good wednesday morning. coming up on "early today," cruel hoax. a suspicious man with a rice cooker at the boston marathon finish line puts the bomb squad into action. al qaeda gathering. intelligence officials describe the meeting of dozens of militants as atypical. we'll tell you who was there. bloomberg versus the nra. the billionaire is taking on the powerful gun group using their own tactics and his fortune. plus, late-breaking news on a sinking ferryboat carrying hundreds of passengers. a horse-drawn carriage goes wildly out of control. and the mischievous kid caught in the claw machine. it's wednesday, april 16th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning to you, i'm richard lui. it was the one-year anniversary at the scene of the terror attack. tuesday a brazen hoax on the finish line of the boston marathon. the man you see here is in custody right now. he's accused of dropping a backpack with a rice cooker inside. police stopped him after an acting suspiciously. they say he was wearing all black with a veil over his face. he was walking down the middle of the street barefoot and in the pouring rain. that's when he was stopped and told officers what was inside. law enforcement officials tell nbc news a second bag was left behind by a media organization. now, both were blown up in controlled detonations as a precaution. the drama unfolding just hours after ceremonies to mark the anniversary. vice president joe biden praised the 36,000 who plan to run the marathon on sunday.

>> we are boston. we are america. we respond. we endure. we overcome, and we own the finish line! >> in washington, president obama remembered the victims with a moment of silence. authorities saying two ethnic chechen brothers planned and orchestrated the marathon bombings that killed three and injured 260. 26-year-old tamerlan tsarnaev died after a shootout with police. dzhokhar tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to federal charges. and awaits trial. he could face the death penalty. at least two people are confirmed dead after a ferry sunk off south korea's southern coast with 459 passengers on board including high school students on a field trip there. nearly 11 hours after the ship first sent out a distress signal, south korean officials report 292 people are still unaccounted for. a u.s. navy ship is on the scene assisting the rescue operation which will continue into the

night. frances kuo has more. >> reporter: these are photos of the ferry on its side off south korea's southwest coast. emergency crews on the water and in the air surround the sinking ship. the ferry was carrying more than 470 people, many of them high school students on a field trip to the southern island of jeju. on their way there, officials say the boat began listing badly. a distress call was sent. several helicopters and rescue boats raced to the scene. it's not yet clear what caused the ship to sink. frances kuo, nbc news. now to new video that appears to show a very large gathering of al qaeda members who recently escaped from a yemen prison. u.s. counterterrorism officials are examining this 15-minute video that was posted on youtube by the terrorism research and analysis consortium. it's described as showing dozens of militants who escaped from a yemen prison in february. u.s. intelligence officials tell nbc news they are being greeted by al qaeda's number two in command. a former guantanamo bay detainee and top official for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is also featured. u.s. intelligence officials tell

nbc news the video seems recent and authentic, but that there's nothing to indicate the terror plot planning. they say drawing broader conclusions would be speculation. the video was posted on april 4th, but it's unclear when the actual video was taken. michael bloomberg is pledging some big cash to support gun control efforts. the former new york city mayor has announced a $50 million investment to unite several smaller gun-control groups he already funds into one larger umbrella organization. it will be called every town for gun safety and will attempt to compete with the national rifle association in passing gun legislation. $50 million will be bloomberg's first major political investment since leaving office. and it is a big one. by comparison, the nra currently spends about $20 million annually on political activity. oscar pistorius' emotional and scathing cross-examination is over after five days. the prosecutor often calling the olympian a liar.

pistorius often fumbled and broke down into sobs. pistorius had the last word on tuesday on questioning by his own lawyer who gave him a card to read aloud. it was a valentine's day card that reeva steenkamp had given him just hours before he shot her to death. >> it says on the front of the card, "roses are red, violets are blue." on the inside, she wrote the date on the left and then on the right, she says, "i think today is a good day to tell you th that" -- and then it says "i love you." >> pistorius is accused of premeditated murder. he claims he mistook steenkamp for an intruder. the trial is expected to hear testimony until mid-may. a leisurely carriage ride in downtown savannah ended up giving tourists a story they'll never forget. this surveillance video shows something spooked a carriage horse so badly, it took off down the street plowing into several cars. the driver and five passengers went along for the scary ride, eventually hopping off.

