[ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ this morning on "early today," signs of life? a fresh round of reports renew optimism in the nation's economic recovery. dramatic destruction. authorities in mexico set fire to a massive haul of drug-related munitions. and safe and sound. a four week old puppy is pulled from a sewage drain in ohio. 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 positive

economic signs. the u.s. economy seems to be improving as unemployment claims last week were at their lowest level since 2008 and a bailed out american auto company is now showing record profits. nbc's michelle franzen has details. >> reporter: detroit's largest automaker, general motors, posted earnings of $7.6 billion last year, its biggest profit in nearly two decades. at gm's assembly plant in flint, michigan, for the first time in two years gm's overnight shift is back up and running. 750 new full-time jobs with benefits. >> i have a real piece of mind because i feel like i'm back on track. >> reporter: the iconic american company still has a long road ahead. the government still owns a big share of stock and gm still owes billions from the bailout. on the campaign trail mitt romney worked to rub up the

crowd in his native michigan, giving nod to the comeback. >> i love the auto industry. i'm glad it went through a managed bankruptcy process which i recommended from the beginning. >> reporter: meanwhile, rick santorum kept the heat on president obama. >> this is a president who is suffocating this economy. this is a president who doesn't care about you. >> reporter: there are signs companies are starting to hire again. in the past week jobless claims fell to their lowest in nearly four years. economists point to stronger retail and auto sales along with gains in manufacturing as good indicators the country is headed in the right direction. >> we've had runs of strong data like this before and this looks like a good indicator, but let's see what we get going forward. >> reporter: one of the hurdles that could affect any recovery, rising gas prices, which are expected to soar this spring. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. contraception and reproductive rights have suddenly become the focus of an

intense national debate prompted by the recent fight with the white house over whether religious-based employers must provide insurance coverage for birth control. well, congressional hearings thursday got heated as lawmakers got angry at what was missing. some even walked out in protest. kelley o'donnell reports. >> reporter: the politics of contraception provoked outrage on capitol hill. >> where are the women? when i look at this panel, i don't see one single woman. >> reporter: this picture set off that anger when only men had a seat at the witness table during a hearing related to contraception. >> we've been denied the right to have a witness -- >> reporter: politically the left defines this battle as a women's rights and a health care equality issue. >> i may at some point be moved to explain biology to my colleagues. >> reporter: on the right conservatives focus on religious freedom. >> constitutional liberties are being stepped upon.

>> no man or woman should ever be forced to betray that faith. >> reporter: the republican chairman invited only faith leadere leaders, not advocates for women's health. >> imagine having a panel on women's health and they don't have any women on panel. >> reporter: the social issue divide can cut across gender and generational lines. >> if the issue continues, it's likely to help the republican party because it could be a way of wooing catholics in the swing states such as pennsylvania and ohio. >> reporter: while the economy looms largest, they say the deeply personal issues can make an impact. kelli o'donald, nbc news, wra. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a very bizarre scene at a pennsylvania walmart. a man took off all of his clothes in the parking lot and then walked into the store nude. >> that's bizarre. >> very bizarre. gets worse. he then headed to customer

service where he stole a pair of socks and put them on. >> thank goodness for the blur. >> yes. police later tasered him and arrested him. some workers at a butterball turkey plant are in hot water after an undercover video showed turkeys being kicked and thrown into cages. this is tough to watch. four have been fired and two suspended. all of them now face misdemeanor charges. butter ball says it's working to train employees on proper animal care. a four week old puppy was rescued after becoming trapped in a sewage pipe underneath a home in cleveland. its owner couldn't find a little guy until he noticed the dog's mother kept going over to the drain. a sewer crew showed up and saved the pet which is now being treated at an animal hospital. look at him. he's so cute. finally, more proof of the winter that never was. this was supposed to be a brand new ice rink. a virginia man built it in his backyard for his son to play hockey on, but thanks to this year's mild temperatures he got

nothing more than a giant puddle of mud. hope that old man winter shows up before it's game over. i don't know. the clock is ticking. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's meteorologist bill karins. maybe he has an answer. >> i don't know why he's building it in virginia. it's not like it's alaska or anywhere too cold. looks like you could have some good contests skipping stones. nice and calm. >> good luck with that. >> don't challenge me. good morning, everyone. in the pacific northwest, we had some rainy weather yesterday. now we're starting to line up the storms one after another. again, this is a weak one coming onshore. by about 10:00 a.m. or so, rain should be entering into seattle. probably similar around the portland area. we're very calm right now in southern california, weather-wise. not seeing any clouds or rain. high pressure blew in yesterday. the santa ana winds kicked up. those gusty winds will continue today. we have wind advisories in effect.

