the scandal involving two u.s. generals and the women they were involved with. president obama will face the media head on regarding petraeus and allen as well as the nation's fiscal cliff. >> and a tragic plane crash killed three pilots on their way to an faa safety conference. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday november 14th, 2012. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. and today for the first time we expect to hear from president obama directly as his administration is rocked by scandals involving two of the men he counted on most, former cia director david petraeus and afghan war commander general john allen. the newest headlines in the investigation are creating even more of a tangled web. this morning's "wall street journal" reports general allen, who is now under investigation for e-mails between he and jill kelley of tampa florida, is telling associates that he received an e-mail traced back to paula broadwell, the petraeus

biographer accused of sending harassing e-mails to jill kelley. according to the journal, allen says the broadwell e-mail was written under the pseudonym kelley patrol. it described kelley as a, quote, seductress, and warned the general about becoming entangled in a relationship with the married socialite. the journal also reports kelley tried this summer to get the fbi to drop the investigation that began with kelley's complaint of harassing e-mails traced back to broadwell. people familiar with the case tell the journal that she became worried about personal information being provided to investigators. meanwhile, the washington post quotes senior law enforcement officials as saying the search conducted at broadwell's home monday night marks a renewed focus on learning just how broadwell gained access to classified files. jill kelley, who has given some impression that she has some kind of state department status that officials say she does not have, called police last weekend after news crews, including nbc, staked out her home and at one point invoked diplomatic-type

privileges. >> i am an honorary consul-general so i have inviolability so they should not be able to cross my property. i don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well. >> just who is jill kelley. her name has come up in connection with two of the nation's top commanders. more now on her story from nbc's kristen welker. >> mrs. kelley, how are you doing? >> reporter: jill kelley was well known in social circles around tampa long before she became fodder for the tabloids of new york. she and husband scott, a surgeon, threw lavish parties at their ten bedroom home that sold for $1.5 million in 2004. black ties, top notch catering, a couple about town. >> jill was always smiling, vivacious. >> reporter: aaron fodiman publishes "tampa bay magazine" that features fancy parties and ads for high-end merchandise. the kelleys frequented its pages.

>> there was always a bevy of people surrounding them. it would seem like no matter where they went people enjoyed talking to them, being with them. >> reporter: and they were often seen hobnobbing with top military brass, including general david petraeus, connections jill kelley made while volunteering to organize social events at nearby macdill air force base. >> she is just a deep down good person, her and her family. >> reporter: jill kelley's brother, david quam, who lives in the philadelphia area where she grew up, is rushing to his sister's defense. this, after federal authorities announced they're investigating thousands of e-mails between kelley and marine commander john allen. quam says they are only friends. >> all i do know is my sister didn't do anything wrong, nad i know that from talking to her. and i know she's a victim, and i don't know what else to tell you. >> reporter: the kelleys have asked for privacy and did not return our calls. they have hired high-powered washington attorney abbe lowell.

kristen welker, nbc news, washington. and in a story that just gets more bizarre by the hour, you can add the comments of religious broadcaster pat robertson. on monday's edition of the 700 club robertson had this analysis of petraeus/broadwell affair >> she is an extremely good looking woman. she is a marathon runner. she'd run ironman try@they lons and so she's out running with him and she's writing a biography and i think the term is prop accusation quity. who knows, the man is off in a foreign land and here's a good looking lady throwing herself at him. he's a man. >> well, as we mentioned, we are expecting to hear from president obama on these growing scandals later today. nbc news will have live coverage of the president's news conference from the east room of the white house beginning at

10:30 pacific time. right here on this nfc station. well, now for your look at the weather, here's nbc bill karins. good morning to you, bill. >> nothing so complex in my life. >> good. >> my weather life. >> oh. wow. >> and the other life, too. >> hey. >> let's include the whole universe in that. good morning, everyone. we are watching a nice quiet world in the weather world. temperatures remain cool if not seasonable for this time of year. some of the ski areas are beginning to open up just in time for the thanksgiving holiday too. up in tahoe they got enough snow that they'll hopefully open up some of the resorts there. in the cascades, not too many big blockbuster snow events. they should be able to make some snow too. temperatures in the 30s and 40s this morning. there's really no big storms coming at least in the short term. there's moisture streaming through southern idaho. with that on shore flow, a weak disturbance moving along the border with canada, columbia.

washington state. a few hit-and-miss showers up there in northern portions of idaho and montana. there's some elevation enhancement in the cascades. a little batch of showers coming on shore in extreme southwest portions of washington state. i'm searching for stuff here. there's not a lot out there. temperatures going to be in the low 50s the next three days in seattle. hit and miss in the afternoon. on the weekend, damp weather returns. 80s in l.a. and it turns until you cool down. the forecast for today, a nice simple travel day for ev califo. arizona looks pretty good along with our friends in nevada. we're nice up to the weekend.

