telling manhattan no. if i live to be 300 years old, i will never understand why they will never understand why they are doing that. that does it for us tonight. now it's time for "the last "first look" is up next. round two. tornado battered towns in the midsection brace for more severe weather. road hazard. tense moments as a teenager opens fire on a tennessee police officer. and free falling. nasa carries out a vital test in the next generation of space vehicles. good morning to you. i'm veronica dela cruz. those stories and much more ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with more trouble on the horizon. the national weather service warns more punishing storms

could be on the way in parts of the midwest and the south where a devastating tornadoes have already taken a heavier toll earlier this week. nbc jay gray reports from one of the hardest hit towns in ohio. >> reporter: night fall can't mask the devastation here or hide the twisted metal, splintered wood for miles. remnants of communities and lives torn apard. earlier the sounds of survival echoed through harrisburg. crews pulling out or piling up debris although many can't clear away chilling images of the deadly storm. >> i'm nervous. i'm shaky. i'm tired. i just don't even have words for everything that you feel. >> reporter: words can't really describe the overwhelming sense of loss. at least 13 dead across five states. six of those victims in harrisburg. more than a hundred injured in the storms. and now, as survivors search through what 180-mile-an-hour

winds left behind they must also worry about the latest forecast which includes the possibility of even stronger storms in the next 24 hours. >> we do not want to go through this again and we will do everything we can to protect our people. >> reporter: many battered by the tornadoes, but determined to rise from this mangled mess. >> my husband looked at me and he said, well, i'm going to ask you this question, do you want to build it back? i said, why, sure. we have been here since 1972, you know? we're not going anywhere. >> reporter: even though so much here is now gone forever. jay gray, nbc news, harrisburg, illinois. nbc meteorologist bill karins has the latest on the severe weather expected today. bill, good morning. >> good morning to you. after what we just dealt with we don't want it to do it again. it is a possibility. there is no guarantee. you can get a lot of tornadoes, but they're in rural areas it's not as big of a deal if they're going through farm fields. a large population center at

risk today. the odds of going through this event without some devastation is going to be low. we're probably going to deal with large areas like louisville, lexington, cincinnati, nashville, huntsville, birmingham, some of the major cities at risk today from the storms as they go through. it's not guaranteed they're going to produce large tornadoes but even if they don't there's going to be a lot of wind damage and large hail, too. this is a moderate risk area. this area in red shading is the greatest risk of tornadoes. the timing looks to start some time around 2:00 this afternoon and will it continue through the evening hours. really won't start to weaken until the storms get past atlanta probably by about midnight or so. that's the greatest area of concern. i'll break down the timing and even have some strong storms at this hour so i'll break that all day for you coming up. >> we'll check back with you soon. thanks, bill. on capitol hill thursday in a close vote the senate upheld president obama's rule on health care coverage for birth control. it covers employees even if their employer objects on religious grounds. the 51-48 vote nearly blocked an

effort by senate republicans to overturn the president's compromise policy. steve handelsman has the story. >> reporter: senate democrats saved the obama birth control plan. after republicans failed to kill it. >> a sad example of election year politics. >> reporter: hospitals and universities run by religious organizations will have to include contraceptives free as part of employee health care coverage even if they are catholic organizations. >> it's a moral and religious issue that should not be interfered with by the federal government. >> and these men are waxing eloquent about birth control and the fact that, oh, it's just a moral issue with them and they don't think women should have the right to have it. >> reporter: they see a winning political issue for the fall. >> we will make sure that women across the country are aware. >> that we in the democratic caucus will stand up to fight for their rights, as we always

have. >> reporter: president obama say democrats struck the right balance on the birth control rule and won the fight to have it stick. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, capitol hill. on the issue of insurance coverage for contraceptive health care, a georgetown law student was thrust into the lime light when house republican denied her a chance to speak. in the wake of rush limbaugh calling her a, quote, slut and prostitute, more than 75 democrats in congress have signed a letter to house speaker john boehner urge him to denounce limbaugh's comments. last night in an "ed show" exclusive he asked her for her reaction to limbaugh's comments. >> i guess my reaction is what the reaction a lot of women have when they've been called these names. initially you're stunned but then very quickly you're outraged because this is historically the kind of language that is used to silence

