this morning on "early today," wall street crackdown. the senate passes the most far-reaching financial regulation overhaul since the great depression. the great caper. how thieves in france managed to walk away with some priceless works of art. and interplanetary stroll. japan begins a two-year mission to study the mysteries of venus. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hi, everybody. good morning, great to have you with us. i'm thomas roberts. today we begin with reining in wall street and the big banks. last night congress passed the most extensive financial reform bill since the great depression and handed president obama a

major policy victory. for months, they have been try mulling over details to prevent a economic meltdown like the country is recovering from. nbc's tracie potts is in washington, d.c., this morning to guide us through this one. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. it passed with 59 votes. four of those were republicans. let me tell you some of the details here, what this senate bill would do. it would police wall street, actively looking for banks and investment firms at risk. it would also shine the light on complex financial trades, part of the problem that led to the recession. a new consumer protection agency would be formed to make sure that when you go out to get a loan, that those financial products are protected and that you've got information on what you're getting into. and most importantly, according to president obama, it provides for an orderly shutdown of banks that get in trouble so they would not need taxpayer bailouts. now, critics say what this legislation does not do is deal

with freddie mac and fannie mae and the ongoing multibillion dollar bailout for those housing mortgage giants. now, the house version and the senate version still need to be reconciled. they're hoping to get it to the president's desk by the fourth of july. thomas? >> tracie, thanks so much. meanwhile, on wall street, markets plunged to their lowest levels in more than a year. by the end of the trading day, the dow had dropped a stunning 376 points. incredibly, no single event appeared to spark that dramatic sell-off. instead, analysts blamed a build-up of weeks of stress and worry over europe's debt crisis. we'll have more on how asia markets are reacting this morning coming your way later in business. well, it has been over a month since the catastrophic oil explosion in the gulf of mexico, and federal officials still can't determine how much oil is gushing into the water. what they do know is it's worse than previously estimated. and for the first time, oil has washed on to the precious marshes of louisiana. nbc's kristen dahlgren is live

in clearwater beach, florida, with more on this. it's amazing we still don't have positive estimates about how much oil is really being released daily. >> reporter: yeah. good morning, thomas. and 30 days later, so still no stop to the leaking oil. as you mentioned, it is now washing ashore in louisiana, and now it is that thick, gooey, toxic oil that has made it to the marshlands at the head of the mississippi river, home to some 400 species of birds and fish. that as bp now admits for the first time that the amount of oil flowing into the gulf is greater than those initial estimates of 5,000 barrels per day. that's how much they now say they are capturing, but we have a live feed coming off the ocean floor, and clearly, there is a lot more oil that you can see as you watch that. meantime, the obama administration sent a scathing letter, insisting that bp provide all data regarding the leak and accused the energy giant of not being forthright in this. and the epa has now demanded

that bp find a new, less toxic chemical dispersant to begin using. it has been spraying that dispersant on to the water now for the past month, and there are concerns over the environmental impact of that. still no long-term studies on what that might be. environmental groups outraged. they now call the gulf of mexico a crime scene, thomas. >> kristen dahlgren. great to see you, kristen. thanks so much. under pressure from the white house, national intelligence director dennis blair is resigning. the retired navy admiral's 16-month tenure has been marked by intelligence failures and spy agency turf wars. sources say the president had clearly lost confidence in blair and had several replacement candidates already been interviewed. the national intelligence director, a position created in response to the september 11th terrorist attacks, oversees the nation's 16 intelligence agencies. and now here's a look at some of the other stories making news "early today" in america. in california, officials are investigating the cause of a fire which gutted a school bus carrying third graders on an

l.a. highway. look at this. passing motorists stopped to help evacuate approximately two dozen kids and chaperones. two children were treated for minor smoke inhalation and released. in ohio, a woman suffering from a seizure lost control of her car and crashed into a medical building. luckily for her, dozens of doctors and nurses who were in a conference room next to the crash site rushed to the aid of the driver until paramedics arrived. the woman was taken to a local hospital and is expected to be okay. florida officials accomplished quite the engineering feat early thursday morning when they transported a 39-ton commercial airliner through an obstacle course of obstructions from a local airport to an aviation school. the school will be one of the only aviation programs in the country with a commercial airliner on its grounds. and back in california, the oakland zoo is welcoming its newest member. for the first time in 30 years, a baby elan, a species of antelope, has been born at the zoo. it was born in bali, which means

