zimmerman said he didn't regret following martin that night. >> i was that it was all god's plan. for me to second-guess it or judge it -- >> immediately after the broadcast, trayvon's martin released this written statement, quote, we must worship a different god because there's no way that my god would have wanted george zimmerman to kill my teenage son. during the interview, zimmerman had a direct apology for trayvon's parents. >> i am sorry that they buried their child. i can't imagine what it must feel like and i pray for them daily. >> as he now prepared for what is sure to be an explosive and emotional murder trial. jay gray, nnz news. the "new york times" reports pentagon officials are in talks with the israeli government planning for what appears to be the imminent collapse of syrian president bashar al assad. obama administration officials tell say the pentagon is against

israel's suggestions to destroy weapons. officials say wednesday's deadly bombing in the heart of damascus that killed the defense member sister and his deputy, assad's brother-in-law, may turn out to be a turning point in the country's conflict. israel is vowing retaliation against iran. at least seven people died in an attack on a bus at the airport in a resort city on the black sea. the israelis had just arrived from a flight from tell ajive for a vacation. bulgaria's administration says a suspected terrorist was carrying a driver's license issued by the state of michigan. iran has always denied involvement in the past. london's metropolitan police

have arrested three men arriving to commit terrorism. one woman has been arrested for a document likely to be of use as a terrorist as part of the same operation. all four will appear in court today. police say the arrests are not related to the upcoming olympic games which start a week from tomorrow. in florida, a pair of armed robbers had the tables turned on them after storming an internet cafe. the attackers were holding a baseball bat and a gun, but a 71-year-old customer pulled out his own gun and shot the robbers as he chased them out the door. those suspects were wounded and later arrested. in pennsylvania, a kidnapping victim made a daring escape from a moving van. he rolled to the ground and ran toward police. he says he was grabbed off the street, stripped to his underwear and threatened with

death. police have identified one suspect. in boston, frightening moments for a woman after she tumbled down an escalator. when someone tried to help, she fell out of the chair completely. she suffered minor injuries. in new york, wild weather turned a subway station into a gushing geyser. commuters had to dodge heavy flooding inside the building to make their way into the train. and a camera up there shows a time lapsed view of just how fast the rain swooped in. all that hail, too. it really did slam new york city. finally, off the coast of florida, better watch out. yes, that right there is a great white shark swimming a mere 15 feet from a diver. he had just gone in the water when the predator moved toward him. fortunately the man stayed calm, made it back into the boat and returned with a little bit of good footage there for us.

now for a look at your national weather, we turned to meteorologist bill karinss with your weather channel forecast. >> everybody around here is excited about those storms that rolled through last night. >> it woke me up. >> it was nld. it was pitch black at like 4:00 in the afternoon. >> that is perfect napping weather. >> besides the lightning. >> minor detail. >> very impressive weather day yesterday throughout much of the mid-atlantic and new england. not just because of the amazing thunderstorms. but one of the hottest days we almost ever see in this region. it was 100 degree heat from d.c. all the way up to southern new england. hartford even hit 100. but this 104 in baltimore, incredible stuff there. central park, philadelphia, even by the water in atlantic city, it was 101. today is going to be cooler in this region. there could be thunderstorms and rain. temperatures will still be warm, still a little muggy. but that cooler air is making its way. look at buffalo and albany.

beautiful day for you. now, those thunderstorms, they weren't just in new england. they were back here around chicago. southern wisconsin. and numerous isolated strong storms throughout much of kentucky down there to the carolinas. in all, 348 reports of severe weather yesterday. that's wind damage and large hail. not many tornados. this morning, we're pretty much dry throughout the east, but we are thankful for the heavy rain moving through northern indiana. indiana has been one of the worst states for the drought, along with arkansas. and we're getting drenched in northern indiana this morning. this is welcomed rainfall. we had rain last night in indianapolis just a little bit. we're talking about areas desperate for rain. so you have a little bit of rain to deal with. chicago, indiana heading into ohio, but we're not going to get that lucky back here from st. louis to kansas city, wichita, from dallas northward to the plains, the heat wave continues for them. >> unfortunately, all right, bill. thanks so much. big blue boosts its outlook,

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. a new york times/cbs news poll finds the presidential race a virtual tie with mitt romney supported by 47% of those surveyed. president obama was at 46%. 20% of the voters say they may change their mind by november. senator john mccain defended huma abedin, a top aide state department official, after allegations by congresswoman michele bachmann that she is connected to the muslim brotherhood. mccain said bachmann's attacks have, quote, no logic, no basis, and no merit, and they need to stop now.

