dishware during the rinse cycle. gross. jet-dry rinse agent helps wash them away so the only thing left behind is the shine. jet-dry rinses away residues for a sparkling shine. this morning on "early today," tornado aftermath, north texas residents start cleaning up after a terrifying tornado outbreak. tragic end. the final coroner's report provides new details on whitney houston's final moments. and charles manson, chilling new photos reveal the face of an and charles manson, chilling new photos reveal the face of an aging mass murderer. caions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with picking up the pieces. cleanup and recovery has started in texas after a string of tornadoes twisted through the dallas/ft. worth area tuesday and we now know a powerful ef3

tornado was among those storms. several people were injured. hundreds of homes destroyed. but many miraculously were not killed. jay gray has more. >> reporter: it's been a full day since the storms and the shock is giving way to the reality of what happened here. >> i had a lump in my throat. i don't know if that it's from that. >> reporter: at least 13 twisters on the ground, some 160 miles an hour ripping apart homes including this one. >> i saw the funnel clouds coming toward the house. i was on the phone with my daughter. she said, mom, do you think you need to take cover? >> reporter: it grabbed abigail and threw her across the house. another boy in the backyard. >> i lost my cell phone and she thought that she were dead. >> reporter: but they survived. somehow everyone in the strike

zone did. >> sirens worked. the early warnings worked and that's why i think everybody is alive. >> reporter: alive but rattled. the emotions here as raw as the deep scar, the tornadoes left behind. >> i don't know how you go on. i'm sure you will but look at this. there's not a wall. >> reporter: so many struggling to try to pick up the pieces. >> i have been trying to figure out where to start actually. >> reporter: but then where do you begin when your life and your community has been splintered and scattered for miles. jay gray, nbc news, ken dale, texas. >> eric holder has responded to a federal appeals court judge that took issue with the president over the opinion that he expressed about the supreme court's review of the nation's health care reform law. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with those details. brian, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn.

attorney general holder says he will respond appropriately to the appeals court judge jerry smith who gives the justice department till noon to put in writing its position on the powers of court to strike down laws. that is a response to something president obama said on monday. he said if the supreme court strikes down his health care law, it would be unprecedented for unelected judges to strike down a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress. of course, republicans are.ing out that the court has done that before. 169 times, in fact, and the white house is dialing back on the president's rhetoric, but judge smith, not so much. the judges standing by his order making some conservatives uneasy. they believe this may be unintentionally making a point about activist judges. lynn. >> brian mooar from washington, thank you. well, the final coroner's report is providing new details this morning on whitney

houston's death last february. houston drowned accidentalally in a foot of very hot water in a bathtub in a beverly hills hotel. due the effects of cocaine and heart disease. the report says she had cocaine in her system and a white powder nearby. detectives also found a rolled up piece of paper, a small spoon and a mirror all items commonly used with cocaine. that report also revealed that houston had a percent rated nose filled with a bloody discharge indicating substance abuse. now, here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. a former colorado sheriff caught offering drugs in exchange for sex. pat sullivan can be seen tossing a bag of methamphetamine to an undercover agent. moments later officers busted in and arrested sullivan who bleeded guilty this week to drug possession and cysttation

charges. in pennsylvania a multimillion dollar mansion went up in flames. the homebuilt more than a hundred years ago with 19 bedrooms just completely burned. the people living inside did get out. in new york the royal couple has been waxed. prince william and kate are the newest models on display at madame tussauds. it took four months to capture their likeness. it comes weeks ahead of their first wedding anniversary. and finally they could have used one of these on "sex and the city." new vending machines will allow ladies to buy an emergency pair of flat shoes. brilliant. bill is real excited about this. the roll away shoe resembles a ballet slipper. they will be installed in nightclubs. the price wion't knock you off

your feet. just 20 bucks. a look at your national and regional weather. bill karins has your weather forecast. did that go like this over your head. >> i never understand why they wear the four-inch pumps to the club. >> it looks fabulous. that's why we do it. >> i thought it was just a complaint that your feet were hurting the whole night. >> really, bill? how did you get married? >> good question. suckered once. good morning, everyone. we are dealing with severe weather this morning and later this afternoon we'll deal with more storms down in the south. these will be on the strong side. all eyes on the masters golf tournament which could deal with strong storms late today. right now the worst of it down in louisiana heading into mississippi, then portions of southern arkansas. the storm that was responsible for the tornadoes back in dallas a day and a half ago, that storm is still lingering over arkansas and today it's finally on the move. it'll head from arkansas through the southeast and then friday off the southeast coastline.

as far as the rain goes, the worst of it just northern missouri. some central portions of illinois. as far as the thunderstorm threat goes, we did have a couple of tornado warnings a couple hours ago. this tornado watch will continue till 9:00 central time here for areas of northern louisiana and into the areas of western mississippi, new orleans is not included in this tornado watch. also if you're in miami, do you know through the keys strong line of storms going through with a lot of heavy rain on the miami area southward about two hours from right now. so as far as the forecast goes for today the area of concern is definitely going to be there in the southeast as we. >> throughout the afternoon. that's a look at your national forecast. now a look outside your window. we'll continue watching the thunderstorm threat areas like miami especially this morning and this afternoon through the southeast with a slight risk of severe storms and gusty winds. temperatures pretty mild in the southeast. also texas pretty warm too.

