but it is not true this time. we have become a different country the last three months. newtown changed us. you can tell from the way we're acting and it doesn't seem like. newton changed us. you can tell from how we're acting and it doesn't seem like we're changing any time soon. "first lady look" is next. good thursday morning. right now on "first look," breaking news out of south africa. former president nelson mandela hospitalized just hours ago. we'll have details up ahead. take a lack at this, a massive landslide some 500 feet above the ocean puts homes and residents at risk. marriage in america may be set to change forever. and nbc exclusive. kate edwards speaks out for the first time about her father's extramarital affair. plus, u.s. b-2 stealth bombers drill over the korean peninsula. and a spoiler alert on the heat's attempt for a 28th straight win. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. we start with breaking news

out of south africa. nelson mandela is back in the hospital with a recurrence of a lung infection. a statement says the 94-year-old former south african president was admitted just before midnight local time. he was hospitalized for three weeks with a lung infection back in december and had surgery to remove gall stones. it was his longest hospital stay since his 1990 release from prison after serving 27 years for conspiring to overthrow the government. south african president jacob zuma said "reappeal to the people of south africa and the world to pray for our beloved madiba and his family and to keep them in their thoughts. we have full confidence in the meddle team and know that they will do everything possible to ensure recovery." we'll bring you more information as it becomes available. imagine waking up to a thound rouse landslide. it happened in washington state early wednesday on picturesque whidbey island overlooking puget sound. one area is completely closed off and in risk of disappearing. dozens of homes are in danger

and there's nothing anybody can do about it. nbc's kristen dahlgren has that story. >> reporter: witnesses say is sounded like thunder, the ground-breaking away, taking one home with it and leaving 33 others perched precariously on the cliffs or isolated by the slide after wiping out the single road used for access. no one was hurt, but one person had to be evacuated from the home knocked from its foundation. about a dozen others had to rush from their homes. >> this is all i have. it's paid for. >> reporter: the remote whidbey island is a popular vacation destination north seattle. with the slide extremely dangerous to reach, rescue crews are accessing the home owned by microsoft ceo steve ballmer, who is home is not currently in danger. eric wilkerson is on scene for king 5. >> reporter: we're in the slide zone minutes ago watching the hillside continue to crumble. every three to five minutes, you see another chunk of dirt

crumbling down. >> reporter: one home is less than ten feet from the slide. officials call the ground incredibly unstable and fear there is nothing they can do to prevent the slide from growing. after a late spring storm stalled over the area last week, dumping half a foot of snow and saturating the already soaked ground. and the forecast is not good, with more showers on the way and several homes getting ever closer to the edge. >> the way the bank looks, in the next rain, i wouldn't expect to see half of it here. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, nbc news, los angeles. turning now to a big development in sports from late last night. well, they had a good run, but the heat has finally cooled off. miami has dominated the league this season, as lebron james led the team to 27 straight victories. it's the second longest streak in the history of the nba and all major american pro sports, but that hot streak ended as the chicago bulls held off a late surge and pulled off the 101-97 win.

lebron james complained about his contact on the court but said he felt fortunate to be part of that winning run. >> very humbling and blessed to be a part of this team and be a part of a streak like that. you know, it's one of the best that this league has ever seen. >> the heat's winning streak is second only to the 33 straight wins by the lakers in 1971-'72. at the supreme court wednesday, justices appeared to be skeptical of the defense of marriage act. that law bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and denies benefits for those couples, even in states where the marriages are legal. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams has the details. >> reporter: gay rights supporters at the court cheered the 83-year-old new york woman at the center of this case, edie windsor. when ms. windsor's spouse died four years ago and left her the estate, she got an inheritance tax bill for $350,000 because doma blocked the irs from considering them married.

