good wednesday morning. here's what's coming up on "early today." the u.s. considers sending arms to syrian rebels and president obama says once again he'll focus on closing gitmo. a political showdown for senator kelly ayotte as gun control groups confront her on a no vote on the gun bill. no prescription needed. the fda approved the morning after emergency contraceptive pill for girls 15 and older. plus atlanta's plans for one of the coolest stadiums ever. the world's smallest stop motion movie made with individual atoms. and weather that could pack a wallop. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, may 1st. good morning, everyone. i'm richard lui. president obama is taking his push for immigration reform to mexico.

here at home he says don't count him out on gun control and fixing the budget. all this as the president used his 100th day in office to define his stance on syrian intervention and guantanamo bay. let's go to nbc's traci potts who is live in washington with all the details. good morning. >> reporter: richard, the president on those issues that you noted, unable to stop the big budget cuts, unable to push through gun control, but he did say don't count me out. >> despite that, i'm actually confident there are a range of things we can get done. >> reporter: like immigration reform. >> that's going to be an historic achievement. >> reporter: analysts think it can. >> the reason he can get it done is republicans don't dare turn those hispanic voters down. >> reporter: not so optimistic on the budget. meat inspectors and air traffic controllers got a pass, but the president says -- >> well, that's not a solution. >> reporter: with a hunger strike under way, he's determined to try to close

guantanamo bay again. but says not so fast on dealing with syria. >> if we end up rushing to judgment without hard, effective evidence, then we can find ourselves in a position where we can't mobilize the international community to support what we do. >> reporter: lawmakers back home also under fire. >> i'm just wondering of my mother being gunned down in the hall of her elementary school isn't important. >> let me say i'm obviously so sorry. all of us want to make sure that that doesn't happen again. >> reporter: headed back to deal with part two of the president's agenda. and headed back, congress is, to continue looking into the boston bombing investigation, whether the fbi did enough before that event happened. president obama defended the agency. richard? >> tracie, thank you so much. more on that a little later. >> the food and drug administration will make the

morning-after pill more accessible. girls as young as 15 will now be able to buy the emergency contraceptive pill without a prescription. plan b one step will be sold to on store shelves making it available beyond pharmacy hours. the proposal stopped short of a full over-the-counter no age restriction order issued by a federal judge last month. there is new video that has surfaced showing what appear to be the final seconds of a tragic cargo flight. a car's dashboard cam captured the plane crashing to the ground shortly after takeoff killing all seven members on board. we should warn you the video is disturbing. a military official say this appears to be the civilian cargo plane that crashed monday after take yov takeoff from bagram

airfield in afghanistan. six of the crew members was from michigan the seventh from kentucky. the flight was operated by florida-base the national airlines. the nation's top intelligence chief is ordering an across the board review in the wake of new accusations. director of national against james clapper is directing agencies to look into the handling of information received prior to the attack. tamerlan's body has not been claimed. his widow catherine russell is asking for his remains to be released to his family. investigators spent hours interviewing the 24-year-old over the past week. as the investigation continues a new poll shows an overwhelming number of americans favor public surveillance. cameras provided key clues in the case including identifying the suspects. and more than two-thirds of americans say bombmaking information should not be allowed online. the suspects reportedly learned how to make explosives through the internet. even though it's the first day of may, parts of the midwest

are dealing with winterlike weather. i think it's going to be a theme for a while. >> it was a beautiful spring, but winter has returned. you have a snow day in may? that's the deal in cheyenne, wyoming, and colorado up i-25, this is the scene. estes park, colorado, on top of roof there, four, five inches of snow already. looks like a heavy, wet snow, too. this is all headed for the central plains. minneapolis is even under a winter storm warning. imagine this, yesterday it was 7 72. people were wearing shorts in minneapolis and tonight they'll get six to nine inches of snow. usually it does that in march or april, not in may. that's the case today. well, as far as the snow goes, as you can see there, the white on the map, it's not just located in colorado and wyoming, it's spreading through nebraska to southern minnesota. this is just one of my weather computers. i think this is overstated, overblown. a lot of this is going to melt

as it's falling. it's saying the potential for a large area from iowa northwards to get 6 to 12 inches of snow. crazy. well, as far as the forecast in the west, it's dry. it's sunny. and it still looks warm. by the way, it was about 101 yesterday once again in phoenix. today we'll drop you down to 96. still hot. that's your national forecast. yuma up near 10 on once again. who said seattle's rainy all the time? 65 and sunny. take that. >> yeah, once a year or something like that. get your sun and snow straight, would you? because it's getting a little crazy here. >> keeps me employed. job security. >> bill karins. coming up, we could see a ruling in the trial of a philadelphia abortion doctor. plus, the car that gets

about 1,000 miles to the gallon. >> sign me up. >> i'll take it. and a break in the search for the person who sent deadly ricin to president obama. "early today" is back in two minutes.

