Three previous months. Still last time dow hit a record, unemployment was at 4. 7 . Today that number is at 7. 9. Starting next month, Airline Passengers will be allowed to have small knives and other items in their bags. Security restrictions will be eased so screeners can look for explosives. The policy is more in alignment with international standards. It could reduce waiting times. So what will be allowed . Folding knives less than 2. 36 inches long. Golf clubs and other sporting equipment. And novelty baseball bats under 24 inches and 24 ounces. Union employees say the new policy is dangerous. But the tsa says locked cockpit doors and air martials provide additional security. Venezuela is planning to elect a new leader after the death of hugo chavez. The 58yearold died tuesday after a battle with cancer leaving behind a divided country with deep economic and social problems. His death leaves washington wondering if relations with a new leader will be any different. Nbcs mark potter is live in in the venezuelan capital of caracas. Mark good morning. Whats the mood . Reporter the mood is somber. Some are out in the streets crying, carrying signs and pictures, some crying out chavez lives. The venezuelan Vice President , the Opposition Party and the staterun oil company together issued statements for people to be unified and calm during all this and radio stations have been urging people to stay inside. Today venezuela begins seven days of national mourning. Later today chavezs body will be moved from the hospital to the military academy where he was trained. His body will lie in state there. On friday the funeral, a state funeral. Among the guests is some. Leaders from latin america an area where hugo chavez made a dramatic mark during his 14 years as venezuelas president. With elections coming up in about a no pick his successor u. S. Officials will be watching closely for signs after the election of possible openings, of possible improvements in the often troubled relationships between the two countries. Back to you. Thanks so, much, mark. A midair collision with an unidentified flying object caused a big scare for one airliner monday. An il italia flight was planning to land at new yorks Kennedy Airport when the pilot radioed air Traffic Controllers saying he saw a drone flying over the crowded skies of the big apple. Kennedy tower, we saw a drone below us. Im sorry, what did you see . We saw a drone. Roger, what altitude did you see that aircraft . About 1,500. Drones are most commonly associated with war zones but similar aircraft can be used by hobbyists up to 400 feet. The fbi has launched an investigation. Speak being of drones eric holder raised eyebrows when did not rule a scenario that a drone strike could be ordered against americans on u. S. Soil. For more now on the weather, nbc meteorologist bill karins joins me with a look at this winter storm. The nations capitol getting a late season snowstorm. No school for kids there. Leapt me show you the storm. Yesterday nine inches of snow in chicago. Pasted the trees and everything in indianapolis and now pushed all the way to the east coast. Today looks like the d. C. Area, baltimore will pick up the highest snowfall amounts. Possibility of six to ten inches. This is the area of concern. Travel today at the airports significant delays most of the flights are already cancelled around washington, d. C. But flights in philadelphia, baltimore, new york city. Snowfall amounts will be impressive. Easily their biggest snowstorm of the season. We have to watch boston, providence and other areas tomorrow. As far as travel on the west coast we had our own storm. Two pieces of it spinning. One batch of rain hitting up there along i5 from portland to oregon and see the spin right there coming onshore south of eureka. Snow at the highest elevations. Near mount shasta bringing a chunk of rain on shore. Watch out for some instability thunderstorms and cooler air mixed with sunshine later on this afternoon. Areas like medford and back towards boise. Chance of showers as that front drags on shore in southern california. Not a lot of rain. California. Temperatures will be way down during the day. No real significant big storms on the map anywhere in the country. A little bit of a break. Coming up the sequester killed white house tours. Can benedict be sued that hes no longer pope. And Barbara Walters reveals which actors kiss gave her the chickenpox. Plus five popular stocks at alltime highs, whats wall street got in store for your money today. Were back in two minutes. Welcome back. Here are some other stories making news this morning. The race to be the next mayor of los angeles appears headed towards a runoff. Results from tuesdays voting shows the city councilman and controller are within four points of each other but neither won a majority. The two