on the contrary, an appropriate name given that all her mother's pregnancy tests were negative. now time for your national and regional weather and bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> good morning, tom. it's too bad this isn't memorial weekend because this is going to be a beautiful weekend and who knows about a week from now, but we're looking at a warm start. this feels and looks like summer. temperatures are in the 70s across the deep south this morning and the humidity is up. it's even warm all the way up to boston this morning, 66. so, you definitely do not need the heavy jacket out there. we have a storm system that brought us severe weather yesterday, still bringing us thunderstorms down there towards atlanta. it will bring showery weather up through the ohio valley today and more thunderstorms in the tennessee valley. so, the east coast is warm and relatively dry and sunny. the ohio valley, tennessee valley and the great lakes is where the stormy weather is going to be today. it's not going to be horrible, but it will rain on and off and be cloudy or cooler. areas like chicago will be about 67 degrees with showers. watch out for those early-morning thunderstorms in

atlanta. possible airport delays maybe early in the day, i could not tell should clear out. and look at this, beautiful up there in mid-atlantic to new england. florida's going to be hot. we're going to see very warm conditions, the warmest in a long time there in dallas at 94, san antonio 92. and even denver's going to be enjoyable at 78. the mountainous areas are going to be nice and warm, too. 62 up there into billings. so, ohio valley, tennessee valley are the only areas that need the umbrella today. everyone else, maybe you can get away with short sleeves later this afternoon. there's a look at your friday forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. columbus, ohio, one of those spots that will have a chance of thunderstorms. that will also include areas like indianapolis, up through detroit. chicago, chance of showers for you, as we mentioned. down through kentucky and tennessee, just a slight risk of a few strong storms, but we shouldn't have to deal with too many bad tornadoes. that's a look at your friday forecast. weekend coming right up. >> this is a good-looking friday forecast so far, for most of us, anyway, bill. >> for a lot of people, it's the warmest they've been so far this spring. >> all right. we'll talk about the weekend

coming up. thanks. yesterday's big losers on wall street and today's closing on the asian markets. your early-morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, will the return of a green ogre lure moviegoers this weekend to the tune of $100 million? floyd landis pedals his version of the truth, the sixers hire a coach and life is grand for the braves. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm thomas roberts and here are some of your top headlines this morning. in paris, a mass intruder pulled off one of the world's biggest art heists. someone broke into a museum and stole a picasso, a matisse and three other masterpieces with a combined value of $123 million. one thing that made it easier for the thief, the security system was down because parts needed to fix the alarm hadn't arrived yet. in virginia, an inmate was executed for killing two men in front of their families.

derek walker died by lethal injection last night, becoming the 107th inmate to be put to death in virginia since the supreme court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. genetecists in the u.s. say they have developed a cell controlled by manmade dna. scientists say the research will lead to creating microbes from scratch useful in the creation of vac seens and bio fuels. and japan successfully launched a rocket today carrying a space probe making its way through the cosmos on its way to venus. the probe will examine venus' climate. now here's an "early" look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,068. after losing a whopping 376 points. the s&p fell 43 points. the nasdaq dropped 94 points. now we want to take a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei tumbled 245

points, while in hong kong, the hang seng lost 33 points. wall street's stunning plunge yesterday is definitely being felt across the globe today. japan's nikkei hit a five-month low in the wake of thursday's wall street fallout. exporters were hardest hit after the euro slid to its lowest level against the yen in more than eight years. back on wall street yesterday, analysts broke out the dreaded "c" word, as in market correction. both the dow and the s&p crossed the crucial 10% threshold, racking up enough losses for the year to qualify by definition as a market correction. hardest hit on the dow, bank of america, dropping 6%. sears was the biggest loser on the s&p, shedding 10%, thanks to a 38% drop in first-quarter profit. adding to investors' anxiety, a surprising spike in weekly unemployment claims, up by 25,000. that's the largest jump in three months. a rare bright spot to tell you about amid the sharp sell-off. initial public offerings by accretive health care and internet marketer reached local

both brought in double-digit gains. after the bell, mixed quarterly earnings from dell didn't do much to lift the mood on the street. dell shares fell 3% in late trade. intelligence la motors announced it is teaming up with toyota to build cars. it will get a $50 million cash infusion from toyota and a recently shuttered auto plant in california will be back in business. finally, while the markets are volatile these days, the rare coin market seems very solid. what's believed to be america's oldest silver dollar is now the world's most expensive coin. the mint condition 1974 liberty dollar was just sold for a whopping $7.8 million. a former teammate accuses lance armstrong of cheating, and there is an amazing comeback win by the atlanta braves. plus, the canadiens bounce back in the stanley cup playoffs. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. it's starting to feel more and more like summer out there. your weekend forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, disgraced tour de france winner floyd landis has finally confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs, and that's not all. he's now also accusing former teammate lance armstrong of cheating as well.

