the lysol no-touch kitchen system. one solution for sparkling dishes, plus clean surfaces, plus healthy hands. all in a no-touch design. this morning on "early today," declassified documents. papers seized from osama bin laden's lair reveal his final thoughts. super moon, why this full moon this weekend will be bigger and brighter than any other day this year. and cinderella story. the tallest m finally finds a shoe that fits. captions paid for by nbc-universal television this is "early today" for friday, may 4th, 2012. hello, good morning i'm lynn berry. today we begin with bin laden's words. one year after seals killed the leader, some documents seized from his compound in pakistan

have been released. they show his concerns about his weakened organization but he was still plotting attacks on americans. nbc's michelle franzen has details. >> reporter: the compound in pakistan where osama bin laden lived in secrecy and died after u.s. special forces tracked him down, is gone. destroyed without a trace. but document ts, letters and other evidence seized the night of the raid left a trail showing the al qaeda leader still had aspirations to attack the u.s. >> as a former professional intelligence officer, there is nothing i would like to have more than the capacity to read my enemy's mail and we're reading ten years of osama bin laden's mail. >> reporter: the intelligence community and public are getting a snapshot look at some of the documents, analyzed over the past year at west point's combatting terrorism center. the west wing gave west point the green light to publish 17 documents and letters on its website, originals, written in

arabic and translated in english, dated from 2006 to april, 2011. >> because of the renewed interest in on this anniversary in the mission that led to his demise, this is an appropriate time to release them. >> reporter: experts say it shows bin laden focused on grand plots following 9-11, including an outline to assassinate president obama, and then nato commander david petraeus. >> there is no question of his aspiration here, he wanted to kill the president of the united states. >> reporter: the documents also exposed cracks within the terrorist organization, world-wide. >> this shows an organization in decline, under siege and really feeling the pressure. >> reporter: the threat of al qaeda diminished with bin laden's death, experts say, but not gone. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. elsewhere the incredible drama of a blind chinese

dissident complicates hillary clinton's visit to beijing. now china says chen guangcheng can apply to study abroad and a possible step toward resolving the diplomatic stand-off. chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: at 4:00:a.m., chen guangcheng answered a phone call from human rights activists as they meet with republican members of congress. he told them he wants to come to the u.s. to rest. he worries about his family and wants more help from hillary clinton. >> translator: i want to meet with secretary clinton. >> reporter: clinton said they need to address human rights. >> all governments do have to answer to citizens aspirations for dignity and rule of law. and that no nation can or should deny those rights. >> reporter: that was a softer version than her prepared remarks which included a warning

to china not to punish dissidents. it has become an issue in the campaign. mitt romney says the administration was too eager to keep the summit on track and should not have handed chen over to the chinese. >> if these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom, and a day of shame for the obama administration. >> reporter: ambassador gary lock said chen was not pressured to leave the embassy. >> he jumped up and said "let's go" i asked him again, is this what you want to do? do you want to leave the beam see, are you ready to go? he said yes. >> reporter: in the eye of the storm since his weekend escape from house arrest, chen made a series of emotional calls including to nbc news. lock says chen had a change of heart and they will visit him again to find out what he wants. but as clinton tries to pressure dma for help on iran, syria and north korea, and treasury secretary geithner on the

economy. >> a time of risk and challenge in the global economic. >> reporter: most deal with chen and how china deals with dissidents. >> this is a lose-los proposition for the united states because the administration will be criticized for failing to stand up tall enough in defending him. that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. here is a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. in southern california a mama bear and two cubs are now spending time in a residential neighborhood. they may be there for a while. the bears wandered down from the angeles national forest, while deputies have warned people living in the area to keep an eye out, there has been no attempt to use a tranquilizer for fear of injurying the cubs. a massive sink hole in florida turned a backyard in a crater. 100 feet wide and 50 feet deep. it came within three feet of the