she says that tax bill was a shock. >> in the midst of my grief, i realized that the federal government was treating us as strangers, and i paid a humongous estate tax. >> reporter: some conservatives claim her lawyer's claim that the country has a different attitude now about same-sex marriage. >> why are you so confident in that judgment? how many states permit gay couples to marry? >> today? nine, your honor. >> nine. and so, there's been this sea change between now and 1996? >> reporter: but the court's liberals sharply questioned doma, saying the federal benefits denied legally married same-sex couples have a profound effect. >> they touch every aspect of life. your partner is sick. social security, i mean, it's pervasive. the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> reporter: justice kennedy, potentially the pivotal vote, said the states, not congress,

traditionally defined what it means to be married and eligible for federal benefits. >> you are at real risk of running in conflict with what has always been thought to be the essence of the state peace power, which is to regulate marriage, divorce, custody. >> reporter: and several justices said congress was improperly discriminating when it passed the law. >> i'm going to quote from the house report here, is that, congress decided to reflect and honor a collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality. >> pete williams reporting. arizona officials have released almost 3,000 pages of documents related to the 2011 tucson shooting that nearly killed former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. the reports describe how the shooter, jared loughner, acted before and after he opened fire in a supermarket parking lot, killing six and wounding twelve others. loughner's parents told police they were worried about their son's increasingly erratic

behavior but never had him evaluated for mental illness. loughner pleaded guilty in november and is serving life in prison without control. lawyers for aurora movie theater shooting suspect james holmes have offered up a guilty plea for a life sentence. that would wipe the death penalty from the table. holmes is charged with the july 20th shooting rampage that killed 12 and injured nearly 60 others during a midnight screening of "batman: the dark knight." and now, here's your first look at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." donald trump says it was bad advice to mitt romney that caused his loss to president obama. he appeared on "the late show with david letterman" and reflected on the election after dave suggested the gop needs to move beyond "rich, old, fat, white guys." >> when they dress him up in a cowboy shirt and jeans and they walk out saying that's not mitt. when they tell him to walk out of a walmart pushing a cart and the doors don't open because he's never done it before. >> never done it before, no. >> never done it before. >> have you ever been in a

walmart? >> not too often, but at least i'll admit it. >> can't imagine he shops at walmart. well, sarah palin is looking forward to 2014. the 2008 vice presidential nominee has a new video on her political action committee website. it's called "loaded for bear," b-e-a-r, and it takes shots at what she calls the liberal media and washington elite. >> we can do better than the people who call themselves our leaders, but we won't get it unless we're ready to fight, and this is one fight that is worth it. >> mama grizzly there. meanwhile, someone who will not be running in 2014 is actress ashley judd. she announced via twitter that she will not challenge mitch mcconnell for a chance to represent kentucky in the u.s. senate. popular boston mayor bob menino is calling it quits after five terms. sources confirm that the 70-year-old democrat will not seek re-election in november because of ongoing health issues. a recent "boston globe" poll put his approval rating at 74%.

the former chairman of the florida republican party will spend the next year and a half in prison. jim greer was sentenced to 18 months after being convicted of stealing more than $125,000 in party funds. north carolina senator kay hagan is now voicing her support for same-sex marriage. she becomes the fifth democratic senator in four days to endorse the idea and the second from the south. a debate tonight in south carolina between former governor mark sanford and charleston city councilman curtis bostick. they are in a runoff for a special election to the house. and hillary clinton is heading towards the speech circuit. the former secretary of state will address the vital voices global leadership awards on tuesday and the women in world summit next month. and that's your morning's dish of "scrambled politics." turning now to our weather forecast, bill karins is here. getting warmer. >> we're melting the snow ever so slowly. st. louis, they're not fooling

around. they're getting rid of the snow. six flags, one of the big amusement parks there on the south side of st. louis, winter wonderland with that foot of snow. they're opening up tomorrow! they are going to clear it all out and hopefully melt it away today, too, but you know, this is a big holiday, a lot of kids will be off from school this weekend, so they're trying to get things prepped and ready. good luck with that. we're dealing with another cold morning in the deep south. what else is new, just like yesterday, but it's actually not quite as bad. we're in the low 30s, but at least we're not below freezing. so, very cold in the southern half of the country, but like yesterday, with the sunshine, you'll warm it up. it's not that frigid out there. 28 in minneapolis, not really that cold in new england, so it's chilly, but it's not freezing. we're actually close to normal for this time of year. the one good thing i've been pointing out about this march is very can't had a lot of tornadoes. typically, our biggest tornado month is may, we get a big increase through april, but in march we average 85 tornadoes throughout the country, but because it's been so cold and dry, we've only had 14 tornadoes

