i like to say there's always a bull market somewhere, and i promise to try to find it for you right here on "mad money." i'm jim cramer. see you tomorrow. this morning on "early today," on the move. there are new reports that a chinese dissident involved in a daring escape has left u.s. protection in beijing. turning the page. president obama ushers in a new kind of relationship with afghanistan. and dangerous driving, a florida couple is arrested for towing a toy car with their granddaughter inside. 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. breaking news. a blind chinese disden the is no longer under the protection of the u.s. in beijing after

reportedly receiving assurances from china for his safety. u.s. officials says he left the u.s. embassy after six days and is now at a beijing medical facility where he has been and will be reunited with his family. chen, who ran afoul of local government officials for exposing forced abortions and other abuses escaped from house arrest late last month. the dispute over chen's fate has threatened to overshadow secretary of state hillary clinton's arrival in beijing today. for economic talks with chinese officials. on the anniversary of osama bin laden's death, president obama showed up in afghanistan on a surprise visit yesterday to mark what he called a light of a new day. nbc's tracie potts joins us with more on this. >> reporter: the president admitted we could see tough times in afghanistan but he said 2014 is a hard and fast deadline for our troops to come home.

>> reporte . >> this time of war began in afghanistan and this is where it will end. >> reporter: he promised support after the war in afghanistan ends in 2014. >> we have a clear path to fulfill our mission in afghanistan while delivering justice to al qaeda. >> reporter: the agreement does not say how many troops will stay. >> 20,000 troops spread all over the country as advisers without much combat capability would be too much at risk. >> reporter: critics argue we can't afford to lose too many soldiers there. >> the thing that will take this country down is not al qaeda. it is spending money we don't have on things we don't need and creating the debt that will totally shackle our children. >> reporter: during his six-hour surprise visit on the anniversary of the death of osama bin laden, president obama spoke to troops at bagram air base. hours later, a car bomb exploded

in kabul, killing at least six people. then more explosions and gunfire for hours. the taliban said it was in response to the president's visit. back home, mitt romney, again, backed off earlier criticism of mr. obama's decision to go after bin laden. >> had i been president of the united states i would have made the same decision the president made which was to remove him. >> reporter: now, the president left before that violence broke out. he's headed home now. we're expecting him back in washington this afternoon. lynn? >> tracie potts for us in washington. thank you. and tonight, don't miss an hour-long special edition of rock center inside the situation room where president obama and his national security advisers, 9:00, 8:00 central right here on this abc station. five men are under arrest in an alleged plot to blow up a bridge in ohio. federal authorities described the men as anarchists, angry at corporate america. they were unaware that an fbi

informant was involved in the plan to bomb a bridge, linking two cleveland suburbs. a federal prosecutor says the alleged plotters obtain what they thought were explosives. the beginning of may brought may day protests from coast to coast yesterday. police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in oakland, california. thousands of occupy wall street protesters demanding an end to income and equality about battle with police. the protests were less violent than ones that arrested last fall when the occupy movement was at its peak. here's an early look at some of the stories we're following throughout the day on "early today." video of a horrific attack inside a massachusetts high school has led to two arrests. prosecutors have charged the teen attacker with felony assault charges but have also charged this student who recorded the violent ambush. charges against him include wiretap violation, disorderly conduct and aggravated assault. both have pleaded not guilty.

the lights went out in upstate new york when a car crashed into a national grid substation, a section of albany lost power as the vehicle collided with one car and kareemed into the power plan the. power was restored shortly afterward. the driver suffered minor injuries. and finally, dropping the kids off at grandma's house wasn't such a good idea for one florida child. the 7-year-old's grandparents were arrested after they were spotted towing the child in her toy car at approximately 5 to 10 miles per hour. both face child endangerment charges while the grandfather is also charged with driving under the influence and with a suspended license. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins, he has your weather channel forecast. i'm speechless. >> baby sitting privileges have been revoked. >> that's a no-brainer. >> sorry, grandma or grandpa. good morning, everyone.

rain heading for the west coast later on tonight and into thursday. that's when we'll watch the next storm moving onshore. a break in the morning today. not many areas will see wet weather. it's a mild start to your day from phoenix to the desert southwest into vegas. pretty cool, high pressure overhead, clear skies, boise at 41, portland at 44. and 45 in medford. here's the next storm system. here's the west coast. the high pressure moves out. this is the next storm. s there a good slug of moisture. when you see these get strung out from west to east, that means wherever the moisture feed comes onshore, it won't move much. it will be in central oregon, eventually drifting down to california. this isn't a huge storm system but you'll pick up probably about an inch of rain, maybe two at most, some is of the higher elevations of the cascades. that's where the target will be for the wet weather. most of that is late today, most of us will see a dry day.

