zimplt an egyptian president hands over some power, but enrages protesters by refusing to step down. dangerous tide, a disturbing sight in hawaii as a monster wave takes down two beach goers. and no typical granny. meet an 84-year-old who is not only a great grandmother, but is one of hungary's most notorious thieves. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry.

welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. today we begin with egyptian furry. around the world yesterday, it was widely expected that egypt's president would resign following two weeks of unrest. instead, a defiant hosni mubarak announced he would remain in his richard engel has the latest from the capital. >> reporter: today we're seeing a new development from the egyptian army. the army gave a statement saying that it will act to guarantee the democratic reforms in this country take place. a second military statement was issued this morning saying that soon after this crisis is resolved, emergency law will be lifted. that the army will guarantee to make sure that free and fair elections take place. that the people's demands will be met and that the security services will not act in retribution and carry out any kind of crackdown or arrest campaign against the people who

organize these demonstrations. clearly the people on the street want more. they want to send them into exile, but the army at this stage does not appear to be willing to do that and is backing the government's plan, mubarak's plan. that plan is to fight president omar suleiman and have mubarak phase into the background, to have him become more of a symbolic leader. still with the title of president, but with day to day control of this country being passed to the vice president omar suleiman. the protesters say that's not enough. there are thousands of them on the streets today. so far the mood is angry and defiant, but it is not spiralling into violence. richard engel, nbc news, cairo. back here at home president obama reacted to the news of mubarak's shift of some power with sharp criticism. in a statement the president questioned whether the latest concession is "immediate, meaningful, or sufficient sign of reform." tracie spoths potts is in washington with more on that.

good morning. >> reporter: good morning. >> lynn, good morning. that speech was a huge disappointment here in the united states, as well. initially, president obama also was hopeful that he would step down and answer the call of these protesters, addressing the u.s. before mubarak's speech, president obama said that we were witnessing history unfold, and after that he said mubarak's failure to step down is not a clear transition in egypt and that it is not immediate, meaningful, or significant. that the country has failed to seize an opportunity here. the big question remains, how much influence does the unite"h states have here? they're walking a tight rope between trying to prevent this stand-off from getting worse and more violent and also not imposing what the united states wants on the egyptian people. lynn. >> tracie, thanks so much. well, elsewhere facing a mini-revolt in the republican

party. house speaker john boehner is now promising the largest budget cuts in congressional history. speaking before conservative conference last night, boehner said house republicans would vote next week on a spending bill that cuts "more than $1 billion in government funding for the current fiscal year." republican leaders had initially outlined plans to cut $74 billion in the measure, but tea party members wanted more citing their campaign promises. senator boehner will join david gregory for an exclusive interview this sunday on "meet the press" right here on your nbc station. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in hawaii a tragic turn of events when powerful waves crashed into a lava wall. the impact washed two people over the sharp rocks. rescue crews were called in to treat the couple who were both seriously injured. raging flames lit up the sky over eastern ohio last night. the explosion happened when an

underground gasline ruptured. firefighters gained control of the blaze after cutting off the supply to the pipeline, but it took them hours to put out smaller fires. no injuries were reported. in california a tour group netted a whale of a surprise during their trip to the islands. they came across a pound of 14 orcas. the sighting is considered to be a rare one. killer whales are not spotted in the bay area very often. a puppy's loss of appetite led to a shocking discovery. he somehow managed to swallow a wooden drumstick. it took surgery to remove the nearly foot long piece of wood, but the canine made a full recovery and has gone back to chewing things. let's hope he learned his lesson. now for a look at your national and regional weather. here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your friday forecast. hey, beill. >> lucky dog. >> no kidding. did you see him there, no, no

more drumstick for me. >> whatever tastes good, i guess. let's talk about the big warmup that the country is going to go through. the weather pattern changes will be dramatic all over the nation. right now the temperatures have warmed up between ten to 20, even 30 degrees from 24 hours ago in the central plains. the area that were hit the hardest from the cold and the brutal winter is finally getting a break. notice we're at four degrees warmer this morning in seattle than we were at this time and three in l.a. the west coast, you're still mild out there. your weather pattern hasn't changed yet. i say yet because it will next week. now, right now 35 in seattle. 42 in san francisco. minus 3 in minneapolis. some of the cold air has continued to try to push through the rockies. 18 in denver. 22 in salt lake city. there is some chilly air. jacket weather still. later on today you should be just fine. here's how the weather pattern is changing. high pressure has protected the west and it was sending all the storms up into canada.

