this morning on "early today" -- jackson's farewell. final preparations are under way for what could turn out to be one of the largest public memorials in history. high stakes summit. president obama comes face to face with vladimir putin, the man he says still has one foot in the cold war. and run for your life! thrill-seekers descend on pamplona, spain, for the world thrill-seekers descend on pamplona, spain, for the world famous running of the bulls. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning,

everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. today we begin with a final farewell. this morning a private funeral will be held for michael jackson who died of cardiac arrest nearly two weeks ago. meantime, tens of thousands of people are dough seescending on angeles for a star-studded memorial service to honor the star of pop. we're joined from outside the staples center in downtown l.a. it's very early but the crowds, are they already forming? >> reporter: there are a few who are showing up, wandering this way. they are very concerned later today as many as tens of thousands of people could actually show up. right now we're in a lockdown area. that started at midnight local time in the quarter of a mile area around the staples center. that means no one can get in without a ticket. we're already seeing lines. the police officers, teir concern is people who are beyond the 18,000 who have tickets will try and show up.

to prevent that, they are not showing on a big screen the service that is inside. they told people to stay away. if they don't have tickets. now, yesterday, before the lockdown, thousands of people did show up to sign some panels and leave eir condolences outside the staples center. close to 18,000 fans will be here to see the public memorial. that's out of 1.6 million who applied for those free tickets. some people told us it will be an experience of a lifetime. meanwhile, yesterday, a los angeles judge shifted the temporary custody of jackson's estate from his mother katherine to an attorney and a long-time music industry friend listed as the administrator in michael jackson's will, until the next hearing on august 3rd. today the focus is on the memorial, a star-studded event to honor michael jackson. >> leeann greg for us. thank you.

after just -- nbc will have live coverage of today's memorial beginning at 1:00 p.m. eastern, 10:00 a.m. pacific right here on this nbc station. after just two days, president obama's trip is a whirlwind tour. it starts in russia as president meets face to face with key leaders. top of the president's agenda today, sitting down with russian prime minister vladimir putin. it was a first meeting between the two which putin said he hopes for the, quote, furtherance of relations between the two countries. later he delivered the commencement address. he said they are not destined to antagonist. president obama touched on another uth-botton topic including north korea and nuclear ambitions. a car burglar in houston led

police on a wild high-speed chase. squad cars pursued that white mini van for over an hour with a lot of close calls and near misses. police eventually trapped the man in a parking garage. he tried running away. made a leap off of a 30-foot ledge, in fact. police did finally catch him and arrest him. charges are still pending. the suspect was treated, though, for a broken leg. authorities in ohio are looking for three robbers who botched their exit. the suspects smashed their suv tloo through a store and started grabbing cigarettes but their getaway truck wouldn't budge so they took off on foot. police are using surveillance video and fingerprints at the scene to track down those three tlooefz. a fire at a historic house in kentucky left over the chimney and brick walls standing. firefighters believe an electrical mob-bmleay have sparked this blaze. the house had been recognized for historic preservation and was said to be around 150 years

old. in new york a camera caught a wayward deer. he scrambled through the aisles and ended up in the storage room where an employee was finally able to coax it out of the back door. animal certainly made it clear the buck shops here. now for a look at the national and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist todd santos with the weather channel forecast. todd, don't make fun of my cheap joke. >> i'll hold that back. what do you think the deer was looking for? >> maybe a couple of does -- brought in a couple of dough. i'm trying to think of another line. >> you keep those going. on the east coast, as far as rain showers in new york, may see a few, even over the next couple of showers. isolated showers. this afternoon, better chns for thunderstorms especially extending north of the area. yesterday a lot of action was centered around the southeast and back toward the mountains.

we're looking at potent chances for severe weather. even through the southeastern edge of the dakotas, down toward omaha, potentially des moines. headed toward the southeast, these are some areas, the front we were talking about yesterday, may get a little boost toward the south. at least, of course, before that we'll see quite a bit of activity. thunderstorms extending through the gulf coast. we could still push the front south of south carolina, better chance will be toward the south. yesterday wilmington, north carolina, picked up upwards of 6.17 inches of rain in three hours. very significant flooding issues there. now dealing with run-off in wilmington. across the northeast, this area, basically from albany through western connecticut, chance for severe thunderstorms by later on this afternoon. there's a look at the region. let's check out your local forecast. portland, maine, 63 degrees. of cour, the cool

temperatures, thanks to the cloud cover, onshore winds as well as a chance for showers. grand rapids, michigan, temperatures coming in around 74 degrees. so, dan, of course yesterday was a beautiful day across much of the northeast. now we're starting to see some changes. coming up we'll talk about chances for potential airline delays. >> we've been forewarned. thank you, todd. oil darkens stocks. pepsi invests big bucks in russia. and the one business that truly seems recession-proof. your early morning business headlines straight ahead. plus, he's a metro sexual billionaire cover soccer star. she's a hollywood heavyweight widely known as the word's most beautiful woman. see what may have them joining forces. red sox fans cheer for an opposing player and a catch that will have you saying ouch. you're watching "earl."tomyda

