time zone. we begin with a wave of fear. in the midst of the worst flooding seen in some parts for a generation, rising waters along the bloated mississippi river are continuing to push downstream forcing difficult decisions in louisiana. nbc's jay gray reports. >> reporter: a frantic rush to stay ahead of the floodwaters continues in yazoo city, mississippi. >> can't be sure of anything. >> reporter: the house is losing right now in tunikca. the city's nine casinos have been swallowed by water. >> this is a flood of a generation. nobody has seen water this high, and it it likely nobody ever will again. this is a monumental flood. >> reporter: downriver in louisiana, crews along interstate 10 rush to finish a temporary levee. bracing for the possibility that the army corps of engineers will open the spillway diverting the mississippi over 3 million acres in southwestern louisiana putting 13,000 structures and 25,000 people in jeopardy. >> i say huge and immense. it's hard to describe how much water is in the system. it's the most that's ever been in the system. >> reporter: a system already stretched past its limits with more water on the way. jay gray, nbc news, tunica, mississippi. a personal journal found in the raid that killed osama bin laden is going an inside look at the al qaeda's leaders disturbing ambitions to kill more americans. officials say the journal and other materials show that bin laden kept pressing his followers to find new ways to hit the u.s. bin laden suggested striking smaller cities and going after trains as well as planes all with the hopes killing as many americans as possible in a single attack. oklahoma senator james inhoff has become the first member of congress to see photos of bin laden's corpse. he describes the images as gruesome, but the member of the senate armed services committee said the photos left no doubt saying, quote, it was clear that it was him. within hours of libyan leader moammar gadhafi's first public appearance in 11 days, his forces suffered heavysetbacks and the nation's capital was bombed. yesterday state tv showed gadhafi meeting with tribal leaders, the first video seen of the ruler since air strikes last month, which the regime claimed were an attempt on his life. early thursday in tripoli explosions rocked the capital in the direction of the neighborhood where gadhafi's compound is located. and wednesday rebel forces gained full control of the hotly contested city of misrata as well as its airport, both of which had been under siege by loyalist forces for almost two months. in spain at least ten people are dead after a pair of earthquakes rocked the southeastern part of the country wednesday. the rare quakes, one with a magnitude 4.4 and the other 5.2, struck within two hours of one another near the ancient town of lorca. dozens were injured and homes collapsed and there was major damage to centuries old buildings including a church steeple that stomach le that cr here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. authorities have released security video from over a yeerg showing a navy s.e.a.l. on a violent rampage near the las vegas strip. he randomly attacked people with a metal pipe hitting several in a nightclub hallway as well as two women near a hotel. the 23-year-old says he doesn't remember the attacks. his trial begins in august. police in california say high gas prices have led to a rash of gas station heists. surveillance video shows a pair of thieves dressed as mechanics loading thousands of gallons into a flatbed truck with hidden gas tanks. police expect more thefts to fuel black market gas sales. love is being spread all over south florida, but drivers are having a hard time feeling it. a lovebug infestation is in full swing. swarms of the insects turn up everywhere causing some drivers to pull in rest stops just to clean off their cars. they say the season will likely last until the end of june. in colorado it looks like spring decided to take a bit of a break. a snowstorm blanketed the northern part of the state dropping several inches of wet, slushy snow. it produced terrible road conditions forcing some drives to brat out their shovels. only in colorado would they carry shovels in their car. now for a look at weather here's bill with the weather channel forecast. good morning. >> have you ever dealt with lovebugs. >> no. they sound so cute and cozy. >> they call them that because they attach to each other and fly around. there's a dominant one that drifts all around. >> t.m.i. bill. >> that's why they're gross and they got on your car you can't get them off. trust me. i lived in florida. it was a mess. the big story continues for the next two or three weeks. in vicksburg we have the record crest on the 19th. that's a week from now. baton rouge, record levels not until the 23rd of this month. then after that they divert the water, so we do not expect record flooding in new orleans. we had severe weather yesterday and we had 12 turnds, mostly nebraska and iowa the hardest hit. that's