process. they will have some lunch at some point. and then they will begin the procession to the conclave. it's going to be led by u.s. cardinal james michael harvey because is he, if you like, the most junior among the cardinals. and interestingly, it goes in that order, the most junior and the most senior at the end of the procession. once they gather, they will swear an oath of secrecy. then everybody who isn't needed will have to leave. and the conclave process at the sistine chapel will begin with one vote tonight. now, nbc's vatican analyst george weigel is saying that the field is very open. he is talking about 20 possible people among the cardinals who could become pope. >> no clear front-runner. live in rome watching what is an exciting process. five more americans were killed monday in afghanistan when their helicopter went down

in southern afghanistan outside kandahar city. the nighttime accident brings yesterday's death toll to seven. making it the deadliest day of the year for u.s. forces. nato saying initial reports show no enemy activity in the area at the time. and the cause of the crash is under investigation. in a separate incident, two special ops forces were gunned down hours earlier in an insider attack. u.s. officials slapped new sanctions on north korea. this while north korean troops publicly prepare for war. in response to the start of annual military drills by the u.s. and south korea on monday, pyongyang cut off a red cross hotline with the south and scrapped the 1953 agreement ending the korean war. state-run media also released this video of north korean soldiers and civilians holding rallies across the reclusive nation. troops were seen performing military exercises and chanting against the united states. leader kim jong-un is urging his military to be on high alert and

threatening the u.s. with a nuclear attack. the u.s. officials say any warhead being built by the north is nowhere near completion. senate democrats unveiled legislation to prevent the government shutdown this month, but the measure stopped short of the sequester's automatic spending cuts. the catch-all bill will fund day-to-day operations of government through september 30th. current funding that runs out on march 27th. the bill from maryland senator barbara mcculskey expands on house legislation. later this morning budget committee chairman paul ryan is expected to release his budget proposal. the man accused in the deadly aurora, colorado, nethear massacre is expected to enter a plea today. court documents confirm 25-year-old james holmes has asked to enter an insanity plea to 166 felony counts of murder. but that plea comes with conditions. late last night, a judge ruled holmes would have to be drugged

for a state psychiatric exam. 12 people were killed and 70 others injured in that kl kcolo movie theater shooting. oscar pistorius denies that he is suicidal as he awaits trial on charges of killing his girlfriend. pistorius is out on bail, and his uncle said in a statement that the disabled athlete known as blade runner is not suicidal. published reports said that pistorius was thinking about taking his life and is facing financial disaster. he is charged with the valentine's day murder of his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, which prosecutors say was intentional. pistorius says he thought she was an intruder. los angeles authorities are looking into how social security numbers and private financial information of some hollywood celebrities and top government officials ended up on an obscure website. among the stars here that were hacked, jay-z, beyonce, kim kardashian, britney spears and ashton kutcher. the site did not list how the information was obtained or why

the victims were targeted. the website also lists sensitive information about former secretary of state hillary clinton and vice president joe biden. the fbi says it is investigating how the social security numbers and credit report of robert mueller ended up on that site as well. let's get our latest weather check. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with us. tuesday. >> it is tuesday. >> i'm hoping stuff looks pretty good. >> southern cal still perfect. the northwest, significant rain event, especially for mountainous areas. minor flooding concerns. there are flood watches issued mostly for northern and northwestern sections of washington state. and this is just what we call it, just a river of warm, moist air coming all the way up from almost near hawaii and coming straight up. sometimes they call it almost like a pineapple express, although it's not really a classic case of that. all this moisture has a stream in through southern british columbia and northern washington state. that's where the jet stream is oriented. there's an upper-level low

spinning off to the west. high pressure from california funnels that little flow of moisture right up through the high terrain over the cascades and the olympics. that's where we'll see the highest totals. you can already see the rain increasing. we've had some rain bellingham and northern portions of the cascades. not much around saelgtsz or olympia, but that will increase during the day. computers are estimating the higher terrain, the possibility of up to six to seven inches at most. again, lower elevations not getting that, but you get the general idea. the from ukiah to fresno. enjoy a great afternoon. i'll let you know how long the rain's going to continue when i come back. bloomberg's bev ran ban block. the congressional black caucus

isn't happy with president obama. and why gm and uncle sam are parting ways in a way. and why those likes on facebook could be revealing your deepest, darkest secrets.