good morning. welcome back to "early today," everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. here are some of your top headlines this morning. in afghanistan, monday marked the deadliest day for american troops in almost a year. seven u.s. soldiers died if three separate incidents. three nato troops were also killed. manuel zelaya is expected to meet with hillary clinton. they are calling on honduran officials to restore zelaya to his office. the administration has unveiled final rules on taxpayer funded human embryonic research with changes that should expand the number of cells that would qualify. draft guidelines include presigs requirements are called too restrictive by scientists. a man expected to be a serial killer who murdered five people in south carolina was shot by police investigating a

burglary. they say bullets found on patrick burris were the same as those used in a week-long killing spree. first of the eight running of bulls in pamplona. fortunately, to one was gored but four people were hospitalized. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day today. the dow opens at 8324 after adding 44 points on monday. the s&p nudged up two. but the nasdaq was down nine point. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo, neat kay lost 33 point while in hong kong the hang seng dropped 117 points. stocks were mixed monday because investors were trying to make sense of conflicting signs. have we bottomed out or is there more trouble ahead? for more on that and all your early business headlines we're joined by geoff cutmore at the london headquarters of cnbc. good morning to you.

>> good morning, dan. that's right. we have stocks mostly lower, i guess. as we saw a drop in the price of oil and investors are starting to ask themselves if that means we're going to see a slackening in demand for basic materials here. the major indexes, well, you're right, they were mixed but off their lows for the day, oil prices tumbling to a five-week low on monday. a trade group has found activity in the services industry rose in june to its best level in nine months. that is an ism survey. they said the service index rose from 44 in may. the best showing since september. a group remitting plaintiffs in car accidents said they would oppose gm's attempts to quickly exit bankruptcy protection arguing hundreds of victims could be hurt by the govnment-led plan. soft drink and snack grum maker pepsico announced plans to boost investment in russia, planning to but another billion into that

country. already signs that it's starting to bite for the retailers, this recession. the justice department starting a review of whether the largest u.s. telecommunication engaged in anticompetitive behavior, according to "the wall street journal." one sector, though, seems to be rather recession-proof and that's the spas. record numbers of americans apparently paying for treatment for massages to manicures. there were more than 160 million visits to u.s. spas in 2008. that is near a 16% increase. i guess something is working in this economy. >> oh, yes, the power of a couple couple ber scrub. get all those economic worries away. geoff, thank you for that. a homecoming of sorts in baseball. more tough news for phil mickelson. how's lance doing in france? plus, who said baseball isn't a contact sport?

your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we'll take a look at where we might find thunderstorms in the middle of the week. you're watching "early today." xxg

good morning, everyone. i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. straight ahead on "news 4 today," it might be the greatest show on earth. we'll have a preview of today's memorial service for michael jackson. >> and the latest on that deadly metro crash. metro calls it a freak occurrence but we'll tell you why some people say it was an accident waiting to happen. >> the an alert for parents in fairfax county. a little girl was playing good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, a beloved former

player returning to fenway park for the first time in years put the loyalty of red sox fans to the test last night. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. five years ago red sox fans were shocked which garciaparra was traded away to the cubs. last night they got the chance to watch him play at fenway since the move. now wearing an a's uniform but the crowd gave him a one-minute standing ovation before his first at-bat. he finished 2 for 4. the red sox with only two hits in the game. meanwhile the phils weren't having trouble getting hits. 21 against their game with the reds. philadelphia scored 22 runs. that's right. in fact, they led 10-0 after the first inning tying a club record. phillies with three home runs in the inning. how about this, according to reports, the tribune company has reached a written agreement to sell the cubs and wrigley field

to joe rickets for $900 million. nothing has ben finalized. six weeks after announcing his wife had breast cancer phil mickelson also announced his mom has the same disease. lance armstrong had a big day at the tour de france moving from tenth to third, positioning himself for a shot at the yellow jersey. fabian from switzerland remain the overall leader 40 seconds ahead of armstrong. tigers and royals. fly ball to the gap. mitch meyer and guillen running and making a play. they collided but but guillen made the grab. fortunately, neither were hurt and stay in the game. incredible he was able to hold onto that ball. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> thank you, fred. whilene of michael jackson's closest friends won't be attending today's memorial

service, your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the rock. it was once home to the bird man, al capone, machine gun elk, now you may be able to call it home as well.

welcome back to "early today." at least a chance for airline

delays across the northeast. low cloud ceiling, chance for potent thunderstorms and gusty winds and large hail with some of those thunderstorms, especially north of new york city, west of hartford extending outside albany. the southeast, still chance for showers down near savannah and at least three central florida. looking at a few areas for wednesday. still chance for showers especially toward boston. new york more sunshine with temperatures in the 80s. if you're watching us on wsls 10, discover the principles of chemistry behind glowing gases at the science museum of western virginia. >> probably a few ge bulbs down there, i'm guess sgroog i abelieve that. >> a little plug for the mother company. >> nice work, buddy. >> thank you. here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainme entertainment. while they have done the math, robots out on top.

