this morning on "early today," super showdown. today, republican presidential candidates battle it out for 424 delegates in 11 states. major flare-up. the sun unleashes a powerful solar eruption. one of the largest observed in recent years. and all through the night. one of the world's most famous races grinds on. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with super tuesday.

republicans in 11 states will make their selection for a gop presidential candidates in primaries and caucuses from coast-to-coast today. the stakes are high in ohio where the race between santorum and romney has been incredibly close. tracie potts join us from columbus. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. we're in columbus, where today they will eventually certify today's primary results. this is the place to be. it's the place to watch today because no republican has ever been elected president without winning this state. so today's primary is a key proving ground for november. both top candidates, mitt romney and rick santorum, spent their last full day of campaigning in ohio. >> we have been all over the state, from a to z, all right. >> reporter: despite nbc's latest poll showing an unenthusiastic republican electorate -- >> i just don't think the

republicans have a viable candidate. >> reporter: romney insists he's winning last had-minu-minute vo. >> i keep hearing people say they were undecided, and how it they've decided to join us here. >> it's gut check time. who wants it the most? what do you say? >> reporter: rick santorum has a two-point edge in ohio, a virtual tie. last night he focused on romney's flip-flop on contraception coverage. >> he will be the weakest candidate we could possibly put forward on the most important issue of today. >> reporter: santorum's also leading polls in tennessee. newt gingrich hopes to win delegates there and says romney must. >> need to help figure out how to win the south or he won't be the nominee. >> reporter: he's running ads in super tuesday states promising $2.50 gas. >> the gingrich 250 plan stops the great gas holdup and puts money in your pocket. >> reporter: ron paul is focused on today's caucus states,

alaska, north dakota, and idaho. >> i suspect we are going to do exceptionally well. >> reporter: so where are all the candidates tonight? mitt romney is going home to massachusetts. newt gingrich will be in georgia. ron paul in north dakota. rick santorum right here in ohio. lynn. >> all right. tracie potts for us in columbus. thanks. a reminder. we'll have super tuesday coverage for you here on this nbc station. elsewhere, president obama and israel's prime minister have different views on the standoff over iran's nuclear program. mr. obama told israel's benjamin netanyahu yesterday that before using any military options, he wants to give sanctions more time to work. netanyahu speaking at the apac conference said israel can't afford to wait much longer, emphasizing israel's right to attack iran to prevent that nation from developing a nuclear weapon. on the floor yesterday, john

mccain called for u.s. air strikes against government troops in syria. mccain argued the u.s. has a moral and strategic obligation to force out syrian president bashar and end his brutal crackdown on the opposition that has killed more than 7500 of his own people. mccain says the united states should have an effort to stop them from air strikes on assad's forces. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. in california, tensions ran high last night as dozens of protesters were arrested after refusing to leave the state capital rotunda. demonstrators were angry over budget in the state's college and university system along with steep hikes in tuition and fewer classes. officers say they gave the protesters several chances to leave before moving in. in duluth, minnesota, a group of white supremacists confronted on the steps of city hall.

the group had planned to speak out against an anti-racism campaign launched by city officials, but community groups were there and they blocked any counterprotests. x-ray shows just how lucky a 3-year-old oregon girl was. she's is recovering after swallowing 37 tiny magnets. the toy magnets are only meant for use by adults. finally, an eerily beautiful scene as the iditarod dog sled race continues day and night. more than half of the competitors have competed more than 200 miles of mushing but still a long way to go before making it to nome. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> not bad weather for the race.

earlier this winter, it was a nightmare. luckily, that's why the race is this time of year, i guess. we're actually not going to start in alaska. we're going to start out in the middle of the pacific, where probably the worst weather in all of the united states is occurring. we've had a lot of heavy rain the last 24 hours. we saw that rain just recently ending on oahu. heavy rain and thunderstorms being picked up. we're finally watching it shifting off the island. later, we'll watch the rain returning and continue to ever so slowly push off to the east. also rain showers approaching the big island. that will be the case throughout the day. not the best day in paradise. lots of clouds, temperatures down with periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms. of course, you get heavy rain in hawaii, you have to watch out for flash flooding. in the west, wind is the big story. not a lot of precipitation. just some rain and snow showers near portland this morning, especially by the coast. also moving through the mountains of central california and the sierras. the winds will be the big story. wind warnings near vegas and

