this morning on "early today," a crumbling empire. libya's moammar gadhafi loses his grip on the country while americans wait to get out. final voyage, the space shuttle "discovery" takes off on its last journey into space. and practice run, prince william and kate middleton engage the public for the first time sips their royal engagent. 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 a matter of time. libya's rebel forces show no

signs of giving up despite a increasingly brutal crackdown from an increasingly incoherent muammar qadhafi. meanwhile, freedom can't come soon enough for more than 100 americans stuck on a ferry waiting to make way for malta, hoping calmer seas will allow them to escape the embattled country today. msnbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel has our report. >> reporter: in the town of zswiyah today, 40 miles east of tripoli, at least 10 people were reportedly killed in fighting. but some of the worst violence has been here in benghati where hospitals are filled with wounded. >> i tend many, more than 300, more than 300 and injured more than 3,000. >> reporter: doctors say the victims were shot with bullets and anti-aircraft rounds. many were executed at close range. but colonel moammar gadhafi downplayed the violence and

offered a radically different explanation in a bizarre and revealing radio address. we were in a car as we spoke. his words were slurred. he mumbled with long pauses. i've listened to speeches in arabic of middle east leaders for 15 years. this did not sound like a sane person. in the address, gadhafi claimed al qaeda is behind the revolt. osama bin laden is slipping libyans hallucinogenic pills in coffee with milk and that the pills are distributed in mosques with help from the united states. a u.s. official described gadhafi as, quote, nuts. rebel leaders here tell us they now believe they have enough forces and momentum to push out gadhafi in a matter of days. richard engle, nbc news. meanwhile, signs of progress in neighboring algeria where a state of emergency that had been in place for 19 years has been lifted.

the move by algeria's government comes in response to weeks of protests by opposition groups hoping to force the kind of change brought on by egypt's revolution. in a statement issued by the white house, president obama welcomed the, quote, positive sign urging the algerian government to do more to promote freedom for its people. a college student in texas has been arrested by the fbi for plotting a string of terror attacks here m u.s. the 20-year-old allegedly obtained chemicals for a bomb and researched potential targets, including dams and nuclear plants. even the home of former president george w. bush. agents say they were tipped off to the suspect after a mcincome chemical company reported he placed a suspicious order. according to court documents, the man also wrote in his journal that it was "time for jihad." if convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. early this morning in wisconsin despite weeks of

protests, a controversial push to strip union workers of their collective bargaining rights cleared its first hurdle. after three grueling days of debate the wes wisconsin state assembly passed a bill backed by the state's newly elected republican governor. the measure now moves to the state senate where republicans hold the majority, but senate democrats have fled the state to prevent a vote. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in texas, investigators are trying to determine what caused a fire that swept through a day care center killing three children. the kids, ranging in ages 18 months to 3 years old died after being taken to the hospital. one woman was also transported to the hospital after running from the house in flames. firefighters pulled a total of seven children to safety before putting out the blaze. in pennsylvania, a house ofç horrors landed two parents in jail for child endangerment. police responded to a 911 call and discovered three children inside a home filled with filth including human feces, broken

glass and rotting food. it's unknown how long the 7-year-old boy and the 5-year-old twins lived in that deplorable condition. they now are in the custody of youth and child services. finally, in louisiana, there is a new cop on the beat. but it is not your typical rookie. the remote-operated vehicle is the newest weapon in the articles natural of the sheriff's office. the robocop comes with a few toys, including infrared cameras and a shotgun mount. the new guy is expected to help make it safer for other officers in dangerous situations. sounds like a good idea there. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, a little bit of everything all across the country. >> the west is cold and snowy. today it's just one of those fridays, lynn, where it's iffing to be difficult to travel through a lot of the big airports around the country. mou, the storm system that was up here from seattle to portland

has shifted southward, and now we have winter weather advisories outside the hiltz of l.a. and even san francisco and napa valley, and then, of course, winter storm warnings at the higher elevations. the storm system, it's not quite cold now. later on tonight is when the cold air will come down. if we have a chance of stuff like this in san francisco, it would be tonight into early tomorrow morning. look at the cold air. 21 in seattle. it's 26 in portland. this storm, can you see it spinning just off the coast as it draws to the south. that cold polar air is coming with it. meanwhile, there's a lot of moisture flowing into central california. we've had rains overnight, and as i mentioned, snow, too, at the highest of elevations. yosemite is getting significant moisture out of this. there's pink mixed in, and those are some of the lower elevations of the highest ranges, and that's where we're seeing some of the snowfall. not a lot, but if you want to drive just a little bit outside of san prifk and san jose, you can see some snow today, and you get a ton of it up there in the.

