today," world stage. president obama rolls out the red carpet for chinese leader hu jintao. amazing milestone, new development in the recovery of wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords. and spin cycle. some fishermen get caught in dangerous waters off the coast some fishermen get caught in dangerous waters off the coast of new zealand. 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 an a-list affair. president obama played host to chinese president hu jintao at a

star-studded state dinner last night. throughout the day talks between the two nations touched on everything between human rights to chinese currency and on a less controversial note china's decision to extend its loan of two giant pandas to the washington national zoo for another five years. nbc's kristen dahlgren reports. >> reporter: at the state dinner honoring chinese president hu jintao the white house was full of fanfare. >> to our people, the citizens of the people's republic of china and the united states of america. >> reporter: the chinese leader honored by president obama in a room flush with star power from former presidents to celebrities like barbra streisand and jackie chan. >> i take a photo. >> reporter: but the state visit was also a delicate dance between two nations who don't always agree. earlier in the day, president obama pushed president hu on human rights.

>> we have some core views as americans about the universality of certain rights. >> reporter: the chinese leader was candid. >> reporter: the need to be down in china on human rights. >> reporter: both pressed for a level playing field as they met with the heads of some of the country's biggest businesses, president obama balancing his challenge for china to increase the value of its currency with the announcement of a $45 billion trade deal. >> as china's per capita income rises, that offers an opportunity for increased trade and commercial ties that benefit both countries. >> reporter: countries linked in the spectacle of a state visit tied by the bonds they are trying to build. kristin dahlgren, nbc news, washington. house republicans have followed through on their long promised effort to repeal the nation's health care law. yesterday the gop house controlled voted 245 to 189 in

favor of repealing the measure. every republican along with three democrats voted to overturn the year-old overhaul. but with democrats in control of the senate, the vote was largely a symbolic measure. senate majority leader harry reid said the legislation will not see the light of day in his chamber. although republican senator mitch mcconnell insists there will away vote. arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords recovery is progressing so well she's expected to be transferred to a houston rehabilitation center as early as friday. in another significant milestone, a hospital spokeswoman says giffords was able to stand on her feet with assistance from medical staff yesterday, and look out the window at the mountains outside her hospital room. a federal grand jury has indictindict ed jared loughner for attempting to kill giffords and two of her aides. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in new jersey, surveillance

shows the violent robbery and beating of an unsuspecting video clerk. the suspect attacked the man, ran behind the counter and smashed the cash register. he got away with hundreds of dollars and left the victim with a broken nose. police are looking for the suspect. in rhode island, firefighters came to the rescue of a dog in distress after it fell through an icy pond. rescuers used a pole with the loop to secure the animal. then pulled the shivering pooch to safety. the dog was covered with blankets and taken to a vet to be examined. in georgia one snowplow driver got a lesson in work place safety as he plowed the top deck of a parking lot his truck fell through a snow-covered hole. a crane was called in to pull the truck from the pit. in california, a high school student is making a lot of heads turn with his new wheels. a double-decker tandem bicycle. if you're afraid of heights, you can ride on the bottom since

riding on top will put you eight feet in the air. the young inventor said he made the bike for his own amusement and we're showing you the pictures for our amusement. for a look at your weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i can't believe there aren't training wheels on the side of it? >> oh, no. >> the real deal. >> people with one bike like that, one person, but never the addition of the two. that's where he gets the innovator of the year award. good luck to him. let's talk about this forecast. the middle of the country, the big cold plunge. some of that cold air is trying to leak here into the pacific and the northwest. notice the temperature right now minneapolis is 2 degrees. i don't know how they get through the winters. denver at 12. some of the cold air is filtered through areas of nevada and extreme eastern portions of washington state near spokane. boise down to 25, salt lake city at 23. a chunk of that cold air has made it to the west, but not the southwest. l.a. still nice, phoenix looks good, too, vegas and much of california is going to be sunny

and the best weather by far in the nation is all experienced here in the desert southwest. the weather pattern will change ever so slightly because we're going to watch that jet stream dipping a little bit here. there's a big what we call a ridge of high pressure that's warm and nice conditions. this next storm system is going to sink down. washington state, you're dry, but later today some moisture is going to creep in especially north of seattle, eventually work its way down to seattle and by tomorrow, it will work its way down a little further. but much of california as i mentioned you're going to stay dry. that's a look at your tucson, maybe you can get away with shorts at 70. 70 degrees in tucson, can you get away with shorts? >> you could absolutely get away with shorts, yeah. bikini top, anything.

