♪ . this morning on "early today", budget break through. u.s. lawmakers strike a tentative agreement to extend the payroll tax cut. nick of time. sur slanls video captures a brazen thief at an airport checkpoint. and top dog. who stole the show at and top dog. who stole the show at westminster? captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry and today we begin with a pact on the payroll tax cut. house and senate negotiators have worked out a tentative deal to extend a 2 percentage point

cut in the payroll tax through the end of this year. nbc's tracy pots joins us from washington with more on that. >> reporter: good morning. here's why that was such a big deal. if congress does nothing then that payroll tax cut that put extra money in worker's paychecks this year expires at the end of this month and no one here on capitol hill wants to deal with the political fallout of that. >> reporter: negotiators announced a tentative deal last night to keep the 2% payroll tax cut in place the rest of this year for 160 million working americans. >> at the end of the day the more that americans can keep their own money in their own pocket, i think that's better long term. >> reporter: the deal happened after the obama administration went on the offensive and republicans agreed to add the $100 billion cost to america's red ink. tea party republicans insisted this tax break be paid for. >> this is the bottom line. i'm concerned about the pay for

raising the fees but its a he a good deal for the american people. >> reporter: the deal also keeps unemployment benefits rolling though the maximum 99 will drop to 73 by year's end. and it prevents a 27% cut in payments to medicare doctors, but president obama's worried the deal might not go through. >> i'm cautiously optimistic at this point. until you see me sign this thing, you've got to keep on speaking up. >> reporter: with his budget proposal still in limbo here, the president will be in milwaukee today at a manufacturing plant that brought back 150 jobs from china. >> reporter: now as for the payroll tax cut it looks like, lynn, that deal will be ready to be signed today and we could see a vote at least on the house side by the end of this week. >> tracy pots for us in washington. president obama's approval ratings are up as optimism about the economy grows. a "new york times" cbs poll shows that his ratings have

reached 50% since the first time since last may. the survey found that the percentage of people who believe the economy is improving is now double the percentage of those who think it's getting worse. the poll also found that the president current ri holds an edge over all four republican candidates. iran is preparing to defy western nations today in a standoff over its nuclear program. the president will reportedly inform his nation that a new uranium enrichment plant is fully operational. that is despite western sanctions which have been imposed to force iran to stop its nuclear program before it can build anatomic weapon. the u.s. and europe may decide to turn up the pressure by evicting iran from a financial clearinghouse that is crucial to the country's sales of oil in overseas markets. two iranians are under arrest in thailand after a series of explosions in ban dock. four thai civilians were wounded

in the blast tuesday when explosives ignited at a bangkok house. a third suspect escaped to malaysia. israel's ambassador to thailand said bombs discovered in the bangkok house were similar to those used on other diplomats. there was no comment from officials in tehran. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in florida a brazen robbery happened right in the middle of an airport security line. a woman who had just cleared a tsa checkpoint accidentally left her rollex watch in the tubs. a man spotted the time piece and made his move. by the time the woman realized she had forgotten it the watch and the thief were gone. near pittsburgh it's a site that could scare even alfred

hitchcock. thousands of crows have descended on a neighborhood. it's what they're leaving behind that's downright frightening. cars and homes have been drenched in bird droppings. some folks have resorted to putting up a scarecrow to shoo them away. did you fail to impress your sweetheart on valentine's day. here's your solution. you can take the relationship to a whole new level. an ohio company is selling what they call romantic rides aboard their plane. for 425 bucks you'll get champagne, chocolates, and quote, unquote, a little privacy. huh. now for a look at your national and regional weather we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> you may have missed it. the name of the plain was the bahama mama. >> i did miss that. is that true? >> yes. go for a ride in the bahama

