out on top when the game went to overtime in miami? it's "way too early" for this. > good morning, i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show that's polling well in battleground states among likely voters with untreatable sleep disorders. i'm glad you're up with us this morning, watching on msnbc or listening on sirius xm radio. shoot me an email or tweet me @williegeist 1. or text your response to 622639. we'll read your best responses later. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this thursday, may 31st. a lot to tell you about, including seattle in a state of shock after a deadly shooting spree there yesterday. we'll have the latest. plus -- >> these damn bills that come up all the damn time, come out here

at the last second and i got try to figure out how to vote for my people. >> and an illinois state legislator absolutely melts down on the floor of the house. we'll tell you what got him worked up. first, the news live at 5:30 a.m. the options how to deal with the bloodshed in syria coming into focus. so far, little if any consensus on what needs to happen to stop the violence there. president bashar al assad is showing no signs of ending his brutal crackdown against opposition forces. and russia, which holds veto power in the united nations security council is vowing still to block international attempts to force him from power. the killing, meanwhile, continues with another 13 bodies discovered yesterday. apparently executed at close range. as many as 10,000 people have been killed in the 15-month uprising, 100 in a single massacre just last week. still, even if world powers wanted to get involved at this point, it's uncertain exactly

how successful foreign military intervention might be. u.s. ambassador to the u.n., susan rice, told andrea mitchell yesterday it's not even clear who is doing the fighting at this point. >> for those who are advocating our arming the opposition, they ought to consider the consequences of that approach. and also to ask frankly who are they arming inside of the syrian opposition. you know, you know, it is not a unified opposition, it's fragmented, they don't have common command and control, there are some extremist elements mixed in there. we know much less about the leadership and the intentions of the syrian opposition, than we did even of the libyan opposition at the time and i want to remind you that we did not arm the libyan opposition. >> ambassador rice warned the conflict could spread throughout the region, that would force the international community to consider whether it is prepared to take actions outside the u.n. security council. she did not, however, specify what those actions might be. for the latest, we turn to nbc

news foreign correspondent, ayman moheldin. we appreciate you being with us what are the syrian rebels calling for this morning? >> good morning, willie, we have a loose-knit group of revels made up of former army officers in the syrian government, many of them have defected. but many of them are joining the ranks. the free syrian army have given president bashar al assad for him to commit and abide by the six-point u.n. peace plan. after which they say if he does not abide, they have the right to respond and protect and defend civilians. the interpretation means a military escalation inside syria. that's what the inside leadership of the free syrian army says, the exiled leadership which is based out of turkey say

they want kofi annan to declare the peace plan dead today, so they can begin to take steps to defend their civilians. there's conflicting reports coming out of the free syrian army. they both degree that the u.n. peace plan is faltering, nearly dead and they're taking it upon themselves to defend civilians. the question is where are they going to get weapons and money. as you heard from ambassador rice, that's a sticking point. there's a concern as to where the weapons will end up. the syrian government says this is the problem it is facing. arms are coming from outside the country, fueling this insurgency. making it impossible for political dialogue to take place with the opposition. and they've announced they're releasing 500 political prisoners with no blood on their hands. as a goodwill gesture to the united nations and to the special envoy, kofi annan. you can get a sense that the crisis in syria has reached a bottleneck with no clear indication as to what lies ahead

in the next 48 hours. >> i'm not sure a goodwill gesture and the syrian government can go in the same sentence at this point. but we'll see what the international community can do from here. live this morning again from cairo, thanks so much for your reporting. new poll numbers this morning, zeroing in on three key battleground states that president obama won in 2008. but went to george w. bush in 2004. according to nbc news maris poll. president obama and mitt romney in a tie in colorado, iowa and nevada. the economy remains most important issue with 70% saying it will decide their vote for president. when asked which candidate would do a better job at handling the economy, iowans give mitt romney a slight edge. in colorado and nevada, it's a tie. despite the country's financial struggles, there are encouraging numbers for the president. the majority of voters believe the worst of the tough economy is behind us according to the nbc poll.

while roughly four in ten think there are bigger problems ahead. more than half of the voters polled say inherited conditions are to blame rather than the president's own policies. meanwhile, mitt romney is out in california today, continuing his west coast fundraising push. in an interview yesterday, the republican nominee said just because he's rich, doesn't mean he cannot connect with americans. >> there will be people, and you know this already, who will look at you as just a successful rich guy. >> like fdr and john f. kennedy. there have been plenty of people. this is not -- >> just from 30,000 feet. how do you respond to that? >> this is not a nation that divides people based upon whether they've been successful or not. we instead look at people and celebrate their success and their achievement and we look at people who have the skills, we think will make our lives better. >> and polling from the

