good wednesday morning, coming up on "early today," mystery deepens. did the missing malaysia jet liner change mid course during the flight. >> and the florida congressional race turns on a health care issue. a sign of things to come? >> senate versus cia. each side is talking about what might be a breach of the

constitution. >> plus president obama might be forcing businesses to pay workers overtime. >> and a massachusetts restaurant gets ugly. find out what started the brawl. it is wednesday, march 12th. "early today" starts now. good morning, i'm francis rivera. into thin air. more than five days now and still more questions than answers. authorities admit they don't know which way the plane was going when it vanished with 239 people on board. the malaysian military says they track the plane as it went back over toward a small island in the straight of malacca.

pilot error, sabotage, or terrorism are all still possible causes of the disappearance. >> the united states and other countries are pulling all possible to see whether tourism played any role in the disappearance of the aircraft. >> this is disturbing because it's been several days now and there's still no trace of the aircraft. >> they're caring for the passengers families that are still desperately waiting for answers. we say, we have 115 family members in kuala lumpur and they're taken care of by 72 different caregivers. at least one caregiver is assigned to each family. new from florida, something expected to have rippling impacts across the nation. both partied poured more than $11 million into the race. his win keeps the seat for the gop going into november's midterms. at the center of the election was the affordable care act. he favored repealing obamacare

and his opponent did not. 4.2 million americans have signed up for health plans. open enrollment ends march 31st. >> brand new poll numbers out this morning show how rough the midterms could be for democrats. according to the nbc news wall street journal poll, president obama's approval rating stands at 41%. that's the lowest in the survey's history and down nearly 10 points from a year ago. one third of americans say their vote this november will be based on opposition to president obama's policies. nbc's tracy pots is live in washington with more. tracy, those numbers aren't good for anyone. >> they're not a good sign for the president or for democrats going into these elections but we also have to put them in perspective. president bush's numbers were even lower, 37%. now, the problem president obama is having that democrats may have are the disapproval ratings

with democrats. that is at a record high 20% for president obama. let's take a look at some of the other interesting results from our overnight poll. who should control congress? we know from a number of polls that americans are very frustrated with lawmakers here in washington but now by a slight edge, 1%, they think that republicans not democrats should be in control of congress. but for the most part people are fed up with what's going on here in washington. should we replace every single member of congress? the majority, 54% said yes. turns out the health care law in this poll we found is also not popular. only 35% approved. >> all right, tracy, thank you very much. >> now to a dramatic allegation, one from the sthat's top lawmakers. she is openly accusing the cia of spying on congress and now tensions are boiling over. andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: cia director john

brennan under fire accused of spying on senate investigators talking exclusively to nbc news. >> we weren't trying to block anything and the matter is being dealt with in the appropriate way. >> reporter: but in a speech, senate intelligence chair accused brennan's cia of tracking the senate's investigation into one of the worst abuses in cia history. the interrogation under george w. bush widely viewed as torture. >> i have grave concerns that the cia search may well have violated the separations of powers and principles emotiobod in the united states constitution. >> they tried to hide the smoking gun of brennan's own policies. brennan oversaw the secret prisons and controversial interrogations of terror suspects by george w. bush. brennan denied he has interfered

with the senate investigation. >> if it is proved that the cia did do this, would you feel you had to step down? >> if i did something wrong i'll go to the president and explain to him what i did and what the findings were. he is the one who can ask me to stay or go. >> reporter: brennan's counter charge obtained by nbc said they took documents from the cia. he wrote it is imperative to learn whether or not a breach or vulnerability exists. the senate was only trying to safe guard proof of cia abuse fearing the cia would destroy the evidence. >> the white house is standing by director brennan saying tuesday the president has great confidence in him. all right the next story is tough to watch but might make you glee for for security cameras out there. thanks to 8 surveillance cameras in a las vegas puppy store.