mama. >> extremely romantic. >> it is. i'm signing up. good morning, everyone. it looks like march out there. if you took a look at the temperatures across the country and you didn't know we were in the middle of february, the temperatures are in the 60 steakhous. there's warmer air surging here out of the south. that's going to hit some colder air. we'll deal with thunderstorms today. its he a march like forecast. already the lightening strikes showing up here, the white dots on the map here. lightning strikes on the kansas/missouri border. during the day these will be more widespread from dallas to houston, austin. that's where the storms will form. they'll head over the afternoon to the evening hours into louisiana. we actually have a severe weather risk today. slight risk of severe storms includes the houston area, lake charles, shreveport. almost all of louisiana. louisiana will deal with the storm as the sun is setting into

the evening hours. early overnight southern mississippi could get some of those storms including new orleans. an isolated tornado or two is not out of the question. the damaging wind with the storms. this is a march like weather pattern out there with thunderstorms and rain in the forecast. very little in the way of any snow. there's a little bit of wet, damp weather going through southern new england this morning but that will be gone for a mild afternoon. temperature 53 in new york city. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. warm air out there today will be responsible for those thunderstorms. look at austin today. 76 degrees. then the front will go through and cool you off a little bit after those storms blow through. temperature even warm in miami today. high of 80. once again, it's a rain forecast. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, a small step could mean big news for the next ipad. and yahoo is face

insurrection. plus oprah winfrey's twitter fail that's forced her to do something rare. >> coming up, jarvey does it again. hockey history and man's best friend takes over madison square garden. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some top headlines this morning. the white house is reportedly considering dramatic cuts to the nation's nuclear arsenal. the proposals include an 80% reduction in deployed weapons to the lowest number since the cold war. no decision is expected until after the presidential election. a warning from the maker of the cancer drug avastin. counter fit versions are being distributed to u.s. health care facilities. they don't have the key

ingredients needed. one in eight u.s. voter registrations are either invalid or have serious inaccuracies. the pew center on the states blames it on an outdated registration system. among the findings, 1.8 million people listed as active voters are actually dead. and the duchess of cambridge, the former kate middleton, spent her first valentine's day as a bride without her husband. she visited charities in liverpool while prince william is on a royal air force deployment. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,878 after adding four points. the s&p was down a point. the nasdaq was up a fraction. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei jumped 208 points while in hong kong the hang seng surged 447. investors are waiting for the next step in the bailout of greece by europe's finance ministers.

greece took one step back and one step forward as the finance ministers meeting scheduled for today was canceled but then greek government officials said they would commit to the spending cuts demanded by the eu. retail sales rebounded in january after a weak holiday season. the commerce department says spending on retail goods was up .4%. timothy geithner that they would end dozens of tax breaks. air bus said they will meet $3.5 trillion worth of new airplanes between now and 2030 with 1/3 of that demand coming from asia. bowing has locked in its biggest airplane order ever with 230 plains from lion air from indonesia. the deal is worth $22 billion. yahoo has hit a snag in negotiations to sell most of its holdings to ali baba.

a major share shoulder said he will lead a mutiny to seize four seats on the board. apple's new ipad will have a smaller eight inch screen according to the wall street journal so it can compete with rivalries with seven inch screens. online game maker zynga reported a net loss for the last three months of 2011 in its first quarter as a public company. finally after whitney houston's death prizes were raced on her albums. one was raised 60%. the other was 25%. sony music has apologized saying it was a mistake. coming up, the linsanity continues, the red wings make history, and the rangers shut out the bruins. plus a new set of competitors in madison square garden.

>> forget about a winter forecast, it feels like and looks like spring. the forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports the new york knicks extended their winning streak last night after a decisive

last-second shot from its newest star. here's fred roggin with your early look at the sports headlines. >> good morning. it has been a memorable ten days for jeremy. it got better. here we have stoudemire returned after missing four days to attend his brother's funeral. many questioned if a march reand lin would have chemistry together. game came down to the final shot. it's tied at 87. isolation for lin, he drilled it. the legend continues to grow as jeremy lin did it. the nicks fell to the raptors. heat and pacers had three road games in three nights. they didn't schedule three consecutive games. a record is a record. they win it 105-90. the red wings made history in hockey down when their 21st straight home game, a new nhl record. they held on to beat the stars 3-1.

