden crowns. you realize the odds of winning are the same as being mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day? frank! oh wow, you didn't win? i wanna show you something... it's my shocked face. [ gasps ] ♪ [ male announcer ] get a retirement plan that works at e-trade.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. in sports last night in game one of the stanley cup finals, the los angeles kings made a little history. on the road. here's nbc's mario solis. >> good morning, if game one of the stanley cup final is any indication how the series will go, we're in for a wild ride. to new jersey, devils and kings played each other twice during the regular season. and spent game one getting reacquainted. nobody backing down on hockey's biggest stage. l.a. gets on the board first, kcolin frazier. kings up 1-0. new jersey responds. jonathan quick makes the first save, but the rebound goes off a kings defenseman and in. a fortunate bounce for the devils, it ties it 1-1. stays that way through regulation. justin williams finds kopitar, he scores the game winner. kings have yet to lose on the road this postseason. they win game one 2-1 in

overtime. to the nba, heat and celtics, pick it up late in the fourth, ray allen for three, gets it, ties it 99-99. rajon rondo had the game of his life, scoring every point for boston in ot, finished with 44. even that wasn't enough, dwyane wade a dagger, celts miss a golding opportunity in miami. the heat take the game two. finally back in 1985, the knicks won the nba draft lottery, everyone thought the fix was in. well, move over knicks, there's a new conspiracy in the nba. the hornets won the lottery over the heavily-favored bobcats, so why is this a latest conspiracy theory in professional sports? the hornets were owned by the nba and sold last month to tom benson, the owner of the new orleans saints, so not only did benson get a basketball team from the nba, he got the number one pick. i think lead commissioner david stern will have flowers and a thank you card on his doorstep

this morning. that's your "first look" at sports, i'm mario solis. for another look at the weather, here's meteorologist todd santos. >> if you have starting off with decent temperatures, here in new york, fairly mild. temperatures at 68 degrees, a little more comfortable, less muggy. 71 down in d.c. cool spots up towards the u.p. of michigan and the arrowhead of minnesota. the hot spot this morning, to the southwest, yuma, arizona. to get into warning territory you're talking numbers like that, 108 in phoenix for today. did put the colors so you could see the real heat across the country, that's where it is, extending into some of the southern-most valleys in california. could see numbers approaching the 112 rang and above. i generally see some of the hottest numbers across the country, those are real hot numbers. over towards the east coast, beautiful conditions. northern maine, maybe a few showers, chicago getting into

some of the lighter rain right now. lower mississippi valley. the best chance for thunderstorms. dallas, your chances are during the middle and first half of the day. seattle with at least some shower activity. may even see showers towards honolulu later on tonight. during the daytime today and tomorrow looking good. showers returning towards chicago tomorrow. kevin costner has a hit on his hands, only no one knows how to tell him about it. plus, teased about her weight in the past, now she's laughing all the way to the bank. fighting the battle of the bulge for big bucks, your "first look" at entertainment straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. to get people to try on these new depend silhouette briefs, and today we are rocking the red carpet. look it's lisa rinna! lisa hiii,i know you don't need one but will you try on

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welcome back to "first look," in maryland, the youngest contestant ever at the scripps national spelling bee did get the first word right. but the second? >> ingluvies. e-n-g-l-u-v-i-e-s. engluvies. >> that is incorrect. >> just that face. i mean seriously, i'm glad i didn't have to say it, let alone spell it. 6-year-old lori ann madison started with an "e" instead of an "i" but the director of the spelling bee said it was one of the toughest competitions they've ever had. it's time for the "first look" at entertainment news. jessica simpson is going on weight watchers for $4 million. after a seemingly endless pregnancy through which she started about cravings for

salted cantalope and buttered pop tarts. she signed a deal to lose all of her baby weight as a weight watcher ambassador. one not so good sign. simpson tweeted she's still looking forward to quote guilty pleasures every now and then, too. a note, michael jackson wrote to then-wife lisa marie presley about having trouble sleeping has been removed from an auction at her request. it's unclear who put it up for auction in the first place. and the "l.a. times" reports while history's mini series, "hatfields and mccoys" is a smash hit, giving kevin costner his career new life, he is unreachable, somewhere off the coast of africa on a treasure dive. which sounds a little bit like a script that he may star in that would be like a "waterworld" bomb. >> you really live a jet set life when your own people can't

find you. >> or your vacation is a treasure dive. that's when you have too much money. i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. with syrian rebels demanding an end to the cease-fire so they can fight back against the government, the united states ambassador to the u.n. warns that the u.s. and its allies my have to act outside the u.n. security council in the face of resistance from china and russia. the question is, what exactly did ambassador susan rice mean by taking actions outside the council? we'll have a live report. new nbc numbers give mitt romney reason to smile this morning. he's running neck and neck in at least three battleground states, won in 2008 by barack obama. the question is can romney steal enough of those many, many swing states from the president to win the election? and rajon rondo goes nuts in the

game two of the eastern conference finals. hanging 44 points on the heat. the question is, who would come out on top when the game went to overtime in miami? it's "way too early" for this. > good morning, i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show that's polling well in battleground states among likely voters with untreatable sleep disorders. i'm glad you're up with us this morning, watching on msnbc or listening on sirius xm radio. shoot me an email or tweet me @williegeist 1. or text your response to 622639. we'll read your best responses later. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this thursday, may 31st. a lot to tell you about, including seattle in a state of shock after a deadly shooting spre