a new development in the case involving a shooting death of florida teen trayvon martin. hailed as heroes. two seventh graders leap into action after a school bus driver loses consciousness. and planetary pachyderm. nasa spots a unique yet familiar image on the surface of mars. good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin with a strategic move. the special prosecutor investigating the killing of trayvon martin has decided not to use a grand injury to decide whether his confessed killer, george zimmerman, will face criminal charges. that weighty decision will now be in her hands alone.

nbc's jay gray has details. >> reporter: a handful of protesters, most of them students, marched to the sanford police department, blocking the front doors and for a short time actually closing the office down. as the protest over the trayvon martin shooting continued, special prosecutor angela corey announced she alone would determine if charges would be filed in the controversial case. she spoke briefly by phone with the protesters. >> she didn't give us much details. but sort of seemed to hint that something will be coming very shortly. so we were very excited by that. >> reporter: in a brief written statement, corey said she'd not present evidence to a grand jury and that, quote, at this time, the investigation continues and there will be no further comment from this office. martin family attorney released this statement after corey's decision. we are not surprised by this announcement and, in fact, are hopeful that a decision will be reached very soon to arrest george zimmerman and give

trayvon martin's family the simple justice they have been seeking all along. on a day when george zimmerman went online with his new official website and a message to supporters, his legal team said corey's announcement could signal an important turning point in the case. >> it's an indication, i think, that she's probably close to the end of her investigation. and i think it's an indication she's going to make the decision based on the law and the evidence. that's all it really tells us. >> reporter: as so many tied to this controversial high-profile case wait to hear so much more. jay gray, nbc news, sanford, florida. the two men arrested in the shooting deaths of three black men in tulsa, oklahoma, have confessed. according to court documents. 19-year-old jake england and 32-year-old alvin watts were arraigned by teleconference from the county jail yesterday. england confessed to shooting three people friday. and watts confessed to shooting two. but the affidavit did not make clear which man shot which

victim. they face first-degree murder charges and are being held on $9 million bond. police have said they believe there's a link between the shootings and the killing of england's father by a black man, but the suspects have yet to discuss their motive with police. elsewhere, the u.s. is urging north korea not to launch a satellite or conduct a nuclear test calling them, quote, provocative actions. north korea says the launch preparations will be complete today. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more from inside north korea. >> reporter: this rocket is poised for launch, north korea says, to carry a satellite into orbit. but u.s. officials worry it could easily be converted into an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the united states. the standoff comes just as this secretive, isolated country has allowed outsiders, journalists in for a closer look. in one of pyongyang's main

squares, we saw up to 100,000 people express devotion to kim jong-il as a giant mural of the departed leader was unveiled. the control of this society was immediately apparent. people stood in rows at attention, applauded on cue and waved pom-poms in a shimmering sea of pink. north korea's vision of a patriotic utopia. this is the first time journalists have been allowed into north korea since kim jong-un came to power and all of this political theater, some of it quite provocative, seems designed to reinforce his succession. richard engel, nbc news, pyongyang. here is your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in washington state, students are being called heroes for their quick thinking after their school bus driver suffered a medical condition right during their morning commute. the seventh grader grabbed the wheel, steered the bus to the

shoulder and then turned off the ignition, even did chest compressions on the driver while they were still moving. another student also jumped in to help while the other kids called 911. the driver is now recovering. across the northeast, high winds and low humidity led to several wildfires. in connecticut, flames burned alongside railroad tras. that caused the suspension some of amtrak and local commuter service. in new york city, a fire on staten island could be seen from midtown manhattan making for smokey, unhealthy area. and then on nearby long island, at least two homes and a commercial building reportedly burned. a much lighter note in new york city. it's apparently become the new hangout for a goat. that's right. her owner says coco is much happier spending time in the big apple than on the farm. who wouldn't be? it's times square. like any real commuter, get a taste of new york city hopping on the subway to some stunned

