this morning on "early today" -- easing fears. relief in europe and the rest of the world after the greek party supporting a bailout wins a slim majority in parliament. end of an era. rodney king's whose police beating led to a week of l.a. race riots has died. and roughing it. england's duchess of cambridge gets in touch with her roughing side during a charitable outing. >> announcer: this is "early today" for monday, june 18, 2012. vel low and very good mm morning. i'm ver on da de la cruz.

relief have eased fears of a global meltdown. the latest polls show greece's conservative new democracy party with a close victory in sunday's parliamentary vote which should keep greece in the eurozone. they favor austerity measures tied to greece's international bailout, a measure seen as crucial to that country and the eurozone stability. the pro bailout win was good news last night as president obama arrived in mexico where he joins a summit of 20 world leaders looking for ways to boost the global economy. another pressing issue at the g-20 summit. rush supporting role in syria ongoing crisis. this is the first time vince vladimir putin returned to power he'll be meeting with president obama. it's taken on a new emergency as richard engel reports from cairo.

>> reporter: the syrian opposition is outraged as the u.n. observers, claimed they were attacked by syrian forces, shot at by syrian troops, attacked by mobs, inspired by the government and they were no longer able to do their observations and report back to the former secretary-general of the u.n. kofi annan. the opposition is accusing the u.n. of cowardess and saying since they suspended operations, the syrian government has increased attacks, particularly on the city of homs. while operations are suspended in sir, yeah there's a possibility for diplomatic movement when president obama meets with vladimir putin of russia. so far russia has been backing the syrian regime. this is the first time since putin returned to power that he'll be meeting with the u.s. president. it's an opportunity to really push this peace initiative forward and end the deadlock. richard engel, nbc news, cairo.

rodney king has died. the man whose videotape beating in 1991 by members of the l.a. police department sparked nationwide debate drowned in a swimming pool yesterday. record any king, who became the center of a heated national discussion on police brutality and race in the early 1990s has died. >> preliminarily it appears to be accidental. >> reporter: king was found by his fiancee in a swimming pool at his home in california. >> officers went into the pool and removed mr. king. he was found to be unresponsive. >> reporter: king was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead. in 1991 video emerged of lapd officers beating king following a high-speed chase. four officers were charged with assault. >> not guilty -- >> reporter: their acquittal a year later rocked los angeles and led to one of the most destructive riots in u.s. history. the violence lasted three days,

killed 55 people and left large parts of los angeles ablaze. >> can we all get along? >> reporter: those five words are part of king's legacy? a plea for peace in the midst of raging violence that tore through los angeles. in the 20 years that followed, rodney king openly struggled with alcohol and occasional run-ins with the law, but remained a symbol against police brutality. >> are you comfortable with that role and how people perceive you? >> this is healing and i accept that role completely. >> reporter: rodney king was 47 years old. now a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. colorado is now dealing with two major wildfires. the newest one broke out sunday after near colorado springs and has burned more than 450 acres. officials are looking into reports someone had been firing shots at a propane tank. meanwhile, a deadly fire burning

for a week near ft. collins burned 56,000 acres and destroyed at least 181 homes, the most in state history. in california, beautiful video of the end of a top secret mission. an unmanned air force plane returned saturday after spending 15 months in orbit on a classified mission. the x-37b test vehicle landed at vandenberg air force base after conducting undisclosed experimen experiments. finally, in san diego, surf's up, but not for humans. dogs hit the water to hang ten or, i don't know, something like that. in the seventh annual surf dog competition judges look for confidence from the canines as well as a long wave ride. also a strong sense of fashion. you know, they're looking pretty good out there on the water. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i think my dog would be a

