0 in coming days. primary battle. republican presidential hopefuls vie for victories in two states and the district of columbia. norwegian nosedive. terrifying moments as two trucks slide off a snow-covered cliff. and the old college try. kentucky topples kansas to claim its eighth ncaa championship title. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. and we begin with a triple threat. republican front-runner mitt romney is hoping to win big in

today's primary triple-header. that's in wisconsin, maryland and the nation's capital. but romney's rivals say even a clean sweep won't knock them out of the presidential race. nbc's tracie potts has more from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. good morning, everybody. f newt gingrich and rick santorum say they're hanging in there even though their numbers don't look good in the primaries today. when newt was asked, he'd be glad for anyone to support him to get him out of debt to live the american dream. rick santor whoum has been the closest competitor to mitt romney has continually and again yesterday brought up the fact that he is face, as he calls it a money machine. but he claims that his campaign is getting stronger the longer he's able to hang in there. but mitt romney is the clear favorite, at least going into these primaries today. big 25-point lead on average in maryland. no competition from santorum in

d.c. wisconsin, where the focus has been, he's averaging about a seven-point lead in the latest polls. so his focus now has turned from his republican challengers to president obama. lynn? >> tracie, thanks so much. for continuing coverage of the primaries in maryland, wisconsin and washington, d.c., keep it right here on msnbc, the place for politics all day long coverage. looking ahead to a possible general election, a recent "usa today"/gallup poll on the nation's top 12 battleground states finds an overwhelming majority of women favor president obama over republican front-runner mitt romney. last night on "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell, howard dean shared his take on what's driving this swing state gender gap. >> this is a disaster for romney. he can't get this back. what women are going to remember is that in the debates, in these 25 debates or whatever these guys have is that women were not on the radar screen except to treat them as if they should be

back in the kitchen all the time. it's the most ridiculous primary season i've seen on the republican side. usually much more disciplined than we are and it's just shocking. and the numbers among latinos are even worse. explain to me how you can alienate who of the largest groups in the country and expect to win the country. these are deep wounds for women and hispanics. the language used about the dream act, that's something that matters to everybody, whether they are here legally or illegally. and the same thing is with women. i don't see how this goes away. the only way it can go away is if romney stand ups and says, i didn't mean it. then he's a flip-flopper. i think this is a disaster. barring some enormous thing -- of course, which could happen, i think this race is over. >> "lean forward with the last word at 10:00 p.m. only on ms b

msnbc. justice anthony kennedy sided with the high court's conservatives in a 5-4 ruling against a new jersey man who was strip searched twice after being arrested for a fine he had already paid. critics call strip searching for offenses as minor as unpaid parking tickets or illegal u-turns an unacceptable violation of privacy. justice kennedy cited oklahoma city bomber timothy mcveigh, originally arrested for driving without a license plate. elsewhere, president obama took a swing at the supreme court over its historic consideration of the new health care law. speaking yesterday, the president ramped up his rhetoric issuing a rare direct challenge to the high court to uphold what many consider to be his signature achievement of his administration. referring to a public perception of judicial activism or lack of judicial restraint on the bench, the president expressed

confidence the unelected group of nine would not overturn a, quote, constitutional law passed by a democratically elected congress. >> seven people are dead after former student with a handgun went on a shooting rampage yesterday at a small christian university in oakland, california. the 43-year-old suspect randomly opened fire on students at oikos university setting off mayhem on campus and later prompting an intense manhunt by authorities. about an hour after the shootings, the suspect calmly walked into a grocery store about five miles away and told employees, quote, i just shot some people. the san francisco chronicle reports the former nursing student was involved in some kind of dispute with officials. shifting gears on a much lighter note, march madness came to a conclusion last night inside the superdome in new orleans. and spoiler alert for you. the wildcats of kentucky laid claim to the 2012 ncaa basketball championship. here's nbc's fred roggin.

>> good morning. they were the number one seed in the tournament. now the wildcats are national champs. let's go to new orleans. two programs rich with tradition. kansas and kentucky. wildcats set the tone early on with stifling defense. anthony davis did everything but score. earned mvp honors with 16 boards and six blocks. lamb carried the offense. kentucky beat kansas, 67-59. their first title since 1998. we'll have much more on the national title game coming up in sports. for now, back to you, lynn. >> fred, thank you. overnight on and around kentucky's lexington campus, many went a little too far celebrating the wildcat victory. more than 50 people were arrested. most on charges of intoxication and disorderly conduct. and there were several vehicles that were set on fire. here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in florida, a small plane crashed into a supermarket monday evening. shoppers were inside at the

time. five people, including two aboard the plane, were hurt. a customer at the checkout line said the building shook badly and the ceiling collapsed. witnesses heard the plane's engine in distress just before the accident. in kentucky, surveillance video shows a driver who may have had a grudge with a diesel pump driving right into it and then taking off. but minutes later the driver returned and aimed straight for the same pump. this time after hitting it, the truck backed up and took off once again. no word on who did it finally in new york, ice cream, you scream but some parents are screaming against ice cream carts. that's right. this is un-american. parents in brooklyn's park slope neighborhood began complaining they don't want the treat being offered at a local playground because it means fighting with their kids who naturally want the sweets. but no word on if ice cold feelings will really lead to

