today," on the verge. japan's nuclear crisis creeps toward catastrophe as a third reactor is rocked by an explosion and a fourth catches fire. nikkei nose dive, japanese stocks go into a free fall when investors panicked by radiation fears. jacks up the price of flying fears. jacks up the price of flying american astronauts into space. 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 nuclear

nightmare. radiation levels spiked in japan this morning in the wake of a series of explosions at the fukushima nuclear power plant. there are new concerns water inside the waste pool storage pool for one of the damaged reactors may be boiling increasing the possibility of fuel rods being exposed. just days after suffering its most crippling catastrophe ever, japan is now facing the world's worst nuclear disaster since chernobyl. for the latest we turn to nbc's kristin dahlgren in tokyo. good morning to you. >> good morning. the latest radiation levels appear to have leveled off some. despite earlier talking about levels that could affect human health. there is great concern here in japan today. here is the latest. in the past 24 hours we saw an explosion at the third nuclear reactor at the crippled plant and a fire in a fourth reactor

at a spent fuel storage pond. reports it's leaking directly into the atmosphere. japan's prime minister made a national televised address warning those within 20 miles of that plant to stay inside and saying levels were very high and that there could be additional radiation leaks even here in tokyo there were elevated radiations levels measured. we're watching the winds here very closely. officials say here in tokyo there doesn't appear to be any health danger at this point but people here are in a bit of a panic at times. they have been stocking up on supplies, emptying store shelves in anticipation of the worst. meantime while all of this is going on, there is still a massive search and rescue effort to the north. they are still digging through the rubble and still counting the dead here in japan, lynn. kristin dahlgren in tokyo. thank you. meanwhile concerns about nuclear safety at home have lawmakers on capitol hill calling for an end to any

nuclear construction on u.s. soil. president obama standing behind his push to pursue nuclear power as an alternative energy source while continuing to show support for japan. tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. other countries are putting programs on hold in light of japan, now the white house says it's moving forward with the nuclear program here in the united states. power companies are required to produce 80% clean energy by 2035 the white house says nuclear power plants are a key part of that program. there are four reactors up for approval this year. but on capitol hill there is concern. they had a moment of silence for japan yesterday, but lawmakers are divided between a wait and see mode based on what's going on in japan and not being reactionary, as some say, creating new policies at this

point. the white house brought in the chief of the nuclear regulatory commission to reassure americans that our plants are safe that they are built to withstand earthquakes, tsunamis, but not what has been upgraded to a 9.0 in japan. meantime eight u.s. warships are backing up because of concerns about radiation leaking there. >> tracie potts in washington. tracy, thank you. here is a look at other news making headlines. a dolphin gave sight series an up close and personal encounter when it leaped out of the water into a charter boat. it took a crew of 10 men with towels and ropes to lift it back into the water. one woman on board suffered an ankle sprain. no other injuries reported. in georgia two young girls set up sidewalk art for a good cause. moved by the devastation caused by the tsunami in japan and

wanting to do their part to help relief efforts they sold their preschool artwork raising $264 for donations to the red cross. finally in minnesota, a high-risk pregnancy put her on bedrest. to lift her spirits her husband took advantage of visiting hours to bring her horse in to say hello. it's done wonders for her mood, calming her fears. now she can't wait to introduce her friend to her child. now for a look at national and regional weather we turn to bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, the fright thiening news of japan, wind played such a significant factor in this situation. >> the plant is right on the coast, the one we're worried about, lynn. roughly 100, 150 miles to the north of tokyo.

