presenting woolite complete. it cleans your jeans, and won't torture your tanks. so your clothes stay looking and fitting like new. woolite. long live your wardrobe. this morning on "early today," back to the drawing board. president obama's jobs bill fails in the senate, but the president says it's not dead yet. october boost. gop front-runner mitt romney arrives at last night's presidential debate with a surprise endorsement. and punching holes. the prosecution delivers more damning testimony in the trial against michael jackson's damning testimony in the trial against michael jackson's doctor. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with defeated but not necessarily dead.

last night's senate lawmakers voted down president obama's $447 billion jobs bill even as the president was on the road trying to drum up support for it. the package of tax cuts and new spending failed in a 50-49 vote, falling short of the 60 needed to keep it alive. two democrats joined all republicans in blocking a vote on the bill. republicans opposed its spending to stimulate the economy and its tax on millionaires. after the vote, the president vowed to continue his fight. white house officials and congressional supporters say the plan will now be broken up into pieces to allow for separate future votes. last night in a bloomberg television/washington post republican presidential debate, the candidates squared off in new hampshire over economic issues. with a surprise endorsement and 9-9-9 grabbing the spotlight. nbc's steve handelsman has more.

>> reporter: mitt romney came to the debate far ahead in new hampshire polls and sounding assertive. >> you want to have someone who's smart, has experience, who knows how the financial services works, who knows how to protect american jobs. and i do. i've done it. >> reporter: like romney, herman cain's polls have surged, along with ron paul. on the strength of 9-9-9. >> 9% corporate business flat tax, 9% personal tax and 9% sales tax. >> reporter: it's the best known recovery plan. >> 9-9-9. jobs, jobs, jobs. >> i don't need 9-9-9. we don't need any plan to pass congress. >> reporter: rick perry's polls have dived to fourth in new hampshire and iowa. the texas governor claimed cheaper oil and gas would put americans to work. >> clearly opening up a lot of the areas of our domestic energy area. that's the real key.

>> reporter: it was perry versus romney on health care. >> romney care has driven the cost of small business insurance premiums up by 14% over the national average in massachusetts. >> we have less than 1% of our kids that are uninsured. you have a million kids uninsured in texas. >> reporter: earlier, romney got the endorsement of popular new jersey governor chris christie. again, romney looked like the gop front-runner. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. elsewhere the state department is warning america this morning for the potential terror attacks following yesterday's stunning announcement of an alleged assassination plot tied to iran. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: u.s. officials say they smashed aa iranian plot with paid help from a mexican drug cartel. >> it reads like the pages of a hollywood script. the impact would have been very

real. and many lives would have been lost. >> reporter: the justice department says a plan to kidnap saudi ambassador turned into an attempted murder for hire and the evidence points straight to that r tee ran. >> the united states is going to hold iran for its action. they are charged with conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. >> reporter: secretary of state hillary clinton promised diplomatic action. >> and we will be consulting with our friends and partners around the world about how we can send a very strong message. >> reporter: one of the suspects was arrested last month at new york's jfk airport. 56-year-old, a u.s. citizen with an u.s. passport, made an appearance in a mal manhattan court.

the other is said to be a part of the quds force. they tried to enlist the help of a mexican cartel but the contact was an undercover source working for the u.s. government. brian mooar, nbc. a look at other stories making news early today in america. ahead-on collision killed three people and hospitalized 11 others with major injuries in illinois monday. the deadly crash occurred when an suv crossed over into oncoming traffic colliding with a van carrying retired and assisted living residents. the driver and two passengers died. a string of robberies in north carolina have been committed by a ban wearing a famous crime fighters mask. police say in three alleged armed robberies, spider-man entered with a gun, demanded money and cigarettes, and then escaped on foot. a tennessee man made a startling discovery in his backyard. yep, that is a two-headed snake. the body is shared but both

heads on the baby king snake have functioning brains. because of the snake's chances for survival in the wild slim it will be cared for by a nearby university. in tennessee, an odd couple is turning heads on their outside strolls. max the parrot can be seen hitching a ride on his house mate, norman, the german shepherd. the connection between the two may have something to do with the fact that the parrot can actually call norman out by name. that always helps. now for a look at my odd couple partner here, nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> can i ride on your shoulder? >> lynn, lynn. >> yes. >> no, just kidding. how's the weather? >> just give me a cracker. here's a look at the forecast. a lot of rain out there today. a quiet weather period and now it's more active. as far as the rainfall goes, the worst will be up through virginia this morning, west virginia, pennsylvania and eventually riding up through the mid-atlantic. we're actually going to be rather try in areas of the deep south. that's where the rain had been the last couple days.

