that's all for this edition of "dateline" friday. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us.

is more than double the number who did so after the first gulf war in the early '90 gs. well, the memorial day activities could be washed out in the northeast after tropical storm beryl made landfall in florida early this morning. beryl is bringing heavy rains and winds up to 70 miles an hour to coastal areas of the southeast, knocking out power to more than 20,000 customers in the jackson vilt area alone. nbc's kurt gregory has more on holiday hazards around the nation. >> reporter: on this memorial day weekend, wild weather is turning the holiday into not quite great day at the beach. >> we're concerned about rip currents. >> reporter: along the georgia coast, northeast florida, an parts of south carolina, tropical storm beryl has

canceledmy vacation plans. >> many in the back room is calling us telling us the storm is rolling in. we decided instead of hanging out tomorrow we're going back to gainesville. >> reporter: but for some parts of the country it's the lack of rain causing problems making the battles against wildfires more difficult. in new mexico, a fire in the hilo national forest has beened more than 150 miles. in michigan campers were forced to evacuate as more than 21,000 acres burned fueled by high winds and temperatures. those record highs could be felt across much of the nation. but out in northern california, it's not the warmth but the chill in the air. >> it's freezing. we thought we were going to go up to the sun in ta ho. >> reporter: that has people double-checking the date on their calendar. kurt gregory, nbc news. >> no kidding. well, now here's a look at

other stories making news early today in america. in florida they brought the proper wre proper recognition. the grave of sergeant albert bunn had stood unmarked until just this year when the location of his remains were finally confirmed. his family was on hand for the official dedication of his official tombstone. in ohio another tribute to the fallen that began just a few years ago, the field of heroes now features 2,500 american flags and draws some 10,000 visitors a year. it started as a one-time tribute but has now become a yearly tradition, which will be on display through this afternoon. and finally, holiday weekend revelers did a double take after seeing a double rainbow in the waters off tybee island. it oochz wowed the crowd just hours after tropical storm beryl made its way up the east coast. much different look at the scene

now. and now for a leak at your national and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist todd santos with the weather channel forecast. >> the first make landfall in just over a hundred years in the month of may, so a very early start to the hurricane season, which doesn't really officially begin until friday, but there's a look at the system. max sustained winds alt 65 miles an hour and really bigger gusts as some of these thunderstorms actually make their way on shore. you can see some of the clusters pushing toward southeast georgia and some off the coastline moving toward the island and hilton head. we've had over a hundred rescues in just about the last 24 hours from the south carolina coast down into northern florida. here's a look at least where the system has gone so far. we're going to be dealing with this even through early tomorrow morning and that whole path, kind of on and off chances for showers, some areas around jacksonville extending to the south and west could easily see

three to five inches worktd of rainfall. some isolated spots could get over 10 inches of rain. at that point you're talking about a tropical depression but could actually again restrengthen into a storm. a number of beaches closed today. i do want to mention one other area especially from chicago back down into central missouri and into eastern portions of oklahoma and north texas. we could be dealing with a chance for severe thunderstorms. yesterday we had some hail and wind producing storms and some of the regional storms in that region of the country. make sure you get your warnings. also a chance for some thunderstorms. more coming up. that's your national forecast. let's check out your regional forecast. baltimore, 91. 93 in detroit but there you're also going to be dealing with chance for thunderstorms by later on in the afternoon. birmingham coming in at 90. maybe a few stray storms off to the west. so a little bit messy for some folks today, but on the whole a

good stretch of the country looking good for the holiday. that's good. thank you so much, todd. coming up, travelers hit the road, consumers look on the brighter sight, and both the good news and the bad news on the zuckerberg wedding dress. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus "men in black 3" takes down more than just aliens in the box office. game one for the finals and a huge crash on the final lap of the indy 500. 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. the united nations is condemning syria for the town of hula in what was called a, quote, outrageous use of force. 100 people were killed including dozens of children. iran says it will not halt its production of higher grade

uranium which is a reversal of previous statements. more than six power talks about the nuclear program are scheduled next month in motion cow. in idaho, national guard rescuers got to the site of a small plane crash on a snow-covered montana yesterday. a helicopter was able to safely pull out a california fireman, his wife and their daughtghter e than 15 hours after the crash. and there was a huge and amazing fireworks display last night in san francisco to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the golden gate bridge. traffic was shut down for the show to mark the bridge's birthday and the 2 billion cars that have crossed it since 1937. well, now here eens early look at how wall street finished trade friday ahead of the holiday weekend. the dow closed friday at 12,454 after falling 74 points. the s&p lost 2. the nasdaq was down 1. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei was up 12 pointses

while in hong kong the hang seng gained 87. well, it will be a short week on wall street with the markets closed today. although stocks were lower friday all three major indiceses posted their best weekly gains for the month. more than 30 million americans hit the road this hold weekend and may be spending a little extra along the way. that's because prices at the gas pump dropped to a national average for regular unleaded gas of $3.67 a gallon. that's down 17 krenltss from a month ago and more than 15 cents lower than a year ago. the euro was higher today as signs improved on the european debt crisis with stronger support in greece with the parties that backs the bailout. and in spain, bankia may be recapitalized with government bonds to provide a rescue fund of almost $24 million. we'll get more data this week on consumer cough dense after one report last week showed optimism at a four-week

