s getting better. no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪ ♪ lo captions paid for by nbc-universal television new details emerge in the prostitution scandal of the secret service. straight shooter? ted nugent at the nra convention. sudden impact, horrifying moments as a car smashes right in a florida grocery store. this is "early today" for wednesday, april 18th, 2012. hello, good morning i'm lynn berry. today we beginning with a growing sex scandal. u.s. government investigators are in columbia trying to piece together exactly what happened there when 20 alleged

prostitutes were signed into the hotel rooms of president obama's secret service and advance military teams. nbc's tracie pott ts has the latest. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: they are looking in the backgrounds of the women, they are interviewing them and also doing extensive background checks to see if they perhaps had any ties with drug cartels or foreign intelligence, perhaps terrorist groups. we now know in addition to the 11 secret service agents involved, the military included 5 soldiers, 2 sailors 2 marines and 1 airmen, a couple found with women in their rooms, turned out the embassy was kaulds after one of the womb women complained she was not paid. here on capitol hill, lawmakers want to know has this happened before. some saying the number of agents involved, 11 to 12, raises red flag, others want to be careful not to indict the entire agency.

mark sullivan was here on the hill yesterday, he is promising a full, thorough and fair investigation. lynn? tracie potts for news washington, thank you. president obama says oil speculators are driving up the price of gasoline and he wants congress to approve a new plan to crack down. the president wants lawmakers to give more power to government regulators to stop price manipulation by oil market speculators. and nbc's steve hand decemberman has more. >> reporter: election year move by president obama to take the side of the nation's suffering drivers. fuel prices are dropping a bit but still average close to $4. and republicans are still blaming the president. >> no matter how obama spins it, gas costs too much. >> reporter: the president blamed illegal pricing. >> speculators artificially manipulate markets by buying up oil, creating the perception of a shortage, driving prices

higher for a quit profit. >> reporter: he wants more cops on the beat and track fuel prices and demanded congress go along. >> the emotion is not agreed to. >> reporter: since three weeks ago, republicans refused to cut taxpayer subsidies to big oil companies. >> here is a chance to make amends. >> reporter: john boehner accused the president of looking for a scapegoat. boehner endorsed mitt romney. >> i think mitt romney has a set of economic policies that can put americans back to work. >> reporter: in a backyard in pennsylvania, romney said new obama environmental rules drive down domestic energy production. >> he wants oil, gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, yet as you point out he makes it harder and harder to take advantage of the resources that are actually below the ground. >> reporter: the president says he wants to make it harder for speculators to take advantage of

u.s. drivers. i'm steve han decemberman, nbc news, washington. the u.s. secret service is investigating rocker ted nugent after a violent rant against president obama. he called the president and his advisors evil, and urged members of the national rifle association to "chop their heads off in november." he said "if barack obama becomes the president in november again, i will either be dead or in jail by this time next year." nugent endorsed mitt romney whose spokesperson referred to the rant as "offensive." now here is a look at other stories making news "early today," disturbing video out of florida shows the moment when a woman plowed her car right in a supermarket full of shoppers. amazingly, though, no one was killed. look at that, a stroller right there you can see the vehicle making a direct hit on customers including that baby stroller. other cameras show the car going right past the check-out line

before coming to a stop. two people were seriously hurt. the 76-year-old at the wheel has been cited for careless driving. unreal. in new york, dangerous new game is being played in the subway system. not bright, you guys. teenagers are jumping off the platform on the train tracks in what is being called subway chicken. in some of the cases they are making it out of harm's way seconds to spare, transit officials say those involved should not only be arrested, they should "have their heads examined." there is an understatement. in new jersey, a four alarm fire led to flames and fireworks. power lines could be seen sparking after a three-story house burned. the embers touched off fires in neighboring buildings. finally, seattle's space needle is getting spruced up. the family of a man who helped build the iconic tower 50 years ago is helping to turn the roof back to the original color, galaxy gold. the space needle debuted at the

