i'm jim cramer. see you tomorrow! another u.s. military service this morning on "early today", conduct unbecoming. another u.s. military service member is under investigation as the secret service prostitution scandal grows. charged up, an underground electrical explosion sends two california firefighters to the hospital. and dangerous ground. some frantic moments as a and dangerous ground. some frantic moments as a sidewalk in china gives way. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning i'm lynn berry. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. today we begin with a widening investigation. white house and pentagon officials are scrambling to answer more questions about this growing prostitution scandal involving dozens of secret service and military members who traveled to colombia to protect

the president. nbc's tracey moore joins us from washington with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: so a 12th member of the military has now been implicated, relieved of duty as part of the white house communications agency believed to have been involved in this prostitution scandal. and one official says that this is someone who was with the army. the other 11, their security clearances stripped alonging to defense secretary leon panetta who was in colombia. he said security was his number one concern and any violations of the military code, those people will be held accountable. in the meantime, the white house has done its own probe, finding no wrongdoing. lawmakers on capitol hill want more answers about that and they're going to get more answers later this week from homeland security secretary janet thnapolitano.

>> tracie potts for us in washington. thanks so much. george zimmerman, the man charged in the shooting death of unarmed teenager trayvon martin is now in hiding for his own safety after his release yesterday from a florida jail the meanwhile, the city of sanford, florida, has rejected the resignation of his police chief, bill lee, who had been criticized by some for his handling of the case. nbc's jay gray has more. >> where in this process did the chief make a mistake that the commission voted to no longer have confidence in? >> reporter: another key figure in the trayvon martin case, the police chief who temporarily stepped away from his post offered his permanent resignation. >> one of the finest police officers in florida. >> reporter: after a heated debate city commissioners did not accept his offer to step aside. >> approve to deny the memorandum. [ applause ]

>> reporter: so vocal and public before zimmerman's arrest, trayvon martin's parents had been silent since last week's bond hearing. >> the family is emotional. this is one of the things where they would rather the killer of their child still be in jail but they accept the rule of law. >> reporter: zimmerman left the jail with a brown paper bag and according to sheriff's deputies, a gps monitoring bracelet that provides immediate, real-time information on where he is. something his legal team will continue to keep a secret as they deal with questions about his safety. >> i think there's still a lot of emotions wrapped around the case and we're worried that some of those emotions are still negative and that may play out against george. >> reporter: as zimmerman walks out of jail but back into hiding. jay gray, nbc news, sanford, florida. social security could run out of money three years sooner than previously expected. a report to congress by the trustees that oversee the program claims less funds than

anticipated are coming in due to the poor economy and higher energy costs. they say the trust fund will run dry in the year 2033. they urge congress to address the long run financial challenging facing both social security and medicare, sooner rather than later. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. some incredible video from california where an underground electrical vault exploded three times. you can see there police and fire crews were very close to the spot, each time it blew. two firefighters suffered minor burns from the blast. also in california, a grim and unusual sight over the pacific ocean. a salvage helicopter carried the wreckage of a yacht back to shore after a deadly accident there earlier this month. one person was killed, four others are missing and presumed dead after the yacht was hit by large waves and crashed into the

rock rocks near san francisco. snow came to rest on rochester, new york. one part of pennsylvania reported nearly 2 feet of snowfall. and finally where else but the florida keys would you find a giant key lime pie. almost looks like a pizza, doesn't it? it's seven feet wide. uses more than 7,000 key limes and 20 pounds of dough. it was made in honor of the 30th anniversary of the tongue in cheek effort to secede from the u.s. now for a look at the weather, here is bill karins. also a fan of key lime pie i've learned. >> a little scoop of vanilla on the side and we're all set. >> it's only 4:00 in the morning. >> it's called breakfast.

