anticipates closing arguments starting today with deliberations beginning friday afternoon. nbc's sarah dallof is live for us outside the courthouse in sanford, florida. sarah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, paige. a lot of big developments yesterday, but the main headline, george zimmerman will not testify. >> the defense would call robert zimmerman sr., your honor. >> after four days of testimony, attorneys for george zimmerman who pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder wrapped up their case with zimmerman's father. one last witness testifying the screams on the 911 call. >> i told them absolutely it's my son, george. >> i am asking your client questions. please, mr. west. >> reporter: it was a day sprinkled with heated exchanges between the defense and judge deborah nelson, specifically when the judge asked zimmerman if he would be taking the stand. >> i object to the court inquiring to mr. zimmerman about his decision whether to testify -- >> your objection is overruled. >> zimmerman told the judge he had not yet decided, but would do so by the end of the day. >> and what is your decision, sir? >> after consulting with counsel, not to testify, your honor. >> the jury has heard zimmerman's version of events through recorded interviews and re-enactments in which he says he acted in self-defense. still, his attorney says he struggled with his decision not the testify. >> i think that he really wanted to be able to interact with this jury and say to them, this is what i did and this is why i did it. >> i'm going to let you recess for the evening. >> reporter: after excusing the jury for the day, the judge laid out her schedule. closing arguments beginning today at 1:00 and the case tentatively handed off to the jury by friday afternoon. then the wait for a verdict. prosecution and defense say they will need three hours each for closing arguments. paige, back to you. >> thanks, sarah. new this morning in the crash of asiana flight 214, we're hearing voices of people aboard the plane in the moments just after the crash. wednesday, officials released chilling 911 calls made by passengers desperate for help. >> there is a woman out here on the street, on the runway who is pretty much burned very severely on the head and we don't know what to do. >> we've been on the ground, i don't know, 20 minutes, a half hour. there are people laying on the tarmac with critical injuries, head injuries. we're almost losing a woman here. we're trying to keep her alive. >> for the first time, we're hearing from flight attendants aboard that airliner. one saying the crew is working to recover from the accident while numerous remain hospitalized. a plea of not guilty from accused boston marathon bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev. it marked his first public appear an appearance since his april capture. the mother of two men who each lost a right leg in the bombings said afterwards she felt sick to her stomach. tsarnaev faces charges including using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. prosecutors says he orchestrated the bombings with his older brother tamerlan. the attack left two people dead and more than 250 people injured. tsarnaev could face the death penalty. randy travis is in critical condition after suffering a stroke. he was initially hospitalized for congestive heart failure. the stroke is a complication of that initial heart issue. the baylor medical center posted on its website that travis underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain last night and is now in recovery. a disturbing hit and run and it's caught on camera. take a look at this. it happened in a michigan parking lot. a minivan backed into a woman and a baby in a stroller and drives off with the stroller and the baby in tow. the driver stopped while the baby is rescued and drivers off again. amazingly, the 1-year-old boy suffered only a scrape to the knee. police are still looking for the person behind the wheel. it's truly unbelievable. and extreme weather hitting residents across the u.s. we begin in arizona where a major dust storm struck just south of phoenix. next to eastern connecticut where residents saw a tornado touch down. thankfully no reported injuries or major structural damage. and in colorado, a giant mudslide due to flash flooding in the central part of the state. at least 21 cars ended up stranded on the interstate. fortunately no one was injured. looks like a movie. doesn't even look real. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with today's weather. >> as far as the forecast goes in the west, a lot of that moisture got sucked into the upper level low spinning through the desert southwest. numerous areas of showers and even a few thunderstorms this morning. so let me show you what we're deal with on the radar. the green on the map shows you where the rain is. some across southern california, arizona, even into areas of new mexico. as far as the highs and the temperatures go today, notice that it's cooler. yesterday was very hot once again from boysy to salt lake city. not that mid-90s or low 90s is cool. at least not 100. and vegas with those clouds around. temperatures kept down a little bit. below average temperatures for you. and the beautiful weather continues in the northwest. right around 75. so as far as the rain goes and the showers, we have numerous areas with a chance of some of those showers out there including areas of the southwest. vegas to tucson, yuma, even into the phoenix area. keep that umbrella handy. you may have a downpour or two. in los angeles and areas around san diego, a few showers, too. a lot of that is very, very light. and 75. look at your national yakima, 85 and sunny. it's not often we can say the northwest is having a better july than -- >> i know. >> -- california is. >> it's like opposite week in the weather world. republicans at odds over immigration. a pay cut for america's soldiers. and