regaining momentum. mitt romney scores a resounding win in puerto rico's republican primary. brink of disaster. newly released surveillance video captures the sheer terror of an ef-4 tornado. and india's iron man. a former mr. universe celebrates a big milestone. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with an overwhelming win. mitt romney raked in all of puerto rico's 20 delegates on

sunday after walking away with more than 50% of the island's republican primary vote and now the spotlight is on tomorrow's race in illinois. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on all of this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn. good morning, everyone. now, illinois' primary is going to be a little different than what we've seen so far. it's not winner take all. it's not proportional. they actually have separate votes for the popular vote for the president and for the delegates. and the popular vote does not determine who gets those delegates. illinois is the next big prize, president obama's home state. tomorrow's republican primary will decide most of the state's 69 delegates. >> if we're able to come out of illinois with a huge surprise win, i guarantee you, i guarantee you that we will win this combination. >> reporter: it's an uphill battle for santorum. he's not on the ballot in all illinois districts, plus mitt romney's got a clear lead in the latest polls by as much as nine points, plus romney's coming in with momentum.

he won puerto rico's 20 delegates sunday. >> those people who don't think that latinos will vote for a republican need to take a look in puerto rico. >> reporter: the democrats question whether romney can seal the deal. >> every time it looks like mr. romney has some momentum, he gets set back. he hasn't been able to make the sale to his own party. >> reporter: republican leaders say it's early in the game. >> we're only at halftime. i think that this process is going to play itself out. we will have a nominee, i think fairly soon, one, two months away. >> reporter: now, newt gingrich and ron paul are also on the ballot in illinois but with very little support. in fact, gingrich said himself that this one is going to be largely between romney and santorum. lynn? >> all right. tracie potts for us in washington. tracie, thanks. well, at least two powerful tornadoes touched down in nebraska last night. the twisters hit near north platte in lincoln county in the southwest part of the state. at least two people were injured

as the tornados tore roofs off buildings, knocked down trees and brought down power lines. nbc's meteorologist bill karins is going to have much more on all of this. that's coming up in just a moment. but first, the good news, spring doesn't official ly arrive until early tuesday morning, but across the country it already feels like spring, even summer in some places. the warm spell has been smashing records for high temperatures in a lot of spots. nbc's frances kuo reports. >> reporter: before daybreak sunday, the typically cool late winter georgia marathon heated up. temperatures in atlanta soared into the 70s. runners elsewhere experiencing the same surprise. in new york, temperatures more typical of june than mid-march. the windy city better described as balmy, five 80-degree days in a row. all records. 35 degrees above average. >> it's pretty unusual to have

to debate whether or not you're going to turn on the air conditioning in march in chicago. >> reporter: because of that debate, the jet stream that's been pushing way north into canada, keeping cold air in the arctic and ushering warm gulf air through most of the country. in the nation's capital, the 100-year-old cherry blossom festival got off to an early start. >> it is a surprise that everything has bloomed so early. it's beautiful. >> reporter: the blossoms were predicted to peak between march 24th and 31st. st. louis, missouri, is seeing budding blooms too as spring descends on the gateway to the west. >> finally, there's some snow up in this place. >> reporter: further west, though, in northern california, winter is hanging on. >> there's no bad timing for snow for us here in the mountains. we love it, we crave it, and we're stoked it's here. >> reporter: snow in wrightwood, california, and skiers hoping to hit the slopes through april. frances kuo, nbc news. >> well, that is your first look

at what's going on in america today. newly released video shows the fury of a tornado's direct hit on an indiana school earlier this month. classes had just let out for the day, but 80 high school students and teachers hunkered down as the ef-4 twister ripped away the roof of the gym along with other parts of the campus. nearly half the school was destroyed, but thankfully no one was hurt. in los angeles, a light rail train crashed into a car, sending the driver and five passengers to the hospital. firefighters had to use the jaws of life to free the victims. witnesses say the driver had run a stoplight before crossing onto the tracks. there were no passengers aboard the train, and the conductor wasn't injured. and finally an extreme st. patrick's day party in north carolina. for a second year in a row, rafters and kayakers rode it out on what's being billed as the only white water river to be turned green.

12 million gallons of water got a dye job at the u.s. national whitewater center right there in charlotte. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning to you, bill. good morning. >> yeah, it has, especially this weekend. some area, spring, summer, we got it all. tornado, that's what really caught our attention yesterday as far as the north platte area in nebraska. it appears it was pretty strong tornado. one report of a car number a tree and another report of train cars, 15 of them, that were pushed off the tracks. so when you hear stories like that, you know you're dealing with a strong tornado. thankfully it doesn't look like it hit too much of a populated areas. no fatalities. the reports in the last 24 hour, strong storms through nebraska and the cluster we're dealing with coming out of north texas into oklahoma. don't forget our friends out of ohio in west virginia, few

