this morning on "early today," back to the drawing board. president obama's jobs bill fails in the senate, but the president says it's not dead yet. october boost. gop front-runner mitt romney arrives at last night's presidential debate with a surprise endorsement. and punching holes. the prosecution delivers more damning testimony in the trial against michael jackson's damning testimony in the trial against michael jackson's doctor. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across

the nation. including those in the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with defeated but not necessarily dead. last night's senate lawmakers voted down president obama's $447 billion jobs bill even as the president was on the road trying to drum up support for it. the package of tax cuts and new spending failed in a 50-49 vote, falling short of the 60 needed to keep it alive. two democrats joined all republicans in blocking a vote on the bill. republicans opposed its spending to stimulate the economy and its tax on millionaires. after the vote, the president vowed to continue his fight. white house officials and congressional supporters say the plan will now be broken up into pieces to allow for separate future votes. last night in a bloomberg television/washington post republican presidential debate, the candidates squared off in

new hampshire over economic issues. with a surprise endorsement and 9-9-9 grabbing the spotlight. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: mitt romney came to the debate far ahead in new hampshire polls and sounding assertive. >> you want to have someone who's smart, has experience, who knows how the financial services works, who knows how to protect american jobs. and i do. i've done it. >> reporter: like romney, herman cain's polls have surged, along with ron paul. on the strength of 9-9-9. >> 9% corporate business flat tax, 9% personal tax and 9% sales tax. >> reporter: it's the best known recovery plan. >> 9-9-9. jobs, jobs, jobs. >> i don't need 9-9-9. we don't need any plan to pass congress. >> reporter: rick perry's polls have dived to fourth in new hampshire and iowa. the texas governor claimed cheaper oil and gas would put americans to work. >> clearly opening up a lot of

the areas of our domestic energy area. that's the real key. >> reporter: it was perry versus romney on health care. >> romney care has driven the cost of small business insurance premiums up by 14% over the national average in massachusetts. >> we have less than 1% of our kids that are uninsured. you have a million kids uninsured in texas. >> reporter: earlier, romney got the endorsement of popular new jersey governor chris christie. again, romney looked like the gop front-runner. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. elsewhere the state department is warning america this morning for the potential terror attacks following yesterday's stunning announcement of an alleged assassination plot tied to iran. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: u.s. officials say

they smashed an iranian plot with paid help from a mexican drug cartel. >> it reads like the pages of a hollywood script. the impact would have been very real. and many lives would have been lost. >> reporter: the justice department says a plan to kidnap saudi ambassador turned into an attempted murder for hire and the evidence points straight to tehran. >> the united states is going to hold iran for its action. they are charged with conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. >> reporter: secretary of state hillary clinton promised diplomatic action. >> and we will be consulting with our friends and partners around the world about how we can send a very strong message. >> reporter: one of the suspects was arrested last month at new york's jfk airport. 56-year-old, a u.s. citizen with an u.s. passport, made an appearance in a manhattan court. the other is said to be a part of the quds force.

they tried to enlist the help of a mexican cartel but the contact was an undercover source working for the u.s. government. brian mooar, nbc. a look at other stories making news early today in america. ahead-on collision killed three people and hospitalized 11 others with major injuries in illinois monday. the deadly crash occurred when an suv crossed over into oncoming traffic colliding with a van carrying retired and assisted living residents. the driver and two passengers died. a string of robberies in north carolina have been committed by a ban wearing a famous crime fighters mask. police say in three alleged armed robberies, spider-man entered with a gun, demanded money and cigarettes, and then escaped on foot. a tennessee man made a startling discovery in his backyard. yep, that is a two-headed snake. the body is shared but both

heads on the baby king snake have functioning brains. because of the snake's chances for survival in the wild slim it will be cared for by a nearby university. in tennessee, an odd couple is turning heads on their outside strolls. max the parrot can be seen hitching a ride on his house mate, norman, the german shepherd. the connection between the two may have something to do with the fact that the parrot can actually call norman out by name. that always helps. now for a look at my odd couple partner here, nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> can i ride on your shoulder? >> lynn, lynn. >> yes. >> no, just kidding. how's the weather? >> just give me a cracker. >> we'll call up the owners. >> good morning, everyone. very interesting weather pattern. today could be one of the warmest days of the year in a few spots in southern california including los angeles.