the most expensive colleges. plus -- a major buzzkill is coming to colorado's pot smokers. welcome back. here are stories making news this morning. republican lawmakers emerged from an immigration meeting wednesday still unsure of where to take the legislation. some members of the gop don't think the obama administration can handle something as large as immigration reform. here is what representative tim huelskamp had to say. >> we think barack obama is like my daughter trusting bill clinton. we just don't trust him. >> well, other republicans like former president george w. bush do argue something needs to be done. >> but we have a problem. the laws governing the immigration system aren't working. the system is broken. authorities in quebec confirm they have now recovered 20 bodies from the wreckage of saturday's deadly train derailment. they also said the 30 people unaccounted for will most likely not be found alive. a first for the navy. they have officially landed a fighter-sized drone on an aircraft carrier for the first time. it didn't come cheap. the experimental aircraft in this photo was developed for $1.4 billion. the united states plans to follow through on delivery of four f-16 fighter jets to egypt even after the ousting of president mohamed morsi. the jets which are part of an annual aid package are said to arrive in the coming weeks. and the san diego city council has voted unanimously to ban the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits. the vote is part of an effort to cut down on, quote, puppy mills where animals are mass produced and kept in inhumane conditions. good news there. now for an early look at business we turn to cnbc's courtney reagan. >> good morning, paige. stocks could get a big boost today thanks to comments by ben bernanke who says interest rates will likely stay low for a long time. the economy still needs the fed's help as unemployment remains high. inflation stays low and growth is being held back by higher taxes and budget cuts. get ready for sticker shock at the gas pump. experts say retail gas prices should soon follow the jump in the wholesale market. prices are 30 to 61 cents higher than two weeks ago due to higher crude oil prices and the peak driving season. ford has the price on this 2014 electric focus model by 10%. the base price is now $35,200. before government tax credits. vehicles should be in showrooms in the next few weeks. paige? pay cuts for soldiers, the pentagon report found conditions in 18 countries are improving to the point the department of defense bean counters will no longer offer danger pay. that change saved about $120 million and will affect the salaries of some 56,000 troops. while congress battles to restore lower interest rates on student loans, business insider has compiled a list of the most expensive american colleges and that includes tuition, fees, room and board. the top three are all over $61,000 a year. new york university tops the list followed by harvey mudd college, bard college. it may be a buzz kill in colorado for marijuana smokers. the state will decide how much to tax recently legalized pot. voters will cast ballots in november on a proposed 15% excise tax and a 10% sales tax on all marijuana purchases. and next to london where the royal baby frenzy is reaching a fevered pitch. plus, all your sports highlights. now to london where we eagerly await for news on the arrival of the prince or princess of cambridge. we're learning more about exactly how the world will find out. martin fletcher is live outside st. mary's hospital in london for us. martin, tell us about all the hype. >> reporter: certainly a lot of hype. there's a couple hundred cameramen and photographers staking out the front of the hospital waiting for the photograph of the duke and duchess with in their hands the new baby, the future king or queen of britain. there's excitement among the people but that will explode when the baby is born. how will they find out? prince william is expected to phone his grandmother and his father and the family of kate middleton to tell them about the birth. as for the people, they'll be told when a medical bulletin comes down these steps behind me. it's going to be placed in a car and then driven to the buckingham palace where it will be placed on anneesle on the palace gates. it's expected to have the gender, the weight of the child and its given name if known at that point. then that's when the excitement will explode and the $100 million worth of royal baby items for sale will probably fly off the shelves, it's hoped. now when will this happen? it's expected saturday but it's not a definite due date. nobody really knows when the baby is going to be born. as for prince william, this weeken he's scheduled to play a game of polo, so we'll see. what's it going to be this weekend. polo for the prince or a new baby. >> nbc's martin fletcher, thank you. now let's get the latest in sports. a new baseball record for david ortiz. the most career hits for a designated hitter, 1,689. anthony randone's shot was followed by back to back homers from ryan zimmerman and jayson werth in a philly win over washington. at tropicana field, home of the rays, cabrera hit a home run recently that landed in the water tank that holds rays that people can pet. now people for the ethical treatment of animals want that tank closed. they said the rays held captive not only were traumatically taken from their vast home waters but also are subject to harassment, loud crowds and even baseballs capable of seriously injuring them. when it comes to compassion, the rays are batting zero. singer justin bieber, currently made headlines for urinating in public, got up close and personal with the blackhawks stanley cup. word is he did not disrespect lord stanley's cup. early today sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. and just ahead, a wedding for halle berry. and dustin hoffman talks about unattractive women. and