fellow passengers. at the white house, president obama presided over the 134th annual easter egg roll. and that was just part of the fun. first lady michelle and daughter sasha and malia joined the president in the reading of "where the wild things are" to the kids. the president also joined the harlem globetrotters for a little basketball. some 30,000 people joined in on the post-holiday festivities. and finally, this was unbelievable in oklahoma. a hail storm but it sounded more like a shooting spree. looked like one, too. grapefruit-sized hail smashed into this neighborhood. at least two tornadoes were also reported. don't want to see that out your backyard. that means you have some smashed out windows. for your weather we turn to bill karins. good morning. >> that was pretty wild. >> you just don't see that every day. >> i've seen like quarter and golf ball-sized. never seen baseball or grapefruit. >> you just did. >> not in person.

i'd take it and put it in the freezer and save it. >> let's talk about what's happening in the east. those fires popped up yesterday. widespread. unfortunately, the concerns almost the exact same today as they were yesterday. winds will still be gusting. not quite as bad as yesterday but still gusting during the afternoon. it's still very dry. it's amazing last year was one of the wettest years ever in many areas of the east especially in connecticut and new jersey. this year for the first three months it's been very dry. we're starting to get into drought conditions in southern new england and the mid-atlantic. so we have red flag warnings up as we go throughout the day today. that means is in these areas if a fire forms in the brush, it's going to quickly spread and grow and it's going to be hard to contain. so the key is, don't let the fire start. so be very careful out there. cutting the grass and doing anything in the brush. be very careful. today, not as many showers as yesterday. we did see some of those race through the d.c. area. it's a very dry day today. shob lots of sunshine.

breezy and pretty warm. we showed you the amazing pictures of the hail. that was out here in rural portions of oklahoma by woodward. also reports two of tornadoes. dont any damage. we made it through yesterday with no severe weather damage. this morning everything has died off. just a few showers by wichita falls. a few more storms this afternoon. for the most part, very quiet april weather pattern. the huge storm system up in canada is going to continue to make it ugly in northern new england with rain showers and windy conditions. forecastwise, the april sun is pretty strong. should be near 50 degrees around chicago today. 60 around d.c. and new york. southeast looks very nice and refreshing. and then a few afternoon storms around dallas. how does that 74 and sunny in denver sound today, lynn? >> that sounds great. unfortunately, we're not there. coming up, facebook busy a potential rival. a new way to discourage phone theft. and proof positive the "hunger games" continues to be a big hit. your first look at this

morning's business headlines is straight ahead. a rok debut for the rangers yu darvish. mets remain perfect. plus the red sox and yankees finally get in the win column. you're watching "first look."

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. syrian government forces fired across the borders of both turkey and lebanon yesterday killing several people. activists say more than 125 people have been killed over the past two days as hopes fade for a cease-fire that was scheduled to begin today. hrks the books "the hunger games" trilogy have been placed on the most challenged list of the american library association. some parents and educators are questioning whether the books should be on library shelves because of the violence, language and sex. england's prince harry rode through snowy roads on a motor bike as he visited romania.

harry's father prince charles does own a mansion in a nearby 16th century village. and this is kind of interesting. nasa released an image from mars. it shows a dried lava floe, but doesn't it look a loot like the forehead, the trunk and the eye of an elephant? a lot of people think so. the photo was taken by a camera in orbit around the red planet. now here is your first look at how wall street is going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,929 after tumbling 130 points yesterday. the s&p fell 15 points. the nasdaq lost 33. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei down eight points while in hong kong, the hang seng dipped 236. stocks tumbled on investors' first day back since the long holiday weekend. this in reaction to friday's disappointing jobs report. all ten industry groups on the s&p suffered with financials hit