house. county officials have declared the home unsafe and firefighters helped the family remove as many items as possible. finally in massachusetts, america's tallest man showed up at reebok's headquarters with a plea for a pair of shoes that fits. a problem because he stands at seven foot, eight inches tall, his feet are size 22. makes it painful and impossible to get around with normal shoes. reebok is donating the footware when costs $28,000 to design and produce. not a good problem to have. for a look at national and regional weather, here is bill karins, he was the weather channel forecast. >> his feet are twice the size of mine. >> don't admit to that, bill. you sit down so you could be like ten feet tall, nobody would know. >> yeah, i don't want to be ten feet tall. good morning, everyone, active

weather yesterday, some severe storms, a couple tornados reported in iowa that did a little bit of damage, in all we had 168 severe weather reports, all the green dots slow where there was large hail reported. a lot of areas in michigan saw hail yesterday and large hail reports in western new york, scattered about. like a ring goes back here from the midwest over the great lakes and dips down over the mid-atlantic. same pattern today, high pressure to the south, warm air to the north, colliding with the cooler air from canada, more storms this morning. rain moving through new england, thunderstorms out of catskills that cross 84, also good storm on 80 south of williamsport, pa. grand rapids to lansing, chicago had light rain overnight. we're watching strong storms, tornado watch dropped but still a chance of severe thunderstorms along the border of iowa and northern missouri, even areas south of davenport and quad cities. today, it looks like the area of

yellow, does include louisville, today is ladies day, slight risk of strong storms and back here from new york city south to virginia beach and d.c., watch out this afternoon. that is the national forecast now here is the weather outside your window. thunderstorms for the most part if you live in the northern half of the country, just an active weather pattern, getting warmer, see more afternoon showers and thunderstorms that will continue through the overnight hours, if you're in the south, watch out for the heat today. active weather continues, lynn, in the weekend, we'll have the derby forecast coming up. bill, thank so much. coming up, as well, wall street waits on jobs, facebook values shares, pepsi brings back the king of pop. the business headlines straight ahead. marvel superheros unite to kick off the summer blockbuster movie season. coming up the career of mariano rivera may have come to an abrupt end.

the knicks play off woes appear to be far from over. you're watching "early today."

good morning welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are top headlines this morning. at least 12 people were killed today in a suicide bombing in a tribal region of northwest pakistan. officials say the bomber struck near a market and security checkpoint. the white house says it may be time to admit defeat in the attempt to end the violence in syria that killed 9,000 people. government forces have largely ignored a united nations cease fire. nasa astronomers have a rare graphic representation of what happened to a star that got too close to a black hole. for the first time, they identified the star in a galaxy three billion lightyears away, ripped apart by the black hole. and this weekend, be sure to

look up, we'll see a super moon on saturday night, the full moon will be closer to earth than any other time this year. it should be 30% brighter and as much as 14% bigger than other full moons. should be a good sight to see. an early look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,206 after losing 61 points. s&p lost 10 points, the nasdaq fell 35. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei up 29 points. in hong kong the hang seng fell 163. it is finally friday, and on wall street, it's all about jobs. yesterday better than expected weekly jobless claims offset fears from wednesday's private sector tally, but all the speculation ends this morning when traders receive the broader monthly jobs report from the government. the retail sector dragged stocks lower after several chains including target and gap missed

april sales estimates. after the bell linkedin racked up better than expected earnings, and announced plans to buy slideshare for $118 million. green mountain coffee bitter earnings report cost the company half the market value yesterday. kraft foods edged higher. facebook's ipo could set a record if the debuts at the top end, they would be valued at $96 billion. walmart is being sued by a major share holder. the california state teachers public pension fund. in the wake of the company's recent bribery and cover-up scandal in mexico. yahoo admits what it calls an inadvertent error about the education of the new chief executive. whose bachelor's degree is in accounting, not accounting and computer science as his resume stated.

and a grim twist in the cola wars. pepsi is resurrecting michael jackson's deal to pump new live in the new marketing campaign. a billion new pepsi cans will feature the late king of pop's silhouette. the heat scorched the knicks, the thunderstorms the mavs, devils topped the flyers in overtime. potentially career ending injury for baseball's all time saves leader. the early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. i'm still crying over that one. the weekend forecast, you will be happy with it, details coming up you're watching "early today." ♪