actual receipts say "transfo "transforme "transformers" earned $600 more than "ice age." that film is the world's biggest and grossed $954 million. how is this for a pair of good looking giants. armani will pay david beckham and film queen angelina jolie boat loads of cash to appear together in an ad campaign, according to the internet. her health may suffer but elizabeth taylor's fiery personality resurfaced. they she said she wants nothing to do with michael jackson's service. she called it hoopla and blasted report she's on suicide watch. shed though my grief could not be any deeper i'm not on suicide watch as some of the cheaper rags would have you believe. she's going to fight those rumors. she lost a friend and now she has to fight that. >> yeah, and still have to deal with tabloids regardless. . it's interesting. i didn't realize they were such

good friend. you go back in the articles online they were friends for a very long time. >> according to his title, king of pop, came from elizabeth taylor. >> she coined it apparently in the '80s. from kntv nbc 11 in the bay area where in that famous bay that most infamous prison may once again be housing prisoners. awe plan in the work may allows visitors to spend the night at alcatraz. officials say instead of an overnight hotel, they would help with work on restoration projects. it's somehow appropriate that a bit of hard labor may just do the trick to round out that perfect prison vacation. great ideas. i'm dan kloeffler and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. beautiful morning out there and some wonderful space things

going on we'll hear about later from tom kierein. gorgeous sky. temperature right now 68 degrees. good morning. welcome on this tuesday morning. i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. those space things are going on right inside my head, i'll tell you that. >> i noticed. >> let's get a check on our weather forecast. here's tom kierein for our first forecast. >> hey, tom, good morning. >> feeling a little spacey this morning, are we? >> come a little closer to you. nior we have a m partly cloudykyni ae whao dve a a ttle space event that will under wayer hbee ortl y. 68 in in.washongton it's only near 50n i the ta jumoins. n0st 6r on t 6 eastern shore, montgomery, fairfax, prince george's counties, low sand 60d- right 60w.no iwee enougharle cging r ty, jus a few clo ng bl ugmirohath th,te w ohtuge to abee toee a t she s pace io n.st on.eron inttinaal stipa sti be passing through our ska from northwest to northeast in about ten minutes.

5:08 to 5:10, northwest to southeast you'll see a bright spot racing through the sky. that's the international space station. hopefully we'll get some video for you. >> so you don't have to go outside. you can see right here. >> we'll try the blow the roof off this thing so we can see it. have to see if that will work. here's jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network. >> good morning. >> i hope that doesn't happen. there's a lot of bright lights in here. good morning as we get under way, all is well so far out on the roads. head out, take a live look i-95 northbound and southbound around newington off to an uneventful start. south of town to the wilson bridge, any overnight road work should be just about wrapped up. no major accidents reported. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thank you, jerry. just a matter of hours, the michael jackson memorial service will be under way. thousands of fans are flocking to los angeles for a star-studded event. it's all set to kick off at 1:00

this afternoon. you will be able to watch it live right here on nbc 4. >> commuters will notice a heavy police presence in montgomery county. police will be undergoing a terror training exercise at the metro and marc stations. authorities say the drill is not in response to any actual terror threat. >> d.c. now officially recognizes gay marriages performed in other states. the new law took effect just after midnight last night. it's considered to be a first step toward eventually allowing same-sex marriages to be performed in the district. >> president obama is optimistic after talks with russian prime minister vladimir putin. the two met for the first time today. president obama called it an excellent opportunity to improve relations between russia and the u.s. >> now to southern california and the preparations for that elaborate memorial today for michael jackson. >> by one estimate, upwards of 1 million people might show up, but not everyone is happy about the attention focused on the late pop star. lee cowan has the story.

>> reporter: never has a drive-through offered this kind of excitement. >> oh, my god, i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: without ever leaving their cars, thousands of jackson faithful picked up their tickets to tomorrow's star-studded good-bye. one, the jackson family says could include stevie wonder, smoky robinson and jennifer hudson to name a few. >> i felt like i had the golden ticke tickets. >> reporter: to real jackson fans, money is no object. >> you'll see all these people up there. >> reporter: the problem, more than 1.5 million fans who registered for tickets were told they didn't get one. that's what has the lapd pulling out all the stops. >> this is 21st century policing at its finest. >> reporter: in an underground bunker below city hall, officers will be monitoring every angle from above. >> it is literally impossible to do anything without a scene.

>> reporter: but despite police warnings, ma who want to pay their respects to michael jackson say they came too fast and too far to sit on the sidelines. >> i'm coming with or without a ticket. >> reporter: it's a circus no matter how you look at it and the wall-to-wall tv coverage of jackson's death has prompted outrage. new york congressman peter king posted a video on youtube, blasting the media for often foetting jackson's troubled past. >> this guy was a pervert. he was a child molester. he was a pedophile. >> reporter: words later defended. >> to get people's attention, i wanted to use everyday language the way people talk and the way i believe a lot of people feel. >> reporter: debbie rowe had some pointed word force the media, too. she's been hounded since jackson's death and now says she's not attending jackson's memorial because she fears she would dea distraction. >> that was lee cowan reporting. stay tuned. much more coverage of the michael jackson memorial coming up.