good thursday morning. coming up on "early today," liar, liar. the u.s. state department identified multiple areas where russia's putin is not telling the truth about ukraine. behind the rescue. police spoke to the minivan mom two hours before had her fateful drive into the seas. guilty plea. a one star gal involved in a sex assault case is expected to plead guilty. but that's just the start of this case. plus, those s.a.t. tests stressing out your kids are getting overhauled. the first head rolls in that target credit card breach. and thieves use a forklift after a local atm drive through. it is thursday, march 6th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning to you. i'm richard lui. we start with double trouble in the skies. a smoking american eagle plane with 48 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing in texas. this happened right after takeoff in dallas last night. a passenger on the illinois bound plane tweeted this saying, quote, i'm hearing the cockpit was full of smoke, captain and flight attendant can't say thank you enough for getting us on the ground safely. nobody was injured there. also, severe turbulence on a united airlines flight bound for newark from west palm beach. a passenger says it was so bad that trays and drinks were flying all around. one flight attendant injured there. the plane landing safely late last night. a u.s. army one star general facing a court-martial on sexual assault charges is expected to enter a plea this morning. jeffrey sinclair is accused of sexually assaulting a junior officer. he maintains his innocence on allegations he forced her to

perform sex acts but his lawyer says he'll admit guilt on three lesser charges including having improper relationships with two other female officers. the married father of two is expected to enter his plea in court at ft. bragg before opening statements. sinclair is believed to be the most senior member of the u.s. military ever to face trial on sexual assault. he could face life in prison if convicted. now we take you to the crisis in youukraine where the parliament in crimea voted to join moscow. it sets a referendum with ten days to ratify that decision. that while a flurry of diplomatic activity ended with little progress on monday. jim maceda is in moscow for us now. we talk about that latest development there, the parliament in crimea making that vote. >> reporter: well, that's right. but i would say that's probably a symbolic vote. it is a rough parliament, the crimean parliament has only pro

russian representatives. and it is symbolic because while it was practically unanimous, 78-0, with eight abstentions, still they realized they would have to be referendum for that to have any teeth. and the referendum now has been moved up from march 30th to march 16th and in that referendum crimeans will vote on whether they become part of russia or stay part of the ukraine. meanwhile, in terms of the flurry of democracy going -- a flurry of diplomacy, i should say, going on throughout europe, we have talks today again in rome. there were talks yesterday in paris. secretary of state john kerry characterized those talks as tough, but constructive. the they probably will be tougher, probably not as constructive today. it is very, very hard to get russian foreign minister sergey lavrov and his ukrainian

counterpart face to face in the same room, much less get them talking. now, the russians say they believe this interim government in kiev was created unconstitutionally, so when lavrov was asked in paris yesterday if he had met with his ukrainian counterpart, richard, he apparently replied, who's that? this is how tough it is going to be to make any progress in the next number of days on ukraine, at least diplomatically. back to you. >> you said it so well, democracy, that is the question on many who are watching, what is happening there in the ukraine and whether it is or is not happening. jim maceda, thank you for your report this morning. now lawmakers who still accuse the irs of targeting conservative groups. lois lerner, the former official at the center of the scandal, taking the fifth as expected here, but it is the explosive fireworks afterward making the news. republican chairman darrell issa ending the hearing. he then cuts the mike of the

committee's top democrat, elijah cummings. >> i am a member of the public of the united states of america. i am irate. >> well -- >> we have never -- represent 700,000 people. you cannot just have a one-sided investigation. there is absolutely something wrong with that and it is absolutely un-american. >> well, the public spat even caught colleagues by surprise there. one saying he never had seen anything like this during his time in congress. the s.a.t.s, a test that can make or break college dreams, is getting an extreme makeover. nbc's rehema ellis has those details. >> reporter: caylee spots is among more than 1.5 million students taking the s.a.t. every year. did you stress out about this a lot? >> yeah, i was cramming every single night. >> reporter: many spend months and thousands of dollars preparing. >> it is like a game, the s.a.t. what you learn in your

preparation is strategies to play the game. what you do on the s.a.t. is not even what you're doing in high school. >> reporter: david coleman, president of the college board, explains that's about to change. >> there is no mystery as to what success in college and career training requires. it is time for a test that is open so kids can productively practice and ready themselves. >> reporter: the redesigned s.a.t. is going high tech. by 2016, it will be available in both paper and digital forms. it is returning it a score scale of 1600. the essay portion will be optional. and the current penalty for wrong answers is being removed. vocabulary words like prevaricator and sagacious will go away. instead, more practical words like synthesis and empirical will be included. there will be more focus on analyzing text and asking students to refer to real world examples and documents. >> that was rehema ellis reporting for us. now an update on a story