meanwhile in an interview with "people" magazine, abedin says she's proud to be married to former congressman anthony weiner despite the sexting scandal that led to his resignation. she said her husband did a really stupid thing but added they have a, quote, normal family. yokamon hearn was executed yesterday in texas for the 1998 abduction and fatal shooting of a stockbroker. it was the state's first execution using only one lethal drug instead of three due to shortages. >> and in china, a taxi driver hung on to the hood of a car of a drunk driver who had collided with his taxi cab. the drunk driver tried to escape, but the capby held on for a wild ride until he stopped at a karaoke bar and the police could be called in to make an arrest. and now here is an early look at scrambled politics.

anton scalia said he did not have a falling out with justice john roberts over the health care law. morgan persisted, loud exchange of words, scalia said, quote, no, no, nothing like that. white house speaker john boehner calls the controversy over mitt romney's tax returns are a distraction. nancy pelosi told politico she has a plan to win back control of the house and she has traveled around the country raising $60 million to help democratic candidates in november. what's middle class in america? well, the "christian science monitor" says the president has defined it as a family that makes up to $250,000 a year. but mitt romney said that someone who falls into poverty, quote, is still middle class. jamie vengell says chris christie will deliver the key

note speech at the republican conference next month. that means if past practice follows, he would not be the vice presidential nominee. a new ban on visible tattoos is going into effect. but this ban will only affect members of the capitol hill police, not politicians. and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. last night on the rachel maddox show, bob herbert talked to rachel about mitt romney's use of the word "foreign" and argued it's a racist code word. >> now, with barack obama president, the code words are foreign, perhaps muslim, maybe not christian. it all means not one of us. and what they mean by us is a

certain kind of white person. but i don't believe that that's the prevailing opinion or prevailing view among whites in the united states in 2012. i think that it's a losing theme in the selection. >> lean forward with the rachel maddox show weeknights at 9:00 eastern on msnbc, the place for politics. here is your first look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,908 after climbing 103 points yesterday. the s&p gained 9. the nasdaq spiked 32. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei rose 68 points, while in hong kong the hang seng skyrocketed 319. well, the s&p 500 leapt to its highest level since may wednesday as traders chose to ignore bad news and cherry pick the good news coming out of earnings. intel lowered its growth forecast late tuesday, but gross margins were healthy, so the stock rose more than 3%. honeywell jumped almost 7% on healthy profits.

emc jumped over 9% after reporting a preliminary second quarter profit, and its vmware unit was up 12%. vivus jumped almost 10% after regulators approved its weight loss drug. on the downside, rovi plummeted to its lowest level in three and a half years after slashing its annual forecast and being downgraded by two brokerages. eep an eye today on ibm. big blue rose after hours after boosting its full year earnings outlook. also watch ebay, which also rose late on quarterly sales and profit that soared past estimates. in economic news, new u.s. home construction se in june to the highest level in almost four years. elsewhere, capital one will pay $210 million to settle allegations it allowed call center vendors to use deceptive tactics to pressure or mislead consumers to pay for add-on products such as identity theft monitoring services. reuters reports soccer powerhouse manchester united

will now launch its ipo on the new york stock exchange. and, finally, hypervocal.com reports the vigilante hacking group anonymous used gps data embedded in this social website photo to inform burger king of the identity of the poster seen standing on containers of shredded lettuce. he and two ohio co-workers have now been fired. thankfully big brother is coming up, the royals walk off. a major league first for one oakland a. plus, a blue jay goes all out, but thumbs up with bumps and bruises. your first look at sports is straight ahead. brave knights!

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[ male announcer ] ...lost. introducing the musically enhanced htc one x from at&t. rethink possible. welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. and in sports, a marathon matchup between the dodgers and phillies yesterday ended in dramatic fashion. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning. the dodgers' matt kemp missed 36 games with a pulled hamstring, made his return this week, and the dodgers are glad he did. taking on the phils, dodgers down one in the tenth. two down. runners on the corners. kemp with a shot to short. a bang-bang play at first, and he was safe. dodgers tied the game at 3-3. then in the 12th, no doubt about this, kemp's first homer since returning from the d.l., and it was a big one. dodgers walked off with a 5-3 win in 12. that's not the only walk-off in california. rangers and a's knotted at 3-3 in the ninth. brandon hicks has never hit a

home run until now. touch a ball, brandon, you just won the game ,and the a's downed the rangers, 4-3. are you starting to see a trend? another tied game, another walk-off homer. this time billy butler with the honors, and the royals beat the mariners, 8-7. now to san diego, you'd think if one player had two home runs, their team would win, right? not so. matt downs hit a pair, but that was it for houston. padres doubled up the astros, 8-4. yanks and blue jays, scary moment in the third. mark teixeira, a pop fly into foul territory. brett lawrie chased it down. reached over the camera well and tumbled and fell hard onto the pavement. look at teixeira. he knew it was bad. lawrie, absolutely no regard for his body tried to make the play but couldn't come up with the ball. thankfully he was okay, but he'll have a lot of bumps and bruises this morning. yanks won the game, 6-0. and, finally, if you made money in the stock market yesterday, you might want to thank mariano rivera. the yanks' closer was an opener. traded in his pinstripes for a suit and rang the opening bell at the new york stock exchange.

