this morning on "early today," mess in the midwest. as parts of the nation clean up from the storms, another weather system picks up steam. breaking out, hundreds of inmates escape from a prison in afghanistan. and breaking in, how a seven-foot gator made it into one home in florida. hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific

time zone. this morning, residents in and around st. louis are surveying the devastation from friday's powerful tornado that incredibly didn't take a single life. the city's damaged airport is already up and running, just one sign of the resilient spirit of st. louis. nbc's frances co reports. >> reporter: planes are taking off today at st. louis' airport. it was pounded by what officials called the strongest tornado to hit the area since 1967. as workers continue to clean up the mess the twister left, the airport is handling about 70% of its normal schedule. officials say it may take a few days to get the airport fully up and running. >> i think it's amazing. so when i take a look at where we stood here on friday night. >> in nearby neighborhoods, rebuilding may take a little while longer. the storm damaged more than 750 homes. in bridgeton, missouri, battered by an ef-4 rated tornado, residents who lost everything are finding gratitude.

>> this is a lot of devastation, we could have lost lives. we're grateful our family is fine and our neighbors are fine. >> reporter: in humor. >> many times i wanted to take a bulldozer to this house. and i've gotten my wish. the man came and survived, my husband's shirts are in tact. all of the hawaiian shirts my husband collects, they're intact. >> reporter: the hope and plan. >> our plan is to rebuild. our faith isn't shaken. frances co, nbc news. >> reporter: bill karins is going to have the latest on a potential new weather system. that's coming up in a few minutes. but first, in libya, a nato air strike on muammar gadhafi's has left buildings badly damaged. compound destroyed an office, a library, and reception hall inside the complex near tripoli. there are conflicting reports as to how many people were hurt in

the attack. a security official said four people were slightly hurt. today's strike came after a bloody weekend in the rebel-head city of misrata where rebel forces unleashed a barrage of shells and rockets leaving 32 dead and dozens wounded. this morning in afghanistan, officials are dealing with massive jailbreak of 400 prisoners, many of them taliban insurgents. officials say the inmates escaped through a tunnel they had been digging for the past five months. a taliban spokesman said 100 of those who got out were taliban insurgents. security forces launched a huge search operation and have captured some. >> and now here is a look at other stories making news in other parts of america. the skies over southern california became a combat zone when a gunman opened fire on an land chopper. one bullet hit the fuselage forcing the pilot to make an

emergency landing. no one was hurt, on the ground, the gunman was subdued by family members. a powerful explosion level a vacant house on long island. 20 nearby residents were taken to the hospital for evaluation. no one was seriously hurt. that explosion is under investigation. a florida woman's uninvited house guest gave her a hair-raising experience when she found a seven-foot alligator in her guest bathroom that apparently got in through a doggy door. the woman and her cats got away unscathed while the animal was removed from the home without incident. and finally. 2,000 grown-ups tabbed into their inner child for the derby. they went down the streets not to win, but as one participant put it, to crash. there were plenty of crashes. none that ruined the ride of

course. now here is bill with the weather channel forecast. >> mine had the break on the side. >> look at you with the leather jack ed at 5 years old. of course you were a stud. >> we have the amazing pictures of st. louis. the middle of the country is a mess. we have severe weather and flooding. we have a major flood heading into next weekend. this area is getting battered this spring. these tornados pinpoint all of arkansas into the memphis area tonight. we have flood warnings along the mississippi river. this is where we will pick up 3, 6 inches of rain over the next couple of days. that will be a major story heading into the weekend. we have a big storm of our own

to deal with. we have rain and winds with the storm too. we have high-wind warnings. right now a lot of heavy rain pushing in. even this far inland could see gusts of 50 miles per hour. snow with the highest of elevations with this system. in the west too, the weather pattern improves for many as we go through the middl areas will the 50s. pre presscott, arizona not bad. >> thank you. coming up, a first for the fed.

let the earnings reports flow and how much will england's royal wedding cost taxpayers? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. first dump ed by "two and a hal men". now who is the latest to say good-bye to charlie sheen? >> you are watching "early today."

>> good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here's some of your top headlines this morning. newly released documents from the website, wikileaks, offer fresh details on the 779 detainees that have been held at guantanamo bay. according to "the new york times," the documents show that most of the 172 remaining prisoners are considered high risk, meaning that if they are released without adequate rehabilitation, they pose a grave threat to the u.s. and its allies.

the documents also show about a third of the 600 detainees already freed or sent to other countries were also high risk. fbi agents are on the hunt for a suspect in the attempted bombing of a colorado shopping mall last week. authorities say earl albert moore was released from prison earlier this month after serving a sentence for an armed bank robbery. in italy, an air passenger was detained after trying to hijack a paris-to-rome flight yesterday demanding it be flown to libya. there are differing reports about what type of weapon he used, either a small knife or a nail clipper to attack a flight attendant. the man reportedly from kazakhstan was subdued by other flight attendants and arrested in rome, no one was hurt. mark kelly tells cbs news that his wife, gabriel gifford will attend friday's launch of the space shuttle "endeavor." kelly is commanding the mission. giffords has been in rehab since she was shot.

