want to know what it is? you've got to stick around because i'm talking to larry about it coming up next. apple, we heard about a guy this morning on "early today" presidential poll. new numbers show president obama and mitt romney in a close race. decision day. attorneys for george zimmerman ask a florida judge to set him free. and mission museum. nasa's space shuttle "discovery" is welcomed home at the nasa's space shuttle "discovery" is welcomed home at the smithsonian. captionsaid for by nbc-universal television this is "early today" for friday, april 20th, 2012. hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with poll positions. the latest polls find that the point president obama is ahead of presumptive republican candidate mitt romney in a head-to-head match-up.

mitt romney is in a strong enough position to make it a close election. nbc news political director and nbc correspondent chuck todd reports. >> reporter: thanks to large leads among women, hispanics and even independents, the president begins with a 49-43 advantage over mitt romney. but it's a six-point margin that is by no means insurmountable. the good news for mr. obama is how his standing today compares with other incumbent presidents seeking reelection. his 49-46 job rating is almost identical to where george w. bush was in 2004. it's a tad lower than bill clinton in 1996, but much better than the last president to lose election, george h.w. bush in 1992. the president also benefits from being viewed to be more likeable than romney and the candidate more in touch with the middle class. this likability gap is something romney is so aware of, he's mentioning it in speeches. >> even if you like barack obama, we can't afford barack

obama. it's time to get someone that will get this economy going and put the american people back to work with good jobs and rising incomes. >> reporter: there's a reason romney wants to focus on obama's policies and not personality. by 40 to 34 margin, romney is seen as more likely to have good ideas for how to improve the economy. romney is also viewed as more likely to change business as usual in washington. the big debate in the campaign will be on economic philosophy and we tested without attribution, the main arguments most candidates have been making. >> i said it before and i'll say it again there has to be some balance. all of us have to do our fair share. >> reporter: 76% said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate advocating that. >> i want to restore to america the values of economic freedom and opportunity and small government that have made this nation the leader it is. >> reporter: 64% said that message would make them more likely to support that candidate. chuck todd, nbc news, washington. more now on the secret

service employees and that scandal. they could lose their jobs because of the prostitution scandal. this according to members of congress. following the incident, at a hotel in colombia, two of the three people who left the agency have been identified as greg stokes and david chaney, both hired a lawyer who says, "nobody has been separated from the agency voluntarily and that stokes plans to vigorously defend himself. chaney posted photographs of himself protecting former vice presidential candidate sarah palin in 2008 and post add comment saying, "i was really checking her out." palin calls it government running amuck. a bond scheduled hearing for george zimmerman charged with the death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. nbc's jay gray has the details. from sanford, florida, jay, good morning.

>> reporter: good morning to you, lynn. the bond hearing set for in just a couple of hours here. we expect to see george zimmerman and his legal team move in a courtroom here in sanford, hopefully on their side to walk out of that courtroom and out of the seminal county justice center today. most who have looked at this case are from florida and understand the statutes do believe he will be issued some type of bond. the question becomes how high that bond might be. typically, you would see in this case, maybe a 15 or $20,000 bond. now the attorneys who have looked at this say they wouldn't be surprise fundamental it goes upwards of $200,000 because of controversy surrounding this case. it will likely be the first time as well that zimmerman is face to face with the parents of trayvon martin. they have been asked to attend this proceeding by the special prosecutor. they could testify, though, nots clear if they will. we do know zimmerman's family will testify. they will do that by phone because of safety concerns in this highly charged case. that's the latest live mere from

sanford. i'm jay gray. lynn, back to you. jay, thanks so much. now here is a look at other stories making news "early today," disturbing and graphic images, comes to us from philadelphia where a robber shot three people at a take-out restaurant. after ordering to go, outside the store, the gunman looks around, opens fire and takes off. another view shows two of the victims as they were hit. as they ran for cover, the shooter returned and started firing again. hitting a third man. who is now in the hospital. police released the video they are looking for the shooter and the first two victims. a scare over the skies of new york city. a delta air lines passenger recorded video of a bird strike in one of the jet's engines. the kind of incident that caused the "miracle on the hudson" this time the pilot safely returned to kennedy airport. finally, in california, a goose is wandering around with an arrow impaled through the mid-section.

