no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪ this morning on "early today," long range dud. north korea unsuccessfully launched their rocket. stroke of luck. serbian police recover a stolen cezanne masterpiece worth over $s 00 million. and road rage, what caused an angry customer to destroy an auto dealership in moscow? this is "early today" for friday, april 13th, 2012. hello, good morning, i'm lynn berry. today we begin with failure to launch. north korea's controversial long range rocket broke up in pieces over the yellow sea. fewer than two minutes after it

left the launch pad. the white house called the defiant move a "provocative action" that threatens regional security and violates international law. the un security counsel will consider additional sanctions against north korea. richard engle reports from inside pyongyang. >> reporter: this is an enormous embarrassment. officials have not made any kind of comment at all. they have assembled journalists in the country, 100 reporters brought in to north korea, we were expecting to see a live video feed of the launch, instead we were told by officials in washington and reports from south korea and japan that not only had the launch taken place, but that it had failed. >> narrator: this object flew for one minute before falling in the yellow sea. >> reporter: we are told we will get some sort of comment from the north korean government but officials we have been talking to seemed to know as little as we do. we actually informed the

government minders who we are with that the launch had taken place, he shrugged his shoulders, ran out of the room, so how north korea explains this away, what it tells its own people will be critical in the historic narrative of the country. but a major embarrassment and this is something that north korea is now going to have to tell its people that it was a failure. richard engel, nbc news, pyongyang. according to a new poll, when it comes to the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager trayvon martin, americans are deeply divided by race. the reuters poll shows 91% of african americans say martin was unjustly killed. only 35% of whites thought so. meanwhile the man who shot trayvon martin, george zimmerman, appeared publicly yesterday for the first time in a florida courtroom. nbc's jay gray has more. >> reporter: in handcuffs and jailhouse jumpsuit. george zimmerman stood before the judge for less than three minutes showing no emotion.

>> yes, sir. >> reporter: only responding as the judge outlined the second-degree murder charge and rights in the case. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: the hearing amounted to little more than legal formality but did provide at least a bit of insight in the prosecution's case. a probable cause affidavit shows that state investigators believe trayvon martin, a 17-year-old african american, was profiled by george zimmerman and that zimmerman confronted martin and a struggle ensued. the court document also outlines a meeting between martin's mother and investigators where she listened to this 911 recording from the night her son was killed. >> so you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> reporter: identified the voice crying for help as trayvon martin's voice. >> we didn't alleged all the evidence we have, but some to establish probable cause. >> not guilty plea was entered. we have arraignment for the 29th. >> reporter: after pushing a month for zimmerman's arrest, an effort that sparked a national firestorm, martin's parents are relieved it will play out in a courtroom appeared not the rally

and protests that to this point had defined the case. >> we just want to -- him to be held accountable for what he has done. >> reporter: the next step in the process, a formal arraignment hearing set for the end of may. jay gray, nbc news, sanford, florida. the wife of republican presidential candidate, ann romney, had an unlikely defender yesterday, president obama. the president said a democratic consultant said the wrong thing when she suggested ann romney isn't qualified to discuss the economy because she "hasn't worked a day in her life." mr. obama said that was not something he agrees with and the president added "there is no tougher job than being a mom." now here is a look at other stories making news, "early today" in america. a freak storm dumped piles of hail on the texas panhandle leaving some areas buried under four to five feet of ice pellets. the waist high accumulation caused flooding, shut down

highways and forced officials to use snow plows to clear roads. no injuries have been reported. phones rang off the hook and social media websites were buzzing with excitement over what could have been a meteor shower over the midwest. they are not 100% sure. witnesses in wisconsin reported a bright greenish object streak across the sky. citings in iowa, illinois, michigan and indiana. researchers in wisconsin have a fish tale folks will be talking about years to come. they will were conducting a survey on wolf river when they hauled in a monsterous sturgeon. over 87.5 inches long, and weighs about 240 pounds. it's believed to be 125 years old. it was tagged and returned back to the river. finally, it was a day at the races for spaulding university students. the kentucky school held the

