i don't care. facebook will be overvalued in the ipo. take some anyway. there's always a bull market somewhere. i promise to help find it for you. i'm jim cramer. this morning on "early today," suicide mission. intelligence agencies foil a terrorist plot to bomb a u.s. bound airliner. armed and dangerous. surveillance video captures tense moments as a young woman and her young daughter are robbed at knifepoint. and wild about harry. england's prince comes to the nation's capital to receive a england's prince comes to the nation's capital to receive a special honor. 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 a new terror plot thwarted.

the cia uncovered an al qaeda operation involving an updated underwear bomb from yemen. it was meant to target an airliner headed to the u.s. with a device specifically designed to make it pass security. steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: u.s. officials say no passengers or u.s. bound airliners were ever in danger. they say they foiled the plot before a suicide bomber could buy his ticket. and officials say the fbi has the bomb from yemen in its labs for testing. they say it's the next generation of the underwear bomb that fizzled, burning confessed al qaeda operative umar abdulmutallab on a flight into detroit christmas day 2009. the bomb was nonmetallic, designed to pass through undetected through security, proof that al qaeda is still targeting air travel and yemen is home to al qaeda's most active organization.

>> this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country. and we will do everything necessary to keep america safe. >> reporter: on sunday u.s. officials say an american drone like this one killed al qaeda's top commander in yemen. fahd al quso, they say, had intimate knowledge of the new bomb plot. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. after weeks of negotiation including an hour-long, face-to-face meeting last week, mitt romney has finally received the endorsement of his former top rival rick santorum. tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that and all the latest from the campaign trail. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. finally word from rick santorum, and he's backing mitt romney who looked like he's going to become

the nominee. it came in a late night e-mail to his supporters saying he thinks they all should back romney as the party nominee. romney jumping into the fray about the auto industry about whether they should receive a bailout. romney says he should receive credit for the latest bounce-back. he opposed the bailout and instead said that auto manufacturers should have been allowed to go bankrupt. meantime, president obama and the issue of gay marriage has come up yet again. joe biden over the weekend seemed to indicate he supports it. now another top member of the administration, education secretary arne duncan, says that he unequivocally supports it too. >> thanks, tracie. north carolina votes today on a referendum on same-sex marriage that's drawn national attention.

the constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and woman has drawn protests from both those for and against. it would ban gay marriage in the state. north carolina is the only former confederate state without such an amendment. it is expected to pass. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. in massachusetts very frightening moments as a mom was robbed at knife point after a man threatened her 4-year-old daughter. at one point the mother was stabbed in the collarbone before the robber took her purse and ran off. the woman is expected to recover. in california one coffee house just might have the freshest honey in town. that's because of a new beehive on its roof. a longtime customer who happens to be a bee keeper asked if he could raise them up top. down oakland and bees produce more honey in the city than out in the country because they have additional sources of pollen and nectar.

in downtown michigan, another sweet idea, a high school student made her own prom dress out of wrappers of starburst candies. it took her more than a year and a half to collect the 18,000 wrappers. she also made a matching purse and hairband. no, she did not help her eat all of those candies herself. dentists would be relieved about. >> starbursts and skittles. which one? >> red skittles. >> over the strawberry starburst. >> you know the red skittles are strawberry flavored. >> i didn't know you became a candy connoisseur. high pressure in control and it's just going to be another gorgeous spring day. a little taste of summer in phoenix, 92 degrees. that's not bad for this time of year by your standards. actually very nice air mass everywhere.

as warm as 80 in portland, 75 in seattle. as i said we'll do it again, one of the warmer days you've had a long time. san francisco, 83. now as far as temperatures this morning, pretty nice in the 50s in california all the way up to the coast. 40s underneath high pressure in some of the mountainous areas. vegas and phoenix off to a warm start. upper 60s to low 70s. you don't need the jacket heading out. storm system continues to crank south of alaska. won't move. that means our weather pattern won't move too much. a couple extra clouds in the pacific northwest. high pressure over colorado will keep everything very nice today. another day in the 80s for new medford. should be enjoyable in l.a. to vegas. enjoy a nice stretch of weather

diego. tahoe, beautiful, near 70. this is probably the best spring day yet in the west. >> thanks. coming up, bailout profit for uncle sam. no government deficit in april. and lady gaga's tea cup worth more than it's weight in gold. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. plus, the legal tug-of-war between the one time supermodel and playboy billionaire is finally over. coming up, a clean sweep for the spurs. the coyotes make history. and a home run that will have you seeing double. you're watching "early today." an