>> not good timing. >> don't like that. >> no one does. bill, thanks so much. the rockefeller christmas tree stands up to sandy arriving at rockefeller center moments ago. plus, guess who's going to get the lions share of the blame as the country goes off the fiscal cliff? here's a hint for you. it isn't president obama. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. stories making news this morning. a knew pew research center poll finds that republicans in congress will be more to blame if the u.s. goes off the fiscal cliff. 53% of those surveyed point the finger at the gop while 29% say president obama would be more to blame. 20-year-old mitchell kusick of colorado has been charged with threatening to kill president obama during an october campaign event. kusick also made credible threats towards shooting and killing children at a halloween event. defense secretary leon panetta has demoted the former head of the u.s. africa command general william kip ward for

allegedly spending thousands of dollars on lavish travel and other expenses. ward will retire as a three star general and repay the government $82,000. a tv crew captured a possible tornado over a japanese port on wednesday. a relatively rare occurrence for that country. no damage was reported. and this year's rockefeller christmas tree has arrived in new york city. she's a beaut too. the 80 foot tall norway spruce survived the devastation of superstorm sandy. the tree lighting ceremony will be held on november 28th. now for a check on wall street, the dow fell 59 points. the s&p was down five. the nasdaq lost 20. taking a look at overseas trading. in tokyo, the nikkei nudged up 3 points while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 253. blue chips took a lit on tuesday, but impressive earning after the bell from cisco could

give the dow a boost this morning. california is making history today with the state's first ever auction of greenhouse gas pollution permits. the landmark cap and trade program is part of the state's 2006 global warming law. a last-minute lawsuit filed by california businesses was not expected to stop the auction. in the wake of mounting protests by powerless victims of super storm sandy, long island power authority's chief operating officer has resigned. the ceo of waffle house calls accusations of sexual assault and attempted black mail by a former employee criminal. the exec says the sex was consensual adding, quote, i'm a victim of my own stupidity but i am not going to be a victim of extorque. steering defects and faulty water pumps have forced toyota to recall 2.7 million vehicles including some prius hybrids and corollas. target employees have nearly 200,000 signatures for a petition asking not to open at 9:00 p.m. on thanksgiving night.

strike debt, an offshoot of occupy wall street, has a new way of helping struggling 99 percenters. the group of professors and comp rate dropouts has raised money to help in defaulted debt for random people. mean child only in beverly hills, a $500 kobe beefburg ger topped and stuffed with truffles. tis the season. finally, a more enduring indulgen indulgence. the 1954 oil on canvass number 1 royal red and blue brought in more than $75.1 million at soth they by's last night. an incredible mud slide caught on tape plus the woman and her idiot sign that she must wear. and the jury verdict that breaks an unofficial police code of silence. headlines are straight ahead. you're watching "early today."

other stories making news early today in america. there were no survivors on board a plane that crashed into a mississippi home. the fiery crash killed three people and injured one person who escaped before the house burst into flames. the pilot and passengers were headed to an faa safety conference before it went down. a federal jury awarded $850,000 to a female bartender who suffered a vicious beating

by an off duty chicago cop. lawyers for cairo lean in a abruska successfully argued the city's history of looking the other way on police code of silence. the videotape of the beating was key to the jury reaching their verdict. a cleveland municipal court judge is not too happy with a woman caught driving on a sidewalk to pass a loaded school bus. sheena hardin was ordered to carry a sign that read only an idiot would drive on a sidewalk to avoid a school bus, but the judge wasn't too happy when the video showed ms. hardin texting and leaning on the sign. the judge plans to personally monitor her today. finally, a water main break is forcing california residents to dig out from under a mountain of mud. the break caused a massive mud slide that buried several cars and forced some evacuations after 45,000 gallons of water came gushing down. officials say the broken pipe is over 80 years old. quite the mess. all right. in sports, we start with the

only unbeaten team in the nba. the new york knicks got 25 points from carmelo anthony, the league scoring leader in a 99-89 comeback win over orlando. the nicks five straight wins is their best since they made it into the nba finals in 1994. and a scary moment during the game as an orlando stunt team member fell when her footing slipped when she was being lifted to the man's shoulders. that looks painful. she did wave to the crowd as she was taken to the hospital and she is expected to be okay. that's the spirit. two upsets in college basketball as seth curry scored 23 points and number 9 duke knocked off number 3 kentucky, 75-68. number 21 michigan state got a big second half from keith appling. who finished with 19 points and the spartans edged number 7 kansas, 76-64.

