this morning on "early today," early warnings? authorities in colorado uncover what could be key evidence in the investigation into last week's theater massacre. cinema chaos. nerves are rattled after two brawls break out at a pennsylvania movie theater. and high dive. an austrian daredevil takes a plunge from 18 miles above the earth's surface. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with a possible explanation. new information has surfaced

about the suspected gunman in last week's colorado theater shooting that claimed 12 lives. law enforcement officials say james holmes mailed a package to the school he attended containing detailed writings about killing people. nbc's jay gray has details. >> reporter: federal agents tell nbc news, james holmes the suspect in the movie theater massacre told them where they could find what could be key evidence in the case. the normal neuroscience graduate student apparently told investigators about a package he sent to university of colorado's medical campus in aurora. police found the package unopened in the mail room. inside they described what's described as handwritten details about killing people. as the investigation continues, so does the mourning here. >> i'm overwhelming by the tragedy of all of this and the senselessness of all of this, and, i mean, the people taken. >> reporter: people like 51-year-old gordon cowden, the

oldest victim of the massacre took his two teenaged daughters to the movie. they survived. he was laid to rest. the first of at least 12 funerals, the victims of the attack. after the chaos and killing at the theater, there are now growing questions in this grieving community about what will happen to the crime scene. some say it should be torn down and replaced by a memorial. others argue that the cinema should be reopened to show the gunman didn't win that night. right now the building is locked down by police but could be rushed to the owners by the end of the week. jay gray, nbc news, aurora, colorado. meanwhile three hospitals taking care of some of the victims from the shooting are going to limit or completely wipe out their medical bill. so a great act of kindness there. in the wake of the colorado shootings gun control has become a hot topic on the campaign trail. last night speaking to the national urban league in new orleans, the president tried to strike a balance between the

right to bear arms and weaponry he sees having no place in society. >> i also believe and a lot of gun owners would agree that ak-47s belong in the hands of soldier, not in the hands of criminals. >> earlier in the day in an interview with nbc's brian williams republican presidential candidate mitt romney had a different take on the issue. >> i don't happen to believe that america needs new gun laws. a lot of what this young man did was clearly against the law, but the fact that it was against the law did not prevent it from happening. well, elsewhere in politics the senate held two key votes involving the extension of the bush era tax cuts but the battle will likely continue until the oerchd the year as remain one of keyishes in the presidential race. nbc's jennifer johnson has that story from washington. >> the senate passing a democratic bill extending tax cuts for the majority of americans but not the very

wealthy. earlier giving a cut to everyone failed. a victory for president obama but the democrats' plan is considered dead on arrival in a republican controlled house. >> the good news is that this new convoluted democratic bill will never make it to the president's desk. they should take it and pass it now. >> the tax showdown is at the heart of the presidential rachls he accuses the republicans of protecting the wealthy. >> they decided to hold middle class tax cuts hostage until we decide to spend $1 trillion on tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. >> mitt romney is in london kicking off an overseas trip. before he left he said president obama should prevent massive defense cuts set to go into effect at the end of this year. >> that the new president will be able to put together his own budget and his own tax plan which will get the economy going and finally get us on track to a balanced budget. >> jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington. and now here's a look at some other stories making news

early today in america. two separate scuffles erupted inside a pennsylvania theater causing moviegoers to panic. surveillance cameras rolled on a fight between patrons sparked by a dispute over a bathroom stall. well, later a fight inside a theater showing "the dark knight rises" led to a stampede toward the exits. two people were injured and one person was arrested. homeowners in one miami residential area received a startling wakeup call. that's an understatement. a 10-foot crocodile was spotted lounging near two homes before an animal control officer was called in. the animal hissed and snapped and was eventually taken away. one north carolina woman got quite a steal at a store. she bought two pangt with plans to paint over them but after doing some research she learned the work was done by a famous russian abstract artist.

