this morning on "early today," winds of change. more political moves in egypt while lawmakers in iran lash out at opposition leaders. the big bang, a powerful gas tank explosion lights up the night sky over western turkey. and mall horror, a new investigation reveals what may be lurking on your tray at the food court. 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 to the path to democracy in egypt.

egypt's military is opening the door to the muslim brotherhood as army leaders try to move their country toward open government. the military is allowing the brotherhood, a group that calls for the creation of an islamic state in egypt to participate in the new political structure and help shape the constitution. but in a move to ease fear that it seeks power, the brotherhood promises not to field a candidate for president. meanwhile, following protests in iran, president mahmoud ahmadinejad says calls for freedom there were a western conspiracy. the iranian parliament issued a threatening warning calling for the execution of protest leaders. in nearby bahrain there have been three days of demonstrations in favor of a regime change. two people there have died. this morning, there are signs that for the first time the unrest has spread to libya. reports say hundreds of anti-government protesters

clashed with police and government supporters overnight in libya's second largest city. cbs news announced yesterday that the network's chief foreign correspondent lara logan has been hospitalized in the united states after having received what cbs called, quote, a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating in the midst of the celebration in cairo last friday. cbs says logan was saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 egyptian soldiers. in a stunning admission the iraqi defector whose claims that saddam hussein had biological weapons were partly used to justify the 2003 invasion of iraq now says he made it all up. the man, code named "curveball" by the cia tells england's paper "the guardian" that he lied about iraq's hidden bioweapons laboratories in hopes that it would help topple saddam's regime. he added that he and his sons are proud that we were the

reason to give iraq the margin of democracy. before obama's 2012 budget proposal can be debated, congress needs to come to terms on the nation's current budget set to expire on march 4th. however, the clock ticks down, and lawmakers are at an impasse over proposed reductions, the president says, could "endanger the recovery." nbc's brian moore joins us from washington with those details. brian, good morning to you. >> good morning, lynn. the republican controlled house is on a collision course over the course of spending. it wants to slash at least $60 billion, perhaps up to $115 billion from this year's budget. 400 amendments have been introduced, and it's expected to take about two days of very harty debate, and then the bill would move on to theç senate where senate democrats are certain to have a much different view. president obama is threatening

to veto any spending bill that hurts the recovery or defense. lynn. >> brian, thanks so much. a speeding suv collides head on with a city bus in austin. investigators say the driver of the suv was fleeing police before crashing into the bus. 18 people, including the bus driver, were taken to the hospital. the driver of the suv did not survive. in philadelphia a great grandmother had a horrifying day at the office when this thief pointed a shotgun at her head. customers fled as the suspect stole $200 before leaving. despite her family's concern, this tough grandma isn't quitting. she just hopes police make an arrest soon. and in kentucky it was out with the old and in with the new when explosive charges brought down a bridge over the kentucky

river. after the bridge came crashing down, it was pulled from the river. the new bridge is located about 500 feet upstream. and, finally, in missouri it's been close to seven decades since john battled the japanese in pearl harbor. he played an important role on that day, feeding shells to the gunners. no one knew about it until now. for his heroics, the 91-year-old navy vet included eight medals, including what might be the last pearl harbor commemorative medal. now for a look alyour national and regional weather here's bill karins with the weather channel forecast. a lot of activity out there on the west coast while it's quiet out here on the east. >> heavy snow, gusty winds, some rain, and that's where all the tribled weather is, and it's going to continue to stay there it looks like for another couple of days. this weather pattern may even get locked in with another storm coming in about five to six days. here's what we're looking at. much of the country is seeing a huge warmup. the exception is on the west

coast. that's where it's already unsettled. we have a good dose of rain that's moving on shore this morning. especially around san francisco into the sacramento area. even some sprinkles and showers down here right along the coast of southern california where it's kind of cloudy and definitely cooler, too. the colder air has moved into northern california. areas around mount shasta picked up significant snow. so has reno and the tahoe area. here's our storm system. one is moving on shore today. there's still more cool air and unsettled weather behind it. although the main shotç of rai is today, tomorrow is still going to be showery. white is the snow, and look at this, heavy snow in the central sierra range, and then from redding northward up here, still moisture producing rain and snow north of there around mount shasta. forecast today, everybody needs their umbrella today. definitely on the cooler side, too. that's a look at your wednesday fo