outside of l.a. and areas in utah. the winds will be cranking up ahead of that cold front as it pushes to the south. maybe a few showers out of it, but not a lot of wet weather out there. most areas will see it go through dry. that's a look atas from northern california up to washington state. looks like the weather pattern will calm down a little in the west towards tomorrow. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. coming up, china wants to slow down, yahoo! waives layoffs, and rush limbaugh continues to feel the heat. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, last week you heard the baby rumors. wait until you hear the latest. coming up, sweet revenge for the bulls and a trio of teams punch their tickets to the big dance. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. u.s. attorney general eric holder pointed to the circumstances behind the killing of american born al qaeda anwar awlaki. as legal justification for the killing of americans abroad. holder said yesterday the cleric, who was killed five months ago in yemen, was planning to kill americans and a terrorist threat. hundreds were detained at protests in moscow yesterday over vladimir putin's election victory. putin won more than 63% of the vote on sunday. opposition groups claim ballot fraud. 15-month-old tornado victim angel babcock was buried next to her family yesterday. she was among the 40 people killed last week. england's prince harry is on

the caribbean island of jamaica where he inspected the defense force honor guard. it is part of his overseas tour of the jubilee of his grandmother queen elizabeth. a major solar flare erupted from the surface of the sun putting on an incredible light show. it sent an explosion of plasma and charged particles in space and toward planet earth. now here is an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. new doctors' guidelines say most adults should get regularly screened for colon cancer between age 50 and 75. for people at higher risk, because a close relative had the disease, doctors recommend starting screening at age 40. patients and doctors can choose between a colonoscopy or other tests, depending on the time between screenings. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com.

now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,962 after losing 14 points yesterday. the s&p was down five points. the nasdaq fell 25. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei lost 60 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng lost a whopping 459. worries about economic growth in china is taking a toll on global markets. news that the world's second largest economy is looking to slow its growth for the first time in eight years, weighed on markets overseas again this morning. yesterday, materials and commodity stocks the biggest losers. caterpillar fell 2% and alcoa tumbled and gold tumbled nearly 4. meanwhile, a contraction in european business activity added to investor caution despite readings showing the u.s.

service sector expanded faster in february and factory orders declined less than expected last month. speculation about slowing ipad sales dragged apple shares 2% lower. apple is expected to launch the ipad 3 this week. reports of thousands of layoffs are in it the works at yahoo! weighed down the struggling search engine. u.s. airways tumbled more than 8% after reporting climbing oil prices cut into passenger revenue last month. aol is one of two more companies to join the advertising exodus from rush limbaugh's radio show. limbaugh has apologized for calling law student sandra fluke, a, quote, slut op two radio stations have reportedly dropped his show. singer peter gabriel pulled his music from limbaugh's program after learning his 1986 hit "sledge hammer" was played during last week's rant.

finally, what's black, white, and 100 years old? that's right, lift a glass of milk to the oreo today. the first iconic cookie was sold on this day in 1912. 100 oreos for everyone. coming up, the bulls get payback against the pacers. and three teams secure their bids for march madness. plus, and overtime thriller in a fierce west coast basketball rivalry. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the oklahoma city thunder notches a 13-straight home court victory last night after narrowly escaping the dallas mavericks. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. if it seems like your favorite nba team is playing every night, you're probably right. teams are playing more back-to-back games because of the condensed schedule. dirk nowitzki called it brutal five games and six nights in oklahoma city we go. the world champs didn't want to begin their stretch like this. russell westbrook and kevin durant too much for the mavs. thunder scored the final eight points of the game and went on to win it 95-91. the last time the pacers won in

chicago, they celebrated like they won in the championship. bulls didn't forget that game and exacted their revenge last night and outscored indiana by 20 in the third. chicago wins it. no secret the clippers the most improved team in the league but starting to look like the clippers of old and dropped five of their last eight. the timberwolves kevin love, played like a man among boys. 39 points and 17 boards. clips had a chance to tie the game two seconds left but chris paul missed a free throw. timberwolves win it. 95-94. college hoops last year, cinderella heading back to the big dance and beat drexel in the championship game. dragons had a chance to tie but couldn't get the three to fall at the buzzer. bcu punching its ticket to the tournament, 59-56. gonzaga and mary are both heading to the tournament, but only one could win the west coast conference. final seconds, zags down 3. harris pulled up to tie the game and force overtime. st. mary's took the lead in the extra frame and won the wcc 78-74.