that's the big picture out there. the gusty winds in southern california. we have the storm system kicking onshore. the center of the storm goes into british columbia. we'll see rain as the cold front approaches. not a lot of rain, but right along the immediate coast, this darker green shading is almost up to an inch of rain. some areas will pick up a substantial rain event as we go throughout today into tonight. the same goes for the areas around seattle. today's forecast, again, pretty dry now. as we go throughout the morning, the rain chances increase. southern california just a little gusty out there. much of nevada looking at a quiet day with high pressure centered overhead. that's a 66 for you. flagstaff, 44. weekend forecast coming up.

>> our favorite one. bill, thanks so much. coming up, stocks soar, apple shines, and the starbucks drink that should take the guilt out of your early morning coffee splurge. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. ghost rider johnny blaze comes back in 3-d. can the comic book hero take the top spot at the box office? coming up the pacers turn out the lights and jeremy lin is headed to the all-star game in orlando. 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. authorities say a federal i.c.e. agent turned on one of his own thursday shooting and wounding his colleague at a federal building in long beach, california, in what they call a workplace shooting.

a third agent shot and killed the agent who originally opened fire. the new jersey state assembly voted to legalize same-sex marriage yesterday after the state senate did the same. governor chris christie is promising a veto. f-16s were scrambled after a pilot of a cessna veered into air space while president obama was aboard the marine 1 helicopter over southern california. the pilot complied with orders to land. there was one more surprise waiting. more than 20 pounds of marijuana on board. he is not accused of wanting to harm the president, but he could still face drug charges. a pulitzer prize winning correspondent for "the new york times" has died in syria. anthony shadid suffered an apparent asthma attack. and in mexico, thousands of assault rifles and other weapons were destroyed in it a move designed to send a dramatic messages to zrdrug cartels. now here's an early look at out wall street will kick off

the day. the dow opens at 12,904 after gaining 123 points yesterday. the s&p nudged up 14 points. the nasdaq climbed 44. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei climbed 146 points, while in hong kong the hang seng gained 214. stocks swung to fresh highs thursday driven by optimism out of greece. as we mentioned earlier, welcome economic news at home. starting the day out strong word that greece expects to get approval on monday for a debt swap with private bond holders that would help the country avoid a zast -- disastrous default. adding more fuel to that rally, signs of strength in manufacturing, home construction, and news that weekly jobless claims tumbled to the lowest level since march 2008. general motors shot up 9% after posting a record profit of $7.6 billion. gm did report weakness overseas and slim fourth quarter margins. among the day's big movers, microsoft soared 4%.

apple finished above the 500 level in heavy trading. elsewhere on the earnings front, data storage company net app led the s&p with a 7% gain. on the down side, smuckers slipped 8% after slashing its full year earnings outlook. online jewelry retailer blue nile tumbled 10% after a disappointing quarterly report. yelpers will be able to invest in the online review service soon. they set a target of 12 to $14 per share for its upcoming ipo. thanks to a blogger and barista who dreamed up what may be the most expensive starbucks drink ever, your morning brew is about to sound like a bargain. this has 16 shots of espresso, soy milk, caramel syrup, fruit purees, vanilla beans and

protein powder rang up to a whopping $23.60. hopefully that doesn't become a habit. coming up, duke stages another come baback. the seminoles stage another comeback. and fans say good-bye to another great. the weekend forecast is all about the heavy rain moving through the southern half of the country. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." good morning.

if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sport, the knicks newest sensation will join other rising stars in orlando to play for team shaq. here's fred roggin with a look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. jeremy lin has made the all-star team. not exactly. he was a last-minute add to the rising star challenge. a game of rookies and second year players. linsanity hits orlando next weekend. 23 points and 10 boards against the celtics. chicago continues to win without derrick rose. now to indiana where the pacers literally shut the lights out. indy running offense in the second quarter when the arena

went dark. took about five minutes for the game to resume. when it did, danny grainger lit up the nets, scored 32 points. pacer won it. nets have dropped eight straight. college hoops. duke received a scare from nc state. trailed by 20. clawed their way back to the game. blue devils escaped with a 78-73 win. number 21 florida avoided an upset. down two in the final seconds to virginia tech. michael snare with three for the win. he got it. some sad news from baseball. hall of fame catcher gary carter passed away ed yesterday. he played 12 years for the expos and won a world series htitle with the mets. carter lost his battle with cancer yesterday. he was 57. finally, the blackhawks snapped their losing streak in a big way.

