♪ this morning on "early today," midnight oil, congressional negotiators work through the night trying to prevent a government shutdown. reaching out, libya's moammar gadhafi makes a bizarre personal appeal directly to president obama. and it came from outer space. scientists discover a new type of mineral in an antarctic meteorite. 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 deal or no deal. as the sun comes up on capitol hill, lawmakers working through the night still have not come to terms on a spending plan for the nation's expiring budget, making a potential government shutdown appear more and more likely. nbc's tracey polgts joins us from washington with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: now we're within 48 hours of this possible government shutdown. the president was up late last night working on this. so were key lawmakers from ear on the hill. they told their staffs to stay up all night if necessary to keep this government open. americans are bracing for the real impact of a government shutdown. >> we may not get paid but we still need to report to work. >> reporter: after a late-night meeting with house speaker john boehner and harry reid, president obama said he's certain they can strike a budget deal if they keep in mind why it's so urgent. >> hundreds of thousands of workers across the country suddenly are without a paycheck.

their families are counting on them being able to go to work. >> reporter: both sides say last night's meeting narrowed the issues but there's still deep divisions and no agreement on how much to cut. >> we're not there yet. but hope lies eternal. >> there's an intent on both sides to continue to work together to try to resolve this. no one wants the government to shutdown. >> reporter: democrats insists his hands are tied by the tea party refusing to bend. >> he is going to be driven by these extremists into an unsustainable position and pay a price for it. >> reporter: perhaps no greater price than this. >> we have people coming from all over the country. >> reporter: sally ann paulson is waiting to bury her father at arlington cemetery. if the shutdown happens, his funeral may have to wait. lawmakers say they are making progress here, but if they don't, there's a backup plan. republicans in the houseworking on a one-week extension and they

changed some of the rules, lynn, so if they have to vote on that tomorrow it can go into effect the same day. >> all right. tracie potts in washington. thank you. and perhaps the most stunning result in our most recent nbc news/"wall street journal" poll comes from the potential lineup for republican contenders in the 2012 presidential election. the survey finds that donald trump is suddenly tied for second in the gop field, running behind front-runner mitt romney. trump now shares the number two spot with former arkansas governor mike huckabee. trump, who has received a considerable amount of attention recently for continuing to incorrectly insist that president obama wasn't born in the u.s. also surprisingly finishes first among tea party supporters. and don't miss meredith vieira's exclusive interview with donald trump, that's later this morning on "today," right here on your nbc station. libyan leader moammar gadhafi is trying a rather unusual tactic trying to end the nato air strikes in his country.

he sent a letter to president obama. in the letter, which includes numerous spelling and grammatical errors, he asks president obama to end a, quote, unjust war. gadhafi goes on to say that he bears no ill will towards president obama. he even wishes him luck in his bid for re-election next year. the white house confirmed the letter, but greeted it with renewed calls for gadhafi to step down. after notching a rare victory by plugging a leak of highly radioactive water, workers at japan's damaged nuclear plant are now trying to prevent more hydrogen explosions there. although officials stress there's no immediate threat of blast, crews are pumping nitrogen into the facility. meanwhile, the state department is confirming the death of a second american in last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami, a teacher who worked in a tiny coastal town in japan. now here's a look at other

stories making news early today in america. in new york, two consecutive accidents in the same spot has some business owners thinking about moving. last night, a driver careened into the same store that was crashed into last week. eerily identical to last week's accident, the driver lost an arm and his female passenger was severely injured. in georgia, a lightning storm sparked a massive fire that destroyed over half a dozen businesses in a historic section of downtown donaldsville. once ignited, the blaze quickly spread, forcing over ten fire departments to battle high flames. firefighters were able to contain the fire to half a block before putting it out and saving the rest of the downtown area.ç and finally to connecticut, where a group of high school students attempted to teach a lesson in math and breaking a world record. they not only created a paper chain that measured more than a mile long, but each link

