this morning on "early today," chinese checkers a diplomatic game of checkers is being waged after a daring escape from house arrest. storm chaser video shows what it's like to get caught in a shower of hail. and "easy rider." an amazing piece of americana crosses the pacific, washing up an amazing piece of americana crosses the pacific, washing up from the japanese tsunami. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. secretary of state hillary clinton is headed to beijing today where she faces talks that

have a new complication. officials have confirmed to nbc news that an escaped chinese dicy dent is under u.s. protection but they did not make clear exactly where he is. nbc's ian williams reports from beijing. >> reporter: the fate of chen has become the biggest test for u.s.-chinese relations in years. no sign of extra security at the embassy today but the issue is so delicate that there's been no comment from officials here, chinese or americans. chen's crime in the eyes of the chinese government was to expose forced abortion and forced sterilization under the country's one child policy. the 40-year-old self-trained lawyer blind since childhood was jailed in 2006 and then put under house arrest. he says he and his wife were beaten. his young daughter harassed. his every movement was

monitored. visitors prevented from meeting with him. he was able to secretly plot his escape. secretary clinton has been critical of chen's house arrest. >> i can certainly guarantee that we will be discussing every matter including human rights that is pending between us. >> reporter: one big sticking point may be his preference to stay in china and fight for justice instead of accepting a one way ticket to exile. the other is the fate of his family under house arrest themselves and from his supporters some of whom have been detained since his escape. back to you. >> one year ago today president obama gave the go ahead for the military mission that led to the death of osama bin laden. now the president is reacting strongly to gop criticism about a newly released campaign ad praising that raid. tracie potts joins us from washington with those details.

good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. in that ad former president bill clinton applauds the decision, the very controversial decision, the tough call democrats say that president obama made to send in those navy s.e.a.l.s and go after osama bin laden. it ended up being successful but at the time and even after was considered very risky. mitt romney at the time called it ill-timed and ill-considered. now asked about whether in the same position he would do the same thing he answered of course, even jimmy carter would have given that order that's his quote. reacting at a news conference yesterday president obama without naming romney challenged him to explain saying that people who say one thing now and said something before should explain their actions. this on this first anniversary of the death of osama bin laden has become a big political issue. lynn.

>> thanks. in a rare public admission, the u.s. tactic of using drone strikes to kill militants in other countries president obama's counterterrorism ad voicer insisted on monday the strikes are legal under international law. john brennan's comments marks the first time a senior white house official spoken at length in public for years what was considered a covert mission. the drone campaign has saved american lives and caused few civilian casualties. now here's a look at some other stories making news. in texas some scary moments for a storm chasing crew from the weather channel. look at that. hail the size of golf balls smashed into their window repeatedly. at one point the driver use ad blanket to protect himself in case the glass gave way. fortunately other than plenty of dents in the rig everybody is

okay. >> in oklahoma heavy flooding turned roads into rivers and swept an suv down a street backwards. several feet of rain left farms, oil wells and hay bales flood and winds ripped off roofs. in minnesota a tank was brought in to demolish the house. the home was 150 years old and headed for the wrecking ball. instead somebody got the idea to bring in a piece of military might. a british tank from the '60s. it took a few tries but eventually the tank did win. now for a look at your national and regional weather here's meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> who is going to get that bill for the windshield? >> weather channel owned by nbc. looks like we'll cutback on office supplies. >> good morning, everyone. more big storms are likely this afternoon as we go into the evening hours. yesterday we had six tornado

reports. thankfully no reports of any injuries or fatalities from those. mostly in rural areas in northern oklahoma, southern kansas. we also had strong storms yesterday with wind damage in central portion of indiana into the border of ohio, large hail was reported in the mountains of north carolina. the majority of the nasty weather was from here oklahoma through northern texas. large hail in and around amarillo. this morning, the thunderstorm threat changes from damage wind to lightning strikes. right now we're tracking this line of storms. almost the same spot it was yesterday morning. heading for fayetteville and fort smith, arkansas. 9,000 lightning strikes in the last hour. we also have the chance for some flooding concerns. at the peak of tornado season in may in the u.s. we typically have 257 tornadoes. that's almost just about ten a day we would average in may. we'll wait and see what happens.

as of today not a big tornado threat but anywhere from omaha to minneapolis that's the biggest threat of severe weather this afternoon. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at your weather outside your window. many areas of the country today will have a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. boston will be cool and chilly and more rain than not. areas like raleigh and minneapolis, just a slight chance of storms late today. it's tornado season. this is the peak of it. the weather channel crew will be out there the whole month of may trying to chase these tornadoes. coming up home ownership tumbles. scooping up sun could. and the big business that is mother's day. plus bobby brown sits down with matt lauer to talk about whitney houston and drugs. >> coming up the knicks couldn't handle the heat, the kpals got even and rajon rondo suspended.

you're watching "early today".

