her exceptional peformance in prosecuting the case of the united states versus dwight york earned her the attorney general's distinguished service award, one of the department's highest honorsened and she was also -- honors and she was a recipient of the reward for special initiative and outstanding victim services. ms. thacker worked with the u.s. attorney's office for the southern district of west virginia where she prosecuted a wide variety of criminal cases, including money laundering and fraud. while at the u.s. attorneys' office, ms. thacker participated on the trial team prosecuting united states versus bailey, the first case brought under the violence against women act. since 2006 ms. thacker has been a partner in the law firm of guthrie and thomas in west virginia. there she concentrated on cases involving product liability and criminal defense. she was a model student in her undergraduate and legal studies. she earned her bachelors degree in business administration, magna cum laude and j.d. order of the coif from west virginia college of law. while at west virginia universit

dwight howard wanted him fired. then the magic were torched by the knicks. new york won it 96-80. magic are reeling, they've dropped five in a row. >>> hock circumstance the capitals know all about firing their coach. they made a midseason change and now they're playoff bound. alex ovechkin scored his 37th of the year. despite the loss, panthers are also in. their first playoff appearance in 12 years. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. >>> our new entertainment power couple? that's straight ahead. >>> plus traditional adversaries if not downright enemies. once in a while cats and dogs really do get along. you're watching "early today." >>> welcome back to "early today" on this good friday. a few sprinkles and showers in the northwest. today is actually a pretty decent day with the exception of montana. cold conditions in the northern rockies. the southwest is cool still in vegas, only 68 degrees for you. tomorrow you'll warm up on your saturday. saturday is a nice day pretty much everywhere. by the time we get to easter sun

dwight howard wanted him fired. then the magic were torched by the knicks. new york won 96-80. the magic are reeling.pped five in a row. hoc, the capitals know all about firing their coach. they made a midseason change. alex ovechkin scored his 37th of the year. washington clinched a playoff berth. despite the loss, panthers are also in. their first playoff appearance in 12 years. that's your first look at sports. have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. >>> now for another look at the weather here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. everyone wanting to know what that easter egg hunt weather is going to be like. jacket on the kids? >> no, this looks fantastic. maybe a little coat or something but we're watching cold temperatures this morning. this will be the case the next couple of mornings. the mornings will be chilly but when the sun goes to work, a beautiful afternoon. sunshine across the board. 50s in new england. temperatures in the upper 50s a lot of the big cities. a typical beautiful april day. the middle of the country where the warmer air is from dallas northward. minneapolis, snowstorm unf

dwight eisenhower. his father, john eisenhower, is a prominent military historian. david is the author of "the new york times'" best sell ter, eisenhower at war which was a finalist for the pulitzer prize in 1986. he currently serves as the director of the institute for public service at the annenberg public policy center at the university of pennsylvania. he's a senior research fellow at the annenberg school for communication. david eisenhower has served on numerous not-for-profit boards and committees including the advisory committee on presidential libraries. a graduate of am hursal college, david eisenhower earned his law degree from the george washington university law school in 1976. our other special guest is david eisenhower's co-author, julie nixon eisenhower who just happens to be david eisenhower's wife. she's also the second daughter of president richard nixon. julie is also a best-selling author, editor and a recognized public speaker on such subjects as the presidency, women in politics and life in the white house. she began her career as a writer for and then assistant managing editor of

he began his journalism career at the new york times atlanta constitution and he has most recently published this splendid biography on dwight eisenhower called eisenhower:the white house years. to jim's left we have john farrell who goes by jack. jack farrell began his career in journalism writing for such newspapers as the denver post and the boston globe. for the last three decades washington has been his beak and he cover all three branches of the federal government which has included his covering every presidential election since 1980. he is a senior writer for the center for public integrity which is a nonprofit, non-partisan investigative news organization. in 2001 he published a real page turner. to the o'neal and the democratic century. his writing has received a slew of prizes including last night as you may know when jack receive a los angeles time book price for biography for clarence darrow. [applause] here are our panelists and off we go. before we get into the theme, who knows if we will stick to this scene or not? i have been looking for threads. having a devil of a time. i thought if each of you might begin

dwight howard is done for the year and the only hat trick wasn't done on the ice. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning welcome back do "early today" i'm lynn berry. here are top headlines. >>> new york police and fbi are digging up a basement as they investigate the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old etan patz. the case sparked the missing childrens movement including new legislation and their photos on milk cartons. >>> in afghanistan a u.s. army helicopter crashed during a night time mission in bad weather, four u.s. soldiers on board. u.s. official says there were no survivors. >>> rocker levon helm, the drummer and link singer of "the band" died of cancer at age 71. >>> during a visit to the henry ford museum, in michigan, president obama was photographed sitting on the bus in which rosa parks made her 1955 protest against segregation by refusing to move to the back. >>> the space shuttle discovery is now at the smithsonian's national air and space museum. the pro toetype shuttle enterprise will leave the smithsonian next week for display at new york city's intrepid, sea, air and space museum. >>> the world's oldest living man celebrated his 115th birthday in japan yesterday. he l

dwight d. eisenhower laid the cornerstone for the new headquarters of the national council of churches here in new york city. before a crowd of 30,000, eisenhower quoted george washington who described religion as the firm foundation of the country's moral life. that was the decade america put god on our paper money and in the pledge of allegiance and though the churchly dna often falls to racism, anti-semitism, dig bigotry, many felt religion in its various incarnations was the engine driving the american future. but then, says my next guest, american christianity went off the rails, and now threatens to take american society with it. furthermore, the snake in the garden is not atheism, nor secular humanism. our fall is the work of heresy, you see in the title of his latest book "bad relation: how we became a nation of heretics." ross douthat has tasted widely and baptized apacific pailian attended pentecost's churches in his youth and converted to catholicism at age 17. now he's widely considered to be one of the country's most influential conservative voices. he's the youngest of op-ed columnist for

dwight eisenhower gave advice to john f. kennedy at camp david, the camp that was named after the white guys in our's grandson, david eisenhower. dave from new yorkity, welcome to the program. you are on the air. caller: i would say harry truman. how surprised he has not been mentioned very he was the one president. kohl had a low approval rating after it left office. by standards today, he is one of the most highly regarded president. he did what he believed in. he did not necessarily follow the popular approach but in that regard, i would have to say harry truman. host: the cover story -- the world's most exclusive club, co- written by nancy gibbs and michael duffy and we will cover this subject on upcoming "q &a" program. thank you for your calls and comments and tweets and e-mails. some other news from overnight, you probably heard the warnings late yesterday of the tornadoes that swept her oklahoma and kansas from the associated press and this video courtesy of "usa today." bett left at least five people dead in oklahoma, damaging homes, a hospital, a gel, and air force base and other buildings in the region. oklahoma authorities said the fi