this morning on "early today," attack on libya. the coalition assaults intensifies as a defiled gadhafi promises a long fight. under pressure. another potential set back as japan struggles to contain it nuclear reactor crisis. and fallen star. fans mourn the sudden death of germany's most beloved zoo animal. 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. and today we begin with

targeting libya. american and european militaries spent the weekend launching intense strikes on libya in a mission aimed at halting the brutal attacks on anti-government rebels. although american officials say the u.s. is not trying to kill gadhafi, operation odyssey dawn appears to have hit close to home for the libyan leader. nbc news has learned that english forces conducted a strike on his compound. it was not known where gadhafi was at the time, but according to the "new york times," journalists did not report any casualties. meanwhile robert gates says that the u.s. expects to hand over control of the mission to a coalition in a matter of days. that coalition will probably be headed either by the french or english or by nato. for more information on the operation, we go to nbc's brian mooar. >> reporter: with a second day ç of fighter jet attacks and

missile strikes, european and american forces have blinded moammar gadhafi's air defenses, crippled his air force and now are threatening to pound his army into submission. >> we judge these strikes to have been very effective and significantly degrading the regime's air defense capability. >> reporter: the libyan leader threatened a long, bitter fight. hours later, he declared the second cease fire in less than a week. in brazil, president obama declared libya's fate will be decided by libyans. >> the change they seek must be driven by their own people. >> reporter: and he's drawn sharp boundaries for the u.s. military. >> the president has been very clear that we're not going to put any boots on the ground. this isn't about occupation in any way, shape, or form. >> reporter: the mission? halting gadhafi's attacks on civilians. but the end game is not so clear. >> so the mission can be accomplished and gadhafi can remain in power? >> that's certainly potentially one outcome. >> reporter: and it may be

gadhafi alone who decides how and when this will fight ends. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. meanwhile in japan, staggering new estimates of the death toll there coupled with fresh problems at the crippled nuclear complex are overshadowing some success with cooling the plant's overheated reactors. there is word that workers have been evacuated after gray smoke was seen rising from reactor number three at the fukushima nuclear plant. an unexpected rise in pressure has ignited fresh fears. will this as japanese officials had announced two of the plant's six overheated reactor units were safely cooled down. higher levels of radiation have been found in tap water, greens, and raw milk. the state department is now offering potassium iodide to its staff in japan out of a "abundance of caution" in case radiation there reaches potentially harmful levels. all that as officials now

predict the death toll will exceed 18,000. and now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in california, a rescue team was called in. the team was set many motion after a driver attempted to cross a creek bed and became stuck. the first day of spring hit california with heavy, pounding rain and strong winds. the car's occupants were all rescued without injury. in arkansas train derailment had led to the death of a motorist. the driver was waiting at a track crossing when one of five derailed cars landed on top of the vehicle crushing it. investigators worked throughout the night to determine what caused the derailment and to remove the railcar from the scenes. finally, in new york, dozens of men have more than a little off the top at the annual st. baldrick's charity event. they had buzz cuts and became clean-shaved to raise money for

children's cancer. it was a success raising more than $30,000, and it also gave the men a chance to show solidarity for children who lost their hair during chemotherapy. well, now a look at your national and regional weather, here is bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> good morning. he with had at one point the grapevine north of l.a. was closed because of the snow and the wind. it was the rain that was just plentiful. santa barbara, five inches of rain. now, in l.a. we picked up two and a half inches of rain. the worst over the last 48 hours was really san francisco southward down to los angeles. notice, we really didn't pick up much in vegas, medford. this was southern california's big storm. currently the storm is kicking through. it's actually moving, finally. it's still going to be rainy this morning. there's going to be some showers. you may even see some hail

mixing in with some of the thunderstorms during the day. if we get enough instability out there. the heavy rain has ended. tloois that threat of it. now the jet stream, the big dip here to the south, and as that cubings on shore, we will watch the temperatures. very chilly, too. l.a., more showers are arriving as we speak. the mountains still with the snowshowers. it looks like vegas, some of the rain is now right over the top of you. as far as the snow goes, not a lot of additional more or less up through idaho and the northern rockies. today's forecast, though, still thunderstorms. let's look a we'll do it all over again. it looks like tomorrow finally will be a dryer day. later hopefully the west has seen the worst of it and maybe now we can get a break. >> all right, bill. thank you. well, at&t gobbles.