good morning welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are your top headlines. may day protests are planned today by occupy wall street activists in cities across the country. they plan rush hour demonstrations in new york and san francisco to block bridges. dna evidence has cleared two men in texas who were officially exonerated in a rape and shooting 30 years ago. they shook hands with the judge who declared them innocent after decades behind bars. and in colorado robert dewey was released after a court hearing that exonerated him also based on dna evidence. he had been in prison for 16

years. finally in canada a large container was found washed up on shore and inside was a harley davidson motorcycle. it had a japanese license plate and was very rusty indicating it was debris carried across the ocean after the tsunami in japan 13 months ago. unreal. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines. a new study says between 2000 and 2009 the number of babies exposed to illegal drugs before they were born tripled. the research suggests using new medication to treat mothers dependence on illegal or prescription drugs could reduce baby's symptoms after birth. for more information this, check out the health page at msnbc.com. now here's an early look at

how wall street will kick off the day. the dow kicks off at 13,213. the s&p 500 lost five points. the nasdaq fell 22. taking a look at overseas trading. in tokyo the nikkei sank 169 points but in hong kong the hang seng jumped 352. the s&p saw its first losing run on monday thanks to economic worries overseas and here at home. banks were the biggest losers on news of spain's recession and stand and poor cut the credit rating of 11 spanish banks. this as a much sharper than expected decline in midwest business activity added to worries the u.s. economy is losing steam. elsewhere home ownership fell to the lowest level in 15 years as more americans lost homes to foreclosure and shifted to renting. this morning's "wall street journal" reports bank of america is about to cut 2,000 of its

highest paid employees. on the earnings front insurance provider humanus had a drop in profit. sun could soared 20%. meanwhile delta is shelling out $150 million to buy its own oil refinery. the airline hopes to save millions a year. barnes and noble shot up 52% after microsoft agreed to invest $300 million in its ereader and textbook business. finally how would you show mom the love on may 13th. according to a new retail survey consumers will spend an average of $152 this year on mother's day gifts. coming up the caps deny the rangers, the thunder flip past the mavs and what's the punishment for bumping a ref in

the playoffs? plus the upstart l.a. kings take two on the road from the blues in the second round of the stanley cup playoffs. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> your forecast is coming up, everyone. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up this is "early today" and in sports, last night's playoff loss by the new york knicks at the hands by the miami heat. one knick took out his frustration and may be out for the season. here's fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. >> good morning. the knicks were better last night in game two but still not good enough to beat the heat. let's go to south beach. knicks put up a fight. thanks to casey anthony. after scoring 11 on saturday he stepped up and led new york with 30. lebron doesn't beat you dwayne wade will. 25 for him. the heat too much. win 100-94. stoudemire is out for game three. he punched a glass and needed stitches. another close one between the mavs and thunder. vince carter knocked down the jumper to get the lead. thunder took the lead back.

mavs down three. jason terry got two shots to tie it. but couldn't get either to fall. thunder take a two game lead in the series with a 102-99 win. pacers even their series. pulled away in the third. outscored atlanta. they won it. game three tomorrow night. one more nba note. rajon rondo will not be in the game against the hawks. he was ejected after bumping the referee. while arguing a call. second suspension in three months. game two between the hawks and celtics tonight at 7:30 eastern. hokies, caps and rangers, ovechkin has been unhappy with his lack of ice time. if he keeps doing this he'll play the entire game. the caps earned a split new york with a 2-3 win. no place like the road for the kings. perfect 5-0 away from los angeles this post-season. mike richards scored 30 seconds into the game.

kings beat the blues 5-2. they lead that series 2-0. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. octomom goes belly up in a manner of speaking. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. not long ago the risky separation to separate them caught the world's attention. coming up the happy results of that procedure. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." in the midwest especially the northern plains late afternoon thunderstorms will develop once again. this morning we're watching the stronger of storms through missouri, oklahoma heading for arkansas. they should be weakening. as far as the severe storms go the best chance of any tornadoes today will be in central and northern morgueses of minnesota. if you're watching us on wthr 13, indianapolis, inn, in nearby lafayette see eagles hunting for live fish in a replica native american fishing village at the bald eagle exhibit at the colombian park zoo. bobby brown has flatly denied what many long assumed. he said he did not introduce whitney houston to drugs. in an exclusive interview with matt lauer brown claimed his

drug use started way before he entered the picture. in fact brown claims before meeting houston he only smoked marijuana and drank beer. the interview airs wednesday and thursday on "today." a $200,000 lamborghini stolen more than a year ago from a san francisco dealership has been found in northern california. finally nadya suleman, the so-called octomom has filed for bankruptcy monday claiming as much as $1 million in debt. the chapter 7 bankruptcy would seize almost all of her assets. she said bankruptcy is what's best for her kids. you got to worry about the kids too. >> it's pretty obvious. it's not going to end well. >> was it months or has it been years? doesn't it seem like the never

earning tale of the octomom? >> it ended for me a long time ago but you keep remind me. >> this comes to us from kntv. a pair of little girls spent more than six months apart. they count be happier. they were born as conjoined twins. since surgery last year the sisters are doing great. running around and being able to sleep without depending on the other twin and they turn 3 in august. what a great sight to see there. 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 will start this tuesday with some rain in some neighborhoods. we have some showers and thunderstorms. it is raining around fredericksburg. that rain will get here in about 30 or 45 minutes. a chance for showers and thunderstorms early this morning and then late in the afternoon. high temperature close to 80. we will check the seven-day forecast going all the way into the weekend. >> 4:56. 58 degrees on tv hill. >> mayor's legislation is

approved to lower the property tax. >> controversy over the osama bin laden anniversary. i am nikole killion in washington with more. >> a new youtube video has one group questioning the baltimore city police. >> so far so good on the area roads. ♪

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[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. >> we have the rain coats -- do we need the rain coats/ >> give yourself a couple of extra minutes. extra minutes.