three, four shares. that's the best way to approach it. i'm jim cramer and i will see you morr!ow this morning on "early today," clearing revoked. secret service agents are stripped of their top-secret credentials amid a widening prostitution scandal. buffett rule blocked. senate republicans derail a minimum tax plan for the nation's top earners. and solar stunner. nasa captures a powerful eruption on the surface ofhe sun. 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 the public punishment. the u.s. secret service has revoked top-secret security clearances of all 11 agents and officers accused of misconduct involving which agents were involved and coverage from the pentagon. nbc's tracie potts has coverage from washington. tracie, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. no names, but we have a better idea today what those agents were assigned to do down in colombia. as more information rolls in, as this investigation gets under way, we have learned there may have been just as many military members involved as secret service. for now, top security clearance has been revoked for 11 secret service agents accused of hiring prostitutes while preparing for president obama's visit to colombia last week. lawmakers are concerned about a security breach. >> anybody who's watched a spy movie knows, you know, you go in with the girls, you plant the bugs, you compromise the agent. what were these guys thinking? >> reporter: first reaction from the pentagon. >> we're embarrassed by what occurred in colombia. we let the boss down, because nobody's talking about what went

on in colombia other than this incident. >> i can assure you that if that investigation determines that there has been a violation, that the individuals involved will be held accountable. >> reporter: sources indicate there were two secret service supervisors, three snipers and three members assigned to protect the president's motorcade. all had his minute-by-miniscule. >> the prostitutes had access to that. they could have potentially given it to a foreign intelligence service, a drug cartel or even a terrorist group. >> reporter: now, we're learning not five, but perhaps more than ten members of the navy, the army and the marines may have been involved. several congressional committees may hold hearings to investigate. but a pentagon spokesman says that those members of the military who may have been involved were not directly involved in protecting the president. lynn? >> tracie potts there for us in washington. tracie, thanks so much. well, a government investigator says criminal charges could be filed in the

scandal involving the spending spree at the general services administration. at a hearing in the house yesterday, the official testified about the 2010 las vegas conference that cost taxpayers more than $800,000. the gsa inspector general has called for criminal charges and is still looking into possible bribery and kickbacks. elsewhere, as americans rush to beat today's income tax filing deadline, last night the senate blocked the so-called buffett rule, which would have increased taxes on millionaires. lawmakers voted 51-45 to keep the bill alive but needed 60 to continue debating. president obama denounced the vote. republicans had called the measure a political ploy. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: democrats pushed a tax hike on millionaires. >> they can afford to shoulder their fair share of the burden to make this country prosper. >> reporter: but republicans charged, it's not about fairness, it's a gimmick to get votes. >> it's shown the president is actually more interested in

misleading people than he is in leading. >> reporter: and republicans blocked senate consideration. polls show the plan, backed by president obama and his billionaire buddy, warren buffett, is popular with voters, the buffett rule, to tax families making $1 million a year at least 30%, 433,000 u.s. households. it would raise just $47 billion in ten years. >> one week's interest on our $15 trillion national debt, that's it. >> reporter: but it makes the point that mitt romney is mega rich. he was at a red sox game, expecting to pay just 15% in taxes on $21 million in 2011 income, half the buffett rule rate. last weekend, romney was overheard by reporters revealing he wants to lower tax rates for the rich, so small businesses that pay those rates can hire more workers.

romney said he would eliminate deductions so the rich would pay about what they pay now. the buffett rule, falling short in the senate, was the democrats' plan. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today in america." near houston, thieves broke into a church, but they were being watched from above by security cameras. one of the burglars could be seen trying to pull the plug on the cameras. it didn't much good. their faces were still clearly visible. they made off with a safe but left behind clothing and a flashlight. also in texas, heavy flooding in corpus christi made for a commuting nightmare. look at that. a number of roads had to be closed and several cars were stalled right in the middle of the street. small tornadoes and power outages were also reported. many schools also canceled classes. and finally, in boston, the red sox turned to a 100-year-old fan for a little help.

he was invited to fenway park to celebrate something else that's hitting the century mark, the stadium itself. the man tossed out the first pitch. it went right over home plate. look at him! very impressive. it wasn't just luck. the man had actually been training for his big moment at his retirement home. maybe one of his 18 great grandchildren helped him out with that. they were on hand to watch him there. well, now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning. >> you had to watch the video closely. one of the best parts was, after he threw the pitch, they put the ball in the front basket of his walker. >> for him to take home for the other people at the retirement home. >> never seen a walker with a basket on it. that's such a great idea. well, good morning, everyone. temperatures are a little cool in the northwest. thankfully, you can leave the umbrellas at home. you'll need it a little later this evening or after work or after school, but i think in the daylight hours, you're going to be just fine from areas of portland northwards up to seattle. temperatures are pretty mild in vegas right now.