represented a digit in the mathematical constant of pi. after 7 a,000 links, students and teachers are hoping they have the right equation for a world record. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> good morning. give them the world record for patience. >> no kidding. 75,000? they could go on forever. >> that's a lot of paper cuts. >> exactly. the worst weather in the country is hawaii. you're seeing the worst of it. overnight flash flooding in oahu. look at the showers and storms. most are so the south of the island. they will at times move over the top of the islands right through the morning. plan on on and off wet weather and flash flooding. look at this forecast, it's very rare we get a forecast like this in the hawaiian islands. it's not much better on the west coast. unseasonably cold air palaces

coming straight down from the north, heading through southern california. with it we'll have instability, showers, maybe some of the showers will contain small hail during the day today. what an unbelievable stretch of bad weather we've had up in seattle. another cloudy day today. temperatures have been below 50 degrees now for a week. that's never happened before in april that we've gone this many days with this chilly of an air crescent city or up the coast in oregon. an ugly forecast from hawaii to the west coast. >> it is, thank you. coming up, cisco sizzles, gas woes spread. and who's the world's richest fictional character? your early morning business headlines is straight ahead.

plus, a new tattoo on angelina's arm sets the rumor mill churning. coming up, the red sox slide continues. and an nhl player makes a midgame bet with a fan. and there are pictures. 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. the senate has rejected a republican effort to block the environmental protection agency from regulating greenhouse gases. the measure would have repealed a 2009 finding by federal scientists that carbon dioxide and other heat trapping gases are endangering human health and the environment. authorities say they've charged the suspect in yesterday's deadly shooting at an alabama community college after he walked up to reporters and calmly told them he was the person police were after. the shooting killed one woman, wounded two others and injured a 4-year-old who was hit with

flying glass. police say one of the wounded and the intended target was the suspect's estranged wife who had filed a restraining order against him. a federal judge overseeing the legality of the nfl lockout says she will take a couple of weeks to rule on the case. however, she also urged both the players and the owners to return to the bargaining table. and nasa scientists say they've discovered a previously unknown mineral hiding inside aç 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite from antarctica. the exotic blend of sulfur and titanium has been dubbed wassonite. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,426 after gaining 32 points on wednesday. the s&p added 2 points. the nasdaq was up 8. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei rose 6 points, but in hong kong the hang seng shed 3.

in a world where corporate ceos aren't exactly known for their honesty, the mea culpa from one executive got a welcome response yesterday. in a remarkably candid memo to employees, cisco's ceo acknowledged recent missteps which led the company away from its networking strengths were, quote, unacceptable, vowing to take bold steps to return the one-time bellwether to its former status sent cisco shares up 5%. hul little packard, microsoft and qualcomm got something out of the gains as well. meanwhile, there was a muted reaction to portugal's request for a financial bailout after belt tightening measures failed to resolve its economic crisis. on the earnings front, monsanto fell 5% after its earnings forecast failed to impress investors. energy companies were the biggest drag on the day. on news that u crude supplies grew mar than expected. while the demand for gasoline dropped.

underscoring investors' energy concerns, new poll numbers show two-thirds of americans say they're driving less and rising gas prices will likely present a hardship over the next six months. the bank of japan announced it's setting aside nearly $12 billion in fixed, affordable loans for companies trying to rebuild in the wake of its recent disasters. dish network is hoping a 2 $8 million deal to buy blockbuster out of bankruptcy will keep both brands afloat in the digital age. finally, bill gates better watch out. according to "forbes" magazine's ranking of the richest fictional characters, scrooge mcduck is hot on his tail with a net worth of $44.1 billion. it's good to be a duck, apparently. well, a goalie places bets during a game. the bonds' defense rests without calling a witness and the red sox can't buy a win. plus, craig sadler gets in

the right swing of things at the masters warm-up. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we're seeing a switch in the weather pattern. the east coast is warming up while the west coast is stormy and chilly. your thursday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this

is "early today." in sports, the boston red sox, the favorite of many prognosticators to go all the way in baseball this year, are off to their worst start in years. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all yourõorts headlines. good morning. if you're a red sox fan, you probably think the sky is falling. take heart, boston. it's a long season. sox searching for their first one of the year, visiting cleveland. in the sixth, as cabrera kept boston blank in the win column, a three-run shot, indians over the sox, 8-4. worst start since '96. >> meantime, mitch morlan's double break a tie in texas never look back, rangers won it, 7-3. in the courtroom, barry bonds' perjury trial is nearing an end. the defense rested their case without calling a single witness. also one of the five counts against bonds was dropped. closing arguments begin this