nevada. especially at any higher elevations for snow. lynn, thursday forecast is coming up. >> all right, bill. thanks so were. also coming up, madoff points a finger. apple wants your app money, and has coca-cola's secret formula been cracked? your business headlines are straight ahead. plus, if you found lady gaga's grammy egg arrival stunt too much, wait until you hear her latest claims about the egg. coming up, an embarrassing moment for the grizzlies o.j. mayo, and a record-setting night for steve nash and dwyane wade. 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. american and mexican officials

are working together to investigate the shooting of two u.s. immigration and custom enforcement agents in northern mexico yesterday. one agent was killed and another wounded when they were stopped at an armed checkpoint or road block of some kind. mexico condemned the shooting and expressed solidarity with the u.s. and the agent's family. former cuban president fidel castro made a rare appearance yesterday. speaking at a havana book fair. it was dominated by the uprising in egypt and described hosni mubarak as a great strategist at distributing and hiding funds. new cell phone video out of turkey shows video when a truck carrying liquified gas exploded this week triggering blasts. 21 people were reportedly hurt and dozens of nearby cars and trucks were damaged. and a warning for all you germophobes out there. a new report from the canadian

broadcasting corporation says plastic food trays at vancouver's shopping malls were filled with dangerous bacteria that are highly resistant to antibiotics. the discovery was so shocking one scientist said the trays had as much bacteria as they had seen on gas station toilets. sorry to spring that on you at breakfast time. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,226 after losing 41 points yesterday. the s&p shed 4 points. the nasdaq fell 12. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 61 points while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 257. jailed ponzi schemer bernard madoff is speaking out from behind bars in his first published interview since being convicted, madoff tells the "new york times" that financial institutions he dealt with were, quote, complicit in one form or another. while he stopped short of naming banks, madoff's accusation comes

just days after the court-appointed trustee working to recover funds for madoff's victims filed a suit against jp morgan chase. the bank denies any allegations of wrong doing. on wall street, surprisingly weak retail sales report brought stocks lower on tuesday. exxonmobil's shares were sent down 2%. frankfurt stock exchange owner deutsche bores announced its ç $10.2 billion merger with the parent of the new york stock exchange. however, there's still no the word on a name for the combined exchange. shares of family dollar shop up nearly 30% at one point in late trade after receiving a takeover offer upwards of $7 billion. apple is taking some heat over its decision to charge publishers a 30% cut of their revenue on new subsubscription-based apps sold on i tunes. keep an eye on dell. the pc maker blew past wall

street's earnings expectations after the bell. finally, a chicago public radio station says it's found one of the most closely guarded trade secrets in the history of commerce. coca-cola's secret recipe. in an article in the atlanta journal constitution from 1979. the article quoted a notebook belonging to the best friend of coke's creator. coke keeps its trade secret under lock and key and denies that they've uncovered the concoction as the real thing. jordan watches the bulls. another dish for nash and a coast to coast last minute game winner on the ice. plus, this season dwayne and lebron seem to be able to hook up with each other from any spot on the court. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. great weather covers much of the nation. the exception? the west coast with rain, snow, and wind. your wednesday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, one of the chief concerns after the nba's miami heat signed up so many stars was would there be enough ball to go around? well, they showed once again last night, the answer is yes. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines.

good morning. dwyane wade scored a franchise record tying 31 points in the first half against the pacers, and the heat needed every single one of them. wade came out of the game flying. 16 points in the first five memberships. in the giving mood, lebron james. the dolphins could use an arm like that. miami was up by as many as 24. but the pacers rallied in the fourth. if at first you don't succeed, keep trying. after four missed shots, danny granger tied the game 79-79. they couldn't get over the hump. dwayne ahead of the pack with the dunk. finished at 41. miami went on to win, 110-103. jordan and pipin played for the bulls. they were on hand. they gave chicago fans reason to cheer way game high 24. buldz won 106-94. in phoenix, steve nash had 14 are a cysts against the jazz. he can also shoot. drilling that three-pointer in the final minutes to give phoenix the lead.

