this is on early today, the fbi investigates a potentially catastrophic bomb plot at a martin luther king jr. day parade in washington state. fired up. a massive deadly gas explosion rocks a philadelphia neighborhood. >> and wrong turn. surveillance video captures a car going through a storefront in england. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good mornkn9ñ welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with tragedy

averted. this week americans mark the martin luther king hol holiday, a day that's supposed to be championing nonviolence, but we're now learning that someone may have had a very sinister plan for one tribute to dr. king. a potentially lethal bomb was planted on the parade route of a martin luther king on monday morning. the device was spotted just about an hour before the parade which was rerouted. a bomb disposal unit safely disabled the bomb. so far there are no suspects and no clear motives. for the first time arizona officials are publicly describing the chilling surveillance video that shows a gunman shooting congresswoman gabrielle giffords at close range before unleashing fire on the crowd. the footage reveals that judge john appears to have died while trying to save the life of one of giffords employees. meanwhile, in one of our interviews with an oflat there,

kvoa, giffords' husband reveals that his wife had expressed fear about being shot at one of her public events. >> she was afraid that that could happen. at the same time, you know, she was doing what she loved, just representing people of southern arizona. >> mark kelly says he still hasn't made up his mind on whether he will command the last space shuttle mission in april. well, the nation's capital is the center of global attention this morning as president obama plays host to chinese president hu jintao in a meeting of the world's top two hours. tracie potts has more on that. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: several meetings. it's going to be a busy day for president hu jintao, starting off with a private meeting with president obama, and then sitting down with some of america's top ceos to talk about how to make it easier for americans to do business in

china. the issue of trade and devaluing of china's currency is a big one. they will talk about that. also at that meeting several chinese companies who will say that it's their investment in the united states that is creating jobs here. over the course of this four-day visit, president obama also expected to talk with the chinese president about north korea and whether or not they can influence north korea to st its provocative behavior. human rights sure to come up as well. this is such a highly anticipated visit that many times square promotional videos where some pop chinese stars will be running 300 times a day while he is here. finally, i should also mention that here on capitol hill today is that much anticipated vote to repeal health care. it's expected to pass the house, but want the senate. lynn. >> tracie potts in washington. thank you. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in pennsylvania an enormous malgas explosion rocked the

residential neighborhood killing a utility worker. that blast occurred as firefighters and utility employees worked to pass up a ruptured gas line. four other workers and one firefighter were transported with injuries to local hospitals. in texas a few cows had to move out of the way of one police chase. a suspect led police on a high speed chase that ended when his vehicle crashed through a fence and into a cow pasture.ç the suspect was arrested, while none of the cows were hurt. in florida an elderly woman was dragged through a parking lot after two female suspects in a passing vehicle snatched her purse. the 78-year-old was the latest victim in a string of drive-by purse snatchings. she sustained bruises and cuts all over her body but should survive. in new york every day is a great day for a workout, right? ah. even in the cold. one 58-year-old has gone for a swim and a run every day for

more than three years rain, shine, or sleet. he started it as a way to release stress, but now he says he can't think of any other way to start his day. a warm shower would be nice, but, you know, to each his own. now for a look at the national weather we turn to bill carem. >> how about we show people running on the beach in california. >> sunny every day? they don't get my credit for swim and running every day. >> let's see what's happening weather-wise. we have a mu storm system moving through the rockies currently. fascinating that the weather pattern has set up pretty much the same way for much of the last three to four weeks with the jet stream taking the dip of either through the pacific northwest or up here into canada and then dropping down these storms through the inter-mountain west or the

rockies. we're looking pretty dry today at least. high pressure protects you. all the stormy weather is heading east across the country, and as long as this high pressure sets up in this position, we're dealing with nice warm conditions still in arizona, southern nevada, and much of southern california. these morning lows are not even that low. it's not bad. it's still jacket weather, but 55 in l.a. to start your morning. we're not even that cold up by five either. medford, portland, seattle, everyone is above freezing this morning. that's good. your forecast today, partly cloudy, into the 40s. we'll take it. still beautiful. look at that. l.a. and phoenix, both mid 58. outside mav nav, 38 degrees. we'll call it partly cloudy and dry. is it starting to get obvious