this accident doesn't bode well for opponents of new york mayor bill de blasio's pledge to ban horse-drawn carriages. the fight in new york got new life tuesday when liam nielsen penned an op-ed in "the times" arguing against the carriage ban. if you're looking at the calendar, it is april 16th. there is snow on the ground in detroit to show you. not only that, the motor city got nearly three inches, that breaks a 133-year-old record for total snowfall in a year. the last time they had a winter this snowy, james garfield was president. did you know james garfield was the president, bill? yeah, of course you did. not much relief down south either. here's a look at snowfall in knoxville, tennessee. a dusting covering up some of the budding flowers there. you know, bill karins, knoxville, you can go skiing pretty close to there. >> yeah, in the smoky mountains. not in mid-april. >> i tell you. it's just so strange. >> yeah. it's been a roller-coaster ride. >> we'll take it, though. >> marquette, michigan, this

morning, negative one. >> holy moly. >> that's their temperature. can you imagine that? >> midwest. >> latest it's ever happened in that area of the country for negative temperatures. we mentioned how cold it is. snow this morning coating the ground from boston to new york city. out in the west, some of the warmest air in south florida and phoenix, two areas you'd expect it. temperatures aren't really the problem in the west, but we are watching the rain continuing to pour on washington state. we have a little bit of a warm front that's kind of caught up in the region. and that's just providing the lift and giving us this moisture that's just coming on shore. and it looks like we will see a cold front coming across the region thursday. we hope to clear it out by friday afternoon. but for the next two days, on and off periods of rain. you can see the light green is the light rain, and it continues pretty much over the entire puget sound all the way down now towards portland, too. have that umbrella with you the next two days. we could get as much as one to two inches of rain. especially the higher elevations. a soaking rain in the northwest.

we are still dry and very warm. phoenix up to 93 degrees today. that's your national forecast. now her we clear it out, as i mentioned, for friday. weekend, questionable. >> yeah, i'm looking towards may, bill. >> may? >> i'm wondering whether we're going to get showers in may. who knows? all right. he's not going to comment. >> as long as there's no snow. zpr >> exactly. the new york police department disbanding its spy unit. if you think smoking marijuana is okay, we have new information for you. and a 3-year-old goes missing, but where he's found, i've got to tell you, just priceless. we've got that next.

welcome back. for years, a st. louis man sexually tortured women inside his apartment using threats to keep them from going to police. according to prosecutors, the 29-year-old raped and assaulted five women over eight years. he faces 19 felony charges. ukraine military forces fought back tuesday, retaking an air strip from pro-russian separatists. this after pro-russian groups have been seizing government buildings with the ukrainian government now taking action, russian president vladimir putin is calling on the u.n. to, quote, condemn these anti-constitutional actions. a major outbreak of the ebola virus has the attention of officials throughout the world. in the past several weeks, the virus has spread throughout western africa, killing more than 100 people. right now health officials just trying to keep the incurable disease contained. the nypd has disbanded a special unit that used undercover officers to spy on

muslim civilians. this is one of the first signs that new commissioner william bratton is moving away from the city's post-9/11 practices. a new study from northwestern university shows casual marijuana use is linked to abnormalities of the brain, specifically in the regions responsible for emotional and motivation. researchers say the drug caused abnormalities in the smoker's working memory. two lucky boys got to ride in the pope mobile. how about that. pope francis picking the two 11-year-olds from a group of fifth graders who presented him with a t-shirt from their school. one of the boys told the a.p. it was the ride of a lifetime. at that page you love any sort of mechanical thing that moves around. you've got the pope as well. and you've got to see this story. this 3-year-old really wanted that prize. so much that he left his mother's apartment and made his way to the bowling alley arcade. it didn't the take long, though, for the police to realize the missing boy had climbed right into the claw machine. with all those neat toys inside. the tricky part getting him out,