here's nbc's bill sword with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> a very good morning to you. a few years ago, cyclist floyd landis was stripped of his '06 tour de france title for a failed drug test. now, after years of denial, he finally came clean. landis admitted using performance-enhancing drugs for years and implicated dozens of others, including seven-time tour de france winner lance armstrong. landis says he's coming clean to clear his conscience, but many question his credibility, including armstrong. >> it's a man that's been under several times and this is a man that wrote a book for profit with a completely different version. this is somebody that took somewhat close to $1 million from innocent people for his defense under a different premise. and now when it's all run out, the story changes. quick basketball note. the 76ers agreed on a four-year deal for tv analyst doug collins

to be their next coach. collins last coached michael jordan and the washington wizards in 2003. speaking of philly, flyers and canadiens, this all les habitants. it's right to michael cammalleri. canadiens up 1-0. later in the first, another fortunate bounce. tom pyatt pops in the rebound. montreal up 2-0. havs are back in the series with a 5-1 win. baseball, great finish in atlanta. ninth inning, braves down 9-6 and brooks conrad drives one deep. laynce nix looking like he had it. no go. off his glove for a game-winning grand slam. look at conrad. he thought nix made the grab. no, no, my friend, you're the hero with a walk-off granny. braves win it 10-9 in the ninth. that's your look at sports on "early today." lindsay lohan parties on a yacht while a judge in los angeles throws the book at her.

your early-morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the efforts one community took in defense of old glory. you're watching "early today."

well, it's time for a look at your weekend forecast. welcome back. and it's a summer-like day today from florida all the way up to new england. rain today, though, chicago, ohio valley down to the

tennessee valley. we're dry in the middle of the country. as we look at saturday, the east coast cools off a little bit. still warm and a little humid down along the gulf, but no big issues on saturday, and even into sunday, a little bit of wet weather heads here from new york to washington, d.c., but it won't be a washout by any means. no big, huge storms, no severe weather outbreaks over the next three days. well, if you're watching us on wncn nbc 17, good old raleigh, north carolina, discover the animals that lived in eastern north carolina when it was covered by ocean at prehistoric north carolina at the north carolina museum of natural sciences, and that's your "early today event of the day," thomas, and hopefully, we all learned something. i had no idea. >> i had no idea, either. i thought the beach towns of the outer banks were the original beach towns, but i guess not. bill, thanks. now here's an early look at this morning's entertainment headlines. the fourth "schrek" movie will rule the box office this weekend and the question is how much will it make? "schrek: forever after" seen here yesterday getting his star

on the hollywood walk of fame. it will be helped by higher-priced 3d showings, but on the down side, it's been three years since the ogre last worked. remember, most experts are talking about its debut taking in $100 million. elsewhere, lindsay lohan posted a bond to avoid being arrested after failing, as expected, to show up in a los angeles court thursday. the judge found probable cause to believe lohan violated probation. now she's prohibited from drinking alcohol and must submit to random weekly drug tests. lohan's lawyer claimed in court lindsey notified french authorities her passport was stolen, preventing her from traveling. french police say they know nothing about that. meanwhile, lohan was photographed last night partying on a yacht in the french riviera until the wee hours. and bill, she's in cannes for the big movie festival that's going on, and she was supposed to be back and complete her alcohol education classes. and you win this bet. you win the bet. you said she wouldn't do it and she hasn't. >> well, this is the best thing possible for her.

weekly testing is, hopefully, it will, you know, make her go nice in a straight line. >> exactly, if she gets her passport and returns to this country. we'll see. all right, bill, thanks. and this comes to us from kc24 news in fresno, california, where in nearby clovis, community members rallied together to show their true stripes in honor of old glory. when someone stole the oversized flag at a local car dealership, nearly the entire town pitched in to replace it. then, apparently, the thief returned the flag, leaving it behind at a local fire station. residents held a ceremony to raise the banner and are donating that money that they raised to local charities now. so, it all comes out in the end when it's returned. i'm thomas roberts and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

live in hd. beautiful picture of the washington monument. the skyline of washington, d.c. your nation's capital. 4:27 is our time. 67 degrees. good morning i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. it's friday, may 21, 2010. friday could not come fast enough for traders on wall street. you may want to sit down before you look at your 401(k) or stock portfolio this morning. the dow tumbled 376 points yesterday amid fears that europe's debt crisis could spread around the world. that was the biggest point drop since february of last year. the dow and nasdaq have fallen. the wall street woes came on the

same day hat the senate pass ad historic financial overhaul bill. yesterday's passage is a major victory for president obama. tracie potts has more. >> the bill as amend has passed. >> reporter: republicans and democrats said they are shutting the door on wall street gambling with your money. the senate's bill would police risky financial deals, shine flight on complex trades, create a new government agency to protect consumers, demand proof you can pay your mortgage and shut down failing banks without using your money. >> there will be no more taxpayer funded bailouts. >> reporter: what the bill doesn't do is stop the bailouts of mortgage giants fannie mae and freddie mac now at $146 billion and counting. >> there's no ends in sight. losses continue to mount and the taxpayer exposure