good thursday morning. coming up on "early today," breaking news overnight. three americans are dead after security officer opened fire at a children's hospital in afghanistan. government control. the fda wants to reign in the growing popularity of e-cigarettes. and that's just the beginning. sanctions teed up. president obama threatens to act against russia but admits putin's actions will require other countries to help. today's robots. the latest technology previewed early this morning for the president with a kick. world record. daredevil dynamic duo leap from the tallest building and add 500 feet for good measure. it's thursday, april 24th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning to you. i'm richard lui. we begin with breaking news this hour. three americans are dead, following an attack by a rogue cop at a children's hospital in afghanistan. this attack marks the second time this month that a member of the afghan security forces has turned a gun on foreign civilians. the u.s. embassy says it happened at kir international hospital in kabul. at least one of the victims was a doctor. the shooter is in police custody. he was critically injured after trying to shoot himself. president obama is talking trade deals and territorial disputes in japan today. it is the first stop of his four-nation tour aiming to reassure allies of u.s. support. china notably not on his travel plans. just hours ago, he and japan's prime minister held a press conference, the spotlight quickly turning to ukraine and

russia. >> we have been preparing for the prospect that we're going to have to engage in further sanctions. those are teed up. it requires some technical work and it also requires coordination with other countries. >> making the president's pivot to asia even more difficult, russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov tells russian television the u.s. is, quote, running the show in ukraine. nbc white house correspondent peter alexander traveling with the president in tokyo. peter, it appears that ukraine crisis here is overshadowing the president's trip. >> reporter: richard, good day to you. earlier today president obama expressed little optimism that russian president vladimir putin, russia in general will follow through in its commitment to de-escalate the situation in eastern ukraine. president obama saying that it is a matter daves not weeks before the u.s. will implement new sanctions if russia doesn't follow through. president obama saying he doubt s that vladimir putin will do

anything about that. this is being closely watch by many asian nations, specifically the nation president obama will be visiting. they're watching the way u.s. counter russian aggression as a signal about the way the u.s. may react to potential chinese belligerence in this region. earlier today we heard from president obama, who spoke out effectively on behalf of the japanese in support of a territorial dispute with china will still insisting china is an important american ally. this trip isn't all business. there is some pleasure as well. earlier today president obama went to a science expo where he seemed pretty amused by a remote-controlled humanoid robot that kicked a soccer ball to him. president obama forced to play goalie in that situation. he also received a prerecorded greeting from the members of those on board the international space station, including the japanese commander there. this time tomorrow president obama will be in south korea. the desire there is to focus on

the nuclear threat posed by north korea. president obama hoping to put new pressure on north korea. that is the latest from here, richard. back to you. >>alexander, thank you so much. new restrictions on the popular electronic cigarettes or e-sigs as some call them. the rules would ban sales to minors and require manufacturers to disclose ingredients but would not restrict flavored products, online sales or advertising. the industry knew the rules were coming for some time. they will also apply to previously underregulated pipe, tobacco and cigars. new investigations have found a series of errors and potential violations following the south korean ferry sinking. that while families continue the wait to find their loved ones, 171 bodies have been found and 131 people remain missing, mostly students. nbc's bill neely has more. >> reporter: divers began searching the deepest part of

the ship on the seabed. a ship prosecutors now believe was faulty, dangerous and badly controlled by a negligent crew. when the teenagers boarded the ferry a week ago, they didn't know it was severely overloaded. it left port with a cargo load three times heavier than the maximum recommended. shipping containers seen here spilling into the sea. the ship had a faulty steering system, reported two weeks earlier. so when the crew steered it to the right, prosecutors suspect heavy cargo shifted, unbalancing the ship. it never recovered, sinking fast. i tried to get the ship upright, but the equipment wouldn't work, says this crewman. he and six others have been charged with negligence. four more are being questioned. prosecutors say the company lied about the weight of the cargo on the ship. and they're investigating whether the company also bribed government safety inspectors to

give the ship the all clear. the passengers paid for what prosecutors say was criminal negligence, with their lives. the number of bodies brought ashore has now passed 150. victim 142, a girl, was recovered almost to the minute exactly one week after the ship made its final turn. each new arrival, a parent's nightmare. bill neely, nbc news, jindo, south korea. high quality pictures of a piece of sheet metal have brought up some more questions on the missing malaysian airliner. experts saying, though, it is unlikely they show parts of that actual plane. nbc's katie tur has the latest for us. >> reporter: a piece of sheet metal with rivets in it, about 3 1/2 hours south of where we're standing in perth, australia. despite weeks of searching, they still don't have any concrete evidence as to what happened to the plane. only clues, namely the four sets of acoustic pings that they

heard a few weeks ago. bluefin 21 still hasn't been able to find anything of that plane. and by the end of this week, it should be finished mapping out the area around this strongest signal, ping number two. after that, they're going to move on to more sophisticated technology, potentially even something like the u.s. navy's orion submarine which can go deeper and send data back in real time. for all the technology, this is still just an educated guess. a series of math mat kwematical equations and trial and error that led them to this point and will cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars when this is all said and done. in perth, australia, katie tur, nbc news. he simply missed home. that's what the father of the teen who snuck into a plane's wheel well is saying. the father told voice of america his 15-year-old son hid in the california plane because he wanted to go back to africa where he was from. the stowaway's father saying he

