today," from congress to the courts, president obama signs the historic health care overhaul unconcerned by legal changes from 14 states. >> wrong side of the tracks, a passenger train takes out an expensive detroit fire truck. and deep sea miracle, a group captures a whale giving birth. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the law of the land. with the stroke of the pen, president obama has made health care reform a reality. while the white house celebrated a major victory, the process of revamping a deeply troubled system is only just beginning. as reported, the challenges of reform are daunting as is the opposition against it. >> reporter: president obama signed his health care reform plan into law with one of its champions watching. marcel is la whose mother died while uninsured. >> the bill i'm seening will set in form what generations have fought hr. >> reporter: he was thanking health care sad row advocates. this year insurance companies will no longer be able to drop people's coverage when they get sick.

>> reporter: by 2014 all americans are required to buy insurance to spread the risk and lower rates. 14 states filed suit. >> it forces people to do something in the sense of buying a health care policy or pay a penalty, a tax, or a fine that simply the constitution does not allow congress to do. >> reporter: in 2014 higher taxes kick in on well off americans to pay for coverage for the needy, but only if the senate now okays that. republicans will fight. >> we are determined to continue to take our case against this government takeover of health care to the american people. >> reporter: president obama said in effect, bring it on. >> i heard one of the republican leaders say this was going to be armagedd armageddon. well, you know, two months from now, six months from now you can check it out. we'll look around. and we'll see. >> reporter: in the nation's hospitals and in our voting booths.

i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. well, president obama is also trying to patch up strained relations over u.s. and israel over their announcement to build homes in east jerusalem. prime minister benjamin netanyahu met behind closed doors. it came hours after meeting with congress on the hill. at the white house the two leaders held two separate meetings but there's been no comment from either side how the meeting has went. meanwhile england is taking the unusually dramatic step of exp expelling a student in the assassination of a hue mass leader. they nighter confirm or deny a role. that he says will prove his

innocence. hank skinner is appealing to both the state's governor and the u.s. supreme court to stop the planned execution. the 47-year-old denies any part of the 1993 murders of his girlfriend and her two sons. although his attorneys do not say they're convinced he's innocent, they do argue that all the evidence should be examined. if his appeal is denied, hank kiner will become the firsth prisoner to become executed in texas this year. now here's a look at other stories making the news today in america. in drit one accident prompted a second one. a fire truck parked on the tracks responding to a call. one firefighter and one passenger suffered minor injuries. in cleveland, ohio, all that remains of a historic church are sandstone walls after it was ravaged by a fire. it dated back to 1887. police and authorities believe a

lightning struck -- lightning strike may have ignited the blaze. montpelier hosted a rather rotten event yesterday. the 16 national finalists in the rotten sneakers brought their best and got their worst sneakers out for the master sniffer. they were judged by condition and odor. an 11-year-old girl, if you can believe it, from connecticut was the champion. a chicago area statistic teen may be this year's market bracket champion of the world. he correctly predicted the correct outcome of the first two rounds of the ncaa men's basketball game. 48 of 48. the odds of that happening are 1 in 13 million. as for who will win the title, he's got the boiler makers of purdue winning it all. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. bill, i was relying on you to

pick the winning team. you picked kentucky? >> for you. >> for me. >> syracuse for me. >> i should have been listening to this guy. don't want to offend anyone in purdue, but they're not winning. >> no one in kansas thought -- >> that's true. you never know. >> 1 in 13 million. i want to meet this kid. >> he would have won a lot of money if he put money on it. let's talk with what's going on weather wise out there. two big storms. one hit new england yesterday with the heavy rain, the other is what's going on in the middle of the nation. this is cold enough for a big-time snowstorm. the radar, all of it here, the front range has been getting nailed with one to two feet of snow. take a look. this is denver, colorado, the interstates. they're telling people to stay off of them. it is still snowing hard. at one point last night they had thundersnow. there was reports of lightning in the area. so once again, colorado, this is what happens in march. you may even get another snow event coming up friday into

saturday. so here's the forecast. east coast looking pretty good. the storm leaves new england during the day. lots of sunshine. temperatures in the 70s, just about up to norfolk. 60s up to d.c. great lakes, a little cool. rockies, you look just fine, boise and salt lake city. that's a look at your forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. a lot of areas are going to see enjoyable weather today from cleveland, ohio, to tampa. temperatures are going to be near average for once in many areas down in florida. tampa today around 76. philadelphia, beautiful at 63. lynn, there's a surge of cold air that's going to head down from canada in the next couple of days. we'll talk about that when i come back. caterpillar booms, nintendo goes 3-d, and why the irish aren't drinking as much these days. plus it's no wonder she gave

up being governor when you hear the salary she'll be getting for her reality tv show. arenas could be headed to jail, and one of the longest goals you'll ever see. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here's some of your top headlines this morning. in mississippi a federal judge ruled the school district violated the rights of a teenager when it canceled her prom instead of letting her bring her girlfriend. while the judge did not go as far as ordering the school to hold the prom, he did say he will be holding a trial on the issue at a later date. the teenager wants the school's actions declared unconstitutional, and $1 in damages. racial tensions are flaring in raleigh, north carolina. three people were arrested at a

school board -- as the school board agreed to roll back a bussing policy aimed at achieving diversity in favor of a new plan that will place students closer to their homes. while many angry black protesters called it recession agreegation and the ncaa chief accused them of racial at tu attitudes. oprah winfrey has settled her lawsuit. the headmistress claims winfrey defamed her. no word on the terms of the settlement. and scientists cob ducting a survey for the u.s. navy snapped rare photos of an endangered whale giving birth off the shores of florida. they say the training would threaten the species. the navy says the birth happened outside the range. here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,888.