candidates will now face off one on one in may. Overseas in syria, antigovernment forces are reportedly close to overtaking the onetime government stronghold of raqqa. If successful, it will be the first major city to fall completely to rebel fighters. Could the next stop for the newly retired emeritus pope be the courtroom . Attorneys have tried unsuccessfully for years to sue the vatican for charges of sex abuse. Theyre looking whether hes vulnerable in retirement. New video after more activity from italys mount etna. Ash is being thrown into the air. Starting in a few days, there will be no more people in the peoples house. The white house is suspending tours of the executive mansion beginning this weekend. Officials say the sequestration is to blame. The man charged in the murder of florida teen Trayvon Martin has waived his right to a court proceeding. George zimmerman said he doesnt want a stand your ground hearing instead opting to move straight to trial. That hearing could have lead to a dismissal of charges. And Barbara Walters was back on tv monday after a bout with chickenpox. The 83yearold journalist said she contracted the disease after a midnight kiss from actor frank langella. The big question today . Will the bulls continue to run . The dow crossed threshold tuesday stocks 10 of its stocks ran new highs. Among the most, home depot, ibm, and mcdonalds. On the flip side, aluminum maker alcoa, bank of america and hewlettpackard have not fared as well. Those three were the worst performers. Elsewhere on what could be an historic move, the wall street journal reports the bnsf railway plans to use natural gas to power its railroads. Troubles continue to mount at jcpenney. The Stock Plunged 10 tuesday after a major investor dumped 10 million of its shares. Meanwhile, jcpenney is fighting macys for the right to sell Martha Stewart home goods. The domestic maven testified tuesday that she was shocked macy objected so strongly with her product deal with j. C. Penney, saying it boggles her mind to be sitting there. Meanwhile, a new report from the u. S. Census bureau reveals at least 600,000 workers commute at least 90 minutes and 50 miles a day. The best way to jazz up that drive. In a ferrari hybrid. The ecofriendly car was revealed at the car show along with nissans crossover. Talk about the ultimate way to cut wedding costs. The New York Times reports internet marriages are on the rise where people want to marry a partner from their homeland without match making trips to abroad. Well, your sports headlines are straight ahead. Plus, how did a woman steal not one but two police cars before being apprehended . Youre watching early today. And now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. We start in new jersey with a wild interstate police chase. A young couple injured an officer, rather, after stealing his empty Police Cruiser while he worked a traffic stop. The thieves were stopped in philadelphia but not before the female driver briefly escaped arrest by stealing a Different Police car. In illinois, a raging fire reduced an Historic Building to rubble. The former gholson insurance building collapsed as firefighters battled flames for close to three hours. The renovated Apartment Building was totally destroyed leaving two families homeless. In oregon, a crane collapsed into the bay as crews attempted to replace wooden power line structures. The equipment was hoisting the new structure when it came crashing down. Luckily no one was injured. A forest fire is now contained. It threatened several homes as it torched 75 acres of brush including this rv. And finally, indiana parents are outraged and they want answers after a teacher was suspended for writing, quote, youre idiots and guns are loaded. Care to try me . On the blackboard during the class. When did idiot become a metaphor . You dont use the word idiot as a metaphor. The teacher has received some support from students but will not return to class until officials complete their investigation. Turning to sports now, if its college basketball, its another upset. Number 14 ohio state got 18 points from Deshaun Thomas to beat number two indiana 6758. That may affect seeding for the ncaa tournament and also means that the big ten regular season title is up for grabs. And Major League Baseball is considering adding instant replays in 2014 for certain plays like this fair or foul call on the padres dodgers call on tuesday. Joe torre is reviewing how the system might work. Denver linebacker miller is predicting that his team will win the super bowl. He says his guarantee is inspired by his 6yearold cousin who came out of a coma after a car accident and remembered miller played for the broncos. And after all the videos of teens doing their version of the harlem shake, the Minnesota Timberwolves did one that might end the craze. It