he gave a very personal and emotional address in his final public appearance talking about the reasons why he chose to step down. he said among other things that loving the church means having the courage to make difficult, painful choice, putting the good of church and not self first. he made it very clear that despite reports to the contrary he never felt alone during his papacy and he answered his critics who said that the pope should not come down off the cross, he said there are many different ways of staying on the cross and for him in retirement it will be a life of prayer and meditation. richard. >> the next pope will take over the world's largest church with 1 billion members world wide at a time of crisis with sex abuse scandal looming large in the minds of many and how church should adapt to modern

challenges. george, good morning. thanks for being here. what's your thought. what will be the biggest challenges facing the next pope? >> when the next pope, richard, steps out on that st. peter's basilica first thing he has to communicate he's a man of profound and deep christian faith, a charismatic leader who can invite others to consider the faith of the church. second thing he has to do is take a grip on the bureaucratic disaster, frankly, that is the roman church today. there needs to be serious house cleaning in the vatican bureaucracy so the church becomes an instrument of the pope's evangelical mission not an impediment to it. >> now that we had some time to think about it and let it soak

in is there concern that benedict stepping down will set a modern precedent for future pontiffs? >> well there is concern about that, richard. but i think it's important to recognize that no precedent in the sense of something that has to be followed has been set. something new has been done. this hasn't happened in a very long time. and it's going to take a while to sort out what the impacts of this are on the future of this office of the papacy. >> thank you so much for are your perspective there this morning. >> time is running out for $85 billion in across the board spending cuts. john boehner got testy pointing the finger at the senate. >> we have moved the bill in the house twice. we should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their ass and begins to do something.

>> republicans have been further angered this week by the supervised release of hundreds of undocumented imgrants awaiting deportation. a highly unusual effort to save money. so what do americans think about the sequester as a means of fixing the budget. according to a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll a 52% majority think it's a bad idea that's compared to just 21% who believe across-the-board cuts are the way to go. and one in four say they still don't know enough about the sequester to make a call. turning now to syria, the u.s. is deciding whether to provide direct aid to the syrian rebels for the first time in the nearly two year long crisis. the effort has been a major focus of secretary of state john kerry's first official trip overseas this week. and according to the associated press, u.s. officials say the white house is nearing a decision on whether to provide nonlethal assistance to carefully imbedded fighters. a decision is expected by thursday on that.

bill karins is here with your wednesday forecast. good morning to you. looking pretty good in the west. >> not too bad. while the east will struggle into march we'll think the west will see decent weather. weak system brought some showers overnight to areas of seattle southward down i-5. mostly some snow showers in the cascades. as i mentioned very weak. next system has more punch to it a little stronger. you can see the bright white clouds. that's the moisture associated with storm. the storm will hit northern portions of washington state the hardest and especially up there in british columbia where the heaviest rain will fall. we're talking anywhere south of seattle maybe a quarter inch to half an inch of rain. one or two inches up towards billing ham and northward. again, fairly significant rain event but temperatures will be plenty warm not too worried about a lot of snow. the forecast for today, today is dry but we'll see increasing clouds. best chance of rain is this

evening in the overnight hours up in seattle and coastal areas of washington state. mild temperatures and then when you get to southern california we're in a period of very tranquil beautiful weather here from l.a. to phoenix and vegas. enjoy it. right at the beginning of march we'll see temperatures getting up to the low to mid-80s in some cases especially those areas with down sloping winds. bad. sacramento very comfortable at 67. so march usually comes in like a lion out like a lamb. lamb, lamb. >> looks great in southern california. hopefully they are appreciating it. >> a rare fatal shark attack resulted in one casualty off the coast of new zealand. police opened fire into the water after a man was attacked and killed by a great white

shark. the man was in the water about 25 miles east of auckland. the body was removed from the water. last fatal shark attack in the area was in 2009. we look at these pictures. you were just talk about california. they always surprise you when you hear about these shark attacks. >> that's good. they are random enough we don't consider them every day. >> straight ahead four two police gunned down while investigating a sex assault case. chuck hagel will be sworn in this morning as our next defense secretary and we have some stocks to watch. plus why the protests at a good inquiry tire plant happening?

welcome back to "early today." here's some stories making news this morning. a bus carrying a university of maine basketball team skids off an embankment north of boston. the driver was seriously injured.

