this morning on "early today," drawing the line, how far should the u.s. go in helping the rebels in libya? cobra in custody, a deadly snake that had escaped from a new york zoo is found. and he's doing what? find out what one tradition prince william will not be find out what one tradition prince william will not be following. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with arm or not to arm.

there is a fierce debate in washington this morning about whether to supply weapons to disorganized rebels in libya who are losing momentum to gadhafi forces. in back-to-back appearances before the senate house and armed services committee yesterday, defense secretary roberts gates and joint chief admiral mullen argued forcefully against supplying u.s. arms, suggesting that job should be left to some other country. the white house has said repeatedly, it has not ruled out arming libya's opposition. meanwhile, libyan state tv is quoting gadhafi saying he is not the one who should resign, but rather the western leaders who have decimated his military. yesterday, his regime suffered its second high-profile defection in as many days after a former foreign minister and u.n. general assembly president fled tripoli. exactly three weeks after a devastating earthquake and tsunami, there are new signs this morning that japan is facing a long-term nuclear crisis. for the first time, officials have detected radiation exceeding government safety limits in ground water under the fukushima plant.

according to the facilities operators, drinking supplies have not been affected. giant concrete pumps are being airlifted from the united states to japan to help cool down nuclear reactors. in another grim twist, officials say radiation concerns are hampering efforts to recover the bodies of some 1,000 victims of the disaster lying within the leaking plant's evacuation zone. back here at home, federal workers wonder whether a budget stalemate will pull them out of work due to shutdown. there are signs of a possible compromise. for more we go to nbc's tracy pots in washington. good morning to you, tracie. >> reporter: veronica, good morning. john boehner has said we can't impose our will on democrats and the white house. is that a hint they are thinking about compromising the $61 billion in cuts they've been trying to get out of this federal budget? boehner denies his party has scaled back on those cuts by half. the demands to cut the budget by half. but he did not say that it's

nonnegotiable. in fact, he said the goal here is to get a budget, not to shut down the government. the republicans and congress has been under pressure by tea party members demonstrating here, saying they were sent to washington not to compromise, not to back down, but to make some significant cuts in the budget. a budget we don't have in place this year. the new deadline, april 9th, when the current continuing resolution, the temporary spending will run out. members of congress hoping to work on something more permanent that will last through the end of september. veronica. >> tracie pots in washington, thank you. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a line of severe weather swept across florida yesterday. powerful thunderstorms and heavy winds ripped the roof off several homes, flipped small planes and caused severe flooding in some areas. downed power lines left tens of thousands without electricity. at least five tornados were confirmed to have touched down

across the region. in washington state, four avalanches took over portions of the roadway early thursday morning near stevens path. the first snow slide hit highway 2 around 5:00 a.m. and covered all lanes about 15 feet deep. no one was injured. meanwhile, flood warnings are in place for several swollen rivers that flow off the central cascades after two days of heavy rain. in massachusetts, the snow is already piling up in new bedford as residents brace for the brunt of a spring snowstorm working its way off the east coast. some areas reported up to 3 inches of the wet stuff calling forecasters to warn of potential hazards from falling power lines and tree limbs. in new york city, the great cobra hunt of 2011 has come to an end. officials from the bronx zoo found the poisonous snake not slithering around the city as some had feared but a few feet from its enclosure. for a look at your national and

regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. weren't you saying something about it being 89 degrees today in new york city? >> yeah. that would be quite an april fool's. that would be the west coast you're talking about. yeah, quite an april fool's joke for those people in new england. how about yesterday, the last day of march, that we had record highs in many areas. downtown l.a., hit 92 degrees. in phoenix, 93. yuma, arizona, hit 100, vegas 88, even 80s as far north as san francisco. what a treat that was. the one really warm day. for some people probably too hot. today, temperatures coming down a little bit. this next storm system in the trough dipping down the west coast is going to cool the west coast off over the weekend and bring showers and wet weather back into the forecast. so enjoy about one more really mild day here in the desert southwest. it's not even that rainy in the pacific northwest. just a slight chance of showers today. our 48 hour rainfall totals,

this isn't a lot. maybe a half inch at most as we go throughout the next 48 hours. mostly in the mountains. just shower activities for a lot of the cities from medford, portland, northward. forecast for today, there's the showers from seattle to portland. further to the south, sunny and still warm. we could be near 100 today in phoenix, but a little cooler there in l.a. san diego, you're looking great along with vegas. you could use the pool for the first time this year. thatdown through the west coast. of course weekend forecast coming up. >> and in the meantime you're saying 100 degree temperatures. that sounds like an april fool's joke in some places. >> it was in yuma, yesterday, i. >> wall street ends march like a lion, the price of oil roars