high. also auto workers will roll out. they're expected to produce strong sales of cars and trucks as well. we'll as get new data oven the rebounding housing market with a read on home prices and another on pending home sales. traders will be looking forward this week to the labor department report on may employment friday with economists expecting as many as 150,000 new jobs added. as facebook founder mark zuckerberg and his wife dr. priscilla chan honeymooned in italy, tmz reports her dress drew a lot of attention at the wedding dress shop, but at $4,700, nobody has bought one yet. coming up thunder squares up with the sburs. rod is reeling, and it's no holiday for holliday. and more mishaps at the famous battle at the brickyard. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. while that one is in the

books your forecast is not. we'll check your forecast coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, last night in the nba playoff, the san antonio spurs drew first blood in the battle to see who is best in the west. here's nbc's bill seward with an

early look at all your sports headlines. hi, everybody. the thunder were a quarter away from taking over the western conference finals be u they couldn't finish off the best team in basketball. to san antonio. spurs need a bucket. manu can do. manu ginobili drill as buzzer beater. drills by six. spurs respond in the second and third. kevin durant with a game-high 27. to start the four, that's when the spurs put on their work hats. nothing flashy, nothing out of the ordinary, just textbook bachblt san antonio rallies and wins 101-98. they've won a remarkable 19 games in a row. switching gears to the indy 500. pick it up on lap 82. mike conway losing control, hit the wall, and willpower drives right underneath him sending conway airborne. fortunately both drivers okay. thrilling conclusion. final lap he tries to fast

franchitti. no go. spins, crashes, and the race will end under caution. this one belongs to franchitti, his third checkered flag at indy. milk has never tasted so good. if milk's not your thing, how about a coke, kasey kahne taking the checkered flag at nascar's coke 100. tennis in paris. first round of the french open, not kind to andy roddick. ousted by frenchman nicolas mahut. andy, 0-1. his first opening round loss in grand slam since '07. baseball, something isn't right with roy halladay. pulled after two innings with shoulder injuries. the cards' yadier molina sends them away in grand fashion. salami. that is adding insult to injury. cardinals avoid a sweep with at 8-3 win. that's your early morning look at sports on "early today." i'm bill seward.

>> announcer: brought to you by aqua vel va. gaga gives in and why justin bieber is wanted man in los angeles. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. plus military home comings are also great moments but one man hatched his plans to make his extra special. you're watching "early today."

ja welcome back into "early

today." a quick look at temperatures across the country. a very warm starting point for places like chicago. the only thing that may limit the temperatures, not quite as hot but a chance for thunderstorms, isolated chance in kansas city. still rain early on in minneapolis. should, again, see better conditions late this afternoon. and remember the southeast coastline, especially the northeast coast line especially over south carolina, be safe if you're head out into the water. if you are watching us on wcnc channel 36 in charlotte, north carolinaing in near bihunter isville support our veterans with music at the memorial day ceremony at birkdale village. that's your earth today event of the day. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. will smith revived his reputation for box in style. "men in black 3 kwgts took in $55 million on the first three

days of the moment morial day weekend and now rests comfortably in the top spot with one more day left in the hollywood frame. well, after three humongous weeks "the avengers" may have slipped to the second spot with $37 million, but that $37 million in its fourth weekend is still higher than the opening weekend of all but five films this year. elsewhere, faced with threats of violence by islamic hardliners who called her a devil worshipper, lady gaga has canceled her sold out show in indonesia, sending love to her fans. >> and finally l.a. reportedly wants to talk to the biebs. that's lapd. police say a photographer has complained of being roughed up by the biebs at a shopping center sunday when he tried to snap pictures of the teen and his girlfriend salina gomez. i don't know. he seems to wholesome for something like that. >> i agree with that.

but we had a big laugh at the canadian border. they called out justin bieber in the middle. the whole vanful of buddies starting laughing. this comes from casey r.a. three reports in skraerjts california, where this memorial day brought a home coming for one of our troops like no other. a soldier's boyfriend was waiting at the airport. he, too, is in the military but told her he had already shipped off to texas. well, when she came down the escalator, fresh from a tour of duty in afghanistan, there he was. he had one more surprise waiting for her, an engagement ring. she said yes. and now they have a new mission to plan for. their wedding. she looks pretty happy about it. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," jifrt your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

we are waking up to another warm morning across the region after a round of storms last night. tom will have a look at what today will hold for you. first, good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this monday, may 28, 2012, memorial day. this afternoon, thousands of people will watch the national memorial day parade on the national mall. the parade starts at 2:00 on the corner of constitution avenue and 7th streets and ends at constitution and 17th street. this year's parade features a tribute to veterans who served and sacrificed in operation iraqi freedom and operation new dawn. there will also be memorial day parades in falls church at 9:00

a.m. and rockville at 10:30 a.m. leak has a memorial day ceremony at 11:00 a.m. ♪ the national memorial day concert ended abruptly because of bad weather about halfway into the concert. host gary sinese told the audience there was a severe weather warning and asked the thousands upon concert-goers to leave and seek shelter. for the most part the evacuation was orderly. shortly after that concert ended, the weather started to pick up. >> well, i feel disappointed. but i mean, if it's going -- a storm's going come -- >> i'm scared. >> yeah. we're headed home. >> every year the memorial day concert broadcast by pbs features songs from pop and country performers, patriotic music from military bands, and stories of heroic acts by our u.s. troops. and there will be another memorial day concert today.