nation's capitol to receive a special honor. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more straight ahead. and we begin this morning with a new terror plot thwarted. the cia has uncovered an al qaeda operation involving an updated underwear bomb from yemen. it was meant to target an airliner headed to the u.s. with a device specifically designed to make it past security. steve handles man reports. >> reporter: u.s. officials say no passengers or u.s. bound airliners were ever in danger. they say they foiled the plot before a suicide bomber could buy his ticket. and officials say the fbi has the bomb from yemen in its labs for testing. they say it's the next

generation of the underwear bomb that sizzled. this was a flight into detroit on christmas day 2009. officials say the new bomb was nonmetall nonmetallic, designed to pass undetected through the best in airport security, proof that al qaeda is still targeting air travel and that yemen is home to al qaeda's most active organization. >> this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those it would seek to attack this country. and we will do everything necessary to keep america safe. >> reporter: on sunday u.s. officials say an american drone like this one killed al qaeda's top commander in yemen. he had intimate knowledge of the new bomb blot. i'm steve handlesman, nbc, washington. last night on nbc's politics

nation, roger cressy stressed they're still very active. he told host al sharpton that it was the latest scheme that was foiled by good intelligence work. >> another good news story because it means the united states working with international partners and what that probably means is intelligence services in the regoj were able to identify this plot well in advance of execution and get control of this device before it ever became a threat to an airplane. the administration's pretty clear though that this plot was not tied to the anniversary of bin lat din's death though they have said they believe that the individual wanted to conduct the attack in this month, in the may time frame. you raise an interesting question though. what does it mean for al qaeda's strength. this is another example of why this affiliate in yemen is such a concern for the u.s., because even though al qaeda central has suffered tremendous losses, aqap as it's known continues to try

to do these type of attacks. you mentioned the 2009 attack, the underwear bomber, and then the cargo attempt in 2010, this is another example. this is three in the past four years. this remains an ongoing concern for us. >> the reverend al sharpton is on politics nation. speaking of politics, after weeks of negotiation, including an hour-long face-to-face meeting last week, mitt romney has finally received the endorsement of his former top rivalries, rick santorum. tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that. all the latest from the campaign trail. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. final word from rick santorum, i'm backing mitt romney. it came in a late-night e-mail to his supporters saying he thinks they all should back romney as the party's nominee. the two did meet last week for a

final meeting before this endorsement. all of this after santorum had called romney the worst republican in the country. meantime, romney is trying to take what he calls a lot of credit for recent successes in the auto industry. he's got a history with detroit including saying that instead of a bailout they should have been allowed to go bankrupt. president obama now has two members of his administration, key members, saying or suggesting that they back gay marriage. first joe biden and now education secretary artie duncan who says he supports same-sex marriage. tracie potts for us in washington. thanks. north carolina votes today on a referendum on same-sex marriage that has drawn national attention. the constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman has drawn protesters both for and against it. it would effectively ban guy

marriage in the state. north carolina is the only former confederate state without such an amendment. it is expected to pass. here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in massachusetts, a frightening moment as a mom was robbed at gun point after a man threatened her 4-year-old daughter. at one point the mom was stabbed in the collarbone before the robber took her purse and just ran off. the woman is expected to recover though. in california, one coffee house just might have the freshest in town. they have a bee hive on its roof. a long time customer who happens to be a beekeeper asked if he could raise the bees up there. it sits near downtown oakland. bees produce more honey in the city than in the country because they have additional sources of pollen and nectar. finally in michigan, another sweet idea. she made her own prom dress out of wrappers of starburst

candies. she collected 18,000 wrappers. she made a matching purse and hair band. no, just in case you're wondering, she did not eat all of those candies herself. sure, likely story. she says that her friends helped her with the snacking. 18,000 of them. for a look at your national weather, let's check in with bill karins. >> we've discussed the problem. >> favorite flavor? >> strawberry. make it all strawberry or cherry. >> it's brilliant. >> lemon, orange. >> who eats the lemon? >> i don't know. i'll send you mine. good morning, everyone. we are watching a quiet weather pattern on this tuesday. we are seeing temperatures that are very warm. yesterday, san antonio did hit 90. thankfully, all of the heat has finally retreated down to the south. we are finally looking at temperatures in the 60s and 70s through much of the country where we should be for this time

