>> i never would have believed it if i hadn't gone through it myself. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. today," global diplomacy. thousands of protesters march in chicago as world leaders discuss the fate of the war in afghanistan. ring of fire. a rare solar spectacle dazzles millions around the world. and out of his mind. a beekeepefrom poland puts his survival skills to the ultimate test. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with exit strategy. president obama is meeting for a second day with nato leaders and

afghanistan's president hamny karzai in chicago as they develop a roadmap to wind down the war by 2014. meanti meantime thousands marched resulting in dozens of arrests. >> reporter: blocks from the nato summit, police and protesters clash. police using batons and pepper spray. some antinato demonstrators throwing paint at officers. some grabbing the batons and turning back on the police. at leaf two dozen were lead away. some bloodied. the clash did not disturb the summit itself, members proving so-called smart defense plans and united behind a plan for afghanistan to pull nato troops off the front lines next year and substantially out testify country by 2014. >> there would be no rush for

the exits. we would stay chittommit and se three. >> we're confident we're on the right track. >> reporter: protesters in throngs in the streets more much of the day not impressed. nato leaders argue the alliance is strong and necessary. they dined together in chicago's soldier field football stadium with michelle obama hosting leader spouses at the city's main art museum. the summit the nato has held outside of washington wraps up monday. in chicago nick bogert for nbc news. what could be the worst clashes are fueling fears that deadly conflict in neighboring syria is bleeding across the border. six people were reportedly wounded as rockets and machine guns were fired on the capital this morning. the clashes erupted in beirut hours after an anti-syrian cl r

cleric and his bodyguard were shot dead. security forces say they sped through a check point in lebanon. some residents in nearby tripoli burned tires and blocked roads in protests. they say they deeply regret the incident. well, the man found responsible for the 1988 lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people will be buried today in libya. in august 2009 abdul ba set ail a gra hi returned to libya after he was freed by the government in scotland on humanitarian grounds. he had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and was expected to die in three months but it took two years and nine months. he was the only person convicted in the crash of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie scotland when a terrorist bomb exploded on board but he insisted he was insohn and some families of victims are convinced that other people and other countries were also involved. well, after what one

official described as the worst earthquake to hit northeast italy in roughly 700 year, at least four people are dead and many centuries-old buildings have collapsed. the 6.0 quake shook several small towns and killed four overnight factory workers in three separate locations. in addition, two women apparently died of heart attacks brought on by the shock. the quake hit a region of italy known for its cheeses and roughly $65 million worth was reportedly lost. makeshift tent camps have sprung up in many area villages as sharp aftershocks have left residents uneasy about staying in their homes. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in florida two men had been arrested in a vicious beat of a u.s. army sergeant. the victim's car had broken down and he was walking home when police say the robbers asked him for a dollar. he reached into his fokt give them the money. then he was attacked.

police are still looking for two other men in connection with the assault. the soldier has been released from the hospital. well, near miami a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing right along a busy street. it clipped a few trees but authorities praised the pilot who quickly veered the aircraft into the center median to avoid hitting any cars. the plane was just about to land in a nearby airport when it started having engine trouble. and finally some remarkable video in kansas. more than a dozen tornadoes ripped through areas of wichita this weekend. one shredded phone lines. thankfully no one was hurt. however, there were several homes that were damaged. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. >> good morning. >> good morning to you bill. >> yes, some storms but overall i think a lot of us had a gorgeous weekend. >> yes, we did. >> one of the big stories a tropical storm formed off the

coast of north carolina. it's been lingering just off the coast. this is tropical storm alberto. yes, it is early to be tracking something in the frontics. this is a very small storm. it formed over the warm water os testify gulfstream. that's how it survived in a pretty dry environmental. i mean if you've been in charms ton, salve narks brunswick all the way down to jacksonville, you wouldn't notice. but overall, all the winds and the convection have been off the shores. there's the section of it. it fired all little bit with thunderstorm activity. so it's still hanging in there but just barely. the hurricane center has the winds at 40 miles an hour. that's it. it's only a factor for some boats if you're right at the center. and the forecast path takes it to parallel to doeft and off the koechlt alberto will go in the record books as a very early forming storm off the northeast coast. as far as the rest of the forecast is concerns, some

showery weather, mid-atlantic into areas of new jersey. overall, cooler temperatures from minneapolis to kansas city to chicago. i'll tell you what. enjoy the cool air while it lasts because you've got some heat heing your way toward the end of the week. that's look at your national forecast. now here a look at the weather outside of your window. a more humid air mass will be moving up the east coast. even areas like washington, d.c., have already seen some showers this morning. that will continue as we go throughout the day. so once again it doesn't like look that many tornados will be watching this week and the tropical storm will be gone in about two days. >> thanks so much. coming up, facebook sputters, yahoo! sell and what's the most important piece of sports memorabilia of all time? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, see how saturday your day

night live said good-bye. miami turns up the heat. you're watching "early today."