the team coach was treated for cuts on his face and more than 20 others have minor injuries. in illinois former state lawmaker robin kelly is the democratic nominee in a race to replace jesse jackson jr. kelly's campaign was helped by $2.5 million in ads about gun control from new york's mike bloomberg. pretty action committee. chuck hagel, the new defense secretary, will be sworn in at the pentagon, the former republican senator was confirmed by a vote of 58-41. after weeks of delay by senators. hundreds held a vigil in new york city last night on the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. in sanford, florida. his parents tracy martin and sybina fulton led a moment of silence and actor jamie foxx spoke about what they've gone through. >> everyone out there, all over the world, keep in your prayers this family because it's tough for them because they have to breathe in front of you and that's a tough thing to do when the camera's constantly on you.

and in california, the search has been called off for a sailboat that reportedly sank with two adults and two children on board. they found no boat or people and said the distress calls may have been a hoax. turning to stocks on tuesday, experts warn it could be a bumpy road ahead. today, keep an eye on anheuser-busch inbev. the brewery is in hot water ahead of this morning's earnings after numerous lawsuits claiming its iconic beers are watered down. the suits are based on information from several former employees. also keep an eye on apple ahead of its shareholder meeting at noon eastern. investors eager to hear if the company plans to return any cash to them anytime soon. walmart could see a bounce in a new initiative to put labels on its health store brand products. that's a move inspired by the first lady's anti-obesity campaign. the faa is shooting down reports it's close to dreamliner test flights saying reports that

jet tested next week are completely inaccurate. >> goodyear workers in france burned a pile of tires in protest a possible shutdown. last week, the ceo and potential buyer of the plant criticized the factory's high wages and three-day work week. despite the on going crisis, cuban officials say cigar sales rose $15 million to $416 in 2012. blackberry is working on features to let users send money via blackberry messenger. >> is this the beginning of the end at variety. it is dropping its daily edition for a weekly publication and also removing the payroll. and where are the best paid internships, according to glass door, interns at vmware take over $6,700. ebay, $6,500. and exxonmobi $6300. and just under $6100 at facebook. directly ahead, the law

finally deals with the infamous tan mom. the gophers are golden taking down number one indiana. and check out this kid on a snowboard. would you let your infant do this? details coming up next.

breaking news this morning. in northern california, two police officers were shot and killed while investigating a sexual assault yesterday.

a neighbor's cell phone video shows the shoot-out from just across the street. the suspect was later shot and killed by police during a pursuit. there's that video. elsewhere, in california, a car chase ended with handcuffs after two robbery suspects took off onto the streets of los angeles. one robber jumped out to make a run for it while the driver set off to sideswipe a bus before heading off on foot herself. she was then quickly taken into custody by police. new jersey's infamous tan mom has walked away from child endangerment charges. patricia krentcil was accused of letting her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth when the child showed up at school with severe sunburn. well, krentcil denies she let her child tan. police in michigan have released video from a 2009 robbery that showed a cane-ridden grandmother taking down a would-be robber. just as the thief was about to take off, the woman and employee grabbed and wrestled the bag. the suspect was arrested days later thanks to her efforts. go get them. and one oregon toddler hit the powder before she could walk.

parents to 1-year-old eden put her on a snowboard when she was just 6 weeks old. they say the toddler gets excited with even the mention of snow. >> gophers prove to be golden the number one team in nation indiana faced unranked minnesota and the golden gophers used razzle-dazzle passing to knock off the hoosiers, 77-73. it was the seventh time the top-ranked team lost this season. and minnesota fans rushed the court to celebrate. >> mississippi state quarterback finished with the best 70-yard performance. and it looked like there was a brothers only section at the combine as jets coach rex ryan and his brother rob sat next to each other. and super bowl coaches jim and john harbaugh also watched the trials together. former nba star dennis rodman is in north korea to put on a basketball skills camp with the harlem globetrotters. north korea's leader kim jong-un is said to be a basketball fan.

a peewee hockey coach in vancouver, canada, was caught on video tripping two players during a post-game handshake. the coach has been sentenced to 15 days in jail for assault. at an lpga golf tournament in thailand, a 17-year-old hit a hole in one in her first professional tornado. the tee shot by ariya jutanugarn landed softly on the green, slowly in the cup. she didn't realize what happened. quite a start to her career. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. just ahead, audrey hepburn returns to a tv near you. and an australian billionaire wants to build a "titanic 2" a state of the art ship. based on the original next.