they could sell for around $20,000. and finally the ohio state fair kicked off yesterday. thousands are expected to indulge in 17 different kinds of food on a stick. and take in the always popular butter sculpture which honors the bicentennial of the city of columbus, my hometown, in fact. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has a very busy weather channel forecast. bill? >> mother nature is not happy. it's going to be a dangerous day today. let's get right to it. we have numerous areas with thunderstorms. incredible heat wave. humidity levels went up. now a strong cold front is coming through. it's just a recipe for thunderstorms. we've got thunderstorms rolling through pittsburgh right now with hundreds of lightning strikes all through western p.a. so keep that in mind for your travels. watch for numerous thunderstorms coming out of ontario over lake erie, pennsylvania, dunkirk, light rain for you.

thunderstorms by rochester. this just continues back into the midwest. detroit, thunderstorms all to your north here from flint to port huron and all back toward grand rapids. numerous clusters of storms throughout the region. even back toward chicago we've got numerous areas with thunderstorms. none of this is too severe right now but you're going to get drenched this morning in numerous areas. this area of red is very rare to see this large of a moderate risk of severe storms. we're going from the ohio valley, through pa, hudson valley of new york, northern jersey, new york city, long island, massachusetts, everyone, a widespread wind damage and even a few tornados possible. yes, tornados. southern new york to southern new england late this afternoon. keep that in mind for your afternoon plans. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. those thunderstorms will be rolling through indianapolis as we go throughout the morning and then probably another round this afternoon. that will be the case for many

areas. two rounds of storm, the ones we're dealing with this morning and then we'll get a break. it will get hot and humid, and then more storms later. lynn, i feel very confident in saying today will probably be the dangerous thunderstorm day we're going to have of the year in areas of new york state and pennsylvania. >> important for people to know. coming up, zynga falls, caterpillar spreads its wings, and your chance to hang out with big foot if you want to. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus no denial, no excuses, kristin stewart opens up to her indiscretions and apologizes. phillies reward cole hamels and u.s. women's soccer plays game before the games. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning.

syrian armored forces are attacking them, the city's largest city. the fighting came as turkey announced it has sealed its border but will continue to allow syrian refugees through. the new leader in north korea kim jong-un has gotten married. north korea has confirmed that she is the wife of the new leader. in anaheim, california, the u.s. attorney's office will review the police shootings of two men that sparked days of violent protests. the mother of one victim condemned the protest saying that she did not want them to become her son's legacy. and skydiver, fear less felix baumgartner took another leap from the stratosphere, this time from 18 miles and landed safely in new mexico. next time he plan as jump from 23 miles going super sonic and breaking the speed of sound with just his body. unreal. and now here's an early look at how wall street's going to

kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,676 after gaining 58 points yesterday. the s&p was down a fraction. the nasdaq fell 8. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei rose 77 points while in hong kong the hang seng was up 15. well, a mixed wednesday on wall street brought a little good, bad, and ugly. the worst news came late in the day from zynga, the maker of the popular farmville game badly missed earnings estimates. zynga plunged as much as 40% after hours. investors fear ripples from facebook. the social network which get 15/% of its investment from farmville. yesterday the bad news came from apple. they weighed down tech stocks as apple shares fell 4%.

but despite apple's big stumble, big chips from blue chips. it helped keep the dow out of the red on the same day the plane maker announced an $11 billion purchase from mexico. housing stocks were among the day's worst performers on news june drop in single-family home sales was the biggest in more than a year. today new data shows urban foreclosures were up in the first half of 2012. radio shack hit an all-time low, spiraling 29% thanks to an unexpected earnings loss which forced the retailer to suspend its shareholder dividend. elsewhere ford reported better than expected profit but roughly doubled its losses in europe sending shares down 1%. and, finally, a so-called big foot aficionado who claims he had an encounter 35 years ago

is now selling an eight-foot rep mr. ka of the hairy beast on ebay, if you can believe it. $80,000. coming up the phils torture the brewers again, and team usa takes the pitch. plus, the major league soccer all-stars knock off the european champs. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and i'm still tracking severe weather, and it will get worse this afternoon. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

