>> jay: duffy! that was great. oh, that was beautiful. thank you so much. fantastic. i want to thank my guests, janet jackson, jesse tyler ferguson, of course, duffy. tomorrow night -- next up, "jimmy fallon!" forget tomorrow night! "jimmy fallon!" "jimmy fallon" coming up right now. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this morning on "early today," next stop. president obama arrives at his boyhood home of indonesia and the second leg of his asian tour. an nbc news exclusive, president george w. bush in his first one-on-one television interview since leaving the oval office. and blazing inferno, a train collision causes a massive fuel and blazing inferno, a train collision causes a massive fuel explosion in poland. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning.

welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with returning to his roots. this morning, president obama is visiting indonesia, a country he called home for part of his childhood. his arrival has been long awaited for indonesians. there was some uncertainty due to the recent deadly volcanic eruptions. the trip will likely be cut short because of the ash. the trip was delayed twice in the past so the president could deal with domestic issues. but the president's schedule is packed and it will leave him no time to walk down memory lane in his old neighborhood. he'll attend an official dinner, tour the country's largest mosque and speak at university in indonesia. new security rules are in effect today banning cargo from yemen and prohibiting airline passengers from traveling with large toner or ink cartridges in

checked or carry-on luggage. the tougher restrictions are in direct response to the foiled terror plot that could have taken down planes in the united states last month. in a statement yesterday, janet napolitano said that, quote, these security measures reflect our commitment to using intelligence measures to stay ahead of adversaries. more than two years after leaving office, former president george w. bush is now opening up about his time as commander in chief. ahead of the release of his memoirs today, mr. bush sat down with matt lauer for a frank conversation about some of the most controversial issues he faced. among them, the search for weapons of mass destruction. >> your words, no one was more sickened or angry than i was when we didn't find weapons of mass destruction. you still have a sickening feeling when you think about it. >> i do. >> was there ever any consideration of apologizing to the american people? >> i mean, apologizing would basically say the decision was a

wrong decision. and i don't believe it was the wrong decision. >> the former president also seemed eager to talk about one of the most contentious issues of his presidency, torture, specifically, waterboarding. >> i said to our team, are the techniques legal? and a legal team says, yes, they are, and i said, use them. >> why is waterboarding legal, in your opinion? >> because the lawyer said it was legal. it didn't fall within the anti-torture act. i'm not a lawyer, but you have to trust the judgment of people around you, and i do. >> and mr. bush cleared up apparent confusion about t.a.r.p., the government's attempt to bail out troubled banks. >> a recent poll said they asked people who created t.a.r.p. 50% of the people said barack obama. >> oh, yeah? well, 50% of the people are wrong. it happened under my watch. >> well, former president george w. bush joins matt lauer for an exclusive interview tomorrow morning on "today."

you can see more clips from the the interview with the former president and read excerpts from his book "decision points" at decisionpoint.msnbc.com. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in new york, a robbery suspect got a beatdown himself when he tried to rob a convenience store. surveillance shows the suspect entering the store, going behind the counter and opening the register. but the clerk grabbed a garbage can and fought back. the suspect did eventually get away with an unknown amount of cash. illinois police and the fbi are looking for a man they've dubbed the swine flu bandit, who they say is responsible for at least ten bank heists, the last two occurring just yesterday. the suspect tells bank employees he's recovering from the swine flu during the heist. the fbi is now offering $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

in illinois, a world war ii era plane was fished from the deep waters of lake michigan. the fighter bomber slid off the "uss wolverine" and into the lake during a training mission in 1943. experts say the fuselage is in remarkable condition and it will be restored in florida. in california, electro rock fans rejoice. your famed mammy rock made her debut sporting signature headphones, bringing down the house in front of 3,000 fans. how does this 69-year-old feel about her adoring fans? she says they're rather lovely. she's got some moves there. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, could you go toe to toe with the granny nanny there? >> no, but i have a feeling she'll an great grandmother doing the same exact thing some day. >> a great grandmother?

