could be a little fog earlier today in medford. it will clear out for a nice afternoon.ooking sunny and great. l.a. looks nice today. seattle at 50 degrees. almost early spring weather pattern. thall, the sunshine nice for february. washington and oregon, after morning clouds, sunshine. one of the better weekend forecasts that we've had this winter in the west. >> wow. all right. good to hear. bill, thanks so much. >>> coming up, wall street waits on jobs. the u.s. spanks a swiss bank. and the lottery winner who's not going to change her life. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, word of a staggering television offer made to beyonce. >>> nba all-stars are announced. good news for peyton manning. and a dance-off between the giants' victor cruz and madonna. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. nbc news has confirmed gunmen have kidnapped two americans and their egyptian tour guide after stopping a minivan. the gunmen were from a tribe.

." >> this week on "q and a," our guest is howard university history professor edna greene-medford. her specialty is 19th century african-american history. >> professor edna greene-medford, the year 2008 and brac rarack obama running f president, where do you think all this will end up in history of african-americans? >> it's an important period that we're living in certainly, you know, we don't know what's going to happen with the election, but what we do know is that this is historic, not just because there's an african-american running but because there's a woman running as well. but for african-americans it's especially important because it gives us hope, i think, that there will be full inclusion in american life. whether obama wins or not, i think, many people will be pleased that he did so well. they would be even more pleased if he'd won, of course, but, you know, i look at what's happening in terms of my students getting interested in the whole campaign, and i've seen them energized in a way that i have never seen before. i've seen relatives who may not have been particular

a little chilly in medford, 43 in seattle. southern california, you're just fine. the cold front not quite making it to southern california. it will get hung up here. the high pressure, that protects us for now. you already notice this little red line here, that's the next warm front already indicating a little more moisture in the next storm system. some of that will start to come in to the northwest late tonight into tomorrow, so additional rainfall is expected, but the river levels are all going down. we have already seen the worst of it. notice some mild air hanging on down here in southern california. and it looks good. we have all the big parties and festivities this weekend associated with the oscars upcoming. saturday to sunday it cools off a bit into the mid to upper 60s. that's very comfortable weather out there in california. so the forecast for today, northwest, enjoy this. 50 degrees in seattle. vegas looks nice, too, and all of arizona should have pretty much clear skies. that's a look at your national ukiah, we are looking good there. pendleton, oreg

for "today," miguel almaguer, nbc news, medford, oregon. >> ashley's mother and step-father join us now. good morning. >> good morning. >> she died just 11 days ago. why are you here? what do you want to say? >> we want to bring awareness to children about helium and that it is serious. it is dangerous and it does kill. we also want children to know that when adults are trying to hang out with you that should be the first sign that it's not a safe situation. adults shouldn't be hanging out with children like that. >> reporter: the adult in this case is identified as catherine mcclune, 27 years old. justin, do you hold her to some degree responsible for the death of ashley? >> absolutely. yeah. she took our child without our permission. she took other children without adult permission. i believe if a child is in your care and you're an adult, you're 27 years old it's not like you're 21, 22, 23, just turned ab an adult, you need to take responsibility. you didn't ask any parents if you could have their kid at your house. >> she didn't know if ashley had allergies or any of the other child

now, if you're in a plywood manufacturing plant like one i toured in medford recently, they have three boilers, they use the scraps from the pie wood in a very efficient system to help generate the power they use and they told me when i was there that because of the uncertain at the they may have to retool the boilers at the cost of a million or two apiece and they have three of them. the way they run their plant is not at the peak efficiency, which is how epn measures their emissions but they go up and down as the material goes through. so they're not convinced they could meet the current rules on the books and now with the revised rules not including biomass materials, it could mean that those could be regulated under the onerous and stigmatizing incinerator rules. so we are here about extending the unemployment benefits. the house passed a bill to do that for a year. we're here to make sure seniors can see their physician. house passed a bill to deal with that and pay for it for two years. and the middle-class tax cut. but we're also here it figure out how to not send more manufactu

. >> edna greene-medford was a part of this book, it's on the emancipation proclamation along with harold holser and a forward by john franklin. we are out of time, and we thank you very much. >> pleasure. >> for a copy on dvd or vhs tape, call 1-877-662-7726. for free transcripts or to give us your comments about this program, visit us at qanda.org. "q and a" programs are also available as podcasts. >> this is c-span3 with politics and public affairs programming throughout the week, and every weekend "american history tv," 48 hours of people and events telling the american story. get our schedules and see past programs on our website and jine join in the conversation on these social media sites. >> each week "american history

