this morning on "early today," primary pounce. republican presidential candidate mitt romney sweeps contests in five northeastern states. sicilian spectacle. italy's mount etna sends lava in the night sky. and french jam, a confused driver makes a wrong tn in paris. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific coastline. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the romney rout. mitt romney made a big move toward winning the republican

nomination last night notching five primary victories. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: if there were any doubts mitt romney was going to be the republican nominee, he erased them tuesday night with a clean sweep in connecticut, delaware, new york, pennsylvania and rhode island. >> i can say with confidence and gratitude that you have given me a great honor and solemn responsibility. and together, we are going to win on november 6th. rick santorum who dropped out earlier this month, stopped just short of endorsing romney on cnn. >> it's very clear that he's going to be the republican nominee, and i'm going to be for the republican nominee. >> newt gingrich didn't drop out, but tipped his hat to romney. >> it's a night he has worked hard for, for six year, and that if he does end up as the nominee, i think every conservative in this country has to be committed to defeating barack obama. >> reporter: romney and obama are battling each other for the younger voters who could swing this election. at campuses in north carolina and colorado the president focused on student loans. >> we only finished paying off

our student loans about eight years ago. think about that. i'm the president of the united states. >> reporter: he also got laughs on nbc's "late night with jimmy fallon." >> do you know mitt romney? >> i've met him, but we're not friends. >> reporter: that is an understatement as the two candidates get ready to go head-to-head. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. well, for the second day of the john edwards trial, it brought more testimony from the prosecution's star witness, and aide to the former senator. edwards is accused of illegally using campaign funds while running for president in 2008 to cover up an affair. jay gray has more now from north carolina. >> reporter: as john edwards returned to the federal courthouse in greensboro, andrew young, his former aide and close friend, returned to the witness stand. >> this case is no longer about the united states versus john edwards. it's clear from the opening statements, that this case is about john edwards versus andrew young. >> reporter: young outlined a complex system he says was created by edwards to collect

money from rich friends, including multi-millionaire bunny mellon to help hide his pregnant mistress rielle hunter. edwards told him to give her a monthly allowance in may of 2007 after she threatened to expose their affair. >> andrew young described john edwards' role as the director of this entire operation. that it was john edwards' idea ultimately, to go to bunny mellon to ask her for funds that would r could wind up supporting rielle hunter that edwards knew about and had, gave guidance on how the money flow should take place in order to cover the tracks. >> reporter: when discussing the plan that funneled money through he and his wife's personal bank accounts, young said, "it was crazy. we were all scared to death and felt extremely uneasy about it." he talked about confronting edwards with news hunter was pregnant. young says that edward responded by calling young crazy and using

harsh words, analysts say could come back to haunt the defense if jurors believe edwards spoke that way about the mother of his child. jay gray, nbc news, greensboro, north carolina. well, the secret service is done with its probe in the colombian prostitution scandal, but there are signs of more trouble ahead. three more secret service employees lost their jobs with two resigning and a third losing his national security clearance. this morning's "washington post" reports several secret service employees who resigned last week are now considering fighting to keep their job, and may detail how senior managers tolerated similar behavior on previous official trips. meanwhile, defense secretary leon panetta announced tuesday three marines and an embassy staffer in brazil have been punished for allegedly pushing a prostitute out of a car late last year after a dispute over payment. well, now, here is a look at other stories making news early today in america -- initiation

new york, surveillance cameras captured a dramatic armed robbery at a deli full of customers. the gunman pushed several items to the ground including the cash register. the clerk can be seen grabbing whatever money he could and handing it over. police have identified at least one person of interest. in louisiana, a powerful memorial for those killed by drivers working in road construction zones. each of these cones represents one of the 576 people who died across the country in 2010 while trying to make our highways safer. 15 were killed in what la alone. and finally -- it is probably the last place you'd expect any cow to voluntarily go. workers at mcdonald's snapped a photo of a cow named darcy just hanging out in the drive-through lane poking her head through the window. why not? the animal wandered off a farm a half mile away. the owner says she is normally a good cow but likes to break out of her pen when she is bored.