welcome back. a tragic accident in kentucky. authorities say a 5-year-old boy was playing with his .22 caliber rifle when he shot and killed his 2-year-old sister. his mother said he received the gun as a gift when he was just 4 years old. a visibly angry michael bloomberg is defending the nypd controversial stop and frisk policy. on tuesday he accused critics of playing politics with public safety and compared them to an unruly mob. the policy is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit over illegal searches. george zimmerman decided to take his chances with a jury. the 29-year-old waived his stand your ground hearing. where his fate would have been decided solely by a judge. he'll stand trial this summer for the shooting death of

trayvon martin last february. investigators say the man accused of sending letters laced with ricin to president obama and others ordered a key ingredient for the toxin over the internet. traces of ricin were found at his former business. today will be the first full day of jury deliberations in the murder trial of a philadelphia abortion doctor, dr. kermit gosnell faces the death penalty after prosecutors say babies were born alive and then killed at his clinic. to business now and cnbc's kayla tausche. good morning to you. >> good morning. automakers report their april sales number today. the pace of sales is expected to top 15 million vehicles for the sixth straight month. as volume picks up with the start of the spring selling season. demand for pickup trucks is also improving with a recovery in the housing market. and president obama is expected to nominate venture capitalist and former lobbyist tom wheeler today to be the next fcc chairman. he would replace julius janikowski and also expected to

top melvin watt to head the agency which oversees fannie mae and freddie mac. private sector payrolls ahead of friday's jobs report. also manufacturing and construction spending. back to you. >> hoping for good numbers there. thank you, kayla. the past lthree years have been sell away and go away. but this way stocks in your retirement accounted said good-bye to april on a high note. with all three major u.s. indices up double digits. if the fed continues to ease money policies today, the streak could continue, we hope. tuesday apple holding a record $17 billion bond auction that helps finance $100 billion pay out to shareholders. dreamworks is said to be close to a deal to acquire awe amness tv. the blackstone group has

joined the push to put hundreds of thousands of vets back to work. yahoo!'s president will double maternity leave. giving four months of paid leave to new moms and two months to new dads. "consumer reports" claims more than half of hundreds of ground turkey samples tested contained fecal bacteria while 90% contained disease-causing organisms. the national turkey federation calls the study alarmist. transportation secretary ray lahood is assuring lawmakers that 149 small airport towers slated to be closed in june as part of faa sequester cuts will remain open. memorial day air fares are down slightly this year to an average $341. and aaa says april gas prices were the lowest in three years at an average of $3.55 a gallon. talking about that, so just how far will $3.55 goat you? if you drive one of these concept cars at the 18th annual super mileage challenge in indianapolis one gallon of gas will take you well over 1,000

miles. it lacks looks like it has air conditioning in some of the models. coming up, tim tebow's offers are coming in. but not the kind he was hoping for. plus danica patrick's talents go beyond racing. and why the phrase made in detroit means more than of these days.

through the years detroit has seen its economic ups and downs especially the latter over the past three decades but now the city once ruled by the auto industry is beginning to attract some unlikely investors and entrepreneurs. in the nbc's john yang explains. >> reporter: a ping-pong table, bean bag chairs, screens full of computer code, it looks like silicon valley but it's the motor city. nathan and jay grew up in the detroit suburbs. >> four independent professionals. >> reporter: last fall they moved their website from san francisco, seeing better opportunities for growth. >> a ton of talent here. not a lot of web companies like us competing for their services. >> reporter: this city has rich history of quality manufacturing and design, and these days it's not just automakers who are boasting their product is made in detroit. in the building where gm engineers designed the first corvette, a new company with an

old name. in the 1940s shinola was a shoe polish. now it's high-end bikes and wristwatches. five years ago assembly line worker lost her auto industry job to automation. >> i don't think a machine can do what we do. i mean, it takes -- a machine don't have passion. >> reporter: a passion to do the painstaking work of building watches and rebuilding a city. john yang, nbc news, detroit. >> nice to see that surge. turning now to sports. overtime for the blues and kings. l.a. goalie jonathan quick behind the net to play the puck. but st. louis stole the puck and backhanded it into the net. blues over the kings 2-1. between periods of blackhawks game, nascar driver danica patrick was on the ice in a chicago jersey taking a shot on the goal and it went in on the first try. she does so many things well. the omaha beef made an offer to tim tebow after he was cut by the new york jets. the beef offered him 75 bucks

per game. compare that to the $2 million tebow earned with the jets. the atlanta falcons are building a new stadium in atlanta and proposed designs include a futuristic domed stadium. seats for fans will vibrate with a big hit on the field. when it does happen. the philadelphia gym where boxing legend joe frazier trained has been designated by the national park service as a historic site. it will serve as a monument to the fighter who died in 2011. on tv in puerto rico, sportscasters reported a new career record for three-pointers in their pro basketball league and got a little bit excited. [ speaking foreign language ] >> i kind of like the hair. that's what's more interesting. in baseball atlanta pitcher tim hudson was a dual threat as he hit a long drive for a home

run right there. and the braves beat the nationals 8-1 for hudson's 200th victory. in college baseball, a squirrel led players on a merry chase during a game in kansas. there he goes. the runaway critter was scooped up by tyler baker into his batting helmet, and he carries it safely off the field. get out of here, kid. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. just ahead, "iron man" robert downey jr. makes some kid's day very, very special.

