Vatican. Thank you for that. When the pope leaves later today, hell be heading to castel gandolfo. Claudio is joining us live from there this morning, good morning. Reporter good morning. The pope is expected to arrive here in four hours and people are starting to gatter in the main square to bid him one last farewell. Among the first to arrive here in the square is a group of American Students from a Catholic University from ohio. Im joined here by one of them. Student mike stacen. Were you surprised when the pope announced his resignation . I was. I think this is historic and a historic case. I was very surprised he resigned. I didnt know he could resign until you did research further. When the media came out and they would reporter who is going to be next now is the question, do you think any american cardinal has a chance . I think that i dont think theres a chance for an american cardinal, but i like Cardinal Omalley from the boston archdiocese. Reporter as you can see, people started to arrive and the first ones to arrive are the americans. Mara. Im rooting for a hometown pope. The country is just one day away from the 185 billion in spending cuts known as the sequester, and in washington no sign of compromise to stop it. The congressional leaders have been called to the white house tomorrow, but will that be too late . Nbcs tracie potts has the details from washington. Tracie, have they just given up on the deal at this point . Reporter well, i mean, with 24 hours to go, mara, it looks like the focus is how to minimize the impacts of whats about to happen. Were told president obama will sign this, if he signs it, likely towards the end of the day. He has until midnight late night on friday to do so. As you noted, hes called congressional leaders to the white house tomorrow morning on the day of this going into effect. John boehner who by the way he ran into on capitol hill when he was dedicating the rosa parks statue yesterday. They chatted for about a minute. The closest weve seen to any talks or compromise in days. Boehner, also Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will be at that meeting. Along with harry reid, the Senate Democratic leader, and mitch mcconnell, the Senate Republican leader. All of them likely to talk about where we go next. Were already starting to see some changes. Homeland security releasing some Illegal Immigrants from detention to save money. And boehner told lawmakers here, dont use any military planes. That racks up a bill, too. Mara. Tracie potts live in washington. Thank you so much for that. Theres word that u. S. May be changing its policy on aid to rebels in syria. Nbc news has been told by senior official that is the u. S. Will announce some aid will be given directly to certain Syrian Opposition groups rather than through nongovernmental agencies. The nonlethal aids could include body armor military training, and vehicles, but not weapons. The uprising against president Bashar Al Assad began in 2011. The u. S. Supreme court is expected to make an important decision about the Voting Rights act by june. The High Court Heard arguments on a key part of the law that requires states with a history of civil rights discrimination to get permission in advance before changing their voting laws. Shelby county, alabama, brought the case saying the law was outdated. Outside the court hundreds of protesters from Shelby County rallied to support the law as it is. The nine justices are expected to meet in private to discuss the merits of the case. It is time now for weather. Bill karens is here with the forecast. Good morning. A rainy forecast in the northwest. Avalanche threat, too, because of the heavy rain. Thats how well end our february. Temperatures are mild and thats why we are not too concerned with a ton of snow in the cascades. Theyll do more melting than anything else. Snow level above 5,000 feet. We got a plume of the moisture off the pacific, so it will be a good soaking. We have seen rain overnight and last night. Now it will rain all day today and should sneak up more to British Columbia throughout a majority of the day tomorrow. Notice about Northern California upwards is where we are dealing with the rainy forecast. And you can already see on the radar it is a big umbrella day all along i5. Eventually up to bellingham, but all the rain down south of olympia along the border almost into the portland area. As far as rainfall amounts go, the highest totals easily north of the seattle area. Look at bellingham with the computer estimating 3. 5 inches of rain. The highest totals north of the border, but everyone gets rain throughout the day today. Be prepared for that throughout the morning and on your way home from work and school. Will be much lighter there than they are down in Washington State. Looks like we stay mild with another chance of rain over the weekend, this time for california. Thank you so much, bill. Well, coming up, the stock market is flirting with a record. The biggest complaints among air travelers, and what caused a deadly house explosion that rocked a neighborhood. Early today is back in two minutes. Welcome back. Here are some other stories making news this morning. In a 7126 vote the senate has given former white house chief of staff jack lew the green light to replace tim geithner as treasury secretary. Lew faced questions from the senate over a milliondollar amount that he received in 2008. Also, president obama and congressional leaders unveiled a fulllength statue of civil rights icon rosa parks. Famous for her refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in alabama in 1955. The president who said parks who died has now take an rightful place in those who have shaped history. In colorado, the parents of a transgender first grader have filed a civil rights complaint after an elementary child banned the girl from using the girls room. The parents of the child said she was born male but identified as a female as soon as she could talk. Millionaire space tourist dennis tito says he plans to send a married couple to mars and back by 2019 in a tiny barebones capsule. Tito said it makes sense to send a couple because, quote, youre going to need someone to hug. And prince harry showed off his royal talent in the african nation of lesotho wednesday learning a traditional dance and taking a cook class while turning Community Projects sponsored by his charity. And now over to wall street, the dow opens at 14,075 after climbing 175 points yesterday. The s p jumped 19. And the nasdaq rose 32. In overseas trading the nikkei skyrocketed 305 points while the hang seng leaped 443. Wednesdays surge put markets back in the black and the dow was on the brink of an alltime high. Stocks face a number of variables today including revised Fourth Quarter gdp. They are expected to be up after a percent after the initial reading showed a slight decline. Investors did some highprofile earnings misses after wednesdays close, jcpenney fell 15 . On a breathtakingly bad earnings report. Meanwhile, groupon plunged 26 due in part to weak progress overseas. And Internet Radio sensation pandora is hoping to turn heavy users into paying customers. And the top complaint among air travelers is not crying babies but uncomfortable seats and no leg room. Still many are not willing to pay more money for more space. The Justice Department has won a billiondollar tax victory over dow chemical after rejecting two tax shelter transactions intended to create 1 billion in, quote, phony tax deductions. And speaking of taxes, according to the irs oversight annual board of survey, 87 of americans dont think its okay to cheat on taxes, but again, who is going to actually tell the arrest they do think its okay . Well, police are offering a reward to catch a hitandrun driver in colorado. That disturbing video is next. Plus, its a reallife Treasure Hunt complete with gold and jewels right here in the u. S. Details when early today returns after these messages. Welcome back. Now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. In michigan at least one person was killed when a house suddenly exploded sending debris into neighboring yards and blowing out windows in nearby houses. The cause of the explosion has not been confirmed but investigators suspect natural gas may be the culprit. In denver this next story shows disturbing video we want to warn viewers about. It shows a 16yearold student crossing a street and being hit by a hitandrun driver. Again, the video is drastic. Police are on the lookout for the driver of the car. The student was taken to a nearby hospital and remains in critical condition. Police are offering a reward for information leading to an arrest. The girl scout cookie heist of 2013. Thieves broke into a warehouse to make off with nearly 19,000 worth of thin mints and shortbread cookies. They were discovered missing when an inventory count came up short on the treats. An forest bend hit his own treasure. A bronze chest full of jewels somewhere in the mexican mountains. After three years this bounty is yet to be found. Turning to sports, a stunning upset in the closing minutes. Jermaine marshall makes a move to the basket against number four michigan. The it inially lions knocked them off and the happy fans were ecstatic. And georgetown was down a point with the ball in the final 15 seconds. He takes it all the way for the score and they barely survive against uconn, 7978. No the nba seth curry of golden state scored 55 points against the knicks, the highest scoring point of the season. But it was not enough with just over a minute to go, new yorks j. R. Smith hit the following jumper for the game winner. New york over the warriors, 109105. In the nfl San Francisco quarterback alex smith will reportedly be traded to kansas city for draft picks. Smith lost his starting job after suffering a concussion and his replacement was accused of leading the 49ers to a spot in the super bowl. Before the game between toronto last night, they were somehow able to keep their composure as the raptors mccayle peachers started an enthusiastic and very funny dance routine. Just ahead, all things being equal, could spidermans web actually stop the subway train. Myth busters will answer that train. Plus, animal lovers or intimidators. Did a gangster use these lions and bears as schools of intimidation or did he just love dangerous animals . Details coming up. Welcome back. A rainy day, actually, heavy rain expected in Washington State especially. It has really moved through along i90 just south of spokane. As far as the rain goes, the heaviest will shift northwards as the day moves on. Again, we expect a possibility of an inch or two north of seattle. The mountains avalanche watches are in effect and the biggest threat is the heavy rain and snow pack will weigh it down. Thats when we get the issues. Today is a rainy day and tomorrow it slowly improves. A little bit of good news there, thank you, bill. Just when you thought award season is over, netflix reveals the flixies. The flixies are meant to honor how people really watch netflix. Before you settle in for the