good friday morning. here's what's coming up on "early today." 50 years ago today the united states changed forever as president john f. kennedy was cut down in the prime of his life and public service career. some extraordinary remembrances coming up. plus talking on your cell phone while flying. some airlines are saying no way. while others are saying bring it on. the senate adopts the nuclear option thrilling the president. and using play time to encourage girls to become engineers. "early today" starts right now. this is "early today" for friday, november 22 pdnd. good morning.

i'm richard lui. 50 years ago the nation lost its 35th president when john f. kennedy was struck down by an assassin's bullet. today's anniversary impacts americans coast the coast. for dallas, it will be the first time they officially mark the anniversary of the assassination. leanne gregg is with us this morning. >> reporter: good morning. i'm in dealey plaza. today, cold temperatures and howling winds. but thousands of people are expected to show up to honor the president's legacy. >> the president's car is turning on to elm street. >> reporter: these iconic images provide a mental snapshot and remain haunting a half century later. >> several shots were fired. >> there was a bang. we all said, what was that? was that a shot? then two more closer together. >> reporter: robert macneal was

a reporter assigned to cover the president's visit to dallas. >> i thought some idiot fired the shot. it was inconceivable that shot was fired at john f. kennedy. >> president kennedy died at approximately 1:00 p.m. central time here in dallas. >> reporter: news of his death halted the nation. >> i was sitting in my latin class in high school. >> this was the first very serious, of course adult ins department in my life. it's been there ever since. >> reporter: and today, 50 years later, it continues to bring people back to the spot that's become a memorial and a museum. >> a part of american history. it's something to come see. >> the assassination and chaos sent shock waves across the country and ripped apart the

national era of hope that kennedy so famously inspired. >> his charm. his wit, his glamour, his eloquence. but what he helped to instill in america that sense of hope and purpose and confidence that america could achieve great things. >> reporter: now, five decades on, the nation will once again focus on dealey plaza to on nor the president. among the scheduled events today, a moment of silence and a tolling of the bells, at 12:30 p.m. central time. the same time the president was shot all those years ago. now leading up to the tragic moment, president and mrs. kennedy's trip to texas included a number of stops around the state to various cities. as was often the case, jackie kennedy managed to steal the spot light among the crowds. brian williams reports on the

events leading up to the shot heard around the world. >> reporter: at the third texas stop in fort worth even though it was late and raining people lined the streets to see them. the kennedys spent their last night together at hotel texas. the next morning, november 22nd, the president emerged to greet a crowd of 5,000 gathered outside. >> i appreciate you being here this morning. mrs. kennedy is organizing herself. it takes longer. [ laughter ] but, of course, she looks better than we do. >> reporter: and when she appeared mrs. kennedy made a stunning entrance wearing the now-famous pink chanel suit, white gloves. and pill box hat. >> a few years ago, i introduced myself the h paris by saying i was the man that had accompanied mrs. kennedy to paris. i am getting somewhat that same sensation around texas. nobody wonders what lyndon and i wear.

>> reporter: president kennedy almost never wore hats. in fact, the hat industry complained he was turning other men against them. that day he was given a stetson. >> i can't let you leave ft. worth without prioviding you wih some protection against the rain. [ laughter ] >> i'll put it on in the white house on monday. if you come up there you will have a chance to see it then. >> reporter: the last flight from ft. worth to neighboring dallas took just 13 minutes. and the first couple emerged into bright sunshine. the crowds were big and the president and first lady headed

to the fence line to shake as many hands as possible. from there, it was into an open car and his drive into downtown dallas where history was waiting ten miles away. >> nbc's brian williams reporting for us. this video is graphic and may be disturbing to some viewers. it is of that moment, captured in the iconic silent picture sequence. private citizen abraham zapruder filmed the motorcade on a home video camera. it could be one of the most important pieces of evidence. the scene captures the detail. of the fatal bullet hitting president kennedy in the head. later, the funeral and the riderless horse named blackjack. he was handled by the old forward. a young soldier named arthur carlson was assigned to lead