of year. and today's going to be another day where we'll see the split flow jet pattern. this is the southerly jet stream. this has been far to the north bringing all the warm air with it. texas and florida are seeing that humid air. the rest of us are enjoying dry air. the only problem in new england is along with the cool air, we're seeing rain. a light shield of rain that has moved this morning from buffalo to syracuse, ro chester, you particular ka. burlington, back over through springfield, massachusetts now. look at boston, looks like light rain to begin for you. state of ohio covered in light rain this morning. this should slowly clear out throughout the day today. you'll have a damp morning commute. it looks like near west virgi a virginia, rain for you. texas had thunderstorms. they're starting to die out. in between dallas and tyler. little light rain in southern oklahoma. i think later today we'll fire

up more thunderstorms around san antonio, possibly around houston. in the southeast it's a sunny, dry start to your day. damp day through much of new england. that's where the heavier rains will be. new york city, philly, baltimore, d.c., wilmington, we'll see isolated showers. west coast, looking at beautiful weather conditions on this tuesday. enjoy. >> lucky for them. bailout profit for uncle sam? no government deficit in april. lady gaga's tea cup worth more than its weight in gold. coming up, a clean sweep for the spurs. the coyotes make history. you're watching first look on m nnchts nbc. wake up!

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here are some of the top stories making news this

morning. benjamin net tanya hoo has brokered a deal with an opposition party in parliament canceling elections for september and guaranteeing the survival of his government. the army has not determined what killed captain bruce clark while he was talking to his wife via skype from afghan stand. she saw what looked like a bullet hole on the wall behind him but investigators found no bullet wound on his body. england's prince harry has accepted an award for his charitable activities on behalf of wounded service men and women. he accepted that award from colin powell. he joked that there was a record number of young single women attending the event. i bet there were. in the trial of former presidential candidate john edwards, there was more testimony about the money trail yesterday. there's much speculation about whether his one-time miss stress will appear on the witness stand. >> reporter: week three of the

john edwards trial began with prosecutors continuing to try to tie the presidential contender with what the government has called illegal contributions. >> i think anything that shows john edwards had knowledge that the money from melon and fred barron was being used to further their campaign is significant for the government. >> reporter: analysts say testimony from melon's testimony may back fire. >> he did explain that his client was clear and certain that the $700,000 or so that ultimately wound up with andrew and sherry young, some of it going on to reale hunter, most of it staying with them, was intended to assist john edwards with a personal matter. he also indicated that john edwards, as far as you knew, knew nothing about these monies. >> reporter: there are indications the state could wrap up its case this week and some indicate it could close with a bang. >> i think it's likely the government could close reale hunter as the crowning part of

the case. >> reporter: the miss stress has yet to appear, but has been the focus of much of the testimony here. >> i do think the government has gone out of its way with its witnesses to portray ms. hunter in an unflattering way. >> reporter: in 2010 oprah winfrey asked ms. hunter about her reputation. >> gold digger, home wrecker, new age air head. do you think that you have been unfairly judged? >> yes. i believe it's -- well, it's not accurate. that's not who i am. >> reporter: she could get the opportunity to clear up who she is from the witness stand and that could come by the end of this week. jay gray, nbc news, greensboro, north carolina. and now here is your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13008 after losing 29 points yesterday. the s&p added a fraction. the nasdaq was up one. taking a look at oversees

trading this morning. the hang seng was down 51. european election results rattled global markets monday. by the afternoon wall street investors were looking on the bright side. instead of fretting about the future of austerity reforms, they got signs for of hope for bailout. on the earnings front, higher beef and chicken prices helped tyson foods deliver a healthy increase in quarterly profits. frontier communications sold 7 perce fell 7%. >> a weak quarterly forecast and upcoming job cuts were announced. a san francisco jury decided that google did infringe on oracle's information. judges or jurors could not agree whether google's actions were

protected under so called fair use. yahoo's ceo scott thompson apologized for an improper sighting on his resume. the congressional budget office estimates tax increases and lower government spending helped the federal government snap a four-year deficit streak in april resulting in a $58 billion surplus. and, finally, how much is lady gaga's used china worth? quite a lot, apparently. a tea cup gaga used at a press conference in japan last year just sold for $75,000. i don't get it. well, the spurs sweep the jazz. the coyotes move on. and the nhl suspects the flyers leading scorer. an amazing home run robbing catch in minor league baseball.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. in a stanley cup playoff thriller the new york rangers stunned the washington capitals. there were only seconds remaining on the clock. here's fred roggin. good morning. a timely penalty in the stanley cup playoffs can not only change a game, it can change a series. game five between the rangers and caps.