"washington post" and abc news shows romney is closing the likeability gap with president obama. seen as a great strength for the president. also republican women have a lot to do with that. romney's favorability up to 41% according to the poll. within 11 points of the president. president obama did have a 21-point advantage just about a month ago. romney's favorability among female voters has jumped 13 points since april, while president obama has dropped seven points, 80% of republican women have favorable views of mitt romney. u.s. markets hoping to rally after a big selloff over fears of the spanish economy. the dow jones industrial average fell 61 points, while the s&p and the nasdaq both hit with losses. an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business with cnbc's geoff cutmore live in london. >> whatever the dow does today, quite frankly may well have been a very bad month for equity

markets, the dow currently off about 6% for the month as a whole. in that 160-point drop overnight. just compounding the pain here, and it's really not about the u.s. economy. which as you pointed out is looking a bill better on some of the data. it's about the fact that the spanish government is having to borrow now, at near 7% for ten-year money. and we continue to see markets nervous around what happens next in this eurozone debt crisis and whether there will be contagion into other european economies, and possibly across the waters over to you in the united states. so it is probably worth pointing out, the other impact of that has been to drive the ten-year treasury to the lowest yield we've seen since the second world war. and while it's costing the spanish government 7% as i say on ten-year money, the united states is managing to raise its cash at 1.6% for ten-year cash.

that's a bargain. back to you. >> all right. we'll see what the markets do today. geoff cutmore live in london. thank you. other news back at home, a mentally disturbed man is being blamed for a horrific killing spree that left five people dead in see at. the gunman killed four people at a busy see at cafe yesterday before fleeing to a parking lot. carjacking a woman, killing her. and turning the gun on himself. for most of the day, police knew only there were two murder scenes. but did not know for sure if the two were related. detectives turned to this surveillance photo from the coffee shop to try it track down the suspect. according to the "seattle times," it turned out to be a man named ian stawicki who had a history of mental illness and caused disturbance at the cafe just days earlier. the suspect's family telling the "seattle times," they could see this coming. in his brother's own words, quote, nothing good is going to come with that much anger inside you. seattle's mayor used the

incident to call on the community to end gun violence in the city. considered one of the worst dictators in modern history, former liberian president, charles taylor, is now facing 50 years in prison. the american-educated leader turned war lord was convicted last month at the hague for supporting rebels in sierra lee own, during the country's civil war that left more than 50,000 people dead. taylor stepped down in 2003 when rebels laid siege to his capital. the prosecutor in the case said in part the sentence does not replace amputated limbs, it does not bring back those who were murdered. taylor is the first former head of state since world war ii to be convicted by an international court. his attorneys calling the sentence excessive and are planning an appeal. still ahead on "way too early," the heat overcome a big deficit to send game two of the eastern conference finals to overtime. but did they have enough in the extra session to outdo rajon rondo's 44 points? highlights from the nba and game

one of the stanley cup finals ahead in sports. plus, she's the youngest competitor in the history of the national spelling bee. we'll see if the 6-year-old, who is smarter than both you and me can hang with the big kids. mark felt revealed as deep throat. the "washington post" source who helped bring down the nixon white house, has long been speculated about as deep throat. most experts say he had access to all the secrets. wake up!

that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. put me at 5 timesd out my greater risk of a stroke, my first thoughts were about my wife, and my family. i have the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin, but my doctor put me on pradaxa instead to reduce my risk of stroke. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) reduced stroke risk 35% better than warfarin. and unlike warfarin, with pradaxa, there's no need for regular blood tests.

that's really important to me. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition like stomach ulcers, or take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners, or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctor's approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. pradaxa is progress. having afib not caused by a heart valve problem increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you can reduce your risk with pradaxa. thought they were dead. [ laughter ] [ grunting ] huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup.

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take a look at a beautiful live picture of new york city from the top of our building. let's get a check of the weather from nbc meteorologist todd santos back with us today. todd, good morning. >> hopefully you brought the sunglasses today, what we're going to need from new york to d.c., a beautiful set-up across the area. same with boston. the last couple of days we've been talking about beryl, the system is out of here. just now getting outside radar range. we can see some of the clouds associated with it. 95 corridor looking good, the northernmost reaches of maine may get some showers, but clear skies across the mid-atlantic, across southeastern new england. the exception of southeastern massachusetts, a few clouds lingering around. temperatures are pretty ideal. the last couple of days it's been muggy. we've had some patchy fog around jfk, that's lifted a little. and south side of long island, some patchy fog to deal with early this morning. by later this afternoon, you're dealing with almost completely

clear skies across the area. 84 in philly with sunshine. a beautiful set-up for many of us. across the country, some warmer spots in the southwest, if you're traveling out towards chicago, one area to mention, we have some showers moving in right now. aside from that looking good. lower mississippi valley, best chance for thunderstorms, some of them down into northern florida. willie? >> todd santos, thanks for a look at the forecast. the heat beat up on a weary celtics team in game one of the eastern conference finals. game two, an overtime epic. lebron james, helping to lead his team back from a 15-point deficit. but couldn't get the bucket to go at the end of regulation. so we go to overtime. tied 99-99. dwyane wade takes the feed from lebron. the one-handed dunk and the foul. ties the game 101-101. rajon rondo, a jumper, two-pointer gave the celtics the lead, he had 44 points. the first player in nba history

