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and welcome to "today" on this monday morning, i'm ann curry. >> and i'm lester holt, in for matt this morning. welcome back from cannes. >> okay, thank you so much. >> the story that they made you go? >> they made me go. they made me stay for two days. it was so hard. but no, it's really fun. >> great to be here with you today. we're talking about what happened in chicago over the weekend. things got a bit rough and tumble. this is the last day of the nato summit there with new protests planned, some downtown businesses have actually told their employees to stay home today. >> exactly. you can see why in these images from sunday. dozens were injured, including at least four police officers and demonstrators voiced their opposition to the war in afghanistan and other issues. protests that provided a rather unusual backdrop to one couple's wedding day photographs. she does not look particularly pleased about that. we'll have more on this straight ahead. >> also we're going to get the latest on the mysterious disappearance of a 10-month-old girl in missouri. you might recall the story of lisa irwin. she vanished from her own crib in the middle of the night last october. the girl's parents have not spoken publicly about the case in months. this morning they are here with us for an exclusive live interview to open up about what they believe could be a break in the case. >> all right, seven months. and it's pretty darn tough to imagine that. also we have a very rare sight that has millions of americans looking to the sky. we're going to show you more of these remarkable images of the so-called ring of fire eclipse. but we begin this morning with those violent clashes at the nato summit in chicago. nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd is there. chuck, good morning. >> good morning, ann. while the nato summit itself has been fairly low key, even agreeable, it's the protests outside the summit that have created the drama that can often be associated with events like these. at the nato summit sunday, chicago police experienced their toughest day yet dealing with protesters. while most of these demonstrations were orderly, skirmishes between police and some of the protesters became more frequent as the summit continued. avoiding even larger protests, particularly from occupy wall street, was a big unstated reason the white house moved saturday's g-8 summit to camp david. inside the nato summit, president obama's mission is clear, formalizing his pledge to end the afghanistan war by the end of 2014, and keeping afghanistan secure in the long-term. mr. obama acknowledged that goal before the summit even opened, sitting down with afghan president achchieveve complete transition to afghan lead for afghan security. >> reporter: now obama and karzai must convince nato allies that afghanistan is ready for the transition, and that continued nato investments in afghan security after 2014 will pay off. republican criticism of the president's afghanistan plan has been relatively muted. mitt romney's op-ed in sunday's chicago tribune voided the issue, instead saving criticism for proposed defense cuts. meanwhile, at mr. obama's campaign headquarters here in chicago, campaign aides are preparing another attack on mitt romney's bain capital career this morning. this time focusing on a paper company acquired by bain in 1992 that went bankrupt eight years later. but such attacks aren't sitting well, even with some of the president's biggest supporters, including newark mayor cory booker. >> i'm not about to sit here and indict private equity. to me we're getting to a ridiculous point in america. you look at the totality of bain capital's record it's done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses and this to me, i'm very uncomfortable. >> reporter: those remarks angered many of president obama's supporters, so booker took to youtube in an attempt to clarify. >> let me be clear, mitt romney has made his business record a centerpiece of his campaign. he's talked about himself as a job creator. and therefore, it is reasonable, and in fact i encourage it, for the obama campaign to examine that record and to discuss it. i have no problem with that. >> reporter: all right i want to go back to the protests here. the protests haven't been disruptive to the nato summit its service. bullet has been to chicagoans. look at the photos of a wedding party of tim and beth alberts. as you can see here, nato protesters in the financial district here of chicago, storming daly plaza, if you will, bride not very happy at all. and i think now we even have some footage of the wedding itself, just showing best laid plans. as you know, weddings, they get plann planned, ann, a lot farther in advance than even nato summits and they didn't see this coming. >> chuck todd, she still looked beautiful, though. that's at least one positive from that. it is now 7:05. here's lester. >> all