♪ this morning on "early today", signs of life? a fresh round of reports renew optimism in the nation's economic recovery. dramatic destruction. authorities in mexico set fire to a massive haul of drug-related munitions. and safe and sound. a four week old puppy is pulled and safe and sound. a four week old puppy is pulled from a sewage drain in ohio. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good bhoorng. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with positive economic signs. the u.s. economy seems to be improving as unemployment claims

last week were at their lowest level since 2008 and a bailed out american auto company is now showing record profits. nbc's michelle franzen has details. >> reporter: detroit's largest automaker, general motors, posted earnings of $7.6 billion last year, its biggest profit in nearly two decades. at gm's assembly plant in flint, michigan, for the first time in two years gm's overnight shift is back up and running. 750 new full-time jobs with benefits. >> i have a real piece of mind because i feel like i'm back on track. >> reporter: the iconic american company still has a long road ahead. the government still owns a big share of stock and gm still owes billions from the bailout. on the campaign trail mitt romney worked to rub up the crowd in his native miracle michigan giving a nod to its come back. >> i love the auto industry. i'm glad it went through a managed bankruptcy process which i recommended from the

beginning. >> reporter: meanwhile, rick santorum kept the heat on president obama. >> this is a president who is suffocating this economy. this is a president who doesn't care about you. >> reporter: there are signs companies are starting to hire again. in the past week jobless claims fell to their lowest in nearly four years. economists point to stronger retail and auto sales along with gains in manufacturing as good indicators the country is headed in the right direction. >> we've had runs of strong data like this before and this looks like a good indicator, but let's see what we get going forward. >> reporter: one of the hurdles that could affect any recovery, rising gas prices, which are expected to soar this spring. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. contraception and reproductive rights have suddenly become the focus of an intense national debate prompted by the recent fight with the white house over whether religious-based employers must

provide insurance coverage for birth control. well, congressional hearings thursday got heated as lawmakers got angry at what was missing. kelley o'donnell reports. >> reporter: the politics of contraception provoked outrage on capitol hill. >> where are the women? when i look at this panel, i don't see one single woman. >> reporter: this picture set off that anger when only men had a seat at the witness table during a hearing related to contraception. >> we've been denied the right to have a witness -- >> reporter: politically the left defines this battle as a women's rights and a health care equality issue. >> i may at some point be moved to explain biology to my colleagues. >> reporter: on the right conservatives focus on religious freedom. >> constitutional liberties are being stepped upon. >> no man or woman should ever be forced to betray that faith.

>> reporter: the republican invited only safe leaders not advocates for women's health. >> imagine having a panel on women's health and they don't have any women on the pam. >> reporter: the social issue divide can cut across gender and generational lines. >> if the issue continues, it's likely to help the republican party because it could be a way of wooing catholics in the swing states such as pennsylvania and ohio. >> reporter: while the economy looms largest, they say the deeply personal issues can make an impact. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a very bizarre scene at a pennsylvania walmart. a man took off all of his clothes in the parking lot and then walked into the store nude. he then headed for the customer service counter where he stole a pair of socks and put them on. police later taserred him and arrested him. bizarre may be an

understatement. some workers at a butter ball turkey plant are in hot water after an undercover video showed turkeys being kicked and thrown into cages. four have been fired and two suspected. all of them now face misdemeanor cases. butter ball says it's working to train employees on proper animal care. a four week old puppy was rescued after becoming trapped in a sewage pipe underneath a home in cleveland. its owner couldn't find a little guy until he noticed the dog's mother kept going over to the drain. a sewer crew showed up and saved the pet which is now being treated at an animal hospital. look at that little guy. finally, more proof of the winter that never was. this was supposed to be a brand new ice rink. a virginia man built it in his backyard for his son to play hockey on, but thanks to this year's mild temperatures he got nothing more than a giant puddle of mud. >> he's fishing. >> and hope that old man winter