that impacted so many of you. this morning's target's chief information officer beth jacobs out of a job. part of the retailer's overhaul of its information security. target is trying to restore public trust during a two-week span late last year, you might remember, the personal information of some 110 million customers was stolen. now, for a look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins for us right now. and a little reprieve in some spaces but chilly. >> a lot of the country still suffering from cold and the northwest is all of a sudden the rainiest spot around. big storms just off the coastline. overnight, it continues to spread. gusty winds and rain. we have high wind warnings in some of the mountains. you see the storm spinning there just about under the satellite. we saw a band of showers and storms in san francisco last night. got a quick little downpour. the green on the map is the rain. it is set up right over i-5 and the mountains will see a significant rain once again today. we have already seen significant rain. we had over 2 inches in the last

48 hours for both olympia and seattle. even portland got an inch and a quarter. this is all good, beneficial rain. not much snow, though. snow levels very high. little band of rain went through san francisco, not a lot. just got a couple of -- about .16. that's about it. don't expect much more today. still getting rain in the mountainous areas. near tahoe and reno and the central areas of nevada. again, a little bit of benefit and dry it out from here in california today. that's your national forecast. >> we dry it out. this say pretty good storm, though, for the pacific northwest. >> it is. >> and continues to be very windy this morning. >> so seattle kind of like the london of the united states,

right? clouds and rain. bill karins, thanks. a massachusetts judge saying that photos taken up women's skirts is legal. the incredible images from a detroit bar that investigators believe is arson. [ male announcer ] frequent heartburn? the choice is yours. chalky... not chalky. temporary... 24 hour. lots of tablets... one pill. you decide. prevent acid with prevacid 24hr.

[ doorbell rings ] the johnsons! stall them. first word... uh...chicken? hi, cascade kitchen counselor. stop stalling and start shining with cascade platinum packs. over time, platinum fights cloudy residue 3x better than the competing gel. it's so powerful it even helps keep the dishwasher sparkling. avoid embarrassing moments... at least for your dishes. cascade. beyond clean and shine every time. [ clears throat ] hi. what did you do to deserve that thin mints flavor coffee-mate? it's only one of the most delicious girl scout cookie flavors ever. i changed the printer ink. [ male announcer ] try coffee-mate girl scout cookie flavors.

we need a new recipe. let us consult the scroll of infinite deliciousness. perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbell's has the recipes kids love. so good! [ wisest kid ] at campbellskitchen.com. [ gong ] m'm! m'm! good! and welcome back. residents of the detroit apartment building were forced to jump out a window when a fire broke out there. investigators believe the four alarm fire was started as a way to cover up a sexual assault crime earlier that morning. some residents are still missing. the massachusetts supreme court has ruled it is legal to secretly photograph underneath someone's clothing. justice margo boxburg says the up skirts in the case did not violate the law because the women were not fully nude and were covered with, quote, underwear or other clothing. texas police are looking for a forklift with an atm hanging off of it.

surveillance video showing a thief with some heavy machinery plucking that atm off the ground and then just backing up and driving away. we're not sure here, at least officials aren't, how much money was in the machine and have no suspects there. just look for the forklift. and police in florida are still trying to figure out why a mother of three would drive her packed minivan straight into the ocean. here's nbc's chris clackum. >> reporter: the dramatic scene in daytona beach, florida, tuesday, was captured on amateur video. these are the moments after a woman in a minivan hauling her three children suddenly veered into the heavy surf of the atlantic that sent several witnesses rushing to their rescue. >> she turned left and drove straight into the surf. >> reporter: tim tesseneer was one of those rescuers and says the 9 and 10-year-old he helped pull from the van both said their mother's actions were intentional. >> we heard the kids say, please, help me, my mom's trying

to kill us. >> reporter: tesseneer also says it was the two children who told rescuers about their 3-year-old sibling still strapped in a car seat while the mother just wandered off. the sheriff's department says the woman isn't talking to investigators, but is undergoing a mental evaluation. all three children have been turned over to florida's department of children and families. chris clackum, nbc news. >> now to health news. a breakthrough in the quest to cure aids. researchers at the university of pennsylvania modified and altered white blood cells in hiv patients to make them immune to the aids virus. this gene therapy is considered safe. scientists hope it could prevent some from needing medicines to keep their hiv in control. "early today" health is brought you to by vagisil, the experts in intimate health. time for cnbc's courtney reagan. good morning, courtney.