welcome back. stories making news this morning, a judge has taken the fizz out of new york city's plan to ban large sodas and other sugary drinks. overturning that law. the measure was supposed to take effect today and would restrict drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants. sports stadiums and movie theater, but a judge said its many loopholes a problem. mayor bloomberg said the city will appeal that ruling. >> with so many people contracting diabetes and heart disease, with so many children who are overweight and obese, with so many poor neighborhoods suffering the worst of this epidemic, we believe it is reasonable and responsible to

draw a line. a group of bipartisan senators wants the pentagon to take another look at the new distinguished warfare medal. it honors remote pilots of predator drones who never see battle. currently the medal is ranked higher than combat awards like the purple heart and bronze star. members of congressional black caucus are lashing out at president obama and what they call his lack of diversity among cabinet members. the group's chair, congresswoman marcia fudge, points out since mr. obama's first term, the cabinet has lost 2 of 4 afric african-americans and both cabinet members. five spots remain open. the white house saying president obama is deeply committed to diversity. a manhunt under way in washington state for a suspect who's accused of a double murder just after being released from prison. police say michael chad boyson killed his grandparents shortly after they threw him a welcome-home party. also in washington, all three crew members aboard a military plane died when their

jet crashed monday morning. the ea-6b prowler was engaged in a low-level navigation training missions. in one of the largest studies of its kind, new research suggesting aspirin may reduce a woman's chances of developing the most dangerous type of skin cancer. the stanford university study followed 60,000 caucasian women over 12 years and found those who took aspirin reduced their risk for malignant melanoma by 20%. aspirin use has also been shown to lower the risk for colon cancer and heart disease. "early today health" is brought to you by vagisil ph balance wash. there's a lot of buzz around apple today. rumors swirling monday news of a special dividend or stock buyback may come in the next few days. the speculation was enough to help apple close above a key level. elsewhere, zynga at its highest price since july.

at&t confirming rumors monday that it will begin selling the new blackberry z-10 march 22nd for $199. presales begin today. the u.s. government is getting out of the auto business and fast. monthly documents reveal the u.s. treasury sold off nearly $500 million in general motors stock last month, that's more than three times the amount of gm stock it sold in january. and a revealing new study finds that your facebook likes and posts can lead to mostly accurate conclusions about you. including some you may not want to broadcast. such as smoking behavior, drug use or sexuality. a new survey finds 47% of americans expecting to get a tax refund plan to sock the lump sum away. 44% will pay down debt. while just 15% are planning to splurge. u.s. news is out with the worst places to retire. thanks to the high cost of living and taxes, these cities are among the top ten.

bridgepo bridgeport, connecticut, honolulu, l.a., new york city and washington, d.c. one new jersey company has solved the problem of sleepy employees by turning a storage closet into a nap room. workers can kick back in a comfy recliner up to twice a week. boy, that looks comfortable. finally, speaking of feeling tired, a new index calculateds the number of heart attacks, workplace injuries and time spent cyber loafing as a result of daylight savings time. and finds that not only costs all of us an hour of shut-eye, but it may also cost the economy as much as $434 million. coming up, an illinois little league team raffles off a deadly ar-15 rifle similar to the one used in the newtown, connecticut, shootings. plus the first solar-powered plane that can also fly at night without fuel. you're watching "early today."

now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. in iowa, an unconscious teen was pulled out of a flaming car. the 18-year-old was doing doughnuts in the snowy parking lot when he crashed. he was brought to the hospital in serious condition, and police say he'll be charged with reckless driving once released. an illinois little league team is raising money by raffling off an ar-15. organizers say the weapon has already generated plenty of buzz

for the fund-raiser. the winner will be decided in june and still has to pass a background check to claim the prize. in california, a fuel-free plane known as the solar impulse is in the works to change history. a massive wingspan covered in solar panels collects and stores energy so the plane can be flown day and even at night. also in california, a widower got a disturbing surprise when he realized the woman in the casket was not his wife. the funeral home told him his wife simply looked different because of the embalming process, and it wasn't until another family came forward claiming a body switch that they recognized their mistake. preparations are under way in pacific grove's seal pup season begins. signs are going up warning visitors not to disturb the elephant seals, harbor seals and sea lions. the expectant mothers ready themselves for the births of their pups expected to take place in april and may.

top ranked gonzaga strengthened its case with a rout of unranked st. mary's to win the west coast conference final, 65-51. this will be the 15th straight year the zags go to the big dance. in women's college basketball, number one baylor got 31 points from britney griner to capture the big 12 conference championship. the defending national champions overwhelmed iowa state, 75-47 there. nfl quarterback michael vick's book tour for his autobiography titled "finally free" has been canceled. apparently threats of violence have been reported to police against the convicted dogfighter, prompting his publisher to scrap that tour. and a celebratory of the head coach went terribly wrong after a nebraska community college women's basketball team attempted to splash their coach with a cooler of ice-cold gatorade. the sports drink quickly spread across the gym floor you see there. making things slippery for the coach. and a fan trying to come to his aid as well. no one was hurt, yet one more reason gatorade drenchings are

best conducted outdoors. just ahead, justin timberlake lifts "snl" to new heights. plus alec baldwin and kim basinger's daughter, island, is striking out on her own. details next.