shows up before it's game over. now for a look at your national and regional weather. bill karins is here. that is quite the elaborate hockey rink. >> for virginia, that's pretty ambitious in the winter. i grew up in upstate new york and we were guaranteed that the ice rink would be okay. virginia, even though it's winter, that's a little shaky. >> major points for the effort. >> dad points. good morning, everyone. big rainstorm expected this weekend as it moves from texas all the way down along the gulf coast. some of us are hoping, like myself, that we'll get a big east coast storm. doesn't look like it's going to happen. what we have going on is we have a northern stream that's very active. notice there's a stream coming in from the northwest, week one northern plains. another one going through canada. the northern stream is active but it won't combine with all the moisture down here to the south. that's why we won't get this energy coming up the coast. for the most part this is just going to be a southern soaker. we already have some rain and thunderstorms popping up in

central texas. it will be a wet day from dallas, wake could he, austin. eventually that rain will make its way along the coast. this yellow and orange swath throughout much of the deep south, that's two to three inches of rain. this will be a significant rain event. it will still be raining very hard on sunday here throughout the mid atlantic. today is 55 in d.c. we'll watch that heavy rain starting for you in texas. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. in tim pa florida, 76 degrees today. good chance of showers. memphis, tennessee, 59. oklahoma city will have some of those rain showers. most of the heavy rain will stay to the south. phoenix, arizona will be cleared out for a nice afternoon. no snow, lynn berry. maybe the mountains of virginia. that will probably be it for accumulating. >> no fair, bill karins. you had me so excited. >> i keep hoping for one.

>> february, we've got a few more weeks. >> we're not done. coming up, stocks soar, apple shines, and the starbucks drink that should take the guilt out of your early morning coffee splurge. ghost writer johnny blaze comes back in 3-d. >> coming up the pacers turn out the lights and jeremy lin is headed to the all-star game in orlando. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. authorities say a federal ice agent turned on one of his own thursday shooting an wounding his colleague at a federal building in long beach, florida.

a third ice agent then shot and killed the agent who originally opened fire. the new jersey state assembly voted to legalize same-sex marriage yesterday after the state senate did the same. governor chris christie is promising a veto. f-16s were scrambled after a pilot of a cessna veered into air space while president obama was aboard the marine 1 helicopter. the pilot complied with orders to land. there was one more surprise waiting. more than 20 pounds of marijuana on board. he is not accused of wanting to harm the president but he could still face drug charges. a pulitzer prize winning correspondent for "the new york times" has died in syria. anthony shadid suffered an apparent asthma attack. these weapons were designed to accepted a dramatic message to drug cartels. the dow opens at 12904 after

gaining 123 points yesterday. the s&p nudged up 14 points. the nasdaq climbed 44. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei climbed 146 points while in hong kong the hang seng gained 214. stocks swung to fresh highs thursday driven by optimism out of greece. as we mentioned earlier welcome economic news at home. starting the day out strong word that greece expects to get approval on monday for a debt swap with private bond holders that would help the country avoid a default. adding more fuel to that rally, signs of strength in manufacturing, home construction, and news that weekly jobless claims tumbled to the lowest level since march 2008. general motors shot up 9% after posting a record profit of $7.6 billion. gm did report weakness overseas and slim fourth quarter margins.

among the day's big movers, microsoft soared 4%. apple had an early decline. elsewhere on the earnings front, data storage company net app led the s&p with a 7% gain. on the down side, smuckers slipped 8% after slashing its full year earnings outlook. online jewelry retailer blue nile tumbled 10% after a disappointing quarterly report. yelpers will be able to invest in the online review service soon. they set a target of 12 to $14 for its upcoming ipo. thanks to a blogger and ba reese sta who dreamed up what may be the most expensive starbucks drink ever. your morning brew is about to sound like a bargain. this has 16 shots of espresso, three milk, carmel syrup, fruit purees, vanilla beans and

protein powder rang up to a whopping $23.60. hopefully that doesn't become a habit. coming up, duke has another big come back. the seminoles stay in first place and fans say good-bye to a bi baseball great. >> the weekend forecast is all about the heavy rain moving through the southern half of the country. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today"

