thanks for watching. have a good night. hope to see you tomorrow! bye-bye. ♪ this morning on "early today," last ditch effort. budget negotiators pull an all-nighter with the threat of a government shutdown now just hours away. shaken and stirred, another powerful earthquake rocks an already rattled japan. and reptile revelation, new york's most famous and elusive and reptile revelation, new york's most famous and elusive snake gets a name. 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 paige hopkins. today, we begin with decision day.

the pressure is on for washington lawmakers to get a budget deal done before tonight's midnight deadline. despite republican calls for fiscal responsibility, after days of failed negotiations, some of the main sticking points remain. the party's stances on planned parenthood and the environment. we go to tracie potts in washington. >> reporter: word from the white house, no more temporary extensions. but the president's also saying he's not wildly optimistic that democrats and republicans can work this out before the midnight deadline. after a second night of failed negotiations, president obama made it cheer. >> i expect an answer in the morning. >> reporter: just hours from now, he'll have to notify federal workers to stay home monday. the hang up we're told are republican demands to limit abortions, cut funding for public radio, and strip power

from the environmental protection agency. >> the sad part about it, we keep never quite getting it to the finish line. >> our colleagues are using the defense department as hostage. >> reporter: americans are starting to fear the real impact. >> they don't have, you know, average joes' interest in mind. >> they're not looking out for the little man. >> reporter: national parks would close, 70% of yosemite's income is from tourists. this resort is already talking layoffs. >> shutting down the park exceptionally shuts everybody down. >> reporter: at yellow tone, officials say residents in the area may be affected. >> we're the water company, we're the sewer company, we're the road department. we're 911. >> reporter: and as of midnight tonight, they may also be furloughed. now, the house has already passed and unclear whether it would come up for a vote in the

veto it saying this time it's time to get a person fix. >> the same tragic stretch of qua ja pan's northeastern coastline already bat erd by last month's massive quake suffered its most severe aftershock yesterday. the 7.1 tremor knocked out power to millions of residents, including one woman who died after her ventilator stopped working. one other person was reportedly killed, several more injured. tsunami warnings were issued, but canceled after about an hour. workers at the troubled fukushima daiichi plant were evacuat evacuated. and democrats are expressing suspicion over wisconsin's recent supreme court election after new votes suddenly turned up in a race that's taken on added significance as an unofficial referendum on republican policies in the state. conservative it incumbent justice david pross event r took

a lead after one woman said she failed to report some of the ballots. she said the more than 14,000 were not included because of a human error. democrats crying foul point to the fact that the very clerk once worked for a gop caucus that was under the republican candidates control. sheels always been criticized for her handling of past elections. liberal supporters had hoped cloppenburg would win to strike down the law stripping away all corrective bargaining right 230s public workers. and a horrific scene in brazil as a gunman opened fire at an elementary school. a 24-year-old former student at the school lined up children at and shot them at point-blank range killing 12. before shooting more, he was shot by police in the leg and took his own life. he left a rambling letter at the scene and saying he wanted to kill himself.

now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. two teenagers in upstate new york needed to be rescued from a frigid creek after one of them dropped their cell phone into it. the girls quickly realized that retrieving the phone was a bad idea when rough waters left them stranded. they were clinging to an abutment. a robot is being credited with saving lives during a police standoff in florida. the video equipped camera was sent into the home to survey the situation. when it was attacked by the named man, the suspect then fired his ak-47 at it. the suspect eventually surrendered when the robot was the only casualty. finally, the snake known for showing zookeepers her vanishing trick now has a name. 60,000 people voted on five names. the egyptian cobra is now named