and we've had zero fatalities this month. that's a good number. last year we had a lot of tornadoes and we had 42 fatalities in march. so, at least there's always a good thing when you have this dry, cold air over the country. we're not going to have a lot of big rain showers, at least, with the cold air, either, so not a bad day today. enjoy. >> a little bit of good news, finally. thank you, bill. coming up, an attack on the internet is slowing the web worldwide. the president's new comments on immigration reform. plus, investors in the u.s. and around the world are watching cyprus right now. details in three minutes. "first lady look" will be right back. [ female announcer ] are you sensitive to dairy?

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welcome back. some stories making news this morning. pope benedi president obama discussed his hopes for immigration reform during an interview with spanish language network telemundo, saying he's optimistic of having a bill signed into law this summer. >> i think we've seen enormous progress over the last month and a half. i think both sides, democrats and republicans, had been very

serious about the negotiations. i'm actually very optimistic that when they return in early april that we'll see a bill ready to move through the process. >> but the president cautioned that a divide between business and labor on wages for new low-scale workers could kill that legislation. an nbc news exclusive. kate edwards is speaking out for the first time since her father's acquittal on campaign fraud and the affair that ended his political career. in an interview set to air tomorrow on the "today" show and "rock center with brian williams," kate says she was devastated and disappointed with her father. u.s. b-2 stealth bombers carried out their first ever firing drill this morning over the korean peninsula. the military says it deployed two planes on a "long-duration, round-trip training mission" in the demonstration of the country's defense. and take a look at this, fresh pictures from the european space agency showing newly

discovered bright blue stars in the vela conspiracy population. they're 1,500 light years away and are estimated to be 25 million years old. scientists say their blue color comes from their extremely hot temperature. fascinating. turning to business now, investors are keeping a close eye a tiny nation. details in a moment. first, a massive cyber attack is slowing down the internet around the world. a site called spamhouse, which works against e-mail spam, has been hit by a huge attack from groups black-listed by it, one of the largest publicly disclosed attacks in the history of the internet. revenue for mobile ads on social media juggernaut twitter is expected to reach almost $1 billion by 2014. the world's largest airline. a bankruptcy judge approves the merger between us airways and american. the combined airline will fly some 6,500 flights daily. now to cyprus where the stock exchange is closed today,

but banks are open for the first time since march 16th amid increased security as virtually everyone waits to see if the restrictions on customers from draining their accounts will hold and prevent a run on the banks. casino mogul steve wynn has his sights set again on massachusetts, this time in everett, with a $1.3 billion plan which includes a 19-story hotel with 550 suites, some of them the size of a single-family home. it would also create 4,000 permanent jobs, if approved. a new survey appearing in the "wall street journal" shows that in 42% of companies, so-called low-performing employees are often the happiest and most engaged. they end up with the easiest jobs while the most dedicated workers end up staying late and covering for the low performers. makes so much sense. straight ahead, when robberies go terribly wrong. and the sweet 16 get ready to tip off. that's all coming up next. you're watching "first look." so i can't afford to have germy surfaces. but after one day's use, dishcloths can redeposit millions of germs.

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go. ♪ keep on going in this direction. take this bridge over here. there it is! [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] earn points with the citi thankyou card and redeem them for just about anything. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply. moving back to some of our top political stories, joining me on the phone, syndicated columnist bob franken. bob, good morning. thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> let's start with "loaded for bear," the ad from sarah palin's political action committee, which we played earlier. what is this ad for? what is she trying to accomplish? >> i think the way to look at sarah palin is to remember the schmoes. do you remember the schmoes? >> i do not. >> that knock over and always come back. >> oh, those, like the clown. >> sarah palin. >> bozo. >> she's not going away. >> but i mean, is this for her