in phoenix, upper 50s and low 60s. as far as the radar, finally, those showers have exited. and it hasn't been many mornings lately that we haven't shown you at least some rain somewhere in the northwest, but you get a little weak area of high pressure building in today, and as we go throughout the day, high clouds will increase. you can see the pretty powerful storm system located off the coast, but this one's not heading inland. this one's going to kind of weaken, head northwards and drift out here. but a lot of these clouds will move in along with some light rain late today into this evening and the overnight hours. again, not a lot of heavy rain with it. the next storm behind this one looks to be a little more potent. so, the forecast for today. slight chance of showers on the oregon coastline late today. the daylight hours are dry. and nice day, getting toasty in phoenix at 91. that's a look flagstaff, no one's complaining there, either, temperatures pretty mild.

so, we've got one more storm to go at the end of this week for the west. that one will have a little more rain. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. well, apple loses its shine, the world bank gets a new boss, and forget college. why you're going to need a savings account just to send your teen to the prom. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, details on the stunning ring at the center of hollywood's biggest engagement. coming up, the rangers pitch a shutout, triple overtime in utah, and did the wizards really beat the bulls? they did! you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here's some of your top headlines this morning. the cease-fire in syria may be falling apart as government forces fire tank shells and mortar rounds, according to video posted by activists. a team of united nations truce

monitors are in syria to report on the cease-fire. well, perched atop a boeing 747, the space shuttle "discovery" took off just moments ago from kennedy's space center. it's on its final journey. it is headed to the nation's capital, where it will be put on permanent display at the smithsonian institution. looks pretty cool. a new survey found that one in five american adults do not use the internet. that's pretty surprising. for some, it's not available, but one in ten say the internet is not relevant to them. and finally, the sun erupted yesterday in a huge solar flare that released an intense amount of superheated plasma into state. strong solar flares can cause destruction to satellites and power grids, but fortunately, this one was not aimed at the earth. and now an early look at how wall street opens the day. the dow opened at 12,921 after

gaining 71 points yesterday. the s&p was down a fraction, and the nasdaq lost 22. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei was down five points, while in hong kong, the hang seng fell 48. well, earnings season is in full swing, but a rare losing streak for the world's most valuable company has investors on edge. including monday, apple's five-day losses add up to nearly 9% of its market value, about $60 billion. analysts cite slipping ipad sales and worries that cell phone carriers will soon stop subsidizing new iphones. adding to tech sector woes, google fell for a second day, and it went to trial in a copyright fight with oracle. still, news that retail sales rose in march injected optimism into investors. on the earnings front, citigroup reported record revenue from its global banking. meanwhile, mattel plunged nearly 10% after reporting a 53% drop

in earnings thanks to weak sales of hot wheels and barbies. sobering news out of spain, where the yield on the ten-year government bonds jumped above 6% monday. 7% is the rate at which other european countries have been forced to seek bailouts. in a major u.s. energy development, regulators approved cheniere energy's plan to build an export plan for liquefied natural gas in louisiana, the first of its type in 50 years. argentina's president announced controversial plans to nationalize its biggest oil company, ypf, which was previously run by spain's repsol. jim yong kim is the new leader of the world bank. the dartmouth college president will begin his five-year term as bank president in july. and if you have teenagers going to prom, we know where your tax refund is going. a new survey found the average

price tag per teen is a whopping $1,078. that's 33% more than last year. i don't even want to say what it was when i went to prom. well, the o's win in extra innings, the wizards put a spell on the bulls and the mavs out-last the jazz. plus, the bruins get a game up on the capitals in their stanley cup playoff series. your early-morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> i'm just glad you had a date for prom. that worked out well. well, your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, last night the rangers blanked the senators to take a one-game lead in the stanley cup playoffs. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. a hot goalie can make all the difference in the stanley cup playoffs. you combine that with the best team in the eastern conference, and you've got the new york rangers. game three against the senators. scoreless until the third period. rangers got a fortunate bounce off the boards and the puck went right to brian boyle. rangers up 1-0. henrik lundqvist did the rest. the senators threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, and lundqvist stopped all 39 shots, a shutout to boot. rangers won it 1-0. they lead the series two games to one. now to washington for a good

one between the caps and bruins. third period and brooks gets behind the defense and scored the equalizer. that tied the game at three. stayed that way until the final two minutes. zdeno chara's blast was capped by a caps player in front of the net. that's the difference. bruins won it 4-3. baseball. i know it's early, but the orioles are in first place in the a.l. east, down to their final out against the white sox. adam jones with a game-tying bomb. the o's broke it open in the tenth and tagged chicago with six. baltimore rallied to win it. nba, heat gave the nets everything they could handle. up in the fourth when lebron james took over, scored the final 17 points of the game and finished with 37. new jersey made it interesting, but miami gets the win 101-98. wizards will be golfing this time next week but looked like a playoff team last night. pulled away in the fourth quarter and stunned the bulls in chicago 87-84. finally, we'll leave you with a triple o.t. thriller in utah. jazz down a pair in regulation. paul millsap for the tie. he got it and forced overtime.

