♪ this morning on "early today," numbers crunch. all eyes on the economy as february jobs numbers are set to be released. no day at the beach. dramatic video shows a pot of dolphins being rescued by sunbathers in brazil. having a bad day? we will show you a place where you can channel your anger with a bat. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, the focus on the economy. wall street to washington, a lot of attention will be paid to the government's monthly jobs report. that is due out later this morning. this as the president speaks to

reassure voters he is the best candidate to keep the recovering economy on the right track. nbc tracie potts joins us with more from washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. let's talk about those numbers first. the economists are saying we could be looking at the third straight month of job growth, 200,000 or more. now, january was a huge month. they are not expecting february will meet that but still over 200,000, very good for a robust recovery. we probably won't see the jobless rate, the unemployment go down a lot, though, because still a lot of people out there looking so that will remain stable. republicans on the campaign trail saying that's not enough. mitt romney says that there has been no fundamental improvement and his big pitch on the campaign trail has been since he has been out there in the public sector, in the private sector i should say, running a business, that he is a better sense than president obama of how to continue to turn this economy

around, but no question, we are continuing to see job growth each and every month. now, the president today will be in virginia. he's going to be at an aircraft manufacturing plant talking about manufacturing and how we can boost manufacturing jobs to continue good news in terms of jobs and employment. in the meantime, the candidates are also focusing on the southern primaries, alabama and mississippi. romney has had some challenges with those southern conservative voters but, right now, the very latest poll out of alabama shows him in the lead there and he just picked up the endorsement of mississippi's governor. >> tracie potts for us there in washington, thank you. elsewhere, the senate has reject a republican attempt to the approval of a pipeline from canada to texas. the vote to must pass transportation bill fell just short of the 60 votes required needed to advance. president obama personally called and lobbied senators asking them to oppose it.

earlier this year, the president put off the pipeline proposal which would hip oil from canada down to the gulf coast, pending further environmental review. recent controversial pardons given out by the former mississippi governor during his term has been upheld bill the state's highest court. in january during his final days in office, governor haley barbour issued about 200 pards. the mississippi court was asked to void ten of those pardons grounds. but the court agreed with state lawyers who argued the court had no authority to overturn the pardons. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. in mississippi, a couple is calling it a miracle. they survived after a giant log smashed right through the windshield of their minivan when a logging truck lost its load. the couple say they had just

dropped off their kids minutes before the accident. the two inside the van were injured but they are going to make a full recovery. quite a scare for a texas man as an suv went out of control, barreled right into his front yard and came dangerously close to hitting him. the driver was a 16-year-old boy whose mother came forward after hearing about the close call. no word on why the boy lost control. no charges have been filed. a blinding dust storm combined with fierce winds made the going tough for drivers in albuquerque. state police had to escort vehicles and even shut down parts of i-25. power outages and flight delays were also reported. finally, it's friday. have you had a long week? well, in dallas, we have a place for you, offering to help you get it out of your system. it's called the anger room. a place where you can pay to smash things like mannequins, tv sets, and furniture all without getting in any trouble.

office space, anyone? the company claims to have helped 300 people, including some psychiatrists. we promise bill and i did not create this anchor room we just support it. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins. >> i like it when you go in the stores and the glasses piled up really high and you just want to hit one of those as you go by. good morning, everyone. yesterday was an amazingly warm, beautiful day in areas of the east coast while the midwest returned to winter. we developed some pretty heavy rain in texas which, in all, spent a pretty good winter season needed the wet weather to fill up the lakes and been doing so. yesterday, 82 in orlando and florida has felt like an early summer pattern. this is what really got people's attention. mid-70s in d.c. boston, record high. 68 degrees. that's all long gone. the cold front is now slicing off the east coast. the warmth is going to

disappear. just. everywhere, the exception being down here in florida and maybe right along the gulf coast. the cool air also met with some rain this morning and many areas of texas. the heaviest rain have now moved out of arkansas so you're going to dry it out a little bit. now we are watching the heavy rain through central louisiana and central alabama. an upper level low is spinning out here in texas and the culprit and the reason we will see two, three days of wet weather here from dallas, san antonio, houston, austin and everywhere in between and eventually spread northward by the tail end of the weekend. here is how it's looking the next 48 hours. this is the rain from today. the heaviest in louisiana. houston deal with heavy rain during the day today. the next two or three days, the possibility of a couple of inches of rain in the greater dallas/ft. worth area. texas, you're the wet spot. you need it. you just don't want it into your weekend. beautiful weather today, northern plains.

