fell yo tell you, there are some divisions among the cardinals, so we may not see that today. >> the average over the last nine conclaves is a little over, what, three days. should we expect the same this time around? >> reporter: well, richard, as you said, the average is three days. the longest conclave has been five days in the last century. do we expect it to be longer this time? maybe. we are being told that there are divisions among the cardinals. and this time around there is no front runner which may just mean that the conclave may be a bit longer than expected. but the cardinals, beware, are very aware of the fact that a long conclave sends out a signal of division among them. and it's a consequence of division in the whole of the catholic church. so they'll have to try at least to get a pope elected by friday. >> what's the thinking on this? because now it's two-thirds of the cardinals plus one to

determine a new pope. before it was just 50% plus one. how might that make the process a little bit more difficult this time around? >> reporter: well, it will make it much more difficult this time around, especially considering there is no front-runner out there that is capable of getting those famous 77 votes which is two-thirds plus one over the 115 cardinal electors, of course. let's just look back at 2005, richard. when joseph ratzinger was the favorite back then. he got 47 votes on the first ballot of the first day. then the second day on the second ballot, he got about 60 votes, which wasn't good enough for an overall majority even then. but then on the fourth ballot on the second day, well, he got the job with a vast majority. so how is that going to affect the conclave this time? well, certainly it will prolong a conclave that was already

expected to belong in the first place, richard. >> we'll enjoy the process and claudio is there to report as this process goes forward. thanks, as always. president obama says authorities are looking into whether private financial information belonging to the first lady was hacked and then later published. it comes as the president prepares to meet with business leaders on cybersecurity. about 100 celebrities and politicians had their personal information posted online on tuesday. all were apparent victims of what's called a docsing attack, posting information on the internet. mr. obama did not say whether the recently posted information is authentic but did confirm an investigation. >> we should not be surprised that if you've got hackers who want to dig in and devote a lot of resources, that they can access people's private information. >> well, the president goes to the hill to visit house

republicans today. that's a day after they're releasing their plan. senate democrats unveil their first budget in four years. nbc's danielle leigh joins us from washington with details on that. danielle, good morning to you. does a compromise look like a long shot right now? >> reporter: richard, good morning. the good news, there's hope. the lines of communication are open this time, but there is this reality, those sticking points on any budget have not changed for republicans or democrats. and as you mentioned, president obama headed back to the capitol today. this time to meet with a tougher audience after meeting with senate democrats yesterday. now house republicans, members of his own party are expressing doubt about how effective he will be at this. also senate democrats releasing their own budget for the first time in about four years, calling for a trillion dollars in new revenues by closing loopholes, but no significant changes to medicare. democrats have rejected the republican plan released yesterday that would have cut the deficit by nearly $5 trillion by repealing president

obama's health care law and making changes to those under 54. the one budget we have now to see from the president. the white house says it won't be ready until april 8th, about two months late, richard. >> danielle leigh watching those budget proposals. we'll see what happens. thank you so much. turning now to a bizarre and gruesome story. new york's so-called cannibal on cop is facing life in prison after his conviction for conspiracy to kidnap, cook and eat women. the jury decided that gilberto valle was not just fantasizing when he talked online about abducteding and eating women. prosecutors said that valle looked up recipes for chloroform and identified actual women to target, proving the plot was real. his lawyer said that valle was being prosecuted for his thoughts, not actions. he'll be sentenced in june. nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer joins us now. halfway through the week. looking forward to the weekend. >> halfway almost through march, too. >> spring. >> i know, spring starts next

week. a lot of parts of the country not feeling all that springlike. where the warm air is, especially down in the desert southwest where highs will reach 80s and 90s. total opposite up around the northeast where we do have the rain showers coming to an end. we will see temps in the 50s but 40s by tomorrow and lasting through the weekend and snow showers. light snow showers back through the great lakes. we do have this stream of moisture coming in off the pacific. and that is bringing heavier rain through the seattle area. most of northwestern washington state seeing pockets of heavier rain where we could end up with about two to three, perhaps even up to five inches of rain in extreme northwestern washington state. elsewhere across spokane, less than an inch. and portland down into eugene, about an inch or so. warm air today, vegas, 83. even l.a. topping out around 83. it will be in the 50s today in seattle. that's a look at the weather

so we are going to see the nice warm temperatures stick around in the southwest for quite some time, but the rain will also last for quite some time in the pacific northwest. >> hot, hot, hot, those three words. >> i'd take it. mississippi is taking steps to be the anti-mike bloomberg state. and if you've taken the azithromax z-pack lately, stick around.