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines this morning. in a stunning move, israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu has brokered a deal for a new coalition with a party in parliament canceling the elections set for september and guaranteeing the survival of his government. in the corruption trial of former presidential candidate john edwards one witness testified that edwards asked heiress bunny mellon for another $3 million just weeks before his indictment. the army has yet to determine what killed captain bruce clark while he was talking to his wife via skype from afghanistan. she saw what looked like a bullethole in the wall behind him but investigators found no bullet wouldn't on his body. vladimir putin decided to play in a hockey match. he scored one goal and set up another in regulation and later netted the winner in an overtime shootout. and england's prince harry

has accepted an award for his charitable activities on behalf of wounded service men and women. former secretary of state colin powell presented the award joking there were a number of young single women attending the event. i'm sure there was. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study forecasts by 2030, 42% of americans will be obese. about 10% increase over today. the already obese are getting fatter. severe obesity will double by to 2030 when 11% of adults will be nearly 100 pounds overweight or more. the study suggests over that time span the problem could add $550 billion to the nation's health spending. and for more information on this and other health story, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> "early today" health brought to i by vagisil wash with odor block, the confident clean. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,008 after losing 29 points yesterday.

the s&p added a fraction, the nasdaq was up one. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, the nikkei gained 62 but in hong kong the hang seng was down 51. in europe the election results rattled global markets monday but by afternoon wall street investors were looking on the bright side. insteaded of looking at austerity measures, financial stocks got a boost from signs of a potential bailout from spain's troubled bank. pepsico added 1% on an analyst upgrade. on the earnings front higher beef and chicken prices helped tyson foods deliver a healthy increase in quarter profits. frontier fell 7% on news it was losing. after the bell electronic arts the nation's number two video game publisher report ad weak quarterly forecast. a san francisco jury decided google did infringe on some of oracle's copyrights when developing its android software.

however, jurors could not agree whether groogle's actions were protected under so-called fair use. yahoo!'s ceo scott thompson apologized for a resume inago kcurcuracy over his educan but won't bow to calls for his resignation. taxpayers could see a $15 billion return on the government's massive bailout of insurer aig. the congressional budget office estimates increased tax collection and lower government spending helped the federal government snap a four-year deficit streak in april resulting in a $58 billion surplus. and finally how much is lady gaga's used china worth? quite a lot. apparently a tea cup gaga used at a press conference in japan last year just sold for $75,000 at auction. that just makes you shake your head. well, coming up, the spurs sweep the jazz. the coyotes move on and the

inland suspends the fliers' leading scorer. plus an amazing home run catch in minor league baseball. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. beautiful spring weather through the middle of the country and on the west cove, unfortunately for the east coast we have to wait probably till the weekend. 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 in a stanley cup playoff thriller, the new york rangers stunned the washington capitals, breathing some life bang into the game with only seconds remaininging on the clock. here's nbc's fred roggin with a look at your sports headlines. good morning. a timely goal in the stanley cup can change the game and series. game five between the rangers and caps. new york down one with under 30 seconds to play. joel ward a high stick to karl haglund's face. it's a double mining for. they make them pay for the mistake. four-minute penalty and rangers made the capitals pay. richards scored with seven scores left. first two minutes of the penalty expired ward served the next two in overtime and mark entered the game. another power play goal. the rangers snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

they win it 3-2 in overtime and can close out the caps tomorrow. coyotes are headed to their first western finals in team history. they eliminated the predators with a 2-1 win. up next the l.a. kings. the flyers will try to avoid elimination tonight without their best player. claude giroux suspended one game because of this head shot on zubris. game five tonight on the nbc sports network. basketball, spurs had the best regular season record. first team to move on the second round of the playoffs. pulled off a clean sweep in utah. won in a late rally by the jazz and held on, 87-81. los angeles clippers and grizzlies needed overtime and that's where chris paul simply went off, 8 of his 27 in the extra period. he grabbed a 3-1 series lead. 107-99 win in overtime. finally to the diamond for an amazing play from a minor league game in texas. a deep fly ball. watch as the left fielder and center-fielder went up and over the wall to make the home run saving grab. double your pleasure, double your fun.