women, especially when women stand up and say these are their reproductive health care needs and this is what they need and what's been amazing to me today is the outpouring of support and everyone from members of congress to georgetown faculty to so many women who have contacted me. i think it's clear from what they've said that they're not going to be silenced by this. >> do you think that the republicans should denounce rush limbaugh and what he has said? >> well, i would just start off by saying thank you to all of the members of congress who have supported me on this. it really has meant a lot to me and to women across america. but in answer to your question, i don't really see why anyone would not condemn this type of language. >> lean forward with veteran talk show host ed schultz as he tackles issues that matter most to americans don't miss "the ed show" 8:00 p.m. eastern here on

msnbc, the place for politics. your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. police dash cam video shows how close one tennessee police officer came to being killed. the officer suffered a serious leg wound when a suspect jumped out of a stolen vehicle and fired his shotgun. the 18-year-old fled but was later arrested. he is currently on trial for the shooting. the halls inside one north carolina high school may have been cleared in record time following the arrival of an uninvited guest. a deer sent students scrambling for safety after it crashed through a window. the animal's visit ended when it found an exit. luckily, no one was injured. a dog is no laughing matter. to show loophopes in the voter registration system the man registered his dog buddy using a false name and social security number. unapologetic authorities say they may charge the albuquerque man with voter fraud. finally, one connecticut

couple will celebrate their wedding nuptials the same way they did in 1962. the famous waldorf astoria has agreed to let the couple spend the weekend at the swanky hotel, get this, for the same rate they paid on their honeymoon, $16.80. now for a look at the national weather we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins who is tracking severe weather this morning. what's going on, bill? >> not so much this morning. we have hail this morning, but the tornado threat this afternoon, veronica. this is a classic setup. on the heels of what we've dealt with two days ago has everyone's attention. as far as right now the only threat if you live in jefferson city, missouri, towards columbia, missouri, i think storms will go south of the university there. we are watching the threat of large hail. it does include st. louis. but as of now this is really the only thunderstorm we're tracking.

again large hail there just to the south side of jefferson city. the big picture shows the area of concern. the ohio valley, tennessee valley, already some thunderstorms on the warm front trying to push through kentucky and areas of south carolina/north carolina. these are not the severe storms that you'll deal with later today. don't be concerned if you're looking outside and hear heavy rain or see lightning. here's the setup. just a classic setup. storm system right now right over the top of where missouri, arkansas, kansas and oklahoma meet. the warm air is surging northwards on the southerly winds. see the arrows showing the wind direction, which way it's coming from. all that rich moisture is coming off the gulf. look at these temperatures. i mean this is the second day of march and here we are at 5:00 in the morning. it is 70 degrees outside in atlanta. when you step outside in memphis and feel it, it is 70 degrees. the humidity is increasing. you know severe storms are coming. feels like it in the air today. as all that warm air surges towards the cold air that's where we're going to get the thunderstorms initially on the warm front and then the tornados will be later today. the timing of that, there's the

warm front, these are the big storms popping up here. tennessee, kentucky, northern alabama, veronica, those are the areas of greatest concern around 3:00 this afternoon it all begins. >> you're right. the cold air mixing with the warm air that does become the problem. we appreciate you watching it, thanks. auto sales zoom, at&t backs out on a deal and the lengths one airline is going to help you sleep. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, the heat dominate. kevin durant makes his pitch for the mvp and the worst shoot-out attempt ever. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery?

