today we begin with a letter of resignation. dominique straus-khan has stepped down as head of the international monetary fund as he remains jailed at new york's ryker's island on sexual assault charges. the 62-year-old says he wants to devote all of his energy to battle the claim. this afternoon, he will have a hearing hoping to get released odds 1 million cash bail on the condition he will remain in manhattan with an electronic monitoring device. meanwhile, police are combing the hotel suite where a maid claims the sexual assault took place for evidence. officials say they have removed a piece of carpet for dna testing. in an ominous reminder of osama bin laden, al qaeda has released a posthumous audio tape praising the protests sweeping across the middle east. in it, bin laden predicts movements will month over the entire muslim world. bin laden and his followers had hoped the collapse of those governments would lead to stricter adherence to their interpretation of islamic law. the recording, taped a week after his death will remain online. means while, defense secretary robert gates said he saw no evidence that senior officials in pakistan were aware that bin laden was living right under their noses. though he admits, quote, somebody knew web suggests it could have been retired or low level officials. we continue to learn more about the detail surrounding former california governor schwarzenegger's bombshell. nbc's stephanie stanton has details. >> reporter: it was a shocking public confession by the former governor of california. arnold schwarzenegger admitted he fathered a child with a long time household staffer. nbc news reports that two sources close to the couple have identified the staff person as 50-year-old mildred baena. neighbors say she hasn't been seen since a day before the story broke. according to celebrity websites, the child, a boy, is now around 13 years old. as new of the betrayal hit, schwarzenegger's estranged wife, maria, was in chicago for a final taping of the oprah winfrey show. >> clearly, she is determined to move forward, putting her family first and trying to heal. >> reporter: and while news of the paternity has hurt schwarzenegger's family and reputation, film critics say it's not likely to terminate his movie career. >> if arnold potentially wants to make another "terminator" movie, people will be interested and that will be a hot ticket. >> reporter: a hot ticket to with a high price to a former governor and a family. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. three people are lucky to be alive after a boeing air tanker crashed during takeoff at a california naval base. the aircraft skidded off the runway and burst into flames. the survivors escaped with minor injuries before firefighters put out the blaze. the ntsb is now investigating the crash. an accident in pennsylvania made one highway look more like the yellow brick road. a tractor-trailer carrying 11 large paint containers overturned, obviously, paint containers. hazmat crews spent the morning cleaning up the scene and keeping the paint from nearby waterways. in pennsylvania, the national weather service confirmed an ef-0 twister that hit pennsylvania leaving pockets of destruction in its wake. witnesses say the rare small tornado tore through nearby structures vanishing as quickly as it appeared. no serious injuries were reported. finally, in kol, a few air force academy cadets are aiming high and low in their attempt to break the world record for largest dodge ball game. unofficially, 4,000 people are participating which would be enough to break the current record of 2012 set in canada. good luck with that. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. tag, you're it. go ahead, bill. >> a tornado in philadelphia. >> extremely rare. >> strange thing. those winds proper around 70 miles per hour. the damage even those winds can do. let's show you what's happening on the mississippi river. we're almost to the point now, we've almost gotten all of our crests. right now in vicksburg, the water level is pretty much at the crest. saturday, we're going to see the crest in natchez. we've had the crest further downstream. they opened up the spillway. it poured yesterday in southern new england, greater new york city area, new jersey. now that heavy rain threat has shifted north and the next storm is right behind it and this is going to produce severe weather today. maybe a chance of a few tornadoes and large hail. the worst of that is right around in between kansas city and topeka this morning. we've got some thunderstorms with gusting winds, maybe a little large hail. this is going to give you definitely wet weather in kansas city and into missouri as we go throughout your morning rush hour to give yourself extra time. that's the forecast for today. you can see the thunderstorm threat through dallas and oklahoma city. the best chance of tornados is probably going to be in central kansas later this afternoon. by the way, kansas has not had even one tornado this may. this is a rare tornado. that should change today. a lot of weather teams will be chasing those storms this afternoon. in new england, the worst of the rain will be from boston to albany northward and even today a chance of storms in d.c. and new york. that's a look at your national forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. baltimore, maryland, it's not going to rain all day long. there will be a good chance of breaks of sunshine today. with that sunshine will come an increased risk of storms this afternoon. temperatures warmer, too, in the mid-atlantic with an increased chance of sun. so some severe weather. we'll talk more about it a little later. >> bill, thanks so much. also coming up, stocks make a come back, linkedin debuts strong and a final toast to madoff victims. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor hail shall keep these monsters from their pop idol. coming up, the heat get even with the bulls. you're watching "early today." good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. president obama is expected to use a speech today on the middle east so adamantly defend sanctions on syria's president. the sanctions, announced yesterday, are the first time the u.s. has penalized syrian leaders for the crackdown on protesters that killed 850 people since march. the u.s. military says an afghan detained at guantanamo bay prison since 2007 has died in an apparent suicide. he is the eighth prisoner to die there since 2002. five of those other deaths were apparent suicides. to speed up the issuance of drilling permits. the measure came down to a 57-42 vote with five republicans voting against it. republicans say it would have lowered gas prices. democrats accuse republicans of not learning from the bp oil disaster. the hospital where gabrielle giffords had surgery on her skull yesterday says her recovery is going well following the operation. they used a plastic implant to close a hole in the congresswoman's skull that was damaged when she was shot in the head. and a new study finds that there's a new class of free flying rogue alien planets. by definition, a planet is something that orbits a star. now researchers have discovered there are planets that float through space without any known star. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,560 after gaining 80 points yesterday. the s&p added 1 points the nasdaq rose 31. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 41 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng was up 152. stocks bounced back to snap a three-day losing streak yesterday. news that fed officials think the economy is on the right track fueled raw materials. oil rose back above $100 a barrel. meanwhile, dell's strong earnings drove economic optimism as businesses began buying computer hardware again. however, companies are cutting corners. office supply chain staples plunged 15% after reporting slow sales and lowered its full year forecast. investigators have taken kodak's side in a patent battle with apple and research in motion. after the bell, limited brand said strong sales boosted its quarterly income. overseas, japan has fallen back into recession. the country's economy contracted sharply for a second straight quarter in the wake of recent disasters. back at home, u.s. officials are calling the world trade organization's ruling that airbus benefited from improper european subsidies a, quote, definitive victory. meanwhile, united airlines apologized for a computer glitch that reactivated the numbers of two planes that were hijacked on 9/11. linkedin is set to make its biggest debut since google at $45 a share today. an auction of ponzi scheme bernard madoff's liquor collection fetched $530 for his victims. bottoms up. the canucks battle the sharks and the royals take it into extra innings. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. so far this may, we haven't had a lot of tornados or severe storms. that could change this afternoon. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, lebron james came through for the heat last night, situating the miami/chicago searry wes a pair of ones. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. oofr being blown out of game one, the miami heat responded game two in chicago. in the dying second to the first half, lual through up a prayer and it was answered. the bulls up seven. heat pulled even in the second. off the mad scramble. dwyane wade got the wild pull up. he had 24. lebron james cloed it out. 9 of his 29 in the final quarter. heat tied the series with a win. the hometown canucks come alive in the third. vancouver beat san jose, 7-3. they lead that series, 2 games to none. marlin byrd stepped up and stepped out. a solo shot proved to be the game winter. cubs ended a two-game skid with a 7-5 win. jared la mac ya with a wall banger off the green monster. boston up, 1-0. jonathan papelbon came on with the save. red sox won it, 1-0. yanks and orioles, 15 innings. a triple into the gap. that scored a pair. yanks went at another and won a marathon 4-1 in 15. finally, royals and rangers. texas took the lead in the top of the ninth. eric holesberg shot it in the bottom. beltre, which he deliver inspect that brought in two. rangers won in a seesaw battle, 5-4 in 11. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. the much milwaukee mach ed hat that made headlines at the royal wedding is now making serious money for charity. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, buying a home is part of the american dream. what do you do when that home has a hidden treasure inside? you're watching "early today." welcome back and good morning on this thursday. severe storms are likely today. slight risk for central kansas, oklahoma, into areas of texas. this is pretty much tornado alley. we will see a few tornados likely today. but we don't expect it to be widespread. we'll watch that late today. be careful around wichita and oklahoma city. as far as today's forecast, tropical downpours in the d.c., baltimore, philly, new york. boston it's in northern new england. you'll be more or less cloudy with on and off rain throughout the day. friday, not a lot changes. rain in the northeast. if you're watching us on wbba nbc 2 in ft. myers, mrr, learn about spanish imports in florida's agricultural industry, cattle, citrus and canet southwest museum of history. that's your "early today" event of the day. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. newlywed royals william and kate have taken a honeymoon fit for a king and queen. "us magazine" reports that their vacation costs $720,000. it includes 11 villas, a private butler and an open air bath filled with flowers. a girl's dream. meanwhile, the highly mocked hat that princess beatrice wore to the wedding is no joke. the has is up for bid at this point for $30,000. justin bieber fans helped propel him to the number three spot. oprah was knocked out of first place to second as her top show wraps up. and at number one, lady gaga. she made a whooping $90 million and boasts over 10 million twitter followers. tuesday, fans nicknamed little monsters started camping out outside the building here at 30 rock in the pouring rain for her appearance on snl this saturday. now, it's been pouring rain for three days now. >> now, the tickets are given out early saturday morning, around 7:00 a.m. or so. typically they usually start lining up friday during the day. these people are lining up three days ahead of that. >> and not all of them are guaranteed a ticket. it's amazing. this comes to us in utah where a new homeowner turned a shocking discovery into a lesson with a lasting impact. joshua was poking around his new home when he found a hidden treasure. while exploring his garage, he discovered ammunition boxes containing a total of $45,000 in cash. well, he chose to hand the money over to the children of the deceased former owner, showing his own kids it's best to give back what isn't yours. good karma there. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. [ horns honking ] [ whistle blows ] [ male announcer ] can the network you live on handle the computers, tvs and technology you can't live without? ♪ verizon fios can. get the power and speed of america's largest 100% fiber optic network. verizon fios. a network ahead. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. our time right now is 4:28. we have 61 degrees outside this morning on this 19th day of may. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to news 4 today for this thursday, may 19, 2011. we begin with breaking news tchl chief of the international monetary fund resigned from his position overnight. dominique strauss kahn wants to spend all of his energy fighting the sexual assault charge he faces in new york. he's accused of trying to rape a hotel maid who walked into the penthouse suite to clean it. lawyers for the 62-year-old are expected to ask the judge to release him on bail. >> this morning, osama bin laden posted on his website weeks after his death. bin laden reportedly praises the protests in the middle st and believes the winds of change will blow over the entire muslim world. he was killed in pakistan in a raid by u.s. navy seals. it feels reported by al qaeda and posted on siteintel.com. united airlines apologized for reusing the two flight numbers used on 9/11/2001. flight 93 crash in a field in shanksville, pennsylvania. they had not used the plane