gas does another jump at the pump, and the best american city to find a job in. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, did bradley cooper's new thriller about brain power have limitless potential this weekend at the box office? coming up, a trio of upsets in the ncaa tournament and an inspiring story of one college athlete who refused to let anything stop him from reaching the top. you're rauching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. in brazil, on president obama's first stop on a three nation tour of latin america yesterdayç he declared his support for latin america's largest economy saying the nation can serve as a model for pro democracy movements around the world. today obama heads to chile where several hundred people protested asking the president to apologize for america's

involvement in chile's 1973 coup which ousted a democratically elected government with a military dictatorship. yemen's embattled president has fired his entire cabinet amid mounting protests calling for his end to his three decade long rule. that came after members of his own tribe demanded his resignation yesterday over the government's recent attacks on unarmed protesters. just this morning three army commanders, including a top general, announced they would join the rebellion. the german magazine has published two photographs depicting american soldiers in afghanistan posing with the corpse of an afghan civilian they're accused of murdering. the photos were amongst several seized by army investigators probing the deaths of three unarmed afghans last year. it is unclear how the paper obtained them. in a statement the army called the actions depicted repugnant.

>> and fans of knut, arguably the most famous polar bear, mourning his sudden death in berlin on saturday. the 40-year-old bear, who was rejected by his mother at birth, passed away after suffering a short spasm in front of hundreds of zoo visitors. now an early look at one of your top health headlines. are you into giant handbags? a lot of us are. according one expert, it's a woman's way of showing she's a caretaker who can provide. a recent english study showed the average giant purse weighs nearly 14 pounds, a load that can cause bad posture and pain. the american chiropractic association warns against carrying a bag that's more than 10% of your body weight. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> reporter: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil. bring yourself back. >> and now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off

the day. the dow opens at 11,858 after gaining 83 points on friday. the s&p inched up 5. the nasdaq added 7. taking a look overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei rose 244 points, while in hock kong the hang seng climbed 384. global worries are bound to make for another bumpy week on wall street, but news of a major merger in the wireless world could give stocks a strong start. at&t will pay a whopping $39 billion in cash and stock for fourth place rival t-mobile. the deal is sure to generate antitrust opposition, but if approved, the combination would create the largest cell phone company in the u.s., bumping current number one verizon to second place. overseas this morning, unrest in libya and uncertainty over japan's energy crisis pushed the price of viewed up in early

trade. meanwhile, investors snapped up bargains in asian markets despite sobering news from a world bank predicting it could take five years for japan to rebuild from its twin catastrophes. on the road to reconstruction, nissan plans to restart production at five of its six japanese plants this week, while sony says one of its plants in northern japan could be open within days. back at home, reports on housing, gross domestic product and durable goods orders are and due this week as well as research in motion, oracle, and best buy. over the weekend, boeing put its newest and largest passenger plane to a successful flight test.ç the average price of regular gas jumped another seven cents over the past two weeks to $3.57 a gallon. and finally, in a recent survey of the best u.s. cities to find a job, minneapolis has taken the top spot. based on its low unemployment rate and cost of living. number two spot goes to the texas capital of austin.

well, march madness whittles down to crunch time with upsets galore. including marquette mashing up the orange men. your sports headlines straight ahead. the roller coaster ride known as march weather continues with rain and unfortunately snow in the forecast. your monday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, as the dust settles from this weekend's frantic action in the ncaa tournament, there are several teams still standing, that weren't expected to. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good monday morning. eight more teams punch their ticket to the sweet 16. let's get right to it. florida state pulled off the upset of the day, knocked out number two notre dame and it wasn't even close. bernard james led the way with 14 and the defense did the rest. florida state shocked the irish 71-57. vcu had to play in a play in game to get to the big dance. now they're the bell of the ball. the rams dominated number three purdue with textbook and at times flawless play. they showed they belong in the 94-76 written. up next they hit florida state. marquette and syracuse. darrius johnson gave them the lead with under 30 seconds to lead. marquette stunned syracuse.