stories making news this morning for you. multistate manhunt for a man suspected of killing his grandparents is over. michael boyson was arrested in lincoln city, oregon, after an eight-hour standoff. police say the 26-year-old

murdered his grandparents shortly after they threw him a party when he was released from prison last week. signs kentucky senator mitch mcconnell is apparently concerned about a political battle with ashley judd. the minority leader is spending six figures on a new tv ad targeting the actress even before she's entered the race. and 18 months before voters go to the polls. attention, doctors and patients of the popular antibiotic known as zithromax or the z-pack. the fda says the drug can cause rare but deadly heart rhythms in some patients. the man accused of killing 12 and injuring 70 in colorado will stand trial later this summer. a bearded james holmes was back in court tuesday. the archdiocese of l. archgts hasl.a. has agreed to pay $10 million. records show that in 1986, baker confessed to cardinal roger

mahoney that he was molesting boys. mahoney sent him for treatment and put him back in ministry where baker molested again. and the mississippi legislature has passed what is being called the anti-bloomberg bill. it bans cities and towns from implementing rules requiring limits to food portion size. it also prevents restaurants from posting calorie counts. take you to sports now. an exciting finish to the iditarod. 53-year-old mitch sevee and his dogs were cheered. he's a former champ and is now the oldest winner of the 1,000-mile race. miami got a nifty fourth quarter fastbreak as dwyane wade makes a pass and gets it back from the dunk against atlanta. the heat's victory extended their win streak to 19 games. now college football. women's college football. with the score tied number two notre dame steals a pass from number three uconn in the closing seconds. then a pass under the basket for a winning layup and the irish

win, 6 #1-59. in the nhl, a scary moment as jason zucker of minnesota was blindsided by corey perry of anaheim. zucker was sprawled on the ice for about five minutes before being helped off by trainers. perry was ejected and the ducks beat the wild, 2-1. in the world baseball classic, david wright of the mets had five runs batted in for team usa in a 7-1 win over puerto rico. the americans play again thursday against the dominican republic. and talk about a golf course hazard. a giant sinkhole is roped off after swallowing a golfer in waterloo, illinois, dropping him 18 feet below the fairway. he was rescued, suffered a dislocated shoulder and has no plans to play that course any time soon.

while the cardinals vote for a new pope, is it time for the catholic church, that it took another look at women in more prominent roles? plus a modern-day, good old-fashioned counterfeit cash story.

and to business this morning, a big step in the right direction for boeing. the faa approving boeing's plan to redesign the 787 dreamliner's

fire-prone batteries, putting the plane maker one step closer to getting its 787 back in the air. the fleet was grounded in january. hostess has agreed to sell its twinkies, ho-hos to apollo global management for $410 million. the buyers hope to have the snacks back on shelves by summer. whew! speaking of sweets, is big sugar about to get a bailout? "the wall street journal" reports the department of agriculture is considering buying 400,000 tons of sugar to stave off a wave of defaults by processors that borrowed $862 million under a government price support program. h&r block saying about 600,000 tax refunds will be delayed due to a form change the company learned about after filing hundreds of thousands of returns. and do you remember this video of a 62-year-old woman -- man, rather, shooing a shark away from australia beachgoers back in january?

well, it turns out he and his wife were on sick leave for stress. the couple worked at the same charity in wales, and their bosses saw the viral video, and they're both now -- they've both been fired. now to other stories that caught our eye. in sarasota while catholics are waiting for smoke, one church decided to release their own pink plumes. priests and other churchgoers watched pink smoke rise to symbolize their hopes that the newly elective pope will be supportive of gender equality within the church. one washington state mother will not be sporting mom of the year gear any time soon. the 24-year-old was filmed letting her 22-month-old son smoke from a bong. the boy's father was later arrested as officials found as many as 40 marijuana plants and several guns within that home. detectives in the tampa bay area uncovered an intricate counterfeit money ring raking in tens of thousands in profits. $1 bills were bleached for days until blank and then $100

denominations were printed using computer software. police have recovered $100,000, and they're counting. shark researchers in florida are keeping an eye on their latest find, and you can, too. on march 3rd scientists caught and tagged a great white shark named lydia. lydia is the first great white ever to be tagged south of massachusetts. and you can follow her journey at osearch.com. in louisiana, a massive fire broke out when a tugboat and a barge collided with a gas pipeline in a bayou south of new orleans. four people are injured. one severely. the accident ignited a blaze that burned for hours into the night sky. the barge was carrying oil, but the coast guard says it's unclear if any oil spilled into the water. we'll be right back.