how envious i am about the warm, great weather in california. >> unfortunately, here on the east coast, we experience quite a bit, so i don't blame you. well, apple zings, ibm kicks, and boeing slides. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, seems like he has been around forever, but you just can't take him for granted any longer. coming up, more bad karma for lebron and the heat. one tennis player giving new meaning to flying off the handle. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. >> two men are facing federal criminal charges for allegedly discovering a security loophole on at&t's website and stealing e-mail addresses and data from more than 100,000 users of

apple's i pad. those affected by the breach included military personnel, members of congress,ç and high profile media personalities. a judge in haiti is deciding whether the president will be tried on charges, including corruption and embezzlement. devalir made a shocking surprise visit and returned to haiti earlier this week after 25 years in exile in france. friends and family are mourning the loss of sergeant shriver this morning. the first director of the peace corps and president john f. kennedy's brother-in-law. the 95-year-old deed yesterday at a suburban washington d.c. hospital after battling alzheimer's for years. surveillance video captured a driver losing control of her car before slamming into a convenience store. the damage was extensive, but, fortunately, no one was hurt. and england's prince william and fiance kate middleton aren't having a baby just yet, but politicians are working to

change an ancient law that favors boys over girls. the law would give equal opportunity status in the line to the throne favoring the first born regardless of sex. now here's your early look at one of your top health headlines on nbc.com. new research shows many daily skin creams claiming to provide ultraviolet protection and anti-aging benefits may not have enough critical ingredients to block uva light. currently spf levels on labels only reflect uvb protection. companies aren't required to provide protection levels for equally harmful uva rays. those may be susceptible to skin darkening and redness. you can check out the health page at msnbc.com for more information. >> early today health is brought to you by vagisil, bring yourself back. >> here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the

day. the dow opens at 11,837 after gaining 50 points yesterday. the s&p edged up a point. the nasdaq added ten. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei climbed 38 points, while in hong kong the hang seng was up 265.ç mother round of impressive earnings for apple will likely keep investors happy. at least for now. after the bell yesterday apple revealed it blew past wall street's earnings estimates by more than $1 a share thanks to record sales of macs, iphones, and ipads. though closed down 2% in the wake of news that ceo steve jobs is taking indefinite leave of absence to focus on his ongoing health problems. ibm also posted stellar earnings after hours as businesses around the world spent more money on service contracts. boeing shares boosted the dow yesterday, soaring 3% after estimating a third quarter delivery date for its long delayed 787 jet. meanwhile, nasa has released art

of conception what jetliners could look like in the future. design teams from boeing, lockheed martin and northrup drummond are working on energy-efficient claims. delta airlines blamed a brutal season of storms for its unexpectedly lower earnings report. the airline's stock tumbled 8%. citigroup's weaker than expected earnings dragged its shares 6% lower. meanwhile, the "wall street journal" report, citi is on the verge of hiring john haver as president and coo. a long-awaited decision from federal regulators cleared the way for comcast to purchase a majority stake in nbc universal from ge, the current owner of this network. a deal is expected to close by the end of the month. keep an eye on goldman sachs. the investment bank reports earnings before the bell this morning, and finally, you won't believe who is behind apple's most popular free app, bubble ball, which has been downloaded two million times. a 14-year-old utah boy who says he is already working on mother one.

makes me feel like a slacker. coming up, an nba stunner. a college win are at the horn, and an equipment problem on the tennis court you probably don't see every day. plus, atlanta's josh smith shows the boys from south beach a thing or two. your early morning sports is straight ahead. active winter weather continues across the country. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if are you just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, as in life, money doesn't necessarily buy you everything. just ask the currently struggling miami heat. here's knowns's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. ever since lebron james set out his infamous tweet about the cavs last week, the heat have dropped four straight, and lebron missed two of those with a sprained ankle. james is now back, but chris bosh is out with an injury, and the hawks took full advantage of a hobbling heat. pick it up in the fourth. smith with a page out of lebron's playbook. a huge dunk. more on smith in a moment. hawks down two. joe johnson forced it in overtime. at one point lebron scored 15 straight for the heated. the three-pointer tied it. last minute of o.t. smith drove on dwyane wade, and got the go ahead bucket. one last chance for the heat.

lebron for the win. brick. the hawks win it in o.t., 93-89. off to chicago, bulls and bobcats. derek rose and the one-man wrecking crew. he had 38 points. nobody else on the team scored more than 12. gerald wallace to the hoop like a run-away freight train. the layup. theç foul. he hits a free-throw for the lead. colts had a last shot, and who do you think got the ball? rose, of course. the jumper was short, and the bobcats held to win it 83-82. college hoops great finish between tennessee and georgia. under ten seconds to play. no. brian williams grabbed the rebound, and some way, some how it's a game winner at the buzzer. no harm, no full. 59-57. finally, the australian open is underway in melbourne where the 12 seed agnes got the surprise of her life. while returning a serve, the top of her racket flew off, and she was left with a handle and a priceless expression that's worth more than the racket ichts.