last chance for the jazz, but look who came up with the steal. it's nash. he did it all and the suns win it, 103-102. 6ers and grizzlies, second quarter off the miss. 6'1" lou williams dunked on 6'9" zach randolph. that's not supposed to happen. this isn't supposed to happen either. o.j. mayo returned after a six-game suspension and he forgot to take off his warm-ups. give him a break. he hasn't played since january. still. mike connolly was the difference down the stretch. knocked down a pair of threes. grizzlies won it, 102-91. finally, great finish to the maple leafs-bruins game. lebowski skated down the ice and danced past two defensemen, and scored the game-winning goal with a minute left in the third period. what a great individual effort. the maple leafs won it, 4-3. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> narrator: early today sports is brought to you by just for men hair color. live forward. well, lohann's latest

courtroom tactic, and mily's dad wished it all never happened. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, americans love man's best friend, and we'll show you which was chosen the nation's top dog last night. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here's a look at your forecast today. wet weather expected up and down

the west coast. especially around san francisco, san jose, to sacramento. that's where we have some steady rain and that drive up around tahoe, very dangerous today with the snow levels dropping. we're also watching showers in l.a. even vegas could get some showers today. by the time we get to thursday, some of the moisture begins to move out. could even see snow around salt lake city, but we're keeping it damp along coastal areas of oregon and washington. l.a. to phoenix, looks like we'll keep the rain out of your forecast at least for tomorrow. well, if you are watching us on kt uh-huh tv channel 2 anchorage, alaska, see painting asks drawings from one alaskan artist documenting breathtaking views from around america's last frontier at art of the north at the anchorage museum, and that's your pacific event of the day. lynn, that picture makes me want to go. >> no kidsing. thank you very much. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. cyrus tells "gq magazine" that

he tried to be miley's friend rather than a parent to her. he is scared for her. the stopson of 90-year-old mickey rooney has been ordered stay 100 yards away from the actor for allegedly threatening and intimidating him and trying to get him to sign over his assets. lindsay lohan's new defense tactic? claiming the necklace she's accused of stealing is only actually worth $800. therefore, she should only be charged with a misdemeanor. and, finally, proving she is the master of self-promotion lady gaga told ryan seacrest prior to her memorable egg appearance at theç grammys, sh spent 72 hours in the egg calling it a "very creative experience" saying her motive was to be born on stage. as if the egg was not strange enough. >> and sitting many it for -- someone had to install the lights in there to make it look

good. >> we're total suckers for believing that's actually the case. >> lynn, are you assuming that somebody would try to, like, lie to glorify their name? >> maybe i'm just being cynical, bill. >> you? >> never. and this comes to us from new york city's madison square garden where a dog with some southern charm took home the canine world's most coveted crown. it was a first in the 135-year history of the westminster kennel club dog show that a scottish deer hound took home the best in show award. hickory beat out more than 2,600 other dogs for top prize, but she won't be doing any encores. hickory is retiring. a fitting end for a virginia farm dog that made good in the big city. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a few extra fingers could make it easier to grasp things, like a world record. a 16-month-old girl from myanmar was born with 12 fingers and 14 toes. possibly the most digitally enhanced person in the world. the mother is trying to claim the world record for her daughter, but says even without one, her daughter already has a happy life and some natural advantages. she sure does. there is cute and then there's down right adorable. that's what this is. a baby gorilla nicknamed tiny took his first steps at one zoo in london. he was wobbly, but with some encouragement from mom, he managed his way around the pen. the newborn is well on his way to outgrowing his nickname. no word yet on what his permanent name would be.

how about adorable? >> elsewhere in london you may have remembered the rat we told you about invading 10 downing street. officials may have found a solution. larry the cat is a new recruit assigned to catching the rat. the stray animal was taken in as british news networks caught sight of the rodent scuttling past cameras. larry is said to be adjusting well to his new role. i wonder if they let him inside, bill, or if he is just, you know, hanging out around -- >> he'll probably have the run of the -- the rats are inside, so he probably has the run of the house. >> pretty good gig. pretty good gig for larry there. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in new york, the somali man who pleaded to guilty to hijacking a ship off the coast of africa will be sentenced. federal prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence him to nearly 34 years in prison. 25 lions rescued from

bolivia will arrive at denver international airport. the animals have been living in miserable conditions, mostly in circuses. the lions will be relocated to a wildlife refuge in colorado. and today marks the 43rd anniversary of the 911 emergency telephone system. the inaugural call was made on this day in 1988 in alabama. 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. meet the so-called super granny who fended off would-be jewelry thieves and more on why country singer billy ray cyrus says his daughter, miley's popular tv show, hannah montana ruined his family. 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 different jobs... ♪ ...different challenges. ♪ different opportunities. ♪ so why would universities stay the same? ♪ university of phoenix, because an educated world is a better world.