oh, i see. >> yeah, keep going. >> a little early, bill. not connecting there. >> we'll work one generation at a time with you, lynn. let's chat about the storm system approaching the northwest. still a little more than snow around satisfaction lalt lake c. quickly on its heels is another storm racing on shore. this one going to be a quick hitter. morning rainfall for the morning commute, a little rain will continue into the afternoon. and then it will exit pretty quickly. so the storm is back out here over the ocean. it will be diving down to the south here. rain is just starting to pick up on the coast it willtal areas. we will see snow in the olympics, so this winter weather advisory there and even much of the cascades. you can see so far very limited moisture, but it's starting to increase on the coast and right during the heart of the rush hour is when we'll really start to pick up and continue throughout much of the morning. maybe at most an inch of rain higher elevations. so bring the umbrella seattle all the way south down to

medford. and it is cooler.degrees. not a lot of wind with this system, mostly just a wet weather event for about the first half of the day. we'll talk about the wednesday forecast coming up. >> all right, bill, thanks. also coming up, gold hits an ooul tame high, oil hits its high for the year and the pill that will tell on you if you don't take it. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's been accused of being in total denial. now lindsay lohan's mother explains why she never spoke up about what everybody else seems to know. bengals and steelers go down to the wire. the cowboys pull the trigger and an unthinkable trick play.

it's a good one. 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. tony hayward admits the company was unprepared for the gulf of mexico oil spill forcing bp to improvise solutions and that evaporating credit took the company close to financial disaster. in a bbc interview later today, hayward says bp's contingency plans were in-adequate and, quote, we were making it up day to day. he u.s. state department says it is, quote, deeply disappointed by israel's plan to build more than 1,300 new homes in disputed east jerusalem. the announcement comes as israel prime minister netanyahu discusses restarting peace talks.

after a brutal home invasion, mr. pettit feels a sense of justice after a jury sentenced his family's murderer to death yesterday. after four days of deliberations, steven hayes was given the death penalty for raping and strangling pettit's wife and helping to burn his two daughters alive back in 2007. an assistant attorney general in michigan is out of a job, fired after targeting an openly game student assembly president at the university of michigan and then lying about his actions to investigators. andrew shervall, who could face charges, wrote on his blog that the student leader was a, quote, racist and liar who promoted a radical homosexual agenda. and a massive fireball lit up the sky in poland after two freight trains carrying tanks of oil collided yesterday. two train conductors were hurt in the explosion, but officials say their injuries are not life threatening.

>> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at 11,406 after falling 37 points yesterday. the s&p shed two points. the nasdaq edged up one. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 38 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng lost 253. christmas doesn't last forever, and neither do rallies on wall street. the rally that brought stocks to their highest level since the peak of the financial crisis in 2008 quietly petered out yesterday. financial stocks were the biggest losers on the dow and s&p 500. insurers were hit worse. travelers was off 1.5%. bank shares also fell and that could continue today. traders view the fed's plan to keep interest rates near record lows as hurting bank profits. one bank stock, however, bank of america, rose almost 2%, making it the best performer on the dow. the dollar rose, hurting

exporters like caterpillar down 0.5% and boeing off 1.5%. on the nasdaq, technology gains helped that index edge up. apple rose 0.5%. gold powered to an all-time high above $1,400 an ounce. moving mining and material stocks higher. coal producers rose on strong demand from steelmakers and renewed merger talks. alpha natural resources shot up almost 9%. arch coal gained almost 5% and consul energy rose close to 4%. oil reached a new high for the year, settled over $87 a barrel. oil has risen more than 16% since labor day. elsewhere, amazon will start paying publishers 70% of the retail price when they sell magazines and newspapers on its kindle reader. finally, within 18 months, novartis plans to seek approval for a pioneering tablet containing a microchip that one day will be able to transmit to your doctor not only things like your heart rate and temperature

but also whether you take your prescription and whether they're working properly. much better than just an aspirin, huh? the cowboys head coach gets the ax. superman flies past the hawks. and a treat of a trick play. plus, the man known as t.o. was hauling in tds last night in cincinnati and taking out security guards in the process. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. one storm exits new england. one storm enters the northwest. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." the black widow spider's severe bite

can cause coma and even death. the african black mamba can kill a man with one bite. but there's an even deadlier predator cigarettes, produced by big tobacco,

which take a life every six point five seconds. don't be big tobacco's next victim. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, the dallas cowboys began the season with super bowl aspirations and now, after just one win through eight games, someone has to pay the price. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. after weeks of saying he would not make a coaching change, cowboys owner jerry jones finally had enough. he fired head coach wade phillips after the cowboys were humiliated sunday night by the packers. offensive coordinator jason garrett takes over for phillips. cowboys have lost five straight. they're a dismal 1-7. then we go to cincinnati, bengals and steelers. ben roethlisberger handed it off

