his royal maneuvers. from nbc news, this is "today," with matt lauer, and savannah guthrie, ve from studio 1a is rockefeller plaza. >> good morning, everybody. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. >> matt has the morning off today. following the new developments today, tied to the secret gathering of the phone and internet data of millions of americans. >> we know the man behind the leaks, a 29-year-old low level employee with a defense contractor, and one with a lot of access it would seem. he is now holed up in a hong kong hotel. we want to get with andrea mitchell with the latest. good morning to you. >> the man reveals himself as the source of some of the nations most guarded secrets to "the guardian" and "the post." >> i work for booze hamilton in hawaii. >> he copied top secret documents and flew to hong kong after becoming disillusioned at the cia and hardened over the programs. >> i am a guy that sits there in the office and watches what happening and goes, this is not our place to decide. the public needs to decide whether these policies are right or wrong. >> i spoke to the intelligence chief about the leak. >> this is someone for whatever reason has chosen to violate a sacred trust for this country. the damage that these revelations incur are huge. >> can i assume from that, can i infer that there has been a referral to track down the leak? >> absolutely. the nsa has filed a crimes report on this already. >> in a statement, he said snowden worked for the company for less than three months and they would work with authorities on the investigation. clapper said the top secret documents snowden leaked including a presidential order to choose foreign objects for cyber attacks. >> it's the directive, an egregious violation of a sacred trust. >> why do you need every telephone number? >> well, you have to start someplace. we refined it and tried to make it every more precise and disciplined. >> at the facilities analysts like snowden works on huge amounts of data. snowden disagrees. >> i sitting at my desk certainly had the authority to wiretap anybody from you and your accountant or a federal judge or the president if i had a personal e-mail. >> snowden faces prosecution if he cannot get asylum in a country like iceland, and they say the damage has led to an uproar in great britain. >> thank you. glenn greenwald is the columnist that broke the story. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> when was the last time you spoke with edward snowden? >> i spoke with him probably around five or six hours ago. >> has there been any contacts to him by the u.s. government, any agency, the u.s. government, as far as you know? >> no, i don't believe there has been any. i am not sure that they know where he is or how to communicate with him and they have not communicated with him to my knowledge. >> we just saw what snowden make a rather remarkable claim stating, quote, i sitting at my desk certainly had the authority to wiretap you, your accountant and a federal judge and even the president if i had a personal e-mail. let's make a tkaudistinction. he didn't say he had the ability to do it, he had the legal authority to do it. did you follow-up and say what the legal authority. >> no, that's not what he said. he said authority, not legal authority, and that's what you just quoted him as saying. what i am telling you is that is a misquotation, and the point you ought to be interested in instead of what you asked, people, thousands of them, they have the authority, meaning the nsa has given them the power to go in and scrutinize the communications of any american, and it may not be legal but they have the power to do it. because all this takes place in the dark, that's the reason why he felt so compelled to inform his fellow citizens about the capabilities this provides because it's conducive to abuse. >> it's an interesting point, right, he is saying doing so would be within the u.s. law, in other words, the u.s. law allows him to do something like this. >> i think the really important point here is that there have been many efforts on the part of the acla and other groups to go into court and challenge the constitutionalty of the surveillance systems, and to rule on what the obama administration and the bush administration is doing, and rather than letting the lawsuits proceed the government has said it's too secretive to allow the courts to review and because we do it all in the dark, nobody can prove they have been eavesdropped and do not have standing to sue. why can't they rule on whether they are being violated as citizens, and it's because they do everything in secret and that's why we need secret blowers to come forth so we have transparency on political officials. >> as you know james clapper called the revelations gut wrenching, and in response you tweeted save mellow dramatic and rhetoric for coming stories. you'll need it. >> right, in every single case in the past four or five decades when there are revelations of wrong doing, the government tries to come out and scare these people and say there is going to be a terrorists attack. there's not a single revelation that we provided to the world that remotely jeopardizes national security. the only thing jeopardized are the people in power who wanted to do this program in the dark. as journalists, i think our number one obligation should be not to allow the government officials to scare people every them, and there is not anything we disclosed that could be remotely conceivably said to harm the national security. >> thank you for your perspective this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> here is carl. >> there is growing concern over the health of nelson mandela. he is hospitalized right now with a reoccurring lung infection. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a statement just released by the south african's president's office is unchanged. over the weekend the doctors described his condition as serious but stable. in the short statement, he called on people here to pray for nelson mandela. only the closest to nelson mandela are visiting him in the hospital according to one south african newspaper today. there must be no distractions, the paper says, as doctors treat him for a lung infection. his children and grandchildren visited the hospital where he is thought to be treated, and the presidential spokesman announced his condition got worse. >> his condition deteriorated to where it found it was found necessary to hospitalize him. he is in a hospital now, and the doctor's report that his condition is serious but that he is stable. >> nelson mandela's lungs have been weakened while a political prisoner. he is 94 now and his country worries, shocked by pictures filmed by the south african broadcasting system with him looking frail. >> it's right in the middle, and all of us should be worried. >> reporter: another long-time friend telling a newspaper it's time to let nelson mandela go, but all across south africa, prayers for the father of the nation. nelson mandela fought to end the oppression of his people and now facing a different fight. perhaps we don't reflect enough on the sacrifice his family made while he was fighting and they were without him for the 27 years he was in prison, and now they face this difficult time. the president is calling on people to pray for his family, too. >> thank you so much. we are following breaking news in afghanistan. a violent attack in kabul this morning, and natalie is here with that story. >> an attack on the headquarters in kabul as coalition troops stop the ambush. duncan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. we are well into the taliban spring offensive. most are deadly for afghans and the international soldiers here, but this morning things were different. the people of kabul woke to the sound of another brazen taliban attack on their city. afghan forces pounded the building where insurgents were holed up with weapons and explosives which they brought in this truck. locals told me how they had to hide indoors. >> there were lots of explosions and attacks. >> reporter: they were targeting the airport bases, telling nbc news this was a show of strength to coalition forces, but a few hours later all the insurgents were dead and the walls of their hideout filled with bullet holes. this is another well-coordinated taliban attack choosing a high building overlooking an important western area. this time nobody was killed but the taliban's springtime offensive is still deadly. last month six americans were killed in the car bombing in the city. the difference this year, afghan forces are defending themselves. and they need to defend themselves because most of the u.s.-led troops will be gone from afghanistan by the end of next year. >> thank you. now let's head to wall street. good morning, mary. >> a weaker picture on wall street despite the credit rating of the vote of confidence in the u.s. economy. they are citing among other things, the resilient economy following friday's 207-point gain, the dow is now down 30 points. back to you. >> thank you. we are now learning the identity of the gunman that went on a deadly shooting rampage in santa monica on friday. we have the latest as the police search for that man's motive. >> reporter: 23-year-old left a trail of death and destruction where his father and brother were killed. he hijacked a car by opening fire. >> he had such a cold and hard stare. he was so focused. and i was just a body in his way. >> zawahri continued his rampage shooting at a city bus and other cars until he arrived at the santa monica college library. police recovered 1300 rounds of ammunition, gear and weapons. this morning they still don't know what triggered the killing rampage. on sunday the campus mourned the loss of two of his own. she was a 26-year-old student at the college, and her father also worked there as a groundskeeper for 22 years. >> this world is going to miss the francos. >> father and daughter, now innocent victims of a senseless crime. nbc news, los angeles the tallest building on new york city's governor's island is now rubble. on sunday they took down the apartment building that used to house coast guard families and now makes its way for a park. and then cyndi lauper was the stand out winner of the tony awards, taking home five statues including best musical. the biggest winner of the night, mr. patrick harris. with mike tyson there, you see they did go bigger. other winners of the night, tippin won for best revival of a musical. you are up-to-date. back to savannah, al and carl. >> mike tyson, the two of them together was an odd combination. >> al, he will never forget. >> and that was fantastic. let's get started off. take a look at this video. you saw the building implode. there's a storm coming in over reno, nevada. look at that. wham, wipes out downtown with a lot of heavy rain. let's show you what we have coming up in the east. a lot of heavy rain making its way into the mid mississippi and ohio river valley and all the moisture making its way up over a warm and stationary front and it will bring in showers and thunderstorms, and we will get to your local forecast in 30 seconds. people lose five times more weight following the weight watchers approach than trying on their own. you can, too. ♪ ♪ ♪ you've got the power ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ oh, yeah ♪ ♪ get the power ♪ the weight watchers 360 program. [ female announcer ] join for a dollar. and if you join by june 29th, you'll get a free summer starter kit. [ jennifer ] because it works. good morning to you. we still have sun clouds lingering over sunol. most of thec activity is clearing the east bay. not the case in the north bay. a lot of activity especially in sonoma county. look at all this lightning firing off. as of right now, most of the activity is well to the north of marin county. as we head throughout the next few hours, it will continue to taper off. watch out for slick conditions all the way throughout sonoma county. highs today will be cool, only ending up in the 70s inland. savannah? >> thank you. imagine how a crowd in britain felt when they realized a member of the royal family was flying in the skies above them. michelle kaczynski is in london with that story. good morning. >> reporter: i think people are used to prince harry wowing crowds. he may not be the crown prince, but the guy can rock an apache helicopter. up there in the sky, it's not an angry bird, it is a helicopter, and inside piloting that thing, making it roll virtually on its back, prince harry. the crowd at the air show in england didn't know harry would be in it, it was announced at the last minute just before he performed the jaw-dropping stunt. over