east coast dry it that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. karins with a look at the chance of those showers and storms in areas like new orleans and shreveport and baton rouge. we should dry it up in the ohio valley and kansas today. weekend forecast coming up. >> all right, bill. also coming up, greece says it's good. your chance to buy rock 'n' roll stock. the sale of a house that started a movie. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, it cost tens of millions and it's about a guy from the past in outer space. is it launching this weekend to the top of the box office heap? coming up, buzzer-beaters. double overtime and could this have been the last game for dwight howard in a magic jersey? you're watching "early today."

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welcome back.

here are some of your top headlines this morning. six world powers meeting in vienna say diplomacy, not war, is the way to prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon. the u.s., england, france and germany were joined by russia and china and urging talks ahead of meetings with iranian diplomats. according to an israel newspaper while president obama was meeting earlier this week with benjamin netanyahu. a white house spokesman denies that report. changes are being made to both koecoke and pepsi on the w they make the caramel coloring used in their soda. this is a law that the syrup may carry a cancer causincausing.

underground parking lot fire caused expensive damage to cars. a new viral video from brazil shows 30 stranded dolphins who were pushed toward shore by a strong current but beach-goers pulled the dolphins by the tails safely back into deeper water. now here is an "early" look how wall street will kick off the day. dow adding 70 points yesterday. the s&p gained 13 points. the nasdaq nudged up 34. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 160 points while in hong kong, the hang seng was up 185. this morning, greece's ongoing debt drama took a dramatic turn away from a disastrous default. greece has ensured it will receive its 172 billion that are european bailout. greece needed 90% participation

in the critical bond swap and as of this morning, it had secured upwards of 85%. athens says legislative maneuvering will push total participation above 95%. good news out of greece and a fresh report showing china's inflation fell sharply last month drove asian markets higher. yesterday, news that families took on more debt at the end of last year held offset a rise in weekly jobless claims. the february jobs report is due out this morning and will be closely watched by wall street and main street. more than 200,000 financiallily strapped households will see their mortgages reduced thanks to a side deal bank of america has struck with the government over part of alleged foreclosure pieces. coach added 5% on upbeat sales report. slow growth in february is eating into mcdonald's bottom line. shares dipped 3%. rare earth miner molycorp is

buying neotechnologies for $1.3 billion. bender guitar fans will be able to buy a piece of rock 'n' roll history. filed for ipo to the tune of $200 million. one lucky buyer has landed a piece of movie history. remember that house? the "home alone" house has been sold for just over $1.5 million. coming up, capitals rally in overtime. the bulls stumble against the magic and let the peyton manning sweepstakes begin. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. after all the warm weather, wouldn't you certainly like your weekend to be the same? those details are coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night the orlando magic marched into chicago and snapped the bulls' eight-game winning streak. here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. with the trade deadline less than a week away, dwight howard is likely now to his final four games as a member of the orlando magic. against the bulls this is the reason why everybody wants howard.