1962 world's fair. now for a look at the national and regional weather, bill karins. you have the weather channel forecast. he he's giggling. >> the monitor looked orange. >> we decided to call it galaxy gold. >> i like the name. like a name of a sport team, the galaxy gold. we're watching a little bit of rain, nothing compared to what we will see this weekend on the east coast, we have showers to deal with they are needed around atlanta, a slow morning commute with drive there, light rain currently will last over the next couple hours. also thunderstorms, lightning strikes being reported crossing the border of north carolina in southern virginia that could drift toward d.c. this morning, ef enin d.c., bring the umbrella, light showers expected. another weak strom going through minnesota light rain from st. cloud to duluth, thunderstorms

went through sioux falls, they may be approaching des moines. these are very weak storms, won't cause too many problems. very warm conditions once again, texas all the way to new mexico. little cooler up in new england, high clouds to make a little bit of filtered sunshine but the forecast will remain dry. looks like you have a big storm heading your way, possibly sunday into monday, keep it in mind for your weekend plans. as far as the forecast goes, there is the light rain in the southeast, beautiful in the middle of the country. slight chance of a shower in the areas like chicago. that is a look at the national forecast. tampa florida could see an isolated storm won't be a soaking just an afternoon shower or storm. areas like oklahoma city getting a little warm, 80 degrees for you. phoenix starting to feel like the desert, 94 and sunny. so get this weak storm but already the big buzz for the weekend first chance of heavy rain from the southeast to all

east coast in a while. >> needed, not something we often say we enjoy rain but this in fact is a good thing. bill, thanks so much. earnings season heats up. investors give executive pay thumb's down. one man's dirt is another man's spoils. kim kardashian may have million of twitter fans can she win over an entire town? coming up ozzie guillen return,kentucky gives new meaning to one and done. you're watching early today.

often say we enjoy rain but this coming up ozzie guillen

good morning if you're just waking up this is "early today." congress heard more testimony yesterday about extensive spending at the general services administration. lavish parties at a las vegas convention, new information shows a gsa executive took

expensive trips to california, hawaii and the south pacific. north korea is threatening to retaliation if the united states does not stick to a plan to send food aid. the u.s. decided to cancel the food agreement because north korea broke it by going ahead with a rocket launch that failed last week. in syria, both sides are accusing the other of breaking the cease fire. opposition forces say that syrian troops shelled two cities yesterday while the government says they were responding to provocations designed to sabotage the truce. police in texas have a person of interest in custody after a woman was shot outside a houston area hospital, and her three-day old baby boy was abducted. the infant was found and is unharmed. scientists discovered a new species in a cave in new mexico. a shrimp-like creature is blind, half inch long and almost transparent, one expert says the

species may have been down there for millions of years. an early look how wall street will kick off the do you. dow opened at 13,115 after rising 194 points yesterday. the s & p rose 21 points, nasdaq climbed 54. taking a look at overseas trading the nikkei surged 202 points while in hong kong the hang seng nudged up 218. upbeat earnings and signs spain's debt crisis may be easing helped stocks tuesday. encouraging sale of the two year bonds drove the country's borrowed costs out of bail out territory. overseas this morning asian markets bounced back, fueled by optimism and upbeat earnings here at home from the likes of goldman-sachs and johnson & johnson. traders were impressed with coca-cola, shares shot up 2%. earnings after the bell were

mixed. ibn traded lower after hours as hardware sales weighed down first quarter revenue. intel says chip sales were flat but forecast to pick up later in the year. signs of life at yahoo, under the newly installed ceo. warren buffett revealed he's battling stage 1 pros stat cancer, citi group sent a message about outside pay in a meeting. in a vote a 55% majority voted down multi-million dollar executive pay packages becoming the first shareholders to do so. a new report based on census data shows on average, u.s. women earned 77% of what men took home in 2010. finally, one lucky bidder

hit pay dirt, literally. soil from the spot where gandy was assassinated in 1948 sold at auction yesterday for $16,000. coming up, the knicks topped the celtics, marlins slugged the cubs. coyotes best the blackhawks in game three of the stanley cup playoff series. the "early today" sports headlines are ahead. wet weather in the southeast, you need it. the forecast is coming up, you're watching "early today." [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

