in cold blood. tensions rise after a u.s. soldier is held in connection with a predawn shooting rampage of afghan civilians. tornado tragedy. chilling, new images emerge of this month's devastating midwest storms. and galactic gaming. nasa gets on board as "angry birds" take flight in space. good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. and we begin this morning with a massacre in afghanistan.

the pentagon is investigating yet another major setback for america's efforts in afghanistan. a u.s. soldier who went on a shooting rampage near his base early yesterday, allegedly killing 16 civilians, including women and children. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the latest on this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. for folks in afghanistan, this morning there are warnings there are calls for protests there as a result of all this. officials there in afghanistan and here in washington are calling it a senseless act of violence. afghanistan's president calls it terrorism. a u.s. soldier shot and killed nine children, three women and four men just 500 yards from the u.s. military base in southern afghanistan. he's in custody. >> nato's sitting in a tinder box, and this could be the spark that unravels our presence in afghanistan. >> reporter: president obama called president karzai sunday to apologize, saying we'll investigate and hold the shooter responsible.

>> we're committed to an enduring relationship with afghanistan, to obtain greater peace and security in the region. >> reporter: karzai in a statement called it an intentional act that will never be forgotten. one month after accidental burnings of a koran sparked deadly protests. >> unfortunately, these things happen in war. you had an israeli soldier killed, worshippers by the mosque. you just have to push through these things. >> reporter: in washington, lawmakers say this latest incident underscores why we need to get out. >> our timetable is pretty good. we're moving out, as the president said, and i think that's the right thing to do. >> reporter: but perhaps not too quickly. >> we should not forget that the attacks on the united states of america at 9/11 originated in afghanistan. >> reporter: now, the u.s. is concerned about violence as a result of all this. the embassy is warning americans to avoid large, public

gatherings, areas where americans tend to gather, and also they're telling americans to keep their travel plans private. lynn? >> all right, tracie potts there for us in washington. thanks. well, in syria this morning, there is still no cease-fire deal to bring an end to the bloodshed there. kofi annan, the u.n. and arab league envoy, says he was optimistic after meeting with syrian president bashar al assad for a second time on sunday and admitted it will be tough to work out an agreement to end the government crackdown on opposition forces. activists say at least 25 people were killed sunday as syrian troops again attacked homs and other cities. government forces also shelled areas near syria's borders with both turkey and lebanon. the latest "washington post"/abc news poll shows record-high gas prices early this year have lowered president obama's approval rating. the sharply rising prices americans are paying to fill up their gas tanks pushed down the president's approval rating to 46%.

and 50% now say they disapprove of the way mr. obama is handling his job. nearly two-thirds of the americans surveyed are unhappy with the president's actions on gas prices, and almost half think that prices will keep going up. well now here's your "first look" at some of the other news going on around america today. newly released video from kentucky shows the fury of the deadly tornado that swept through there earlier this month. an entire roof was just ripped away in seconds. a man was trapped in his pickup truck as buildings all around him were shredded by the twister, which claimed six lives. there was also wild weather in hawaii. there was this waterspout right there that is making its way on to a small island during a thunderstorm. why not add some lightning strikes in there? when the waterspout hit land, it turned into a small tornado, seriously damaging one home. talk about a wild turkey. a michigan woman is being accosted by the fearless bird

every time she heads outside her home. it even went after a news crew that came out to see for themselves. the woman tried to use a broom to shoo the bird away, that didn't work, so now she's using an umbrella. she's refusing to call animal control, saying she'll let nature take its course. finally, a washington state teenager is learning two valuable lessons -- don't steal and don't mess with mom. the 14-year-old boy is being forced to stand in his driveway holding a sign that reads "i'm a thief. i like to steal." his mother says she handed down the very public punishment after her son stole an ipod from a classmate. that's one way to go. now for a look at your national weather, we turn to parent of the year over here, nbc meteorologist bill karins with his take on this. since i'm not a parent, maybe you can enlighten me. >> my 2-year-old punishes me all the time. sends me to the corner.

time out. >> very wise. i'll get him on speed dial. >> keep me behaved. >> yes. >> remember last week when i was telling everyone that winter was over? i didn't mean to say that spring was almost over much it's going to look like summer out there. it's incredible how warm this week is going to be. it's still winter technically. we can get snowstorms this time of year. people will be slapping on the sunscreen. temperatures yesterday around the country, we were in the 60s, almost near 70 in montana. minneapolis, 66. it's not like this is isolated. this is just coast to coast, covering the whole country with warm air. as we go throughout the week, the only thing that will change is that the northwest will get cool weather, stormy weather for you. a lot of high winds, damaging winds, too. for everyone else, you may have bouts of, like, afternoon showers and thunderstorms that you would typically get in the summer time, but that's about it. mild air. there is rain. we did get drenched and it was