outside of sacramento, you won't have to go too far to see the snow either.ç lynn, we'll talk about the weekend forecast and faebl the storm will move out, but it will be chilly for the oscars too. >> ah, never liked that one. thanks so much. well, oil dips. boeing scores. and the world's most expensive purse. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, charlie sheen finally goes too far for the producers of his top rated tv show. coming up, a big loss for the st. louis cardinals. the celts wheel and deal at the trade deadline. 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. u.s. forces are reportedly scaling back most of its forces in one of the most dangerous and remote valleys of eastern afghanistan to focus on protecting citizens in more popular areas. u.s. officials say the wall from the pesh valley is in line with the military's counter ininsurgency doctrine which focuses on providing security to afghan civilians, but some afghan forces worry it amounts to an abandonment of key terrain where insurgents are well established. kentucky authorities have found the bodies of three amish children who were swept away in a creek swollen by heavy rains. they're still searching for another child. a mother and her six children were trying to cross the creek ç in their horse drawn buggy yesterday, when it overturned, knocking them into the water. shuttle "discovery" is on its way to the international space station for what is expected to be the last time. after lifting off from florida's

space center yesterday, only two missions remain for the aging shuttle fleet. first by "atlantis" and then "endeavour." and england's kate middleton is getting her first taste of royal life, joining husband to be in a dedication ceremony for a new life boat. her first act of royal duty, christening the vessel with champagne. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,068 after dropping 37 points yesterday. the s&p shed a point. the nasdaq added 14. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 74 points while in hong kong the hang seng zoomed 411. showing resilience, wall street started climbing back from its stunning fall thursday despite no resolution in libya. oil's three-day skyrocket ended yesterday after the manager agency reported libya's production company had been

inflated. crude fell from a high of $103 a barrel down to just over $97. stocks rose down a whooping 2.7% for the week. many are hoping the worst may be over. over on the nasdaq, priceline kept things on the plus side jumping 8.5%. in a remarkable turnaround, general motors has gone from bankruptcy to its first profitable year since 2004. still, gm stocks slid on oil concerns. also due to oil, american delta and us airways joined united and continental adding $20 to round trip to most domestic flights. fewer people applied for unemployment last week, and it fell to its lowest level in over two and a half years. on the down side, the sales of new homes fell significantly in january. toyota is recalling over on 2 million vehicle necessary america to fix floor mat and carpet defects that could jam the accelerator. watch boeing today. it jumped after the bell on news it won a multibillion dollar contract to build new air force

refueling planes. and finally, talk about a girl's ultimate best friend, a purse dripping in diamonds, created in dubai and named by guinness theç world's most expensive handbag, it boasts 4,500 diamonds and can be yours for $3.8 billion. coming up, an upset in college hoops. an injury before the season even starts in baseball and another we know for the carmelo-less nuggets. plus, will brom and the miami millionaires take on the bulls? many your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. an active weather pattern continues into the weekend. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports with the big anticipated trade already done, there was nothing left by surprises at yesterday's nba trade deadline. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. there was no doubt that carmelo anthony and darren williams were the marquis players dealt at the trade deadline. but the celts and thunder pulled off a deal that could make the difference post-season. it made a shocking move. they send kendrick perkins and nate robinson to oklahoma. the deal satisfies a need for

both teams. the thunder gets bigger in the middle with perkins and celts hope to fill the void by daniels who they sentç to sacramento f a draft pick. the celts could have used anybody against denver. they ended the game on a 16-0 run. they might not have carmelo, but they won both games without him. nuggets won, 89-75. to chicago, heat and bulls, they booed lebron all game and james responded with this huge reverse dunk. that's as good as it gets. heat up by nine during the break. bulls battle in the second. derek rose led the team charge with a team high 26. this went down to the wire. 89-89. rose dish to a wide open luol deng. turned down the heat 93-89. it may only be february, but there is big muse from baseball. adam waneright will undergo tommy john surgery and miss the entire season. wamewright was a runner up for the cy young award last year. college hoops, you can drive

yourself crazy trying to figure out number 15 uconn. one night they're great and the next night they lose to marquette. final seconds. walker turned it over, and the golden eagles made him pay. johnson odum hit the game winner in overtime. marquette upset uconn in connecticut, 74-67. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. well, who will win at the box office and who has already won on facebook? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's as american as apple pie. so why did cops shut down girl scout cookie sales in georgia? you're watching "early today."