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welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica. here are the top stories making news this morning. hundreds of grieving students marched through chardon ohio, to their high school where three classmates were shot and killed monday. classes resume today. charges were filed thursday against the student accused of the shooting. a man allegedly fired a rifle at a high school two miles

southwest of phoenix, arizona. one teenage student was slightly injured and a 40-year-old suspect was arrested soon after the incident. fbi director robert mueller says the agency needs help from private sector professionals to combat cyber threats. mueller says that cyber security will likely surpass terrorism as america's number one concern in the future. nasa has done a successful test drop of the orion capsule which will bring astronauts back to earth in the next generation of space vehicles. from 25,000 feet, a parachute safely carried the capsule back to earth. now here is your first look at wall street. the dow opens at 12,980 after adding 28 points. the s&p up 8, the nasdaq gained 22. a look at overseas trading in tokyo, the nikkei nudged up 69 points while in hong kong the hang seng gained 174. on thursday, investors

welcome news that at least some parts of the economy are on the mend. the number of first time applicants for job applicants for jobless benefits fell to a four-year low and at the same time automakers reported fastest pace in four years. led by chrysler, ford and a surprise gain from general motors. that news is partly offset by unexpectedly slow manufacturing growth last month and the first slip in construction spending since july. a surge in the price of crude fueled caution on the street after what turned out to be a false report of a pipeline fire in saudi arabia which set off a buying frenzy. elsewhere online yelp public offering at $15 a share and part of its bankruptcy restructuring kodak is selling its on-line photo business to shutterfly for nearly $24 million. at&t customers who thought their plans were grandfathered in when the carrier stopped selling data plans unlimited in 2010 will now see their service slow down if they exceed monthly usage limits. boeing landed a $1.3 billion

order for three dreamliners from a kazakstan based carrier. say good-bye to continental airlines. signage for the carrier will vanish after its merger with united officially takes effect. finally one airline is taking its passengers need for sleep seriously. check this out. virgin atlantic has hired a whispering coach to train cabin crew in its new dream suites to speak in a hushed, soothing voice, between 20 and 30 decibels. what will they think of next? the heat streak to nine wins, the devils drop their fourth straight. plus, losing the edge on his skate cost his team the game. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. yeah, you -- you know, everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ] i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three words, dad -- e-trade financial consultants. so i can just go talk to 'em?

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welcome back to "first look." in sports the thunder's big man kevin durant put a spell on the magic leading oklahoma city to its seventh straight win. here is nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning. only three players have won the all star and regular mvp awards in the same year. kevin durant making the case to become the fourth. to orlando. started off slow but got it going in the second half. give and go to russell westbrook and finished with authority. the magic's dwight howard always a candidate for the mvp. he had a team high 33. however durant was simply too much for orlando and scored 18 of his 38 in the final quarter and thunder won it 105-102.

lebron james has won an all star and regular season mvp award and like durant had 38 points last night. the heat dominated the trail blazers from start to finish and miami won nine straight by double digits and beat portland 107-93. college hoops. florida state and virginia. cavaliers on the verge of pulling off the upset when frustration boiled over for the seminoles. james kicked harris in the stomach and was thrown out of the game and that sparked fsu. rallying from 11 points down. ian miller pulled up and hit the go ahead three with a second left in the game. florida state won a thriller 63-60. how about overtime hockey? devils and bruins tied at three. david krejci two goals in regulation and you know i wouldn't mention that unless he didn't get the hat trick and sent the devils packing with his third of the game. bruins win 4-3. wild and canadiens ended in a shoot-out. minnesota needed to score or the game was over. instead he did this. overskated the puck and slammed on the brakes and lost the edge.