the worst wind possible for tokyo would be a wind from the due north. this morning the winds are light but they are on shore. so whatever radiation is leaking is dripping back over the land area. but the forecast for wednesday, thursday, friday all has a northwest wind. that will take whatever radiation is being leaked and push it off the coast. so won piece of good news we have for everyone in japan and especially tokyo. on the west coast, we are watching a big storm moving on shore. we've had gusty winds. we've got a lot of rain out there this morning from the california coast north right through oregon and all through washington state. the snow at pretty high levels, up the cascades at the pass to deal with that. seattle, a little break. heavy rain, more or less showers continuing currently. a batch of very heavy rain from eureka up to crescent city. the forecast, very active. eventually some will work its way into san francisco an

california and oregon but then it could spark storms this afternoon. lynn, wednesday's forecast not much better for west. we'll give you updates coming up. all right, bill. thanks very much. also coming up, japan's crisis hits wall street, a&m thrives on the ipad. why are american millionaires complaining? the early morning headlines ahead. donald trump will give a stern talk to a jail bound contestant. miami heat and the best shot of the night not made by a player. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here is some of your top headlines this morning. moammar gadhafi's forces are advancing toward the rebel capital of benghazi after retaking one of the last opposition-held towns in western libya yesterday. meanwhile secretary of state hillary clinton met with a senior libyan rebel leader in paris last night to discuss ways the u.s. can assist efforts to topple gadhafi. the united states is urging gulf nations to show restraint after saudi arabia united arab emirates sent forces into bahrain. the employment came as the island kingdom sunni royal family sought to ease tensions with the shiite majority. ordering an investigation into how a driver got a license to operate a tour bus that crashed over the weekend leading to the deaths of 15 people. a convicted flown with a

20-year-old manslaughter conviction, the man's license had been suspended for a past speeding ticket and for two tickets for driving without a license. and russia is hiking the price for american astronauts to fly to and from the international space station on one of its spacecrafts. each round-trip ticket will cost nearly $63 million apiece. according to nasa, due to inflation. now an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,993 after dropping 50 points. the s&p shed seven points, the nasdaq lost 14. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo a historically bad day for the nikkei falling a stunning 1,015 points. while in hong kong the hang seng plunged at 667. the ongoing nuclear crisis in japan on top of the

earthquake and tsunami disaster has rattled tokyo stock market to its core. yesterday's 6% nikkei drop saw $700 billion in value wiped away. this morning adding insult to injury the nikkei notices dived another half a percent losing another half a trillion dollars. one fund made up of uranium and nuclear energy stocks slumped. nuclear projects with hitachi dropped more than 2% the dow's biggest loser. fund trading in alternative energy shares jumped over 7%. toyota which announced suspension of production at all its japanese plants fell over 4%. since japan accounts for 11% of global luxury sales, that sect

or was stung. both tiffany and coach dropped more than 5%. aflac, the nation's and the largest foreign insurer in japan fell 3%. on the brighter side, caterpillar gained over 2% on trader's assumptions that it will benefit from japan's rebuilding. apple was also up after selling close to a million ipad 2 units on the updated tablet's computer debut weekend. looking ahead the fed's latest policy meeting is today with no major changes expected. finally apparently being a millionaire isn't what it used to be. in a new survey four out of ten american millionaires say they don't feel rich. many said to feel rich these days, they would need to have at least $7.5 million. a couple of battles of the titans in the nba and climbing the walls in baseball spring training. plus a broadcaster put the pros to shame.

your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. your tuesday forecast is all about a big rainstorm on the west coast and some rain moving through the southeast. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, while the miami heat lead the league this season in

height, it's the san antonio spurs who hold the nba's best record. last night, the two teams squared off in their second matchup of the season. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good tuesday morning. what a difference a week and a half makes for the miami heat. the spurs blew them up by 30 ten days ago. last night, the heat returned the favor. to miami, chris bosh had one of his best games of the year. tipped in the dwyane wade miss. he had 30 and 10 boards. in the half, they kept it going in the third. off the turnover, wade found the trailer. miami running away and never looked back. they won it, 110-80. the lakers have won ten of their last 11, thanks in large part to andrew bynum. avenues beast. 10 points, 4 blocks and a career high 18 ports. gasol not bad, either. the all-star led everybody with three. lakers won it, 97-84. nets and celts, paul piece with razzle dazzle, dribble behind his back and was cleared

for takeoff. good move by pierce, but that was it for him. he made just one other basket the rest of the game. can't say the same for the nets. they were firing on all silders. nets won their fifth straight and remain perfect in the month of march, beating the celts, 88-79. before the game, he heaves up a hook shot from half-court and got it. check out smith's reaction. just another day at the office. clips not at fortunate. they lost it by 23. finally, playing center field in the bigs can be a tough job. you need speed, athleticism and above all you need a glove. or andrew mccutchen at the wall, he went up and not only did he miss the ball, but he lost his glove. that's a double whammy. no biggie. have somebody toss it back. but there was nobody there. andrew took matters into his own hands. he hopped the fence, picked up his glove and climbed back over. you don't see that too often in the majors.

