[ cheers and applause ] today," minimal risk. a report on the highly anticipated pentagon study on lifting don't ask, don't tell. major oops, an ohio smokestack implosion doesn't go quite as planned. and chocolate lovers, beware. confectioners issue a dire warning about the world's confectioners issue a dire warning about the world's chocolate supply. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good morning to you. i'm ver rhonda dell la cruise. a pentagon study has concluded the pent go can lift the ban to openly serving gays risk. in addition, the post says more than 70% of respondents surveyed sent to active duty and reserve troops said the effect of repealing don't ask, don't tell would be positive, mixed or nonexistent. those results led the authors to conclude that objections to openly gay colleagues would drop once troops were able to live and serve alongside them. in washington, the unwelcome task is being faced of slashing the budget deficit. among proposals, tax hikes, medicare cuts and raising the retirement age. kristin dahlgren has more from

us live. >> good morning, veronica, cuts in taxes increases, a couple of controversial proposals by this so-called deficit commission, now cochairs unveiled the ideas yesterday to bring $4 trillion in deficit deductions by 2020. they called debt a cancer that needs to be fixed. the proposals were immediately attacked by both the left and the right in washington. speaker pelosi calling them unacceptable. from korea, president obama urged critics to learn more about the proposals, he said, quote, we have to be straight with the american people and tough choices may be needed. but the proposals may not survive their own commission. 14 of the 18 commissioners need to approve them prosecute they're sent to congress for a vote. some say that could be unlikely. the cochairs acknowledged that all proposals may not fly,

perhaps a bit of shock therapy to show the american public just how serious the deficit situation is and they're seeing it, veronica, as a starting point. >> thank you. the pass ekers whose cruise ship destination ended up in a nightmare are nearing towards port. all they can do is wait and eat the pop tarts and spam that's been flown in for them. >> reporter: the carnival splendor, under tow and heading home to southern california. >> our focus has been totally centered on the safety of the guests, the safety of the crew and getting everybody home safel safely. >> the cruise ship lost power monday after an engine room fire. carnival has delivered food and drink supplies by naval helicopter to the ship's

passengers and crew. >> it's stuffy. we have some passengers that have full service restored as far as water and bathroom services, but no light, no power, no electricity, no air flow. >> reporter: a team of five tugboats is expected to have the strip off the shores of san diego by dawn. carnival says the tugs will slowly guide the ship through the harbor with arrival at the dock expected around mid day. kurt gregory, nbc news. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a wisconsin driver is behind bars after leading drivers on a high speed chase. at one point, the man jumped out of the car and into the bushes while the unmanned vehicle nearly clipped an officer. the man has been charged for multiple offenses, including possession of meth amphetamines. demolishers in ohio had an embarrassing mishap when an old

tower imploded and came crashing down in the wrong direction. apparently one of the detonators didn't go off. it downed power lines and left over 4,000 customers in the dark. high flames and thick, black smoke shot up into the air at one california refinery. a power outage in the area forced workers at the plant to release large amounts of gas which caused excess flaring. health officials warned nearby residents to stay inside, but have isn't since lifted that order. in new jersey, a 14-year-old girl may have reeled in a record cash. it hasn't been confirmed yesterday. her 58 plus pound striped bass appears to have blown the record out of the water. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. how are you doing? >> good morning.

a nice, quiet day for me here. it's a beautiful veterans day. a lot of parades will be going on today. it looks nice up and down the eastern seaboard. the next storm system is brewing in the middle of the country. this one will be with us probably for two or three days. now moving up into southeast kansas and just south of kansas city. it's going to be a big rain event for the first two days, maybe snow on the tail end of this storm. mostly heavy rain will develop in oklahoma, central kansas and up here through sioux city and through minneapolis. in areas of minneapolis, we have to watch the potential for snow on the backside of this storm in the days ahead. today's forecast, rain will be developing in kansas city, maybe thunderstorms late today. denver on the cold side of this storm, snowflakes, but not too bad of a snowstorm for you. the east coast looks really nice. sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. that's a look at your forecast.

now here is a look at the weather outside your window. beautiful day today in alabama, mississippi, georgia, florida is looking really nice. not bad around detroit and baltimore and pittsburgh. temperatures there in the upper 50s to low 60s. st. louis, increasing clouds, 73. veronica, we'll take a look at friday's forecast, coming up. >> sounds good, bill. see you then. cisco stumbles, and why you might find yourself on a flight sitting next to a famous actor. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, the country couple that has it all now has even more. the jazz do it again, another first for john wall and possibly the worst way to lose a game. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top

headlines this morning. speaking at today's g-20 summit, president obama said the united states and china are making progress to tackle sensitive issues like the openness of the chinese economy and the reforming of the country's currency. earlier in the day, the president marked veterans day by saluting american troops who fought in the vietnam war. england's james cameron said those involved should face prosecution. amazon.com is drawing outrage over its decision to sell an e-book that builds its as a guide for pedophils. it cited the right to free speech, but as of last night, the book had been reproved from its site. and how much would you pay to satisfy your sweet tooth?

