♪ a line of severe weather tears this morning on "early today," monster storm. a line of severe weather tears through the midwest claiming at least a dozen lives. remembering davy jones. the singer who fronted the world's first made for tv band has died. and super size nuisance. scientists uncover remains of and super size nuisance. scientists uncover remains of prehistoric megafleas. captns paid for by nbc-universal television hello and very good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today, we begin with deadly winter twisters. at least 12 people were killed

by a severe weather system that roared through the midwest wednesday. the powerful storm touched off one killer ef-4 tornado. nbc's jay gray has details from harrisburg, illinois. >> reporter: splintered wood and twisted metal and shattered glass scattered across five states. >> all of a sudden, boy, the windows went out like a big shotgone went off. >> reporter: shredding communities. >> opened up the door, the whole neighborhood was gone. >> reporter: shattering lives. >> they are devastated. they lost one member of the family. >> reporter: a path of death and destruction stretching from kansas through kentucky. >> overturned semis and cars. apartment buildings shredded to bits. >> reporter: harrisburg, illinois, may have taken the hardest hit. winds of 170 miles an hour searing through the core of this tight-knit town. >> we have lost children and lost loved ones and lost part of our family here in this community. >> reporter: six people died in harrisburg. at least a dozen were killed in storms across tornado alley over the last 24 hours.

and more than a hundred were injured. some of those in the resort town of branson, missouri, where a twister stayed on the ground for 22 miles. and the cleanup started as soon as the winds died down. forecasters warn it could happen again, with the possibility of more storms across the heartland through friday night. jay gray, nbc news, harrisburg, illinois. the same massive storm system that brought all of that destruction also caused a dramatic snowstorm a little further north. in duluth, minnesota, wind gusts up to 65 miles an hour with more than a foot of snow in some places. it was a full-on blizzard leaving pretty much everything closed. nbc meteorologist bill karins will have more on the storm in a few minutes. now to the campaign trail. four republican presidential hopeful be are ramping up their rhetoric before tuesday's ten-state matchup. nbc tracie potts has the details from washington.

>> reporter: good morning. no question, super tuesday is a big prize or prizes depending on how the more than 400 delegates are split up. rick santorum certainly hoping to get his piece of the pie. he says this is a two-man race between him and mitt romney. georgia is the biggest prize next week. ohio, perhaps the most competitive. virginia important because only romney and ron paul will be on the ballot there. speaking of mitt romney, he made a gaffe yesterday talking about the blunt amendment. it would be voted on here in congress today. it says that employers who have religious objections don't have to pay for certain types of health care through their health insurance plans. asked if he supports an amendment that would allow those objections, romney said he opposes it. but later his campaign clarified that romney does support it, that he was confused because the question, they say, was asked in a misleading way. that amendment, by the way, that would allow those religious objections, to things like birth

control, is not expected to pass here today. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. a dramatic development wednesday indicated relations between the united states and north korea could be headed in a new direction. under newly installed leader kim jong-un north korea has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and missile tests in exchange for food aid from the u.s. north korea says international inspectors will be allowed in to verify all nuclear testing is stopped. cautiously, secretary of state hillary clinton called the agreement, quote, a modest step in the right direction but pointed out that the country's actions will be closely monitored. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. an 83-year-old man was rescued in new jersey when flames burned through his car. a store clerk saw the fire and ran to help. the victim is believed to be homeless living out of that car. he is now recovering. the hero who saved him admits it was scary but that he didn't have time to think about the danger.

in texas, a second horse has been saved from euthanasia with the help of a prosthetic leg. its hoof had been torn off. the type of injury that would often mean having to put a horse down. the device was attached to the if full-sized horse a year after a miniature horse was also kept alive thanks to a prosthetic. a local company designed and donated the artificial limb. in iowa, a semi trailer carrying nearly 200 pigs crashed along the highway, sending the pigs all over the road. a few of the pigs didn't survive, but many were rescued after an hour's long effort to round them up. the driver blamed the accident on high winds. finally, a real leap of faith to mark leap day. take a look at that. base jumpers took a plunge off the roof of a 43-story casino in atlantic city, new jersey. unlike some gamblers, luck was on their side, because the jump went off without a hitch. thank goodness for that. now for a look at your

national and regional weather here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the forecast. >> those pictures amazing considering it was leap day, last day of february, but it shows you when we haven't had much of a winter the warm air is already in place. we're going toet severe storms. another outbreak coming to the same areas on friday. so recapping this event, it really went from fleb ska, kansas, through missouri, hard hit through branson and hard hit in southern illinois and yesterday afternoon, those storms meant business throughout areas of kentucky and tennessee. the strongest storm was the one we showed you the pictures. winds 180 miles per hour through harrisburg, illinois, rare this time of year to see an ef-4 tornado, the scales goes from ef-0 to ef-5 which removes everything in its path. that storm is gone. lingering with our storm in the west for the last two to three days. a broad trough of cold air in place. the jet stream taking a dip into the central portions of

