good wednesday morning. coming up on "early today." how did neighbors and police miss signs that something very strange was going on inside the house where three women were held captive? the case has captivated the nation. but i'm just happy for these families that they found their daughters and that they are alive and safe. >> tensions will be running high in washington today as hearings into the death of four u.s. diplomats in benghazi begin. plus, a political comeback in the making for disgraced former governor mark sanford. stocks to an all-time high. and why is this man clinging to the hood of the car for dear life? "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, may 8th. good morning, i'm dara

brown. we begin with the case of three ohio women being held captive for a decade. in 2004, investigators visited the home where the women were being held after calls from neighbors about suspicious behavior. but they never went inside. and this morning detectives are trying to piece together exactly what went on behind closed doors. the women, amanda berry, gina dejesus and michele knight are being reunited with their families and more relatives are anxiously awaiting their arrival home. >> just glad and happy and i told her i loved her and i missed her and i prayed for her and oh, my god. i mean, it is just so great. >> and while it's being called a miracle, doctors and therapists are quick to say the women have a long road ahead. first lady michelle obama discussed with chief ivillage correspondent, kelly wallace. >> these families are going to have to wrap their arms around these young women and make sure that they get all the help and support they need so they will go on and lead healthy, normal lives.

>> meanwhile, the three brothers at the center of the investigation remain in police custody and charges could be filed as early as today. nbc's ron allen has the latest. >> reporter: the three brothers are ariel castro, 52, pedro, 54, and julio, 50. it's ariel that neighbors knew best as a school bus driver and gaye kids gave kids rides on his all-terrain vehicle. the women disappearing about a year apart were last seen within a five block radius and held in castro's house about a mile away. the astro brothers' uncle owns a neighborhood corner store. >> they might have been living two different lives. >> reporter: some neighbors thought the house was vacant. but a few now say they were concerned. >> they wouldn't open the windows, no doors, only the attic window. >> i had family members that phoned the police and they came and knocked on the door and

nothing. >> reporter: police say they only answered calls twice on the street once before the women disappeared and in 2004 to question ariel about a child he left behind on his school bus mistakenly. no charges were filed. >> what we have here is a psychopath or usually three. usually when you have three people involved, you have a ringleader. my guess is the one that owned the house. how much his brothers were involved we don't month yet. >> reporter: the castros may have had ties to of the women, gina dejesus. >> ariel's daughter appeared in "america's most wanted." the last time she was seen alive. >> my mom said no i couldn't go over to her house. she said okay i'll talk to you later. >> reporter: ariel's son, anthony, as a college student wrote an article about dejesus's

disappearance in 2004. and in another strange twist, pedro castro was near the scene of a search for amanda berry's body last year. castro told reporters the search was "a waste of money." >> that was nbc's ron allen reporting. amanda berry's 6-year-old child was also taken from the home. police believe one of the suspects is the father. authorities say the victims were repeatedly raped and cleveland nbc station wkyc reports as many as five pregnancies occurred among the women during their captivi captivity. to capitol hill where some congressional republicans are commenting on the deadly attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi a damning indictment. nbc's traci potts has the details. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. the testimony that we will hear today comes from the man who used to be the number two diplomat in libya. he says during that attack -- and it lasted from 9:00 at night

until 6:00 the next morning -- he asked for more help from special forces troops that were already in tripoli. but those forces, the pentagon says, were protecting the embassy in tripoli. he wanted jets overhead to scatter the attackers, but the pentagon says there was no time for that. the jets were too far away. today we'll hear from gregory hicks who argues if he had gotten the help he asked for, those last two deaths which happened much later in the attack, early in the morning, may have been prevented. also today at that hearing, some lawmakers questioning whether or not the panel that looked into this, that review board, actually got access to everyone who needed to talk about it to all of the documents. the board's chairs in a statement say they did, but there's skepticism here on capitol hill as that hearing gets under way today. dara? >> thanks, tracie. president obamas the costs would be severe if the u.s. did not intervene in syria's civil war, but he says the answers won't come easy.

>> my job is to constantly measure our humanitarian efforts in syria. >> the crisis has recently intensified. the white house also believes the government of bashar al assad and not syrian rebels probably used chemical weapons against its people. an estimated 70,000 people have been killed so far in that bloody conflict. choice words from president obama as the pentagon releases new numbers on sexual assaults in the military. >> sexual assault is an outrage. it is a crime. that's true for society at large, and if it's happening inside our military, then whoever carries it out is betraying the uniform that they're wearing. >> the numbers came just one day after an air force officer in charge of preventing sexual assault was charged with sexual battery. the pentagon estimates unreported sexual assaults last year skyrocketed from 19,000 to