strong thunderstorms there producing hail. the immediate threat right now is in oklahoma. and not tornadoes, it's just very strong, damaging winds moving along interstate 40. a pretty rural area slowly approaching the western suburbs of oklahoma city down towards wichita falls throughout the morning rush hour. they should be weakening throughout the morning. still thunderstorms producing large hail in areas of west virginia. here's d.c., it looks like it's going to miss you and stay to your west and south. down to archbishop for rain during the rush hour. as far as severe storms go, if you live in texas, this is your day, you get these a couple times every spring, your tornado outbreak is possible. it doesn't look like it's going to be the big one we had two weeks ago but a few isolated, strong tornadoes today from north of san antonio, this area of red including the dallas/ft. worth area to waco into southern portions of oklahoma. the timing would be late this

afternoon into early this evening, very typical timing of these tornadoes then they'll die off as we go throughout the evening. isolated storm strorngs including damaging winds and hail in kansas city, joplin and houston. today will be one of those days in the middle of the country we have to keep an eye on the weather for safety concerns late today. then eventually this shows where all the heavy rain will be. we could have major flooding problems over the next two days. the heavy rain will sit on the border of oklahoma, arkansas, missouri and kansas. today's forecast, there's the trouble in the middle of the country, east coast, lynn, looking nice, looking warm, if you don't have foggy conditions this morning it should be sunny and great. >> bill, thanks so much. well, coming up. a big announcement from apple. getting your news on the go. and batman is on duty in brazil. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. march madness upsets and buzzer beater on the ice.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines this morning. intense fighting broke out today in syria's capital of damascus between government troops and opposition forces. machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades were used in one of the most heavily guarded areas in the city. a motorcycle riding gunman believed to be connected to al qaeda killed an american teacher for allegedly promoting christian religion. the gunman escaped. violence broke out during a soccer match in athens, greece, yesterday as rowdy fans tried to get in without any ticks and then just decided to set the stands on fire. the game was canceled as 20 police officers were injured and 50 people arrested, some with molotov cocktails, firecrackers and knives. an unexploded one-ton bomb from world war ii buried from

retreating nazis who planned to blow it up was unearthed in southern france. bomb crews were able to remove it and detonate it safely. and india's famed mr. universe from 1952 is now 100 years old. only 4'11" tall and known as the pocket hercules, he says that exercise, a healthy diet and being happy are the keys to long life. well, now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,232 after losing 20 points on friday. the s&p was up a point but the nasdaq was down a point. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei added 12 points, but in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 202. and it could be a big day for investors in the world's most valuable company. it was a surprise announcement last night, but apple said that they've scheduled a 9:00 a.m. conference call for today to unveil plans for its $98 million cash balance.

investors have been clamoring for a dividend hoping the company could share some of its mountain of cash with shareholders. elsewhere u.p.s. is reported to announce it's buying dutch rival tnt express for nearly $6.5 billion. overseas this morning, asian stocks were higher over what's expected to be improved economic data due out this week. most of that data will focus on the beaten down housing market with reports on new home construction, sales of new and existing homes and home sentiment. there are a few notable earnings reports on deck this morning including oracle, general mills, and tiffany's. aaa says the national average price for regular gas is up 7 cents in the last week to $3.83 a gallon. that is just 31 cents higher than a month ago. that's 28 cents shy of an all-time record. 17 chevron and transocean employees are being detained in brazil as authorities are prepared to file criminal

charges related to an offshore oil spill that began last fall. according to a new study, mobile technology is boosting the public's appetite for information. with some 27% of americans now using their tab les or smartphones to get news. and finally, is batman in brazil? it appears so. a retired cop has donned the iconic crime fighter's black rubber suit to help kids learn the difference between good and evil. in health news this morning, there is a warning about a potentially dangerous stunt. the latest one has gone viral and it involves trying to swallow a spoon full of cinnamon. it is a bad idea and parents and health professionals are sounding the alarm. more now from nbc's chris clackum. >> reporter: it's become an internet sensation, watching youtube video of mostly teenagers trying to swallow a

spoonful of cinnamon. >> it's funny to watch. >> you spit it all over your sink. >> reporter: a double dog dare that's gone viral. some 30,000 videos are on youtube. but swallowing the spice commonly used for cookies and pies is basically impossible because there's not enough ha saliva in the human mouth to absorb it and that creates other danger. >> it can cause you to gag right away which when you expel it it will get into your eyes causing damage to your eye, burning in the eyes. >> reporter: that's not the worst of it. >> it can get into your nose and into your airway down into your lungs which will cause you to have more coughing. >> reporter: in extreme cases it is so severe your lungs could collapse. that's what happened to fred reed's daughter. >> my daughter stayed in a hospital for almost a week. i almost lost her.