madmen quest, consider visiting the site to cast your vote. Everyone wants to see tina fey and amy poehler host the oscars next year, right . Not exactly. Of half say theyd like to see bridesmaids star Melissa Mccarthy get the gig. Tina doesnt seem to mind saying she wouldnt dare sign up for the job because the oscars is simply too much work. Popular gossip blogger perez hilton is officially a father to a baby boy. The openly gay 34yearold announced the news on perezhilton. Com along with a picture of the little guy. No word on the the baby was adopted or if he used a surrogate. Congratulations. And finally remember that scene from spiderman 2 when he used a spiderweb to stop a train. A couple of physics students used that to see if that could happen in real life. According to their calculation, yes, a properly anchored web could stop a fourcar subway train. I dont want calculations, i want a reenactment. Does the spider have to be the size of a human man for that to work . Oh, definitely. The spider has to be huge. I have done mockups. I cant believe we are having this conversation. This next one comes from nbc affiliate wtlv in jacksonville, florida. Where a wounded veteran hopes to help wounded soldiers. Triple amputee tyler southern knew there would be difficulties with his handicap. Tyler started a Company Called wounded wear that makes specially designed clothing for people who receive injuries in war. Best of all, the clothing is free for wounded soldiers. What a great cause. I mean, genius label. Hopefully hell make some money off of it. Im mara schiavocampo, and this is early today, just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. A little otter at the japanese zoo is capturing hearts greeting guests on her leash and cuddling with her handler. Haku, the white river otter, is stealing the show with her sweet nature and velvety soft fur. Haku was a real hit with school kids who visit the aquarium daily. Haku is 4 months old and still a little camera shy. So cute. Well, an Unusual Museum in russia has a strange new exhibit causing controversy. The collection is dedicated to the memorabilia of soviet leader Vladimir Lenin from small statuettes to portraits. But the museum may be going too far with a lifesize display of the leader. Even more stunning is this figure appears to breathe. Thats creepy. Well, a notorious romanian gangster seems to have unusual taste in pets. Investigators were surprised to find four lions and two bears at the mans estate after he was arrested on multiple charges including murder and kidnapping. They believe the animals were used to threaten victims. But some neighbors said he was just an animal lover do. You expect the neighbors to tell the truth living northeast the man with lions . If you are going to be a gangster, go all in. I agree with you, its a way to intimidate people with lions. Lets go have a meeting with my lion. Time for an early look at the day ahead. General Norman Schwarzkopf will be laid to rest today at west point. A Memorial Service for the man known as Stormin Norman will be held this afternoon. He drove forces like Saddam Hussein out. He was 78 when he died of complications in november. The first lady is taking the lets move initiative to chicago today. After kicking off a tour in mississippi shell make an announcement to bring physical activities back to school with help from athletes like bo jackson and serena williams. And happy birthday to stage and screen siren bernadette peters. She turns 65 today. All day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories and the best political analysis on msnbc. And tonight, be sure to watch nbc nightly news with brian williams. And, finally, heres a look at whats coming up later this morning on the today show. Savannah is live at the vatican this morning for complete coverage of Pope Benedicts final day as pontiff. And a live look at princess dianas famous royal gowns as they head to auction. Well, thats all for us. Now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather and sports. Im mara schiavocampo. Thanks for watching early today. Just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. Have a good one. She took parenting and policing and used it the same way. A community remembers. Thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the santa includes Police Officers killed in the line of duty. Someone got away with something that was pretty bad only to commit something worse. Plus why this man says the officers deaths could have been prevented. Also, the popes final hours as head of the catholic church. Giving you a live look at vatican city there. And then we take you to San Francisco over the water, the bay bridge all lit up on this final day of february. February 28th. This is today in the bay. Good morning. It is 4 30. John kelly has the morning off. Good morning to you. Im in for laura garciacannon. Lets check that forecast. Looks like a nice day. Its going to be beautiful. Good morning to you, terry and marla. A goodlooking day shaping up. Not as frigid to start and well see more widespread 70s. In fact, were talking about a winter warmup bringing our temperatures towards record levels. So its going to get interesting today. 52 degrees in oakland to start, 43 in livermore and 36 in san jose. How warm will it get . Well have the answer to that as well as when the rain and the cold returns. Its all in your sevenday forecast. Stick around for that. First, its friday eve, mike. Good morning. Good morning. Were like the friday part of the eve. Thats fine, close enough for