no doubt. let's get you business. cnbc's seema mody joins us now. good morning. >> gm's ceo mary barra is creating a product development group focused on safety as the automaker continues to respond to the recall of ignition switches in millions of vehicles. gm is also asking a judge to shield the company from any legal claims before it filed for bankruptcy in 2009. ford will sell a special edition mustang to mark the muscle car's 50th anniversary. it comes in blue or white and has special features such as chrome highlights around the grille and windows. ford will only build mustangs. and google is planning a modular smartphone that consumers with customize with various features such as a camera or blood sugar monitor. google will also open an online market where you can buy hardware just like an app store. richard? >> seema, i'm going to call that

the lego phone. you like that one? appreciate that. careercast.com looking at 200 jobs in america, and they've compiled the ten best and ten worst in the country. the best jobs starting at number ten, speech atologist, occupational therapist, computer systems analyst, software engineer, dental hygienist, autoologist, actware, statistician, tenured university professor. and the number one job in all the land with an income of over $100,000, a mathematician. hmm. the worst jobs out of 200, by the way, corrections officer, firefighter, garbage collector, flight attendant, head cook, broadcaster, yeah, taxi driver, enlisted military personnel, newspaper reporter, yeah, double doozie. and the worst job on the survey at $24,000 a year, lumberjack. but have you ever met a lumberjack that isn't happy? they kind of enjoy the job. just ahead, one of the most frightening things for any parent. a burglar standing over your sleeping baby. plus, tracy morgan has some

advice for alec baldwin. you're watching "early today" only on nbc.

this morning on "today," cyndi lauper celebrating 30 years of musical success. the legendary singer performs one of her classics live on "today." take you to sports. tuesday baseball players in all the league paid homage to the league's first black player, honoring jackie robinson. cleats and jerseys had his number 42 yesterday. it marked 76 years since the great first took to the diamond. celebrations began back in 2004. new york's carmelo anthony

could be done as a knick. he sat out yesterday's game against brooklyn. the future free agent tore his shoulder. he'll be out through the playoffs. team doctors say he won't need surgery. new york still wins, 109-91 yesterday. portland's damian lillard has a new commercial. it's part of what espn says is a $100 million sponsorship deal. >> just picked up some fresh adidas gear from foot locker. look good, play good, right? the last thing i want to be is one of those gs who never win a ring. >> burgers are ready. >> yeah. karl malone and others who defendant's exhibit get a ring. she's the all-time leader in blocked shots and two-time national player of the year. britney greiner did that at baylor while on a roller coaster of emotions. in her new book, the lesbian wnba star says encouragement to hide her sexuality and weak coach support made it difficult for her. griner was just named to "out"

magazine's power 50. as the puck drops on the nhl playoffs tonight, so does a new lawsuit. retired players accuse the league of promoting fights. they want a deal like the recent nfl $765 million concussion settlement. the league plans to fight it out in court. which team pays the most in all the land? a five-year study shows soccer's manchester city. each player averaging over $8 million. next is baseball's new york yankees and l.a. dodgers. real madrid and barcelona. here's the latest from caleb watson, the adopted 2-year-old son of recent masters winner bubba watson. man, he's got a swing. i think we should start measuring him for a green jacket. what do you think? just ahead, miley cyrus hospitalized. dena lohan's latest criminal close-up. plus she's got the moves like jagger and then some. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. we're continuing to watch the cold weather in the east. in the west, we're watching more status quo. we're still kind of cloudy and damp in the northwest. two days of rain coming your way. we're not bad. just kind of typical areas in many areas of california. not too hot, not too chilly. dealing with morning clouds, maybe fog, too. maybe medford sneaks in with wet weather on thursday. looking ahead towards a holiday easter wooeb e eer weekend. l.a., not too bad. more of the same. no wet weather. not too hot, not too cold. >> easter really creeped up on us this year. >> yeah. >> the first quarter of the year just gone. miley cyrus has had to cancel another concert for sickness. this one puts her in the hospital. fans excited for her kansas city show were disappointed to learn they would not be seeing the pop star. instead cyrus tweeted a photo of herself in a hospital bed. her rep saying that she suffered a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics.

