flowers, and i always picture her with flowers in her hand. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. this morning on "early today" -- from one extreme to the other. the southeast gets slammed by nearly two feet of rain. bugging out. a california town encounters an infestation of almost biblical proportion. and gun blazing. a piece of wild west history goes under the hammer. hello and very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. high winds are fanning the

flames of two wildfires that have foreed hundreds of evacuations in colorado and new mexico. fire officials say so far the colorado blaze has destroyed or scorched 18 structures and 20,000 acres. officials say the fire is zero percent contained. strong winds grounded aircraft in a 40 square mile wildfire in new mexico that's burned through some three dozen structures. across the country, torrential rains brought damaging floods to the southeast. heavy downpours soaked pensacola with more than 18 inches of rain on saturday, blocking roads and stranding residents and cars in the knee-high water. more than 100 people were forced to evacuate their homes. parts of southeast alabama were drenched during the severe storm. we'll fine out when the rain-soaked area can expect to dry out. that's coming up in a moment in weather. also in alabama, a statewide manhunt is under way for a gunman that open fire at a party

this weekend near the campus of auburn university, killing three and wounding three others. two former auburn football players were among those killed. nbc's kurt gregory has details. >> reporter: a gunman open fire during a fight at a party held at an off-campus apartment complex near auburn university on saturday night. >> it happened so quick. >> reporter: three were killed in the shooting, including two former auburn university players. edward christian and ladarious phillip. three more injured in the gunfire, one is a current football for the university. >> very sad time for the auburn community. auburn university, auburn university athletic department. >> reporter: head coach gene chizik released a statement in part saying, my thoughts and prayers are with the families and all those involved in this tragic incident. >> not only university students and athletes, but it's -- it's young people.

it's six young people that have been shot. >> reporter: authorities are hunting for the suspect, desmonte leonard, charged with capital murder. >> we won't rest until he's located. >> reporter: as the search for the suspect continues. >> don't know what i'm going to do. i'm lost, you know what i'm saying? i grew up with him. >> reporter: as victims' friends and an entire community search for a reason why. opening statements are scheduled today in the trial of former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky. sandusky is facing 52 criminal counts for the alleged sexual abuse of ten boys. some the alleged victims are expected to testify when prosecutors start presenting their case. they reportedly will also show letters sandusky allegedly wrote to one of his accusers. if convicted, sandusky could spend the rest of his lich in prison.

here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. residents near sacramento are experiencing what some may call a nuisance of bubble cal proportions. an army of low custs devouring plant life everywhere and homeowners feel helpless. locals are worried the hungry insects could target vineyard and dairy ranches. mexican fruittail bats have left a cave. people have watching them search for pray. the summer feeding period is a seasonal sect cal. low tide in southern california giving marine and people with gigantic snails are showing up, some as much as three times their normal size. finally, a mother and her ducklings brought traffic on a washington freeway to a

standstill. police and motorists spent several minutes attempts to secure safe passage for the animals. they didn't make it easy but the family was eventually relocated. it's now time for a look at your national and regional weather forecast. have you ever seen anything like that? >> stop traffic for something like that? >> for ducks. >> in the front row you could see the guy making a fool of himself trying to catch the ducks. in-f you're a mile down the road, you're -- >> no, he's a good samaritan. >> and entertaining. the amazing pictures out of southern mississippi, alabama and all the panhandle were incredible with the rainfall. in pen coal rsacola, second wety ever recorded in pensacola, 13.13 inches of rain. it wasn't just isolated. west pensacola had the