right, ann, thanks. the music world paid tribute to robin gibb at last night's billboard music awards. wund of the founding members of the bee gees died sunday at the age of 62 following a long battle with cancer. nbc's jim maceda is in london with more on gibb's career and music. >> that's right. tributes are pouring in for robin gibb from fans and colleagues around the world, after the death of the bee gee with that signature voice. ♪ >> reporter: the bee gees were rock 'n' roll hall of famers whose music sold hundreds of millions of albums and now the gibb family has lost another one of its own. robin gibb following his younger brother andy and his twin maurice died after a long battle with cancer leaving fans stunned. >> they have such tragedy in the family. the three youngest siblings gone. this is not as nature intended. >> reporter: the british trio crossed over genres and in many ways defined the disco era. as its lead singer, robin gibb made his mark with a distinct voice. ♪ >> reporter: his song writing and vocals catapulting the bee gees, short for brothers gibb, just behind the beatles in popularity. ♪ >> reporter: born in england the bee gees began as a teenage act, when the family moved to australia in the 1950s. working hard on the tight, blended harmonies that became their hall mark. >> it became like football to other kids, it became a hobby. >> yeah. >> i mean, really just grew with the years into adulthood. ♪ >> reporter: their career took off back in england with the release of a series of sweet, achy ballads like "i started a joke" performed here live in las vegas. ♪ the joke was on me ♪ dancing >> reporter: but it was in the '70s when gibb and his brothers reinvented themselves with a breakthrough r&b soundtrack for a film called "saturday night fever." it sold more than 40 million copies. the bee gees were in a zone. >> the beatles had that, michael jackson had that, and the bee gees had that with the "saturday night fever" period. >> reporter: robin also had a successful solo career, despite his illness, gibb continued to work and give back. active in many charities, he rerecorded his 1960s hit, i've got to get a message to you, in support of british soldiers. recently gibb had composed a classical work with his son robin john. their titanic requiem was performed on the 100th anniversary of that sea disaster. but by then, gibb was too ill to attend. >> we wanted to take a moment to pause and remember -- >> reporter: at the billboard awards last night, a moment of silence. >> his voice and the music of the bee gees will live on forever. >> reporter: robin gibb died at 62. a driving force in one of pop music's biggest brandings. and besides all these bee gees songs, gibb also wrote hits for female vocalists like barbra streisand and celine dion. one british music critic says gibb was more talented than even he ever knew. lester? >> all right, jim maceda, thanks very much. it's now 7:09. here's ann. >> lester, thank you. the jury in the criminal trial of john edwards reconvenes for deliberations this morning. a trial that has taken a toll on the former presidential candidate. nbc's lisa myers is in greensboro, north carolina, once again this morning. lisa, good morning. >> hey, ann, good morning. this morning the jury begins its second day of deliberations, and given its request for office supplies, a blackboard, and a master list of hundreds of exhibits, it looks like we could be here awhile. that was john edwards last fall. >> try to get your attention. >> reporter: today the cheerful banter with reporters is long gone. replaced by the obvious strain. >> how are you feeling? >> reporter: of his three-year legal battle and four-week trial. here he is last fall, arriving to his pretrial hearing. >> good morning. >> reporter: here he is last week. >> good morning. >> reporter: in the closing hours of his trial. >> this has had an emotional toll on him, it's had a physical toll. the way he carries himself, his facial expressions, his shoulders are a bit slumped. he's moving slowly. and the strain is palpable. >> reporter: the eight-man, four-woman jury includes teachers, mechanics, a retired accountant, and a financial consultant. they musts decide whether or not edwards is guilty of six felony counts, alleging that he knowingly violated campaign finance laws, to hide his mistress, rielle hunter, while he ran for president. on friday, jurors asked to review exhibits, having to do with $725,000 provided by heiress rachel "bunny" mellon. to convict the jury must determine that edwards knew he was breaking the law beyond a reasonable doubt. >> i think there is doubt about john edwards' state of mind, and whether he had the requisite criminal intent. there was never a smoking gun. >> reporter: but edwards' lawyers appeared upset over judge's instructions to the jury on a critical issue. what constitutes a campaign contribution? >> the instructions given by the sort favor the government. >> reporter: the issue is whether