austin watts made the grab for the out. a great effort but ironically his team lost the game by a home run. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. who is in trouble, who got married, and who would you choose to play jimi hendrix? your early morning entertainment headlines are ahead. plus before they were mad men there were hef. coming up, his most important tool when it came to keeping track of his women. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this tuesday. a near perfect ten forecast for all areas of the west. nice and sunny and a few extra clouds in the northwest and maybe arizona during the day. dry everywhere. salt lake city to boise and tomorrow we do it all over again. slightly cooler from medford to portland but by spring standards not too bad. heading up to 96. well, if you're watching us on kgw news channel in portland, oregon, see the work of an oregon native, the comic book art of aaron lopresti at the washington county museum. >> early look at this morning's headlines. new york state's biggest ever

child support case has come to a conclusion. former supermodel linda evangelista and salma hayek's french billionaire husband settled their battle on monday. no specifics were announced but evangelista was seeking $46,000 a month. john travolta is being sued by a masseur who claims the actor tried to have sex with him. he's seeking $2 million plus damages. saturday country singer jake owen and a few friends overcelebrating cinco de mayo were detained by vero beach police. he managed to straighten things out for a morning sunrise ceremony. australian brothers chris and liam hemsworth are surefire 2012 box office champs after appearing in "the avengers" and the "hunger games." outkast wrapper andre 3000

is cast to play jimi hendrix. you know who wanted the role in the past, prince. >> there you go. in chicago a throwback to an era when bachelors didn't have cell phones to store the numbers of their prospective girlfriends. the little black book kept by playboy founder hugh hefner is now on display. it's got both real names and pseudonyms for all of hefner's ladies and he had code words in there. he kept the book when he launched "playbook" in 1953. that's lynn with an "e." this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

buddhist monks made the sky brighter in indonesia. they released dozens of floating lanterns to commemorate the teachings of buddha. thousands of devotees traveled from around the world to the temple in what they consider a holy day. the celebration is used as a ritual to preserve one of the country's oldest religions. in china technology is spreading its roots. at a tech fair, robo farmers were a big hit. the bots are perhapsed to assess the condition of vegetables and shower them with either pesticides or fertilizer if needed. if the veggie is right for the picking, the machine can even clip it from the plant and continue down the row. finally, a revolutionary

rematch at john. f. kennedy airport. members of the tsa went head-to-head with lond londons famed metropolitan police department. they dragged a 150,000-pound plane about 100 yards looking for the fastest time. the usa took top honors with the tsa clocking in at just over 30 seconds. the competition was to raise money for cancer research but they were probably just told to take off the shoes. they had the advantage. is that a terrible joke? >> blank stare. tell me another. >> i'll save it for later since they are so good. it is time now for an early look at some of the stories we're following throughout the day. the senate will vote on whether to debate a democrat plan to freeze student loans at the current interest rate of 3.4%. taxes on high earning owners of the corporation would pay for

it. an alternative republican plan would pay for it by eliminating a provision under the new health care law. elsewhere in washington, the national park service and friends of the national world war ii memorial will lay a wreath to commemorate the 67th anniversary of victory in europe day. and comedian don rickles is 86. all day long, stay on top of the very latest developments and those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here's a look at what's coming up on the "today" show. an exclusive. a mother and her daughter share their remarkable story about being rescued from their car after it was left dangling off a bridge. suzanne somers shares secrets from her new anti-aging book "bombshell." now, keep it on this channel for continuing 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.