the weekend it emerged that prince harry protected him from an anti-homosexual attack while serving and had become his friend. the young shoulder spoke highly of harry's support and professionalism and a down good to earth guy away from the spotlight. he will have stories to tell as a royal uncle as kate is seen shopping at a design show for fabric perhaps for the nursery, and they have plenty out there wondering if it's a girl or a boy. the arrival of the royal baby, the future queen or king, is only about five weeks away now, so get ready, savannah. >> all right, michelle kaczynski, thank you so much. how did it turn into a royal baby story? you start with the helicopter and then for the baby shopping with the nursery. >> he is handsome and a prince and flying a chopper, and -- >> yeah. >> and then to the royal baby. >> yeah. and then jury selection beginning this morning in the trial tied to the death of trayvon martin. we are live as george zimmerman heads to court in a matter of hours. and then the largest breast cancer charity and why some are for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created... a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more.. low and no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know... exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks... with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories... america's beverage companies are delivering. a pop super star in the making. he performs live for us. >> also the woman that declared herself to be the worst end-of-school-year-mom ever. >> she means that in the best possible way. the controversy over government snooping. >> if the u.s. went in are you sure that wouldn't be the first step in involvement in syria. >> a mouthful of love for paula dean. 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(announcer) it's more than just that great peanut taste choosing jif is a simple way to show someone how much you care. we can't wait to get you home. i love you mom. i love you too. we'll see you soon. choosey moms choose jif. with the fidelity american express credit card every purchase earns you 2% cash back which is deposited in your fidelity account. -is that it? -actually... there's no annual fee and no limits on rewards. and with the fidelity cash management account debit card you get reimbursed for all atm fees. -is that it? -oh, this guy, too. turn more of the money you spend into money you invest. it's everyday reinvesting for your personal economy. i woke up to a blistering on my shoulder. the blisters were oozing and painful to touch. i spent 23 years as a deputy united states marshal and i've been pretty well banged up but the worst pain i've experienced was when i had shingles. when i went to the clinic, the nurse told me that it was a result of having had chickenpox. i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. time is 7:26. good morning. i'm jon kelley. what started as a house fire in san franciscoc'ñ has become a crime investigation. firefighters found marijuana inside a burning home near golden gate park this morning. they say this was pretty tough to get the flames out because of all the marijuana in the rear of the house. crews pulled out hundreds of pot plants from the home. we're happy to report nobody was hurt in that fire. police also searching for the cause of a limo fire in walnut creek. a group of senior citizens inside the limousine were able to escape. the owner says i4rkq possible an electrical unit malfunctioned. san jose's mayor recommending $16.5 million to restore police officer pay and $8 million to maintain fire department staffing in this year's city budget. a budget hearing will be held tonight and the vote will go off tomorrow. a bright start to the morning right here in the bay úñ area. look in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. that is lightning lighting up the sky and striking around san jose. we like to show and tell. let's bring in our expert christina loren to tell us what's happening outside. >> good morning, jon. we're still dealing with lightning strikes. not so much in the south bay or the east bayñ where we did have some earlier this morning. now they're confined to north bay and sonoma county. ukiah getting quite a bit of realtime lightning strikes. all the moisture will pump through for the next couple hours anddae we'll see the showers wind down. it's just the north bay dealing with the bulk of that moisture. highs will be cool. rain-cooled air coupled with mostly cloudy conditions. 76 degrees inland. 69 bay side and 59 at the host today. let's check the drive. good morning, mike. >> good morning. we have things jamming up early this morning. now we're selling down. this is north 101 jammed past north of 680. it jams right around 680 towards san jose international airport. the green all over the map means there may be damp roads because of all the moisture christina was talking about. early morning rain in the tri-valley slowing for 680 and 880 through livermore. also slowing down towards the maze. >> thank you very much. another local update in a half hour. hope to see you then. have a good one. 7:30 now this m this monday morning, the 10th of june, 2013, we have a big crowd in rockefeller plaza. you may notice a lot of young girls out there, and one reason is because of 17-year-old austin mahone. he doesn't have a record yet, but he has a lot of hits on youtube. he is already a huge star and will perform for his fans, live. >> are you ready? >> that's how justin bieber got his start, online. yeah. >> and good morning. >> also ahead this morning, who is more burnt out at the end of the school year, kids or the parents? we are going to meet the mom of 5 behind a blog, it's worst year of school mom ever, and that's hitting close to home with a lot of parents. >> i think we can relate a little bit. and simon cowell gets more than he bargained for on the "britain's got talent" finale. and then ringo starr sharing photographs that he recently discovered. a huge talent. and jury selection getting under way tied to the death of trayvon martin. >> reporter: good morning, carl. in most second-degree murder cases in florida it would take a day to pick a jury, but this is unlike most cases. 500 perspective jurors have been called to the courthouse, and from that they will pick six jurors and alternates. they say jury selection co