rivera has to do this more often. the market was up yesterday. baseball's all-time saver is now saving you some money. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. now for another look at the weather. here is bill karins with your weather channel forecast. bill. >> lynn, they're doing the irish jig in northern indiana right now. through the streets of indiana. it is finally raining and they have gone almost two months without any significant rain. this morning, there are thunderstorms and it is pouring. valpareso just picked up an inch in the last two hours. we would like to get some of this heavy rain down into indianapolis. we could see that later today. but it looks like these thunderstorms are going to produce about a half an inch to an inch of rain. we have a slight risk of storms today from cincinnati to columbus, all of ohio, west virginia, and much of kentucky. this is a very dry area in portions of the corn belt that

need that rain. nothing like yesterday. >> bring it on. bill, thanks so much. who is the highest paid actress on television? and what russell brandt is saying about his recent divorce. sorry, ladies, there are signs george clooney may not be available for much longer. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. for a relaxing vacation. ♪ sometimes, we go for a ride in the park. maybe do a little sightseeing. or, get some fresh air. but this summer, we used our thank youpoints to just hang out with a few friends in london. [ male announcer ] the citi thankyou visa card. redeem the points you've earned to travel with no restrictions. rewarding you, every step of the way.

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when matte romney was in charge of the salt lake city olympics, some of the uniforms were made in burma. that is ridiculous. you don't make american uniforms in burma. you make them in china.

yeah. there is a new slow-moving storm in the pacific called hurricane fabio. yeah. meteorologists expect hurricane fabio to touch the coastline, caress it softly and then whisper, i can't believe it's not butter. >> tonight jimmy welcomes the "today" show matt lauer, mike tyson and musical guest hot chips. that's "late night with jimmy fallon" on your local nbc station. might be the most hilarious name for a show. time now for entertainment news. well, halle berry is out of the hospital after suffering a head injury on an l.a. movie set. the oscar winner was injured shooting a fighting sequence. tmz reports she has a possible concussion after falling on concrete.

>> maybe she was knocked unconscious. >> get a stunt double. well, forbes named sofia vergara tv's top earning actress, taking in $19 million. >> she's the modern family -- >> yeah. she's hilarious. >> she gets that much money from "modern family"? >> yeah. kim kardashian came in second with $18 million. i still don't get the fascination. i don't get it. >> it's a great show. >> eva langoria ranked third with $15 million, thanks largely to the earnings of the final season of "desperate housewives. well, in his first interview since his divorce was finalized monday, russell brand told howard stern while katy perry is, quote, young, successful, and dedicated, he was, quote, into the idea of marriage and having children. >> three compliments and an insult. >> there you go. it always goes after that way, doesn't it? as for not going after any of perry's $40 million in their settlement, brand said simply, quote, i've got a good job. and, finally, is george clooney almost off the market?

say it ain't so. well, tmz reports both he and girlfriend stacy keibler flew their parents to italy for a gathering at clooney's lake como villa. sorry, ladies. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. the killing of damascus inside a supposedly secure building of three government defense officials strikes a blow to the heart of the assad regime. the question is, what does it mean for the long, brutal civil war in syria? we'll have a live report in just a minute. back here at home, a new report this morning points to foreign money used to get mitt room know's bain capital off the ground. the question is, does it matter that the company starts up with foreign monies? we'll wade through that. and will ferrell and zach gal if a knackus get to go to throw out the first pitch on the mound and to have some pizza.

it's way too early for this. good morning. this is "way too early" with willie geist. e-mail me, as always, at way too early at msnbc.com. tweet me. i want to know what you're doing up at this hour or anything else you're thinking. or you can do what michele bachmann does with the word awake followed by a response. we'll read the best responses in the show. the next 30 minutes will be the cram session for this thursday, july 19th. a lot to tell you about, including a bunch of new polls that mitt romney has taken about bain. plus, match made in late night heaven. newt gingrich shares leno's

couch with snooki. and yes, they do talk about newt's bachelor party. that clip later in the show. first, let's stick to the news at 5:30 a.m. we begin with the conflict in syria where new clashes erupted overnight following a brazen bomb attack that infiltrated president bashar al assad's inner circle. the explosion happened yesterday inside the national security building inside damascus, killing through top officials, including syria's defense minister and assad's brother-in-law. the syrian government will not say whether assad was in the room during the attack. rebel commanders describe it as an inside job and said those who planted the bomb are still safe. meanwhile, president assad and vladimir putin spoke on the phone after the attack and agreed to stop the bombing, but disagreed on h