a little cool on what's coming into the summer months, you'll take a day around the upper 80s, low 90s. not too bad, just a little rainy day tomorrow morning especially. >> good to know. thanks so much. the dow bounces back. news corp. strikes back and why even a losing lottery ticket is worth holding on to. your early morning business headlines is straight ahead. plus, jessica simpson takes on a role of a lifetime. coming up, the sixers run past the bulls, paul pierce shoots down the hawks and a rookie steps up for the devils. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome

back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. egyptian officials say at least nine people were killed in violent clashes during protests in cairo. this morning's violence comes just weeks before egypt's presidential elections. opposition leader in myanmar, aung san suu kyi, has taken the oath of office to become an official member of parliament. the 66-year-old nobel peace prize winner joins a new political system after 49 years of military rule. a man who was born in bosnia was convicted yesterday in a terror plot to hit new york stay's subways with suicide bombs. and now faces a possible life sentence. two former classmates pleaded guilty in the conspiracy two years ago and testified against him. a fugitive on the run for more than two years is now under arrest for allegedly running a scam that collected $100 million in donations from people who thought they were helping u.s. navy veterans. little, if any, of the money was used to benefit veterans. and a paint by french artist

paul was auctioned off in new york. it sold for more than $19 million to an anonymous buyer. here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. according to a new study, for some women, starting mammograms at 40 may be worth the risk. some had double the risk of developing cancer. for those women, the danger may outweigh the risk of radiation, false positives and unnecessary treatment from breast cancer screening itself. for more information on this and other health stories, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil, bring yourself back. here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,279 after adding 65 points yesterday.

the s&p gained 7 points, the nasdaq was up 4. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 29 points while in hong kong the hang seng rose 214. a little optimism drove the dow to its highest level in more than four years tuesday. news that april manufacturing expanded at the strongest pace since june gave stocks early momentum. signs of improving demand spilled over into financial transportation and energy stocks as well as the price of oil. after the bell, chesapeake energy slipped in the wake of weak earnings. the natural gas producer had closed higher on news of a replacement for its controversial ceo and co-founder. earlier, lackluster reaction to research in motion's new blackberry software weighed down the nasdaq. meanwhile, avon was the biggest drag on s&p after reporting its earnings plunged 82%. p.q. chang's china bistro

surged nearly 30% after they agreed to be taken private for more than a billion dollars. news corp. is calling a report by a committee of english lawmakers that labeled rupert murdoch, quote, unfit to run his global immediate empire, unjustified and highly partisan. walmart will pay employees who were unfairly considered exempt from overtime wages. on the heels of a high-profile unveiling of its new organ donor feature, there's news facebook has selected may 18th for its wall street debut. finally, why should you never throw away lottery tickets, even the losing ones? a judge in arkansas ruled against a woman who picked a million dollar winner out of the trash and cashed it in. he said the ticket belongs to the original owner after a scanner said it was not a

winner. the lakers sink the nuggets, devils down the flyers and jays rally past the rangers. sixers take advantage of the bulls without injured mvp derrick rose, early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. our wednesday forecast is about severe thunderstorms this afternoon and this evening. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the short-handed boston celtics managed to tie their nba playoff series against the atlanta hawks. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the celts without rondo, the bulls won't have rose for the playoffs, how did they do without their point guards? we start in atlanta. hawks build a double bdigit lea in the third. paul pierce took over 13 of 36 came in the final quarter. the news got worse for the hawks. jack smith sprained his knee battling kevin garnett, left the game, he's day-to-day. celts got it done, game three friday in boston. to chicago, rose watched helplessly from a luxury box. bulls are arguably the best defensive team in the league but the sixers may have found a chink in the armor.

it's alley-oop. time and time again they would make the extra pass for an easy bucket, sixers 109-92 win. los angeles, same old story, simply too much kobe bryant for the nuggets to hand. came out of the gates flying and finished with 36. denver tried to rally in the fourth but kobe and andrew bynum quickly put a stop to that. the bucket and foul, bynum 27, lakers won game two, 104-100. best record in the league will get you home court advantage in the playoffs for greg popovich earned him coach of the year honors. it's the second time the head coach won the award. devils without ilya kovalchuk, adam larsson scored the equalizer in his first career playoff game. the devils caught fire in the third, scored four unanswered and beat the flyers 4-1. the series is even at one. baseball, any time you can beat the best team in the a.l. it's worth a pat on the back. when you do it with a home run, it makes our show.