folks have been trying to catch the bird to help it out but the goose moves around too quickly, fish and game officials say they are now going to get involved finally, do not try this at home. a group of base jumpers left from a high-rise in waikiki recently and recorded their jump on camera. believe it or not, it is not against the law to base jump in hawaii. however, police warrant it is incredibly dangerous. now for the look at national and regional weather, bill karins. i hope we didn't give anyone any ideas. >> no. >> hopefully not. >> who knew it was legal? that could be an interesting show -- the helmet cam. >> wandering around in different places. so not interesting. i want to say that. good morning, everyone. 70 and sunny is the forecast in seattle on sunday. so although it's raining this morning, it's a little cool and damp. you are going to see probably your best spring weekend,nd

that's going to be the case for many areas in the west. now, the desert southwest, probably actually going to be a little too warm. here we are this morning dealing with a frontal system. a little rain. this is going to pass through by noon today and should be dry from seattle to olympia. maybe a sprinkle or to but it weakens and goes to the south. as far as the forecast, the only game in town. a moisture source coming into the west. even that will break apart. high pressure dominates the west throughout the weekend. still a cool onshow flow going throughout the day today. the warmth will spread and we get more of an offshore flow especially through california and the southwest. why it's going to be just a beautiful, warm weekend in so many spots. today a little toasty already in phoenix. up to 98 degrees. there's a little cool weather, again, not going to rain all day. you'll slowly warm up from here. today in the 50s in seattle. i mentioned, 70s by will see temperatures

approaching the 90s throughout this afternoon. take the summer in the southwest. 100 degrees in phoenix, sure thing this weekend. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, iphone sales slip, microsoft drives and starbuck debugs the menu. early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >> plus -- have moviegoers finally had their fill of "the hunger games"? a thriller between the blackhawks and coyotes. dwight howard is done for the year and the only hat trick of the night wasn't on the ice. you're watching "early today."

good morning welcome back do "early today" i'm lynn berry.

here are some of your top headlines this morning -- new york police and fbi are digging up a basement as they investigate the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old etan patz. the case sparked the missing childrens movement including new legislation and their photos on milk cartons. in southwest, afghanistan, a u.s. army helicopter crashed during a night time mission in bad weather, four u.s. soldiers on board. u.s. official says there were no survivors. rocker levon helms, the drummer and lead singer of "the band" died of cancer at age 71. during a visit to the henry ford museum, in michigan, president obama was photographed sitting on the bus in which rosa parks made her 1955 protest against segregation by refusing to move to the back. the space shuttle "discovery" is now at the smithsonian's national air and space museum. and the prototype shuttle

"enterprise" will leave the smithsonian next week for display at new york city's intrepid sea, air and space museum. the world's oldest living man celebrated his 115th birthday in japan yesterday. he looks amazing. the father of seven children, he has 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great grandchildren. he says eating small portions of food is his secret to longevity. here is an early look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12964 after losing 6 points yesterday. s&p lost 8 points. nasdaq fell 23. taking a look at overseas trades this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei down 27 points. in hong kong the hang seng up 15. well, despite a slew of upbeat earnings reports a number of fear factors spooked investors into selling thursday. rising spanish bond yields and rumors of a downgrade to france's credit rating added to economic woes in the u.s.

including a disappointing dip in weekly jobless claims, and less than stellar reports on housing and manufacturing. apple was a drag on the nasdaq, dropping 3% on news verizon's iphone sales were 25% lower than the previous quarter. today microsoft could spark a tech bounce thanks to a surge in sales of windows and office software for businesses. banks were a bright sport with morgan stanley and bank of america both beating earning estimates. elsewhere, high-end tumi soared 50% on first day of public trade, and on the eve of the second anniversary of the gulf oil spill, bp will pay millions to victims. their initial claims were short-changed or wrongfully denied. finally, squeamish starbucks

customers have spoken by the end of june the company will replace a red dye used in drinks and menu items made from crushed beetles with a vegan friendly food coloring. made from tomatoes. who knew it was even an issue? the heat burned the bulls and coyotes topped the blackhawks in overtime. plus, it's three at-bats and three home runs for one yankee slugger. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the weekend forecast is all about the heat in the west and soaker up the east coast, the forecast is coming up, you're watching "early today." .