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the snooiks asian sensation will join other stars in orlando to play team shack. here's ted roggin. >> good morning. jeremy lin has made the all-star team. not exactly. he was a last-minute add to the rising star challenge. linsanity hits orlando next weekend. the bulls is player is an all-star. 23 points and 10 boards against the celtics. chicago beat the celtics 89-80. the a indy where the pacers shut the lights out. the arena went dark.

took about five minutes for the gable to resume. when it did, danny lit up the nets. scored 32 points. pacers won 93-88. college hoops, number four duke received a scare from nc state. trailed by 20. clawed their way back into the game. the blue devils took the lead and escaped with a 78-73 win. number 21 florida avoided an upset. down two to virginia tech. michael snare for the 3 for the win and he got it. they beat the hokies 48-47. haul of fame gary carter passed away yesterday. he played twelve years for the expose. he was diagnosed with four brain tumors last may and several more discovered in january. he lost his battle with cancer yesterday. he was 57. and finally the black house snapped their nine game losing streak in a big way. rolled into new york and took down the best team in theest.

jonathan tase got things started with a penalty shot a minute into the game. they beat the rangers 4-2. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred rog roggin. >> coming up, stephan colbert mysteriously suspects production at his show. plus they say you can't fight city hall. well, don't tell that to this extraordinary 10-year-old. you're watching "early today."

. welcome back. we break down your three day forecast through the week end. we are watching heavy rain developing already in texas. it will continue. could have some flash flooding issues around the houston area. eventually that will sweep through the southeast. it's been very dry throughout much of the south over the past winter and fall. we need the wet weather there. areas could have some wet snow the tail end of the storm. there shouldn't be any significant accumulation. if you're watching us in washington, d.c., photographs that are of the civil war battle are at the corcoran art gallery. here's an early look at

today's headlines in entertainment. nicolas cage returns as comic book character johnnie blaze in ghost rider, spirit of vengeance. it's also offered in 3-d. it should have $29.5 million. reese witherspoon's romantic comedy, this means war, is expected to draw a large audience. it's expected to debut with 17 million. none of the films are expected to beat last weekend's champ "the vow" which should pull in 30 million. heard good things about this. finally, stephan colbert unexpectedly suspended production of the colbert report due to what comedy central said were, quote, unforeseen circumstances. a source says colbert's mom is seriously ill. we wish her all the best. a lot of the audience members

got e-mails saying this is going to be suspended. it's the first time they've missed a scheduled episode. >> they don't have fill-ins for that. >> exactly. we wish them the best. this comes to us from kxas where nearby garland, texas, a little girl took on city hall and won. a great story here. 10-year-old allison loves spending time playing, but her friends couldn't come to any of the city's 42 playgrounds because they're physically challenged and the equipment isn't designed to accommodate them. allison wrote to the city council for help. it worked. the city said they will renovate the playground. way to go allison. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today." just your first step today on your nbc station.

good morning. a live look outside this morning. and we have clouds down on the ground, a lot of fog around here this morning. good morning to you, meteorologist tom kierein says we're going to see our biggest snowstorm of the season this weekend. but the forecast changed overnight. we'll talk to tom in a minute to see how much snow we might get and when that storm might get here. good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. it is friday, february 17, 2012. there is already a lot going on right now, especially on the roads. we have breaking news off the top. police are on the scene of a serious crash that has part of the beltway shut down in

montgomery county. >> it's happened on the inner loop of i-495 and connecticut avenue in chevy chase. news4's tracee wilkins is live on the scene with breaking developments. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, joe. this accident happened just around 3:00 a.m. here on the beltway. they do have it shut down. the inner loop between connecticut avenue and rockville pike. so they're able to get the situation under control. we understand that at some point there was a vehicle fire. we understand that a tractor-trailer was involved, and this other vehicle. one person has died as a result of this accident. again, this is on the inner loop between connecticut avenue and rockville pike. if you are coming around the beltway trying to head toward connecticut, they're going to go ahead and have youo off of the road at connecticut avenue in order to get to where you need to go. so this is a