freezing out the vendors. and a park slope resident has something to say about that. national weather with bill karins who lives there -- >> you don't get it. >> i don't have any kids. i yound take them to the playground. they want -- >> let me break this down. my little boy is in the sand box with all the other kids. parents are around. they come by with these carts ringing the bell right next to you. all the parents look at each other and we're like, don't be weak. >> say no. >> but why does everyone else have to -- >> joey's mom is weak and buys ice cream. my kid is crying. >> welcome to being a parent. you chose it. >> i think that's how it works. good morning, everyone. let's talk about what i do know about, the forecast. we are watching thunderstorms out there. yesterday was another amaze league warm day in the middle of the country. 92 degrees in sioux city, iowa. three days in a row in the 90s. never happened before this early

in the year. so i think we're just about done with our really incredible heat. the storm system in the middle of the country is cooling things off. 34 in denver. it's snowing in colorado this morning. but we're very warm through the southeast. and this is where we're going to have the thunderstorms today. eventually that warmth is heading for the ohio valley. if you are in chicago, cleveland, detroit, indianapolis, you have a chance at afternoon storms. you are dry this morning. later today you'll have those storms. the wet weather right now, a little bit of rain in northern wisconsin. then our storm system out here from oklahoma into texas. wichita falls, big thunderstorms over the last couple of hours. just thousands of lightning strikes with this line over the last two hours. and we're going to continue to watch that. moving out right now south of oklahoma city. it will approach interstate 35 shortly. the dallas-ft. worth area, your storms will wait until later this morning or later this evening. you are under a slight risk of severe weather. we didn't have many tornadoes yesterday. which was good.

the tornado threat is relatively low today. still going to see strong storms, damaging wind and lightning and small hail possible. oklahoma, dallas-ft. worth fo austin to takewaco to san anton. and storms from toips lexington, including areas like columbus, ohio. forecast today. a beautiful die dey in new england. a chilly morning, but this afternoon it's going to be nearly perfect. temperatures near 60 in new england. 60 to 70 degrees from new york city all the way down to the big cities of i-95 and the southeast looks nice today. your thunderstorm threat will increase over the next couple of days. so, lynn, we can talk more about ice cream in the commercial break. >> i'm sure we'll be saving our viewers time wasted. all right, bill, thanks so much. coming up, manufacturing churns. who is calling for avon. and a ballad from buffett. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. i love that my daughter's part fish.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here are some of the top stories making news this morning. the head of the u.s. general services administration has resigned. and two of her top deputies have been fired in the wake of a report that says a 2010 training conference at a las vegas resort cost taxpayers a staggering $822,000. among the lavish expenses, $3200 to hire a mind reader and $75,000 for a team building exercise to construct a bicycle. immigration and customs officials say they rounded up more than 3100 criminal and fugitive elements for deportation during a six-day nationwide sweep. colombia's main rebel group has freed ten military and police captives. some held for as many as 14 years. the country's president called the gesture insufficient to merit peace talks. unbelievable video here. it captured a tow truck and a stranded tractor trailer sliding

off an icy mountain road in western norway. the tow truck driver managed to jump out in time and the big rig driver actually survived the 200-foot fall. he did have multiple fractures. and talk about some good luck. an english businessman bought a sketch for 5 bucks at a las vegas garage sale only to discover it's an andy warhol original. said to be worth more than $2 million. that is the lottery right there. now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,264 after adding 52 points yesterday. the s&p was up 10 points. the nasdaq gained 28. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 59 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 268. the best first quarter for stocks in more than a decade got a little better on monday. news of a strong quarterly rise in u.s. manufacturing and hiring in that sector overshadowed

early worries over weak global economic reports. the s&p closed at its highest level since may 2008. and the dow closed at its highest level since january '07. however, some of that enthuse was offset by news that home builders activity fell by the most in seven months in february. german perfume giant kody was rebuffed by avon. avon shot up 17%. express scripts rose 2% after completing a $29.1 billion acquisition of medco health. this morning's "wall street journal" reports the securities and exchange commission is looking into accounting practices at groupon after its revised quarterly report dragged its stock down 17%. global payments says it won't know for weeks how much the cybertheft of 1.5 million credit card holders will damage its bottom line. the royal bank of canada has been charged by u.s. regulators

for hundreds of millions of dollars in allegedly illegal futures trades. ground beef processor afa foods filed for bankruptcy monday citing the nationwide uproar over an ammonia treated meat filler dubbed pink slime by its critics. and warren buffett, jack of all trades here. he wowed a crowd at the omaha press club over the weekend. the former paper boy and current owner of the omaha world herald tossed folded papers and then sang "i'm only a paper boy" to the tune of, it's only a paper moon. pretty good voice actually. get ready to hear the guy at the office this morning who is bragging about winning the march madness pool. no one here, but in your office. more on kentucky's wildcats taking the national title. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ clang ] my house is where plants came to die. ♪ but, it turns out

