on a high state of alert. japan has deployed anti-missile batteries around tokyo and will shoot down any missile or debris heading for japan even if it's by accident. so times are tense for u.s. allies in the region, even if in pyongyang or here in seoul, people are going about their business with no sign at all of anxiety. back to you, dara. >> jim maceda reporting from seoul. a deal on gun reform has been reached in the senate.nnou morning at 11:00. democrat joe manchin and republican pat toomey are expected announce a bipartisan deal for background checks. if reached, it could be the biggest step to u.s. gone law in 20 years. majority leader harry reid has scheduled an initial vote for thursday. >> there are strong feelings and deep disagreements about some of these measures. every one of these measures

deserves a vote, a yes or a no. no hiding. no running from an issue that has captivated america. >> as many as 14 republican senators including mirpt minority leader mitch mcconnell vowed to filibuster the legislation. however a mounting number of senators within the gop now appear willing to break with their leadership and allow debate to move forward. a lone star college student was arrested yesterday after his stabbing rampage left 14 people injured. dylan quick told police he had been planning the attack for some time and fantasized about stabbing people for years. one student said he saw police chasing quick and joined in snapping this photo of quick when he was restrained on the ground. officials say quick used a razorlike knife to attack victims. some were stabbed in the neck and face. he's charged with three counts of aggravated assault and is due in court on thursday. the national mall is center stage when thousands gather in support for immigration reform including direct path to citizenship. for some 11 million undocumented

immigrants living in this country. nbc's tracie potts is on the mall. tomorrow also could be a key day on this issue. >> reporter: right, dara, because tomorrow we could see legislation for the first time. this gang of eight, four republicans and four democrats who have been working for months now to come up with some sort of immigration compromise could get that legislation out as early as tomorrow. though we hear likely it will be next week. and then, of course, we'll have weeks of hearings and discussion after that. but today here on the national mall, we are expecting thousands, if not tens of thousands of people who want to see immigration reform happen. these are pro-immigration reform groups. many of them have come from all over the country. some 400 busloads, we're told, plus people who want to try to influence congress, not just to get it done but to get it done quickly. they've been waiting. the group of eight missed their deadline last month. quite frankly, this was something that was promised in the first administration. they're hoping it will happen

this time around. dara? >> thank you, tracie. well, the white house did a little soul searching last night. the first family celebrated in style with a concert commemorating memphis soul music. musicians eddie floyd, mavis staples and justin timberlake who was born in memphis were some of the gsts performing. president obama said soul music originally helped to bridge divides of desegregation and created harmony with harmony. it's part of a series of a performance at the white house and will be broadcast next week. a big storm that dumped snow across the rockies is expected to bring more severe weather. on tuesday heavy snow in south dakota led to a shutdown of i-80 due to low visibility and icy roads. in colorado, 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts tore the facade off a motorcycle dealership. and in chicago, hours of dense fog causedness dozens of flights to be either canceled or delayed. nbc's bill karins is here. bill, this is crazy weather. >> as advertised. when this storm went through the

west, a bunch of people were telling me i hope the people in the midwest are ready. they knew that was going to hit the midwest hard. and temperatures are insanely crazy. right now it is 71 in st. louis. it is eight degrees in denver. i mean, that's an incredible temperature difference just for a short period across the middle of our country. and areas like dallas and abilene, temperatures have plunged. it was 93 yesterday in abilene, texas. this morning they're down to about 20. here's a look at the storm itself. it's moving out of the rockies into the middle of the country. so it's left all of the west alone. as that storm moves away, we do have another cold front pressing in on washington state. it looks like we're just now starting to pick up rain over vancouver island. expect a brief period of rain throughout your morning. seattle to bellingham all along i-5 to portland a little later this morning. again, it's only going to last for a couple hours, but there will be a moderate burst where we could get up to a half inch of rain. more towards bellingham. the front will cross the

cascades. behind it, it will be windy and breezy. that's what's going to happen in the northwest. none of that rainfall heads for california where we're starting to warm up a little bit. should be a beautiful, sunny day. umbrellas in the northwest and sunglasses down in the west. that's a look at your national d of rain this morning. and then the days ahead, just a couple chances of showers. so again, the big story in the middle of the country obviously with the crazy extremes, but in the northwest, a little bit of rain for the flowers. >> i'm not putting my winter coat away yet. >> not yet. >> not just yet. >> i already did. >> thank you, bill. >> i refuse. is texting while flying the blame for a crash? mel nova survivors. and a billion-dollar gift of art some of you may have helped to

bankroll. details when "early today" returns.

