♪ ♪ this morning on "early today," budget break through. u.s. lawmakers strike a tentative agreement to extend the payroll tax cut. nick of time. surveillance video captures a brazen thief at an airport checkpoint. and top dog. who stole the show at westminster? 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, and today we begin with a pact on the payroll tax cut. house and senate negotiators

have worked out a tentative deal to extend a 2 percentage point cut in the payroll tax through the end of this year. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. keep in mind what's at stake here. the 2% you got extra that you got last year, that you got so far this year, runs out at the end of the month in congress does nothing. no one on the hill wants to deal with the fallout of that. negotiators announced a tentative deal last night to keep the 2% payroll tax cut in place the rest of this year for 160 million working americans. >> at the end of the day the more that americans can keep their own money in their own pocket, i think that's better long term. >> reporter: the deal happened after the obama administration went on the offensive and republicans agreed to add the $100 billion cost to america's red ink. tea party republicans insisted this tax break be paid for. >> this is the bottom line. i'm concerned about the pay for

raising the fees but its a he a good deal for the american people. >> reporter: the deal also keeps unemployment benefits rolling though the maximum 99 will drop to 73 by year's end. and it prevents a 27% cut in payments to medicare doctors, but president obama's worried the deal might not go through. >> i'm cautiously optimistic at this point. until you see me sign this thing, you've got to keep on speaking up. >> reporter: with his budget proposal still in limbo here, the president will be in milwaukee today at a manufacturing plant that brought back 150 jobs from china. now, back to those paychecks. the deal, it looks like, will go through. we're told negotiators are ready to sign it today, lynn. >> all right. tracie potts for us in washington. thanks. president obama's approval ratings are up as optimism about the economy grows. a "new york times" cbs poll shows that his ratings have

reached 50% since the first time since last may. the survey found that the percentage of people who believe the economy is improving is now double the percentage of those who think it's getting worse. the poll also found that the president currently holds an edge over all four republican presidential candidates. iran is preparing to defy western nations today in a standoff over its nuclear program. the president will reportedly inform his people about advances that include building new uranium enrichment centrifuges and reactor plates. that is despite western sanctions which have been imposed to force iran to stop its nuclear program before it can build anatomic weapon. the u.s. and europe may decide to turn up the pressure by evicting iran from a financial clearinghouse that is crucial to the country's sales of oil in overseas markets. two iranians are under

arrest in thailand after a series of explosions in bangkok. four thai civilians were wounded in the blast tuesday when explosives ignited at a bangkok house. the two iranian suspects are in custody. a third suspect escaped to malaysia. israel's ambassador to thailand says bombs discovered in the bangkok house were similar to those used in other attacks on israeli diplomats. israel accused iran of waging a covert campaign of state terror. iran denied any role in the bomb blasts in thailand. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in florida a brazen robbery happened right in the middle of an airport security line. a woman who had just cleared a tsa checkpoint accidentally left her rolex watch in the tubs. a man spotted the $6500 time piece and made his move.

by the time the woman realized she had forgotten it, the watch and the thief were gone. near pittsburgh it's a site that could scare even alfred hitchcock. thousands of crows have descended on a neighborhood. it's what they're leaving behind that's downright frightening. cars and homes have been drenched in bird droppings. very gross. some folks have resorted to putting up a scarecrow to shoo them away. finally, if you failed to improve your special someone on valentine's day, here's a way to redeem yourself. you can take the relationship to a whole new level. an ohio company is selling what they call romantic rides aboard their plane. for 425 bucks you'll get champagne, chocolates, and what they're billing as a little bit of privacy. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast.