thunderstorms sitting over it longer and they picked up 21.7 inches of rain, nearly 2 feet of rain. naet why we had epic flooding. they have the sandy soil and can deal with 5 to 6 inches of rain better than anybody but 1 to 2 feet flooding will happen anywhere. still standing water in places, flood warnings in effect. a line of storms developed between atlantic and macon and watching showers and storms pushing off the coastline near savannah and charleston. the other area of concern, strong storms last night from minnesota to iowa, continue to weaken ever so lowly. northern missouri and also as we head through the quad cities dealing with a lot of heavy rain over the last couple of hours. a pretty good line heading for dubuque and north of kansas city now, a line around st. charles looks to be intense. the forecast for today, still watching the threat of heavy rain through the southeast during the day. it will be hot in areas like

washington, d.c. that's a look at your national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. on and off thunderstorms likely from pittsburgh to raleigh southward. the heaviest concentration through georgia. areas out west, beautiful weather as the cold front went through in minneapolis. overall we're in a quiet weather pattern, just happened pensacola and mobile happened to sit under -- >> water logged. is that rain -- >> ever so slowly. >> thanks. a big bailout for spain. big speculation over apple. the latest price for dining with the oracle. plus, ridley scott's allen thriller not enough at the box office. the orioles have a flare for the dra macktics and the best acting job in baseball. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la crews. syrian troops have killed 35 this weekend, shelling on the city of homs in an attempt to regain control of stronghold. hosni mubarak is reportedly slipping in and out of consciousness. mubarak, sentenced to life, has had an irregular heart beat and required assistance in breathe snug probably don't know his name but you definitely know his fame. actor franc kady died at age 86. he played store owner on "green acres." a letter written in english by no pothat pole lan in 1816 s for $825,000. it was written by napoleon while

he was held captain by the english. and legendary western sharp-shooter annie oakley's shotgun has been sold at auction for $143,000. she became a superstar starring in buffalo bill's wild west show. a total of $500,000 was paid by -- for about 10 0 items belonging to annie oakley. and now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. many doctors are updating the way they communicate with their patients, e-mails, text messages and track disease trends on twitter, but some doctors still cling to pen and paper. the american medical association warns, while there are benefits to using social media, doctors must protect patient privacy. for more information on this and other health stories, you can always head to the web. check out the health page online at msnbc.com. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil wash. early an early look at how

wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,554 after adding 93 points friday. the s&p up 10. the nasdaq gained 27. taking a look at overseas trading in tokyo, neikkei spike 165 points while in hong kong the hang seng skyrocketed 451. coming off their best week of the year, stocks should get another lift today. eurozone finance ministers have agreed to lend spain up to $125 billion to help the batter the banks, removing a huge cloud hanging over financial markets for month. asian stocks rallied today but analysts believe the relief could be short-lived. worries but outcome over the vote next year. investors will be watching jpmorgan chase ceo jamie dimon testify before congress regarding his companies fiasco.

opec will discuss oil production levels this week as prices hover around eight-month lows. as a result, gas prices have dropped 16 cents over the past three weeks to an rchlgaverage . a lot of eyes will be on apple during worldwide conference. speculation swirling around possible software. regardless how the supreme court rules on the challenged legislation. cnbc is reporting ubs is ready to sue nasdaq for $350 million in losses from botched facebook ipo. and congratulations to the winner of warren buffett's annual charlie auction who forked over, get this, nearly $3.5 million to dine with the billionaire. the o's walk offing, and

things get slippery at the french open. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. after incredible rainfall this weekend, we'll watch that storm heading up the east coast. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning. if you're just waking up, this

is "early today." in sports, two competitors competing sunday for one of tennis's top titles were forced to wait as mother nature refused to cooperate at the french open. here's nbc's mario solis for a look at your sports headlines. good morning. for the physician time in 39 years the men's final of the french open will be decided on a monday. rain ruling the day in paris. rafael nadal and djokovic played a wet and wild first half, nadal jumped out to an early two-set lead. he comes back to win the third, was ahead in the fourth, when rain crashes the party, drizzle turns into a downpour. the match was suspended due to rain and darkness. he'll try to crown a champion this morning. start spreading the news, yankees have swept the mets after they tied it in the ninth, russell martin with a walkoff home run in the bottom of the inning, second of the game.