new york down one with under 30 seconds to play. joel ward, a high stick to carl hag lynn's face. that's a double minor. it's a four minute penalty and the rangers made the capitals play. brad richards scored with 7 seconds left. the first two minutes of the penalty expired. ward serves the next two in the overtime. mark stol ended the game. the rangers snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. they win it 3-2 in overtime. the coyotes are headed to their first western conference finals. they scored a pair of goals and eliminated the predators with a 2-1 win. the red hot l.a. kings. the flyers will try to avoid elimination tonight. claude giroux suspected one game. game five between the devils and flyers at 7:30 eastern on the nbc sports network. basketball, the spurs had the best record.

they held on 87-81. now to los angeles, clippers and grizzlies needed overtime. that's where chris paul scored 8 of his 27. they grab a commanding 3-1 series lead. finally, to the diamond for an amazing play from a minor league game in texas. deep fly ball. watch as both the left fielder and center fielder went up and over the wall to make the home run saving grab. double your pleasure, double your fun. a great effort, but ironically this team lost the game by a home run. that's your "first look" at sports. i'm fred roggin. now for another check of the weather. let's check back in with meteorologist bill karins. >> that's the effort we want around here, lynn. >> diving over the desk to pick up my script? i'll work on that. >> yes. let's make sure the camera's rolling. good morning, everyone. if you're in areas of new england, if you look outside, i'm sure everything is all wet. it's a chilly morning.

this is just a shield of light rain from syracuse to albany now encompassing all of new york. starting to swallow up vermont and new hampshire. in boston, showers. if you're in maine, new hampshire, vermont, upstate maine, scattered showers further to the south. it won't be much in the way of sunshine today. hard to find from new york, philly, d.c. temperatures will warm up. the winds will be out of the south. you'll feel the added humidity. we will spark a few showers. heavy rain up into northern new england. look at what happens. it's once again like a two or three-day period in the middle of the week where it's cloudy and cool. then look at washington, d.c., thursday, friday, saturday, mother's day looks fantastic. we're going to be rewarded on the east coast for a two-day period with showers and rain. into the southeast, not an all day rain. sunshine followed by afternoon storms and the peak of tomorrow will show we'll dry it out in dallas and oklahoma.

we're looking beautiful in chicago and minneapolis. showers and light rain lingering there in areas of boston down i 95. there's a rainbow. we'll look forward to that. thank you, bill. coming up, who's in trouble, who got married, and who would you choose to play jimmie hendricks. >> plus a legal tug of war 2009 the one time super model and the play boy billionaire. it is finally over. your first look at entertainment is still ahead. ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] purina one beyond. food for your cat or dog. yeah, but the feeling wasn't always mutual.

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welcome back to "first look." time for entertainment news.

the biggest ever child support case has finally come to conclusion. former super model and the french bill nar husband settled their nasty two-year legal battle on monday. there were no specifics announced but evangelasta was seeking $46,000 a month. john tra volt at that is being sued by a masseur by claiming he was trying to seek to have sex with him. matthew fox was arrested on suspicion of dui. he was out on a fast food run in oregon. >> walk. >> good point. saturday, country singer jake owen and a few friends celebrating cinco de mayo. he managed to straighten things out in time for a monday sundrie wedding ceremony. >> she's not happy. no, she's not.

australian brothers are box office champs oof appearing in both the avengers and "the hunger games." and, finally, reports say outcast wrapper andre 3000 has been cast to play jimi hendrix. >> i'm so lame. i didn't know who he was. >> i didn't either. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. one day after the news that a drone strike killed a top al qaeda lieutenant in yemen, the cia says it thwarted a plot to smuggle a bomb on to a plane flying into the united states. the question is what did the investigation teach us about the broader threat of al qaeda in

yemen. meanwhile, rick santorum finally bytes the bullet and endorses mitt romney albeit in a late night e-mail to supporters where the actual endorsement comes in paragraph 13. the question is, fair to say this endorsement is one step above a late night drunk text? and new york and washington in an incredible last-second finish that could determine and swing their nhl playoff series. the question is, how bad was this body blow for the caps in a game that they had won until the very last seconds. it's "way too early" for this. good morning, i'm willie geist. this is "way too early." the show that is upside down in the polls. i'm glad you're up with us this morning watching on msnbc or listening live on sirius radio. you can shoot me an e-mail or tweet me. let me know what you're doing up at this