final seconds of the extra period, the mavs needing a three. dirk nowitzki delivered. he had 40, but none bigger than that. stayed tied through a second o.t. and then to triple overtime. the jazz took the lead for good. devin harris from downtown and the jazz knocked off the defending champs in triple overtime, 123-121. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today sports" is brought to you by new just for men autostop. gray is over. alec baldwin ends speculation about his state on "30 rock." your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, one loyal dog proves he's not only man's best friend. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this tuesday. for once, dry, beautiful weather for most places in the west today. getting a little warmer in the desert southwest. not bad today from medford northward, portland up through seattle. it's later tonight that the showers will move in, and i think we're going to have some damp weather tomorrow morning, especially in the pacific northwest on i-5. we stay dry in california. there's really no rain in sight for you, actually, and the next storm even behind that one will stay to your north. well, if you're watching us on knbc, nbc 4 in los angeles, drive into the wet and wild world of seals at critters n' kids' seal celebration, and they know how to party, at the los

angeles zoo and botanical gardens. that's your "pacific event of the day," lynn. >> they have that reputation. >> big party animals? >> yeah. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. it looks like director james cameron has the golden touch. "titanic" has sailed beyond the $2 billion mark in lifetime ticket sales. this, of course, thanks to the film's rerelease in 3d. that along with "avatar" are the only two films in history to earn more than $2 billion. he's probably doing pretty well for himself. well, after speculation of an early departure from "30 rock," actor alec baldwin confirmed to an audience at the national press club that he has, in fact, signed on to the show's seventh season. and finally, here's what you've been waiting for, a closer look at angelina jolie's engagement ring. brad pitt reportedly helped design the ring. an expert tells "people" magazine it could weigh in at more than 10 carats, a price tag of $1 million.

$1 million. >> a million? and she's wearing it. >> right. i mean, i would have, like, my hand in like a safety deposit box and just walk around with it. >> that's the engagement ring. what's the wedding band going to look like? >> no kidding. a little pressure there for him. >> look like a sleeve. this comes to us from knbc, nbc 4 news in los angeles, where in nearby la puente, a dog has been reunited with her owners after a very touching video went viral. this is really heart-warming. >> i'm not watching it. >> i know. it's difficult to watch, but it has a good ending, i swear. the black lab named maggie stood in traffic. he guarded over another dog that had just been killed by a hit-and-run driver. maggie's bravery earned admirers all over the country who wanted to adopt her, but animal control officials say her owners saw the video and have now come forward. well, i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today your nbc station.

artists and architects take over germany in a six-day light extravaganza. it comes to the city only every two years, where art takes over the streets of frankfurt in an industrial light showcase. train stations and city hall are transformed into a futuristic metropolitan area. over 10,000 visitors are expected to join for both interactive and decorative displays. pretty nice there. chess masters in china play with some heavy-duty pawns. 32 cars served as the pieces in a larger-than-life chinese chess game. playing on a giant board drawn on the ground, two competitors dressed as ancient soldiers directed the cars into position. after about 90 minutes of play,

the match ended in a draw. finally, in india, an unlikely friendship is winning the hearts of locals. a stray dog and a monkey have turned a local hospital's yard into their personal playground. usually rivals, the two animals are seen as an example of peace. it sparked some kind of hope, that if they can get along, so can all of us. let this be a lesson to you, bill. >> like a stray dog and a monkey. you'd think the monkey would be like the stray. >> yeah, true, that is a good point. >> but it's good to know. >> focus on what is good for mankind, can we do that? >> oh, i have to stop analyzing things? >> try very hard. time now for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. a senate subcommittee will hold a hearing on ending racial profiling in america. the hearing will examine the different faces of racial profiling, including state immigration laws in alabama and arizona that subject hispanic americans to heightened scrutiny. elsewhere in washington, president obama welcomes champion nascar driver tony stewart and his fellow

competitors to the white house. the president will honor efforts by stewart and nascar's community to give back to the community. and in illinois, the final winner of last month's $656 million mega millions jackpot will be announced. 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. the very latest on the alleged gun scandal involving british royal in-law pippa middleton. was it real or just a toy? and from "beverly hills 90210" to studio 1a, actress jennie garth opens up about her high-profile divorce and her new reality show, "a little bit country." and now, 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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