66-62. next up, north carolina. arizona and texas down to the wire, wildcats down two, derrick williams the lay up and foul. that tied it 69-69, and the free-throw put arizona p on top. a scramble for the rebound. an apparent foul, but no call. airy advanced 70-69. ohio state and kansas won easily, but number one duke received a scare from michigan. closing seconds, duke up two, a shot to tie or win. morris had the chance and just missed the runner. duke survived 73-71. they've got arizona up next. finally, there's a saying in sports that you should never underestimate the heart of a champion. anthony robles embodies that ideal. born without a right leg, he refused to let anything hold him back and saturday the arizona state senior became the best of the best winning college wrestling's national title in the 125 pound division. he finished the season an

undefeated 36-0 and credits his incredibly strong grip to his use of crutches, an incredibly inspiring story that truly proves nothing can stop you from achieving your dreams. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> that is great. well, coming up, find out who took the box office title this weekend. the same guy who is reportedly breaking hearts all over hollywood. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus you might think living to 100 years old would be enough of an accomplishment. not for this guy. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. our big storm system that has pushed through the west over the weekend, it's still going to affect areas today, but heavy rain threat is now shifting out. we're just going to deal with scattered thunderstorms during the day. some of those could even contain small heal. just showers just about everywhere. everyone is not going to get drenched, but you have a chance of wet weather. into tuesday the storm moves out. dryer air in southern california. it's about time. if you are watching us on news channel 8 in portland, oregon, learn techniques used by designers to create video games, dance music, even roller coasters at the design zone at the oregon museum of science and industry. that's your pacific event of the day. your roller coaster would go -- >> exactly. you know me well, bill. thank you. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in

entertainment. bradley cooper took a step toward proven box office status this weekend as his new film debuted in the number one spot. "limitless" took in $19 million for the win, but the box office itself is on a losing streak. year to date ticket sales are off 20% from last year. the film "rango" held on to the second spot with more than $15 million. the alien invasion tale "battle: los angeles" which many experts picked to win dropped nearly 60% from its audience of last weekend and falling to roughly $14.5 million. the "lincoln lawyer" played slightly better than expected finishing fourth with $13.4 million. the alien road trip comedy "paul isappointed landing in fifth. just over $13 million. and finally, let's go back to bradley cooper, shall we? several blogs and web sites are

linking him to sandra bullock and jessica biel, and this comes us to from wcau in philadelphia where in nearby williamstown, new jersey, one man showed you are never too old to do something totally outrageous. fred decided to celebrate 100 years of living by taking a giant leap from a plane. that's right. his birthday jump was planned five years ago after his first sky dive on his 95th birthday. he said he'd suit up again if he made it to 100. he's a man of his word. he took the plug and landed safely. no pressure, bill. >> what do they do -- show a guy coming down in a parachute? i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

there was some stiff competition at the cocktail world cup and stiff drinks, too. legendary bartenders showed off their best concoctions from traditional nip to magical mixes. but in what's being called a cocktail coup, team italy took top spot with a lemon inspired drink. very appropriate there. what's the way to a monkey's heart? through its stomach, apparently. a staff ar -- a safari in england is reintroducing a group of monkeys to visitors by covering a car with treats. the animals seem to respond raiding the food-filled prop. their living area has been closed off to tourist filled

cars for two years, so the stunt will hopefully prep the little ones for change. and an important warning. do not try this at home. an attempt to break another world record prompted a man in norway to dive 36 feet into a kiddy pool with just 12 inches of freezing water. he's earned the nickname professor splash for accomplishing the feat 12 times before. his winning strategy? the belly flop. we repeat, do not try this at home. >> that's worth seeing again. we should just keep putting that on a loop. >> we will for the rest of the show, how about that? we only have a few more minutes. >> the monkeys were pretty cute, too. >> it was a toss up for what we should talk to you about. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc.ç the perjury trial against barry bonds begins in san francisco. he's accused of making false statements before a federal

grand jury about his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. bonds denies the charges. today is international day for the elimination of racial discrimination. observed by the u.n., the annual event ames to remind us of our collective responsibility for promoting the ideal that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and life. and a happy birthday message to twitter. five years ago today the first tweet was sent on the social net workinging website. 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." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on "the today show". "today" goes live to libya for the latest on the coalition air strikes and analysis on how involved the u.s. should be in the conflict. and in a "today" exclusive an air stuntman survives a shocking air show accident along with his wife. 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. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com