tom hanks channels his inner walt disney, next. welcome back. through the years i've seen a lot of firsthand accounts of tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes. and i've never seen someone in their car getting caught in a mudslide. this was the scene from outside of colorado springs on highway 24 yesterday. this driver got spun around, got caught and went on a wild ride down the side of this mountainside. a couple hundred feet, the car got banged up. he never flipped over thankfully and the car did finally come to a rest in a safe area. amazing footage from inside. glad you're all right. as far as the rain goes, it looks impressive. this time of year have any radar returns coming out of california and southern california is very rare. some of the monsoonal moisture is being sucked up. dew points higher today. some of those not reaching the ground but there's san diego here. a little further to the north up in l.a. a report of a couple sprinkles. again, very light and some of that is not reaching the ground. it's evaporating gfr gets there. now as far as the forecast in the intermountain west today. still very warm but not as hot. some of the.air pushed into casper and north towards denver. phoenix today, some of the monsoonal moisture for you. we continue a great stretch from portland northward. partly cloudy. mid-70s sounds nice and comfy. >> it's gorgeous. i just got back from seattle yesterday. beautiful weather. thank you, bill. emotional testimony in the michael jackson wrongful death lawsuit. master of choreographer kenny ortega shared tears as he recalled michael jackson's shivering and incoherent behavior at a rehearsal just six days before his death. jackson's mother, the plaintiff in the case, cried as jackson's comeback tour read his e-mail to the ceo describing the singer as a lost boy in need of help. project runway's new promotional poster is too racy for the city of angels. the city banned the reality show's steamy ad labeling it object scene. new yorkers on the other hand will be seeing the poster plastered on billboards. halle berry is scheduled to marry her boyfriend and father of her unborn child martinez this weekend. dustin hoffman's movie "tootsie" put him on an emotional roller coaster. >> i went home and started crying, talking to my wife. and i said i have to make this picture. that was never a comedy for me. >> and finally, the first photos of tom hanks playing walt disney have been released. hanks will play the icon in the film "saving mr. banks." and he looks a lot like walt disney there. >> i wondered how he'd be able to pull that off. he slimmed himself down. >> is there anything tom hanks cannot do? broadway, movies? >> we've been lucky all these years. >> incredible. i am paige hopkins. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc. leading the news in the "chicago tribune" governor suspends lawmakers' salaries. an illinois pension stalemate. governor pat quinn believes the best way for legislators to find a fix for the massive worker pension debt is to hit them in the wallet. and in the bay area's "oakland tribune" police search father's home, shore line park after reported abduction of a 21-month-old girl. fbi agents and oakland officers are looking for daphne viola webb who witnesses say was taken from a parked suv while her father ran into a store. stopping our news this morning, a plea of not guilty from dzhokhar tsarnaev. the arraignment wednesday marks his first public appearance since his capture in april. tsarnaev faces 30 federal charges. fascinating details about khalid shake muhammad's time in a secret cia prison. the 9/11 mastermind was working on plans to re-engineer the vacuum. he read the harry potter series and held office hours where he lectured agency officers on various topics. i am not joking. former cia officials say this was an attempt to keep him from go quote, nuts after harsh interrogations. a developing story in london. six environmental protesters are attempting to climb the shard and refusing to come down. at 72 stories and 1,016 feet, it's the tallest building in western europe. one lucky girl is getting her dream car a little early. at 14 months. sarella stout was playing with her father's smartphone when she pressed all the right buttons and bought a 1962 austin healy sprite. the seller offered to cancel the sale, but paul says he looks forward to working on the fixer-upper with his daughter some day. i guess he's going to give it to her for her 16th birthday. >> oh, she's going to learn to work on cars. she is definitely going to be hands-on on that project. it's not going to be a surprise. it's a gift that you bought when you were little. time for a look ahead and a look back. in texas, the controversial abortion bill moves to the state senate. on wednesday, the texas state senate approved the ban on abortion after 20 weeks. president obama talks about immigration reform with two key senators, republican john mccain and democrat pat schumer helped craft a bill passed by the senate. and in 1979, nbc's reported on the fiery return to earth. >> pieces of skylab flashing in the dark entered the atmosphere and in a flaming conclusion marked the end of this final passage. i'm paige hopkins. thanks for watching "early today." have a good one. crews spend the night clearing crash debris off runway 28l. in this video you can see a crane removing wreckage. there's still a lot of work to be done before that runway can actually be reopened. dude morning to you. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm jon kelley. good morning everyone. the teardown of asiana flight 214 coming hours after the victims showed up at the scene to pay respects to the two teenage girls killed in that crash. "today in the bay's" bob redell is live in south san francisco with details on the very emotional return. bob, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jon and laura. ntsb investigators headquartered at this south