26,000. the number of reported assaults rose 6% to more than 3300, all resulting in just more than 230 convictions. nbc's bill karins is here with the weather. >> morning. >> good morning, bill. a little wet one here in the east coast, huh? >> yeah, new york city getting heavy rain. we see sometimes the rible effects in the airports do make it all the way to the west coast. hopefully not today. we have a nice mild morning. no complaints temperaturewise at all. maybe going to get away without the jacket this morning. and this afternoon, we had a lot of rain showers pop up yesterday afternoon, call them diurnal rain showers. we won't see as much of that. the cold air begins to move into the rockies. there's a couple showers left behind. we'll see a few this afternoon especially nevada and utah in the higher terrain. this is about the only wet spot i could find coming out of the reno/take how ar ren

reno/tahoe area. today's forecast, mostly dry for about everyone. partly cloudy skies. temperatures seasonal for this time p schs pasco, washington. >> very nice. >> we'll continue to watch the northwest and just wait till i show you the five-day forecast in portland, oregon. it's beautiful there, too. >> sounds like a great day. >> yep. >> thanks, bill. surprising new statistics on gun-related crimes and homicides that will surely add fir

welcome back to "early today." gun crime has plunged across the country since its peak in the

1990s. government statistics show gun killings fell 30% between 1993 and 2011. the suspect in colorado movie theater shooting plans to enter an insanity plea. james holmes is accused of killing 12 people and injuring dozens last summer. the first state has become the 11th state to legalize same sex marriage. the delaware governor signed legislation tuesday after final approval from the state senate. couples can begin marrying july 1st. in belgium, police arrested 31 people in connection with one of the biggest jewelry heists in history. $50 million in diamonds swiped from an airplane in february. authorities say they recovered money and diamonds. an annual tradition in england. queen elizabeth addressing the opening session of parliament. she unveiled the legislative plans including immigration reform. for the first time the queen was accompanied by prince charles and camilla, the duchess of cornwall, as their royal duties begin to expand. back at home, it was one wild ride in georgia.

cell phone video from april shows a man clinging to the front of a woman's car after she took off from the scene of a hit-and-run. the man was blocking the woman's exit and he clung on to her windshield. police are still searching for the runaway driver. to business where seema mody has your wednesday morning headlines. seema, good morning. >> dara, the dow sitting at a new record high closing above the 15,000 mark for the first time yesterday. it's been a rapid rise. it first closed above 13,000 in february 2012. it took about a year to hit 14,000. just three months to go from 14,000 to sa,000. the dow has gained nearly 15% just this year. yahoo! is seeking a way out of its search partnership with microsoft. "the wall street journal" reports ceo marissa mayer wants to exit the ten-year contract, but microsoft isn't interested. they've done worse under the deal than when it was going it alone. target is testing a new program that relies on shoppers

using their facebook accounts. people will be able to select discounts they want online but can only redeem those offers in stores, not on the web. back to you. >> thank you, seema. new this morning, toyota reporting its quarterly profit more than doubled as it looks to improve slumping sales in china and here at home. coca-cola is spending $2 billion to juice the florida citrus business to the tune of 25,000 new acres of orange groves, or about 5 million trees to supply its juice brands. in the process, florida will add about 4100 jobs. meanwhile, a new study finds u.s. taxpayers employ more low-wage workers than walmart and mcdonald's combined due to some 2 million private sector jobs that pay just $24,000 a year or about $12 an hour or less. that may be why mars one says in less than two weeks, a staggering 78,000 people have applied to become red planet colonists beginning in 2023. meanwhile, moms are taking a pay cut. an annual index reports moms

2013 market value is $59,862, down from just over $60,000 last year. speaking of mom, how about giving her the biggest diamond briolette to ever go up for auction? the 7 on-carat is expected to fetch up to $12 million at christ christie's later this month. straight ahead, new jersey governor chris christie shares some personal thoughts about his battle of the bulge. and a dangerous line drive hits blue jays' happ right in the head. details next in sports.

on the same day new jersey governor chris christie revealed he had lap-band weight reduction surgery in february, brian williams sat down with him for an exclusive interview. here the governor explains how he sought the advice from a new york university's doctor, a pioneer in the area of weight loss surgery. >> i said, do i need this? he said if you came in here with cancer and i told you i had a 40-minute surgery that would give you 90% chance of cure would you sign up? and it just really crystallized it for me. and i said yeah, i would. and he said, then why wouldn't do you that to cure obesity. >> you can see the whole interview on "rock center" on friday night. at 1