shoo-in for the fashion. >> for fashion but not the surfboard. >> i don't know about hanging ten but we could try. hot, dry weather conditions where the fires are burning, you feel, and we've been watching severe weather overnight. strong thunderstorms formed in south dakota last night. they rolled through the whole state of minnesota. a lot of people were woken up. minneapolis had 70-mile-an-hour wind gust, hail. now through northern wisconsin i'm sure a lot of people are up in the middle of the night as strong thunderstorms are rolling through, mostly central half of the state. a couple showers around milwaukee. we'll watch this approaching oshkosh and green bay shortly. the weather forecast this week, we don't have a lot of tropical weather to watch. we don't have a lot of severe weather outbreaks. it will be about the growing heat in the middle of the country. yesterday 98 in denver. very hot today from the central plains down through texas. been cool weather on the east coast. by the middle to end of this week, the whole pattern shift. we begin to see cool weather on

the west coast. the heat begins to subside a little bit in the middle of the country. but the heat really spreads in the eastern seaboard. areas like washington, d.c. could be near 10 0 degrees by thursday. even boston could be up in the mid to upper 90s easily. the hottest weather of the early summer season of the east coast is on its way. that's a look at your national forecast. now a look at the weather outside your window. so, today one more cool day for areas right along the mid-atlantic up through new england. temperatures at or below average. the hot weather continues. chicago near 97 today. humidity's up, too, and very warm from texas to memphis. i guess we have to get ready for the hot conditions out there. it's going to be very warm in the east coast all week. >> are you saying summer is finally here? >> looks like it. >> are you sure? >> we'll find out wednesday. >> fingers crossed. trade rises on greece. facebook gets a legal smackdown. and a vending machine we also comes to a nearby street corner.

your early morning business headlines straight ahead. adam sandler posts his weakest ever box office debut. more on that and a film that took the top spot. game three of the nbc finals. the drought is over for dale jr. and do you know who simpson is? you will now. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some top headlines. in egypt supporters of the muslim brotherhood went to tahrir square to celebrate after the official election. lawyers for jerry sandusky are expected to begin their defense of the former penn state assistant football coach today against charges of sex abuse. the judge has ruled the defense can present evidence about a psychological disorder to the jury.

in alaska search has been called off for four missing japanese climbers killed in an avalanche on mt. mckinley last week. the climbers were pushed into a deep crevasse and the national park service called it their final resting place. england duchess of cambridge, the former kate middleton, spent yesterday at inner city kids in kent answering questions about life as a princess. she told them her husband prince william is sweet and spoils her. when one child asks how long it would be before she sits on the throne, the duchess answered, it's not actually my job yet. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12767 after jumping 115 points friday. the s&p climbed 13. the nasdaq spiked 36. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei surged 151 point while in hong kong the hang seng

rose 193. as we told you earlier, fears that greece would lead a eurozone breakup have eased for now. relieved investors rallied markets this morning on news of a slim but victory by greece's pro bailout party. worries mount over italy and spain's struggling economies. investors will be awaiting word from the fed after the two-day meeting this week on whether it plans to issue more stimulus measures to boost the struggling recovery. also ahead updated data on housing starts and existing home sales for may along with corporate earnings from barnes & noble, fedex and oracle. after his testimony last week in the senate, this week jpmorgan ceo jamie dimon testifies in the house about his bank's more than $2 billion in trading losses. facebook is paying $10 million to settle a lawsuit filed by five facebook users saying publishing for sponsor stories without paying them or allowing

them to opt out violated california law. speculation is swirling, microsoft will unveil a tablet computer today to rival apple's ipad. the company invited media to what it calls a major announcement this afternoon. finally, the folks who cooked up a pizza vending machine in europe are bringing their tasty invention to the united states. the kiosk whips up a fresh made pie in, get this, less than three minutes for 6 bucks. they could start popping up before the end of the year. two walkoffs, an extra, long way to victory for nascar's most popular driver and the u.s. open comes down to the final hole. plus, he buckles under pressure in the nba finals. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, all the hot conditions in the middle of the country are going to spread this way in a big way. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports last night the lebron james-led miami heat rallied past the oklahoma city thunder in game three of the nba finals. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. it was a is busy sunday in sports. let's get right to it. game three of the nba finals in

miami, thunder at heat. let's pick it up in the third quarter. durant is there to clean things up. lebron james, dwyane wade and company come storming back. jones from downtown. heat up five. late in the fourth, lebron calls his own number, the layup and foul. miami holds on to win 91-85. game four is tomorrow. u.s. open. if you don't know who webb simpson is, you will now. started the day four shots back. birdies four out of five to get in the hunt. jim furyk doing his best to hold the lead rolls in a miracle 30-footer for par on 12 but crumbles down the stretch with bogeys on 16 and 18. webb finishing the day 1 over. all the 26-year-old american could do was sit and see if his lead would stick. mcdowell pushes it left.