overtime there. how about double overtime here? davidson and western carolina. wildcats up two with a minute left and earned an automatic bid to the tournament with a win in double o.t. that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, who is having babies, and who's angry with twitter? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, when it comes to losing weight, many are motivated by how they're going to look in their summer bathing suits. coming up, we'll show you a group of folks in texas with a much less conventional weight loss motivator. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here's what we're dealing with today. storm system moving through the inner mountain west. cold front ahead of it. winds strong out of the south and southwest, especially in nevada today. high wind warnings in it place. could see gusts 60 to 70 miles per hour. chilly behind the front too. rain and snow showers this morning around portland. the rest of the day looks dry. if you're watching us on knsd nbc in san diego, california, kick back and relax through an array of music performed by the city's up and coming artists at fresh sound series at space 4 arts. that's your pacific event of the day. >> sounds lovely. thanks so much. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. last week, it was pregnancy rumors. now, "people" reported snooki is

having a baby and getting married. >> let's knock it all out at once. >> what? snooki was seen out yesterday wearing a large diamond ring that reports boyfriend jionni lavalle picked for her himself. the host of "the bachelor" says he approached tim tebow about starring on the show and said the quarterback seemed interested. >> the women are going to line up. i would be on the show. >> ratings gold. former wwe superstar duane johnson, also known as the rock, has signed up to play hercules. miley cyrus is now calling on twitter to take steps against cyberbullying. disturbing there. speaking of twitter, nick lachey announced monday that he and his wife are expecting their first child. they're asking for guesses on

whether it's a boy or girl. and this comes to us from nbc 5 news in dallas/ft. worth, where in nearby flower mound, members of a church are not turning to divine intervention but swine intervention. here's the deal. the church has adopted a pig to motivate the entire congregation to go on a diet. for a pig, avery needed to shed some weight of her own. the pot belly is 100 pounds lighter. can you imagine? >> she must be on the treadmill every day. >> and her human friends have lost a collective 600 bounds so far. look at that face. how can that not be motivating right there? i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in paris, the captivating world of film director tim burton is on display. known for his imaginative dark and sometimes slightly creepy movies, paintings and drawings of his many characters have been transported to paris for fans to admire. the exhibit originally created at the museum of modern art in new york features over 700 works and will run through august. indonesian cubs capture the hearts of zoo visitors. at just 7 weeks old, two java leopards made their debut at the berlin animal park, where they were born. only 250 of them are accounted

for. photographers went crazy there for the two furry friends, and zoo official hope tourists will do the same. in a place where sheep outnumber people 10-1, no wonder new zelanders are calling for a new olympic sport. vying for a pair of golden sheers and the title of world champion, competitors were armed with their clippers and raced to sheer as many sheep as they can. they are judged on accuracy and hand blade cutting techniques. >> we have to work on the uniforms. >> were they bad? >> the black tight tank tops and black jeans. >> you're not a big fan of the black, tight tank tops? >> maybe something more sporty. >> viewer friendly. >> yes. >> we'll work on that. time for early look at the stories we will follow throughout the day on nbc. chardon school shooter tj lane will appear in court. family and friends will lay to

rest one of the boys who lost his live in the tragedy. he was just 16 years old. in rhode island, the winner of the third largest powerball jackpot in history will be revealed. the winner of the $336.4 million jackpot will have to decide between 30 annual payments or $210 million lump sum. tough job. happy birthday to actor/director rob reiner who turns 65. all day long, stay on top of 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. here's a remarkable story of a mother's amazing sacrifice to save her children from a deadly tornado. and legal duo. savannah guthrie and star jones weigh in on the bizarre case of a millionaire who adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend to protect his fortune. now, keep it on this channel

for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thank you for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.