if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports last night the devils goalie saved his way into the nhl record books. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it wasn't just another playoff game for martin brodeur. it was a crowning achievement. he made history stopped everything that came his way, 26 saves, his 24th shutout of the postseason. that moved him into first place on the all-time shutout list. the devils offense gave him support. ilya kovalchuk second goal of the playoffs, 4-0 victory over the panthers. deja vu for the coyotes and

blackhawks. overtime last night. no different. michael boedker scored the game winner, back-to-back overtime goals for him. all for not. boedker scored. coyotes can eliminate chicago tomorrow. now to washington. alex ckovechkin is better. he was all right and the caps were better. alexander semin gave washington the lead, capitals beat the bruins 2-1. dwight howard done for the season, undergo surgery for his back and miss the postseason and olympics in july. a matchup of eastern powers in miami. in the third, the circus was in town. the acrobatic shot fell. james had 27, heat won it. 83-72.

finally, the nhl playoffs. the only hat trick of the night was on the diamond, the yankees cure disgrander son hit three home runs against the twins, matched the career high with five hits. the yankees powers to a 7-6 win. that is the early look at sports on "early today" i'm fred roggin. another case of tmi from a celebrity mom. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, how a young boy managed to bring a major league game to a screeching halt. you're watching "early today." were back.

your forecast couldn't be more summerlike in areas of the west. finally a spring weekend. cool in the northwest this morning. light rain out there. it will end by about noon in most locations and then tomorrow look at this. the warmth spreads. 90s down in the southwest. 90s in california. even the pacific northwest jumps up into the 70s for sunday. so just going to about great, dry weekend. hope you can enjoy it. if you're watching us in honolulu, hawaii, take a guided tour of the evening sky. astronomers help you spot the stars in the sky tonight. not just where the stars are, probably tell you the names and stuff as the museum. the event of the day. i could tell you where the stars are. >> maybe they won't, and you'll be in trouble. well, here's an early look

at your headlines in entertainment. after 28 straight days at the top of the box office, it appears the "the hunger games" rein will come to an end this weekend. the romantic comedy "think like a man" is about four men whose love lives are disrupted when their partners begin using advice from a book written by steve harvey. it's expected to take the top spot with $19 million. in close second, "the lucky one" a romantic tearjerker, which stars zac ephron as a marine trying to track down a female that he believed kept him out of harm's way. should pull in $16.5. and celebrating her 4 week old son, to date, his belly button falling off. might be not so cute. to her husband's disgust she actually kept the memento and stored it in a freezer bag in a

drawer in her makeup drawer. a lot of parents do that. to chicago. dreaming are, but shouldn't do, a little boy ran on to the field during a major league baseball game. quickly scooped up by the left fielder not before causing the game to be halted. the ball player handed the boy off to security who took him back to the stands. his family was then tossed out. this in keeping with mlb rules. strict rules there. i'm lynn berry. this is nbc "early today" on your nbc station.

in honor of queen elizabeth's diamond jubilee, buckingham palace has become a colorful canvass. england's children are gracing the walls of the palace in a pretty impressive showcase. 200,000 self-portraits are being projected on the exterior depicting a montage. queen. organizers said they will break a record for most artists working on one installation. and it looks beautiful. helpful gizmos are making life easier in denmark. the largest trade show for robots is under way featuring several practical bots, one with pretty human characteristics. another is able to feed people who cannot feed themselves, and there's even a robotic bed that ensures mobility during sleep for people who are bedridden. finally, in canada, one sport is

considered not only challenging but potentially deadly. that didn't stop two daredevils from tempting fate and climbing up an iceberg. the style is compared to mountain climbing, but at any moment it could roll. the duo say it's cool to look from up top before jumping back in the frigid water, but we've done this, they say, we're not going to cheat fate again. this was nice one time. >> that is impressive. have you seen the people climb the frozen waterfalls? >> no. >> in colorado. >> with ice picks? things like that? >> i thought that was nuts. that's close to it. >> i like to stay on the ground. well, time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc -- today is the 13th anniversary of the 1999 columbine high school shootings in lyttelton, colorado. 12 students and one teacher fatally shot by two student who took their own lives, the deadliest high school massacre in u.s. history. in washington president

obama will welcome the wounded warrior soldier projects ride to the white house. created to give wounded vets the opportunity to restore their physical, emotional and mental well-being. happy birthday to jessica lange who turns 63. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories and others as they break on nbc, and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here is a look at what is coming up on "the today show." hear from a woman who after years of marriage, decided to turn her husband in for murder. and some of the world's first supermodels from the 1980s speak out on body image, aging and how the industry has changed. 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 great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com