but then again, it's spring training. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. a comedian loses a steady paying job trying to joke about japan's woes. >> your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, forget cabo or cancun, we'll introduce you to some spring breakers with a different idea of vacation. you're watching "early today." welcome back on this tuesday

morning. busy weather day, a lot of heavy rain, chance of thunderstorms today and gusty winds. look at the forecast up and down the pacific northwest and the rain pushing to the south into the bay area, san jose and even sacramento all with a chance of rain. the only dry area is down here in southern california and into arizona. by the time we get into wednesday the storm lingers. it won't be as intense, the rainfall rates won't be as high, still a chance of wet weather. even now, boise to salt lake city tomorrow. if you're watching us on team 5 news in seattle, washington, see ancient artifacts and fossils, an exhibit over 500 million years in the making, life and times of washington state at the burke museum. an early look at headlines in entertainment. if he has to, donald trump will

bust one contestant out of jail to take part in his show's grand finale. yesterday "celebrity apprentice's" richard hatch reports to prison, sentenced for nine months related to his tax problems related to winning "survivor," which cost him an early stretch in the big house. when it comes to his show's early finale episode in late may, trump added, if we have to, we'll get him out. i don't know what it is with him. i'm going to have to sit down with him and talk to him. gilbert godfrey the voice of of a flack's trademark duck was fired by the company yesterday for jokes he tweeted making fun of victims of last week's massive earthquake and tsunami in japan. unbelievable. finally, he brought us erin brockovich and ocean's 12 says

he's done with hollywood. he doesn't want to be like an old athlete who has yet to quit. i don't know if it's lif it's l >> in other words, he feels filthy rich enough he doesn't have to work for a while. kxas, nearby argyle, spring breakers skipping wild times to take time out from school that's both relax ing and rewarding. nearly 20 college students took a pass on fun in the sun for kicking the football, spending a camp with children with special needs. offering a spring break program offering not only a good time but a chance to give back as well. i'm lynn berry. this is your first stop of the i'm lynn berry. this is your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

a collector in poland is touting his rare find. experts are saying not so fast. this photograph purportedly shows composer frederick choppin in 1939. it would be the third known photograph in exist answer. experts say there are no reports of photos taken during his funeral and further tests need to be made to prove its authenticity. in chile, a unique experience for visitors. the first ever nocturnal tour illuminates the active lives animals have a night. visitors can see feedings and

interact with some 158 species at the zoo that never sleeps. humans aren't the only ones taking to twitter to express their every thought. one man in latvia taught his birds to tweet. since the social networking trend is named after them he figured a way to fashion pork fat and prompts the birds to peck away tweets. over 200 followers try and decipher their messages which would be complicated with 140 characters of abckj. >> i have yet to do any twitter stuff and i really was hoping it would kind of just go away and something new and cool would replace it. that's not happening. >> you can't avoid it. get on the bandwagon. we're missing you. time now for an early look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. flags on national u.s. buildings will fly at half-staff today as our last world war i

veterans frank buckles is laid to rest at arlington national cemetery. the 110-year-old west virginiaan outlived every other american that served in the first world war before passing away last month. in rhode island lawmakers from a task force studying the problem of cyber bullying. the panel is set to address legislation to address online bullying and inappropriate teen texting. in new york madame tussauds unveils its latest wax icon, teen singing sensation justin bieber. all day long stay on top of developments as they break on nbc. tonight watching brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally a look at what's coming up later on the "today show." ann curry reports live from japan where fears of a nuclear meltdown are mounting. harry potter star daniel radcliffe talks about bringing his magic to broadway in the hit revival "how to succeed in business without really trying."

now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry.