"jimmy fallon" happening right [ cheers and applause ] today," minimal risk. a report on the highly anticipated pentagon study on lifting don't ask, don't tell. major oops, an ohio smokestack implosion doesn't go quite as planned. and chocolate lovers, beware. confectioners issue a dire warning about the world's confectioners issue a dire warning about the world's chocolate supply. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning to you. i'm ver rhonda dell la cruise.

a pentagon study has concluded the pent go can lift the ban to openly serving gays risk. in addition, the post says more than 70% of respondents surveyed sent to active duty and reserve troops said the effect of repealing don't ask, don't tell would be positive, mixed or nonexistent. those results led the authors to conclude that objections to openly gay colleagues would drop once troops were able to live and serve alongside them. in washington, the unwelcome task is being faced of slashing the budget deficit. among proposals, tax hikes, medicare cuts and raising the retirement age. kristin dahlgren has more from us live. >> good morning, veronica, cuts

in taxes increases, a couple of controversial proposals by this so-called deficit commission, nowochairs unveiled the ideas yesterday to bring $4 trillion in deficit deductions by 2020. they called debt a cancer that needs to be fixed. the proposals were immediately attacked by both the left and the right in washington. speer pelosi calling them unacceptable. from korea, president obama urged critics to learn more about the proposals, he said, quote, we have to be straight with the american people and tough choices may be needed. but the proposals may not survive their own commissi. 14 of the 18 commissioners need to approve them prosecute they're sent to congress for a vote. some say that could be unlikely. the cochairs anowledged that all proposals may not fly, perhaps a bit of shock therapy to show the american public just how serious the deficit

situation is and they're seeing it, veronica, as a starting point. >> thank you. he pass ekers whose cruise ship destination ended up in a nightmare are nearing towards port. all they can do is wait and eat the p tarts and spam that's been flown in for them. >> reporter: the carnival splendor, under townd heading home to southern california. >> our focus has been totally centered on the safety of the guests, the safetyf the crew and getting everybody home safel safely. >> the cruise ship lost power monday after an engine room fire. carnival has delivered food and drink supplies by naval helicopter to the ship's passengers and crew. >> it's stuffy. we have some passengers that

have full svice restored as far as water and bathroom services, but no light, no power, no electricity, no air flow. >> reporter: a team o five tugboats is expected to have the strip off the shores of san diego by dawn. carnival says the ts will slowly guide the sp thrugh the harbor with arrival at the dock expected around mid day. kurt gregory, nbc news. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a wisconsin driver is behind bars after leading drivers on a high speed chase. at one point, the man jumped out of the car and into the bushes while the unmanned vehicle nearly clipped an officer. the man has been crged for multiple offenses, including possession of meth amphetamines. demolishers in ohio had an embarrassing mishap when an old tower imploded and came crashing down in the wrong directio

apparently one of the detonators didn't go off. it downed power lines and left over 4,000 customers in the dark. high flames and thick, black smoke shot up into the air at one california refinery. a power outage in the area forced workers at the plant to release lae amounts of gas which caused excess flaring. health officials warned nearby residents to stay inside, but have isn't since lifted that order. in new jersey, a 14-year-old girl may have reeled a record cash. it hasn't been confirmed yesterday. her 58 plus pound striped bass appears to have blown the record out of the water. now for a look at your national and regional weatr, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. how are you doing? >> good morning. a nice, quiet day for me here. it's a beautiful veteransday.

a lot of parades will be going otoday. it looks nice up and down the eastern seaboard. the next storm system is brewing in the middle of the country. this one will be with us probably for two or three days. now moving up into southeast kansas and just south of kansas city. it's going to be a big rain event for the first two days, maybe snow on the tail end of this storm. mostly heavy rain will velop in oklahoma,entral kansas and up here through sioux city and through minneapolis. in areas of minnepolis, we have to watch the potential for snow on the backsid of this storm in the days ahead. today's forecast, rain will be developing in kansas city, maybe thunderstorms late today. denver on the cold side of this storm, snowflakes, but not too bad of a snowstorm for you. the east coast looks really nice. sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. that's a look at your forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. beautiful day today in alabama,

mississippigeorgia, florida is looking really nice. not bad around detroit and baltimore and pittsburgh. temperatures there in the upper 50s to low 60s. st. ouis, increasing clouds, 73. veronica, we'll take a look at friday's forecast, coming up. >> sounds good, bill. see you then. cisco stumbles, and why you might find yourselfn a flight sitting next to a famous acr. your earlyorning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, the country couple that has it all now has even more. the jazz do it again, another rst for john wall and possibly the worst way to lose a game. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. speaking at today's g-20 summit,

president obama said the unite states and china are making progress to tackle sensitive issues like the openness of the chinese economy and the reformingf the country's curren. earlier in the day, the president marked veterans day by saluting american troops who fought in the vietnam war. england's james cameron said those involved should face prosecution. amazon.com is drawing outrage over its decision to sell an e-book that builds its as guide for pedophils. it cited the right to free speech, but as of last night, the book had been reprovedrom its site. and w much would you pay to satisfy your sweet tooth? industry experts claim in just 20 years, chocolate will be as

expensive as caviar. that's because african farmers who produce the bulk of the wod's supply are abandoning their farms in search of better pay. and now here's an early look atne of your top health headlines. many children in the uned states have adhd or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. over a few years, government scientists attribute that to growing awareness and better screening. about two-thirds of the children adhd are on medication. for more information on this and other health stories, check out e health page online at msnbc.com. >> andow here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,357 after adding ten points yesrday. the s&p edged up 5 points and

the nasdaq gained 15. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei rose 30 points while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 199. markets made a modest comeback yesterday, but an outlook for a bellwether could spell a rough start for the day. cisco had its worst earnings decline ever. after the bell, kohl's shares were up after the department store reported quarterly earnings in line with estimates. gm weighed in with its largest quarterly profit since emerging from bankruptcy in july of last year. the dollarwill be front and center today in the wake of the fed's first easing program purchase. as the u.s. builds criticism for keeping interest rates low from oversea on that front, treasury secretary tim geithner told "today" the u.s. will never to

use that tool. the economy is on the mend. a new report shows a not so surprising dropn the amount of foreclosures last month after lenders temporarily stopped foreclosures. google in back in the hot seat over allegations its street view mapping tool violad laws. this week, it's being investigated just two weeks after another inquiry was closed. oeing took a dive after shutting down the dreamliner to determine what caused smoke in the cockpit on tuesday. and if approved, a proposed union deal could require screen actors to fly economy class in exchange for a pay hike b and re benefits. a wall with no bricks, a sweet big apple return and a major blunder in high school football. plus, the uah jazz makes noise

again coming up with yet another soccer in the sunshine state. on have veterans day, we're expecting wet weater in the middle of the country, but a lot of beautiful blue skies up and down the east coast. yo veters forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, utah played two of the nba's best tooems team on back to back nights and the jazz were smooth in each of them. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. so after coming back from 22 down against the heat on tuesday, the utah jazz did it again lastnight in orlando. this time, utah was down 18 and rallied in the third. paul milsap double clutched the bucket and foul. jazz went off in the four. darren williams from beyond the.arc, utah within one. williams from long range. it's not how youstart, it's how you finished. jazz win it, 104-94. wizards and rockets, second quarter, b gilbert arenas up, threw it down. whiz up by seven at the half. wall with the steal and the dish to thorton. wizards won it, 98-91.

knicks probably wish they ver would have gotten rid of lee. lee had a season high 28 points and 10 boards. last chance for new york, wilson chandler for the tie, brick. warriors held on, 122-117. baseball national league gold gloves awarded yesterday. the rs player now has won for three times. check this. instead of kneeling down, taking down any in the middle of the play, he ran around and finally stopped. the other team said, thank you, i'll take that. he grabbed the ball and ran it in for a winning touchdown. jake team is now headed to the playoffs. that's your early look at sports

on "early today." i'm fred roggin. pink may be seeing the stork and one celebrity chef is seeing red. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, she was one of the all-me great necessary tennis, but apparently that wasn't enough for march tina nafr ta loaf va. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on thi vernls day morning.

we're watching beautiful conditions up and down the east coast. a nice afternoon from d.c down to atlanta and florida. we will see showers and thunderstorms. we have a few of them in oklahoma. they'll be moving northward through kansas and kansas city during the night tonight. on the backside, a little bit of snow today in denver. now, tomorrow for friday, all th stormy weather is going to be in the middle of the country and this is where it's going to last into saturday while the east coast warms up. if you're watching us on wnyt, news channel 13 albany, new york, catch new york state artifacts at the freedom's treasurers exhibit opened for veterans day only at the new york state capitol's red room. >> a good way to spend the day. >> probably a lot of revolutionary war stuff. >> very cool. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. last night was a night to

remember for country "it" couple. miranda lambert and blake shelton celebrated lack better's birthday by taking home several awards. paisley, the show's co-host alongside carrie underod cheerfully accepted the award for the year's best country entertainer. elsewhere, "us weekly" quotes a source who says pink is 12 weeks pregnant with her first child. and chef delorentas is fuming after a report saying she was seen cuddling up with john mayer. calling it a lie and she wants a detraction. finally, last night in nashville -- ♪ because i'm country strong >> gweneth paltrow not only

survived her singing debut, she got a staing ovation, believe itr not. wow, she has lots of guts. >> hollywood going to nashville and actually on stage. >> she sounded great. >> she was in a movie doing a duet where she sounded good. and from new york, tennis legend martina latch navratilova, scaling more than 19,000 feet up the treacherous steps of mt. kimanjaro raising money for a sports charity. the 54-year-old 59-time grand slam champ is still in amazing shape. she prepared fr the 54 story climb up a new yo building, a workout she called easier than expected. wow. > i'm veronica de la cr, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

time right now is 4:28. we have 46 degrees outside. beautiful day dawning here in the nations capital. sun will be up in, well, quite awhile. good morning, i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this thursday, november 11th, 2010. >> in the news it was a frightening experience for one metro rider when her baby made it onto the train but she did not. this happened at the west hyattsville station on the green line. we're told the mother pushed a stroer with her baby inside onto the train but then the doors closed before she could get on. passengers saw what happened,

called for the train operator and then got off with the baby at the next station. metro transit police watched the baby until the mother arrived. today is veterans day. a day to salute the men and women who have served in the military. it is also a federal holiday which means we have a few traffic alerts. there will be no vre service all day. marc will also be ruing on an s-schedule. only trains designated with an "f" under the train number on the schedule will operate. metrorail will be operating normally. however metrobus will run on a limited schedule. riders should check with metro to see if their bus is on time today. there are also a number of events taking place. at 9:00 this morning, a special ceremony will be held at the world war ii memorial. then at 11:00, another ceremony will be held athe tomb of the unknowns. at arlington national cemetery. at 1:00, a wreath laying ceremony will be held at the vietnam veters memorial. the city of manassas is also