mia, inspired by missing in action. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> good morning to you. the weather coast is the problem. it's been that way for the last couple days. a big huge chunk of cold air has moved in to the area and temperatures are really well below average. and not a great start to your spring weather. especially if the pacific northwest. now, the storm system will be progressive. it will move, it will progress across the west and into the rockies today and middle of the country over the weekend. so as we go thought the next three day respect slow improvements. nothing great, but slow improvements. right now we have showery weather out there along coastal sections. not a lot of heavy precipitation. if anything in arizona there is more rain than snow. new the inter-mountain west, periods of snow and that's about it. so as far as the forecast for today is concerned, as we watch the instability continuing to shift to the south, still a

chance of a stray thunderstorm in southern california. showery weather around vegas, highs only in the middle 50s. salt lake city, 47 for you. you shouldn't see snow. that's only higher elevations. and finally in seattle, you'll see one of your warm he est or storms. most areas will be mist. crowds afternoon. weekend forecast coming up and it does improve for our friends on the west coast. >> i like that. thank you, bill. netflix stumbles and the legal war over ladies' fashion shoes. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, russell brandt takes

on some interesting competition this weekend at the box office. coming up, tiger woods, phil mickelson, no, a child leads them all at the masters. and the red sox? oh, the red sox. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm paige hopkins. here are some of your top headlines this morning. in libya, a nato air strike has reportedly killed at least five rebel fighters, triggering fresh anger between rebels and the alliance. they're saying alliance had correct evidence tanks were being used but was not aware rebel forces were also using tanks. in the middle east, in response to air strikes hitting a bus and killing five people. a study found that liberals

have more gray matter in the part of their brain associated with understanding complexity. on the other hand, the brains of conservatives were larger in the section related to fear. and an extraordinary cosmic blast in a distant galaxy has astronomers puzzled. they say they've never seen anything as bright and long lasting as an explosion picked up last month by a nasa satellite. the burst was probably caused by a star that was ripped apart after drifting too close to a massive black hole. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,409 after falling 17 points yesterday. the s&p lost 2 points and the nasdaq shed 3. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 177 points while in hong kong the hang seng added 114. japan's powerful aftershock sent waves of fear across wall street. the potential impact of another major disaster in japan rattled

investors early in the day. but after a tsunami warning was lifted, some upbeat data here at home helped offset most of that panic. news that fewer americans filed for unemployment last week fueled optimism on the jobs front. better than expected retail sales from the likes of bed, bath & beyond. big box chain costco got a boost rising 4% on sales and the maker of vodka celebrated a stellar recovery over last year's losses. constellation brands shot up 7% thanks in part to robust sales of holiday spirits. chip maker kla tencor fell 5%. news that netflix will pay nearly $1 million an episode to stream the tv series "mad men" was a flop with investors. shares fell 3%. general electric unveiled plans

to spend $600 million to build the nation's largest solar panel factory. and finally, for one shoemaker, kicking up your heels is serious business. christian lobatont filed suit against a company who he claims stole his red sole. the red sox worst start since world war ii. hockeys rangers lose their grip. plus, the ups and downs of tiger woods on the first day of the masters in augusta. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. temperatures are on the way up and it's about time. your weekend forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, it's golf's most prestigious tournament and they're all after its most coveted prize, the green jacket. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good friday morning. it is a tradition unlike any other. but amidst the pageantry of the

masters in augusta, a 21-year-old rose to the leaderboard on the masters. jack nicholas got things started. tiger woods apparently didn't like this shot on 15, but he should have. nearly holed it. tiger shot a 1 under par. phil mickelson looks good early. he birdied a hole and stands at 2 under. but the leaders are alvaro heros and rory mcilroy. he is tied with kiros at 7 under. hockey, if the rangers could win both, they make the playoffs. but they blew that last night. thrashers scored two goals. rangers fell 3-0, losing control of their playoff destiny. they need to win saturday and a carolina loss to make the postseason.