going to continue to be the big storm system around the snow there to colorado. in the west coast all is calm in the four corner region in southern california. storm system dragged that cold front through the northwest. that brought showers yesterday. there's not a lot of wet weather with it. probably more clouds than you'd like. temperature of 58 in seattle. we're warmer in vegas today and phoenix and los angeles, about 10 degrees cloudy and cool. temperatures are around 60 degrees if you're lucky and stam for pendleton, oregon. friday forecast is next. >> thanks so much. pinchts al also coming up, gas demand drops, oil tumbles and silver dies and vladimir putin drives eventually. we'll tell you what will smith did to create outrage in the big apple. coming up, the heat are too much for the celtics, carmelo anthony as a new pet and why is chad ocho cinco full of bull? you're watching "early today." good morning. here's some of the top headlines this morning. a german court has convicted retired ohio auto worker of being an accessories to the murders of tens of thousands of jews at a nazi death camp in poland. he was sentenced to five years in prison. he has denied ever serving as anyway nazi guards. he's lawyers say they will appeal. in syria according to a human rights group at least 18 people day died in the fighting between protestors and the army. for 17 weeks activists have been trying to oust the country's president for power. another leak has been found at japan's damaged nuclear plant. the operator says the new spill, which may have sent radioactive water into the sea, has been sealed. some exciting medical news. scientists believe they've discovered stem cells in the plunge. when injected into myself, these human cells rebuild tissues within the organ. while the finding provides hope in the battle against lung diseases, experts stress more research is needs. some good will has come out of the highly mocked hat princess beatrice wore to the wedding. she's auctioning the so-called pretzel for unicef and children in crisis. all the proceeds go to a good cause. here's an early look at wall street. the dow opens at 12,630 after falling 130 points yesterday. the s&p dropped 15 and the nasdaq dropped 26. looking at overseas trading in tokyo the nikkei sang 147 points and the hang seng fell 218. wall street's three-day rally came to a screeching halt on wednesday as signs high gas prices are taking a toll, and it it set off another sell-off in commodities. demand for gas fell by the largest amount in seven weeks. a signal consumers are cutting back. that fed slowing growth worries setting off a chain reaction. oil tumbled back below $100 a barrel. gas futures fell almost 8%. in fact, trade was haltded after fast-falling prices tripped a five-minute circuit breaker, the first time that's happened since 2008's financial crisis. energy stocks had the steepest fall of all, 10 industries on the s&p 500. silver hit hard last week dropped almost 8%. other metals fell, pounding materials stocks. the dollar and bond prices rose as traders moved into safest assets. the euro sank against the dol r dollar. jitters set in earlier as china's industrial output eased much more than expected in april. there were positives. the government estimates corn supply forecast to shrink will actually grow, and that's expected to bring down supermarket costs across the board. also on the bright side, companies in march advertising the most jobs since the peak of the financial crisis. and finally prime minister vladimir putin's visit yesterday to a struggling russian automaker could have gone smoother. with the media looking on putin was repeatedly trying to start the latest model, russia's notorious unreliable car from soviet days. finally he got it going blaming himself and the not the car. the rookies rock the yankees and the latest adventure of chad ocho cinco. lebron and the heat earn their pay knocking the celtics out of the playoffs. in weather not much as changed. we're pretty nice on the east coast and okay on the west coast, all the stormy weather right in the middle. your forecast is coming up. you're watching early today. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports they are basketball's best team money can buy, and last night miami heat fans got their money's worth. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it's the end of an era for the lakers and spurs and now the aging celtics have joined them in uncertainty. boston is up 6 with less than five minutes left, and miami caught fire. chris bosh tied the game at 87-87 and then lebron james took over. boston fell apart down the stretch. james with the steal on the finishing touching. heat end the game on a decisive 16-0 run. they left the celts with more questions than answers this off-season. no triple o.t. between the thunder and grizzlies. oklahoma city took an early lead and kept it going. such a blowout most of the starters didn't play the fourth. thunders took the lead. in baseball it was a night to remember for the royals. eric holzmer hit the first big run. great day for the family, and the royals, they won it 4-3 in 11. the bengals chad ocho cinco is enjoying the nfl lockout. last month he played soccer, and now he's trading in cleats for cowboy boots. he will attempt to ride a bull at this weekend's pbr eeflt. he gets 10 grand for showing up. if he stays on for eight seconds he'll earn a new truck and earn the right to rename the bull. you're nuts. staying in the animal kingdom. carmelo anthony has a new pet, a camel. carmelo tweeted everybody has dogs and cats as pets. i got a camel. the knicks hope to get over the hump this season, but this is ridiculous. no word on the camel's name, but we are calling it kamelo. that's your early look at sports today, and i'm fred roggin. tinchts. who may be taking over on tv for charlie sheen. the entertainment headlines are straight ahead. a second fugitive on the loose from new york's famous bronx zoo has been apprehended. you're watching "early today." welcome back on this nice thursday morning. most locations in the west see a n nice day. seattle 58, breaks of sun and drier than yesterday. chance of showers in portland that won't ruin your dead. medford at 67. we're sunny and warmer in areas of nevada and utah and las vegas and phoenix. phoenix will be 100. if you're watching us on kc-24 news in fresno, california, support community theater, see an adaptation of the play that inspired a film, a romantic comedy about washington, "born yesterday" and that's your pacific event the day. here's an early look at headlines in entertainment. those who argue that the law is no different for celebrities took a big hit yesterday took a big hit yesterday at lindsay lohan's sentencing. her plea to misdemeanor charges means no jail time, and lohan will serve only 14 days of her 12-daypro boe 12 h 12-day probation at home. elsewhere, reports say hugh grant is in negotiations to take charlie sheen's place on "two and a half men." some reports say the talks are stalled and others that grant has turned down the role. "the new york post" is accusing will smith of getting piggy with it. so creative post. shooting "men in black iii" in tightly spaced lower manhattan, smith has angered new yorkers by parking a titanic luxury trailer on location despite having a luxury apartment nearby. the 53-foot long $9,000 a week rental with sports amovie room and all granite bathroom was moved after complaints. this is from wnbc for new york in new york city where one feathered fugitive has landed back home after flying the coop. a peahen, the second bronx zoo escapee in two months, has been recaptured. missing since monday, the bird's escape produced headlines and a twitter account, which was similar to the zoo's original escapee, mya the egyptian cobra. the colorful fowl was spotted in several locations. they found her ten blocks from a zoo and all ended peacefully. i'm lynn barry and this is "early today," your first stop of the day on your nbc station. what's the key to a better life? in china it's as easy as a flip of the switch. engineers showed off the newest advancements in robots at one exhibit, machines that write with a pen, serve food, another that can play soccer. some are even meant to replace more dangerous jobs. engineers hope they can be used in the future to improve lives. two self-portraits by andy warhol sold out at auction. a red portrait, one of the final works sold for a disappointing $27 million. it was expected to go for much more. another completed earlier in his career sold for 38 million bucks. this last item falls into our do not try this at home category. a helicopter pilot in russia is doing more than just mid-air stunts. he can maneuver his chopper to shave a man's beard with a razor attached to its base. we can't make this up. even one that opens up a bottle of soda and slice an apple in two, but these tricks definitely aren't for amateurs. he has 30 years of flying experience under his belt. bill, the next time you go up in your chopper, don't try that. >> who cares about the pilot. who volunteered to be shaved? >> exactly. come on. i don't care how experienced he is. it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow-through the date on no.. amnesty international releases its annual assessment. it includes recommendations on how the u.s. government can promote freedom in the middle east and north africa. an baemgtsed superhero returns tonight. spider man comes back after a three-week hiatus. it's the anniversary of the lindbergh tragedy. it was 79 years ago that the baby of charles lindbergh, the famous aviator was found dead ten weeks after being abducted from his family's home. all day long stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here's a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. what officials are learning through the journals of osama bin laden. they tack to angelina jolie, jack black, and dustin hoff man live from the cannes film festival. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.