10: 10:00/9:00 central time. turning now to sports. a scary moment in florida. a line drive hit the blue jays pitcher in the head. he left the field on a stretcher but he did lift a hand to wave to the crowd. he was taken to the tests and was alert and in stable condition. tiger woods's practice tuesday for the players championship which starts thursday. he was asked about the controversy at the masters when a tv viewer called in about a violation on a woods ball drop. >> i don't ever see myself calling in and saying that kobe traveled or things like that or some guy held, an offensive lineman held. but i think it's our sport and it's what we've done, and we have to accept it. >> when sunday night football returns to nbc six time grammy winner carrie underwood will be singing the theme song. she replaces faith hill who sang the theme for six seasons. former detroit lions' wide receiver titus young was arrested twice in one day in

southe southern california. he was charged with driving under the influence then charged for climbing a fence to retrieve his impounded car. alabama football coach nick saban is selling his georgia estate on lake burton with stunning views and is listed for $10.9 million. well just ahead, huge numbers watched nbc's telecast of the kentucky derby. plus, a tale of two toms. can you guess what?

welcome back.

anyone traveling in the west or headed to the big cities, you'll remain dry during the day. you may see a few showers and thunderstorms in california, nevada and definitely in utah. looking at the extended forecast, and it's amazing. this great spring weather pattern continues. one of the greatest stretches probably in the history of the pacific northwest for a wonderful warm spring weather. look at portland. 76 to 84 over the next couple days. we cool it off a little towards mother's day, but 73. now, it's been a little cooler than normal in southern california. we're going to deal with a little bit of a warm-up, it looks like. 70 degrees by saturday. and then by mother's day, it could even get hot in areas of the desert southwest. 100s in the desert. san diego could be up near 80. so it looks beautiful for mom in california. >> very nice, bill. thank you. who is named the least trusted movie star? it shouldn't come much of a surprise. kristen stewart is the least trustworthy of all of them. tom cruise was named the least trusted male movie star while

tom hanks was named the most trusted. and a brand-new elvis exhibit has opened in graceland, this time celebrating the singer's relationship with hawaii. the iconic white jumpsuit he wore in concert along with cars, pendants and a diamond-studded belt. "the office" will run for 75 minutes when it airs on may 16th. the final episode will have some major surprise appearances. i cannot wait for that. >> cameos. >> some cameos. i'm sure it's going to be interesting. >> it's been a lot throughout the history of the show. >> oh, yeah. we'll have to tune in for that. and the plane from "fantasy island." >> de plane, de plane! >> but this is not right. it got into a life of drugs after the show was canceled. the

officials say the biebs racked up a number of speeding fines. >> which begs the question, if you're driving a lamborghini, i mean, you're asking for a ticket. >> you are. >> i wouldn't get a ticket. >> absolutely. >> i mean, i'd be safe, of course, but i'd want to see how fast the car can go. >> i don't know the speed limit in dubai. we don't know how fast he was going. i'm dara brown, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

leading the news in "the washington post" this morning one hospital charges $8,000, another $38,000, this morning for the first time the federal government will release the prices that hospitals charge for the 100 most common inpatient procedures, and they are shocking. in the "wall street journal," pentagon plans for the worst in syria. the defense department is stepping up plans to deal with the situation that is frightening leaders around the world. topping our news charges could come as soon as today for the three men at the center of the cleveland missing women case. investigators are combing through their home looking for clues. three women are free after a decade in captivity. more than $1 million, the largest domestic reward in u.s. history, and that is what the lapd will pay for four partners who aided in the search for the fugitive ex-cop christopher donner.

and more americans put their trust in client eastwood than the leader of the free world. americans ranked the actor 13th on a "reader's digest" poll. president obama was way down at number 65. here are you a few other things we thought you had to see. a rare and endangered 3-week-old pygmy hippo made its debut at a polish zoo yesterday. that is so very cute. and soon you may not have to struggle over that ikea furniture you just had to have. a research team at m.i.t. has created ikea bot that can assemble your furniture start to finish all on its own. >> but that's the whole point of getting the furniture is the challenge sitting down there for way too long and putting way too many screws together and way too many pieces of furniture. >> the challenge is sitting down and having a beer after you finally put it together, the right time after the third attempt. >> yes. >> time now for a look ahead and look back. a hearing on the attacks on the

mission in benghazi. testimony about the september 11th, 2012 attacks will focus on what the u.s. knew and when. and on this date in 1978, a serial killer in court as reported by nbc's david brinkley. >> good evening. david berkowitz, the so-called son of sam, in court today pleaded guilty to all six of the murders that frightened new york city for about a year. and a happy birthday to singer enrique iglesias who is 38. actress melissa gilbert -- >> did you see the picture of enrique? >> no, but i do like that. >> and melissa gilbert, "little house on the prairie," 49 and don rickles, still kicking, he is 87. here's what's coming up on "today." an exclusive, one-on-one with michelle obama. and now keep it to this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today," your first stop of the

day today on your nbc station.

new this morning. >> saturday night was the first time she went out to this kind of party. >> the night his wife left in a limousine and never returned. plus, the new information we're learning about the survivors. investigators working through the night at the ohio home where three women were reportedly held captive for ten years. the latest details next. we'll take you outside live. shark tank. overtime victory allows them