endorsement power? is this for potentially another run at political office? is there any indication as to what this is actually about? >> who knows? who knows? i think what this is about is feeding sarah palin's ego. >> all right. another woman in politics, ashley judd announced on twitter she won't, in fact, be running for senator in kentucky. of course, we don't know why she made that decision, but what factors were working against her in that? >> she probably realized that she wasn't in a carefully controlled government, that her pr people could only protect her so much in a senate race. to be honest with you, there's so many people that look at politics and say, oh, this is easy. it's sort of like i used to be able to play a senator, now i am one. i think it's tough and she came to the realization that she would be chewed up and spit out. >> turning quickly to the same-sex marriage cases before the supreme court, a lot of people are looking into these recordings and trying to get information as to what -- trying to predict what they may decide. how difficult is it to predict what the supreme court justices will decide on these cases? >> well, it's almost impossible,

actually. the supremes oftentimes like to just throw little nuggets out there just to see whether they resonate. for instance, you have the chief justice saying, challenging the president for enforcing the law but not defending it in court. and of course, it would abe surprise to me if he didn't remember that the constitution requires that the president "take care that the law be faithfully executed." as i said, we would hope that the chief justice of the united states knew that. >> all right, bob franken. we'll have to leave it there. thank you so much. now here's other news happening around america. we start in detroit, michigan, where the morning commute turned into a giant mess for a few drivers. a tv news camera captured an explosion of metals. one vehicle barreled into a couple of cars waiting to change lanes. thankfully, no one was seriously injured. in pennsylvania, newly released video from a bank shows an attempted robbery as employees arrive to open the branch. the masked gunman blasted his way inside after he was stopped for rushing in.

well, the suspect dragged and threatened one employee before fleeing without any cash. the fbi is investigating. and finally, at the san francisco zoo, newly released video of a sumatran tiger cub. the adorable animal was born last month and just recently received a clean bill of health during its first examination. for now, the zoo plans to limit public viewing to just a few hours each week. he is adorable. well, turning now to sports, the chicago bulls were the team that finally ended miami's winning streak. the heat won 27 games in a row, but chicago got the better of lebron and his teammates for a 101-97 victory. the heat's record is the second longest in the history of american major pro sports behind only the 33 streak by the lakers in 1971. well, the stadium in rio de janeiro, brazil, that's supposed to host the track and field events at the olympics is closed for safety reasons. officials found safety problems with parts of the stadium. in ncaa basketball, the tournament resumes with the sweet 16. and in the east, indiana faces

four-seed syracuse and miami plays marquette. in the west, it's ohio state against arizona and wichita state faces lasalle. there are four more games friday, including the florida gulf coast eagles against florida, and one deejay who's a fan of fgcu got a tattoo on his arm after their upset wins last weekend. former nfl quarterback kordell stewart surprised his wife by filing for divorce while telling her while starring on bravo's "real housewives of atlanta." what a class act. just ahead, "mad men" actor jon hamm weighs in on his unmentionables. plus, true to her nickname, the material girl joins a very elite club. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios

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yeah, an elderly woman drove her car through three stores. she was like, sorry i ruined your stores, guys. the store owner was like, sorry we called you elderly, lindsay. >> poor lindsay lohan. well, madonna has officially joined the billionaires club. that's right, between her recent tour, merchandise sales and wise investments, madonna might as well be printing money. nike's newest ad features a tiger woods quote saying "winning takes care of everything" and has some facebook and twitter users calling it dismissive of tiger's extramarital affairs. nike says it's simply a salute to his athletic performance. jon hamm has weighed in on the whole underpants controversy from the set of "mad men," and the actor is not too happy about the press. in an interview with "rolling stone," a cranky hamm says "they're called privates for a reason." and according to "e!" news, lindsay lohan's behavior on "anger management" was so

disruptive, the cast, crew and even seheen were thinking she wasn't worth the aggravation. poor lindsay. we'll give her a break for now. i'm mara schiavocampo and this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" starts right now. ♪ i think it is time for the justices to examine this issue, and i certainly believe that those states that have made a decision to recognize these couples as being married, that the federal government has to respect that decision by the states. that's traditionally been how it works. states have defined marriage and the federal government has followed the lead of the states. >> good morning. i'm bill karins. this is "way too early." thanks for being with us today. we have a lot of news to talk about this thursday, march 28th, including a second date in the works. plans for another dinner between