upwards and one of the most expensive homes. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. the easter bunny's son may just get more attention this weekend than his famous father. coming up, opening day in the big leagues and you won't believe what one player said about his injured teammate. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. after weeks of pro labor protests, ohio governor john kasich has signed a controversial bill into law limiting collective bargaining rights for some 350,000 public workers, including fire fighters and police officers. new government figures show highway deaths have fallen to the lowest level in 60 years. thanks to seat belt use, safer vehicles and efforts to prevent drunk driving. the transportation department

estimates just under 33,000 people were killed on american roads last year, a figure that is down around 3% from 2009. a federal judge has sentenced two former new orleans police officers to lengthy prison terms for killing an unarmed civilian and burning his body in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. one of the officers was sentenced to 25 years. the other, 17 years. and once england's prince william says "i do" to fiancee kate middleton at the end of the month, we can confirm he won't do, wear a wedding ring. while most men in the royal family have worn wedding bands, palace officials say in this case, it's a matter of personal preference. how do you like that? and now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. the longest study out on post state cancer testing provides more evidence that getting screened doesn't cut the chances of dieing from the disease. the 20-year study of 9,000 swedish men found no difference in the rate of death between the men who were periodically examined with a physical exam and psa

blood test and those weren't. for more information on this and other health stories, head to the web and check out the health page online at msnbc.com. early today health is brought to you by the vagisil screening test. lets you test for infections at home. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,319 after dropping 30 points thursday. the s&p shed 2 points, but the nasdaq added 4. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 46 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 274. wall street ended the day mixed thursday. but after a tumultuous month, stocks ended the year's first quarter in great shape. the dow had its best start to the year since 1999 rising 6.4% in the first four months. the broader s&p 500 rose 5.4% and the nasdaq just under 5%. stocks swung between small ups and downs thursday as traders eyed the price of oil.

it rose $2.45, more than 2%, to settle near $107 a barrel. investors also hedged their bets ahead of today's key government report for employment in march. economists suspect the nation add 185,000 jobs last month and that unemployment remained at 8.9%. if so, february and march will mark the best two-month stretch for hiring since the recession began. berkshire hathaway's class b shares fell more than 2%, a day after the resignation of david sokol, widely viewed as the likely successor to warren buffett. sokol resigned after buffet revealed he bought shares in a chemical company before pushing buffet to buy it. sokol told our sister network cnbc he did nothing wrong in buying the shares. the royal trade organization ruled boeing received $5.5 billion in illegal government subsidies to develop and build new planes. finally, what house slump? a russian millionaire bought a

lavish 25,500 square foot single family mansion in silicone valley for $100 million. one of the largest home sales in u.s. history. wow. the crack of the bat, the flash of the spikes and the smell of the hot dogs on baseball's opening day, including curtis granderson settling the yankees opening tilt against the tigers. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. after a very active start to our april, the weekend forecast actually looks pretty nice. that's coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, if the weather isn't convincing you it's spring, then the opening day of a baseball season is sure to do it. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good friday morning. opening day in major league baseball and the san francisco giants began their title defense in los angeles. against the dodgers, giants down one in the eighth. james loney, a double off the wall. in came matt kemp. l.a. with a little insurance and they would need it. giants got on the board in the ninth. all nor to thep knot.

dodgers held on to win it 2-1. in the east, curtis granderson came back to haunt his old team, yankees beat the tigers, 6-3. great finish in cincinnati. pete rose in attendance with a stylish jacket. reds down two. with two on and who two out against the brewers, ramon hernandez came through in the clutch, walk-off three-run homers. what a way to start the season, reds won it, 7-6. last year, the braves jason hayward hit a home run in his first at-bat. this season another home run in his first at-bat. keep that up, we expect it every year. braves over the nationals, 2-0. will. longest home run of the day goes to torre hunter, ripped a bomb against the royals, get out the tape measure, 461 feet. angels won it 4-2. cards and padres, a game-tying home run in the ninth. welcome to the team. stayed that way until the 11th. m maybin hit a single to right. hurt himself on the play. thought it was a knee injury only to find out otherwise in the postgame show with closer