blue jays won 8-7. that is the sports on "early today" i'm fred roggin. who is the latest star rumored to be on the short list for the x-factor? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. years of hard work and dedication pay off for one texas teen. weep tell you why. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." we'll have rain later in the day, moving into the northwest, especially the state of oregon coastal areas. maybe a sprinkle or two out there this morning in areas from portland to seattle. for the most part you're dry. 62 in san francisco, cool in l.a., interior california in the 70s. cooler in the desert areas, too, upper 80s to low 90s. tomorrow more significant chunk of moisture coming onshore, late tonight, tomorrow work. . if you're watching us on king 5 news in seattle, washington in nearby auburn, see photos of how railroads have shaped the local economy at rails to sails. at the white river valley museum. that's your pacific event of the day. >> thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the jessica simpson baby watch is finally over. congratulations, guys. the 31-year-old singer gave birth to a 9 pound, 13 ounce baby girl named maxwell drew johnson. >> not a baby.

>> been cooking for a while. >> maxwell is the first child for simpson and eric johnston. ashton kutcher has reportedly sign a one-year deal to remain on "two and a half men" for a second season. he'll be paid $750,000 an episode. singer rihanna is said to be in negotiations to play a villain in the sixth installment of "the fast and the furious." >> louis ck has snagged a webbie person of the year which honors the best of the web for a comedy special he distributed on his own website for $5. finally, 19-year-old miley cyrus is being considered for a judging spot on the x factor, along with everyone else. the former hannah montana joins avril lavigne and britney britney spears, leann rimes. >> i think britney spears would be entertaining.

>> we'll see who's chosen. a lot of money being discussed. this comes to us from kxas nbc 5 in dallas, texas, where in nearby south grand prairie, one teen's hobby has put him on fast track to start him in the world of robotics. years of building robots have paid off for matthew ricks who beat out more than 3,000 competitors to take top honors at the first robotics championship in st. louis. the 17-year-old, who showcased a basketball retrieving robot, now has his sights on another dream, study mechanical engineering at texas a&m. bill would give it to you. you're good. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today." your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

it was an extra large jam session in austria. that's where the world's biggest drum set took the stage at a carnival, standing over 21 feet tall and weighing almost 2 tons. the set requires not one but four musicians to rock out. the percussion ensemble gets quite a workout as they perform as well. revellers in china are getting dirty. a mud carnival was held part of may day celebration. it originated out of an ancient festival. it aims to extend good fortune to others by smearing mud on each other's bodies. looks like they are having fun. mud was traditionally spread on children to prevent illness but it's become an organized event for everyone since 2004.

finally, chefs everywhere, start watching their backs. one restaurant in china has debuted a robot cook. the humanoid stands out front doing mundane tasks like slicing noodles. and so far the owners are calling it a win/win all the way around. not only does the new employee help save on monthly labor expenses but never gets tired and attracts new crowds of customers. >> when he starts making a sauce on the side with my steak and fries, i'll buy it. >> anyone can do noodles. we'll see whether or not he can pull that off. >> get him above raman noodles. early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day. newt gingrich is expected to officially suspend his campaign in arlington, virginia. gingrich began scaling back his efforts after losing primaries in five states last week. in new york, one of the most well-known images "the scream" is up for auction.

the piece is one of four versions and is expected to sell for no less than $80 million. the weather channel celebrates 30 years on the air, to mark the occasion, new york city's empire state building will be lit in blue and the channel will launch its newly revamped weather.com website. all day long stay on the latest developments on those stories and others on msnbc, watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and finally, here's a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. in an exclusive, meet the world's newest sextuplets and their parents. for the first time since whitney houston's death, bobby brown speaks out in an exclusive interview with matt lauer. keep it on this channel for local news, weather and sports. i'm lynn berry thanks for watching "early today" your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

yeah. sure. sure. what's the number-one killer of women ? well, you're still here, so that rules out crankiness. and track suits. heart disease. what, that's a joke ? no, it's an absolute fact, but the american heart association says you can save lives by passing it along to five women you love. awww. awww ! so i'm starting with three i tolerate. that's a joke !