each donor gave money to hide hunter mostly to save edwards marriage, or mostly to get him elected. >> instead of having to prove that that money was used for the sole purpose of promoting john edwards' campaign, the government just has to show now that it was a purpose. >> reporter: john edwards, his family, and his lawyers will again be waiting inside the courthouse, while the jury deliberates his fate. >> all right, lisa mayors. once again here's lester. >> we want to catch folks up with the story of that young georgia woman fighting for her life after being infected with a rare flesh-eating bacteria. she's now breathing on her own, this just days after doctors had to amputate her hands and remaining foot. gabe gutierrez is in augusta with the latest for us. gabe, good morning. >> lester, good morning. we've learned of a third case with ties to georgia being treated here, the same hospital where 24-year-old aimee copeland is recovering. in a new blog post aimee's father says that she's now breathing on her own, she's off the respirator and even cracking jokes. a significant improvement since the amputations late last week. aimee copeland's emotional roller coaster, documented in her dad's facebook posts. andy copeland writes while his daughter faced losing her hands and feet she did not lose her sense of humor. on wednesday he remembers telling her, aimee, you are as priceless as the mona lisa. his daughter shook her head and mouthed the words, i'm nothing like the mona lisa. she doesn't have eyebrows. by the next day, though, her condition worsened. her father says he finally told her about the accident, how she had contracted the flesh-eating infection while continuelining with her friends. i took aimee's hands and held them up to her face, he writes. she didn't draw back in horror. she knew the condition she was in. when doctors said they'd have to amputate her hands and remaining foot, she smiled and raised her hands up. we all understood her next three words. let's do this. copeland is not the only one battling necrotizing fasciitis. a south carolina woman contracted the flesh-eating infection just days after giving birth to twins in an atlanta capital. she remains in critical condition in greenville. >> she does respond sometimes. you can see it in her blood pressure, or she has opened her eyes a little bit at times. but that's pretty much about it. >> reporter: but now there's a third case with ties to georgia. bobby vaughn is a landscaper from cartersville. he spoke to "today" by phone from his hospital room. >> i was just -- i was working one day, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks. boom. >> reporter: he says he's been through five surgeries, where doctors removed almost two pounds of infected tissue near his groin. >> i still don't know the extent of this thing. you know. i don't know -- i mean, i was told i was close to death. >> reporter: but he's thankful he's now in good condition. and his thoughts are with aimee copeland, who is just a few rooms away at this augusta hospital. the young woman still fighting for her life. experts estimate that these types of infections are rare. they think there are about several hundred cases in the u.s. each year. with about one in four being fatal. lester? >> all right, gabe gutierrez this morning at augusta, thanks. that's disturbing stuff. >> i know. we want to make a turn now and get the rest of the mornings's top stories. natalie is on assignment so savannah is at the news desk. >> good morning. former rutgers student dharun ravi faces sentencing today. he was convicted of hate crimes for using a web cam to watch his roommate tyler clementi kissing another man. clementi committed suicide just days after that incident back in 2010. ravi could face up to ten years in state prison. the funeral is today for convicted lockerbie bomber abdelbaset al megrahi. megrahi denied responsibility for the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103 which killed all 270 people on board, including 189 americans. megrahi was found guilty back in 2001 but then freed in 2009 by scottish officials and returned to libya, because it was believed he would soon die of his cancer. three years later, on sunday, he died in tripoli at 60 years old. dozens of aftershocks have rattled survivors of sunday's magnitude 6 earthquake in northern italy. officials say at least five people were killed, and historic buildings damaged in a rural area near the town of bologna. three climbers have died descending from the top of mt. everest this weekend. two other climbers have also gone missing since saturday on the world's tallest mountain. nearly 3700 people have scaled mt. everest since 1953, and at least 236 people have died attempting that climb. new complications today in the trayvon martin murder trial. nbc's kerry sanders is in miami with the latest on this. kerry, good morning. >> good morning, savannah. a special prosecutor angela corey says florida public record laws