health headlines on nbc.com. sometimes children are not the only victims of bullying. it could put a strain on the entire family. parents feeling anxiety, anger, and helplessness when they're unable to help their child. psychologists recommend a calm approach to deal with the issue since the parent's reaction could make it better or worse. the other health stories, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> "early today" health is brought to you but vagisil. bring yourself back. an early look at how wall street will kick off the day after the long holiday weekend. the dow opens at 12,505 after climbing 52 points on thursday. the s&p added seven and the nasdaq rose 17. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei lost ten

points, but in hong kong, the hang seng gained 242. is the fed ready to end the easy money policy? that's the big question on the minds of investor this is week as the federal reserve begins a two-day policy meeting tomorrow. policy makers will discuss interest rates and the fate of the recent $600 billion bond-buying plan to boost the economy. then following that meeting on wednesday, fed chairman ben bernanke will make history at the central bank's first ever press briefing. the new media friendly policy is the fed's attempt to be more clear about what's on its mind. the average price of regular gas is now up to $3.88 a gallon. this week we'll find out if the rising fuel costs are draining profit from delivery giant ups. meanwhile, as oil prices continue to climb, look for profits to soar at exxon mobile and chevron. >> a third of the s&p weighs in

with earnings this week including coca-cola, caterpillar, and amazon.com. 75% of corporate reports have beat earnings estimates. today we get an update on the struggling housing market with new numbers on home sales and the latest home index tomorrow. investigators suspect a manufacturing lapse at a boeing factory 15 years ago could be to blame for a hole that tore open of a fuselage of a southwest airlines jet earlier this month. finally, when england's prince william marries kate middleton on friday, it's expected to cost his father, prince charles, $5 million, however, security for the royal affair could set taxpayers back about $30 million. for the first time, the nashville predators get a playoff series win. plus the black hawks pull off the improbable and force a game seven against the canucks. your early morning sports medlines are straight head. a new storm for the west coast.

you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, knicks fans are packing away their carmelo anthony jerseys for the season after a sweep by the celtics.

here's nbc's bill seward with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning to you. when the knicks traded for carmelo anthony, fans were talking about the prospect of being in the nba finals. you can't be in the final ifs you can't win a single playoff game. taking on the celtics trailing by 23, new york rally. amare stoudemire's bucket got the knicks within six. they didn't get much else, ray allen got game and then some. despite 32 from mellow, celtics win 101-89 to sweep the knicks. joe johnson unconscious down the stretch. scored the final ten points, finished with 20. the hawks win it 88-85 an have a 3-1 series lead. to new orleans, the hornets evened up their series with the lakers. hornets win 93-88. facing elimination, the sixers responded. final seconds, down one to the heat, lou williams coming up big, the three pointer with

d-wade in his face. sixers win, 86-82. miami leads the series, 3-1. a couple of great finishes in nhl playoffs. sabre and fliers, in overtime. three minutes in, denied. tries again. the rebound and whatever he wants, villi gets. flyers force a game seven in o.t. the blackhawks and canucks will be playing one tomorrow. ben smith scored the game winner in overtime. the chance to win their third straight 4-3 in o.t. and finally, the nashville predators punching their ticket to the second round. they beat the ducks 34-2. knicks falling, scored a pair. the predators scored a franchise history taking out the ducks 4-2. that's your sports. i'm bill seward. >> "madea" came out swinging but it was another film that took flight.

and while many celebrated with painted eggs and elaborate bonnets, one man whose long-time tradition has touched thousands of lives. your watching "early today."

welcome back. the oregon coast line into washington state. it is pouring out there already in portland. that will work into california including csan francisco. last week you dealt with the cooler temperatures. this week into the 70s and 80s into the middle of the week. wet weather in the northwest on tuesday. if you are watching us on king 5 news inseattle, washington. t temperate zone. >> for a second week in a row, the box office title was for the birds, "rio" featuring anne hathaway and desi aisenberg took in $26.8 million to remain

the number one film this weekend. >> "big happy family "in second. in third place -- premiering in third place, reese witherspoon and rob patterson's circus romance, "water for elephants" brought in $17.5 million. and in fourth place with $12.5 million, "hop" which appropriately passed the $100 million mark on easter sunday. and finally, it appears that charlie sheen has an opening for a goddess. the actor who boasted about his love life with his two goddesses told audiences in florida that brie olson has bailed on the three-way relationship. why would she even do that? so how did she let him know she was leaving the winning team? via text message. >> i have always said that you are a goddess?

>> i don't think that is a complement anymore is it? >> i don't think so. >> this comes from nbc4 los angel angeles. a catholic priest 92-year-old better known as father dollar bill spent his easter sunday continuing to give out cash to the poor. the line was long but you managed to hand out in an hour $20,000 making the holiday a happy one for some people who could really use the help. this is "early today" just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

some in switzerland to stop the smell the flowers -- at their own risk. despite its reputation as the world's stinkiest flower, more than 20,000 visited the botanical gardens to take a look at the rare cork flower that is said to smell like rotting flesh. the odor is meant to attract insects in the wild and can be detected from half a mile away. >> a farmer in china has turned to tending to a pair of baby black bears on his property. they were too weak to stand. he is nursing them back to health and plans on setting them

free when they are stronger. the egg hunt is a popular easter tradition but one town celebrates in a different way. for 25 years the residents have held an easter egg throwing competition. the goal is to toss it as far as you can without breaking it. there are prizes, but everyone hopes to break the 255 feet record. and that could create trouble. i know you had an easter fiasco. >> i ended up with orange die on myself. and then the 1-year-old decided to bite into the egg with the shell on. that was great. >> of course. now you have been initiated as a father on easter. time for a look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. funeral services will be held for three children killed when their mother drove their vehicle in the hudson river. the mother was laid to rest last week.

george w. bush will join wounded veterans on a 100 kilometer mountain bike race. it's run by an organization that empowers injured service military members. and president obama and first lady michelle obama will take part in the annual white house easter egg roll. all day long you can stay on top of those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and watch brian williams on the nightly news. and what's going on this morning on the today show, al roker has the details on the wild weather expected in the south and the midwest this week. four days left before the royal wedding, meredith reports live from london on last-minute preparations. 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.