morning. hockey's stanley cup champion black hawks, backup goalie turco is a betting man. he'd say they make it. turns out he is a betting man. the picture you see is turco apparently betting a canadian fan $5 that chicago would score during tuesday's game. they did and you see the fan paying off the bet with a note on the bill saying habs rule, aka canadiens. turco handed the fan a wad of fives saying turco rules. my guess, betting a fan during a game, probably against nhl rules. in golf, the masters begins this weekend, defending champ phil mickelson is your favorite this year. luke donald won the par three contest. unfortunately, nobody has ever won the par three and the

masters in the same year. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. is everyone's favorite fictional nbc executive leaving the air waves? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll bring you the story of the ambitious young, really young, politician who took control of the new jersey statehouse, if just for a day. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday. we talked about the nasty weather in hawaii earlier this morning. not much better on the west coast. there will be showers which could contain hail with them, including san francisco, northward, crescent city, redding, up to the mt. shasta area. highs today struggling into the 50s in many areas. tomorrow, slightly better but still a chance of showers and wet weather, even vegas and phenfeig phoenix and l.a. will have to deal with that. anchorage alaska, journey through history, celebrating 125 years of alaska's tastiest export, sailing for salmon at the anchorage museum. that's your pacific event of the day. >> thank you. there's big debate among film lovers as to whether this news is exciting or bogus.mi keanu reeves is saying a third

adventure of bill and ted is in the works. bill and ted's excellent adventure and bill and ted's bogus journey hit theaters in '89 and '91. no word on how they will deal with the characters being in their 40s and whether or not they're going to talk like they used to. 40-year-old tina fey has announced that she's pregnant with her second child and that news comes as costar alec baldwin told "new york" magazine that next year will be "30 rock's" last. after which he said tina will have a big career directing films and writing. a new tattoo spotted on angelina jolie in tunisia this week set off wild speculation the actress may be adapting or having another child with brad pitt. below a seventh seof latitude and longitude points have appeared. these mark the birth places of all her children.

we're in nearby trenton, new jersey, one boy's tears of sorrow led to a big win for little guys all over. >> that was jesse on election day 2009 after being told at the age of 3 he was too young to be governor. well, the video went viral and now the pint sized politician's dream has come true. jesse was made governor and his twin, brandon, lieutenant governor just for a day. but his mom says he may not have gotten the vote since he said he would raise property taxes. >> i saw an interview. now he said what he wants to do is be a rock star next. >> let's get steven tyler on the phone. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. h

you might not be able to get a piece of william and kate's wedding cake on april 29th but how about a cookie? a company in london has created a series of home-made royal wedding biscuits, as they're called in england. designs include crowns, carriages and other royal imagery. the company has been shipping orders of the sweets all around the world, giving people the taste of the royal excitement. talking about strange bed fellows, a deer has been standing guard in front of a widowed mother goose left to protect her nest all alone. the scene at the cemetery in buffalo has onlookers touched as the deer has stepped in as a guardian of sorts standing to

attention whenever someone approaches. one teenager has found an interesting way of getting what she wants no matter what. after being told by her parents that she couldn't get a horse, regina trained her cow to fill the role. she's even gotten the clever cow to leap fences and mosey through the countryside at her home in germany. regina's new best friend doesn't seem to mind and has been appropriately named luna. luna meaning moon, cow jumped over the moon. i'm telling a bad joke. >> get the girl a horse. >> you know, you can't give a kid everything. let them get creative. >> that's very creative and it has horns, too. it's time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. it is world health day marking the founding of the world health organization. this year's campaign calls for everyone to do their part in helping to stop antimicrobial resistance which is when microorganisms become immune to

medications. swinging into gear in augusta, georgia, round one of the masters tournament. 99 players are in this year's match, the largest field since 1966. and starting today, stamps celebrating the wedding of prince william and kate middleton can be purchased online. the two will be tieing the knot on april 29th. 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. donald trump talks about running he white house and his doubts about president obama's birthplace. and actress ann hathaway is live in the studio talking about getting animated in her new film and tackling the role of catwoman in the new "batman" movie. 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