>> breakfast of champions. temperatures continue to be the story in the west. more record highs yesterday. we did break the century mark in phoenix with 103. that's 105 followed by 103. we will cool it off a little bit today, though, temperatures warm all over the board. medford 88 degrees and 80s in portland. it's been a stretch of dry, beautiful weather since the weekend began. now we're watching the next storm system. we have a cutoff low along the california coast and at the same time, a powerful storm system kicking down towards the gulf of alaska. i think we sneak away with a dry day today. tomorrow is when the wet weather returns. high pressure holds on for one more day. still an onshore flow and cool conditions in california. you notice this rain should pretty much cover all of the west coast. it's not that heavy. we don't have anywhere with above an inch expected. we will have rainfall in southern california for once.

your forecast dry today, tomorrow is the umbrella today. temperatures, warm in the desert southwest but cooler with clouds in the relatively dry. if you get hit by a shower, consider yourself unlucky. temperatures are pretty nice in california. the rain comes in wednesday, dry today, enjoy it. >> bill, thank you. kellogg's crunches, netflix glitches and barbie's royal friends make their debut across the upon. the earl i morning business headlines is straight ahead. one of the entertainment world's biggest earners earns just a little bit more. coming up, the rangers force a game seven. the coyotes make history and a new low for the new orleans saints. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today". i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines this morning. according to a new report after four decades mexican immigration to the united states has reversed with more people heading south of the border. the reasons given include weaker u.s. economy and increased border enforcement. john edwards, a former aide testified about an alleged 2008 plot to use legal payments to hide an affair. the judge said the former aide may have violated federal law by recently contacting other witnesses to ask about their testimony. singer and actress jennifer hudson took the stand yesterday in the trial of the man accused of killing her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. hudson said the family had been against her sister marrying the defendant. a new company is planning to find near earth asteroids which can be mind for precious metals

with robotic probes. the backers include film director james cameron and google co-founder larry page. in china new surveillance video shows a girl falling right through the sidewalk that gave way from underneath her. a cab driver did stop to help. climbing down into the 20-foot deep hole until firefighters were able to get them both out safely, thankfully. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,927. after losing 102 points yesterday. the s&p loss 11 points. the nasdaq fell 30. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was down 74 points but in hong kong, the hang seng was up 52. despite recent drastic budget cuts, europe's debt crisis appears to be deepening. yesterday, news that europe's debt hit its highest level since the euro was created hit a nerve

with investors. making matters worse, the dutch government collapsed monday after nicolas sarkozy lost the first round of the election. concerns in europe pushed down the price of crude by 77 cents a barrel to settle above $103. weak demand overseas took a bite out of kellogg's bottom line. the food giant slashed its full year profit forecast sending shares down 6%. walmart stores sank nearly 5%. biggest drag on the dow in the wake of an alleged corruption scandal in its mexican unit. toymaker hasbro tumbled 5% on falling sales. meanwhile, an uptick in mortgage and commercial lending at suntrust bank contributed to its better than expected earnings report. elsewhere facebook's first quarterly revenue slide in at least two years has experts buzzing what a slow down in growth might mean for it's upcoming ipo.

today investors will be watching apple. the company weighs in with earnings after the bell. keep an eye on netflix. after yesterday's close shares plunged 13%. that after a rare earnings miss. and finally in honor of prince william and duchess kate first wedding anniversary this month, a commemorative set of dolls from barbiemaker mattel are hitting store shelves. at one store in england the limited edition figures have sold out in the u.s. at $160 a set. pricey doll. coming up, the yanks lost over the rangers, more trouble for the saints and the nets say good-bye to new jersey. plus the nhl's top seeded rangers avoid an upset in ottowa sending their stanley cup series to a decisive game seven. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. it looks like i finally can put away my snow maps. it looks like the warmup is heading for areas of the east. your forecast is com"eodly tay."