now a look at national and regional weather. here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the forecast. good morning, bill. >> tasty. >> i'll take the darp dairy co >> chocolate. >> interesting. across the west this spring, cool on the west coast itself. interior sections of the west, very warm over the last week or two. record highs widespread, off the charts actually. three areas in a row, salt lake city, denver record highs yesterday and we'll continue to watch that in the middle of the country as two storm systems impact the west coast. cooler are on the immediate coast. only 60s and 50s in the northwest. the interior, toasty lately. as far as these storms that are now moving onshore, a slow progress of the frontal system up here in the northwest. upper level low, just up the california coast now spilling some moisture from southern california all the way in the clouds now back up into the

interior west. a one-two punch. you see the rain with the frontal system impacting extreme northwestern sections of washington state. eventually moving over i-5 during the day today and already have showers coming from the cutoff low northwards around santa barbara, towards bakersfield and the middle of the morning, some rainfall heads towards l.a. and eventually san diego. of california during the late afternoon. the storm moves out. should have is a decent thursday in most areas of the west. details coming up. >> that's good news. bill, thanks. coming up, apple shines, housing prices improve, and the pizza way, way over the stop.

your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. rosie sets her sights on troubled star lindsay lohan. coming up -- a birthday bash for chipper jones, the nba suspends metta world peace, and the devils need overtime to force game seven. you're watching "early today." good morning welcome back to

"early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some top headlines. the justice department has filed the first criminal charges in the bp oil spill against a former engineer they say destroyed hundreds of text messages indicating the blown out well was spewing more crude than the company was telling the public at the time. u.s. officials tell nbc news they are certain north korea will conduct an underground nuclear test within the next two weeks. they also reveal north korea may already have up to several dozen nuclear warheads.

pakistan says it has test fired a nuclear capable intermediate range ballistic missile. this comes just days after india intercontinental ballistic missile. another spectacular show from italy's mount etna volcano is erupting for the seventh time this year. and quite a surprise for commuters in paris when a driver mistook the stairs in a metro station for an underground parking garage. no one was hurt, the car was undamaged. now here is an early look at one of the top health lines. on msnbc.com. a new report shows a dangerous new trend among teenagers. drinking hand sanitizers to get drunk. it sent some teens to the emergency room with alcohol poisoning. in some cases teens distilled the hand sanitizer products using salt to separate the alcohol to make the drink more potent than vodka or tequila. for more information on this and other stories check out the

health page at msnbc.com. "early today" health is brought to you by the vagisil screening kit. let's you check for vaginal infections at home. now here is an early look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,001 after adding 74 points yesterday. the s&p up 5 points. but the nasdaq was down 8. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei gained 92 points. but in hong kong the hang seng was down 30. healthy earnings pushed the dow higher yesterday, and today, the world's most valuable company is rebounding. after the closing bell apple reportedly sold 35 million iphones in the first quarter of the year, almost twice as many as last year. and earnings were way above forecasts. earlier at&t reported better than expected profits. propelling the dow. 3m boosted the dow with impressive quarterly earnings.

elsewhere -- a new case of mad cow disease was found in one dairy cow at an animal disposal facility in california, but the animal was not bound for to the food supply, and the agriculture department says there is no danger. the federal reserve ends its two-day meeting today and is widely expect enot to take actin on interest rates. the nation's housing market is actually improving. the federal housing financial agency is reporting prices were up in february. the first increase in their index since the credit crunch five years ago. the long-awaited facebook ipo may be delayed by a week because of the company's purchase of patents from microsoft and acquisition of instagram. and finally -- there are no words for this. in the middle east, pizza hut is selling the new crown crust burger pizza. it's a pizza surrounded by a crust of mini cheeseburgers, topped with lettuce, onions, tomato, pieces

of beef and unidentified special sauce. i just don't know what you would do with that. coming up -- the hawks claw the clippers, the cubs down the cards, and a small suspension for the big elbow. plus the devils win in overtime forcing game seven against the panthers. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the weather headlines today, wet weather on the west coast and a few thunderstorms in the midwest. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports last night the new jersey devils avoided elimination in hockey's stanley cup playoffs. here's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. how close have the stanley cup playoffs been in the eastern conference? three game sevens in the first round. >> to new jersey devils had to win to stay alive, that is what they did, got it done in overtime against the panthers. ilya kovalchuk to travis zajac, that is the game winner. game seven tomorrow night. basketball, lakers metta world peace suspended seven games for his vicious elbow to the head of the thunders' james

