healthy hands can be automatic. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. this morning on "early today," clearing revoked. secret service agents are stripped of their top-secret credentials amid a widening prostitution scandal. buffett rule blocked. senate republicans derail a minimum tax plan for the nation's top earners. and solar stunner. nasa captures a powerful eruption on the surface of the sun. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with public punishment. the u.s. secret service has revoked top-secret security clearances of all 11 agents and

officers accused of misconduct involving wild parties and prostitutes during a presidential mission to colombia over the weekend. nbc's brian mooar has details. >> reporter: several secret service members have had their top-secret security clearances revoked amid questions of what they did in colombia before president obama landed for a summit. some of the agents, officers and members of the military who formed the president's advanced security team are suspected of over-the-top partying and hiring prostitutes. nbc news has learned some of the americans had minute-by-minute plans for the president's visit. >> unbelievable. anybody who's watched a spy movie knows, you know, you go in with the girls, you plant the bugs, you compromise the agent. what were these guys thinking? >> reporter: those caught up in the scandal include members of the secret service counterassault and sniper teams and five military bomb experts from the army, navy and marines. >> i can assure you that if that investigation determines that there has been a violation, that

the individuals involved will be held accountable. >> reporter: while the secret service is promising a full investigation, the agency itself is facing scrutiny. >> there's no question this is the biggest scandal in the history of the secret service, and these agents could have been blackmailed by these prostitutes to let a terrorist in. >> they're out there and they're representing a lot more than just the secret service. they're representing america. >> reporter: allegations of a wild night threatening to taint the name of the secret service. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. well, the u.s. inspector general says criminal charges could be filed in the scandal involving the spending spree at the general services administration. at a hearing in the house yesterday, the official testified about the 2010 las vegas conference that cost taxpayers more than $800,000. he has called for criminal charges and is still looking into possible bribery and kickbacks. lawmakers expressed outrage at

taxpayer money being used for extravagant parties at the convention. well, as americans rush to beat today's income tax filing deadline, last night, the senate blocked the so-called buffett rule, which would have increased taxes on millionaires. lawmakers voted 51-45 to keep the bill alive, but they needed 60 to continue debating. president obama denounced the vote. republicans have called the measure a political ploy. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: democrats pushed a tax hike on millionaires. >> they can afford to shoulder their fair share of the burden to make this country prosper. >> reporter: but republicans charged, it's not about fairness, it's a gimmick to get votes. >> it's shown the president is actually more interested in misleading people than he is in leading. >> reporter: and republicans blocked senate consideration. polls show the plan, backed by president obama and his billionaire buddy, warren buffett, is popular with voters,

the buffett rule, to tax families making $1 million a year at least 30%, 433,000 u.s. households. it would raise just $47 billion in ten years. >> one week's interest on our $15 trillion national debt, that's it. >> reporter: but it makes the point that mitt romney is mega rich. he was at a red sox game today, expecting to pay just 15% in taxes on $21 million in 2011 income, half the buffett rule regs. last weekend, romney was overheard by report eers sayinge wants to lower tax rates for the rich so smaller businesses that pay those rates can hire more workers. romney said he would eliminate deductions so the rich would pay about what they pay now. the buffett rule, falling short in the senate, was the democrats' plan. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington.

and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today in america." near houston, thieves broke into a church, but they were being watched from above by security cameras. one of the burglars could be seen trying to pull the plug on the camera, but it didn't do much good. their faces were still clearly visible. they made off with a safe but left behind clothing and a flashlight. also in texas, heavy flooding in corpus christi made for a commuting nightmare. a number of roads had to be closed and several cars were stalled right in the middle of the street. small tornadoes and power outages were also reported, and many schools canceled classes. and finally, in boston, the red sox turned to a 100-year-old fan for a little help. he was invited to fenway park to celebrate something else that's hitting the century mark, the stadium itself. the man tossed out the first pitch and then went right over home plate, but it wasn't just luck. the man had been training for