orlando up five at the half. howard can also run the floor. took a long pass and threw it it down. 29 and 18 boards. in the end it wasn't howard but ryan anderson with a dagger. a three for the lead and the magic won it 99-94. great finishes in college hoops. overtime between georgetown and cincinnati. the layup to fall and down to double o.t. with a name like cashmere wright you know he has a soft touch. the lead for the final seconds. cincy advances to the semis. franklin nailed a bucket at the end. hockey, the devils kovalchuk is living up to 100 million dollar contract. devils sunk the isles 5-1. alex ovechkin having the worst season of his career but appears to be turning around just in

time for a playoff run. scored the game winner in o.t. against the lightning. second overtime goal in the last five games. caps won it 3-2. peyton manning says he hopes to decide on a new team within the next week. but one of his servers at a steak house in north carolina also needs a new job. manning 740 dollar bill included gratuity but he dropped a 200 tip on top of that. the waiter thought that was pretty cool. he posted this picture online. not so tool to the restaurant's manager and fired the server for violating the company's private policy. he'll now join peyton in the unemployment line. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. why eddie murphy has already tarnished box office reputation, may take another hit this weekend. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the president and first lady get up close and personal with a few of their supporters. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. time for your weekend forecast. watching heavy rain this morning moving through areas of louisiana and mississippi and southern portions of alabama. a little bit of that extends into areas of central georgia. that is the damp weather today and possibly in florida as the front kind of gets hung up. over the weekend chilly and rainy conditions in texas. as we go through today and tomorrow, pretty much dry weather for us in the northern half of the country and looking pretty nice. minneapolis on saturday how gorgeous is that near 60. cold shot for new england on

saturday and especially saturday morning they will feel it. sunday, we watch the rain moving eventually northward saturday and then it's going to be even further to the north by the time we get intounda while the east coast warms it muchup. all weekend, pretty much from oklahoma to texas. if you're watching us on wcsa 6 in portland, maine, augusta, see flags and other artifacts carried by soldiers during the civil war at to the highest standard at the marine state museum. that is your "early today" event of the today. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. according to the experts while the reigning top film is poised to triumph again doesn't mean an interesting weekend at the box office. dr. seuss's movie. the number once again this weekend with $40 million. john carter" transported to

a mars-like planet reportedly cost a quarter of a billion dollars to make and should come in second perhaps taking in as much as 30 million. the rated r horror debut "silent house" stars elizabeth olson and features a cinematic rarity. it's a story presented in real-time, appearing to be a single uninterrupted shot. that's got to be tough. fright fans could drive its cake into the low teen millions. and, finally, there is the eddie murphy comedy "a thousand words" shelved for three years. reviews have been nasty and expectations for this one are real low. i actually saw a preview for it when i was at the movies the other day and it just didn't look -- >> even the preview wasn't good? >> it was painful. >> all of the old eddie murphy stuff but he has done some good

stuff. the obama election campaign held a cozier type fund-raising dinner last night. the president and first lady dined at a local restaurant with three lucky winners of an online contest. those chosen are described as grassroot campaign donors, the head of a tennessee nonprofit, a former social worker from wisconsin, and retired school administrator from massachusetts. while the campaign has done this twice before, the first time mrs. obama has taken part. i wonder what was on the menu. >> i could never do something like that. i just wouldn't be able to order, a. you wouldn't know what to order. >> what do you talk about? >> feel awkward. >> it's all awkward. a little awkward. >> a sloppy joe would get it all all over me. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

it is 4:28 out there now. 51 degrees. a mild start, rain through the region. good morning to you, i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist if for joe krebs, friday, march 9. a lot going on. we begin with breaking news. a police shoot-out on the d.c./maryland line. it happened at eastern and georgia avenues. tracee wilkins, bring us up to speed. >> reporter: good morning, aaron. first of all, let me say that on my left we have d.c. police. we're going to focus on what's happening on my right with montgomery county police who

just a few minutes were out here looking for evidence and are still maintaining the scene. this is literally on the line. and in fact, several calls came from both d.c. and montgomery county reporting shots fired. that's what brought police to the scene. let me show you what it looked like a while ago. as police approached the scene, they could actually hear gunshots. now when they arrived, there was a lone gunman who was firing his gun. police say that he began firing at them. they fired back. the gunman was critically shot and is now being treated at medstar. also, one of the montgomery county police officers who responded was also wounded in the hand. we don't know exactly what happened yet. police are not confirming that he was shot but are saying that he was wounded in the hand. two officers from montgomery county responded to the scene. one of them was actually a rookie. only on the force for two months. at this point police are still investigating exactly why the