good morning. if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports last night, record saves by the coyotes netmind are helped them blanch the blackhawks. here's fred roggin with an early

look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it took 16 years but the phoenix coyote won a playoff series. how is this for company? nhl legends along with michael jordan. unfortunately for chicago the offense was in the stands. mike smith spectacular, 39 save shutout. coyotes blew the game wide open in the third. eliminated the blackhawks with a 4-0 win. they take on the nashville predators, next. there's a decisive game seven between the rangers and senators. the signing of brad richard came through with a goal in the clutch. the rangers got a 2-1 lead in the second. a couple of weeks ago chris crieder was wearing a title for boston college happen he had his first career goal. rangers win, 3-2. game seven is thursday. mickey loomis had -- if this is true, not only is it an nfl

violation, it could uponly be a federal crime for wiretapping. the nets ended their run in new jersey with a loss to the sixers. the nets will move to brooklyn next year. philly's six players in double figures. baseball, rodriguez put his own spin on the ceremonial first pitch. the night belonged to a different rodriguez. a-rod with a three-run bomb in the fifth. yankees win it 7-4. two aboard for joe mather. singled up the middle. in came the tieing run, in came the winning run. cubs walked off with a 3-2 win. that's your early look at sports on "early today," i'm fred roggin. coming up, an ugly divorce battle. the ugly truth from a former child disney star and the actress who says everyone is out to get her. your early morning entertainment headlines is straight ahead.

plus, they're so ugly they're cute. coming up, the winner of most beautiful bulldog. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this tuesday morning. we're watching a slight chance of showers today. northern portions of idaho, maybe a sprinkle or two in seattle and portland. majority of your day is dry, dry in california. still warm in the desert southwest. tomorrow is the day the weather

gets more interesting. we'll have a storm system kicking through the northwest at the same time a storm system that's been off the california coast will move onshore. the bottom line is it looks like a damp wednesday in many areas. if you have outdoor plans, do them today. if you're watching us on kobi tv nbc 5 in metford oregon, take a leisurely ride biking the greenway to taste wild edibles, beginning at the ashland dog park. that's your pacific event of the day. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. lifetime made it official, lindsay lohan's big comeback role will be elizabeth taylor. it will focus on her relationship with richard burton. no word yet on who will play burton. susaner iss sarandon said ss

denied security clearance for a white house visit and charges the government is tapping her phone. and the 19-year-old said she's on the road to recovery since suffering from bulimia. dion sanders ugly divorce took a nasty twist. he posted a twitter photo showing him filling out police reports with his son against their mother who allegedly assaulted him. finally ryan seacrest "american idol" host has signed on a two year extension. he'll reportedly continue to earn $15 million a year. look at where he started. did you see that first piece of video to where he is now? >> blond hair, california surfer look. >> yes. that's what happens when you go from that to $15 million a year, apparently. >> another two years, another 30 mill. >> you'd take that, right? 35 million? >> i wouldn't want to leave you, lynn. >> good try. this comes to us from des moines, iowa where beauty is

clearly in the eye of the beholder. 50 of man's best friends competed for the title of most beautiful bulldog. some wore costumes and earned titles for things like mrmr. judges were looking for droopy mouth and laziness. a pooch named tyson took top honors and earned him a dog bone shaped cake and becoming mascot for drake university. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

a royal display has parisians gushing. one of the most oldest diamonds has hit the auction floor. weighing in at almost 35 carats, the sparkling gem has a value of up to almost $4 million. understandably out of most people's price range. the diamond will be on display until the auction next month. one group of scientists documented what could be the first-ever sighting of an all white adult orca whale. nicknamed iceberg, he's at least 15 years old judging by the size of its fin. scientists speculate the whale could be an albino but would require further tests to confirm the theory. russians are ready to say

good-bye to winter but not before having a little fun. skiers made some downhill run by slipping through a 66-foot puddle of water. why not, right? wearing interesting costumes, 100 alpine skiers went for the challenge ending up in the pool. the bikini, not going to happen. >> the bikini skiing, so cliche, isn't it? >> are we like in, you know, some spring break episode? no. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in new york secretary of state hillary clinton will deliver the keynote address at the time 100 gala. it marks "time" magazine annual issue for its choices of the world's most 100 influential people. and comics will participate in a joke-a-thon. it's for a midwest teen battling brain cancer who once asked for,

quote, something to smile about. taking place simultaneously in two places, organizers will attempt to set a record for the most jokes told in a 24 hour period. and barbra streisand turns 70. here's what's coming up later on this morning on the "today" show. and rosy o'donnell joins the "today" show for an appearance. a boy band from chicago will provide live in the studio. 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.