cool this weekend in texas. that storm is on the move and heading for canada. it will drag thunderstorms down through louisiana, that's probably the worst of it this morning. a shield of light rain heading to the north but temperatures are warm. typically this would be an ice storm or a snowstorm this is plain old rain heading up into canada this morning if you're in michigan today, from chicago to grand rapids, you have a chance of thunderstorms later today maybe a chance for isolated tornadoes which is extremely rare for this time of year. right now right rain going through, it will be warm and windy. right now some of those thunderstorms are down here heading across lake pontchartrain. new orleans got some lightning strikes, that will cross into areas of southern mississippi as we go throughout the morning hours. it's incredibly warm out there. denver in the upper 60s. dallas, 82 degrees. a chance of strong thunderstorms

in chicago today. new york city should be near 70. lynn, this continues all week. it's not just a couple days. >> i'll take it. >> it's just little strange. if you own golf courses, you're okay -- >> then everyone is happy, we are, too. coming up, the week ahead on wall street. ipad orders overwhelm. and beware of cyber-loafing monday? we'll explain, coming up. your "first look" at business headlines is straight ahead. tiger limps off the golf course, kobe comes up big, and let the madness begin. the field is set for the ncaa basketball tournament. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news this morning. cross-border fighting between

gaza and israel has reportedly claimed the lives of three more gazans today, bringing the four-day death toll to 20. gaza militants fired dozens of rockets at israeli towns in retaliation for the killing of a top mill pant leader on friday. a student at the university of maryland has been arrested for threatening to go on a campus shooting rampage. campus police say 19-year-old alexander tsong posted plans on a website to "kill enough people to make it to national news." he is undergoing psychiatric evaluation. astronaut don pettit at the international space station demonstrated his version of the video game "angry birds space," demonstrating space physics, he showed an angry bird toy being launched into zero gravity flying on a straight line through the international space station. people across japan marked the first anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis there yesterday. the tsunami slammed into japan's northeast coast after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and killed or left missing nearly 20,000

people. ian williams was in japan sunday for the anniversary, and has more on recovery efforts in the region. >> reporter: they stood in silent remembrance, marking the moment the tsunami hit, shattering lives and livelihoods all along the northeast coast of japan. the time was 2:46 in the afternoon. the tsunami had followed a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. the strongest ever recorded in japan. almost 20,000 people died. 1 in 5 of them in this small city alone. it's a day that few here will ever forget. it just brings back so many painful memories, eri abe said. this man decided to return back to the place where his home once stood. after so much how you can move on he said? the water obliterated entire

towns along this coast, sweeping away just about everything in its path and leaving fields of twisted wreckage. one year on and most of the debris has been cleared and piled into these vast miles of trash which line the coast here. but there's still no real plan for getting rid of it, which could take years hampering the recovery. >> seeps like clean-up, but nothing has changed. it's the same. >> reporter: more than 300,000 people still live in temporary housing. the government has yet to come up with a blueprint for rebuilding. the tsunami destroyed 90% of the region's fishing fleet, the main stay of the local economy. but there are signs of recovery. the fishermen of higado marked the anniversary weekend with a celebration, taking delivery of a fleet of ten new boats from the u.s. >> a lot of the boats that were lost were like these smaller boats, so there's a big need for

those. >> reporter: the u.s. charity operation blessing commissioned them from a boat builder in maine because so many japanese builders were knocked out by the tsunami. i'm going to do a lot of fishing with this kiohito sato told me. i lost everything. i'm starting with less than nothing. for sato there's plenty of time to make up. these are resilient communities determined to rebuild, but today was also a time to remember and to reflect. back to you. >> all right, ian, thank you very much. now here's your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,922 after adding 14 points on friday. the s&p was up four points. the nasdaq rose 17. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei lost 39 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng added 48. heading into the new week, we're getting more information about the economy, consumer spending and trade. the federal reserve meets to discuss the direction of the

u.s. economy, but it's not expected to make any interest rate changes. that's in part due to friday's february jobs report, which showed that hiring is still on the rise with 227,000 new positions created. and later this week, we'll get an update on how much people out there are buying with the consumer price index report. the economy is still feeling a drag from rising gas prices, up more than 12 cents in the last two weeks. american companies have a new opportunity to send their goods overseas as a major trade agreement between the u.s. and south korea goes into effect this week. a year after japan's tsunami and nuclear crisis, machinery orders rose more than 3% as that economy rebuilds from the twin disasters. china's trade balance plunged into the red by more than $31 billion in february as imports doubled exports. the deal on greek debt is being discussed at today's meeting of european finance ministers as they prepare to pay part of the 130 billion euro

bailout. did you order the new ipad online? you pre-ordered it? you'll have to wait until next monday for it to be shipped due to heavy web traffic from all of you guys out there who want to avoid the long lines when sales start in stores this friday. and also expect a slow day in the office today. they're calling it cyber-loafing monday. the start of daylight saving time means people are tired and they're spending more time on the internet, maybe being lazy today. plus many of you may be concentrating on your march madness college basketball bracket choices and pretending like you're not. coming up, kobe comes up clutch against the celtics, tony stewart does a nascar end-around, and tiger woods' comeback is once again on hold. plus, vanderbilt shocks top-ranked kentucky for their first conference title in 60 years. your "first look" at sports is