>> good morning, richard. u.s. safety regulators ordered gm to provide details on why it took so long to recall nearly 1.4 million cars for faulty ignition switches that could disable air bags. they want questions answered by april 3rd, starting with why they didn't replace the switches when it first noticed the problem in 2004. several retailers report february sales today offering a glimpse at how the winter weather affected business. many still have winter merchandise on the shelves, heavily marked down, as they try to clear space for spring items. a new survey finds consumers plan to spend less on dining out this year. the cutback is expected to be felt by casual dining chains like red lobster and applebies which attract middle class customers. the weather has not been easy on them either. richard, back to you. >> so true, courtney. just ahead, the u.s. versus ukraine on the field. plus, the actions of a young boy capturing the imaginations of thousands who witnessed the event. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes?

lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, no discomfort, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk! come on, would i lie about this? hello. [ female announcer ] lactaid. 100% real milk. no discomfort. and for a 100% real dairy snack you'll 100% enjoy try lactaid® cottage cheese. -hit the beach in florida. snack -and a reunion in seattle. we can afford to take more trips this year. [man] when hotels have unsold rooms, they use hotwire to fill them. [woman] so we got our 4-star hotels... for half price. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪ hotwire.com

from the big screen to small screens near and far twizzlerize your entertainment every day with twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. natural energy from tea packed with real juice from delicious fruits and veggies. it's what you need for that extra boost! oh and did we mention it's only 50 calories? need a lift? could've had a v8. in the juice aisle.

all right. new york city waking up right now. now to sports for you, unranked wake forest had only one win in the last nine games. and hang on, make that two wins now. their victim, number four duke, wake forest had a run of 17 straight points in their 82-72 upset.

dwight howard showing no mercy to his old team, the magic. the houston tower had 19 points, 14 rebounds. houston cruises to a 1 01-89 victory, 13th in their last 15 games. the golden state warriors do one better. they get their 14th win in their last 19 road games. the best in the nba. they trounce the celtics by 20. 108-88. there was an upset. golden state steph curry takes on his head coach mark jackson in a three point shooting contest. he lost to coach, who is almost twice his age. well done. not to be outdone, though, san francisco 49ers coach jim harbaugh, he hits the half-court shot. look at that. 50 feet out before kansas jayhawks game there. then he sits and watches the game. both republicans and democrats teamed up to play hockey against lobbyists from the likes of google and u.p.s. the winners of the sixth annual

congressional hockey challenge, everybody here looking forward to this because the proceeds did go to charity in the end. despite the ongoing crisis, ukraine was able to celebrate a victory in soccer. they beat usa 2-0 in an exhibition match. now to an english soccer match dating back to the 1600s. said to be the oldest and largest, perhaps the longest too, two days long, goals are three miles apart, the teams, well, they are the north of the river and the south of the river. the northerners one this year 2-0. finally what consumed the fans of a losing team? after brazil beat south africa, team brazil waved off security and said, hey, let this 5-year-old south african fan hang out with us and boy, did they? taking pictures too. everybody friends after that game. just ahead, a russian tv anchor resigns live on air over the situation in ukraine. plus, katy perry's turn at the weather down under next. [ female announcer ] what's a powerful way to cut through everyday greasy messes?

[ male announcer ] sponges, take your mark! ♪ [ female announcer ] one drop of ultra dawn has twice the everyday grease-cleaning ingredients of one drop of the leading non-concentrated brand... ♪ [ crowd cheering ] ...to clean two times more greasy dishes. dawn does more, so it's not a chore. chalky... not chalky. temporary... 24 hour. lots of tablets... one pill. you decide. prevent acid with prevacid 24hr. [prof. burke] at farmers,we make you smarter [bell rings] about your insurance,because what you don't know can hurt you. what if you didn't know that home insurance can keep your stuff covered,even when it's not at home? or that collisions with wildlife on the road may not be covered.

and what if you didn't know that you could be liable for any accidents on your property? the more you know,the better you can plan for what's ahead. talk to farmers and get smarter about your insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum - pa - dum, bum - bum - bum - bum♪ of "looking for a good deal" and "sheesh, i should've looked some more." ♪ that's why walgreens makes it easy to save even more on your medicare part d prescriptions. ♪ just stop on by and leave all the legwork to us. switch to walgreens today where you could save with copays as low as zero dollars on select medicare part d plans. at the corner of happy and healthy. still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.