his big moment at his retirement home. 18 great grandchildren were on hand for the wonderful event. well, now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning. good morning. have you ever been to fenway? >> i have not, no, and as a yankees fan, i am not even going to comment because i know i'll get lots and lots of mail. >> you'll be welcome. just don't wear your hat. >> yeah. they'd tell me to go in the other direction, point me in the wrong direction, i'm sure. >> they're nice up there, lynn. well, good morning, everyone. yesterday was an amazingly warm day all the way up through new england. speaking of boston, yesterday's high of 87 degrees for the marathon. in albany, new york, the earliest you ever hit 90 degrees. you were 91. we were 92 in hartford. so, it was as advertised, exceptionally warm with record warmth even in areas like rochester and buffalo. now, as far as what we're dealing with droughtwise out there, this is where we're starting to see some of the issues, especially areas like southern new england. that's where we're seeing probably some of the driest

weather out there. we didn't see too many cases with fires yesterday, but we did have some problems out there. and further to the south, we are also still watching very dry conditions, now maryland and delaware are getting severe drought conditions, too. it doesn't look like any rain really this week, but as we go through the upcoming weekend, this region of the country may get a soaking rain, which is exactly what we need. so, i know you don't want it on your weekend, but the southeast is in drought conditions, too, and they also could get a lot of rain. there's not a lot of other weather going on out there. it's a nice, quiet day. that's your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. we're going to continue watching what's going on in areas of the midwest with the cleanup from all our tornadoes. tell you what, we're getting a nice, quiet week out there, not expecting a lot of severe storms. we're going to see sunshine, temperatures in the 70s in oklahoma city today, memphis also near 71. so, looks like a little bit of shower activity in the southeast, but as far as mid-april goes, pretty nice day today. >> not bad. bill, thanks so much. well, coming up, apple loses its shine, the world bank gets a

new boss, and forget college. why you're going to need a savings account to send your teen to prom. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, details on the stunning ring at the center of hollywood's biggest engagement. coming up, the rangers pitch a shutout, triple overtime in utah, and did the wizards really beat the bulls? they did! 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. the cease-fire in syria may be falling apart as government forces fire tank shells and mortar rounds. according to video posted by activists. a team of united nations truce monitors are in syria to report on the cease-fire. at the united nations, the security council ordered tighter sanctions on north korea and strongly condemned its failed rocket launch last week.

the council warned of new actions if north korea conducts an underground nuclear test. a new survey found that one in five americans do not use the internet. these are american adults. now, for some, it's not available, but one in ten say the internet is not relevant to them. wow. and the sun erupted yesterday in a huge solar flare that unleashed an intense amount of superheated plasma into space. strong solar flares can cause disruptions to satellites and power grids, but fortunately, this one was not aimed at the earth, but it looks pretty cool. now, here's an early look at how wall street's kicking off the day. the dow opens at 12,921 after gaining 71 points yesterday. the s&p was down a fraction of a point, and the nasdaq lost 22. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei was down five points, while in hong kong, the hang seng fell 48.

well, earnings season is in full swing, but a rare losing streak for the world's most valuable company has investors on edge. including monday, apple's five-day losses add up to nearly 9% of its market value, about $60 billion. analysts cite slipping ipad sales and worries that cell phone carriers will soon stop subsidizing new iphones. adding to tech sector woes, google fell for a second day, and it went to trial in a copyright fight with oracle. still, news that retail sales rose in march injected optimism into investors. on the earnings front, citigroup reported record revenue from its global banking. meanwhile, mattel plunged nearly 10% after reporting a 53% drop in earnings thanks to weak sales of hotwheels and barbies. sobering news out of spain, where the yield on the ten-year government bonds jumped above 6% monday. 7% is the rate at which other

european countries have been forced to seek bailouts. in a major u.s. energy development, regulators approved cheniere energy's plan to build an export plan for liquefied natural gas in louisiana, first of its type in 50 years. argentina's president announced controversial plans to nationalize its biggest oil company, ypf, which was previously run by spain's repsol. jim yong kim is the new leader of the world bank. the dartmouth college president will begin his five-year term as bank president in july. and if you have teenagers going to prom, you know where your tax refund is going. a new survey found the average price tag per teen is a whopping $1,078. that's 33% more than last year. i don't even want to say what it was when i went to prom. well, the o's win in extra

innings, the wizards put a spell on the bulls and the mavs out-last the jazz. plus, the bruins get a game up on the capitals in their stanley cup playoff series. your early-morning sports headlines are straight ahead. i'm just glad you had a date for prom. that worked out well. well, 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, last night the rangers blanked the senators to take a one-game lead in the stanley cup playoffs. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. a hot goalie can make all the difference in the stanley cup playoffs. you combine that with the best team in the eastern conference, and you've got the new york rangers. game three against the senators. scoreless until the third period. rangers got a fortunate bounce off the boards and the puck went right to brian boyle. rangers up 1-0. hinrich lundqvist did the best. senators threw everything but the kitchen sink at him and lundqvist stopped all 39 shots, a shutout to boot. rangers won it 1-0. they lead the series two games to one. now to washington for a good one between the caps and bruins. third period and brooks gets behind the defense and scored the equalizer. that tied the game at 3 until the final few minutes.