industry experts claim in just 20 years, chocolate will be as expensive as caviar. that's because african farmers who produce the bulk of the world's supply are abandoning their farms in search of better pay. and now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines. many children in the united states have adhd or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. over a few years, government scientists attribute that to growing awareness and better screening. about two-thirds of the children who have adhd are on medication. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page online at msnbc.com. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,357 after

adding ten points yesterday. the s&p edged up 5 points and the nasdaq gained 15. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei rose 30 points while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 199. markets made a modest comeback yesterday, but an outlook for a bellwether could spell a rough start for the day. cisco had its worst earnings decline ever. after the bell, kohl's shares were up after the department store reported quarterly earnings in line with estimates. gm weighed in with its largest quarterly profit since emerging from bankruptcy in july of last year. the dollar will be front and center today in the wake of the fed's first easing program purchase. as the u.s. builds criticism for keeping interest rates low from overseas. on that front, treasury secretary tim geithner told

"today" the u.s. will never to use that tool. the economy is on the mend. a new report shows a not so surprising drop in the amount of foreclosures last month after lenders temporarily stopped foreclosures. google in back in the hot seat over allegations its street view mapping tool violated laws. this week, it's being investigated just two weeks after another inquiry was closed. boeing took a dive after shutting down the dreamliner to determine what caused smoke in the cockpit on tuesday. and if approved, a proposed union deal could require screen actors to fly economy class in exchange for a pay hike b and more benefits. a wall with no bricks, a sweet big apple return and a

major blunder in high school football. plus, the utah jazz makes noise again coming up with yet another soccer in the sunshine state. on have veterans day, we're expecting wet weather in the middle of the country, but a lot of beautiful blue skies up and down the east coast. your veterans forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." we believe keeping kids healthy can start with healthy hands.

with the lysol no-touch hand soap system healthy hands can be automatic. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth.

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, utah played two of the nba's best tooems team on back to back nights and the jazz were smooth in each of them. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. so after coming back from 22 down against the heat on tuesday, the utah jazz did it again last night in orlando. this time, utah was down 18 and rallied in the third. paul milsap double clutched the bucket and foul. jazz went off in the fourth. darren williams from beyond the.arc, utah within one. williams from long range. it's not how you start, it's how you finished. jazz win it, 104-94. wizards and rockets, second quarter, b gilbert arenas up, threw it down. whiz up by seven at the half. wall with the steal and the dish

to thorton. wizards won it, 98-91. knicks probably wish they never would have gotten rid of lee. lee had a season high 28 points and 10 boards. last chance for new york, wilson chandler for the tie, brick. warriors held on, 122-117. baseball national league gold gloves awarded yesterday. the reds player now has won for three times. check this. instead of kneeling down, taking down any in the middle of the play, he ran around and finally stopped. the other team said, thank you, i'll take that. he grabbed the ball and ran it in for a winning touchdown.

jake's team is now headed to the playoffs. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. pink may be seeing the stork and one celebrity chef is seeing red. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, she was one of the all-time great necessary tennis, but apparently that wasn't enough for march tina nafr ta loaf va. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this vernls day morning. we're watching beautiful conditions up and down the east coast. a nice afternoon from d.c. down to atlanta and florida. we will see showers and thunderstorms. we have a few of them in oklahoma. they'll be moving northward through kansas and kansas city during the night tonight. on the backside, a little bit of snow today in denver. now, tomorrow for friday, all the stormy weather is going to be in the middle of the country and this is where it's going to last into saturday while the east coast warms up. if you're watching us on wnyt, news channel 13 albany, new york, catch new york state artifacts at the freedom's treasurers exhibit opened for veterans day only at the new york state capitol's red room. >> a good way to spend the day. >> probably a lot of revolutionary war stuff. >> very cool. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.

last night was a night to remember for country "it" couple. miranda lambert and blake shelton celebrated lack better's birthday by taking home several awards. paisley, the show's co-host alongside carrie underwood cheerfully accepted the award for the year's best country entertainer. elsewhere, "us weekly" quotes a source who says pink is 12 weeks pregnant with her first child. and chef delorentas is fuming after a report saying she was seen cuddling up with john mayer. calling it a lie and she wants a detraction. finally, last night in nashville -- ♪ because i'm country strong

>> gweneth paltrow not only survived her singing debut, she got a standing ovation, believe it or not. wow, she has lots of guts. >> hollywood going to nashville and actually on stage. >> she sounded great. >> she was in a movie doing a duet where she sounded good. and from new york, tennis legend martina latch navratilova, scaling more than 19,000 feet up the treacherous steps of mt. kilimanjaro raising money for a sports charity. the 54-year-old 59-time grand slam champ is still in amazing shape. she prepared for the 54 story climb up a new york building, a workout she called easier than expected. wow. i'm veronica de la cruz, and

this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> good morning, everyone, we're off to a quiet start on this thursday. the temperatures will make it into the mid 30's this afternoon. it's 34 at frederick, and the forecast for today, mostly sunny, present a with a high around 65 this afternoon. we come back this afternoon. we'll check the seven-day forecast. >> tony, see you in a bit. here's a look ahead at 11 news today.

>> president obama in south korea today as global leaders work on shoring up the economy. >> and in anne arundel county we're getting reports of a vehic

[ male announcer ] build your better breakfast at subway with the $2.50 breakfast combo. get a 16oz. cup of piping-hot seattle's best coffee and a savory new sunrise subway melt built fresh to your order for just $2.50. subway. build your better breakfast.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good morning, i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. >> tony pann has a check of the forecast on this veterans day. >> we're going to keep going with the mild temperatures. everybody's smiling. gorgeous and will stay that way through the beginning of the weekend. right now 46 at the airport. some spots in the northern suburbs are in the 30's, nothing unusual. high today of 65.