40th annual running of the rodents. this year was a blow out. it was viva rat vegas taking the crown. get it? >> yes. >> good one. now for a look at national and regional weather here is nbc meterologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill that looks like our commute on the subway system. >> those are the pretty white rats. >> exactly not the dirty brown rats that you see running around in the new york subway. >> you're so excited about the weekend forecast. >> i am, thank you for being here to deliver the fine news. >> while the east coast is excited, it will be dangerous in the middle of the country. let me explain. there is no white, that is the clouds in the east. it will be a chilly morning and beautiful afternoon. middle of the country not only do you have clouds, rain through areas of nebraska northward, one storm system heading north, there is another one out here in california, and that's the one that will be trouble as we go throughout the weekend. so here's the storm system bringing the rain this morning, maybe isolated severe weather, but the storm system that is now out in the west that will take

its course right through the four corner region here in central portions of the plains, i'll label that storm as trouble because it looks like severe weather and if not tornado outbreak is likely over the weekend. not what you want to worry about. as far as today goes, slight risk of severe storms, oklahoma city to wichita, isolated tornadoes, moreorless wind damage and hail is the problem. toward the weekend, high risk of severe weather including tornadoes, from topeka to manhattan, kansas, through wichita, down in oklahoma city, a few strong tornadoes, could be dangerous stuff saturday afternoon. that is the national forecast now here is the weather outside your window. sunshine today in pittsburgh, 64, raleigh at 68. some beautiful weather in the east. salt lake city. the storm system kicking through your area brings showers, maybe a rumble of thunder, same forecast for minneapolis. i would love to tell everyone, beautiful weekend for everyone, unfortunately it looks like

typical tornado outbreak over the weekend. google grabs attention, a court rules on lunch time, and a break-up in the world of candy? early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus the biggest winner at the box office this weekend will be a movie you can't even see. we'll explain. the the heat and bulls need ot, there were three overtime games in the stanley cup playoffs and the new york rangers are a broadway smash. you're watching "early today."

here are headlines this morning. a white house spokesman told syrian president bashar al-assad to stop playing your people. there is a -- the town's

police chief was shot and killed days away from his scheduled retirement after 26 years in law enforcement. the state of florida executed serial killer david allen gore by lethal injection after years on death row. he admitted to killing four women and two teenage girls in the 1980s. a stolen painting by paul cezanne was recovered in a vehicle in serbia. "the boy in the red vest" is worth more than $109 million. security camera shows a moment of outrage in a showroom of a russian doctor in moscow drove his loaner car in a nissan dealership, smashing all the cars on display. police say he snapped because he had to wait 20 minutes to pick up his car and now he faces up to a five year prison sentence.

not smart. here is an early look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,986 after zooming 181 points. nasdaq rose 39. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei is up 113 points. hong kong the hang seng jumped 373. investors are hoping for a streak. projections of a soft landing for china's economy sparked a rally that sent u.s. steel up 7.5%. copper and gold shot up 6. traders unexpected jump in new weekly unemployment claims. hewlitt packarkd had a jump in p c shipments. google blew past quarterly expectations announced a

two-for-one stock split. dow chemical rose after a healthy earnings report. red box owner shot up as much as 14% in late trade after doubling quarterly profit expectations. barnes and noble tum welled 6%. apple said charges it was a co-conspire ra store in the ebrook prize fixing scheme are not true. a personal conduct investigation in best buy's former chief centers around whether he misused company funds during an alleged relationship with a 29-year-old female employee. california's supreme court ruled thursday employers are not obligated to make workers take their legally-mandated lunch breaks. say it ain't so, a divorce in candyland?