welcome back to "early today." here's some stories making news. the fbi wants to know if senate minority leader mitch mcconnell's office was bugged. senator mcconnell is alleging watergate tactics after a secret recording was leaked from his louisville office. on that tape aides can be heard discussing political attacks in preparation for a run against actress ashley judd. president obama unveils his 2014 budget this morning. it's expected to extend an olive branch to republicans by proposing to cut social security payments to help reduce the deficit. but it also raises taxes, which does not sit well with the gop. a florida couple who fled to cuba after allegedly kidnapping their own children are back in the u.s. joshua hakken and his wife, sharon, have been booked into jail on kidnapping charges. their two young boys are being sent to stay with their grandparents. for the first time texting while flying has been cited as the cause of a deadly air crash. experts say

the pilot of a medical emergency chopper in missouri back in 2011 was too distracted to realize the aircraft was low on fuel. the daughter of a school principal killed at sandy hook elementary is taking to twitter after several senators refused to take her calls on gun reform. erica lafferty tweeted 14 republicans threatened to filibuster the bill. with connecticut governor dan malloy lending his voice. senator ted cruz is the only one who called her back. a man in china is being called a hero after saving a little girl from a burning building. he grabbed an axe and rope before climbing three stories and hooking the child up to a rope before firefighters helped lower them to the ground. today's health story is a real head scratcher. one of four survivors of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, say even after surviving they still never use sunscreen. 15% say they rarely or never stay in the shade while 2% had been to a tanning salon within the past year. the study's author calls the results mind blowing. >> announcer: "early today"

health is brought to you by vagisil. now for our first look at what's moving your money today. we go to cnbc. good morning. >> good morning, dara. the house oversight committee will hold a hearing this month into u.s. government loans. a maker of hybrid sports cars. fisker is reportedly close to filing for bankruptcy. in other news, yahoo! and apple want to deepen their relationship. reports say the companies are discussing the way to expand the amount of content that comes preloaded on the iphone and ipad. gm will start running ads again on facebook. the move comes nearly a year after the automaker pulled its ads just three days before facebook's ipo, saying they had little impact on consumers. back to you. >> thanks, seema. well, the question on wall street today, what will the fed say, and will the dow hold on to its record high.

the fed march minutes are out at 2:00 p.m. while chief bernanke said stimulus will continue, not all fed members are on board. valuing shamu between $24 and $27 a share. your check could be in the mail. settlement checks between $300 and $125,000 will be going out this friday to 8 in 10 borrowers who were wrongly foreclosed on during the mortgage crisis. and loan payments could rise dramatically for millions of college students come july unless congress takes action. the interest rate on subsidized stafford loans is set to double july 1st. as washington debates gun-control measures, one pro-gun group is giving away free ones. a month-long promotion telling members to use the cash to buy a weapon. cosmetics tycoon leonard lauder is also feeling generous to the tune of more than $1 billion. that's the estimated value of

his vast art collection which he's promised to new york's metropolitan museum. segregation still exists in america. and it is in the form of a high school prom. plus, a car vandal caught on tape causing $500,000 worth of damage. what did tiger woods say about his career as he heads into the masters on his winning streak? next.

now to some other stories that caught our eye. an oklahoma car salesman is fuming after a vandal caused a half million dollars of damage at his dealership. security crams were rolling catching the vandal scratching several lexry models including porsche and maserati. in florida this man couldn't believe police ticketed him for running backwards. >> somebody is jogging backwards doing the right thing, that's uncalled for. >> miami police cited the runner for obstructing traffic after he refused to backpedal on his running style. he says the ticket will not stop him. finally the georgia chapter of the naacp has joined forces with students fighting to end segregated programs at wilcox county high school. >> shame on you. shame on any parent who continues to embrace the politics of segregation.

>> four students are hoping to break the archaic tradition by forg funding and organizing the school's first integrated prom. in sports the lady huskies win their eighth national championship. kelly faris scored 16 points with a rash of three-pointers. and freshman brianna stort had 23 as the huskies crushed louisville, 93-60. uconn geno auriemma tied the coaching record of eight women's championships. >> it feels great because when you see the reaction on these kids' faces, they've been through a lot. you know, the fact that i tied pat summers' record, that puts you in a category of the greatest women's basketball coach that ever lived. >> the uconn victory was the most lopsided score in a title game. back in louisville, the national champion men's team were welcomed home under a

double arch made by water cannons before players and coaches walked off headed for campus. carmelo anthony missed a jumper. the knicks beat the wizards 120-99 and clinched their first atlantic division title in almost 20 years. rapper and businessman jay-z has reportedly begun the process of selling his minority interest in the brooklyn nets so he can become an agent for nba players as required by the league. golfer tiger woods has his mojo back along with his number one world rating ahead of the masters golf tournament. he says he has more time to win champions. >> we have very expansive careers, and i feel like i'm basically right in the middle of mine. so, you know, i have a lot of good years ahead of me. i'm excited about this week. >> play begins at the masters on thursday. remember the song from "wizard of oz" ding dong the witch is dead? in england it takes on a whole new meaning with the death of margaret thatcher. you are watching "early today."