>> really? now we're talking. >> now getting a little saucy little early in the morning for that. thanks so much. banks buckle, housing slumps further and the world's most expensive apartment. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's one of hollywood's hottest actresses and she's just won one of hollywood's most prized parts. coming up the mavericks shoot their way out of a slump, sixers and magic need overtime and carmelo anthony said he is tired of the trade talks and nets are tired of him. 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. a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll finds that the majority of americans, 53%, now approve of the way president obama is doing his job. that's an eight-point jump from december. however, challenges still remain. a majority still believe the country is on the wrong track

and just 25% believe republicans in congress will bring the right kind of change to the country. new alabama governor robert bentley has apologized for comments he made just hours after being inaugurated monday. bentley said anyone who has not accepted jesus into their life was not his brother or sister. a new survey by travel & leisure may surprise you. it named los angeles the rudest city in the country. new york city, which has long batted an abrasive image came in at number two. and in new zealand, a group of fishermen had the ride of their lives yesterday when they attempted to cross a notoriously dangerous river. in rough waters. the captains say they were eager to return home from a week-long fishing trip when they decided to risk the crossing. the local coast guard says the men are lucky to have made it out unharmed. that's an understatement. >> and now here's an early look at one of your top health

headlines on msnbc.com. new research suggests when it comes to trauma care, african-americans and the poor often find themselves furthest from the hospitals providing it. researchers found a high proportion of black residents raised the odds of difficult access to trauma care for an urban or rural community by about a third. a large number of poor families increased the odds by two-thirds. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil, bring yourself back. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,825 after dipping 12 points yesterday. the s&p shed 13 points. the nasdaq lost 40. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 119 points while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 415. the economic downturn left much of the financial sector fighting for its life while goldman sachs

managed to emerge with only superficial wounds. it appears the investment bank with the golden touch may not be bulletpro bulletproof. their earnings fell amid a slow down in most of its money making divisions. analysts fear clients are avoiding goldmans high margin investments and upcoming regulations could permanently impair the way goldman does business. meanwhile, ibm's impressive earnings helped minimize the damage on the dow. before the bell today we'll find out what effect morgan stanley's report has on today's trade. keep an eye on google's earnings after the bell. ahead of its earnings report next week, american express warned its fourth-quarter profit will miss estimates. while at the same time announcing it will slash 550 jobs. housing starts fell to their lowest level in a year, sending dr horton and henard down 3%. american airline parent amr says

it lost less money than last quarter but shares still sank 7%. this morning's "wall street journal" reports the nation's number three fast food chain is planning to sell arby's in order to beef up its expansion of its wendy's chain. keep an eye on ebay after the bell yesterday, the on-line auction site reported healthy holiday sales. and finally, pricey homes may be a tough sell here. but across the pond, a new complex in london is already 60% sold. the ultralux units with priceless city views are going for as much as $150 million. a girl can dream. coming up -- dallas tags the champs, orlando relies on overtime magic, and the nba mega trade fizzles out. plus, the man at the center of all that trade talk lets his dunks do the talking. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. our snowstorm in the middle of the country will head to the east coast, as a mini snowstorm.

your thursday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, has there ever been a longer rumored trade than the one involving carmelo anthony? well it's all over now. never having gotten past the rumor stage.

here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. what a difference a day makes. the jersey nets scheduled to meet with carmelo anthony today and hammer out a deal for the nuggets star. yesterday, the owner stepped in and said that's it, enough is enough. >> there comes a time when the price is simply too expensive. i am instructing our team to walk away from the deal and the meeting, which was supposed to held by our management with carmelo is hereby canceled. >> when a russian billionaire thinks the deal is too expensive, you have to wonder what exactly carmelo and the nuggets were asking for. he thought all the media attention were affecting his team and may have been right. nets blew it open in the third. put the trade talks behind them got back in the win column 103-95. they want top dollar for anthony and they will get it if he continues to play like he did

against the thunder, scored 25 points, when carmelo put it away. 112-107. the mavericks have been reeling but no better way to break out than a win against the defending champs. they nailed 12 three-pointers. 109-100. off to orlando where the magic and sixers needed overtime. j.j. redik scored six of 12 in the extra period and a frantic finish. philly down one, couple shots to pull off the upset, couldn't get the friendly bounce, close but not close enough. the magic held on to win 99-98 in o.t. best finish of the night from the warriors, ellis, tie game, final seconds. stopped, popped and got it for the win, nailed the go ahead jumper with less than a second to play. warriors beat the pacers 110-108. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred rogue joan which tinseltown titan has convinced the world is coming to an end.