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and all the freedom to play like a real champion. pampers. proud supporter of babies' play. ♪ good morning, if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports, last night, mariano rivera tore his acl while chasing a fly ball during batting practice. here is fred roggin with a look at the sports headlines. good morning, mariano rivera faced this question dozens of times, is this his final season? could be, but nobody thought it would end like this. rivera twisted his knee chasing fly balls before the game in kansas city. he tore his acl, that is an injury that ends his season and perhaps his career.

the nba playoffs have not been kind to the knicks. madison gar garden, amare stodemire, chris bosh back after his wife gave birth. jr smith, amazing reverse jam, left the garden crowd in awe. lebron james made them feel awful. 17 of the 32 in the final quarter. heat beat the knicks 87-70. new york has not won a playoff game since 2001. heat go for the sweep sunday. mavs couldn't keep up with the thunder. kevin durant scored 31, oklahoma city routed dallas, 95-79. three games to none can sweep them in dallas. day after the shocking death of junior seau, medical examiners ruled his death a suicide. researchers hope to study his brain to see if concussions played a part in his decline. hockey in new jersey. devils and flyers, jersey caught

a line change. alexi ponikarovsky stopped once, won't be denied the second time. new jersey leads the games two to one. kings hosting st. louis in the third. drew doughty locked and scored. kings win 4-2. that is the early look at sports on "early today" have a terrific weekend i'm fred roggin. actress demi moore undergoes a name change. your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. most bundles of joy come after nine months of planning and preparation. but we'll introduce you to a new mom who didn't have that luxury. you're watching "early today."

the kentucky derby, today is oaks day the female horses out and racing all afternoon long. today a scattered chance of thunderstorms especially later this afternoon. the same forecast for saturday. the derby takes place the race itself between usually 6:00 and 7:00, that will be the best chance of storms. it will be warm, hopefully the storm are a miss than a hit. as far as your forecast goes this weekend showers and thunderstorms on saturday, mostly through the northern plains, new england wet weather early in the day. by sunday much of the east coast should dry out.

much of the country by sunday will be improved. if you're watching us on wnbc-4, new york city explore the early career of one of the best known american artists of the 20th century, keith haring. 18978-1982 at brooklyn museum. now here is an early look at headlines in entertainment. you don't need any super powers to predict which film will dominate the box office. the hhly anticipated match-up the avengers amassed a record breaking $281 million in foreign theaters in one week. boosted by 3-d and imax sales, experts believe it could earn between $150 and $170 million, possibly breaking the opening weekend record held by the last harry potter movie, we shall see. demi moore has a new twitter handle, following her break-up with ashton kutcher. she called on fans to replace

@mrs.kutcher. bill's didn't make it. her new name, @justdemi. i like it. keeping it simple. that is that. resolved that issue. check it off the list. this comes from wsmv, channel 4 news in nashville, tennessee, where in lawrenceburg, a new mom didn't know she was pregnant until after the little girl came in the world. yep. last month amanda fell ill, was airlifted to a hospital where she went unconscious. when she woke up two days later, she was given shocking news that she had given birth despite she had no clue she was expecting. she calls her daughter a miracle. i'm lynn berry this is "early today" your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. happy friday. we will start out with some quiet whether. there is some fog. visibility is down in some neighborhoods. a mixture of sun and clouds. humid.l be warm and mu a chance for thunderstorms again this afternoon. we will check the seven-day forecast going all the way into the weekend. >> 4:57. >> a potentially season-ending

injury for a staple in the ravens defense. the april release of jobs numbers could set the stage for the battle for the biggest job. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. we have an accident in the city. we'll update does your phone give you all day battery life ? droid does.

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[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. happy friday. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> those storms were something last night. >> there were rocking. two inchesund to of rain in some neighborhoods. 61 at the airport. 61 at the airport. humidity