the "fast and furious" facebook page revealing paul walker's brothers cody and caleb will step in for him and will help him finish some of the last shots of "fast & furious 7." chelsea chandler is making waves thanks to this tweet. look carefully. the photo shows the late-night talk show host reading over paperwork with the cbs logo on it. maybe chandler is getting ready to follow up stephen colbert's "late show" with one of her own. now it's time for lindsay loh lohan's mom to get a mug shot. why not? she pled guilty in new york tuesday to drunk driving and speeding charges. and then tracy morgan had some wise words for "30 rock" co-star alec baldwin about dealing with the paparazzi. in a "new york times" interview, morgan saying chill out, raise your family. and that the paparazzi have a job to do, too. morgan is no stranger to controversy, as many of you know, having made gay slurs on stage. and simon cowell getting quite the surprise after this

79-year-old grandmother wowed the "britain's got talent" audience. take a look. ♪ ♪ >> that's exactly what i was saying. 79, man. >> she was holding on around the guy's neck all on her own. >> oh, no problem at all. you would consider that you'd be worried about how strong her joints were at 79, going on 80, lut bo look at her. fantastic. i'm richard lui. we hope this is just your first stop of the day here on nbc. when you're 80, can you do this, you think?

leading the news in the uk's telegraph, vials of deadly sars virus go missing in france. more than 2300 tubes from a high-security lab in paris evidently. the man in charge says they, quote, looked for boxes everywhere. from nbc philadelphia, a male officer dresses as amish woman to scare flasher. sergeant chad adams went above and beyond after he learned a man was exposing himself to amish children on their way home from school. no arrest was made, but adams believes he scared away the perp. india's top court has decided to officially recognize a third gender. it's a landmark verdict that allows people to identify as transgender on official documents. the court ruled it's the right of every human being to choose their gender. an estimated 3 million indians are transgender.

the ncaa has announced college athletes can now receive unlimited meals and snacks. the new rule applies to both scholarship athletes and walk-ons. this changes an old rule which only allowed scholarship athletes three meals per day. and a hair salon in london getting a surprise visit from two north korean officials recently. they were from the nearby embassy and upset with the haircut. no, it wasn't theirs. it was the one on a poster out front. now, the poster showed leader kim jong-un with the caption "bad hair day?" 15% off all gents' cuts through the month of april. can't do that to the great leader. must not. well, caught on tape. burglar with a baby in the room. a 2-year-old was sleeping in his crib when the intruder climbed in from the window. the parents were sound asleep but were mortified to later watch the intruder keep their baby company. the intruder watched the baby sleep from the crib's side,

shining his flashlight and later rob from another home. >> what's the guy looking for? you're in the baby's room. what are you going to steal? diapers? >> he's hanging out with a baby on top of that. no reason, no rhyme, my friend. here's a look ahead and a look back. classes resume at franklin regional high school in murrysville, pennsylvania. counselors will be available to teachers and students to help deal with the mass stabbings that took place one week ago. on this day in 2007, a shooting massacre took place on the campus of virginia tech. >> this is easily the saddest place in our nation tonight because this place will now be known forever as the scene of the largest mass shooting in u.s. history. tonight, the death toll here stands at 33, the result of a horror that unfolded here early this morning. and today's birthdays, martin lawrence, 49. jon cryer, 49. and pope benedict xvi turns 87. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. have a great wednesday.

good wednesday morning to you. a lot to get to this morning. let's check the forecast. good wednesday morning to you. we are making it half way through the workday today. temperatures will be comfortable but warmer. we are waking up with mild conditions. look at the cold this morning in the north bay. we are in the 50s headed towards the 70s. up and down changes coming your way. let's say good morning and check the drive. let's get the folks right to the shot of the bridge.