welcome back. let me take you through your weekend forecast. today is the day we're seeing cold temperatures and snow in areas that don't usually get it. especially this time of year. we are getting just rain in the big cities, but you don't are to go far outside the cities up into the hills. maybe 1,000 feet elevation, and you'll see some snow out there. vegas at 60. phoenix at 70, and very cold in the pacific northwest. that even continues into saturday. a little bit of a warmup, but look at l.a. the storm ticks through your area. rainy and 51. on sunday is the red carpet, the oscars. it will be sunny, but with a

high temperature only of 57 breeze. you'll probably see a lot of them holding the coats for women in their dresses. it's not going to be pretty. even have wind chills. even if you are watching us on k msnbc key animals that can eat up to 330 pounds of food a day. we're not talking about our staff. we're talking about elephants of asia. that's at the los angeles zoo, and that's your pacific event of the day. >> i'm going to try not to take insult to that, but it's kind of true of me. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. when it comes to charlie sheen, cbs and warner brothers have had it. last night, they announced "two and a half men" is over for the season. they blame sheen's conduct and condition. it came after another ram belling radio interview in which sheen blasted the show's executive producer and alcoholics anonymous calling it a bootleg cult with a 5% success

rate. elsewhere, "hall pass" is the lukewarm favorite at the box office this weekend. watch out from a possible upset from "drive angry" starring nicolas cage. finally, lady gaga is no longer the most liked artist on facebook. the new holder of that title with almost 29 million likes is eminem. i was so surprised hear this. >> "eight mile" one of my favorite movies. >> no, i know. he is fantastic. i said, loving the tie. it's very, mighty say, dapper today.ç >> i would like to give myself credit for it, but -- >> i don't know if it's 29 million likes, but it looks good. >> my wife will be happy you said that. loo there you go.

this comes to us from atlanta, georgia, where in nearby villa ricca where a crackdown on a group of girl scouts brought cookie sales to a halt. troop 7984 never thought setting up a cookie store would land them on the other side of the law. when they failed to produce a permit, an officer shut them down citing safety issues. they packed up, but they weren't closed for long. the mayor put the girls back in business with a permit and a pizza party for their troubles. can't hold down the thin mints. >> take out some ice cream, put them in the freezer. >> don't even go there. we're at that time of the morning where it's, like, dinner time for all of us. >> go eat your breakfast, lynn. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

pandas in china have an interesting way of celebrating ç birthday. an adult ceremony was held for this panda's birthday. caretakers provides a special treat, a birthday cake made of karats, apple, bamboo and ice. having matured to a woman, her time has come to pick a mate. she actually chose true love. it is your chance to own a piece of history that is out of this world's one of the world's first spaceships will be sold to the highest bidder at auction many morning. the soviet space capsule was launched in april of 1961. it was the final test flight before the first man would

travel into space. experts believe the rocket will sell anywhere from $2 million to $10 million. in china, one invention brings books to the masses with the push of a button. a 24-hour self-service library of 400 books makes reading accessible for any kind of book worm. locals insert money into the machine and out comes the books, leading some to refer to it as an atm. even better, when the book is returned, so is the cash, making the whole process free and easy. bill, you have yo excuse. you're going to have to upgrade from the picture books. we'll have to get you into some nonfiction. >> it's great because i have my device, like my kindle, and now i can get the comic books on that. it's perfect. >> why did you brag? i have my ipad, bill. how about that? how about that? >> excuse me. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in response to increasing violence unleashed by moammar gadhafi's crumbling regime, the united nations security council will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions on libya. the saudi arabian college student in texas who allegedly

bought bomb making materials online and planned attacks in america is expected to make his first public appearance to face charges in a new york court. and former beatle george harrison would have had his 61st birthday today. 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. cbs pulled the plug on "two and a half men" for the season and what is next for charlie sheen? and meredith is live from hollywood as final preparations get under way for sunday's academy awards. 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.

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