not to release the final images showing the terror leader's body. for more on that, we go to nbc's steve handelsman. >> reporter: cia director leon panetta gave lawmakers the briefing and they gave him advice about the death photos. >> it was important for the united states to release the picture of his body to confirm that he is dead. >> reporter: pa net ta agreed. >> we got bin laden and i think we have to reveal to the rest of the world that we were able to get him. >> reporter: but it's not the cia director's call. it's president obama's he doesn't want to rush out gruesome shots. >> there are sensitivities here in terms of the appropriateness of releasing photographs of osama bin laden. >> reporter: more arguments against release. the dna match was reported perfect, better proof than a picture. and the streets in the muslim world are quiet. why incite trouble? in pakistan, the government insisted no authority knew this was bin laden's mansion and the white house installed no punishment. >> pakistan is a strong partner. >> reporter: and team obama is defensive about a key detail. bin laden was unarmed when he was shot. >> but there were many other people who were armed in the compound. it was a fire fight. >> reporter: bin laden could have put up his hands and surrendered, said an official, but he didn't. meanwhile, the pakistani government yesterday criticized the raid as an unauthorized unilateral action and warned the u.s. against launching similar attacks in the future. back here at home, lives are threatened up and down the mississippi and ohio river valleys. the u.s. army corps of engineers says blasting a hole through one levee appears to have spared one illinois town, but several states downstream are still in danger. kirk gregory has our report. >> reporter: massive flooding continues across six states. in western tennessee, water as far as the eye and helicopter can see. the state's governor has requested $10 million in federal emergency funding. >> we are prepared to respond as quickly as possible. >> the mississippi river has already breached its banks. this is memphis where rising flood waters are threatening neighborhoods. on the other side of the mighty mississippi, large parts of eastern arkansas are under water, including doesz of highways and roads. experts are trying to minimize damage. the army corps of engineers blew up this levee near cairo, illinois, sacrificing nearly 130,000 acres of land and 100 homes to save the community. concerns continue to rise downstream. still officials in mississippi warning residents this flood is going to be historic based on the predictions of the national weather service. >> and casinos in toonica aren't gambling with mother nature's destructive power. money is being taken away for safekeeping. many casino operators expect to be shut down with flooding for at least three weeks. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. the dramatic rescue of a 93-year-old woman who made the mistake of trying to cross a flooded highway was recorded by a sheriff assisting from the shore. using a safety line and cable, two missouri national guardsmen battled raging water to pull the woman from her car and ultimately to safety. no injuries were reported. chicago's lake front harbors have a new hangout for raccoons. the spike in population has been a problem since last summer, leading to the capture of approximately 120 of the scaveng scavengers. officials say classified -- and they've classified that situation as an infestation. they've cautioned residents not to leave trash around, a steady source of food for the animals. finally, america has its own polar bear survival story to tell. a female cub was rescued from an alaskan oil field. it was spotted weeks ago. zoo officials are caring for the cub and they hope to find it a new home soon. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. you know, we've been talking about the flooding, but when you see a rescue like that, you get an idea of just how dangerous this can be. >> we're finally done with the flash flooding. now we're going more or less with your typical flooding. that's the slow variety. that's the water that slowly creeps up and goes into your house and your home sdmrs nothing you can do about it. that's the case along many areas of the ohio river. that's where the crest is happening right now. areas from paducah up here in southern illinois, western kentucky, that's where the river is reaching its max. from here, we'll watch the crest going downstream. we have about maybe five to six days until we get that crest in memphis. five or six days watching the mississippi going up-and-up about a foot a day. now, as far as what we're dealing with out there currently, we don't have a lot of bad weather. all the heavy rain that was in the middle of the country has shifted to the east coast. it's an umbrella day for many areas of the east, especially through the carolinas, virginia northward. you can see this area of rain from richmond to d.c. eventually, it will move to philadelphia, new york city, into boston later today. make sure you have your umbrella with you. if you're on the i-95 corridor, we're clearing it out for a beautiful day here in the nation in the deep south. that's a look at your national forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. atlanta, georgia, it's on the cooler side. this is a nice, refreshing spring day. 68 degrees for you. milwaukee is at 57. 79 in dallas. it's only going to get warmer from here on out. enjoy what's looking like the perfect afternoon. lynn, that's the story. it's going to get nice out there. we don't have severe weather to talk about. a beautiful forecast ahead. >> put your feet up, bill, finally. thank you. oil price fall. bp pays for its spill and a website for those who find breaking up is really hard to do. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, believe it or not, once again, lindsay lohan may have found a way to stay out of jail. come up, the celtics show their age. thunder even things up and the first no-hitter of the season. you're watching "early today." good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. texas has carried out its first execution using a different sedative. carrie kerr who was put to death for the sexual assault and strangling of a woman in 2001 maintained his innocence in his final words. england's daily mail determines the wedding of catherine and prince william may have had to do with the death of osama bin laden. a palace spokesperson says the delay was a personal decision make weeks ago. the couple will honeymoon later this month. meanwhile, prince charles made a trip to washington, d.c. yesterday. he met with war veterans following a visit to the supreme court earlier in the day. and in new york, a rare wooden sculpture by paul gogan sold for $11.3 million, a record for a sculpture by the french artist. the piece was last seen by the public in 1961. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,807 after gaining a fraction yesterday. the s&p shed 4 points. and the nasdaq lost 22. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was closed for a holiday, but in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 318. a disappointing report from the world's largest drugmaker set a dismal tone on wall street yesterday. pfizer fell short of earnings estimates following the bell followed by weak results from clorox, beezer homes and sooers. crude prices dipped more than 2 buck aes barrel. today the government is expected to report a jump in u.s. supplies. metro pcs was one of the day's few bright spots. the sdoint phone carrier rose 10% after ringing up a record number of subscribers last quarter. general motors climbed 2% thanks in part to higher gas prices which are now driving sales of fuel efficient photos. for home loans, it should buy a mortgage company it bought back in 2007. in a suit filed yesterday, the u.s. demanded deutsche pay back hundreds of millions of dollars in defaulted loans. bp has agreed to pay $25 million in civil fines stemming from two alaskan oil spills back in 2006. the largest per barrel find for any oil company in a spill-related case. portugal is the latest european country to agree to an international bailout, reportedly for about $115 billion. keep an eye on comcast today. the parent company of this network weighed in with better than expected earnings after the bell. after hours, cbs doubled its shareholder dividend thanks to a healthy first quarter report. finally, ever wish you could pay someone else to end a relationship for you? well, one website is offering to do the dirty work four for as little as 10 bucks. well, the nba's top rookie, yet oofr overtime stanley cup contest and the american league's world pitcher in april throws a no-hitter in may. plus, lebron james and the heat try to spin past the celtics. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> and after a spring filled with tornados and record flooding, a nice tranquil weather pattern. what do you know. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, if any team knows how to win the nba playoff webs it's the bolt celtics. but they're going to need to call on all that experience and more after falling behind two games to none in their matchup with the miami heat. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. in game two between the heat and the celts, miami's big three looked young and energetic while boston's big three just looked old. case in point, dwyane wade, one-on-one with kevin garnett, blew right by him for the bucket and the foul. the heat were up by five at the half. rajon rondo off the spin cycle. heat won, 100-91 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. thunder flue to a 111-102 win. the different in oklahoma's bench outscored memphis by 19 and game three is saturday. kevin griffin will be named high flyer today. to the nhl, the lightning on the verge of knocking off another cop seat. caps scored a pair of goals just 23 seconds apart in the third. steven stamkos, top shelf. that was nice. bounced off ryan malone's foot and in. tampa won it, 4-3. they can close it out tomorrow. vancouver on the power play. michael samuelsson threw the puck on net. ryan kessler there to knock it in. kanucks take a 3-2 win. the first no-hitter of the season. a chopper to third. dan na valencia made the stop and through foul territory. a gold glove top play kept the no-hitter intact. matt tolbert there for the final out. francisco mariano had plenty of help from his teammates for the first no-hitter of the year. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. which reality tv star pitched a baseball came after being given the honor of throwing out the first pitch? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, so much tragedy has come out of the storms and flooding ravaging the south, but we have one story for you with a happy ending. you're watching "early today." welcome back. it's an umbrella morning. the rain has moved into areas of central north carolina to charlotte and raleigh. eventually, it will be in all of jersey and much of eastern pennsylvania. if you're in northern new england, you'll have two days of this cloudy, dreary weather. the forecast in the middle of the country looks great today. southeast is dry. texas, denver, everyone is looking niend. montana has a chance of showers blowing through. tomorrow's forecast brings showers and storms to chicago, but most of the day will be dry. if you're watching us in charleston, south carolina, from beginning to end, discover how people endured america's greatest conflict, the civil war at city under siege at the charleston museum. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> bill, thanks so much. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. according to one report, as punishment for stealing a necklace, lindsay lohan may be given a bracelet. tmz reports lohan will plead no contest to misdemeanor theft. in return, the judge will not increase her 120-dayprobation violation sentence. the website goes on to say it's possible, given routine procedure by the l.a. county sheriff's department that has a nonviolent misdemeanor offender, lohan may be allowed to serve her sentence at home, providing she wears an electronic monitoring device. most anyone that gets honored by being able to throw out a major league first pitch would normally stick around to enjoy the game, right? well, not celebrity chef gordon ramsey, who tossed out the opener for the l.a. dodgers monday night. he apparently immediately left the stadium for the nba's laker playoff game, taking up a front row seat with pal david beckham, who celebrated his 36th birthday. i probably would have done that, too, along with other courtside friends like will ferrell, eddie murphy and jack nick yolson. >> you probably wouldn't have showed up for the pitch. >> but i guess that's really taboo. >> most people in l.a. understand the lakers are the big deal. exactly. plus you get to sit next to david beckham. come on. and this comes to us from baton rouge, louisiana, where in nearby lafayette, a group of boy scouts received a home coming celebration some feared would never happen. a two-day search and rescue mission netted the results everyone was hoping for when six scouts and two troop leaders returned to their families. anxiety spread when the troops didn't return from a three-day camping trip. but one scout reassured everyone they survived by living the boy scout motto, be prepared. i'm lynn berry, and 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, everyone. we are off to weigh what starts this morning. we have some gentle rain to start the day -- we're off to a wet start this morning. rain showing up from the eastern shore of all the way back into the mountains. you'll be with us for the next four or five hours. after that, it to taper off. temperatures right now or in the upper 40's and low 50's. take a jacket. rainshowers this morning and then it should taper off this afternoon. high temperatures only in the upper 50's and low 60's. we'll come back and looked at the forecast going into the weekend. >> 52 degrees on tv hill. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> good morning. more details on the death of osama bin laden and why this fight against al qaeda it is not over. >> the congressional delegation ways and on whether to release the bin laden death pictures. details are next. >> we have some early morning problems. we have some fire activity in the city to avoid. [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 mindy basara. >> and i