welcome back. let me take you through our end of february forecast. as we go throughout the next two days look at a quiet weather day today. clouds on the increase. most of your day should be dry. temperatures not bad for this time of year, 50s in the northwest getting into the 60s in northern california, southern cal few spots having a chance of getting into up the 70s low 80s. thursday continue with the nice weather from california southward, storm in the northwest that warm front comes through, a significant chunk of rain especially further north

you are, seattle, billingham especially getting rain. >> march real close. >> hats off to you. some bad news for seth macfarlane fans out there when the recent host was asked on twitter if he'd ever do the show again, he responded no way. glad to have done it, though. might be calling tina and amy, just saying. bobby brown is headed to prison for 55 days after pleading no contest to driving under the influence and on a suspended license. the singer reports to jail on march 20th. michelle williams and jason segel have reportedly ended their relationship. the two have dated since march 2012. and couldn't handle the long distance romance any more. the "jersey shore's" snooki has sold her custom cadillac on ebay for $77,000. that's a lot of blink on it. that's a whopping $37,000 more than she paid for it.

84 people bid on the car but only one was the winner. audrey hepburn is in a new commercial. you heard correctly. the dearly departed actress is in a new ad for a british chocolate company. the ad has the full support of the hepburn estate with her son saying she'd be proud of her new role. classic. and if you're suffering from from kim and kanye withdrawal, as i know bill does, don't fret. back on the cover of a fashion magazine. kim looking happy to be there, i'd say. >> i don't know. they get more attention. >> maybe she wasn't prepared for that snapshot. i'm sure they were prepared. >> i'm richard lui this is "early today" just your first stop today on your nbc station.

experts at the cincinnati zoo are working tirelessly to make their newest arrival feel at home. the baby gorilla born at a texas zoo was rejected by her mother. and sent to ohio for surrogates to take over. before the baby can live with her new family, zookeepers will get her acclimated by emulating natural gorilla behavior. that might be a job good for you and me. in oklahoma, an owl has found a home in an unlikely place. the window box of the click family acts as a nursery of sorts at least until the mother owl protects her new owlets. you never know what can happen. the family discovered the owls when two little eyes appeared on

the window sill. it appears the owl is here to stay at least while the owlets are young. an australian billionaire offers his first plans for an unusual cruise ship. it may look like a movie scene but these are mock-ups for the upcoming rebuilt of the now famous "titanic." dubbed the "titanic 2" this remake will look like both the inside and out planning to take the original ocean course from england to new york. across the northern atlantic. if you're a billionaire you have to spend the money somehow. >> maybe comes with a few extra rescue boats and life preservers. >> avoid the icebergs along the way. >> the bill holds a hearing on a specific bill. the father of a child killed in the shooting rampage in newtown, connecticut will be among those testifying today. the late civil rights heroine rosa parks will live on at the u.s. capitol.

a statue of parks was delivered last week. will be unveiled as part of the national statutory hall. president obama will speak at the dedication ceremony. happy birthday the former first daughter and fellow nbc newser chelsea clinton turns 33 today. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories and the best political analysis 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. it's a real life treasure hunt, hear about a man who buries a chest filled with gold in the mountains but not before living some clues behind. and donald and ivanka trump live in studio this morning to talk about return of ""celebrity apprentice" all-stars." now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thanks for watching "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

deep sadness that i stand before you this evening to talk about the death of my two officers. >> a tragedy in santa cruz. a community in mourning as they remember two officers killed in the line of duty. >> and the shootout is caught on tape. we talk to the man who shot this video about what he saw and heard. >> new details this morning about the search for the man accused of killing an oakland

rapper. why he may not be in the country anymore. >> we take a live look outside. look at lights dancing on the bay bridge. a live way to get your day started. february 27, this is "today in the bay." >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> it is 4:31 is. good morning to one and all. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm marla te will recollelle >> good morning to you. wednesday, wednesday. want to help you get over the hump to get closer to the weekend. we have a great-looking weekend shaping up. keep the spring wardrobe going. temperatures climbing from the 30es and 40s into the 70s. we are still tracking a storm system slated to bring rain. we'll talk about it coming up.