webb simpson comes out of nowhere to win the u.s. open. no nascar, the big crash wasn't on the track but on the infield. he was okay. dale ern earnhardt jr. picking up his first race in four years and back in the winners circle. baseball, dodgers at white sox, l.a. ties it in the ninth and wins it in the tenth. gordon with a single to left. dodgers walk off with a 2-1 win. twins and brewers. tied 4-4 in the 11th. great opportunity for the brewers to get something going but ben revere puts an end to that, diving grab in right. two outs for denard span, sending everyone home with a walkoff single. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men mustache and beard. keep your edge. a reality star gets a shocking diagnosis. and which english actor are we going to are to start calling sir? your early morning empty

takenment headlines straight ahead. having proven themselves on the toughest of testing grounds, they're getty dirty for a very good cause. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this monday morning. hope you had a great weekend and all the dads out there a wonderful father's day. the hot weather continues today from denver all the way to chicago. temperatures will be in the 90s. some areas even approaching 100

degrees. still very cool from boston down through the mid-atlantic. enjoy it while it lasts because the air conditioners will be going on high starting on wednesday. forecast tomorrow, some of that heat begins to slowly expand. d.c. up into the mid to upper 80s. still very hot even tomorrow in chicago. your relief in chicago won't come until wednesday. well, speaking of chicago, if you're watching us on wmaq, greet the goat. take a peek at the ponies and get a hands-on country experience at farm in the zoo at lincoln park zoo. that's your "early today" event of the day, veronica. >> did you see that photo? that was cute. an early look now at this morning's headlines in entertainment news. two big name hollywood stars were unable to unseat the cute critters at the box office. we aren't talking about the zoo animal, we're talking about "mad g

"madgascar 3" taking in $35.5 million. "rock of ages" opening in third with just over $15 million. adam sandler had one of his poorest openings ever with "that's my boy." studio executives said his "r" rating wouldn't hurt as it failed to attract younger audiences. elsewhere in entertainment, "people" recognizes ozzie and sharon osbourne's son jack was diagnosed with multiple sler roses. over the weekend, kate winslet was named commander over the british empire on the queen's birthday honors list. finally, actor and director ken branoff was appointed knight and now will be sir branoff. >> we were talking about adam sandler. we were both fans. he's had great movies. >> i don't know who's picking his scripts these days. >> the last couple were brutal. >> or he's just mailing it in.

who knows. >> he's going to make a couple million so who cares? >> one or the other. this comes to us from kusa 9 news in denver, colorado where beaver creek a group of wounded war veterans played dirty and they loved every minute of it. the vets were among 10,000 contestants in the tough mudder competition. they ran 11 gruelling miles clearing 4 brutal obstacles. some rather messy all in the name of testing strength and stamina. not only did they try to overcome their injuries they also raised money for the wounded warriors program. very nice. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today" just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good morning, everyone. after a very nice weekend, we have a little rain in the forecast. let's look at h.d. doppler. temperatures in the low 60's right now. scattered light showers in the western suburbs. heavier rain moving eastbound. it is going to arrive in baltimore. some good chances for rain showers as we go into the weekend. forecast for today, variable clouds. off and on rain showers. when we come back, we'll look at the seven-day forecast going through the middle of summer. >> the time now 4:57.

coming up on "11 news today" -- >> maryland's new casino opened only a few days ago. the government is making a deal with the national harbor. what that deal entails coming up. up

>> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i've stan stovall. thank you for joining us today. >> it is a beautiful day today. >> it is just beautiful. >> any time you can turn the air conditioning off in the summer and leave the windows open, it is a good day. scattered sprinkles around the area today. the further we go into the morning, the better t