get out the brooms, yanks win 5-4. red sox and nats tied 3-3 in the ninth. this is what you call a hit and run. bryce harper takes off from first, bernadino to the right, and harper motors around to score the go ahead run. that is textbook baseball. nationals win 4-3. baltimore. if you're going to play the orioles in extra innings you're probably going to lose. one on for matt we'ders, touring flied to right, pence can't make the grab, and o's have won nine straight in extra winning 5-4. the catch of the day, or was it? pirates and royals andrew mccutchen down the line, meyers over the wall. take another look. he gets head over heels. that's the ball rolling around. he picks it up, shows it to the umpire. it's called an out but i call it

the best acting job in baseball. a diva's concert casualty and details on a hollywood we hadding in texas. plus, we're all suckers for a cute kitten but this weekend an entire community rallied to save the life of one. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today."

we're continuing to watch the heavy rain threat in the southeast. we don't expect incredible flooding like we saw over the weekend in florida but we will see a good chance of heavy rain. there's already some to the south side of atlanta and that will push up into the carolinas. we should be dry from d.c. northwards at least for today. the heavy rain and moisture will work up the coast. showers and thunderstorms in the forecast from d.c. to philly to new york as we go throughout your tuesday. the hot weather will continue in texas but not as bad tomorrow as it is today. if you're watching us on wantv news center 17 in springfield, illinois, celebrate world oceans day by learning about how they impact their lives and how we impact them at the henson robinson zoo. >> thanks, bill. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment news. the summer season's first real battle at the box office went to the animals. madagascar 3: europe's most wanted finished with a better than expected $61 million.

mad gar car 3 also took in $75 million overseas. and then another big opening settled for the second spot ridley scott's "prometheus" taking in $50 million. lady gaga suffered a concussion during his final show in new zealand when a dancer accidentally hit her on the head with a metal pole. >> they're fired. >> i know. oops. she's said to be just fine and still set to start her australian tour on friday. two kid, matthew mccon that hey and camilla were married in a sunset ceremony in austin, texas. cute couple. >> slightly. >> yeah. wedding guests slept over friday in luxury tents. he was wearing a dolce & gabanna tux. the couple whispered into each

other's ears during vows. >> i didn't realize they were together that long. >> five years, two kids later. this comes from action news 5 in memphis, tennessee, where the city rallied around a rescue effort to save one precious life. a team of plumbers, city workers and animal advocates worked tirelessly to free a kitten from an underground pipe while it s trapped. the animal was a social media darling generating buzz on twitter. there's tally of how many of the cat's nine lives were used up but eventually saved. guess what they named it? >> trouble. >> pipe kitty. yeah, trouble would have worked well, too. i'm veronica de la cruz, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

here's a live look at the nation's capital as we begin another week. a warm start after a hot weekend. tom is getting ready to detail what's ahead. first, good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. >> we're following a developing story out of southern california this morning where police are investigating two car crashes that they say involved a member of president obama's cabinet. police say commerce secretary john bryson rear ended a car on saturday before fleeing from the scene. they say he was involved in a second accident a short time

later. they found him unconscious behind the wheel of his car. he was taken to the hospital but is expected to survive. one of the most anticipated trials of the year begins in central pennsylvania. more than six months after a sex abuse scandal first rocked penn state, opening statements are set for today in the jerry sandusky trial. the former penn state defensive coordinator is charged with 52 counts of child sex abuse. accused of molesting ten boys over 15 years. prosecutors lined up eight of those alleged victims to testify. the defense strategy hammer away at the witnesses credibility by suggesting they conspired with each other in hopes of profiting from civil lawsuits. >> at least one of the accusers that's all the accuser and his family are talking about. what they're going to do with the money they're going to get. >> a jury of five men and seven women along with four alternates was selected last week. half of them have ties to penn state including one retired professor and one current professor. >>ir