are the problem. all of the evidence that she's released so far is on the internet and she doesn't like it. >> because the public's right to know -- >> reporter: at a political forum in jacksonville, rare public comments as the special prosecutor, angela corey, unloaded on florida's 45-year-old public records law. >> i would say that nothing should be public until the trial. >> reporter: florida's law forced the prosecutor to release 183 pages, and five gigabytes of files, including surveillance video of 17-year-old trayvon martin just minutes before he was shot dead. and dozens of audio files, including a recording with trayvon martin's girlfriend. >> did you have conversations with him that day? >> yes. >> reporter: in the recording, martin's girlfriend says she was on the phone with him just moments before 28-year-old george zimmerman fired a fatal shot. >> and he's saying the guy looks what? >> crazy. >> and did you say -- >> and creepy. >> reporter: the evidence released has been criticized as underwhelming, leading corey to believe too many are judging her case as unwinnable. >> i don't know where people think they have a right to try a case by internet. >> reporter: florida requires all the evidence to be made public, in part, to hold elected officials accountable. >> stop trying any of our cases in the media. let us try them in the courtroom. >> reporter: george zimmerman's attorney, mark o'mara. >> one thing you have is security of the witnesses. i want to make sure we get their testimony straight and true and not impacted by any concerns they have over publicity. >> this is not a new complaint in florida. back in the 1970s, during serial killer ted bundy's trial prosecutors complained about the same thing. but when lawmakers passed this law back in 1967 they said it had one goal, fair justice for everyone, including the accused. savannah? >> all right, kerry sanders in miami. thank you. and finally, a rare annular solar eclipse had millions of people from asia to the western united states looking at the sky. the so-called ring of fire eclipse was last seen here in the u.s. back in 1994, and don't worry if you missed it. there will be another one in 11 years. ann, lester and al back to you. >> not that long a wait. >> but you know, through the miracle of television and pictures it's pretty remarkable to look at, isn't it? >> the best place to see it was in japan. we got to see -- >> all right. so mr. roker tell us about the weather today. >> well, we have some video not quite as spectacular, but still a little frightening if you are in south central kansas. look at this, i mean, a very strong storm making its way across, luckily hit rural kansas. there were no reports of injuries. there was minor damage. but for the most part, about a dozen of these touched down during the weekend. look at it going through that wind turbine. man. they're going to have to do a little repair work on that. let's see what we've got right now. tropical storm alberto is 100 miles east/northeast of st. augustine, florida. it is not going to make landfall. makes its way off the coast and continues on out into sea. well, we've got a really good-looking day shaping up. good morning, i'm christina loren. highs will end up in the 70s and 80s everywhere except for right by the water. san francisco getting very close to that 70-degree mark today, 68, 78 in san jose, 81 degrees in livermore. tomorrow we're going to start out with more low cloud cover. wednesday and thursday, we increase your clouds and maybe get a stray shower in the north bay on friday. and that's your latest weather. ann? >> all right, al. thanks. it was a big weekend in britain as the country gears up for a huge summer. nbc's michelle kosinski joins us from london with more on that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. in england, you almost come to expect i mpeckably done pomp an circumstance, but then your just surprised. this was one of those times all weekend long. all for their queen. the military mustered at this 1,000-year-old castle. >> chest out, head held high. love this. >> reporter: but all of london feels like a celebration with much more to come. cakes are being engineered. velvet thrones hammered. bells forged and tested. more than 1 million buttons to be sewn on one banner. >> if we're not on time, it might be off with my head. >> reporter: and the queen has been all over the place, meeting her subjects, having tea, dodging hail stones, planting trees, in a duck boat, visiting rhinos, cracking jokes. she even got a sombrero. it was a magnificent lunch, british royals welcoming the crown heads of the world. 24 kings and queens, princes and princesses, an emperor, a sultan, followed by a dinner fit for royalty. so outside the palace gates, not everyone appreciated the guest list. king mswati of swaziland, who brought an entourage and one of his 13 wives, the king of bahrain, and others provoked some controversy. but at dawn, everybody getting along