welcome back. we're watching the rain increasing in washington state, mostly going to be in the olympics and also through the cascades. you can see the green on the map really starting to enhance. that's the rain moving in. umbrella weather definitely.

even the valleys like seattle, but we're not going to get the high totals like you will in the mountains. the cutoff will be somewhere near about portland. south of there, it's just a gorgeous day. san francisco, about 69 today. and tomorrow we'll do it again. we're kind of stuck. what you see is what you get in the west. >> yeah, 57 in seattle, not bad. colder, right? >> it's at least warm. you can probably look forward to justin timberlake hosting "snl" a few more times. this weekend marked his fifth time hosting and it gave "snl" a huge surge in ratings. saturday's telecast was 20% bigger than any other episode this season and the slew of guest stars definitely helped. it was a jam-packed show. ireland baldwin, daughter of alec baldwin and kim basinger announced she's starting a career in modeling after inking a deal with two major agencies. some say you haven't made it until you're immortalized in wax at madame tussaud's. that's just what's happening to british boy band one direction. on monday the pop group was

measured for their wax doppelgangers. though there's no word on if harry styles' brand-new and totally sensible butterfly tattoo will be included on his. that is if his doppelganger is shirtless. mike myers make the character of "shrek" a worldwide hit, but can you imagine someone else playing the part? perhaps nicolas cage? according to cage, it almost happened. he says he turned down the title role because he, quote, didn't want to look like an ogre. i'm richard lui, and this is "early today," just your first stop of today on your nbc station.

leading the news this morning for you in "the new york times," late new york city mayor ed koch famous for saying "how i am doing" left $100,000 to his longtime secretary in his will. and "the los angeles times" is focusing on the dysfunctional management of the vatican ahead of the new pope. the san diego zoo is welcoming their newest arrival. the california condor is only 15 days old and the first of the chicks born this year. zoo employees use a puppet to interact with the baby bird preventing the birds relying on humans in captivity and ensuring a more successful release. in japan, one fashion show will make your mouth water. nine bakeries in japan accepting the challenge of creating edible, wearable haute couture for the tokyo sweet collection fashion show.

sweet makers say creating the fashion was hard because they relied on visual appeal instead of taste. sadly, these will not help you satisfy your sweet tooth. the designs are not for sale. you can just imagine, i guess. if you've ever used the london tube system, you're probably familiar with the announcement "mind the gap." well, for years at the embankment station, it was voiced by the late oswald lawrence. and his widow would visit the station just to hear his voice. when the recorded message changed, margaret was heartbroken. moved by her story, tube officials gave margaret a cd version, and they plan to restore the original. >> yeah. why all these changes? >> love that story. why would they need to change it? maybe some of the words in the announcement? i don't know. >> i wonder if she got royalties. time now for a look ahead for you on the "today" show. president obama will welcome the sultan of brunei to the white house. yesterday john kerry welcomed his majesty to the state department. today the president will discuss preparations for a summit of air

ya-pacific countries that will be held in brunei in october. cyclists who set out on a ride to newtown, connecticut, will arrive on the capitol steps. it will be joined by bikers, hundreds of supporters and congress members aiming to draw changes. and it's a celebrity sexogenarian trifecta. james taylor, mitt romney and liza minnelli in their 60s today. in an nbc news exclusive, here newly released audio of wikileaks suspect bradley manning speaking in military court and more of savannah's one-on-one interview of actress valerie harper. keep it here for more news, sports and more. i'm richard lui. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a great one.

a toddler tied up for not napping. this morning, we have learned parents at a bay area preschool who demanded answers will now get them. the historic vote of a brand new pope is about to begin. we will take you to rome as cardinals prepare to elect a new leader. >> one bay area city gets ready for a taste of tinseltown, the movie that could put the brakes on traffic in one city. how about if we give you a little san francisco treat or how about san francisco itself. a live look with clouds hanging over the city on this tuesday, march 12th. this is t"today in the bay." good morning.

just about 4:31. happy to have you with us. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia cannon. lots to get to. let's check the forecast with meteorologist, christina loren. happy tuesday. we have more beautiful weather. that weather is going to hold up throughout the rest of the week. temps are chilly, 30s, 40s, headed towards widespread 70s. a couple 80s on the map as well. we're not even done. we have warmer days ahead. check out that drive. everything is doing great as far as ireports. we are looking over here. the 17/880 interchange, there your crews still at the interchange. the connector ramps are open. we'll move over towards the west. that