the great weather pattern, we had it for so many days in a row up there in new england. it's come to an end. the cloud are thickening up. we have to wait for this area of low pressure to go all the way to the north. it will probably take two days to do that. plan on carrying your umbrella from d.c. to philly, new york and boston, and every in between tonight and tomorrow. we have to wait for this front to clear on friday and then we'll have a nice weekend as high pressure builds into many areas of the east. right now the worst of the rain, all of west virginia has light rain, southern ohio, southern portions of pennsylvania, scattered showers from roanoke to harrisburg, richmond up to d.c. a batch of steady rains. if you're driving around the beltway in d.c. if the next, probably, hour or two hours you'll see that wet weather. also, this is good. thunderstorms providing heavy rain from dallas/ft. worth north wards. we have to see if the storms hold together as they go through dallas and north worth. lightning probably waking people up. stormy weather out there today. carry the umbrellas in the areas

we mentioned. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. baltimore, maryland, today, we will see showers and storms, steadier rain this morning and showers and storms this afternoon. st. louis, you even could see some showers and storms, possibly even around chicago, too. temperatures are mild. just about everywhere. very mild weather pattern, almost like summer where a chance of us have showers, especially this afternoon. coming up, alocoa starts the season with a thud, dollar thrifty is out of play and japan really wants your tweet and status updates. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. he's won two oscars and battled back cancer but michael douglas isn't finished taking on acting challenges, not by a long shot. coming up, the tigers roar back and another big name is leaving boston. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines this morning. israel and hamas have announced a major prisoner swap deal. abducted israeli prisoner held since 2006 will be exchanged for about 1,000 palestinian prisoners detained by israel. the so-called underwear bomber accused of trying to blow up a detroit-bound plane on christmas went on trial yesterday. prosecutors say he performed a religious ritual, washing and perfuming himself before then trying to set off his bomb. as a result of budget bickering between local agencies, yesterday the city council in topeka, kansas, repealed a local law that made domestic violence a crime, allowing some suspects to walk free. the move meant to force the state to prove and pay for such cases has outraged advocates for victims of domestic violence. at the trial of michael jackson's doctor, the defense

was dealt a major blow yesterday. a medical examiner testified it's unreasonable to believe jackson gave himself a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol, which is the defense's main claim. he said it's more likely the doctor mistakenly gave him too much of the drug. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,416 after losing 16 points yesterday. but the s&p was up a fraction and the nasdaq added 16. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 34 points but in hong kong the hang seng gained 187. a rocky start to earning season could spook wall street's jittery investors later today. after the bell tuesday, aluminum maker alocoa reported profit that missed analyst's already lowered expectations. sending shares down 5% in late trade. elsewhere after the bell,

slovakia, final nation needed to pass a european rescue package voted down that bailout. it is, however, expected to pass in a second vote. today traders will comb through minutes from the fed's latest meeting, looking for clues as to whether the central bank might roll out another round of quantitative easing stimulus. dollar thrifty has taken itself off the market after failing to find an acceptable buyer. "the wall street journal" reports hewlett-packard's newly installed ceo meg whitman is rethinking spinning off part of the playstation. it has frozen 93,000 user profile after it defected a third party tried to access accounts. research in motion is under pressure from shareholders to sell or break up the blackberry maker as it struggles to compete with apple's iphone and google's android operating system. and finally, japan is hoping to

offer free airfare to 10,000 intrepid visitors if lawmakers approve, there's only one catch. you would need to publicize your trip on social media websites. not too tough for a free trip. coming up, baseball's one-time boy wonder looks to end another curse. and all of last night's action on the ice. plus the tigers claw back at home in detroit in their american league championship series. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, many of us need our umbrellas today. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