california. snow levels very low in many areas. we're continuing to watch some of the snow in northern california moving on shore. the last slug of moisture that we'll deal with. if you're driving up interstate 5, rain south of redding, snow at the higher elevations. seattle and portland should be changing over to rain showers as we go th will stay to your north. los angeles and arizona you should remain dry also. more wet weather heading for the northwest. may not be until sunday until some people get a good sunny day. >> yikes. thanks, bill. big ben speaks, apple hits a new high and your chance to own the home court of a basketball icon. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. she has grabbed the spotlight with her sometimes outrageous behavior but this morning she is

making headlines for a completely different reason. coming up, a huge win for usa soccer and kobe bryant like you've never seen him before. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. a senior defense official tells nbc news two u.s. soldiers were killed this morning when gunman, one in an afghan security uniform, opened fire on nato troops at a base in southern afghanistan. six nato service members have been killed in similar incidents recently following the burning of korans at a u.s. military base. the disabled cruise ship costa allegra is safely. in sport in the seychelles islands. with 1,000 people on board getting help from the red cross. the ship lost power on monday after a fire on board, but nobody was hurt. george rivas leader of the gang known as the texas seven

was executed wednesday for killing a suburban dallas police officer during a robbery. he organized the biggest prison break in texas history in december of 2000. davy jones, the most popular teen heart throb of the 1960's show "the monkees died of a heart attack at age 66 in florida. he was born in england and starred on broadway and television before the suck cease of the monkees. fossil hunters found the remains of giant flees that suck the blood of ancient dinosaurs. they grew to almost an inch long. ten times bigger than present day fleas. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. dow opens 12,952 after losing 53 points and s&p down six and nasdaq fell 19. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. tokyo the nikkei lost 15 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 292.

well, you knew this was coming. will markets kick off march like a lion or lamb? wall street closed out its best february in 14 years, despite hints from the fed chairman ben ber nan ki that a third round was not in store. off relief over europe's credit crunch. yesterday, 800 banks snapped up $700 billion in cheap loans from the european central bank. meanwhile, protests broke out after greece parliament approved more pension reform. gold suffered its biggest one day drop in more than three years to close just under $1,700 an ounce. the government reported the u.s. economy grew more than it thought last quarter as did personal income. today, traders get fresh retail and manufacturing and construction data. the nasdaq briefly broke through 3000 for the first time in more than a decade. that was thanks in part to a major apple milestone. its market value topped half a trillion dollars yesterday.

wall street collected 14% less in bonuses last year, while bank profits plunged by some 50%. meanwhile, bank of america is looking to recoup some of that cash from customers by dusting out new fees on basic checking users unless they agree to bank online or maintain certain balances. rupert murdoch's son, james murdoch, has resigned as executive at london's "news international." if you want to be like mike here is your chance. michael jordan sprawling suburban chicago estate is up for sale for a mere $29 million. jeremy lin is bloodied, but not beaten. kobe bryant plays a mass adventure and mavericks, big man goes down and out. plus some are calling it america's greatest ever soccer victory. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather all eyes on the

next severe weather outbreak coming on friday. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, two of the hottest teams in the nba met last night in san antonio and unlike at the rodeo, the bulls won out over the spurs.

here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. before last night, the spurs had lost just one game at home all year. the chicago bulls changed that. here we go to san antonio. spurs and bulls back and forth the entire game. tim duncan looked like the duncan of old in the third and 12 points in the quarter and finished with 18. luol deng caught fire and caught fire from beyond the arc in the fourth, drained a pair of threes late. derrick rose scored 29 and the bulls won it 96-89. time for your daily dose of lin sanity. the next jeremy lin smacked in the face against the cavs and bloodied and bruised and returned and had 19 points and 13 assists but however steve novak was the story. sparked new york with a flurry of three-pointers in the fourth knicks rally from 17 down to beat the cavs, 120-103. no that is not the phantom of the opera! that is kobe bryant wearing a face mask to protect his broken nose. but it was the timberwolves that could have used protection from kobe. came out flying, ten points in the first and another 14 in the third. the nba's leading scorer finished with 31.