zdeno chara's blast was capped in front of the net and bruins won it 4-3. orioles are in first place in the a.l. east, down to their final out against the white sox. adam jones and a game-tying bomb. the o's broke it open in the tenth and baltimore rallied to win it 10 4rks. nba, heat gave the nets everything they could handle. up until lebron james took over, scored the final 17 points of the game and finished with 17. new jersey made it interesting, but miami gets the win 101-98. wizards will be golfing this time next week, but they pulled away in the fourth and stunned the bulls in chicago 87-84. finally, we leave you with a triple o.t. thriller in utah. jazz down in regulation and paul miller got the pair and forced overtime. final seconds of the extra period, mavs needing a three. dirk nowitzki delivered. he had 40 but none bigger than that. stayed tied to a second o.t. and then triple overtime. jazz took the lead for good.

devin harris from downtown and the jazz knocked off the defending champs in triple overtime 123-121. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today spor sports" is brought to you by new just for men autostop. gray is over. alec baldwin ends speculation about his state on "30 rock." your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, one loyal dog proves he's not only man's best friend. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this tuesday morning. down in corpus christi yesterday all the way to new orleans, we got drenched with a lot of heavy rain and thunderstorms. just a few left over this morning down here extreme southern portions of louisiana. shower activity northern louisiana through central mississippi. that's going to be the forecast today through the southeast. from atlanta all the way through alabama, mississippi, new orleans, chance of showers and storms. drier in new england and cooler. and it looks like tomorrow, showers and storms especially up there around chicago/minneapolis late in the day. well, if you're watching us on wood tv in grand rapids, michigan, mingle with the largest collection of tropical butterflies at "butterflies are blooming" at the meijer gardens. that's your "early today event of the day." thank you so much. now here's a look at early headlines in entertainment. actor johnny depp is facing some legal troubles. tmz reports the "pirates of the caribbean" star is being sued by

a disabled woman who claims his bodyguards dragged her from her vip seat in a concert in december, causing serious injuries. well, "titanic" has sailed beyond the $2 billion mark in lifetime ticket sales. this, of course, thanks to the film's rerelease in 3d. it now stands as one of the only two films in history to earn more than $2 billion. the other is a james cameron film, "avatar." after speculation of an early departure from "30 rock," actor alec baldwin confirmed to an audience at the national press club that he has signed on for the show's seventh season. baldwin is scheduled to be on capitol hill today lobbying congress to increase arts funding. and finally, it's what we've all been waiting for, right? it's always the ring. we want to see what it looks like. here's a closer look at angelina jolie's engagement rock. don't even know if we can call it a ring. brad pitt reportedly helped her

design or helped design the sparkler. an expert tells "people" magazine the ring could weigh in at more than 10 carats with a price tag of a million bucks. nice. and this comes to us from knbc, nbc 4 news in los angeles, where a dog has been reunited with her owners after a very touching video went viral. this is heartbreaking. the black lab named maggie stood in traffic guarding over another dog who had just been killed by a hit-and-run driver. the person who shot the video set up traffic cones to prevent another tragedy as the dog just waited there. well, maggie's bravery earned admirers who wanted to adopt her, but animal control officials say the owners have come forward. 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. another mild start on this tuesday. temperatures around 70 already. 70 at the airport. 68 in parkton. it will not get as warm as yesterday appeared will make it into the mid to upper 70's. mostly sunny skies and a little on the breezy side. we'll come back and check the seven-day forecast going into the weekend. >> 70 degrees on tv hill. >> another no-confidence vote in anne arundel county. >> city fire trucks could soon

have advertisements on the side. i will explain. >> space shuttle discovery is about to had to d.c. for one last mission. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. a couple of accidents and some fire activity.

[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 get?t the gdid >> 90. we did not have the humidity. we will make it into the 70's today. right now we're in the upper 60's. 60's. it