this energetic horse that day. >> when i started working with blackjack, he was a middle aged horse. think he was about 16. and calm. knew his job. when he was a young horse, he was wild. and barely controllable. he had gotten spooked. he was starting to dance. throw his head. i said, i don't know what is wrong with this horse, but i'm in big trouble. >> he said he did everything to control the horse. he said there was an upside to blackjack's wildness along the way. no one tried to crowd the procession along the way. bill karins, so many people having different remembrances of that day. >> and a lot of people in our generation asking their parents, what do you remember? where were you? it was raining that morning. early friday morning. they had the car planned with a bubble top on it. because the rain broke and the sun came out, they took the bubble top off. if the rain had held, different

history. >> i talked to my folks. they remember that he was the first roman catholic. ever elected. and only. now to amazing surveillance video from sunday's storms in the midwest. keep an eye on the wood-framed house across the street. this video from a gas station in diamond, illinois, show it being taken away in one moment. bill, as we look at the weather across the country today, hopefully, nothing like that. >> no, stormy weather but not like that. it's incredible. we have seen the after before. i have never seen it like that. just a house get ripped apart. that quick, too. that was impressive. so as far as the west, we saw the rain yesterday shift down to areas that needed it, even into southern california. l.a. picked up about a third of an inch. vegas, it's still raining.

raining hard in phoenix. that system is as strong as ever. it's drawn up some of the southern pacific warm, moist air. the rain continues in areas of southern nevada, eastern portions of california. the moisture boom going up. as far as the radar, not a lot near san diego. showers in the mountains. most of the rain in vegas. almost an inch of rain now. that's a lot for them. one of the biggest rain events we have had this year. you're sunny. all the bad weather is in the desertroseburg. san diego, still a chance of a shower this afternoon. weekend forecast coming up. >> thank you, bill karins.

the senate goes nuclear. and president obama is thrilled about it. and a new trend of using inis it a fwr-- instagram to buy and se guns.

welcome back. with a single vote on thursday democrats change the senate rules in a way not seen in almost 200 years. senator harry reid called for a vote to end the minority party's ability to filibuster most presidential nominees. it passed 52-48. that rule change was not taken lightly. reid saying no one's hands are entirely clean on this issue. reverend billy graham was released from the hospital on thursday. the 95-year-old evangelist was said to be in good spirits. apparently, instagram is not just for posting selfies. more and more people are using the app to buy and sell guns. authorities worry about potential legal loopholes.

the fcc on the verge of making air travel better or worse. it's in the matter of opinion here. the use of cell phones is being reviewed. while some will enjoy the connect activity, others won't be able to stand it. >> no. we've done surveys of the use of cellar telephones. by far, passengers do not want that. passengers do not want cell phones and i can promise flight attendants don't either. turning to business. the dow jones finishing above the 16,000 mark for the first time in history. just six months after closing above 15,000 points. wal-mart plans to match amazon's free shipping deals during the holidays. customers who spend $35 or more get free shipping. last friday, it was ps 4. today, microsoft's turn with the release of x box 1. sony play station sold a million consoles in the first few hours. we'll see if x box does, too.

and this ad from goldie block is getting a lot of attention. it promotes toys that encourage young girls to become engineers. coming up after the break a touchdown celebration that caused a goal post to go cockeyed.

50 years since the assassination of president john f. kennedy. nbc news special correspondent tom brokaw looks back at that day in his new documentary, special, are were you the day jfk died? it's tonight at 9:00 on nbc. now we take you to sports. it was a no-show for a-rod. his attorneys did show for the final day of his appeal of the 211-game suspension. an arbitrator will decide by january. meanwhile alex rodriguez could sue baseball. thursday night football. saints and falcons. the game stalls early. saints jimmy graham, a former college basketball player dunking on the goal coach. it tilts left. the grounds crew grumbles. 34 yards needed for a touchdown. they go for a field goal, not the td. well, it goes wide.