well, welcome back. the storm system in the northwest continues with windy conditions. we're locked in with the moisture flow. the yellow is the heavier rain. we're getting drenched in the olympics. some river levels are up a little bit. we'll watch that closely during the day today. avalanche threat high, 3 to 4 inches of rain to the snow pack. and that definitely weighs it down and makes it dangerous. today we continue pretty much

northern california, seattle, with the rain chances over the next 24 to 48 hours. we dry it out. next storm, saturday night to sunday. >> okay. you are unflappable, bill karins. one of the best in the business. >> unflappable. >> unflappable. >> trying to flap me? >> we'll see. let's watch katy perry as she attempts to do some weather here. >> 20 degrees with a morning shower or two for hogwarts. partly cloudy and 25 for adelaide. i know that one. partly cloudy for alice springs. sunny and 33 in perth. >> after hours, bill karins. >> i couldn't get over the outfit she was wearing. the hits keep on coming for idina menzel after john travolta flubbed her name in front of 42 million people at the oscars. her co-star in a new play making a fake play bill naming her part will be instead be played by the wonderful adele dazeem.

the l.a. time s -- two osca voters admitted to not seeing best picture winner 12 years a slave saying it would be upsetting. but they still went on to vote because they felt obligated to do so. the big screen remake of annie has a trailer. the film stars oscar nominated 10-year-old kavezane wallace. should be a good one, huh? >> are you going to -- some things should not be remade, should they? >> wait until you see it. >> all right. >> good characters, no doubt. i'm richard lui. this is "early today," we hope it is your first stop of the day right here on nbc. here in philadelphia you can access a philly cheesesteak anytime, day or night. just like you can access geico anytime, day or night. there is only one way to celebrate this unique

similarity. witness the cheesesteak shuffle. ♪ cheesesteak, cheesesteak ♪ ♪ it's the cheesesteak shuffle! huh! ♪ ♪ every day, all day, cheesesteak, cheesesteak! ♪ ♪ every night, all night cheesesteak, cheesesteak! ♪ ♪ 9 a.m. cheesesteak! ♪ 2 p.m. cheesesteak! ♪ 4 a.m. cheesesteak! ♪ any time (ruh!) >>geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. chose prego traditional over ragu traditional. prego?! but i buy ragu. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made. [ pop muzak plays ] [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

leading the news in this morning's new york times, early treatment found to clear hiv in a second baby. nine months after being born with hiv, another baby treated with drugs immediately after birth is now virus free. on nbcnews.com, russia today anchor quits on air over putin white watch. liz wall, an anchor working for russian television, resigned on air saying the kremlin funded tv network was whitewashing the actions of president vladimir putin. some stories we're watching for you today. gambler is suing a las vegas casino. he wants his half a million dollars back. he says he was blackout drunk. the suit alleges the downtown comped him dozens of drinks while he gambled away last month. he plans to rely on witness testimony. a note left for a female pilot on a canadian flight says

the cockpit is no place for a woman. the passenger wrote that he wished here that the airline would tell him when a, quote, fair lady is at the helm so he can be sure to book another flight. well, the pilot wrote on facebook that she's heard many comments throughout her 17 year career, mostly positive, and that the passenger was more than welcome to deplane when he heard she was a, quote, fair lady. and this is what it looks like when a galaxy is ripped apart in space. the hubbell space telescope snapping the shot 200 million light-years away in 2009, but it is just being released to us right now. wow. look at that one. who knew a hippo could be considered adorable? a whopping 77 pounds. this newborn baby is just a speck in comparison to his mother. and also still awake while the mom sleeps. this little guy may not fit the traditional definition of baby animal cuteness. some people think he's cuddly

all the same an we'll only tell if he continues to steal hearts when he's 40 times bigger. >> this brings up the topic of least cute baby of any -- >> if you're ranking that, you're putting hippo closer to the bottom as opposed to like polar bears? >> oh, yeah. that's the opposite end of the spectrum. >> easy one. time for a look ahead and look back. the white house will be filled with music tonight. aretha franklin headlines the women of soul. also patti labelle as part of the performance at the white house series. on this day in 1912, the introduction of the oreo cookie. the oreo is the best-selling cookie in america with more than 490 billion sold over the year. i think i ate half of that. happy birthday to shaquille o'neal, 42. actor director rob reiner, 67. mary wilson of the supremes, 70. keep it right here for more news, weather and sports. i'm richard lui with bill karins. thank you for watching "early today," you have a very good day.

another round of wet weather hit the bay area. the east bay got the brunt of the storm. lightning lit up the night sky in walnut creek, richmond and san francisco. good thursday morning to you. it's 4:30. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm peggy bunker in for laura garcia-cannon this morning. let's take you outside right now for a live look across the bay area at the bay bridge toll plaza. emeryville and san jose. what you need know before you head out the door. let's check in with meteorologist anthony slaughter. good news on the rain. >> we saw decent amounts. we got about a quarter inch adding to the deficit of the drought that we're in but you'll notiig