to have 44, ten rebounds and eight assists, he had all 12 of boston's points in ot, but too much heat. the heat come back from an 15-point deficit to win game two, 115-111. the heat overcome the 44 points from rondo, game three is in boston tomorrow night. the spurs and the thunder pick up their series tonight in oklahoma city with the spurs trying now to win their 21st consecutive game. dating back to the regular season. before the game last night, the new orleans hornets grabbed the first pick in the nba draft lot i. and secured the right to take consensus top pick, anthony davis of kentucky with the number one pick on june the 28th. now, the nba bought the hornets in 2010 before selling the team to new orleans saints owner in april. the if you're on the twitter last night feeling a little

skeptical about the lottery's results, it used to be the conspiracy theory in '85 about the knicks getting ewing. no we have a conspiracy theory about the former nba-owned hornets getting the number one pick. denver nuggets point guard, ty lawson tweeted we didn't get to see the draft lottery balls being picked. despite having the best chance to get the number one pick, the michael jordan-owned charlotte bobcats who had the worst winning percentage in nba history will have to settle for number two. game one of the stanley cup finals last night. kings taking on the devils across the river in new jersey. first period, jordan nolan steals the puck, gives it to colin frasier, who finds the net to give the kings a 1-0 lead. in the second period, anton volchenkov scores for the devils. after a scoreless third period, we go to overtime. eight minutes into overtime,

kopitar with a game-winner on the breakaway, he dekes martin brodeur for the game winner and the kingts win on the road, they were the eighth seed coming out of the west. they have a one game to none lead in the stanley cup finals. yet to lose a road game in the playoffs this year. game two, saturday, 8:00 eastern on nbc. back in new jersey. to tennis, a day after seeing her sister knocked out of the french open in the first round, venus williams took the court for the second round. the seven-time grand slam champion facing third-seeded player from poland. going down in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, the first grand slam where williams sisters have played where neither sister would advance after the second round. baseball, the white sox facing the rays in st.

petersburg. after a white sox player was hit earlier in the game, wgn legendary announcer kenny hawk haroldson did not appreciate the decision by umpire brian wagner when the sox tried to even the score. >> watch out -- oh. >> what are you doing? he threw him out of the ball game? you got to be breaking me. what in the hell are you doing? what are you doing, wagner? >> what are you doing, wagner? kenny hawk haroldson. the sox won the game 4-3. their eighth win in a row. they've taken the lead in the a.l. central. coming up on "morning joe," new nbc poll shows how tight things are going to be in battleground states this fall. the states that will determine the occupant of the white house, next january. we'll kick around the numbers with our "morning joe" crew. and when we come back back here, we'll huddle up around the water cooler to watch one

illinois lawmaker get a little, i don't know, upset. while discussing the state's pension plan. uncover stronger, younger looking skin. [ female announcer ] new aveeno skin strengthening body cream helps transform dry, thinning skin, by strengthening its moisture barrier, for improved texture and elasticity in 2 weeks. reveal healthy, supple skin. aveeno skin strengthening. reveal healthy, supple skin. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the

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we told you at the top of the show, that the u.n. has been stymied on the question of what

to do in syria by china and russia, which says it will block any move to action. western and arab league countries maintain russia is in the best position to put pressure on the syrian government by discontinuing trade with syria. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that trade between syria and russia jumped 58% last year. with the two-way trade number climbing to $1.97 billion. 97% of that money comes from russian exports into syria. enough of the real news, let's huddle up around the water cooler to watch 6-year-old, 6-year-old lori ann madison of woodbridge, virginia, the youngest contestant in the history of the scripps national spelling bee. this is her star turn. let's watch little lori anne attempting her first word in the competition. >> dirigible.

d-i-r-i-g-i-b-l-e, dirigible. [ applause ] >> boom, no hesitation, six years old, walks up, she's on tv, the mike's too high, she nails the word, lori anne, good job. how would she do when the pressure is ramped up in round two? asked to spell a word referring to an obscure part of a bird's anatomy. come on, lori anne. >> ingluvies. >> ingluvies. e-n-g-l-u-v-i-e-s, ingluvies. >> that is incorrect. >> ingluvies is i-n-g-l-u-v-i-e-s. [ applause ] >> knocked her out. give her another chance at it she's six. sweet little girl. who gives her that word? lori anne, you can come on this show any day you want to.

lori anne madison, six years old, knocked out by a cruel, evil panel that likes to pick on sweet little girls. we like to keep you posted on the comings and goings, the doings of the illinois state legislature. on tuesday, republican state representative, mike bost of r murfreesboro expressed his dislike. >> total power in one person's hands, not the american way. these damn bills that come out here all the damn time? come out here at the last second. golden gate to try to figure out how to vote for my people! how ashamed are you, you should be! you should be ashamed of yourselves! i'm sick of it! every year! we give power to one person! it was not made that way in the constitution. he was around when it was written. now we give, we pass rules that

stop each one of us. enough! i feel like somebody trying to be released from egypt -- let my people go! >> my people go! moses? no, on the floor of the illinois state legislature. as animated and heated as he gets, the people around him. not reacting. the people around him? not even upset. still ahead, why are you awake? my bad.

tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ normal voice ] nope, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. [ normal voice ] same agent and everything. it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not.