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i really started to talk to them about the things that are important that they have to take ownership over. my name's colleen stiles, and my kids and i did our wills on legalzoom. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. welcome back to "first look." in sports, the kentucky wildcats are college basketball's national champions. here's nbc's fred roggin. he's back with more. >> hello again. as i mentioned earlier if you picked the number one seed in the tournament to win it all, you are feeling pretty good about your office pool right now. national title game between kansas and kentucky. things got off to a spirited start in new orleans. michael kidd gilchrist fouled hard and stayed down for a minute. the jayhawks tried to set the tone. wildcats weren't backing down. the defense led to points on the

other end. wildcats in total control up 14 at the break. kansas hung around in the second. thomas robinson led the charge. the dunk got them to within ten. lamb quickly ended the rally with back-to-back threes. a team high 22. kansas wasn't going away without a fight. they made one final run in the final minutes. elijah johnson stopped and popped from beyond the arc. that's as close as they would get. kentucky capped off their remarkable season with a 67-59 win. it's the school's eighth title. anthony davis becomes just the fourth freshman to win mvp. >> it was just a joy to win a national championship. especially as a freshman and with this team that we have. we had a great team. we would all go out there, play hard, defend and when the buzzer went off and we had more points it was just a great moment. >> what a lesson for these young people that if you share, you give up some of yourself for

everyone around you. if you care more about the teammates than yourself, it's amazing what you can accomplish. and it doesn't matter your age. that's the lesson in this. even though we were young, it doesn't matter how young you are. >> that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. for another look at the weather, let's ghcheck in with bill karins. i do believe i called kentucky to take it all. >> yes, you and half the country. congratulations. >> so i didn't win my bracket. >> no, but, hey. got more right than i did. >> you're going to love this forecast coming up. if you are in areas of new england that suffered through this last weekend, you'll see a considerable stretch of beautiful, beautiful weather. it's a cold morning, don't get me wrong. temperatures in the 30s in most of the cities. 20s in some of the burbs. northern new england especially. but the sun is going to be out. the april sun is strong. the daylight is getting longer with sunset about 7:30 in this

region of the country. today in to the mid-60s. 50s in a lot of the burbs. a little breezy but not as bad as yesterday. philadelphia. the next five days in a row. this is gorgeous weather. philadelphia could be 72 on wednesday. back into the 50s and 60s. up through the weekend with no rain in sight. dry little period we're going through this spring in areas of the mid-atlantic and the new england area. as far as spring goes, colorado can be a cruel place. right now it is snowing in denver. snowing in colorado springs. and snowing just to the south on interstate 25 in pueblo. that's probably the worst weather in the country. we'll watch out for thunderstorms this afternoon in texas. >> bill, thanks so much. in coming up, who is getting married. who has a new baby. and who is getting back together to make a sequel. plus, an on-screen 007. he's pull off plenty of wild stunts. you'll not believe what daniel craig has planned live for the london olympics. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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it's time for a little entertainment news. welcome back, everyone. good morning. alec baldwin who turned 54 today is giving marriage another shot. the 30 rock star who went through a bitter divorce battle with actress kim basinger popped the question last weekend to his 28-year-old yoga instructor girlfriend who he began dating last year. congratulations to them. also to 57-year-old bruce willis. he welcomed a fourth child over the weekend. his first with wife of three years emma. after 19 years, which i can't believe it's been 19 years, a sequel to "dumb and dumber" is in the works.

jim carrey and jeff daniels have agreed to take part. >> jim carrey ages well. neil patrick harris is fast becoming mr. tony. he'll return to host june's 2012 tony awards after earning rave reviews in 2009 and 2011. "the hunger games" has just -- >> i'm over all the "hunger games" stories. >> all right, party pooper. number one film, album and book all at the same time. maybe it's good. >> they have an album? >> well, the soundtrack, i think, to the movie. and finally, england's son reports the queen personally invited daniel craig inside buckingham palace to shoot a special film for the opening ceremony of london's olympics and that the 007 star is going to parachute into the stadium that night. did we just ruin the surprise? i feel like that may have been one of those things -- >> it's a recipe for disaster. something could just go wrong. >> nothing goes wrong with james bond. he does everything perfectly. >> we'll see. >> i'm lynn berry.

this is "first look." stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. primary is today in wisconsin, maryland and the district of columbia as mitt romney tries to make the case with a clean sweep that the nomination belongs to him. will romney be able to turn in earnest to the general election with wins tonight. we will talk live to mike allen in just a minute. president obama shocked a lot of people yesterday with comments he made about activism in the supreme court as that body considers his health care reform law. the president reminding the justices publicly that they are, quote, an elected -- unelected group of people. the question is, does the constitutional law professor turned president really believe what he said in the rose garden. and kentucky was the best team in college basketball all season long. and they proved it again last night. the question is, which wildcat player w