mike and ike are calling it quits in a new ad campaign to draw in younger customers. coming up, chicago bulls beat the heat. boston breaks down the caps and the saints keep the head coaching job in-house. plus the broadway blues beat up on ottawa in game one of the stanley cup playoff match-up. your "early today" sports headlines are straight ahead. the weekend forecast is all about severe storms in the midwest, that is coming up you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're waking up this is "early today." in sports the player force eight nhl teams had to work overtime in the stanley cup playoffs. here is nbc's mario solis with an early look at the sports headlines. good morning to you, what's better than one overtime playoff game? how about three? let's begin with the defending champions, bruins hosting the caps. chris kelly ended, skates across the blue line, fires a rocket, shutout the capitals to win game one, 1-0 in ot. overtime in boston, double ot in st. louis. second goal of the game is the

difference. sharks take game one 3-2 in double overtime. phoenix-blackhawks down a goal. the puck comes to brent seabrook, scores the equalizer to force ot. the celebration is short-lived. hanzel tips in the shot from the point. coyotes win 3-2 in overtime. to new york, the rangers made quick work of the senators. ryan callahan gives the blue-shirts a lead in the first. calm, cool, collected waits for the goalie to go down and picks the spot. they win 4-2. the saints named joe vitt the interim coach while sean payton serves suspension. vitt is suspended for the first six games of the season. this coaching situation is giving me a headache. not to be outdown by the nhl two of the best teams in the nba

also go to overtime. bulls and heat. chicago down three in the final seconds. cj watson dials long distance, ties the game, forces ot. kyle corver from michigan avenue, got it. miami scores two points in ot, bulls win it 96-86. that is a look at sports on "early today" i'm mario solis. the "early today" headlines are straight ahead. plus coming up, proof that the sport of skate boarding has gone to the dogs. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this friday. the most important information i have to tell you about if you live in kansas or oklahoma, up to omaha, as we go throughout saturday afternoon and evening you have to pay attention to the skies and local nbc station. we'll be going through a tornado outbreak, under a high risk, very rare to do this far ahead, this area of white we could see strong tornadoes, could be a life-threatening situation saturday afternoon and evening. if you're watching on kprc local 2 in houston, texas, walk through a giant cell and see what happens in the human body at cells, the universe inside us at the health museum. that is "early today" event of

the day. here is an early look at headlines in entertainment. experts say no one will knock off the "the hunger games" at the box office. the horror entry "cabin in the woods" which sat on the shelf three years is getting great reviews. experts say it won't do better than $15 million. the three stooges may have worked better with originally names like sean penn and benicio dell toro, should earn 10 to 15 million. the space thriller "lock out" will only earn six to eight million. "the hunger games" will remain number one with 18 to 20 million. the biggest winner will be overseas. battleship, which opens here next month, is expected to post blockbuster numbers. remember president obama calling kanye west a jackass in 2009? after his on stage ambush of taylor swift at the mtv music awards. when reminded in that in an

interview in "the atlantic" he replied, he is a jackass but he's talented. i feel like i need to put a dollar in the swear jar. in salt lake city, utah, one dog is hitting the street to show off a cool trick, you got to see to believe. take a look at this, dex tur has been skateboarding since five months old, instead of plague fetch, his owner put him on a board and now he can't keep him off. all on his own, dexture turns the blacktop in his stage, it is quite the phenom. i'm lynn berry 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. 4:56. it is a friday morning and it is friday the 13th. good luck today. temperatures are not bad considering all the chilly weather with that. 43 degrees at the airport. humidity at 60%. the wind is calm. we see plenty of sunshine today and a warming trend over the

weekend. >> good luck to you in the forecast. 44 degrees on tv hill. >> special session in annapolis . martin o'malley says he would not mind calling lawmakers back. >> if on the jones falls expressway is about to change, and not in it the way -- life on the jones falls expressway. >> we are tracking a smooth ride around the area. we will update you on any developmentsy

[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. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> it is friday the 13th. >> it is friday the 13th.