heath bell. >> we got word cameron has cramps. does not appear to be a serious problem. did you think his ball was going to get to center. he we could see that angle. it's good to find out he's got crabs. >> did i say that? cramps? >> i think he's got crabs. >> i'm not sure where to go from there. >> perhaps to the doctor. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> that is an april fools joke if i've seen one. she is joining the nbc family. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. what are these kids celebrating? here's a hint, a very sweet victory. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. take you through your weekend forecast. after yesterday's record heat, today another very warm day. not so much on the coast of california. you're cooler. from vegas all the way through arizona, very toasty. san francisco, you're going to be cooler at 65. yesterday you were at 80. showers in the northwest. as we head through the weekend, it's not going to be a drench. we're not going to get soaked. we will see a chance of showers, a weak storm system will shift from the north to the south and keep you kind of cloudy and cooler. notice l.a. down to 69. by the time sunday rolls around, it's not going to so wet. the storm system moves into the

rockies and clears out for a dry day. notice the cool temperatures are definitely around. only 60s in the california coast and interior will probably be somewhere in the mid-60s. if you're watching us on krnv news 4, reno, nevada, gaze at ground-breaking light sculptures created by combining strobe, neon and l.e.d. lights at animate lights at the nevada museum of arts. that's your pacific event of the day. >> do they just turn off the lights at the museum? >> i don't know. we have to dig deeper into it. >> all right. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. at the box office this weekend, things will be hopping. "hop," the seasonal animated half life comedy from the makers of "despicable me" about the easter bunny's rebellious son is expected to blow away the competition for the top spot with the only real question, can it break $30 million. "source code" stars jake gyllenhaal as a soldier taking several cracks at traveling back in time to prevent a terrorist

train bombing in chicago. the film which cost $32 million to make, should earn half of that back this weekend. the weekend's other debut is "incidious," a horror film about a boy in a coma who becomes possessed. most experts think it will take in around $10 million. but some see it doing much better. finally, good news if you can never get enough betty white. she'll be hosting a new nbc hidden camera show called betty white's off the rocker. where white will lead a group of seven senior citizens playing pranks on young people. think quick, what is your favorite show, film, anything that betty white has ever done? >> "the golden girls" that's obvious. >> it is. i was kind of looking for a film, but -- >> okay. >> i'll let you off the hook. this note comes to us from wcau nbc 10 in philadelphia. westchester, pennsylvania, kids got a sweet treat for surpassing their goals. students at chester brook academy elementary made human

sundays out of their teachers piling on hot sauce and whipped cream. yikes! the unusual indulgence was a reward for the kids who were challenged to read 1,000 books during march's national reading month and the teachers, look at that, they got their just desserts when the kids read a total of 5,000 books. can you imagine it if they read anymore? >> that will be a day they remember. probably the most fun they've had all year. >> seriously, right. have you ever been able to do anything like that? >> i remember when i was a kid we used to have the reading things and contests. i did my part. a lot of dr. seuss books, i remember. >> no human sundaes, i'm sure. >> just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

for weddings, how about something old, something new and something chocolate? one shop in england has created a royal wedding gown made of white chocolate modeling its creation on a brunette manny can. it's accessorized with a bracelet and tiara with sugar. for the world cup, virginia has rats. this week, one museum in virginia held a rat basketball tournament to predict the winner of the real final four. in the mock tournament, the home team, virginia commonwealth beat butler and kentucky to win, at least for now, the national rat

title. while new york's missing cobra has been found, it's digital identity is still a mystery. the city searched for the missing reptile and nearly 200,000 twitter users were captivated by a tweeting egyptian cobra out on the town. now that thousands on facebook are clamoring for the cobra to host "saturday night live" we have to reveal the true's alter ego actually is -- our very own bill karins. i'm upset with you, because you never told me you were on twitter this entire time. >> that would be assuming that, a, i could twitter, b, do facebook, and c, know what a snake would do in a week off. >> april fools thanks, bill. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in washington, the house armed services committee meets to discuss the implementation of plans for the repeal of the military's ban on gays and lesbian's serving openly.

in arizona, a statue of an angel honoring christina taylor green, the youngest victim of the tucson shooting will be be unveiled at a baseball field. the statue was made from materials recovered at the world trade city after the 9/11 attacks. green was born on 9/11. and today marks the anniversary of the ban of cigarette ads on tv. richard nixon, an avid pipe smoker sign today legislation. 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. new photos of lindsay lohan outside a new york nightclub caused a stir about whether she was drinking, a violation of her probation. and one woman's plastic surgery nightmare. she went in for an eye lift and she came out unable to blink. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your

nbc station. stop of the day, today, on your nbc station. have a terrific weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com