this is the latest pacific system pushing some of that shower activity north of medford oregon alongother impulse off the coast line. a few more chances today and again on into tomorrow for some of that to make it ways into the mountains and produce more snowfall especially in the bitter roots. more on the light rain of things, darker greens, heavier rain off the coastline this morning. for travelers on the whole today, a beautiful day especially for those of you stuck in philly for a little while yesterday. certainly keep in mind, especially across philadelphia, back down through western pennsylvania, veen in the ohio valley may see a few areas of light ice on the roadways thanks to that inch or so worth of snow we had yesterday. slick spots. there's a look at cooler temperatures into tomorrow. teens and a few snowflakes into minneapolis. >> thanks so much. coming up, what's the only thing katy perry asked for in her split with russell brand? plus, she made millions when it comes to baring all, literally all for the camera, but when it comes to her divorce proceedings, that's a diff

why i've grown to love the game myself because it means that fans from minnesota to manhattan, from medfordnew season and genuinely believe that their team has a chance to be there on super sunday. that's the america that all of us love and want to see. even if it has been brought about by something that some people call socialism. so go pats. who put that in the prompter? thanks so much for watching. dylan ratigan is in washington. he'll take us forward. >> well said. i'm enjoying your sporting/political metaphors. i spent much of my evening last night fantasizing as to what a no-holds

that's the word from police in medford, oregon a few hours south of eugene.rtedly responded to a 911 call there on saturday. the caller says the teenager drank alcohol and inhaled helium from a tank and then just stopped breathing. of the victim's relatives say she was a very good student and not much of a partier. [sigh] >> it's just not her. this is not something she would do. >> [inaudible] realize that it could be deadly. >> shepard: neither did i. doctors say she died later that night. according to police one adult also provided marijuana at that party. that adult is under arrest for serving alcohol and drugs to underaged kids. a pair of dogs ran off the edge of a cliff and fell around 100 feet. they survived but they were stranded. we will show you how rescuers finally got to them on route to mr. bill o'reilly on a fat tuesday fox report. i was so young... you just don't think that that's something that can happen to you. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. first line of

>> medford, massachusetts. >> nice to see you. i like this hat, that's very nice.e've got. our pick city of the day -- happens to be columbus, ohio. nbc 4. afternoon showers, nice and mild. and look at the mild temperatures, st. louis, 21 degrees above normal. charlotte, 21 degrees above normal. 17 warmer degrees in washington, d.c. it will be 65 there. 82, jackson. austin, 85. new york city, getting up to 60 degrees, but the cold air is coming down from canada as we get a system moving across. that's going to bring snow, stretching from chicago later today, all the way on into northern new england. happy birthday! there you go. all right. i still say -- hold out for the car. that's what's going on around >> good morning. we have a slight chance for a couple of rain showers. otherwise, a mixture of sun and clouds. it will be mild. >>> that's your latest weather. this just in -- carl quintanilla is buying a ining you a car! >> i got to call my wife. >>> coming up, why some women shut down when they have to speak up in a group meeting. we'll talk about that with ivan

you live in the cities making business insiders rankings of the best housing markets in five years, medford year until 2016. >>> my mother in the front row, my mother's mouthing, that's so cute. >> that's actor jason segel after being roasted and toasted last night at harvard's hasty pudding award ceremony. he's the man of the year. and those are your number ones here on weekends with alex witt. . i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. c

>> medford, massachusetts. >> nice to see you. i like this hat, that's very nice.we've got. our pick city of the day -- wh. pick city of the day, happens to be columbus, ohio, news4. afternoon showers. nice and mild. and look at these mild temperatures. st. louis, 21 degrees above normal. same in memphis. charlotte 20, degrees above normal. 17 warmer degrees in washington, d.c. it will be 65 there. 82, jackson. austin, 85. new york city getting up to 60 degrees. but the cold air is coming down from canada. as we get a system moving across. that's going to bring snow stretching from chicago later today all the way on into northern new england. well, happy -- happy birthday. there you go. all right. i still say hold out for the car. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. tom kierein, storm center 4. lot of sunshine but it is still rather chilly. we are in the 40s to near 50 degree. reagan national is at 49. but it may climb yet foot 20 degrees for highs today. up into the upper 60s to near 70. fe

>> medford, massachusetts. >> nice to see you. i like this hat, that's very nice.'ve got. our pick city of the day -- happens to be columbus, ohio. nbc 4. afternoon showers, nice and mild. and look at the mild temperatures, st. louis, 21 degrees above normal. charlotte, 21 degrees above normal. 17 warmer degrees in washington, d.c. it will be 65 there. 82, jackson. austin 85. new york city, getting up to 60 degrees, but the cold air is coming down from canada as we get a system moving across. that's going to bring snow, stretching from chicago later today, all the way on into northern new england. happy birthday! there you go. all right. i still say -- hold out for the car. th >>> good advice, al. good morning to you. we have a nice start to this thursday morning. one day away from getaway friday. unfortunately, this is the last day with temperatures in the 70s and those winds are already picking up as a result. we have very high pollen levels today, so keep that in mind. the mild winter, lack of rainmaking for a lot of pollen kicked up by winds that will gust up t