new orleans wins, 17-13. used to play with action figures as a kid. now calvin johnson nicknamed megatron because he's a beast gets his own. it's a transformer called megatron. it comes with some shoes to boot. thursday college football. number 18 central florida did not need its typical late-game heroics to beat rutgers. college hoops. new mexico against alabama birmingham to overtime. later in the same half. double ot. the lobos hang on to win, 97-94. earlier this week, the dallas mavericks released a promo with the hulk. it was to pump up the game against houston. it worked. the mavs a with a comeback win r the rockets. in the nhl, columbus on a power play. calgary's goalie with superhigh

kick. he makes the save. it's not enough, though. call ga calgary loses this one. an on-screen goof. shaq falling, laughing, appears to be unhurt. twice this week, an oklahoma thunder fan sinking a $20,000 half court shot. the fifth this year. he got a hand shake from who? jay-z. just ahead, mon ty python's look at the world. and mtv hands the keys to miley cyrus. is that a good idea?

well, if you're in arizona, you don't see many days like this. look at the radar. almost the entire state it's raining. it's pouring in the deserts, too. we have flood warnings up. we could get isolated flooding. other areas, cold in the inner mountain west. clear as could be from about central california to the north. over the weekend, this big storm pulse away. it will be a big snowstorm in areas of new mexico. really nice sunday in many areas of the west. >> the bad weather in the southwest, kind of good. they need the rain. the newest hunger games installment is now available.

it almost wasn't. "catching fire" almost received an r rating. there was an arrow that hit a tribute in the head. they removed the arrow and got the other rating. at a press conference yesterday the monty python comedy group announced a show in london. owen wilson set for his new thriller. the fire was due to the electrical short after shooting an explosion seen. a judge has found amanda bynes mentally competent to stand trial. and hugh jackman encourages his fans to get screened after he found he has carcinoma. a biopic on tolkien's life is in the works.

after miley cyrus posted this photo of her newly bleached brows, mtv announced she would be taking over the channel for her 21st birthday. >> she needs her own channel. >> what kind of mess happens? starting midnight, on the 23rd, the show will be devoted for miley for 24 hours. >> you know that button? the emergency button. >> a 7-second delay? i'm richard lui. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day here on nbc.

adding the news in england, the guardian. three women rescued after decades of slavery in south london home. police say they spent 30 years in captivity including one woman believed to have spent her entire life in domestic slavery. one captives contacted a charity to say she was being held against her will. in the "l.a. times" the nfl carried on after jfk's assassination even as players mourned. once commissioner pete rosell made the ruling, they played two days after the assassination. the first african-american secret service agent speaks out. he had left the detail by the

time kennedy was assassinated. 50 years since kennedy's death, he says he still feels the sting of his organization's failure to protect the president. >> i was an agent of the united states secret service. whatever they did i did. history is not going to look favorable on the united states secret service. and i was a part of that. >> you can check out that full video interview with bolden. as well as other stories on president kennedy's impact on african-americans. he meant so much in terms of opening the window to folks who did not have opportunity in so many different places. >> that's what i like about today. we were not around. i don't know a lot. the strides that he made to making our country more open. >> and just the discussions that resulted from him being elected at that time. we'll have more on jfk throughout the day here on nbc.

time for a look ahead and a look back. the first lady will host a ceremony at the white house today. she'll hand out the national arts and youth program award. on this day in 1990, a surprise resignation in london. as reported on the "today" show. >> margaret thatcher is quitting as britain's prime minister. she's resigned two days after failing to win a confidence vote in her own party. happy birthday to scarlett johansson. and steven van zandt. and tennis legend billie jean king. and an exclusive interview with the attorney of kennedy cousin michael skakel, who, for the first time in 11 years, is waking up a free man. keep it here for news, weather, and sports.

i'm richard lui.

>> it is 4:30. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. we are following several breaking news stories, right now b.a.r.t. is shut down because of an overnight computer problem. >> it has been a rough one. christie smith is live at the walnut creek b.a.r.t. station. we hear hundreds of people stuck on trains for several hours. >> reporter: good morning. we're hearing maybe up to 1,000 people just sitting there, they had so much time they were tweeting out photos. we'll get to that. i wanted to show you here at the walnut creek station, and normally this would open about