good morning and welcome back. we're starting off in the 40s on the west coast. 50s up in seattle where it's very cloudy and we will see a lot of rain showers out that way today and again tomorrow. warm air hiding out in the southwest. 80 in l.a. 87 in vegas. 92 degrees in phoenix. and that warm air lasts into tomorrow as well. that's where the warm air is. >> next time you'll have to have beach shots with 80s like that just so we can live through those pictures. >> that would be nice. >> yeah. you like your jewelry? >> i do, yes. >> so does lady gaga. she's recovering from surgery. and she's doing it with style, shall we say. the singer had a 24-carat wheelchair made for her after

hip surgery. larry flynt beat her to the bunch. gaga's came equipped with a reclining back and is appropriately called the chariot. that is definitely a gaga sort of thing. actor edward norton and his fiancee have a baby due any day now. thanks to the success of "oz the great and powerful," disney is in the early stages of "the beast." it's said to have a bit of a dark side and will most likely be 3-d. on monday perez hilton claiming jennifer aniston and fiance justin theroux were secretly getting married in hawaii. now a rep for aniston is saying that story is, quote, all made up, and there are no plans for a wedding in hawaii. though i think that would have been fun if it did happen. the reason for that may have to do with the possibility of a running -- of running into a naked steven tyler. yes, now that hawaii has passed the steven tyler act for celebrity privacy, the aerosmith

front man says, quote, now at least i can go to maui and walk around naked on the back lawn. thank goodness for that. we don't want to see that. this comes from kfor in oklahoma city where a surprise proposal turns the tables. a flash mob was organized to help her propose. after she popped the question, however, he turned around and walked towards his bag only to pull out a ring of his own. the happily reunited couple -- reunited couple, rather, they plan to wed next month. this time without backup dancers. aww, shucks. i'm richard lui, and this is your "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

on the cover of "the wall street journal" this morning, ryan sees caps on defense spending. a budget proposal that could provide a point of compromise with democrats. and on nbc news.com, egypt branded more dangerous for tourists than yemen which explains how tourists in the once popular destination are spooked by that country's ongoing political unrest. a baby elephant is making his grand debut at a japanese zoo. born in january, this baby boy is the first asian elephant born at the zoo. his proud parents were a gift from sri lanka, part of an ongoing effort to bolster asian elephant populations in japan. the baby will not be named until may, but zoo officials are taking suggestions. love is in the air for pandas in tokyo. it's mating season. zoo officials gave them privacy allowing the couple some alone time in a shared enclosure.

giant pandas have a difficult time breeding in an extremely short time frame. zoo officials have their fingers crossed with high hopes for a healthy baby cub. these days who can afford to spend hours at the gym? a new workout program touches or rather torches fat by exercising in a hot clear pod. participants enter a nearly 100-degree case and strap their feet to weighted cords before beginning a basic circuit routine. for the cooldown, you can choose either tummy-toning straps or a detoxifying cellulite-reducing oxygen pod. don't have to do much. sounds pretty cool, high? >> that's just too high tech for me. it's hard enough to get me to go outside for a run. >> time efficiency, though. time efficiency. >> i guess so. time now for a look at what's happening in the day ahead for you. the senate armed services committee holds its first hearing on sexual assault in the military in a decade. this on the heels of a case that raised the ire of committee he

member senator claire mccaskill in which a sexual assault conviction was handed down and later overturned by the signature of signature. chuck hagel called for a review of the process allowing commanders to dismiss decisions by military courts. a trial begins in steubenville, ohio, for two high school football players accused of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl during a night of partying last summer. and happy birthday to actress dana delaney. she turns 57 today. here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. in a "today" exclusive, the woman at the center of that military assault case we mentioned speaks out about her alleged attacker going free. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm richard lui along with dylan dreyer. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the today today on your nbc station. have a good wednesday.

developing news right now out of rome. no pope today so far as we give you a live look at the sistine chapel where, within the hour, black smoke was seen coming out of that chimney. the wait continues. good morning, it is 4:30. i'm jon kelley. >> and i'mlarra garcia-cannon. black smoke poured out of the chimney at the sistine chapel, indicating there is no consensus of who the next pope will be. it also is the end of the morning session. >> they will be returning to the sistine chapel 8:00 this morning, local time, and will hold one more vote before retiring for the day. if that smoke is white, when they emerge, the bell at st.

peter's basilica will ring. within the hour, the new pope will step out on to the balcony. >> the minute that happens we'll break in with a special report. "today in the bay" will track everything that is happening in vatican city all morning long. we will take you live to the vatican next hour. stay update online at nbcbayarea.com. as we remain in that holding pattern, let's get a check of the forecast. christina loren is here to tell us what's happening outside. good morning. >> good morning. well, we hit the 80s yesterday. we will see more on the way as we head into this afternoon. break out your spring, even summer wardrobe today as temperatures will climb from the 50s to 40s into the upper 70s and 80s. san francisco hitting the 70s today. big-time changes just around the corner, though. beware the ides of march. that's all i'll say for now. good morning, mike. we're trying to see just around the corner over here. golden gate bridge, fog advisory