for a great vacation you can't beat mississippi. sure you can, it's called louisiana. hang on, florida's where folk's want to be. that's only until they get a taste of alabama hospitality. we can't agree on which state's best, but we can agree on one thing, wherever you vacation in the gulf, you'll have a great time. great seafood, beautiful beaches and fun for the whole family. we've got intimate bed and breakfast right on the water. cafe's with views of the gulf. go blue water fishing, ride a kayak, or just enjoy the world's best weather and soak up the world's best sun. we've gone all out to make this year the best ever. and we are 100% open for business. you mean 100% open for fun. here in the best part of the gulf. louisiana, florida,

alabama, mississippi. this could go on for a while. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night in detroit's game three match-up with texas, the series could have gone blowout or game on. the tigers made it game on. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. monday it was the lions. last night the tigers gave the city of detroit another reason to smile. game three of the alcs and rangers jumped out to an early lead and the tigers then responded. victor martinez tied it with a solo homer, gingerly ran around the bases, pulled an oblique muscle. check out the reaction in the dugout. he's not happy.

tigers were feeling pretty good. in the fifth, two aboard for cabrera, doubled into the corner. in came austin jackson. cabrera's first rbi of the series gave detroit the 2-1 lead. belted a home run in the seventh, detroit was rocking as tigers jumped out to a four-run lead. held on to win it 5-2. detroit can even the series with another win tonight. game four is at 4:00 eastern. first manager terry francona now, gm theo epstein is leaving the red sox. according to sources, the cubs are on the verge of hiring epstein. deal expect tobd finalized in the next few days. epstein brought a world series to boston. chicago has built won since 1908. nhl, penguins without sidney crosby. who thought matt cooke would pick up the slack? scored four goals in three games. scored 12 goals all last season. pens are getting it done without their star. finally to minnesota, keep an eye behind the net. big hit by chris neil.

clayton stoner caught with his head down and never saw it coming. that sparked the senators down two. they rallied against the wild. tied and forced a shootout. ottawa came back to win their home opener 4-3. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men hair color. live forward. coming up, performers on wall street, performers and awards, and performers taking on some surprising roles. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's known for being a stylish and graceful representative of our nation. but she can also let her hair down with some friends in the white house backyard. you're watching "early today."

welcome back, everyone, on this wednesday. rain is moving up the east coast. we're seeing that plentiful right now in pennsylvania, west virginia, ohio, eventually it will move into philadelphia and later today into areas like new york city. so, just be prepared for that. also showers and storms this morning in and around the dallas/ft. worth area and we could see showers and storms kansas city to minneapolis. midwest clears out tomorrow. still damp from the ohio valley to new england. if you're watching us on wc 6 in portland, maine, see paintings that illustrate the elegance of american life in late 19th century at portland museum of

art. >> bill, thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning headlines in entertainment. yesterday in new york city protesters got a surprise visit. by kanye west. gold chains and all. he showed up on the front lines at operation wall street to lend moral support, but he was forced to retreat when excited crowds around him got unruely. english soul singer adele leads all performers for the 2011 american music awards with four nominations. all announced yesterday. followed by katy perry, lady gaga, lil wayne, rihanna, the band perry and taylor swift each got three. swift, the 21-year-old has been named billboard's woman of the year. in costing news, bardem confirmed he would play in 23rd unyet untitled james bond movie. michael douglas will play

lib ra l liberacci and his live-in lover will be played by matt damon. this comes to us from the white house where the first lady and a group of kids jumped at the chance to make a record-breaking attempt. michelle obama continued her fitness campaign for america's youth performing jumping jacks with 400 kids on the south lawn, leading an effort to break the world record for the most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period. over 20,000 jumping jackers must be recorded by 3 p.m. eastern time today. pretty good there. the first lady hopes kids across the country jump in for the historic and healthy event. looks like fun. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. we're starting out with some rain shower activity on this wednesday morning. yourself a few extra minutes. light to moderate rain on hd doppler appeared -- give yourself a few extra minutes. most of you will see often on light rain showers. that is the forecast for today. temperatures will be stocked in the 60's. we will come back and check the forecast going into the weekend.

>> 63 degrees on tv hill. why smokers in maryland could be paying more to live up. -- to light up. >> joe hairston announces he is indeed leaving. >> a first this primary season. a debate devoted to the economy. how the republican hopefuls said they will fix it. >> we have some delays at t

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> tony is back any brought the rain. >> thank you at. >> we have some rain shower activityhi