the hardest. the broad sell-off also dragged the dow to its first sub 13,000 finish in a month. facebook's billion-dollar purchase of photo-sharing app instagram got a lot of attention as it readies its upcoming ipo. instagram was quietly becoming a highly ought after social rival. elsewhere, a billion dollar deal, shares of aol shot up 43% after the company agreed to sell hundreds of patents to microsoft for slightly more than $1 billion. at&t announced it's selling majority stake in its yellow business pages to cerberus capital management for $950 million. avon slid 3% after appointing a former johnson & johnson exec as ceo. china posted a surprise trade surplus of $5.3 billion last month to reverse february's $31

billion deficit. back here in the u.s., phone carriers are teaming up with the government to crack down on cell phone thefts. major carriers and the fcc agreed to create a database of unique i.d. numbers that would allow them to permanently disable their phone if it's stolen. "the hunger games" franchise. a collector's barbie named for katniss everdeen is now for sale. you'll have to wait to get your hands on her. kat dolls are already backordered until august 1st. the jazz snap the spurs' win streak. the red sox rally past the blue jays and the yanks clip the orioles. plus, new york's other baseball team, the mets stay perfect. celebrating a walk-off win in the ninth. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually

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purina one beyond. food for your cat or dog. let's get a recap, merv. [ merv ] thanks, other merv. mr. clean magic eraser extra power was three times faster on permanent marker. elsewhere against dirt, it was a sweep, with scuffed sports equipment... had it coming. grungy phones... oh! super dirty! and grimy car rims... wow! that really works! ...all taking losses. it looks like mr. clean has won everything. the cleaning games are finished? and so are we. okay, but i just took a mortgage out on the cabinet. [ male announcer ] clean more, work less, with the mr. clean magic eraser extra power. yeah, but the feeling wasn't always mutual. i want you to grow big! if you grow for me, you'll get cookies for free.

nothing worked. ♪ but we started using miracle-gro garden soil. you just mix it with your backyard soil... and it feeds your plants for up to 3 months. my plants grew bigger... more beautiful... with more flowers and vegetables. guaranteed. everything changed with miracle-gro. for you are these flowers, like soap is for showers. everyone grows with miracle-gro. welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. last night the texas rangers came out swinging after a rough start by their big free agent signing. here's nbc's mario solis. >> hi there. good morning. yu darvish made his much anticipated debut for the rangers. but it didn't go exactly as planned. the mariners hung four on darvish in the first inning. kyle seger scores a pair with a single to center before the fans settle in their seats. the mariners are already up 4-0. rangers have nine innings to

make up the difference and that's exactly what they do. nelson cruz, mitch moreland, josh hamilton and ian kinsler all hit homers. darvish gets through a torrid first inning and pick ups his first win in the bigs, 11-5. one of the reasons texas got darvish twous fill the void left by c.j. wilson. now an angel, he was throwing darts against the twinkies. angels won, 5-1. to baltimore. took four games but the yankees finally got their first win. believe it or not, derek jeter has the most hits in the 20-year history of camden yards. kept them going last night. a perfect 4 for 4. yankees won, 6-2. red sox also looking for their first win and got it in toronto. they rally in the ninth. ryan sweeney with a shot to right. mcdonald hustling from second. the throw was there but gets away from the catcher. boston wins, 4-2. a walk-off. mets and nats tied in the ninth. daniel murphy singles him home. mets win, 5-4.

no better way to celebrate than with a shaving cream pie to the face. the mets are 4-0. lamar odom will have plenty of time to work on his reality show. the mavericks placed him on the inactive list ending its short stint in dallas. the spurs rested their big three of tim duncan, tony parker and ginobili. jazz took advantage and won 91-84. the playoffs can't start soon enough for the aging spurs. and that's your first look at sports. i'm mario solis. >> now for another look at the weather, let's check with nbc meteorologist bill karins because he has your weather channel forecast. >> the winds were pretty impressive yesterday. it was howling out there from new england through the mid-atlantic. not going to be quite as bad today. right now we're just dealing with rain showers from areas of northern new york, especially in the adirondacks. and the wind speeds aren't too bad. 6 to 10-mile-per-hour range. this afternoon, the sun gets up there and heats the air up,