welcome back. sunshine galore over the next couple days. we're actually going to be looking at beautiful, warm weather in the northwest. a little hotter than you probably like in phoenix. today vegas is very nice, 84 and sunny. san francisco, 73 and sunny. for the most part, we have an offshore wind. so it's going to be pretty nice even through coastal areas. l.a. at 86 and sunny. portland at 77 tomorrow. boise's at 71. so the midwest is pain is your gain in the west because all the cold air spilling into the middle of the country. we like to tell everyone to take days off in seattle. i mean, this is the seattle five-day forecast. it does not get better than this. this is as good as it gets. could even hit 80 by the weekend. this is going to be the best week in the pacific northwest. >> listen to bill karins. it's a heat day for you. people have snow days in the east. they've got heat day there in seattle. >> at least a three-day weekend. >> i'd take it.

looks beautiful. "downton abbey f" fans, they're working on an entire range of products to be released this year. official apparel, homeware, stationery and furniture. bill's going to get some of those old hats. >> the dresses. >> i didn't want to say anything there. jamie foxx has been offered the daddy warbucks role. fox's name will not actually be daddy warbucks. the character's updated name is benjamin stacks. you get that, $100 bill. >> nah. >> what would you pick, then? >> i don't know. i'm not that creative. >> we've got time. another two minutes. the paramedics who tried to revive michael jackson was called as the first witness in the ongoing wrongful death case, recalling the scene in chilling detail. the paramedic said jackson

clearly had not been breathing for a long time and resembled someone who was, quote, at the end stage of a long disease process. hundreds of dancers from around the world descending on new york to audition for the rocket rockettes. only 12 girls will be chosen, but what a tradition. and robert downey jr. continuing the press rounds by ringing the bell at the new york stock exchange. the actor also surprised hundreds of young hurricane sandy volunteers at an early screening of the film. and there's a shot there of -- what's your favorite movie? what's your favorite "iron man" movie? >> i couldn't tell you any of them. i'm still trying to think of names like daddy bling bling, daddy deep pockets. >> you're lucky they're telling me to keep going. i'm richard lui. you're watching "early today" just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. bill will be back.

leading the news on "politico," gay rights push threatens immigration deal. senator patrick leahy says he'll introduce an amendment to allow gay americans to sponsor their foreign born partners for green cards. just as lheterosexual couples cn do. on nbc news world.com. world's smallest stop-motion film made with individual atoms. scientists have magnified atoms 100 million times bigger than their original size and created a film called "a boy and his atom." it's pretty cool here, and you can check it out on nbcnews.com. what they can do nowadays. here's some of the other stories we're watching this morning. president obama treaded carefully on plans to get involved with syria. on guantanamo bay he's pushing to close the prison facility and control a hunger strike among detainees. the waiting game begins for a pennsylvania doctor accused of

performing illegal late-term abortions. today is the first day of jury deliberations for dr. kermit gosnell charged in the death of five people, including four infants who allegedly died after being born alive. talk about inflation. nasa will pay russia $424 million to train and get u.s. astronauts to space on the soyuz spacecraft. russia became the only pathway to space. after nasa's shuttle program ended in 2011. each seat runs over $70 million. that's a far cry from the previous $65 million list price. and we're concerned, i guess, about our memorial day flights. houston meteorologists had an untimely case of the hiccups during a broadcast. david paul made it through telling viewers about an impending storm with a few bumps along the way. watch this. >> rain so far lightly and thunder -- excuse me -- here's redevelopment of thunderstorms right in here. excuse me. here's the big -- excuse me. developing as well. a couple of thunderstorms during the overnight.

>> bill karins here with us. >> i've coughed. the untimely cough. never sneezed. you always worry about hiccups, but they seem to go away. >> i'm glad it's just coughs or hiccups. >> if that's the worst of it. >> from bill karins. you know, he'll be here tomorrow. we may get more. time now for a look ahead and a look back for you. president obama will nominate a new head for the federal communications commission. his choice is thomas wheeler, former cable industry lobbyist. the george w. bush presidential central in dallas, texas, opens to the public. it includes exhibits on key moments of bush's eight years in the white house. it is a beauty if you haven't already seen pictures or been there. here's a look at what's coming up on "today." matt goes one on one with the carjacking victim who came face to face with the boston bombing suspects. we'll be watching that on the "today" show. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm richard lui. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a possible break in the case. police arrest a man in connection with the death of a girl. we'll tell you about the marches plapd for right here in the bay area to day. >> flying out of the south bay got easier. the new option for travelers that takes off this morning. >> right now we'll take you out to san francisco for a live look over the bay bridge. a little bounce to that camera on this wednesday, yes, the first day of may. this is "today in the bay." can you believe we're saying may already? >>