not exactly how you want to end the game. he was the fall guy, as the canadiens slipped past the wild, 5-4. that's your first look at sports. have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. one other sports note a community in need of healing just three days after a horrific school shooting found some last night on an ohio basketball court. chardon high school's first game since the shooting, what some called a they werapeutic distran was a playoff pim both teams stood arm in arm. students, alumni and folks who just felt they had to be there rooted on the chardon hill topers to an extra sweet victory. and now for another look at the weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. it's going to be a busy day out there. >> especially this afternoon. it's very important for the people at -- in the risk area to know that this will be a life-threatening situation. a possibility of not just tornadoes, but the strong tornadoes and the ones that can stay on the ground for a long

time. the greatest concern for tornadoes this afternoon, early this evening is going to be areas of central kentucky into central tennessee. that goes from the louisville, lexington area, straight down into the nashville region and then later as the storms develop southwards will include northern alabama. those are the areas of greatest risk. doesn't mean we can't get isolated tornadoes in other areas including anywhere in the yellow which is almost all of the eastern half of the country, excluding the northeast and the seaboard. we'll pay attention to that. again the tornado threat this afternoon into early this evening. we are also watching snow on the backside of this storm. areas like milwaukee are under a winter storm warning. we're okay along the immediate coast. these thunderstorms will roll through early saturday morning so your saturday morning plans will be windy and the storms will blow through for a decent afternoon as we go through the weekend. once again, a serious threat. we expect large tornadoes later today in the same areas that were just hit two days ago. >> should be in the clear by is sunday? >> by saturday afternoon we're good. >> thanks, bill. a fan gets to kiss justin

bieber on his birthday, sort of. can a grumpy creature fighting to protect his world conquer the box office this weekend? your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. thanks, mom. i just want to get my car back. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. wait. ♪ it's morning in the himalayas... [ male announcer ] it's sweet. it's nutty. it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's crunchy nut. it's morning somewhere. [ female announcer ] weak, damaged hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen.

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police officers across the country say because of the economy, more thieves are stealing gas from parked cars. yeah. victims say they haven't felt that robbed since they put gas into their car. this is pretty weird. a company in connecticut is selling a mitt romney action figure. yeah. it well actually bend to whatever position you want just like the real mitt romney.

isn't that amazing? [ applause ] listen to this, to celebrate leap day, disneyland stayed open for 24 hours straight yesterday. yeah. so if you're someone who likes to hang out at disneyland at 3:00 a.m., i'm chris hanson from "dateline nbc." [ applause ] come on over. have some cookies. what did you think was going to happen over there? and tonight jimmy welcomes the legendary bruce springsteen and the e street band for the hour. that is "late night with jimmy fallons" week nights at 11:35 on your local nbc station. time for your first look at entertainment news. as for a race this weekend at the box office, well, you can forget about it. instead the experts say we can expect a coronation. the 3d animated favorite "the lorax" staring the voice of danny devito is a dr. seuss story published in 1971. it is a lock to be crowned box office king with most experts predicting a take of at least

$40 million. which would make its year's top opener so far. the weekend's other new wide release is "project x." an r-rated comedy about a group of teenagers who document a wild party. it's expected to take in between $15 million and $20 million. this year's big oscar winner "the artist" expands into nearly double its previous theaters and looking to expand its domestic take up to this point of about $33 million. >> finally yesterday in honor of justin bieber's 18 theth birthday madam tussauds revealed a wax figure including a fan who gave the fan a birthday kiss. we were trying to figure out whether or not this looks like the beebs. >> i think it does. eyebrows are a little dark. >> very dark. >> he has the little smirk going that he normally does. >> kind of. >> they usually model for these things. >> i feel like they could have done better. he was wearing lipstick. >> you want him back four years ago like when he had the long hair swooping across his eyes. >> he was the biebs.

>> he's getting old. >> he's a man now. >> this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned because "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. have a great weekend. fort lee, new jersey, named for a revolutionary war camp here along the cliffs of the hudson river. today we'll learn why at this school, they're joining a revolution in education. it's "way too early" for this. welcome to fort lee high school in fort lee, new jersey, and a special edition of "way too early" as we continue our look with "morning joe" and starbucks at schools across the country that are getting it right and changing the way kids are educated in the united states. the george washington bridge spills from northern manhattan right into the bor ro of