just some showery weather moving on shore. it will be hit and miss. breaks in the clouds and then a shower will move through and then back to the same weather pattern. and then we will get a break tonight into tomorrow. you can see that we are mostly clear in the west. that is what is dragging some of this moisture on shore. probably getting mostly cloudy skies. now as far as arizona goes, all the way into ourn california, the winds are shifting out of the mountains and now we will move things out. big dip in the jet scream and we are really cranking the jet stream up. 96 in la. not too bad at 86. very warm conditions in the spots, especially if you are

washington, partly cloudy and cool. we'll take the warmth and heat continuing into tomorrow. >> also coming up, alcoa starts the season with a thud. thrifty is out of play and japan really wants your tweet and status updates. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. he's won two oscars and battled back cancer but michael douglas isn't finished taking on acting challenges, not by a long shot. coming up, the tigers roar back and another big name is leaving boston. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are some

of your top headlines this morning. israel and hamas have announced a major prisoner swap deal. abducted israeli prisoner held since 2006 will be exchanged for about 1,000 palestinian prisoners detained by israel. the so-called underwear bomber accused of trying to blow up a detroit-bound plane on christmas went on trial yesterday. prosecutors say he performed a religious ritual, washing and perfuming himself before then trying to set off his bomb. as a result of budget bickering between local agencies, yesterday the city council in topeka, kansas, repealed a local law that made domestic violence a crime, allowing some suspects to walk free. the move meant to force the state to prove and pay for such cases has outraged advocates for victims of domestic violence. at the trial of michael

jackson's doctor, the defense was dealt a major blow yesterday. a medical examiner testified it's unreasonable to believe jackson gave himself a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol, which is the defense's main claim. he said it's more likely the doctor mistakenly gave him too much of the drug. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,416 after losing 16 points yesterday. but the s&p was up a fraction and the nasdaq added 16. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 34 points but in hong kong the hang seng gained 187. a rocky start to earning season could spook wall street's jittery investors later today. after the bell tuesday, aluminum maker alocoa reported profit that missed analyst's already

lowered expectations. sending shares down 5% in late trade. elsewhere after the bell, slovakia, final nation needed to pass a european rescue package voted down that bailout. it is, however, expected to pass in a second vote. today traders will comb through minutes from the fed's latest meeting, looking for clues as to whether the central bank might roll out another round of quantitative easing stimulus. dollar thrifty has taken itself off the market after failing to find an acceptable buyer. "the wall street journal" reports hewlett-packard's newly installed ceo meg whitman is rethinking spinning off part of the playstation. it has frozen 93,000 user profile after it defected a third party tried to access accounts. research in motion is under pressure from shareholders to sell or break up the blackberry maker as it struggles to compete with apple's iphone and google's android operating system. and finally, japan is hoping to offer free airfare to 10,000 intrepid visitors if lawmakers

approve, there's only one catch. you would need to publicize your trip on social media websites. not too tough for a free trip. coming up, baseball's one-time boy wonder looks to end another curse. and all of last night's action on the ice. plus the tigers claw back at home in detroit in their american league championship series. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, many of us need our umbrellas today. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night in detroit's game three match-up with texas, the series could have gone blowout or game on. the tigers made it game on. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. monday it was the lions. last night the tigers gave the city of detroit another reason to smile. game three of the alcs and rangers jumped out to an early lead and the tigers then responded. victor martinez tied it with a