welcome back. the northwest, grab the umbrella. moderate period of rain will be moving in through the morning hours. then it will cross the cascades this afternoon and leaving in the wake windy conditions especially later on today. that rain gets southward of portland, even medford during the day. california, you remain dry. tomorrow that front is gone. we're still going to have instability showers in the northwest. overall, just that period of rain today, dara. not bad.

lindsay lohan may be looking forward to rehab after the grilling she got from david letterman. >> how many times have you been in rehab? >> several. >> how will this time be different? what are had he re what are they rehabbing, first of all? what is on their list? what are they going to work on when you walk through the door? >> we didn't discuss this in the pre-interview. >> lindsay went on to say she thinks the forced rehab will be a blessing. the song "ding dong the witch is dead" is shooting up the charts after the death of margaret thatcher. after the death of shain gandee, mtv will cancel "buckwild." they said the situation is going to, quote, get ugly. "new york times" reporting

alec baldwin is in talks to take up a late night spot at nbc. rumors are putting him at carson daly's 1:00 a.m. time slot. i'm dara brown, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station

leading the news this morning, "usa today," bud selig to create task force on blacks in baseball. a 17-member committee is being formed. and "time" has this bizarre story.

japan's girlfriend coat can hug you and whisper in your ear. a team of engineering students has made a coat that may be perfect for those lonely souls in search of a girlfriend. a tiny dog with a big stomach, pains had a nasty surprise at the vet. bugsy malone is happy to be back home after emergency surgery. an x-ray shows she decided to chomp on a real-life rubber duckie. it was pulled from his stomach without issue and he is. examined to make a full recovery. woolly mammoth bones found may be the most intact remains of the prehistoric creature found to date, weighing a whopping 11 tons. this once fuzzy behemoth has been buried for almost 10,000 years. the remains were found covered in ash leading experts to believe it suffocated and preserved the ancient beast. in the u.s., people test the size of their stomachs with hot dogs and ice cream. in japan, they do things

differently. the second annual soba grand prix. 15 contestants have only ten minutes to eat up all white neatly stacking each bowl as they finish. the champion went home with a full belly after finishing an impressive 23 bowls. that is one huge lot of soba noolds noodles. >> you ever been in one of those food eating contests? >> no. >> not even a pie-eating contest as a kid? >> no, no. >> i know what we're doing for lunch. you choose the pie. now for a look ahead and a look back. president obama holds a white house dinner tonight for some gop senators. last month senator mccain gave a thumbs up after the president's first private meeting. on this date in 1970, paul mccartney left the beatles, marking the break-up of the band. happy birthday to mandy moore who is 29, steven seagal

who is 51 and john madden is 77. former congressman anthony wiener and his wife speak out. and is it possible to retire by age 40? one man opens up his plan and how it can work for you. now let's keep it to this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a great wednesday.

breaking news. shooting in the east bay leaves one person dead and sends two others to the hospital. new details. we're learning about a body burned beyond recognition along a south bay freeway.

plus -- >> let you know he's not okay. >> saying good-bye to a south bay soldier killed in afghanistan. right now, let's take a live look outside. you can see the bay bridge, traffic lights dancing on this early morning. it is wednesday, april 10th. this is "today in the bay." >> from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> right now, it is 4:30, almost 4:31. good morning, everybody. i'm jon kelly. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's check that forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> good morning to you. and good morning to you at home. welcome to what looks like will be the warmest day of the year so far. almost a ten-degree jump from yesterday's highs for what we're expecting today. i want to point off right off the bat, look at all those cities reporting calm winds this morning. those winds really starting to relax. still going to be a bit breezy

for the first part of the day. the big story is the temperatures. i put the 90s on the map today. i'll show you exactly where come ing up. first want to check your drive on a wednesday. hi, mike. >> good morning. good morning. hot day this year. we're going to keep that in mind. folks with those comfortable tops down. right now, not a lot of folks at pier 280 in san jose. 17 as you head toward the right down to the santa cruz mountains. south bay, overall, 880 near that interchange with construction near steven's creek, as it has been the past few days. otherwise, smooth drive. bear creek road at highway 35, an overnight deadly crash there. there's an investigation that has to continue. they have reopened the roadway through the area. but locals are going to want to know about that activity. there may be a closure later this morning. i will track this to you. back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. it is 4:32. a few hours from