now that's starting to sink a little to the south, and that moisture stream in the pacific is bringing cloudy skies to much of washington, idaho, and oregon during the day today. you're not going to see that picture perfect sunshine. you're going to see warm temperatures, but you want the sun, you got to be down in areas of arizona and california. that's a look at rain, but it w. the rain will come next weekend. lynn, we'll talk more about the extended weekend forecast coming up. thanks very much. also coming up, how the markets are reacting to egypt. mixed messages on the job front, and how valentine's day spending is shaping up. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, will bieber fever heat things up at the box office this weekend? coming up, ray allen makes

history against the lakers. another bigup set in the northeast, and stunning news for the utah jazz. 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. the woman at the center of the congressman chris lee resignation scandal is speaking out. she tells "the washington post" she was shocked at how a casual online flirtation exploded into a national controversy. the 34-year-old single mother says she wrestled for weeks with what to do over the pictures lee sent on craigslist. she was angry at the viewer representative's audacity. jan brewer is filing a countersuit against the federal government claiming it has failed to control her state's border with mexico. the lawsuit, which seeks federal compensation is being fought with donations, not taxpayer money. in a rare proceeding a grand

jury in philadelphia is accusing a former roman catholic church official with endangering children because he allegedly transferred priests suspected of raping young boys. two priests, a former priest, and a teacher also face charges for allegedly assaulting two boys. and hungarian police say they've detained one of the country's most notorious burglars, an 84-year-old grandmother whose criminal record dates back to the 1950s. she's currently suspected of petty theft, taking $75 from a home and has been convicted of over 20 crimes. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at 12,229 after dipping ten points yesterday. the s&p was up a fraction. the nasdaq edged up one. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 12 points, but in hong kong the hang seng added 120. uncertainty in egypt could keep markets on edge today. reports that egypt's president

would step down fueled a late day rebound for stocks after weak earnings from cisco sparked an early sell-off. today investors will keep a close eye on cairo after hosni mubarak gave up only some power. international trade and consumer sentiment dataç is also on investors' agendas today. an unexpected drop in initial weekly jobless claims did little to improve the mood yesterday after fed chief ben bernanke painted a bleak outlook for unemployment on wednesday. web stream leader acami technology weighed down the s&p after the company said competitors are force it to offer lower prices. whole foods, however, isn't having any trouble with its pricing. the upscale grocery chain shot up 12% thanks to a 79% spike in first quarter income. sprint nextel also got a boost from its earnings and an impressive uptick in subscribers after a four-year drought. after the bell kraft shares said

it would be forced to pass on the climbing price of commodities to consumers. pepsi co also cited the soaring cost of supplies. private equity backed pipeline company kinder morgan raked in its initial public offering making it the first ipo -- kinder will begin trading on the new york stock exchange today. finally, spending estimates for valentine's day are up 13%, meaning americans are expected to shell out an average of $116 apiece. maybe money can really buy you love after all. coming up, a hole in one club breaking day at the dubai classic. plus, the celtics' ray allen scores his way into the record books. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. temperatures are finally going to warm up as we head into the weekends. the snow melts. let it begin. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, it was a break through for the l.a. lakers as they spoiled a record setting night for the celtics. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good friday morning.

they knock on the lakers this year, they cannot beat an elite team. the team silenced the critics with a win over the best team in the east. ray allen drilled a three pointer, breaking the all-time record by reggie miller of three-pointers made. the celebration was on, but the lakers crash today party. rally from 15 down to take the lead in the third and pulled away in the fourth. five lakers scored in double digits. coby led the way. they beat the celts 92-86. they play the knicks tonight. chauncey billups, stopped and popped to the win. nothing but the bottom of the net. carmelo anthony had 42. nuggets won it, 121-120. the big news in the nba came out of utah where the jazz coach jerry sloan unexpectedly resigned. the hall of famer stepped down after a remarkable 26 seasons with them, 23 of them as head ç coach. at 69, sloan said he just didn't have the energy to coach any more.