strong storms, lynn, but once again the tornado threat is relatively low. do not expect many. >> thanks so much. coming up stocks tumble. the dollar jumps and the economic solution based on pizza. your early morning business headlines straight ahead. plus a report that some of saturday night's favorites won't be returning. coming up opening night in baseball. a possible nba finals preview and a track meet turned into a dance party. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here's some of your top headlines this morning. four american soldiers are among the dead after a taliban bombing in northern afghanistan. police say at least ten people died when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his explosives. secretary of state hillary

clinton says the u.s. is ready to nominate an ambassador to myanmar and to ease sanctions. she said parliamentary elections there represent real change after decades of military rule. five former new orleans police officers have been sentenced to prison for their part in the deadly shootings of residents on a bridge in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. the officers will spend up to 65 years in prison for the shootings and conspiring to cover up their actions. billy payne, the chairman of the augusta national golf club in georgia refused to answer questions yesterday about his all-male membership. it's being scrutinized because one of its three tournament sponsor, ibm, recently appointed a female ceo. the past four male ceos have all received member invitations. and two new note foes of convicted killer charles manson have been released by california prison officials showing him there with long gray hair and a beard.

manson is scheduled for his 12th parole hearing next week. and now here's ann ellery look at how wall street will kick off the day. dow opens at 13,074 after tumbling 124 points yesterday. the s&p fell 14 points, the nasdaq plunged 45. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, today in tokyo the nikkei was down 52 while in hong kong the hang seng lost 197. for only the second time this year the dow recorded a triple digit drop wednesday as european debt worries flared up wednesday again. a disappointing auction of government debt in spain signaled investor confidence in that country's finances is weakening. in reaction, european markets suffered broad losses. the euro fell to its lowest point against the dollar in more than two weeks as investors looking for safe places to park money looked to the dollar and u.s. treasuries. with the dollar gaining the

price of gold plunged to its low elf level since january. it sent crude oil falling down to its lowest level since mid-february. bank stocks which typically drop on european debt news fell sharply. citigroup and bankamerica lost 3%. elsewhere ahead of the weekly jobs report, yesterday data from adp showed factories and other private sector companies added 209,000 jobs in march. the final sale of private shares of facebook set a record at $43.50. heading into the company's ipo that values facebook at about $109 billion. directv subscribers in 19 u.s. markets can see tribune broadcasting channels again now that they have worked out a new five-year deal. and an 11-year-old dutch boy created a solution for the eurozone's debt crisis. he won a special mention in

economic competition for his idea for a money exchange machine to deal with the debt in greece. the boy said his plan was inspired by pizza because it was easy to divide into pieces. if only it was that easy. well, the marlins play their opener. the heat rally past the thunder and a professional basketball player scores way more than 100 in one game. plus a high school sprinter in hawaii who stumbled with style. your early morning sports headlines. >> it's good. in the weather world all eyes on the southeast with strong thunderstorms. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up this is "early today." and in sports wednesday the cardinals spoiled the marlins' opening of their ballpark. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning, the miami marlins have a new name, new players, a new look and new ballpark. unfortunately they opened with the same results. there's the new crown jewel. $634 million marlins park. no better way to kristen it without muhammad ali. the world series champs knocked out the marlins. david freese, cardinals up 2-0

after one. kyle lohse had a no-hitter going through six and the cards won it, 4-1. miami, the heat and they took care of the best in the west, oklahoma city thunder. it was a matchup of possible mvps, kevin durant and lebron james. durant finished with 30. lebron had it going all game long, 34 points and 10 assists. they haven't lost at home in three months and won this one, 98-93. spurs won their ninth straight. from 17 down, paul pierce a chance at the buzzer. could not get the jumper to fall. the spurs won again, 87-86. do you know who mohamed elakri is? a 27-year-old guard would plays professional basketball in lebanon. he attempted 69 shots in a game, 59 of them three-pointers, yes, he hogged the ball. but nobody complained because he scored 113 points. and finally to hawaii for a

memorable finish in high school track. keep your eye on the runner in the green tank top on the right. down the home stretch they come. uh-oh, no, he fell flat on his face but no worries went right into the worm. the crowd was loving it. you talk about making the best of a bad situation, with those kind of move, he should have no problem getting a date for the prom. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. early today sports brought to you by just for men. a tv reunion and the movie star who wants to give away more than 1,000 acres. plus, flight attendants have many responsibilities. we'll intro execution you to one who went way beyond the call of duty. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." the big story today, severe weather once again in the southeast. we're talking just about all areas of georgia, south carolina, tennessee, alabama and florida and it looks like we're also going to be watching a snowstorm developing up in montana in the northern rockies the next two days. we'll have more on that tomorrow. well, if you're watching us on wpxi tv in pittsburgh pennsylvania, hop on over to the green tree public library, meet the easter bunny at story time. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> does that include chocolate? bill, thank you very much. and now here's an "early today"

at entertainment headlines. could another era be ending on "saturday night live." sources tell "us weekly." christian and jason sue take kiss plan to leave at the end of the season. bill is upset about that. entertainment weekly provides "the '70s show" will include ashton kutcher enand meal last kunis. gary sinise canceled appearances of his lieutenant dan band after a scar accident. nicolas cage took a big step toward squaring his tax bill with uncle sam. payment just over $6 million. cage blames a business manager for tax problems over the last decade and still owes around 7 million bucks. >> he must have made a lot of money. that's got to hurt. his idaho mansion is on the market and so is his local bar and nightclub. now bruce willis is saying he's

willing to give away his 1100-acre ski resort to the right nonprofit group. who knew he had so many things. from wfla in tampa, florida, a flight attendant is just back from a trip where she wound up with one more passenger than she left with and helped deliver a little baby. 36,000 feet over africa, a first in her 29 years on the job. oh, so cute. she called for a flashlight and the gloves and then there was an ob/gyn on board. she took over. when the child was delivered the flight attendant raise the baby up and announced to the cabin it's a boy. that's great. congratulations to them. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc stations.

[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 am jennifer franciotti. >> i am sarah caldwell. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> it just keeps getting better. i hope