a broken nose wasn't going to stop bryant. lakers won big 104-85. fresh off his mvp performance in the all-star game, the thunder's kevin durant had a sluggish start in philly but picked it up down the stretch. eight of his 23 in the final minutes. thunder knocked off the sixers 92-88. tough couple of nights for the world champs, after losing to the nets. grizzlies had their way with the mavericks. dirk nowitzki left the game early with a sore back and memphis took advantage. went on to win it 96-85. finally, huge win for usa soccer. the americans traveled to italy and took out one of the best teams in the world. clinton dempsey scored the only goal of the game in the 55th minute. it took 78 years and team usa finally beat italy for the first time ever. they pulled off the upset, 1-0. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. early today sports is brought to you by touch of gray, get rid of some gray, never all. which superstar called yesterday one of the best days

of her life? and why? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, sure. every leap year, you see a story about a kid born on the odd calendar day but we guarantee you haven't heard the baby story that we are going to tell you in a moment. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday morning. a very cold weather pattern has been in place in the west over

the last week. this has been a slow-moving storm heading through the region the last two or three days. we'll watch it heading into utah with heavier snows. as far as san francisco goes, chance of rain showers for you. also areas around sacramento, rain in the forecast. things will begin to improve in areas as the storm will begin to head out. a warm front approaches the northwest and that's where we're going to add heavy rain to your forecast especially friday evening. watching us on ktuu tv channel 2, alaska, funnel cakes fishing frogs, ferris wheels and much more, bring the family and let loose at the 77th annual rondsy carnival at 3rd avenue and e street. >> you said the magic works. >> carnival. >> funnel cakes. >> those too. >> i love funnel cakes. >> thanks, bill. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. is she or isn't she? when it comes to "jersey shore" snooki and questions about a possible pregnancy, has she been fibbing. the "new york post" reporting

that snooki, aka nicole polizzi, despite consistent and direct denials over the past is indeed three months pregnant. the post reports mtv is concerned about how to handle the news and that she has brokered a big money deal to announce her pregnancy on the cover of "us weekly." >> ben affleck used facebook to announce the birth of his son. samuel garner affleck. affleck posted he and wife jennifer garner are happy about the healthy boy. the couple's first after two daughters. congratulations. finally, lady gaga went to harvard university yesterday to launch her "born this way" foundation, a student-run organization against bullies with support from the likes of oprah winfrey and health and human services, secretary kathleen sebelius. she called the anti-bullying event one of the best days of my life. >> all right. this comes to us from kiss l 5 news in salt lake city, utah, where in orum one mom has tied a world record. she gave birth yesterday for the fifth time, but what is remarkable is it's her third child born on february 29th,

leap day. now the odds of having just one baby born that day are 1 in 1500. mom says the first child's birth date was a fluke, but admits putting in effort on the timing for the other two and says at least one of the leap babies will get a car when they turn 4. poor kids. you know, they're drawing -- >> they're special. they're different. >> but they don't get to celebrate as many days. >> do it on the 28th. >> the 1st. how do you make that decision? >> i would want to do it in the same month, i think. >> got it. >> so odd. i'm veronica de la cruz, this is "early today," your first stop of the day today, on your nbc station.

two belgium explorers went to extreme lengths to remote environmental awareness. using kites and wind power to propel their sleds they traveled just over 3,000 miles across antarctica in 74 days setting a new world record. on the way using solar power, they read, listened to music and they stayed connected with loved ones on the internet. so cool. after this year's brutal winter, the people of romania are enthusiastically welcoming the spring. following an ancient custom known as cuckoo ritual, wearing masks and depicting mythical characters dancing and chanting to ward off evil. powerful charms are pinned to clothing and tied to front gates and even attached to animals for good luck.

now in vermont. one man's superstition has been validated. it turns out his lucky charm, which he bought 43 years ago at a flea market for $1 has led him to a pot of gold. the coin is likely one of the first ever minted in the united states and worth, get this, bill, pay attention, worth over a hundred thousand dollars. not surprisingly, he suddenly has no qualms about parting with this lucky charm. >> i always wanted to find something. >> i know. >> like go to a rummage sale and find something worth a lot, but i wouldn't know it if i saw it. i could have that coin in my pocket. >> stuff like that never happens >> not yet. >> to me or you, apparently. >> keep looking. time for a look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. airtran passengers subject to a southwest airlines policy requiring people who the airline decide not to fit comfortably in one seat referred to by southwest as customers of size to purchase an additional seat. google will implement a new

policy. it says altering its privacy practices will allow the company to create more helpful and compelling services. critics including most of the country state attorneys argue google is trampling on privacy rights and a relentless drive to sell more ads. and happy birthday to teen heart throb justin bieber who turns 18 today. happy birthday to you. all day long stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what is coming up later this morning on the "today" show. monkees drummer mickey dolenz talk about the sudden death of his long time and friend davy jones. zac efron will tell matt about his latest role in the animated movie "the lorax." keep it tuned to this change for local news, sports, and much more. thank you for watching "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

have a terrific thursday.