today, we begin with the final decision. president obama has order that the grizzly photo of a dead osama bin laden will not be released to the public, a move that is sparking some debate. meanwhile, we continue to get more details about how bin laden was ultimately taken down. for more on this, we go to nbc's tracie potts. she's in washington for us. good morning. >> lynn, good morning. let's start with the photo. the president says releasing the graphic photo of bin laden's death and the video of his burial could incite radicals who have already vowed retaliation. reaction here on capitol hill is mixed whereby the way a fake photo has already gone around and has made its way to a number of lawmakers. some here say republicans and democrats that the dna evidence and what they've heard privately from the cia is enough. but others say that the u.s. and those in the middle east need to see these photos. now, as for the raid itself, the white house now says three out of four of those who were killed were unarmed and that this was lawful because of osama bin laden's history of threatening the u.s. lynn. >> tracie potts there for us in washington, thank you. today, president obama will be in new york city joining families of 9/11 victims at ground zero to mark the death of the mastermind behind the world trade center attack that took their loved ones. nbc's michelle franzen joins us from lower manhattan. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. certainly the ceremonies today come four days after the government announced osama bin laden's death and the ceremonies -- the tone of the ceremony today will be somewhat different from the celebratory mood that erupted in those initial hours after bin laden's death was announced. certainly hundreds of people gathered here overnight sunday and into monday celebrating osama bin laden's death. today, the president is expected to meet with 9/11 victims, families, as well as survivors and first responders and participate in a ceremony, a wreath laying ceremony at the ground zero site. we are told that the president could also possibly make some sort of a speech. we don't know exactly when and what time he will say that yet, but certainly he is here to owner the 9/11 victims and bring the focus back to those who died on that day. lynn. >> michelle franz.for us, down at ground zero, michelle, thank you. politically, the decision to take down the world's most wanted terrorist has proven beneficial for president obama, at least for now. according to a "new york times"/cbs news poll, present obama's approval rating jumped is 11 points to 57% after the killing of bin laden. meanwhile, a separate usa today/gallup poll shows 67% of americans believe a terrorist attack on u.s. soil is likely within the next several weeks. according to this morning's washington post house republicans have concreeded that they will have to drop their controversial plan to overhaul medicare and seek common ground with the white house over spending cuts. the post reports house majority leader eric cantor suggests he'll push for ending subsidies to wealthy farmers, limiting lawsuits against doctors and expanding government auctions of the broadcast spectrum to telecommunications companies. the gop retreat on medicare came ahead of debt reduction talks led by vice president biden, which will start later this morning. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. oregon firefighters had an intense inferno on their hands after two trains collided. the fire erupted when a derailing train smashed into a parked train carrying cars with ethanol. crews battled the blaze for three hours before putting it out. there were no injuries. a snow laden winter in utah produced an exciting springtime visual. during the higher than normal visuals, officials released fire from the blaming reservoir. now, local business owners are expecting a busy rafting season. i think you can see why. some florida criminals lacked the muscles to carry a coin machine they stole from a car wash. the 200-pound machine fell on top of one of them as they attempted their getaway. they eventually got away, but not with much. the machine had just been emptied. also in florida, the u.s. postal service unveiled two stamps to mark the day's 50th anniversary of america's first manned space flight. the stamps feature the first mercury spacecraft and alan shepherd, the first man up and the first astronaut with a stamp all to himself. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. how is it looking today? >> quiet. >> that's good. we like to hear that. >> very, very quiet. i love saying that. it's may. this is tornado season. we're get ago big break and we deserve that after what we went through at the end of april. around the country, we have three storms. two on the corners and then the other one in the northern plains. and it's the one around minnesota that's bringing probably the heaviest of rain this morning. no severe weather to talk about. if anything, it's chillier than a lot of us would like. i'm sure people had the heat on in the ohio valley. many areas are down into the 30s early this morning. as far as the storms go, as i mentioned, there's three of them out there right now. we have here in the boston area, the other is sterd here in minneapolis and the final storm system is back here towards the pacific northwest. temperatures are rather cool and chilly out there, especially in the ohio valley. but this time of year, as long as you have clear skies and sunshine, temperatures will warm up and that's what we will be dealing with. as far as the cleanup goes and the flooding areas, we're not going to see any rainfall down there for our friends that are cleaning up in alabama and areas on the mississippi river. we don't expect any significant rainfall. that's good news for you. that's a look at your national forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. we're going to continue with a good deal of sunshine out there as we go throughout the day today. atlanta, georgia, to nashville, what gorgeous spring weather we're going to see. dallas, texas, to denver, we're looking very nice. the areas of severe weather, if any, would be in the northwest. so we're looking okay, lynn, for the next couple of days. >> a much needed reprieve, bill, thank you. jobs news jolts the streets. iphones get less nosey and the furry of one bride groom. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. speaking of marriage, cameron diaz says, who needs it? coming up, the bulls rebound. the bruins need a minute to win it. they would a capital failure in the nhl playoffs. 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. workers have entered the damaged reactor buildings at japan's nuclear power plant. it's the first time they've been inside since right after the march 11 earthquake. crews are connecting ventilation equipment in an attempt to absorb radiation from the air inside the building. the last known combat veteran of world war i has died. claude stanley tools started training with the british royal navy in 1915 at the age of 14. he passed away in australia. he was 110 years old. his secret to a long life? quote, keep breathing. good idea there. hollywood lost a long serving star. former child actor jackie cooper. cooper, a former little rascal is still history's youngest oscar nominee at 9 years old. in later years, he won emmys as a tv director and acted as perry white in superman. cooper was 88 years old. here is a flight you can be glad you weren't a passenger on. amateur video shows a plane in russia flying wildly in the sky. despite the plane's control system failing, the pilot managed to land the military aircraft on their second attempt. now here is a look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. emerging evidence suggests premature birth can run in families. one scottish study found being born prematurely increased a woman's chance of having her own preterm baby by nearly 50%. even having a premature sibling raised a mother's odds. while dramatic treatment advances have increased survival odds, premies still fade a long list of potential health issues. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,723 after dropping 83 points yesterday. the s&p shed 9 points. the nasdaq lost 13. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was closed for a holiday. in hong kong, the hang seng fell 53. as earnings season winds down, serious doubts about the health of the economy are setting in. driving fears yesterday was news that hiring was nowhere near expected last month. raising caution about tomorrow's monthly jobs report. silver and oil prices slid for another day, dragging down mining giant freeport mcmoren and occidental patrolul. aol blamed dwindling revenue for its lackluster report. raul corp. rebuffed conagri's sweetened takeover deal for a secretary time. bailed out lender freddie mac posted its first quarterly gain in two years and is not asking for more federal aid. apple says a new update will reduce the time your iphone stores location data from one year to one week. this after criticism the phone's tracking device was sending info back to apple. after the bells, newscorp missed the streets earnings estimates while whole foods weighed in with its strongest earnings in years. finally, one bride went with another man and may have to pay. her groom to be is suing her for $250,000. coming up, another sudden death winner, this time for the sharks. plus, lightning strikes the washington capitals and sends them packing. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and our break from our typical severe weather we get in may continues into the upcoming weekend. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, looking more like the team that led the league in wins last night, chicago took game two of its nba playoff matchup with the atlanta hawks. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. before game three, derrick rose received his mvp award and showed everyone why he was the most valuable player in the nba. rose scored 12 in the first quarter, finished with a game high 25. the bills outworked the hawks. chicago evened the series with an 86-73 win. now to los angeles where not even jack could get the lakers going in the fourth. the mavericks ran circles around the defending champs. frustration turned physical in the final seconds. ron artest almost took j.j.'s head off. the matvs won and lead the series. the capital superstar insisted his team would win game four, but it wasn't meant to be. tamp ta swept the top seated caps for a win. now to the boston phillies, the bruins got the best of the flyers in game three. chara scored less than a minute in. 33 seconds later, boston scored again. before the fans were settled in, the bruins had a 2-0 lead. they lead the series, 3 games to none. to detroit, sharks tied the game late in the third kept the momentum going in the overtime. sharks beat the red wings, 4-3 in o.t. finally, the sharks are so loose, they pulled a practical joke on mitchell. he said he knew something was up when players kept skl him if we wanted to hang after practice. the sharks are letting it all hang out. they're a win away from the conference finals. that's your early look at sports on "early today". i'm fred roggin. which long time tv star has remarried her first husband after 25 years of developsing him? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll tell but a new way to help victims of this pick up the pieces no matter how far they've traveled. you're watching "early today." welcome back. taking a look at the mississippi river, the crest where all the flooding and the southern portion of the river are in and it's going to take a while. these flooding levels are going to be historic. memphis, on the 11th, you'll have your all time second highest crest. we don't crest in vicksburg until the 20th of this month. this will be a long, slow process of watching this flooding down the mississippi river over the next two to three weeks. kansas city, st. louis, chicago, chance of storms today. if you're watching us in date yop, ohio, view a collection of contemporary art inspired events over the last ten years as creating the new century at the dayton art institute and that's your "early today" event of the day. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. relationship news takes center stage. after all the headlines, the phone tapes and the court hearings, oksana gri gore ava has dropped her domestic violence claims against mel gibson. she hopes the move will convince gibson to settle custody of their 3-year-old daughter. marie osmond remarried steven craig yesterday in las vegas. apparently she wore the same dress she did 25 years ago at their first wedding. and paraphrasing more advise from cameron diaz, currently dating yankees alex rodriguez, guys need women who challenge them and don't let them get away with stuff. women need to not be crazies who blow up when their guys tell them something that scares them. sounds like she is looking to get a ring on it but she's trying to -- >> i'm more impressive someone can wear their same wedding dress from 25 years ago. >> and the styles go with the wind, so i'm impressed, as well. and this comes to us from wxia in atlanta, georgia, where a modern day tech savvy lost and found is helping last week's tornado victims put their lives back together. deeply personal items thought to be gone with the wind have begun to resurface on a special facebook pagededicated to reunited rightful owners with sent mental possessions ripped from their homes. there are foep photos of about 2,000 items waiting to be claimed giving how many hope to those who thought they had lost it all. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. time now for an early look >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv today. >> is no precipitation, but it is chilly outside. take a light jacket. it's 43 in tontitown and 45 degrees in jarrett sville. breezy and cool today with high temperatures in the mid to upper 50's this afternoon. we will take a look at the mother's day forecast coming up. >> it's 45 degrees. here's a look ahead. >> the phylicia barnes case has been ruled a homicide. details are next. >> i remember her everyday. she is on my mind. >> a teenager electrocuted at a city park, what her mother says five years later. >> obama makes a decision on whether to release photographs of osama bin laden after he was killed. good morning, i am tracie potts in washington. we will talk about this decision and reaction on capitol hill. >> an early look at area roads. looks good on most of them. we do have some problems in tows (announcer) while there are some home disasters you can't avoid, there is one you can. septic system breakdowns affect 1.2 million homes each year. septic backups can cost about six thousand dollars in expense, and countless hours of repair. rid-x. help save yourself from disaster. >> live, local, late-breaking. today.s wbal 11 news today.s wbal 11 news