your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. her plight has touched us all, one 9-year-old's gesture has touched gabby giffords and husband mark kelly. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. nice weather continues in much of southwestern arizona, all through california, southern nevada looks nice. some cool air has worked through idaho and eastern portions of

oregon and washington but a lot of big cities on interstate 5, you're going to be mild. some rain showers will develop, a storm system will be falling down from the north moving down the coastline late today into your friday. the morning is starting out dry today but tomorrow looks like it's going to be a wet start to seattle, medford, portland. medford later in the day. if you're watching us on kntv in california's bay area, get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at over 60 pieces of artwork featuring world famous loony tune characters at the cartoon art museum and that's your pacific event of the day. >> thank you. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. ann hathaway has nabbed the coveted female lead in the next batman film. although not mentioned in the announcement the role in "the dark knight rises," a part michelle pfeiffer and halle berry played before. seth roggin tells the toronto star he recently met

with steven spielberg and george lucas about a movie and came away convinced lucas is preparing for the end of the world in 2012. roggin says while lucas talked about tectonic plates spielberg kept rolling his eyes app getically. a normal baby celebrity name. owen wilson and his girlfriend have named their baby robert ford wilson. finally jennifer lopez tells england's "daily mail" she avoided zingers from golden globe host ricky gervais threatening him back stage. she claims before her introductionion she warned gervais she's from the bronx and her husband and she were fighters and that she would beat him up if he said anything mean. that's one way to go. >> do you believe that? >> a little bit. >> you think he actually -- >> she's -- i was thinking about that. she's the only one whose joke was sort of cute and funny and not below the belt and funny. >> you're saying robert downey jr. wouldn't have scared him?

>> i don't think robert downey jr. scares a lot of people. maybe in the ironman suit but not with the glasses. i'm lin berry. this comes from k can voa, in arizona, where a 9-year-old boy is giving all he's got for congresswoman giffords. isaac wanted to show support for the congresswoman selling some of his prized possessions, his toys to friends at school. along with a get well card he sent her the $2.85 his sale yielded. his generosity surprised his mom and touched the giffords' family who say with gratitude they're sending isaac's money back, but what a great gesture. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

the united states' most famous doll gets a bolivian makeover. an artist has given the doll a new wardrobe typically seen on indigenous women including billowing skirts, sequinned jackets and festival masks. barbie's blonde hair was dyed black and braided giving her a common, local style that the women of bolivia can relate to. snowfall may be causing frustrations but at one zoo in sweden it's making for fun. officials piled plowed snow into the zoo, they packed it into a wolverine enclosures that houses one male and female. the two began digging for food hiding and playing and they hope it will be the perfect place to

raise future cubs. you've seen the replica engagement rings even the replica engagement dress, but how about a replica kate? to mark 100 days, 13 kate middleton look-alikes showed up sporptsing the already iconic blue wrap dress and her engagement ring. the girls put on their best kate face posing for photographs with commoners visiting the palace. this is starting to get creepy. >> they didn't look like her, some are blonde, brunette. >> we're using this loosely. put on a blue dress and wear a ring you're a look-alike. time for a look at stories we'll follow throughout date. there will be several services in the nation's capital honoring the 50th anniversary of president john f. kennedy's inauguration. the congressional tribute will be held and later in the day there will be a star-studded celebration at the kennedy center. today marks the anniversary of the end of the iran hostage

crisis. on this day in 1981 iran released 52 americans it held hostage for 444 days. the release came minutes after ronald reagan's inauguration as the 40th president of the united states. and getting under way in park city, utah, the sundance film festival which runs through the end of the month. all day long 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 be nightly news." a look at what's coming up this morning on the "today" show. find out the details on last night's state dinner at the white house. and meet a woman reunited with her family 24 years after she was kidnapped. and 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. have a good one.