rangers and bruins, here's a perfect example why new york is the best team in the east, tick take toe. rangers shut out the champs, 3-0. finally the beth athletes have all played in madison square garden. last night it was all for the dogs. here's a commondore. better known as a mop with four legs. he didn't clean umt. then there's beamer. he's a bed link ton terrier. when they have trouble falling asleep, they count him. what's the westminster dog show without a party boy. this terrier gets the vip treatment at every nightclub in new york city. last, but certainly not least, the best in show. he may look like an overgrown fur ball, but he is a champ. that is malachai, the peek ka niece. he's westminster's top dog. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin.

the plans for whitney houston's funeral have been set. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus a couple makes history in louisiana. we'll tell you their simple advice. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this wednesday morning. very warm forecast ausround the

country. thunderstorms will be a problem. mild weather for much of the east coast. hopefully we get you a little bit of sunshine. temperatures in the 50s in many spots. the rockies are cool but you are dry at least. as we go towards tomorrow all the rainy weather that will be in the middle of the country will be on the east coast rolling through areas of the big cities and the southeast. no snow, just rain. if you're watching us on wcau, nbc 10, philadelphia's pennsylvania see woven works expired by the form of ink blots. that's your early area event today. what do you see? >> look closely. thanks so much. now here's an early look at today's headlines in entertainment. plans have been announced for whitney houston's funeral this weekend. the late singer will be mourned by family and friends at a private invitation only service this saturday at the newark, new jersey church where she first began singing in public.

one person not likely to be on the guest list. houston's ex-husband, bobby brown. tmz is reporting brown has not been allowed to see his daughter since she was hospitalized sunday and that several family members have told him to stay away from the funeral. fresh from her clean sweep at the grammys this weekend adele has hinted to vogue magazine that she plans to take a five-year break from her singing career to focus on this new relationship of hers. interesting. and finally oprah winfrey has issued a rare apology after soliciting viewers in a tweet to watch a new episode of her show on the own network pt the request ruffled some feathers on kneel son. it plans to place an asterisk next to its ratings. wow, normally people don't mess with oprah. they're like, okay, it's oprah. she can do whatever she wants. >> neil son has this monopoly over the rating system.

now ours are going to drop horribly. >> bill. >> they have a lot of power. >> and this comes to us from wvla nbc 33 news in baton rouge, louisiana, where one happy couple was honored after having married when herbert hoover was in the white house. norman and norm ma burma tied the knott 81 years ago. they are the state's longest couple. they are the guest of their governor for valentine's day. still love each other. norman is 101 years old. his bride is 98. they have 13 great grandchildren. the secret? mr. burma says the key to happy marriage is simple, listen to your wife. very wise man. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today" just your first stop today on your nbc station.

4:28. 40 degrees. we had clouds above us earlier. beautiful view of the crescent moon peeking out earlier. good morning, i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to nuft for this wednesday, february 15, 2012. we're following a developing story out of capitol hill where congress has reached a tentative deal to extend the payroll tax cut through the end of the year. lawmakers are expected to reveal details today. they could send the measure to president obama as early as this

week. the tax cut extension would havespired at the end of the month if no deal had been reached, taking about $20 a week out of average american's salary. president obama will begin selling his proposed budget in wisconsin. he'll tour a master lock factory before heading to california and seattle for fundraising events. he returns to washington on friday. in milwaukee, the president will be greeted by wisconsin's republican governor, scott walker. he was one of the featured speakers at last week's conservative political action conference here in washington. walker even took shots at president obama in that speech. the alexandria fire department will be out of service for 48 hours to honor a paramedic killed last week in the line of duty. joshua weissman died last week when he fell from an overpass on interstate 395. his visitation will be held today. his funeral is set for tomorrow. while the fire department attends weissman's funeral services, first responders from arlington and fairfax will field