there's two people sneaking in and setting it on fire. it shows one suspect dousing the store with gasoline and even the puppy's cages before setting it ablaze. the sprinklers saved all of the 27 puppies and preserved the video for prosecutors. just go to the tape and see it right there. >> huge flames engulf trees and shrubs in oklahoma for a second straight day. firefighters doused the flames from trucks as the smoke billows. the city is under extreme risk for fire because of the dry and windy conditions there. no injuries so far. the rest of the country with this storm coming our way. >> it's one of the biggest for the winter. this is january-type cold and snow and blizzard conditions for you. blizzard warning for rochester to syracuse and all the way up to the northern tip of maine t. snow is coming down. the white is the snow. the blue inside of the white is

heavy snow. from illinois to chicago, very heavy know. one to two inches per hour is coming down. very difficult driving conditions over the next three to four hours spreading into northern indiana and southern michigan. how much snow are we talking about? one of the biggest winter storms of the season in areas like buffalo, syracuse, rochester, vermont could get a half a foot of snow. and then up to maine a foot of snow easy. a couple of other totals for you, ice in albany. snow following that. same for you in cleveland with three to six inches of snow. enjoy twarmth today. d.c. could be 72 today and tomorrow temperatures in the 30s and wind chill in the teens. that's your national forecast. now, here's a look at the weather outside your window. so washington d.c. when that cold front comes through it could spark off a shower or

storm but the worst will be in northern indiana and through upstate new york during the afternoon and evening. i'll talk more about the cold coming. it is going to be january cold behind this storm. >> ouch. bill, thank you very much. joel osteen's mega church robbed. and how did the president end up sitting between those two ferns? and breaking news about chris pine and a run in with the law. that's next. [clicks mouse] nice office. how you doing? good. automatic discounts the moment you sign up.

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and irresistible aroma of nescafe clasico stir what's inside of you. ♪ [ engine revving ] [ tires screech ] ♪ [ male announcer ] that was bold. real bold. ♪ welcome back. president obama went to new york city tuesday for heavy duty fund-raisers but had time to get stopping in. he stopped by the gap to buy sweaters for his daughters, athletic wear for his wife and to condemn them for raising their minimum wage. >> president obama made waves by premiering on zach

galifianakis's between two ferns. it sent over 32,000 people to the health care marketplace. >> the cocreator stopped by the last word last night and talked about the imagine of the presidency and if doing the sketch damaged it in anyway? >> i just feel that question is continually asked any time a president does any kind of comedy thing. be it slow jamming the news or saturday night live and i think it's time to stop asking that question. what is great about the administration is that they knew they had to reach an audience that isn't watching sunday morning shows. they're watching internet videos so they embraced that. >> a crowded massachusetts restaurant, one man was throwing punches at another when he saw him looking at his girlfriend

and a third man pulled a gun from his waistband. two people were shot in the brawl. and they think their cheese is better than our cheese. they want to fan the use of european names like feta and parmesan on cheese made in the united states. american cheese is considered an inferior product and is cutting into european sales. in health news this morning, a scare at a new york hospital. patients may have been exposed to hepatitis b and c and hiv. it happened on long island. they discovered an insulin pen may have been used with more than one patient. the risk of infection is extremely low and it has contacted some 4,000 people to get tested. >> early today health is brought to you by vagasil. >> time to get down to business. president obama is expected to bypass congress and use his

authority to expand overtime pay. he'll ask his labor department to revamp rules for overtime pay which would force them to pay o.t. to millions of workers. joel osteen's houston based mega church has been robbed. about $600,000 were all stolen from the church safe late sunday. houston police are investigating that they have not released further details. >> and tesla boss is slamming new jersey governor chris christie. they're the third state to block tesla from selling their cars to customers. they require third party auto dealerships. customers would have to go out of state to buy a tesla. >> just ahead, four more teams are going to the ncaa tournament and a bench clearing celebration that you've just got to see, next.