had been struggling in school. the teen continues to recover at a hawaii hospital after surviving below zero temperatures and low oxygen levels. watch as two men from the sole flyers jumping team base jump off the world's tallest building. the burj khalifa is almost twice as tall as the empire state building. they added a 500 foot platform on top of t2,016 feet, more than nine football fields up. they trained in the swiss alps to get used to thinner air. bill karins is holding hands as you saw on the way down, you might need that sort of support because of how scared you are on the way down. >> i'm mazed amazed by the bui itself. >> and add the 500 feet on top. >> at some point, it doesn't matter. >> it doesn't. i would want to see it. let's talk about what's happening out there. as far as the midwest, yesterday, didn't have any tornadoes but we had some large hail. this was a scene from carl, oklahoma.

you see the car driving through. this is golf ball sized hail. baseball sized hail, you would be shattering that front windshield. definitely some dime to nickel and golf balls mixed in. let's talk about the west. it won't stop raining. we had this same weather map ahead of yesterday. we're still getting drenched out there in many areas. a little bit lighter by spokane. we're going to watch to the south as the front tries to move on shore. eventually this entire storm system is going to swing to the south. not so much today in san francisco area, but tomorrow we have a chance to get a shower or a storm. we even have a chance in the higher elevations to get a little he? around tahoe, about four inches expected. 7,000 feet, as much as ten inches expected. that kicks to the south. won't bring a lot of moisture with it to the areas that really need it. any mountain snow is still very helpful this late in the season. that's your national forecast.

>> big changes in the west. it is going to get much chillier behind the storm. >> stick around. bill karin will be back. a new shark attack along a florida beach. the wedding gift most newlyweds want. and an incredible close call with a train. yeah, another one. you're watching "early today." everything your mouth does in a day is building up layer, upon layer, of bacteria. and to destroy those layers? you need listerine®. its unique formula penetrates these layers deeper than other mouthwashes, killing bacteria all the way down to the bottom layer. so for a cleaner, healthier mouth, go with #1 dentist recommended listerine®. power to your mouth™. also try new listerine® naturals. the only mouthwash that combines the power of listerine® with naturally sourced ingredients.

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acre wildfire that started wednesday. officials say the blaze is new only 25% contained. no homes are threatened and no injuries have been reported. look at that. a close call for a german tourist in florida. witnesses say the man was walking into the water at cocoa beach when a shark took a bite out of his leg. he's expected to survive. >> it was only a few meters or feet from where i was standing. he had a big wound on his -- his upper foot. and it was gushing with blood. >> and this next one, could have been much worse. watch here as a man crosses the train tracks in the czech republic. narrowly escapes getting hit by the oncoming train. watch as it knocks him -- his shoe off. he only got some minor injuries. he'll face a fine worth about $125. don't do that. just don't do it. time to get down to business. get ready for the ftc to issue new rules on what is called net neutrality. it all boils down to how fast

you get content. the rules would blow neutrality out of the water. it would allow internet service providers to charge for preferential treatment. parents, listen up. 800,000 infant video monitors are being recalled. it can pose a burn hazard to consumers. weddings are booming again. weddings are up 10% from last year and 75% from 2012. if you're wondering about the best gift, 55% of couples say cash. cash is still king. star wars 7 will cost around $200 million to produce. the most expensive so far in that series. casting is almost complete. the movie opens in december, 2015. just ahead, the best athletes ever back making waves in his sport. and we'll have all your other sports highlights. "early today" will be right back.

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this morning on "today," a one on one interview with the u.s. ambassador to japan, caroline kennedy, as the president makes a historic visit to tokyo on first stop of his asia tour. let's take you to sports. the latest, so two weeks ago you might remember this, new york pitcher michael pa neda was spotted with a foreign substance on his hand.

nothing happened after that. wednesday, playing boston again, it happened again. this time on his neck. this time he's caught and he's ejected. he confirmed it was pine tar. he was using it to grip the ball. that's not good. that's illegal. and puts him in line for suspension. the sox beat the yanks 5-1. a special celebration marks wrigley field's 100th birthday. fans of former chicago cubs great like andre dawson and ernie banks showed up to pay homage to the wall, curse of the goat, manually operated scoreboard and 100 years of classic games. look at that cake. wrigley is major league baseball's second oldest stadium. nba playoffs to talk about. dallas stopped the ten game losing streak to san antonio. five players in double figures. and hard nosed defense led to a 113-92 win over san antonio. dallas ties the series now at one. houston, we've got a problem. the portland trailblazers.