they took down the best team in the east. a penalty shot just a minute into the game. chicago scored four in the first and beat the rangers 4-2. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. coming up, stephen colbert mysteriously suspends production at his show. plus they say you can't fight city hall. well, don't tell that to this extraordinary 10-year-old. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." forecast for your upcoming weekend. there is rain moving into the pacific northwest today. all coastal areas get the heaviest rain starting around 9:00 a.m. or so. the cities, not until about 10:00 a.m. gusty winds continuing in southern california. not quite as bad as yesterday, but it will be a warm wind. as we go through the weekend, saturday still looks like a damp day. not as bad as today. still damp up there in the northwest. then we dry it out a little bit. i think it's going to be a decent sunday. nothing too cold or chilly out there. temperatures drop a little bit in southern california. well, if you're watching us on kgw news channel 8 in portland, oregon, in nearby salem, explore human stories in quirky every day rituals at lodge at hallie ford museum of associate's degree.

>> bill, thanks so much. here's an early look at today's headlines in entertainment. nicolas cage returns as comic book character johnnie blaze in "ghost rider: spirit of vengeance." it's also offered in 3-d. it should have $29.5 million. considerably less than the first film. reese witherspoon's romantic comedy "this means war," is expected to draw a large female audience, especially in the wake of valentine's day. it's expected to debut with $17 million. none of the films are expected to beat last weekend's champ "the vow," which should pull in $30 million. >> fantastic. >> admit it. you want to see the movie. finally, stephen colbert unexpectedly suspended production of "the colbert report." comedy central said there were unforeseen circumstances. a source says colbert's mom is seriously ill. we wish her all the best.

sorry so hear that. well, this comes from kxas where nearby garland, texas, a little girl took on city hall and won. 10-year-old allison loves spending time playing, but her friends couldn't come to any of the city's 42 playgrounds because they're physically challenged and the equipment isn't designed to accommodate them. allison wrote to the city council for help. it worked. the city said they will renovate the playgrounds to be able to accommodate those kids. way to go, allison. >> the power of one little voice. >> exactly. one little 10-year-old voice can make a difference. i love it. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

need a crash course in extreme environment survival? look no further than a swedish mountain side. in a classroom that drops to 15 below, students endured an intense three-day course on the abcs of tackling the arctic. former norwegian navy s.e.a.l.s cover the basics, everything from equipment and food rationing to managing a team of huskies. one extravagant pageant in spain determines royalty. carnival begins with a beauty contest to crown the queen of the festival. look at those costumes. contestants dress in lavish costumes atop giant floats and large song and dance numbers entertain the crowd.

this year's winner wore a head piece that was more than ten feet tall. in los angeles the man of the hour is an oscar. it's celebrity chef wolf gang puck. after designing the menu for the last 18 oscar after-party, the vetted chef is switching things up a bit. rather than a formal meal, 50 different mini dishes will be prepped for the event. puck will create an array of oscar-worthy cuisine, honoring the golden man in every bite. i would be the person shoving five or six of the things on my plate. i can't have one taste. if i like it, i want a whole bunch of them. >> you have to sample all of them. it all stops at pigs in a blanket. >> they are amazing. don't knock them. no. they may not be classy, but they're delicious. time now for an early look at the stories we'll follow today on nbc. both houses of congress are expected to vote on a bipartisan deal to extend a payroll tax cut. lawmakers signed off on the $152

billion measure wednesday. making way for a vote just before their scheduled break. china's vice president spends the day in los angeles with vice president joe biden. whitney houston's family will attend a private viewing of the singer ahead of tomorrow's invitation only funeral. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments and those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." later this morning on the "today" show, aretha franklin sits down with al roker to remember whitney houston. natalie morales will be live from miami with new details on the former "survivor" producer who's on trial for his wife's murder. 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.

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