good morning, bill. you just have to shake your head at something like that. >> yeah, privacy. there's a little pink sheet between you and the pilot. >> there's so many things about it that seem so wrong. i won't go there. >> yeah, we'll -- >> leave it to the imagination. >> let's not. let's just move on. well, good morning, everyone. we have a little bit of snow to talk about throughasre a of northern nevada. we are watching right along the inrs lta aetetlit bit of snow now. it's pushing to the south.tl some of the ski areas are getting a little bit of snow. lake tahoe picked up a quick burst. good news for them. as far as the travel goes, it should improve throughout the morning on interstate 80. a little enhancement here just recently. probably an hour or two of snow here. a little weak storm system heading through. winds will get gusty in the days after that. first off, we have to get rid of this storm system. a little bit of rain heading for fresno down interstate 5. it's quick moving. it will probably last about a

half hour in most places. that's the storm system. you can see it kicking through -- moving pretty much from the northwest yesterday just due south. behind it, a little bit of high pressure will move in had. the next frontal system will move in friday. the forecast today, we're okay in the northwest today. okay in san francisco. we have to kick that system through vegas and l.a. during the afternoon hours. that's a look at your wednesd areas in arizona, look for an increase in clouds. no big storms heading for the west. this is really about it. should be tranquil after this. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, a small step could mean big news for the next ipad. and is yahoo! facing

insurrection? plus oprah winfrey's twitter fail that's forced her to do something rare. coming up, jeremy lin does it again. hockey history and man's best friend takes over madison square garden. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some top headlines this morning. we have some breaking news from honduras where several may notes are dead. a fire broke out and it was described as a hellish scene. many prisoners were trapped because the guard with keys to the cells couldn't be located. the white house is reportedly considering dramatic cuts to the nation's nuclear arsenal. the proposals include an 80% reduction in deployed weapons to the lowest number since the cold war. no decision is expected until

after the presidential election. a warning from the maker of the cancer drug avastin. counterfeit versions are being distributed to u.s. health care facilities. they don't have the key ingredients needed. one in eight u.s. voter registrations are either invalid or have serious inaccuracies. the pew center on the states blames it on an outdated registration system. among the findings, 1.8 million people listed as active voters are actually dead. and the duchess of cambridge, the former kate middleton, spent her first valentine's day as a bride without her husband. she visited charities in liverpool while prince william is on a royal air force deployment. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,878 after adding four points. the s&p was down a point. the nasdaq was up a fraction. taking a look at overseas

trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei jumped 208 points, while in hong kong the hang seng surged 447. investors are waiting for the next step in the bailout of greece by europe's finance ministers. greece took one step back and one step forward as the finance ministers meeting scheduled for today was canceled, but then greek government officials said they would commit to the spending cuts demanded by the eu. retail sales rebounded in january after a weak holiday season. the commerce department says spending on retail goods was up .4%. treasury secretary timothy geithner will end dozens and dozens of corporate tax breaks. air bus said they will meet $3.5 trillion worth of new airplanes between now and 2030 with 1/3 of that demand coming from asia. boeing has locked in its

biggest airplane order ever with 230 plains from lion air from indonesia. the deal is worth $22 billion. yahoo! has hit a snag in negotiations to sell most of its holdings to ali baba. a major shareholder said he will lead a mutiny to seize four seats on the yahoo! board. apple's new ipad will have a smaller eight-inch screen according to "the wall street journal" so it can compete with rivals with seven-inch screens. online game maker zynga reported a net loss for the last three months of 2011 in its first quarter as a public company. finally, after whitney houston's death prices were raised on two of her albums. one was increased 60%. the other was 25%. sony music has apologized saying it was a mistake. coming up, the linsanity

continues, the red wings make history, and the rangers shut out the bruins. plus, a new breed of competitors in madison square garden last night. we're talking about the furry kind. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. forget about a winter forecast, it feels like and looks like spring. the forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the new york knicks extended their winning streak last night after a decisive last-second shot from its newest star. here's fred roggin with your early look at the sports headlines. >> good morning. it has been a memorable ten days for jeremy lin. just when you thought it couldn't get any better, somehow, some way it did. we go to toronto. amar'e stoudemire returns after missing ten days to attend his brother's funeral. many questioned if amare and lin would have chemistry together. game came down to the final shot. it's tied at 87. isolation for lin, he drilled it. three for the win. the legend continues to grow as jeremy lin does it again. knicks over the raptors. heat and pacers.