college hoops number 9 uconn got a test and they failed. booth threw one up from around half-court and got it to go. they kept it going in the second. dwight hardy with a career high 33. st. john's is a giant killer. they beat a ranked team for the fourth time this season, 89-72. across the pond to the dubai desert classic, the hole in one would get him two first class tickets on emirates airline. howell got the roll and pack your bags. great shot. from the good to the down right ugly. rich davies with a shot from behind a tree. not only did he break his club, but his ball landed in the water. one more time. that club never had a chance. a broken iron, a lost ball, and a double bogey. sounds a lot like my golf game. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin.

well, this valentine weekend, will it be a story about love or true love for one pop star that wins hearts at the box office. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, why a group of kansas college students traded their school books for shovels to learn how to give back. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this friday morning. it's been a while since we've

had a bad weather day in hawaii, but this will be one of them. we're expecting rain island-wide. temperatures will be cooler because of the rain, too, so not every state in the country is seeing dry weather. just all the lower 48. 68 and sunny in vegas today. the pacific northwest, you're going to be dealing with clouds. maybe you'll get a little sunshine. much ofr improves, but the pacific northwest, your forecast gets worse throughout the weekend with chances of rain and cloudy skies. well, if you are watching us on kntv nbc 11 in the bay area, see a series of portraits, a photographic record of pre-civil war california. that gold rush era works. at the oakland museum of california. >> thanks, bill. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this valentine's day weekend is still not clear which movie will be shown the most love at the box office.

appropriately, the top competitor is the romantic comedy "just go with it." the love triangle is expected to win the crown with $30 million to $35 million. but experts aren't sure how to ç gauge its main competition. justin bieber "never say never." the 3-d part biography, part concert film follows the epic rise from justin bieber from virtual unknown to internet success to full blown pop star and could take in between $20 million and $40 million. still, those same experts aren't sure if they're underestimating bieber's teen girl fan base. taking a bite out of that graphic could be gnomeo & juliet." it's expected to rake in $20 million. finally, for all you guys out there, there is the eagle, a classic action packed period film starring channing tatum, expected to take close to $10 million.

that's for all of those wives that will be dragging their husband to movies. it's not going to be the eagle, i guarantee you. >> i'm excited for jennifer aniston to have a hit. they think -- it's brutal. >> that is bold. >> i hope it does all right. >> marley and me, that was a good one she had. >> made me cry, but it was all right. this comes to us from ksn news in wichita, kansas, where some college students are making the grade by giving back to their community. they had the day off after nearly two feet of snow covered the campus. a group of them banded together to pull back the blanket of snow that was crippling the community. armed with shovels, they cleared driveways and side walks giving residents a much needed break from dealing with the winter's worst. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

prince william and kate middleton aren't the only royals marking a major event this year. queen elizabeth will open the doors to windsor castle to celebrate the upcoming 90th birthday of her husband, prince phillip. on display will be memorabilia from theç royal museum collectin and archives and never before seen photographs from the prince's personal collection. archaeologists in rome have unearthed an ancient piece of history. sculptures dating back nearly 2,000 years were found buried near a lavic roman villa. among the treasures were britney spearses of members of the imperial dynasty and a statue of the greek god zeus.

it's among the most important find in greek history because it can shed light on life in that time period. everybody needs a spa day. in japan the racing association offers hot baths to help injured horses recover. the animals stand for 15 minutes in a bath of mineral water drawn from the springs. caretakers believe the water improves circulation and can have a therapeutic affect for the horses as it would on pro athletes. >> hopefully they're not using those controversial bath salts i've been hearing about. >> let's keep it clean for those poor little horses. mineral water for everyone. it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout date here on nbc. white house press secretary robert gibbs will be packing up his belongings at the white house. it is his last day after a more than two-year tenure. also on the capital the man convicted of killing washington intern chandra levy will be sentenced.

he was found guilty in november after nearly a decade after levy disappeared. today marks the anniversary of the release of south african anti-apartheid leader nelson mandela from captivity. he was freed after being held as a political prisoner for 27 years. he would later become south africa's first black president. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments and those and others as they break on msnbc, and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on "the today show". find out the latest details of the tense situation in egypt with a live report from cairo. and funny man adam sandler drops by to talk about his new movie "just go with it." 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. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com