to antwaan, a great trick play, steelers up, 27-7. bengals came roaring back, carson palmer to owens. t.o. took out the security guard. bengals cut the lead 27-21. that was as close as they would get. final seconds, jordan couldn't make the grab and steelers hang on to win it, 27-21. basketball, magic and the hawks, the magic up four at the half. vince carter took over down the stretch, tough lay-up and one. magic remain perfect at home. 93-89. >> celtics and mavericks. rondo, the alley-oop, celts up. moments later, dirk nowitzki with the fade away and he got it. dallas took the lead. 17 seconds to play. last chance for boston, but garnett's shot way off the mark. the mavs snap the celts' five-game win streak, 89-87. finally, if you thought the trick play by the steelers was

good, look at this one from corpus christi, texas. the quarterback pretended the ball was mismarked and was going to give it to the referee. and there he goes. he faked everyone out and bolted 67 yards for the score. forget about football. get that kid an acting gig. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, what johnny depp doesn't want you seeing him doing with angelina jolie. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, dogs of all shapes and sizes make their bid for hollywood stardom. only it was easier for some than others. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. it was windy night outside of los angeles, high wind warnings in some of the passes and down throughout mountain canyons. today 71 and sunny and those winds should be dying down. 59 only in vegas. very cold behind that cold front swinging through the rockies. new storm system moving in to the northwest today, rain will be increasing during the day. tomorrow, that shifts further to the south and heads into the rockies. tomorrow should be dry in the northwest. if you're watching us on kgw news channel 8 in portland, explore traditional and modern works of chinese art at the

chinese art show at the lan su chinese garden. and that's your pacific event of the day. >> all right, bill, thanks. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the english tabloids are reporting johnny depp has demanded a sexy shower scene that he did with angelina jolie be cut from their movie. not because it wasn't good, but because it was too good. depp's wife is jealous of the time he's been spending with jolie. the reports go on to say she'll be even more jealous if she sees the shower scene. in an exclusive interview with matt lauer yesterday on "today," lindsay lohan's mother finally admitted that her daughter is an addict. she claims she had not been in denial up until now but it was not her place to talk about it until her daughter was comfortable with admitting she was an addict herself. and harrison ford tells access hollywood that george lucas is

working on a script for a fifth indiana jones movie and if he and lucas and spielberg can all agree on a script, that they would love to do another one. this comes to us from los angeles, california. one group of dogs would jump through hoops to become stars. the group is lined up, ready to get wet and they're hoping that their high flying leaps and boogie boarding talents will score them a spot for next year's rose parade. for most of these dogs, it's a fun day at the pool because they have no idea what's going on. >> and that was the best float last year was the one that had the surfing dog. fantastic. >> the bug dog, yeah. we'll see what happens this year. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

artwork many thought had been lost forever has been uncovered. nearly a dozen sculptures condemned by hitler's regime were discovered beneath a construction site and went on display. the bronze and terra cotta statues are believed to be part of a collection of 15,000 works, thought to be destroyed by nazis for an anti-nationalist theme. this next story may have you scratching your head. bolivia celebrated its traditional human skull festival. actual skulls were brought to a cemetery to be given offerings.

the skulls had been decorated and cared for be relatives. according to local indigenous beliefs, honoring human skulls brings good luck to the living. kind of scary there. if you think snooki has mastered wacky hair, take a look at this. paris hosted the world's largest hair dressing fashion show. the runway was full of wild up-dos and interesting styles, but ironically, this year's show pushed for products that were more natural as opposed to the hair itself. >> you'd have to get to work like three hours early. >> i know. right now it's like 15 minutes. they blow dry it and they're done. unfortunately, we're going to stick with this. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in virginia, an arraignment hearing is scheduled for the man charged in an alleged plot to bomb subway stations in the washington, d.c. area. it is world freedom day, a

day marking the opening of the berlin wall. on this day in 1989, restrictions were lifted between east and west berlin. that prompted celebrations that led people to break down the berlin wall, once a symbol of the cold war. and tonight, the kennedy center awards, the mark twain prize for american humor. to "30 rock's," tina fey is expected to attend the event, steve corell, jimmy fallon and betty white. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. michael jackson's children speak out for the first time since the pop icon's tragic death. actress diane keaton talks about life behind the anchor desk in her new film "morning glory." now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

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