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over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪ good morning, if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports, last night the predators prevailed, taking the two games stanley cup series lead over the red wings. here is nbc fredrogan with the headlines. the red wings were nearly perfect at home during the regular season. tied at one in the third, martin erat pulled three defenders toward him, passed to a wide open kevin klein. nashville won 3-1, they can eliminate detroit with a win on frye. blackhawks and coyotes, marrion hossa levelled, no call in the hit, when you look at it

again, torrez left his feet, hossa knocked unconscious. taken to a hospital, thankfully he will be okay. every game in the series has gone to overtime, michael boetcher found the net. they win 3-2. brian campbell had a goal and assist, florida leads 2-1 after a victory. college hoops, one and done, two weeks after winning it all, kentucky's entire starting line-up has declared for the nba draft. anthony davis expected to go first overall. the knicks don't want any part of the lottery, they are trying to make the playoffs. the win last night, carmelo anthony filled up the stats 35 points. knicks won it 118-110. ozzie guillen returned after a five game suspension. hanley ra mir reds, marlins beat

the cubs 5-3. dodgers tried to start the season 10-1 since 1955 but was not meant to be. two runs scored off a walk off double, they lost 5-4. that is early look at sports on "early today" i'm fred rogan. why did nikki minaj delete her twitter account? some say a trip to ikea can cost your marriage. for one couple in maryland it's just the beginning. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this wednesday. umbrellas are needed in the mid-atlant mid-atlantic, won't be a heavy all day rain. but rain from southward from d.c., north carolina, south carolina, atlanta, light rain this morning. also wisconsin down to chicago, chances of showers. then tomorrow looks dry in most of the east coast, more wet weather in the midwest and northern plains. if you're watching us on lex 18 lexington, kentucky, beating green is easy, beating green. that is beading green at the art museum at university of kentucky that is the early today event of the day.

bill, thanks so much. an early look at headlines in entertainment. reports an alleged ffling prove costly for simon coyell he had a laptop and wallet stolen in october. police used security footage to tracked down the woman who handed over the woman and wallet minus the cash. police in southern california say they arrested a security guard and recovered five vintage guitars stolen from tom petty and the heart breakers. a break in the case came when one of the instruments was pawned in hollywood. nicki minaj has given 11 million fans a digital time-out. she deactivated her twitter account after a fan site leaked unrelease the song clips to her followers. finally, could kim kardashian be setting her sights on a political career? i can't say that with a straight face. in a new clip from e's he could lee and lamar, she plans to run

for mayor of glendale, california, in five years because it's like armenian town. this comes from wrc, news 4 in washington, d.c., newlyweds said i do in ikea. they held their nuptuals in the furniture store, where they ran into each other after 30 years, they rekindled relationship over meatballs, needless to say meatballs were on the menu for the wedding reception. as for the honey moon, the couple are planning to go visit another ikea, this one in brooklyn, new york. that is the one i attend. kids eat free on tuesday. >> good for you. i'm lynn berry this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. we're off to a quiet start on this wednesday. the clouds will be thickening up and there's a possibility we could get some sprinkles. 60 at the airport right now. 53 in taneytown. we will add a couple of degrees and we could see some rain moving in from the south. we have a chance for a rain shower today, 30%. we'll come back and check the seven-day forecast going into the weekend. >> 57 degrees on tv hill.

>> no need to return to annapolis. that is what state republicans are saying about a special session. >> a man will likely face charges for killing someone and a car crash. >> the fallout continues over prostitution scandal involving the secret service. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. we will let you know how things are sh t

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. i am jennifer franciotti. >> i am stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> today will be cooler. >> we will drop into the upper 50's and low 60's. 50's and low 60's.