>> reporter: doctors say parents should talk to their kids about the potential dangers of the cinnamon challenge because there is nothing sweet about it. chris clackum, nbc news. >> for more on this check out the health wage at msnbc.com. well, coming up, the flier light the lamp before the buzzer. a new number one in golf. and we're down to the sweet 16. march madness continues for the jayhawks as kansas dunks purdue. two. three. one. -two. -three. -one. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% back on groceries. and 3% back on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. -it's as easy as...1. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] 1, 2, 3 percent cash back for the things you buy most. the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. and in sports, if you love nonstop do-or-die college basketball, this was your big weekend for you. here's nbc's mario solis. good morning. if your bracket wasn't already busted, it might be now. we'll start in the midwest where 11th seed north carolina state pulls off a huge upset. had a three-point lead at the half against georgetown. held on to it all the way through the second. jason clark with one last chance for the hoyas. but his three is off the mark. n.c. state is on to the sweet 16 with a 66-63 wing. great finish between purdue and kansas. the boilermakers had the lead the entire game up till the final minutes. the layup, purdue has a shot at the buzzer, but the bang is closed on sundays. kansas rallies to win it, 63-60. they'll play nbc state. north carolina had no problem taking care of creighton, but the win was not

without a loss. starting guard kendall marshall broke a bone in his wrist. he played the rest of the game but is questionable for friday against ohio. north carolina moves on, 87-73. florida state and cincinnati were back and forth the entire game until the end. a costly turnover by the seminoles was the difference. cinci wins it 62-56. to the west bracket. michigan state's mr. everything, draymond green doing it, even mopping the floor. the spartans cleaned up against st. louis. a shot off the rim a few times. st. louis hangs around but top seed michigan state just too much. they win this one, 65-61. they'll play louisville in the sweet 16. there's a new number one in golf. lou donald won a playoff with three other golfers to take the championship. and finally in the spirit of march madness, the flyers pulled off a last-second shot fit for the tourney. time winding down in overtime against the penguins. scott hartnell scores with less than a second remaining.

flyers snap the pens' 11-game winning streak with a thriller 3-2 overtime win and that's your that's a look at sports. i'm mario solis. bill karins has the weather channel forecast. >> does this mean the summer will be hot, people are asking me. >> good question. what's the answer? >> no correlation. between being warm now, some people think we'll pay later. >> just enjoy it. >> no correlation to being warm or cool over the summer just because spring is unbelievably mild. the right now the warmest air centered over minneapolis to chicago, atlanta was very warm yesterday too. we actually are pretty warm in areas of northern new england. it was warmer yesterday in boston at 74. you're 10 degrees warmer than new york city. a lot of areas are dealing with fog over the weekend and even this morning so just drive carefully. any coastal areas of connecticut, rhode island, mass, new jersey and down around delmarva area. interior sections should be sunny and another beautiful day.

if you're out there towards pittsburgh or west virginia, you've been dealing with thunderstorms overnight. that will have a chance of later this afternoon too, but in all, temperatures will be very mild, maybe not as sunny in some spots today but the warm air continues pretty much everywhere. you don't even need a jacket this morning. all the severe weather, strong thunderstorms will be out here in texas later today. definitely watching the dallas/ft. worth area to austin and maybe possibly up toward shreveport, louisiana, with a potential of a few tornadoes. west coast, you had your miserable weather this weekend. cold and chili condition, still chilly today. phoenix, 59 degrees. minneapolis is going to be 15 degrees warmer than phoenix. that's when you know everything is a little upsite down. >> yes, there's something wrong. thanks so much. a report makes it appear as if lindsay lohan is actually listening to some reason. a tv season that resembles in way the tv series.

you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ donovan ] i hit a wall.

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welcome back to "first look." it's time for a little entertainment news. this weekend's box office proves sometimes in hollywood when you make a remake it pays not really to make a remake. "21 jump street" was retooled as a commie cop force powered by young audiences and jumped to number one taking in $35 million. the former two-time champ "the lorax" finished second with just under 23 million and "john carter" dropped sharply to 13.5 million for third but while the

$250 million dud flops like an albatross here it is flying like an eagle overseas. its worldwide overall take is $180 million. one other box office note. will ferrell's spanish language spoof "casa de me padre" playing in limited release in 400 theaters. that was my high school spanish working there. it took in $2.2 million. and finally after last week's hit-and-run accusation, tmz reports lindsay lohan has given in to pleading friends and placed herself under house arrest until her probation is over in two weeks. you know, she sort of feels like if she's out there then everyone will jump on it like bill karins who always gives her a hard time. >> i think she's straight and narrow as long as she stops driving. >> that's why she's staying home.

>> i'm lynn berry. this is "first look." stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. big in puerto rico and now turns from the caribbean to the state of illinois where he will fight rick santorum on the ballot tomorrow. the question is how is santorum's argument that mitt romney and president obama are essentially the same guy on many of the big issues playing in the president's home state? meanwhile, staff sergeant robert bales, united states soldier accused of going on a murderous rampage in afghanistan is back in the u.s. now as we learn more about his history both professional and personal. the question is how large will this incident loom in the history of this war? and with a pair of number two seeds bounced in the first round of the big dance on friday night, another one was on the ropes late last night. the question is, did kansas survive or go the way of duke and missouri? it's "way too early" for this.