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good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports the philadelphia phillies resigned their 2008 world series lefty with baseball's second largest contract ever for a pitcher. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. cole hamels has hit the jackpot. the phillies' ace signed a six year, 144 million dollar extension. it's the largest contract for a philadelphia athlete in any sport. big day for hamels. another big day for the phils. phillies rally for the third straight game to beat the brewers 7-6 in ten. dodgers acquired ramirez from

miami. rbi single in the sixth inning ties the game at two. this one went extras. kind of ironic. last. traded him for mccall. ramirez will now fill and rafah gets the game-winning hit. cards win, 3-2. the great one, wayne gretzky on hand to watch the yankees and mariners. from one captain to another. derek jeter leaves the yard in the first inning. fast forward to the eighth. seattle up one, sacks full for jayson nix. ripped as-loaded double. new york wins, 5-2, but loses alex rodriguez to the dl with a broken hand. the opening ceremony of the olympics is tomorrow night but the games began yesterday. the women's u.s. soccer team rallied from two goals down to beat france, 2-0 and alex morgan scored a pair. mls down one, rosario finds

a wide open chris pontius. stays that way until stoppage time. johnson makes one move and gets the friendly bounce off the defender. mls rallies to beat the european champs, 3-2. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. well, trouble over a lady gaga doll, and lindsay lohan, hire yourself a chauffeur already. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's hard to say what's more impressive, his age or how long he's had his current job. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." it's going to be a dangerous day for thunderstorms in many locations including all of the ohio valley, the northeast, and the atlantic area. in the area of red there's chance of moderate storms. the greater threat of tornado, albany, new york, western sections of the states of massachusetts and connecticut. those are the areas we'll watch closely this afternoon and evening. keep it tuned to your nbc station for those details late today. if you're watching us on wdad in springfield illinois in urbana, enjoy camp champagne county fair at the urbana fair grounds.

and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> thanks so much. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. kristin stewart wasted no time. she issued a public apology aim at her boyfriend of three years, twilight co-star robert pat insob that she was deeply soird. she said, quote, this momentary indiscretion has jeopardized the most important thing in my life and respect the most. rob, i love him, i love him, i'm so sorry. >> too late. >> ouch. okay. speaking of vampires, nbc has ordered ten episodes of a new dracula series starring the tutors jonathan rhys meyers. >> they all do well if they do a vampire show. lady gaga is being sued for $10 million by a toy manufacturer who claims she purposely prevented a christmas release of lady gaga dolls so they would come out in 2013 when her next album and perfume are

released. and, finally, bill's going to love this. reports say from tmz that lindsay lohan has had yet another traffic accident. shebanged her black porsche into a silver mustang at a red light on sunset boulevard. >> happens every day. >> 17 million times? i don't think so. this comes to us from ksn news in wisconsin ta, kos, this was the best way for one walmart employee to celebrate two milestones. loren has worked at the discount department store for the last 25 years so it was no surprise when the long-time employee showed up to work on his 100th birthday. loren, you're amazing. he still enjoys the job, has no plans to retire, particularly, he says, because it keeps him from chasing women which his wife of 65 years i'm sure appreciates. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. the heat will come back and we will shoot into the upper 90's. 70 degrees at the airport. the dew point is only 62. it will be climbing throughout the day. scattered thunderstorms. otherwise, a mixture of sun and clouds. high temperature about 98. we will check the seven-day forecast going all the way into the weekend. >> 69 degrees on tv hill. >> baltimore county police are

searching for the suspect who abducted cal ripken's mother. >> is a special session coming for expanded gambling in maryland? >> how about your morning commute? word of an accident on northbound 95. northbound 95. we will low detergent gasoline. while the car on the right was filled up with bp gasoline with invigorate. which helps clean and protect its engine so it can get a few more miles per tank than the car on the left.

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[ male announcer ] virtual wallet can help you be that person who's good with money. see what's free to spend. move money with a slide. save with a shake. feel good about your decisions. [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. i am jennifer franciotti. >> i am stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> what are the chances we will get another nice day? >> today