hardin. that occurred sunday. world peace claimed the contact was part of an overzealous celebration. metta will miss the final game of the regular season and next games in the playoffs. lakers locked down third place without playing. hawks beat the clippers. joe johnson knocked down six this one stunned the clippers' coaching staff. atlanta won it 109-102. heat and celts, heat scored 66. the bulls guaranteed first place in the west. >> jazz headed to the playoff. al jefferson scored eight straight in the fourth. the suns never rov ared. utah won it 100-88. in baseball, for the second night in a row, the cubs beat the cards, two on for alfonso soriano. scorched in the second. 3-2 in 10. call this a birthday bash. chipper jones celebrated 40th birthday by ripping a solo home

against the dodgers. with a name like chipper hard to believe that jones is now 40. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. coming up, mel gibson is wanted and so are the kardashians. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus the president moves in on territory normally reserved for nbc's brian williams. we'll explain. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here's a look at your thursday forecast. two systems, a funnel system into the northwest bringing rain pap cutoff low sending moisture northwards. showers moving onshore already. and l.a., later in your day for your wet weather and, again, high pressure with all the warm weather and record highs pushing through the inner mountain west away from the west coast in the days ahead. well if you're watching us on knbc, nbc 4 in los angeles, in nearby pasadena. explore canvases created by the mesmerizing movements by the bodies of dancers at dance opera draw. armory center for the arts. i dpn coidn't come up with that >> bill, thanks so much. now a look at your early morning entertainment headlines -- despite his most recent meltdown caught on tape, apparently mel gibson still isn't finished in hollywood. according to the hollywood

reporter robert rodriguez wants gibson to join the sequel to the 2008's show "machete." are you sick of the kardashians? >> no. >> keeping up with the kardashians will be renewed for another three seasons, rest easy. >> tv's already set. >> very exciting. on the "the today show" rosie o'donnell is against lindsay lohan playing liz taylor in an upcoming tv movie. o'donnell made it clear saying she doesn't think much of lohan's acting abilities, saying, "don't think she is capable at this point of doing what is needed to portray that character." later lindsay's estranged dad michael told tmz, "who is rosie o'donnell to judge anyone especially lindsay who has more talent than rosie ever had." dad's sticking up for her. this comes to us from university of north carolina, jimmy fall hoon took the stage with a very special guest.

president obama stopped by. he talked about student loans, and talked about republicans by slow-jamming the news. ♪ they just have to make this rate increase work ♪ frankly, i don't buy it ♪ >> mmm-mmm the barack-ness monster ain't buying it. >> the barack-ness monster. pretty funny. you should watch the whole thing. >> i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day day, today, on your nbc station. in poland, one zoo having a

hard time welcoming their newest arrival. she doesn't want to be there. the six-month-old white lioness is putting up quite a fight in her new surroundings. that is her having a hard time administering daily meds needed to stay healthy. but eating doesn't seem to be a problem. she devours almost seven pounds of meat daily. one dog in england is living the high life. for the last five years, axel the dog has been joining his owner at work on english rooftops. seemingly content lounging while the other roofers work, axel is often a spectacle for passers by. the pooch cannot climb up or down the roof by himself, but will take a ride over his owner's shoulder after he's had enough. ready to go home. in germany, one competition got pretty hairy. coming in from all around the world, over 150 participants

battled it out at the international beard championship. some of the categories included empire mustache, freestyle whiskers, yeah, and natural beard with a styled mustache. competitors showed off their masterpieces hoping it would be just a hair better than all the rest. get it, bill? get it? did you ever do the goatee, facial hair? >> oh, yeah. with the baseball cap is how men go through college. >> you worked that? >> i worked it. >> i'm very disappointed you got rid of it. >> i spin the cap backwards. >> wow. you were really cool back then. time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. the u.s. supreme court will hear arizona versus united states, a case that will determine whether the state or the government has jurisdiction over immigration. the 2010 law in question raised concern over racial profiling by directing officers to determine proof of citizenship or legal immigration status on the mere suspicion an individual may be unlawfully present in the u.s.

the american lung association will release its annual state of the air report which grades counties across the country on air quality and trends for metropolitan areas for the past decade. >> al pacino turns 72. all day long you can stay on top of those developments and others, watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. the woman who spilled yogurt on president obama tells the story of her accidental run-in. and actor rob lowe will be live in the studio to talk about his role in nbc's hit comedy "parks and recreation." now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry thanks for watching "early today" your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one.