the heat will take it. they win it 105-90. there's no place like home for the red wings. they won their 21st straight home game, a new nhl record. detroit scored a pair of goals in the first and held on to beat the stars. rangers and bruins. ryan kal han finished things off with his 23rd of the year. rangers shut out the champs. finally, the best athletes in the world have all played at madison square garden. last night, the garden was for the dogs. the final night of the westminster dog show. here's a commodore. better known as a mop with four legs. he didn't clean up. then there's beamer. he's a bedlington terrier. when they have trouble falling asleep, they count him. what's the westminster dog show without a party boy? this terrier gets the vip treatment at every nightclub in new york city. last, but certainly not least, the best in show. he may look like an overgrown

fur ball, but he is a champ. that is malachai, the pekingese. he's westminster's top dog. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. the plans for whitney houston's funeral have been set. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a couple makes history in louisiana. we'll tell you their simple advice. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this wednesday morning. we are watching temperatures on the cool side blowing down through nevada and california. 44 today in boise. vegas, with those clouds your temperaturing will be down a little by your standards. also a slight chance of showers in southern california. that storm system will be long gone by tomorrow. a new frontal system will bring showers to the northwest. if you're watching on kntv, explore the mysteries and sublime language of landscapes through abstract paintings at berkeley art center. that's your pacific event of the day. >> thanks so much. now here's an early look at today's headlines in entertainment. plans have been announced for whitney houston's funeral this weekend. the late singer will be mourned by family and friends at a

private, invitation-only service this saturday at the newark, new jersey, church where she first began singing in public. one person not likely to be on the guest list, houston's ex-husband bobby brown. tmz is reporting brown has not been allowed to see his daughter since she was hospitalized sunday and that several family members have told him to stay away from the funeral. ai deal -- adele is denying she plans to take a five-year break from her singing career to focus on her relationship. adele says her time off will be closer to five days. >> more like it. >> minor detail. and finally, oprah winfrey has issued a rare apology after soliciting viewers in a tweet to watch a new episode of her show on the o.w.n. network. the request ruffled some feathers on nielsen. it plans to place an asterisk next to its ratings.

>> so whose fault is the adele thing? >> was it someone at the computer that just accidently slipped on to the wrong keys? >> years instead of days? >> it's a big time minor detail. glad she cleared that up. i was a little concerned. and this comes to us from wvla nbc 33 news in baton rouge, louisiana, where one happy couple was honored after having married when herbert hoover was in the white house. norman and norma burma tied the knot 81 years ago. in 1931. they are the state's longest married couple. they are the guest of their governor for valentine's day. norman is 101 years old. his bride is 98. they have 13 great grandchildren. the key to a happy marriage is listening to your wife. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop today on your nbc station.

spa day sound nice? how about a spa marathon? the third annual sauna marathon took place as teams of four spa hopped in bathrobes and bikinis. the goal was to hit 15 spas that scanned over 60 miles and stay in each treatment for 3 minutes. sounds tough. check-in points ranged from traditional spas to steam baths and historic smoke saunas. are all of those valentine's day sweets running up your calorie count? a farmer has cornered the produce department with mini heart-shaped cucumbers. the green gourds take shape in

four days as the country's full producer, the farmer had over 100,000 of the vegetables ready for valentine's day. finally, couples in thailand prove there's truth to the saying, love is patient. a kissing competition that started two days before valentine's day finally ended yesterday. contestants had to stand and keep their lips touching at all times. the winners, a same-sex couple set the world record for the longest continuous kiss locking lips for over 50 hours. 50 hours, bill. >> that's a long, long time. >> long time. like not even time to like grab the gum, freshen up. >> no. >> maybe have a sandwich. >> you have to eat and drink for 50 hours. >> you would think so. >> then you're tasting that too. i'm sorry. >> sorry. time for an early look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. after meeting with president obama yesterday china's vice president will meet with the house and senate. he'll then meet with chinese language students in the farming

community in iowa where he studied u.s. farming practices more than 25 years ago. defense secretary leon panetta moves from the senate to the house for another hearing on the president's proposed budget for 2013. happy birthday to actress jane seymour. she turns 61. you can stay on top of the latest developments on those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today show." the singer's emotional outburst days before she died. reality tv star khloe kardashian will be on the show to dish on her famous family's household. 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