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this morning on today, matt lauer sits down with the wife of former penn state assistant football coach and convicted child sex abuser jerry sandusky. >> prison has to change a person. being in that kind of surrounding for the time he's been there. what changes have you seen in him? >> a friend had written to him and asked him what he missed,

what did he take most for granted and he said -- i'm sorry. family meals, the fun time with the grand kids playing ball, doing special things with friends. >> watch the rest of matt lauer's exclusive interview with dottie sandusky this morning on today. now to the latest in sports, the player at the heart of the miami dolphins bullying scandal is get a fresh start. he was traded to the san francisco 49ers. martin sweeted he feels blessed and also reunited him with his old coach jim harbaugh. >> four more teams are guaranteed a spot in the ncaa tournament. st. mary's made it with an 88-71 victory. north dakota state kept their season going with a win. and they win 75-64 for the 17th

consecutive tournament birth. and milwaukee secured their bid with a 69-63 win over rice state. up next to the nba where tempers flared between houston and oklahoma city. kevin durant lead his team to a 106-98 win. >> here's one for the spring training blood pressurer reel. >> yeah, you see the third baseman following a routine infield fly pop but instead of a catch, he face plants. he lands face first. >> and the college basketball team hit the big time with their sideline celebrations. their actions to scoring has gone viral. what better way to show team comrade ri than a dance off. utah football players dropped their pads and challenge each

other to bust a move. who knows, maybe we'll see the sweet moves during their end soe zone celebration. some more than other. >> up next, late breaking news on chris pine. >> plus tina fey is on the red carpet with her fuzzy friends. we'll introduce you, next. some " ♪ that's why walgreens makes it easy to save even more on your medicare part d prescriptions. ♪ just stop on by and leave all the legwork to us. switch to walgreens today where you could save with copays as low as zero dollars on select medicare part d plans. at the corner of happy and healthy. ♪ on select medicare part d plans. [ girl ] roses are red. violets are blue. splenda® is sweet. and so are you. [ female announcer ] just about anywhere you use sugar, you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. ♪

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still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. march is often called the cruellest month. you can get teased with

beautiful weather to return to winter. that's happening today. s heavy snow over the chicago area. as far as the forecast, 25 in chicago today. watch what happens in the east. even the areas that won't get the snow like boston to d.c., very warm today and then high around 30 in new york city with wind chills in the single digits. people go from wearing shorts to pulling out the heavy gear again. >> that's cruel. winter is back for one last horrah. >> chris pine has been arrested for drunk driving in new zealand. according to police and court officials he was stopped during a routine drunk driving operation and was then charged with dui. >> taylor swift has been named billboard's top money maker in music in 2013 with nearly $40 million in revenue. kenny cheney has 33 million.

>> the muppets are on the red carpet for the premiere of muppet's most wanted. then there was tina fey. she represented the nonmuppet part of the cast. and fey sees a possible mean girls reunion in the future. she bumped into lindsay lohan and talked about trying to organize a ten year reunion special. >> and the creator of game of throwns said president obama had gotten an early jump on season four. he gets to see it before anybody else. the perk of being president. a new report from san diego state university says of the top 100 films of 2013, 15% of antagonists were women. >> but we were skewed this year because of sandra bullock and gravity because she made more money than anyone this year. >> you have angelina jolie and

all of these a-lysters. they're making headlines and magazine covers and not necessarily the movies. i'm francis rivera and this is "early today." we hope it's your first stop of the day here on nbc. wisest kid? we need a new recipe. let us consult the scroll

of infinite deliciousness. perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbell's has the recipes kids love. so good! [ wisest kid ] at campbellskitchen.com. [ gong ] m'm! m'm! good! i say thisñr to allñi of yo clearly and unequivocally, iñi didn't break the law. >> d.c. mayor vincentt( gray is fighting allegations of corruption as he tries to push his vision for the city forward. a grossingxd mystery as a airlines jet reaches a fifth

day. their efforts. 4:26. i'm aaron gilchrest. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 tod!2gñ for this wednesday, march çó12th7oo 2013. storm team 4 is tracking a threat for severe weather. the system over tqwhu(per midwest now is heading our way and could put an end to the beautiful spring weather you've been enjoying. storm team 4i] meteorologis chuck bell in for tom.ñr chuck? >> there's no "cou to the feel,afá t's "withdrawal put an end to the warm stretch. the case all day. you will need the umbrellas before the day is done. areas of rain crass ohio, that will make steadf progress to the east. as a result, rain chances will increase laterxd this afternoon. best chances for rain arrive after 2:00 or 3:00.ok in the meantime, it is going to be a mailed start. temperatures out the door this morningfá generally mid to uppe