aldridge gets 46 points to give portland the 122-120 win. and now a 2-0 series lead. >> being able to be back in the pool and being able to just go to, like, go to the pool and be back in north baltimore and the group we have now, it is incredible. >> unretired michael phelps plans to make another splash in the 2016 summer games. the world's most decorated olympian making his comeback tonight in arizona in the 100 meter butterfly. i've got the new nfl 2014 schedule for you. this season kicks off with the super bowl champs seattle seahawks hosting the green bay packers. thanksgiving day games include chicago, detroit, philadelphia, dallas, and seattle, san francisco. and the first saturday regular season games since '05 feature san francisco, san diego and philadelphia and washington. go, san francisco. a tweet from dawson santos is saving his mom's life. she needs heart surgery and the

texas linebacker's plea for help on twitter has raised over $35,000 in just one week. less than one week, actually. good stuff. a good butt kicking is waiting for some thugs arrested during the thai new year celebration. the men are sentenced to fight a professional muay thai fighter as punishment. protect the head. things can get pretty strong. just ahead, i've got news for jodie foster -- about jodie foster, rather. a new baby for olivia and jason. and a fight between george clooney and billionaire casino mogul steve wynn. all that next. low prices,

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but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. i'll just press this, and you'll save on both. ding! ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, llllet's get ready to bundlllllle... [ holding final syllable ] oh, yeah, sorry! let's get ready to bundle and save. now, that's progressive. oh, i think i broke my spleen! home insurance provided and serviced by third party insurers. welcome back. we get to the end of april, take whatever rainfall we can get and we'll get a little bit in the san francisco area. this next storm system that kicks on through late tonight into friday, a chance of showers, maybe a stray thunderstorm or two. and then as we go throughout the upcoming weekend, a cool shot, things look significantly warmer

in many areas, not just california, but the entire west as we go into the middle of next week. the forecast thursday, we had no rain from oregon northward. it is tomorrow we shift a little bit of that to the south. >> bill karins, as always, thank you so much. entertainment news now, and hollywood welcomes a new bundle of joy. olivia wilde posting this picture on twitter last night revealing her newborn baby. wilde is married to jason sudeikis and this is their first child together. steve wynn, well, he got a little drunk, had a little bit of an argument and they were in las vegas. clooney making a statement to the las vegas review journal saying wynn insulted his good friend president obama. wynn fired back saying clooney is a mean drunk who threw a hissy fit. i want to be there to watch these guys have this discussion. must have been fun to watch. facebook founder mark zuckerberg, is that really him? no. >> the hair looks real. >> and nicki minaj. >> exactly. has that waxy look.

this is for the world famous madam tussaud's. there is the feet. that's important. i don't know why. that's part of a sneak peek for the new facility opening in san francisco. that's why they're showing it. >> that was rihanna, not nicki minaj next to him. >> oh, okay. >> just in case you missed it. >> you're working on it. jodie foster has married her girlfriend of less than a year, photographer alexandra hedison. they wed over the weekend according to e news. hedison dated talk show host ellen degeneres in the past. i'm richard lui. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day right here on nbc.

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leading the news in the washington post, 1.6 million americans don't have indoor plumbing. here's where they live. the map may make you appreciate your flushing toilet. the darkest areas show the households that lack complete plumbing facilities. last night, florida senator ted cruz on the right there tweeting this photo with a tiger skin rug with a caption, did a little shopping for the office. senator mike lee in hue ston today. would you buy that? it has gotten quite a few negative responses from animal lovers and animal rights activists. tense standoff in an ohio prison. officials saying a corrections officer was taken hostage by three prisoners there. they talked to a negotiator and released the officer without any injury. the men will now be moved to a

maximum security facility. nepal, top tourism officials are on their way to mount everest to try to stop sherpas from walking off the job. the sherpas are making new demands about things like pay, treatment and benefits after that avalanche that killed 16 of them just a few days ago. this could be the best selfie yet. american astronaut snapping this one of himself during yesterday's spacewalk. he took another one from farther away and then a tweet, he added, the spacesuit makes it very difficult. bill karins, i didn't know they could tweet up there. gee whiz. i have trouble walking outside the door sometimes getting a tweet out. the first cat cafe. i said cat cafe. purina has opened one in manhattan. sip a cappuccino and the cafe hopes to be a cafe for cat lovers and to improve cats'

lives by educating their owners. now a look ahead and a look back. 73-year-old frazier glen will face a preliminary hearing. he's charged with the april 13th shooting deaths of three people outside a jewish community center in a housing village in kansas. 1990, the space shuttle discovery carried the $1.5 million hubbell space telescope to orbit. >> among the tasks today, the astronauts began checking out the robot arm, which will lift the space telescope into its own orbit tomorrow. they photographed the space telescope while controllers in maryland turned on crucial systems. a critical moment tomorrow will come when controllers send the signal to open the solar panels, which supply power to the telescope. happy birthday to singer kelly clarkson, 32. cedric the ent takertainer. and barbra streisand. .

well, good morning, everyone. 4:30 on this thursday morning. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm laura garcia-canno. the first, let's check that forecast. >> good morning laura, scott, everybody at home. some changes coming to your forecast. rain returning. but for today i think you can keep your umbrella at home or in your car because temperatures will be comfortable, we'll hit the 70s in most of your inland valleys and the rain really impacting the north bay as we head throughout the evening hours, then we all get that rain tomorrow. heads up, you probably want to turn your sprinklers on to help out with that drought situation.