featured a twolves player dancing with a helmet on. And then just in the nick of time, the team mascot comes out with a toy plastic bat and comes out with some things get old fast. Finally someone said it. Announcer early today sports is brought to you by touch of gray. Get rid of some gray, never all. The latest on the late winter storm before you head out the door. Plus, did Kate Middleton accidentally reveal the gender of the royal baby . Youre watching early today. Traveling interstate 95 heading up towards the tahoe area will be ad convenient to yourous. Winter storm warnings. Thats above 4,000 feet. Thats the only interesting stuff going on in the mountains as far as this storm is concerned. For sacramento and San Francisco periods of rain. One exiting san jose driving on interstate 5 periods of off and on rain but nothing too heavy or too hard. Forecast for today showers make their way down l. A. Again, not a huge, huge inconvenience. Thanks so much, bill. Turning now to entertainment, daily show host jon stewart is taking a threemonth break this summer to direct his first film. No, its not a comedy, but a drama based on a true story about one journalists imprisonment following the 2009 iranian president ial election. Comedian john oliver will guesthost. The band train is pulling out of this years boy scout jamboree. They cited the boy scouts antigay policy as a reason. Did Kate Middleton accidentally reveal shes having a girl . A telegraph reports when the duchess accepted a teddy bear, she said, thank you, ill take that for my da with a d. Middle in the denied she was about to take it for her daughter. Well, tony stark fans rejoice, ironman 3 is officially in production and we have a sneak peek. Were buying tickets right now. And finally, could this song replace our beloved National Anthem . Ignition hot and fresh off the kitchen mama ruling that body got every man in here wishin you heard correctly, thats r. Kellys song igniton. Fans have started a white house petition to make this r b song our new anthem. So far 4200 signatures. I will say i love that song, despite r. Kellys personal and legal troubles i think hes extremely talented. For all the sporting events might make it more interesting. Goes well with a ball game. This next one comes from krvc tv in abilene texas. One 7yearold plans to leave her mark on the world by following in her dads foot steps. Alicia gutierrez is an official tattoo artist. In five years, alicias dad expects his little girl will have the skills to complete awesome pieces of work all on her own. Pretty brave to let a child tattoo you. Im mara schiavocampo, and this is early today, just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. Now, a quick look at some of this mornings headlines. The lead story in the New York Times as fears recede dow industrials hit a milestone. Its good that the dow is at a high but wall streeters not popping the champagne just yet. In the washington post, hugo chavez, passionate but polarizing venezuelan president died at 58. The life and impact of the combative and controversial leader. In oklahoma a little girl can hear now for the first time in her life. Cameras were rolling when 5yearold jade shoal giggled at the her mothers voice. Cochlear implants are new pleasures for jade. Doctors are confident she can adapt to hearing and speech as she continues to grow. Good news for her. A new themed hotel in china is far from subtle in decoration. The china panda hotel is just what it sounds like, full of pandas. The hotel is in its trial period now hoping to open to the public by may. While some are worried about coming locust swarms in israel, these vendors couldnt be happier. In saudi arabia, locusts are a delicacy sold for 50 to 250 a bag. Saudi officials warn about hunting locusts warning of pesticides. This crunchy snack is still bound to fetch a high price at the market. Whats the strangest food youve eaten . Have you eaten bugs . Cows tongue. Ive done alligators. Tastes like chicken. Time for an early look for some of the stories well follow here on nbc. Preventing military suicides on congress agenda. The House Armed Services subcommittee holds a hearing on Suicide Prevention this afternoon. The rate rose 23 per 100,000. In California Well wishers will have an opportunity to pay their respects at a public casket view for two fallen Santa Cruz Police detectives. The two detectives were gunned down in an ambush last month. And happy birthday to actor rob reiner, he turns 66 today. Heres whats coming up on the today show. Matt goes oneonone with Martha Stewart about her testimony in the legal spat between macys and jcpenney. And Kerri Walsh Jennings opens up about her pregnancy and her favorite tips. All day long keep it here for news, sports and weather. Im mara schiavocampo. Thanks for watching early today. Have a great day