here's mother look. i have never seen this before. she lost a point, but, fortunately, had another racket and won the match. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. ricky gervais decides his own future when it comes to hosting "the golden globes." lost and found. a treasure leads to a rich friendship. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. a nice wednesday forecast for everyone on the west coast. minimum traveling through denver, including salt lake city, a chance of minor airport delays with a weak storm system headed through the region, but beautiful from vegas. we're looking nice in the pacific northwest. we get one dry day today. tomorrow is not going to be miserable, but there will be a chance of some is rain. seattle at 41. a chance of showers. it's not -- it's mostly up in washington state and not a huge storm. we're still beautiful, though, throughout much of california. looks like the great trend continues to the middle of this january. well, if are you watching us on krnv, reno, nevada, visit an exhibition of over 50 color and black and white photographs covering the beauty of antarctica. it's at the nevada museum of art, and that's your pacific event of the day. >> thanks. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. regis philbin caught his viewers off guard yesterday with something of a shocker. while he didn't set an exact

date, the morning mainstay announced he will be stepping down from "live with regis and kelly" sometime later this year. the 79-year-old is in his 28th year hosting the show, which producers announced will continue without him. howard stern took his long-running feud with jay leno to cmn's pierce morgan's show last night accusing hem of being insane and stealing jokes. the supreme court heard arguments as to whether anna nicole smith's estate legally deserves the money left behind by her late texas billionaire husband. and, finally, ricky gervais isn't waiting for any verdict from the hollywood forge press association wresh says is he done hosting the golden globes saying, "twice is enough." giving his own review of his controversial hosting job sunday night to tmz, he said he thought he did better than last year, so there you go. he got more press this year.

>> yeah. if are you bad and then you're horrible, i mean -- >> then, you know, hang up the towel. tmz, they're, like, you know, running up to you when you are just shopping for groceries, so you can say anything. well, this is from ksl 5 news in salt lake city, utah, where one lost ring helped two women find each other. angela frantically searched a snow-covered parking lot for her wedding ring. days later sandy found it. she had fallen on tough times, so had he she actually thought about selling it, but sandy got a lot more by returning it. angela was thrilled, and then they discovered they both shared a friend who recently died of cancer. in full circle, return of the ring led to the start of a new friendship. i'm lynnç berry. this is your first stop of the day on your msnbc station.

record low temperatures didn't deter people from taking a dip in the moscow river. swimmers stripped down to take a plunge in the icy 10 degree water. before anyone could get in, workers had to carve a hole in layers of ice that formed above the water. some hope the act cleanses the soul. others simply enjoy going for a frosty swim. though we're not sure why. well, some people will go to great lengths, or heights, to get attention. 250 feet above sarasota skyline, a circus performer stole the show after trying to jump rope, he opted to just walk bleendfolded on a revolving wheel to drum up business for

his new show. this stunt was executed without a safety met or harness. traveling can be brutal, but for one flight attendant it was life-changing. aboard a flight to barcelona, it was business as usual for vera. that is, until her boyfriend of four years made a surprise appearance over the many flight pa system. she was taken back, but she took him up on the offer giving passengers something to cheer about. >> do you mablg how awkward that would have been. you are stuck there for about two hours just sitting next to each other if you say no. you got to say yes. >> this is your captain speaking. we would like to keep the boyfriend and girlfriend separated. >> exactly. get a room. well, time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. connecticut senator joe lieberman is expected to announce that he is retiring and will not seek a fifth term. lieberman, an independent, usually votes with democrats, and he has been in the senate for over two decades. the supreme court hears an at&t privacy case against a

federal communications commission. the case centers on whether cooperations are like people and could invoke a provision in the freedom of information act that protects them from invasion of personal privacy. happy birthday to dolly pardon. she turns 65 today. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally,ç here's a look at whas coming up later this morning on "the today show". secretary of state hillary clinton opens up to meredith vieira about u.s. relations with china, president obama, and her political future. and matt lauer catches up with kardash kardashian sisters courtney and kim. keep it here for weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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