the s&p gained 19 points. taking a look at overseas trading in tokyo the nikkei climbed 40 points while in hong kong the hang seng rose 20 points. >> industrial and tech stocks kept wall street slow but steady rally moving forward. with the dow and the s&p 500 hitting 18-month highs, caterpillar led the way thanks to two analysts. on the strength of its long-term potential. shares of caterpillar climbed 4%. the nasdaq and its semiconductor base got a boost. the chip maker shot up 14% after raising its quarterly outlook. investors looked on the bright side of a smaller than expected slide in home seals. meanwhile health-related stocks struggled to hold on to monday's gains as the president signed the health care reform bill into law. the government's pay czar

says five will taken out about 15% this year. it also includes a $500,000 cap on cash compensation. later today bank of america will reportedly unveil a new plan to help cash-strapped homeowners. set to roll out in may the bank will give up to 30% of a mortgage loan's principle in hopes of preventing foreclosures. in overseas trading nintendo shares surged 19% after announcing plans of its 3d version that won't require the pesky glasses. the software maker shot up 5% in late trading after reporting its quarterly earnings. and finally, is how much alcohol we drink a reflection of how we're doing economically? against the backdrop of global recession and deep unemployment, ireland's per capita alcohol

consumption fell by almost 10% in 2009 and is now 21% below its all-time peak in 2001 when ireland's economy was booming. >> in nba the star faces a slammer, the nfl wises up, and break up the knicks. they've won two in a row. plus an al thornton bomb from downtown earns the wizards a chance in overtime. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. much of the nation is just going to need sunglasses today, but in denver, you're going to need the big shovel. your wednesday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, washington wizards' guard gilbert arenas is on the sidelines after being suspended on the nba for keeping weapons in the locker room, but later this week he may be getting hit with much more serious penalty. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. the washington wizards' gilbert arenas may be headed for jail for three months. you may recall he was suspended by the nba. he then pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating washington, d.c.'s, strict gun law.

he'll be formally sentenced on friday. the wizards have struggled without arenas but made it interesting with bobcats. under ten seconds to play. down three. al thornton stop and popped from beyond the arc and the game was tied. the extra frame was all bobcats. everybody beats the wiz. they lost their 12th straight, 95-86. this time he settled for 36. final minutes, knicks up four. they pulled the nuggets to within one. a jumper in the lane. the knicks won it 109-104. big changes yesterday regarding nfl's overtime policy in the play-offs. beginning next season if they win the coin toss and kid a field goal get as chance to score. they made the change after 15-year study shows that the

team that won the coin toss won the game 60% of the time. finally, what a goal, what a time. argentina. the goalie with the free kick from some 70 yards away fired a rocket for the equalizer. another look. an amazing shot by of all players the goalie. in this case, he was a bit of both. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. reports say lindsay lohan god a job. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus a real life story of guts and determination with a very happy ending. you're watching "early today."

one more shot of cold arctic air looks like it's going to try to make a run at the northern half of our country as we go throughout the next couple of days. this is canada. the temperatures are very cold up here far to the north. some of that's going to bleed down through the great lakes, northern plains and eventually new england as we head to the upcoming weekend. 58 in billings and 52 in minneapolis. a very nice day on the east coast. and then look at that. the temperature drops to 44 in minneapolis. so much colder air is on the way for the northern half of the country. well, if you've watching us on wxi a-11 live, atlanta, georgia, explore argentina's bad lands of patagonia.

at the fern bank museum of natural history. and that's your ear"early today today event of the day, lynn. time now to look at the stories that we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. my lie cyrsigcyrus makes he move. her next movie project will see her playing the 16-year-old daughter of a james bond-like super spy. sources say matthew mcconaughey has already turned down the role of her father. and speaking of 007. reports say she's the next bond girl are wrong. according to them she hasn't even been approached. somehow for some reason despite her role, it's reported that lindsay lohan will be designing hand bags for ed hardy. finally sarah palin is ready

to ink a deal with discovery channel for her own travel show. the former governor will reportedly be paid $1 million per episode. wow! >> she'll get the ratings, i bet. >> for cable, a million dollar an episode. that's network tv stuff. that's like "friends" material. and this comes to us from wtvj, nbc 6 in miami where one man has overcome the odds and much more to make his return to the skies. edward piper thought he might never fly again after the plane he was piloting crashed nine years ago. the accident left him without his legs but somehow he had a passion for flying. it took two years to regain his license and modify his plane but now he's one of a handful of paraplegics ever allowed to pilot a plane. remarkable. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first

stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

>> good morning, everyone. i am tony pann. things are pretty quiet on this wednesday morning. it should be a nice day after the chilly temperatures yesterday. the forecast for today is mostly sunny. it should be a nice day. high temperatures in the 60's. we have some rain to talk about in the seven-day forecast. over to the news desk.

>> thanks. here is a look ahead to 11 news today. >> and light rail accident suspense service and sends one person to the hospital. details are straight ahead. >> as president obama and democrats celebrate health kate -- health-care reform, republicans tried to block what they can. they can. [ female announcer ] have you ever seen a glacier while sunbathing? why not? have you ever climbed a rock wall in the middle of the ocean? or tried something really wild? why not? it's all possible in the nation of why not. royal caribbean's floating nation where you're free to do anything you want. which may be nothing at all. royal caribbean international. cruises from baltimore and new jersey. visit royalcaribbean.com today.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> good morning. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> let's take a lot of the forecast with tony pann. but it will be a pretty decent day. day.