nba, top two teams in the east battling to be number one. celts and bulls. a great fake and a scoop between two boston defenders. derek rose had 30. bulls won it, 97-81. baseball red sox nation continues to panic. boston visiting the indians in the ninth. sox with the tying run aboard. j.d. drew, a liner off the pitcher, everybody was safe until the pinch runner overran second. the indians caught him in no man's land and that was the final out. boston fell to 0-6, their worst start since 1945. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. can the easter bunny's wacky kid hold on to the top spot at the box office this weekend? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, saved from starvation,

this horse provided its rescuers with a reward. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. let me take your weekend forecast. you can leave the umbrella at home for once. oregon up through washington state, today will be the best day of the next three. today we're watching more of that rain to the far south. l.a., vegas and phoenix all with

a chance of showers especially during the afternoon hours. yesterday we did have some of that small hail reported. showers and thunderstorms in california. saturday the storm system moves through. so unfortunately, we return back to that gloomy weather pattern and it continues into sunday. not going to be a lot of heavy rain, but on the coastal area, it will be cloud cany and coole. temperatures in the low 50s in seattle. if you're watching us on knbc in los angeles, get hands on at an annual orange county youth expo featuring a petting zoo, bug barn at barn to be wild at the oc oc fair and event center. i don't know a. lot of people probably wouldn't enter the bug barn. >> sounds like pun anyway. thanks, bill 37.

now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this weekend at the box office, it all boils down to russell brandt versus russell brandt. "hop" was way above expectations last weekend in number one. most experts think we'll take top spot again with nearly $25 million. in "arthur" brand plays the alcoholic millionaire made by the original but the young audience doesn't remember the original and the reviews have been poor. still, it's the only pg-13 movie out there. "your highness" will battle arthur for the second spot. also debuting, the spy saga "hannah." with so much competition and little marketing, it only might break $10 million. what do you plan to see this weekend? >> probably not going to catch any movies. i have some spring cleaning to do. but i'm amazed that russell

brand will have the number one and number two movies. one probably a hit and the other not. >> but still a big movie. >> crazy. >> and he's married to a pop star, katy perry. so he's doing something right. this comes to us from west palm beach florida where in nearby palm city the arrival of a malnourished horse at an animal sanctuary came with a special delivery. emerald was found starving and abandoned by an animal rescue group that initially thought she had a problem with her digestive system, but soon found out she was actually pregnant. she gave birth to a healthy philly and is now taking care of her newborn, a reward for a group that saved two lives with one rescue. i'm paige hopkins, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

it seems barbie may have some competition. the princess katherine doll modelled after kate middleton went on sale in london yesterday. its makers say it not only celebrates the royal wedding, but english fashion, as well, featuring kate's famous blue engagement dress, a hat and accessories. it costs roughly $50 with a percentage going to charity. one man went to great lengths literally for a good cause. an english runner became the first person to complete a marathon on a treadmill inside

the london eye. the runner plans on completing 223 marathons in ten years. one race for each day his nephew, who suffered from the illness, was alive. yesterday we told you about an unlikely friendship between a deer and a goose. well, today we have another. a baby leopard, abandoned by its mother, was introduced to a rabbit by zookeepers to keep him from getting lonely. guess what? the two became inseparable. however, the two became separated after the leopard became too big to play with the tiny hare. i don't know, bill, i sense a screenplay. >> the easter bunny got out just in time, huh? >> very good point. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in washington state, the case against the woman who claimed that someone threw acid in her face before it was revealed that she made it up is due before a judge today. prosecutors say she will plead guilty, although details of her

plea have not been revealed. in california, deliberations begin in the federal burglary trial of former san francisco giants slugger barry bonds. he faces charges of obstruction of justice and lying under oath in his testimony before a federal grand jury about taking performance enhancing substances. and congratulations to former first lady betty ford. today, she turns 93. happy birthday. 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. hear from a fugitive who evaded authorities for 30 years, became a wife and mother and had a seemingly perfect, normal life until cops tracked her down. and academy award winner robert redford talks about his new thriller based upon the plot to kill president lincoln. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news,

weather, sports and more. i'm paige hopkins. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com