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with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaids, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes.

tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. in sports, the teams have been chosen, the match-ups are set. bill and i are working on our brackets. >> you don't even know what a bracket is. >> what? march madness is officially here. don't say that, bill. that's not true. here is mario solis. >> hi, there, good morning. start filling out those brackets. the field is set for the ncaa

basketball tournament, but before the madness begins, there were still a handful of conference titles to be won. kentucky is the number one team in the country but didn't play like it against vanderbilt. the commodores hung around all game and took the lead in the final minutes. vandy wins the s.e.c. title 71-64, snapping ku's 21-game win streak. despite the loss, kentucky still gets the top seed in the south bracket. florida state might be the hottest team on the country. they beat duke on saturday and won the acc title with a win over north carolina. like kentucky, even though they lost, the tar heels are the number one seed in the midwest. michigan state is a top seed in the west bracket after beating ohio state to win the big ten championship. the senior, draymond green, knocks down the three in the final minute to put them up five. they win 68-64. to the guys who get paid to play, lakers and celtics. this goes down to the wire. celtics up one, under a minute to play. kobe bryant, who gets the friendly bounce off the iron. the masked mamba had 26. lakers win 97-94.

nascar, tony stewart was the big winner at vegas, and i'm to the talking about at the tables. he took the checkered flag at the las vegas motor speedway. it's his first win of the season. forgive me if you've heard this before, tiger woods is hurt, had to pull out of the cadillac championship in florida with a sore achilles. it's the same injury that kept him out about four months last season. don't be surprised if tiger shuts it down until the masters in april. justin rose had a leg up on the competition. rose wins the cadillac by a single stroke over bubba watson. and that's your "first look" at sports. i'm mario solis. now for another look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> spring fever. >> yes, we've all got it. >> i was raking leaves yesterday. this is just incredible. here we are starting this morning already 46 in d.c. still chilly in new england, but that's going to change. those areas that have snow on the ground, by the end of this week i wouldn't be surprised if almost all of it is gone, talking vermont, new hampshire

and areas of maine. for today, the forecast highs in hartford, 70 degrees. we'll be mid 60s from boston to springfield to albany. we will see a chance of late-day showers and storms in pittsburgh, buffalo and d.c., but most of the day will be dry and very warm. as far as the forecast goes, the warm air goes back here to montamone montana and colorado. we have hurricane-force wind gusts possible along the oregon coastline and that will bring heavy rain. that's where the worst weather is throughout the day today. look at tomorrow, once we get rid of this storm, chicago, 65 beautiful blue skies and should be nice. washington, d.c., temperatures will be in the mid to upper 60s all wait through friday. >> unbelievable. 78 degrees and sunny. >> it should be 55 this time of year. >> just bizarre. bill, thank you very much. coming up, once again families flock to theaters to

see what in just two weeks has become the year's biggest box office winner. plus over the weekend, this eddie murphy clunker earned a perfect score. perfectly awful. we called it. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. early stages of cancer and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life, matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn, and i'm a cancer survivor. [ mimi ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ erica ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ herb ] from the moment we walked in the front door,

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welcome back. it's time now for a little entertainment news. this weekend's box office champ hit the double, also becoming the year's top-grossing film. "dr. seuss: the lorax"

grabbed about $39 million over the weekend, which took its total earnings to $122 million in just ten days. the sci-fi starter "john carter" had a stronger-than-expected opening, taking second with over $30 million, but here's the problem -- it cost over $250 million to make. so 30 million bucks is a drop in the bucket. still it did dominate screens internationally taking in an additional $70 million in overseas territories. the r-rated flick "silent house" starring elizabeth olson opened quietly with $7 million in a virtual tie for fourth. but here's the big bomb. eddie murphy's "a thousand words" opened in sixth with $6 million-plus. it did get, however, rare distinction on rotten tomatoes. it earned a zero percent score. >> we were talking, this is probably the leading movie for the razzies, which is the nominations for worst movie of the year. >> it just got two more

nominations. >> now i want to see it, if it's this bad. i'm lynn berry this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. a sergeant of the united states army walks off his base in afghanistan and allegedly goes door to door killing at least 16 civilians in kandahar province. the question is will this horrific incident change the direction and timeline of the american presence there? a live report from the ground. back here at home, mitt romney, rick santorum and newt gingrich duke it out in the south with polls showing a couple of air-tight race there's, after santorum routed romney in kansas over the weekend. the question accompany and gingrich have been debating on the trail, which candidate likes grits more. and vanderbilt hangs on to beat kentucky for the school's first sec tournament title since harry truman was president. this as the commodores