probably gusts 20 to 30. yesterday gusts up to 40 to 45. the airports were a mess, too, around new york city. as far as today's forecast, still a chance of showers from albany to syracuse, buffalo, northwards in northern new england. should have a dry day. connecticut, new york, through jersey, pennsylvania. back towards pittsburgh, a chance of showers. d.c. should be dry today also. southeast looks very nice. of course, the fire danger pretty high in the mid-atlantic. it's been very dry lately and those gusty winds and the dry afternoon. keep the firefighters a little nervous in case any of those blazes get going. minneapolis, the great lakes. bundle yourself up and the kids and chance of afternoon storms in dallas. anyone traveling to the west coast, they have the worst weather in the country. they'll be cloudy and rainy. california will have three days in a row of rain. whoever heard of that. >> that does not happen very often. coming up, broadway has a new king. plus, an alleged stalker is no laughing matter for "30 rock"

star alec baldwin. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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welcome back to "first look." today is the 100th anniversary of the ill-fated maiden voyage of the "titanic." more than one-third of the dead were from southampton where the doomed ship hired her crew. nina from itn reports on how southampton is remembering. >> reporter: the city is preparing to remember the hundreds who crowded on to these

docks a century ago. the waiters, engineers, bellboys, stokers, the crew, setting out from southampton on "titanic." most of whom never return. no other individual town or city was to suffer so many losses in the tragedy. on the floor of the city's new museum, a map with red dots showing which households lost someone. in some streets, nearly everyone was affected. when news of the sinking reached the city, this street was crowded with relatives who had come here to the offices of the white star shipping company desperately hoping that the names of their loved ones would be amongst the list of survivors pinned up outside. but 549 people around one-third of all those who died hailed from the city. >> we lost a whole generation of men. and it really did have an impact on the town. i mean, all these, you know, people heading for the workhouse because the husbands were the provider and the husbands have

died. >> reporter: but noon at the exact time "titanic" left southampton 100 years ago and to the sound of the great ship's whistle, this tug boat will sail out from the docks, leading a flotilla of small ships. let's get a check of entertainment news. alec baldwin is the latest celebrity dealing with an alleged stalker. a canadian woman who appeared at baldwin's manhattan home sunday was arrested on five counts of harassment and stalking. last week, she e-mailed baldwin a dozen times. and friday night she showed up at a movie screening he hosted. amanda bynes' father said she didn't have a single drink friday night when police charged she was under the influence and crashed into the back of a stopped police car. he claims the officer involved caused the accident pulling out in front of bynes as she turned into the intersection. "the lion king" is

broadway's highest grossing musical with $854 million. whitney houston's funeral cost the singler's hometown $187,000 in police overtime. and finally, tammy lynn etheridge filed a brief monday arguing the $23,000 a month her ex melissa etheridge pays her for spousal and child support is not enough. her argument being that melissa etheridge makes something like $180,000 a month so it's not enough piece of the pie. >> she still makes that much? wow. royalties, i guess, are pretty good. >> what are we doing wrong? >> we're not performers and singers. >> i guess. that's right. good point. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look." stay tuned. "way too early" is next. new polls this morning have some bad news for mitt romney. the former massachusetts

governor losing to president obama on a range of key issues. meanwhile, the president's campaign shifts into attack mode putting pressure on romney to release his tax returns. the question is, will romney be able to focus on his november -- in november in his economic message as long as he's still running in the republican primary? north korea says its controversial through long-range rock set ready for launch but don't worry, guys, it's only for scientific purposes. the question is, can the world trust this isolated government now run by a 20-year-old something dictator. we'll have the latest report from inside the country from richard engel. and baseball fans in new york and boston collectively put down the sharp objects and breathe a huge sigh of relief as the yanks and sox win their first games of the season. but the real question is, what has gotten into the new york mets? amazings. it is way too early for this.