in baseball the american league manager of the year was bob melvin who led the oakland a's to their first title. and washington national's skipper davy johnson is the national league manager of the year leading his team to the league best record. it was the second manager of the year award for both johnson and melvin. all right. just ahead. you've been waiting for it. it's "people" magazine's sexiest man alive. and how anne hathaway got that gaunt look. plus, some of hurricane sandy's young victims get an early thanksgiving day treat. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back to "early today." we've been watching these temperatures that have been continuing to be above average in many areas of the desert southwest. that's about it. much of the country has cooled off considerably. los angeles will hold onto the heat for a couple more days. as i mentioned earlier, once we get to the weekend you stay dry but you go back to the 60s. nothing else will cause too many travel concerns over the next couple of days. we are watching a few showers in the higher terrain in the northwest but temperatures today in the 50s which is typical for this time of year. we don't change too much all the way until thursday. we won't watch the next surge of moisture coming in probably until saturday with the next storm system on the west coast. pretty much coast to coast one of the better travel periods we've seen in a while. bill, thanks so much. well, the day has come for "people" magazine to unveil 2012's sexiest man alive. who's it going to be? rumors and speculation have channing tatum as a possible front-runner. of course, ryan gosling has always been a strong contender.

there could be a surprise this year. so we'll have to see. ann hathaway is starring in the new les miserables film. it's a role that caused her to lose 25 points. >> that's going to be a quarter, half of her weight, a fifth of her weight. >> exactly. look at her there. the "dark knight rises" star went on a diet with two dry squares of oatmeal paste a day. an experience she said was definitely nuts. we say crazy. now that the 2012 election is a thing of the past, steven kolber plans to take it nice and easy. >> after two years of relentless poll analysis, electoral map swiping, undecided voter dial testing and being forced to use the word cuyahoga in a sentence, we can finally take a breather. just relax with a nice soothing cup of chammomile breeze and just let it all --

>> do you think it's too early to talk about 2016? we don't think so. >> we can all relate to that. >> and listen to this bizarre story. actress janeane garofalo figures she's been married for 20 years. she and rob cohn got married at a drive through chapel. they thought papers had to be signed at a courthouse but apparently not in sin city. >> that's the best marriage, not knowing you're married. this comes to us from wnbc 4 in new york city. organizers of the macy's thanksgiving day parade gave kids affected by hurricane sandy a reason to smile. lots of them needed this. about 500 of them received the inside scoop on six new floats hitting the parade route for the very first time.

the group toured each new edition and received a crash course on how the designers developed their ideas from sketches to the gigantic floats. do you have a favorite every year? >> snoopy. easy. >> way to go. >> then of course santa at the very end. >> you and little william watch every year together, right? he lasts 30 seconds. >> he'll make me turn on anything jr. or something. >> like, son, appreciate this one day. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

the brighter the better at one celebration in india.

the festival of lights illuminated one city and wowed plenty of tourists. fire crackers are set off and streets are lit in bright colors during the five day celebration. many believe having a clean and well lit home during the holiday will bring prosperity and good blessings. tourists in local down under had their eyes fixed on the sky. a rare solar eclipse in the northeast of australia left spectators in the dark for a few moments. viewers were instructed to wear eye protection because the sun's rays are just as dangerous from behind the moon. the last full solar eclipse seen in australia was a decade ago. very cool video. well, finally, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. a whole new monster emerges. you'd never know it. it's called a harp sponge. while it may look innocent, this creature is a deep sea predator. the sponge traps small crustaceans in its branching limbs and then begins the digestion process. don't worry though as this

creature only hangs out on the deep ocean floor. just scuba divers that have to pay attention to it. they're not crustaceans. don't worry, it's new video. >> i want to find something new and name it after myself. >> a bill karins predator. i can do that for you. >> that sounds horrible. name it something else. it's time for now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. lawmakers will gather on capital hill to select the leadership for their 113th congress today. no changes are expected at the top of the senate, but there's some suspense in the house. democratic leader nancy pelosi will hold a news conference later this morning to announce whether she will stay on as minority leader. a house subcommittee will begin a hearing today to investigate the fungal meningitis outbreak linked to tainted steroid injections that

killed 32 people and sickened 438 others. england's prince charles celebrated his 64th birthday during a royal jubilee tour stop in new zealand. 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 "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. the suspense is over when it gets hot in studio 1 a when people magazine reveals its 2012 sexiest man alive. jeremy renner talks about trading in the big screen for the big stage as a first-time host for this weekend's snl. 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.