solo homer, gingerly ran around the bases, pulled an oblique muscle. check out the reaction in the dugout. he's not happy. tigers were feeling pretty good. in the fifth, two aboard for cabrera, doubled into the corner. in came austin jackson. cabrera's first rbi of the series gave detroit the 2-1 lead. belted a home run in the seventh, detroit was rocking as tigers jumped out to a four-run lead. held on to win it 5-2. detroit can even the series with another win tonight. game four is at 4:00 eastern. first manager terry francona now, gm theo epstein is leaving the red sox. according to sources, the cubs are on the verge of hiring epstein. deal expected to be finalized in the next few days. epstein brought a world series to boston. chicago has built won since 1908. nhl, penguins without sidney crosby. who thought matt cooke would pick up the slack? scored four goals in three games. scored 12 goals all last season. pens are getting it done without

their star. finally to minnesota, keep an eye behind the net. big hit by chris neil. clayton stoner caught with his head down and never saw it coming. that sparked the senators down two. they rallied against the wild. tied and forced a shootout. ottawa came back to win their home opener 4-3. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men hair color. live forward. coming up, performers on wall street, performers and awards, and performers taking on some surprising roles. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's known for being a stylish and graceful representative of our nation. but she can also let her hair down with some friends in the white house backyard. you're watching "early today."

welcome back, everyone, on this wednesday. rain is moving up the east coast. take a look at this. 6 degrees. many areas are above average. could be in the 100s in phoenix and near 97 in la. if you are watching us on kntv in california, in berkley, human artistry from around the world at from the maker's hand. that's your pacific event for

the day. now here's an early look at this morning headlines in entertainment. yesterday in new york city protesters got a surprise visit. by kanye west. gold chains and all. he showed up on the front lines at operation wall street to lend moral support, but he was forced to retreat when excited crowds around him got unruely. english soul singer adele leads all performers for the 2011 american music awards with four nominations. all announced yesterday. followed by katy perry, lady gaga, lil wayne, rihanna, the band perry and taylor swift each got three. swift, the 21-year-old has been named billboard's woman of the year. in casting news, javier bardem confirmed he would play the bad guy in 23rd yet untitled james bond movie. michael douglas will play liberace and his live-in lover

will be played by matt damon. this comes to us from the white house where the first lady and a group of kids jumped at the chance to make a record-breaking attempt. michelle obama continued her fitness campaign for america's youth performing jumping jacks with 400 kids on the south lawn, leading an effort to break the world record for the most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period. over 20,000 jumping jackers must be recorded by 3 p.m. eastern time today. the first lady hopes kids across the country will jump in for the historic and healthy event. looks like fun. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

even iconic landmarks need a facelift from time to time. plans are now in the works for the eiffel tower to undergo renovations starting as early as next year. a glass floor and new observation areas on the first level will provide better views for the 7 million tourists visiting each year. officials hope the changes will make the first level experience more enjoyable. it was a homecoming of sorts for one baby seal off the coast of rhode island. after being abandoned last july, the 4-month-old pup was rescued on a beach in maine and rehabilitated. he was aggressive at first, earning him the nickname aries meaning god of war. but he seemed much happier as he was released back into the wild

by his care takers. and finally, new concession items at the charlotte motor speedway in north carolina has some tongues wagging and some stomachs churning. like the mac and cheese cheeseburger topped with pork rinds for nearly 800 calories. but that is nothing in comparison to the funnel baconator. a funnel cake topped with bacon with chocolate sauce for a whopping 1300 calories and 77 grams of fat. >> can you imagine bacon and chocolate? >> doesn't sound that good. but there's that brown sugar bacon thing. >> let's get this right. anything with a funnel cake is good. >> i guess. >> it's funnel cake. throw a blooming onion on top. it's time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. the supreme court hears the case of a man who claims his constitutional rights were violated when he was strip searched after an arrest. the case brings into question the balance between a constitutional guard against unreasonable searches and the

security interests of prisons. nasa will hold a briefing on its next earth-observing mission. an environmental satellite scheduled to be launched later this month. it's the first of a new generation of satellites that will collect data to help determine long-term climate change and short-term weather conditions. and former child actor kirk cameron turns 41. 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". here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. new jersey governor chris christie's early endorsement of mitt romney speak out in an exclusive interview. and former "dynasty" star linda evans with a new memoir. >> keep it on this channel for continuing news, weather, sport os and more. i'm lynn berry. 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