back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. taf end of the diplomatic draw marx they through to america saturday and will attend new york university where he'll study law. the head of united nations nuclear agency visited iran today on a key mission that could restart the investigation into weather iran has been secretly working on a nuclear weapon, which they deny. robin give of the bee gees has died after intestinal surgery and a long battle with cancer at age 62. the band's hit lie "stayin' alive" and the film "saturday

night fever" sold millions of records. over the united states and across asia watch the sky as the moon passed in front of of the sun, leaving only a golden ring around the edges. it was the first so-called ring of fire eclipse in 18 years. and finally, a beekeeper in poland created quite a buzz when he covered himself with 30,000 bees. after shaking off the bees, he walked away with only two stings. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,369, the s&p dropped 1295 and the nasdaq dropped 34. in tokyo the nikkei added 22 but in hong kong the hang seng was down 29. investors start the week with concerns about the new facebook stoxx and the debt

crisis in greece. the leaders at the g-8 summit camp david in maryland strongly urged greece to stay in the eurozone and promised to do whatever is needed to solve the debt crisis. this could be a crucial week for facebook after friday's ipo went as high as $45 but quickly faded to close at 23 cents above the $38 opening price. the nasdaq market had problems with facebook trades and is now promising to revamp its technology systems for handling stock offerings. and facebook founder mark zuckerberg changed his status to married. after a surprise wedding to his long time girlfriend who just graduated from medical school. yahoo! says it will sell up to half of its stake in the chinese internet company alibaba and give most of its money to the shareholders. gas prices fell another 6 cents over the last two weeks

bringing the nation alg average to 3en.66 a gallon. the markets in the u.s. appear to be rebounding. jpmorgan chase will be the focus of a hearing this week by the senate banking committee into the billions of dollars in losses in derivatives trading. and the early left known yankee jersey worn by babe ruth was auctioned for # $4.4 million yesterday, a new record for the most expensive sports memorabilia in u.s. history. coming up the spurs sweep, the coyotes hang on and a hole-in-one at the byron classic. plus miami picks up the pace against the pacers. your earlyingly morning sports headlines are coming up. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports yesterday in the nba playoffs lebron james gave an nba-caliber performance to even up the heat series with the pacers. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning to you. one knock on the heat is that they're not deep enough to win it all.

well, when dwyane wade and lebron james play it like this, their dynamic duo is all they need. they put on a clinic in the third. the two combining for 28 points in the quarter. the rest of the team had just two. flash at 30. but if you think that geesd, listen to this. lebron with 14 points and 18 boards. he was a dime short of a triple-double. heat heats up the series. it was a historic 72 hours in l.a., three teams hosting five playoff games in three days at stap else center. this capping off the busy weekend by ending the clippers season. timmy duncan had 21 poichblts. chris paul had place like this. the spurs were simply too much. tony parker gave them the lead for good. they complete the sweep and move onto the western conference finals with a 102-91. the coyotes captain stepping up when they needed him the

most. shane doan with two goals. then 36 shot for his third shot with the playoffs. they beat the kings, 2-0. game five is tomorrow on the nbc sports network. baseball, the nationals' steve strasburg is what he can do on the mound. yesterday is what he did at the plate. left the game after five innings after experiencing biceps tightness. the nats beat the o's, 9-3. final to the links. jj henry's tee shot on the par 3 hole. now i'd say he picked the right club. hits the green and jj pulls a string. rolls right in the cup for a hole in one. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought do you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. well, the new film get hulked at the box office.

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the family that studied together graduated together. we'll explain. you're watching "early today."

good monday morning. if you're leaving the house in areas of new jersey or also through delaware, some of these showers pushing through maryland, yu may want to grab the umbrella this morning. looks like some of the rain is going to move up along the jersey shore as we go through

the morning rush hour. showers and storms just about everywhere along i-95 corridor. the middle of the country looks dry. and denver we're heating it up. tomorrow you're going to get into the lowet 0s. few your watching us on wwbt virginia, see holiday carding dating from the 1930s to 50s at greetings from the past at the fredericksburg area mooum. these ooh your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> bill, thanks so much. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. not to point out the obvious, i was right and bill was wrong. nothing could stop the superheroes at the box office. the avengers cruise to number one, taking in just over $55 million at a grand total of $457 million earned so far. it is this season's highest grossing movie ever and sixth highest on record. sorry, bill. battleship finished second with

only $25.4 million. ahead overseas battleship circulate have to hope for a big second and third week of business to avoid becoming a disaster. sasha barren co-hence the dictator finished a strong third. what to expect when you're expecting underperforming in fifth with only $10.5 million. and finally for those of you who missed "saturday night live's" season final. each cast producer including lorne michael bid her an emotional farewell after seven years and bill karins, breaking his heart. >> this is at the top of the list. >> it's like scarlett johansson leaving the movie business. >> it's like how do you choose. >> let's hope -- >> those are the two exceptions. >> this comes to us from whvh 7

news in boston where one family is giving new meaning to the phrase dads a and grads. that's because a father and his three sons all graduated at the same time this weekend. they earned their mba's from suffolk universe. they run the family business together and they spent the past five years going to night school together. all four of them took the exact same classes to earn their diplomas. they sure do stick together. in the past they've also taken real estate courses together. afternoon ethics party at their house. >> can you imagine going back and doing all that stuff? >> no. >> no. that would mean i would have to study. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

4:28 on this monday morning. light rain, 65 degrees. tom will have the full forecast in a moment. first, good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" on this monday, may 21, 2012. today president obama will deliver the commencement speech at joplin high school nearly one year after the town was flattened by a deadly tornado. the ef5 twister was one of the deadliest and costliest in daechblt decades. 161 people killed. $2.8 million in damage.

seniors have been taking classes in a nearby mall. tomorrow the town will break ground on a new high school, middle school, and two elementary schools. thousands of protesters will take to the streets of chicago again today on this, the second and final day of a nato summit. police arrested 45 protesters yesterday. they say four of their officers were injured in the clashes with demonstrator. some protester say they object to nato's role in the war in afghanistan. others say they object to nato's existence at all. >> there's no need for it. it's being used for an illegitimate purpose. >> we're gathering as veterans to return the global war on terrorism medal and others for a lot of reasons. but one of the main reasons is the majority of this people do not support this occupation. >> at one point, police wore gas masks during violent demonstrations, but they never had to use