lawyers for the shooter in the trayvon martin case say they can't find him and they're stepping aside. end of the trail. the republican presidential field narrows as rick santorum ends his bid for the white house. and a mammoth find. scientists unveil a largely intact 42,000-year-old animal. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we'll begin this morning with a suspenseful wait. florida's special prosecutor in the trayvon martin case says within the next 72 hours she will release new information from her investigation. it is her job to decide whether

george zimmerman will face charges. whatever happens, zimmerman will be needing new lawyers. nbc's jay gray reports. >> reporter: like so much in this case -- >> good afternoon. >> reporter: the announcement was sudden and jarring. >> we've lost contact with him, up to this point we had contact every day. he's gone on his own. i'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to, but the -- at this point we are withdrawing it's a council. >> reporter: the now former attorneys for george zimmerman say they don't know where he is, haven't talked to him in days and are worried. >> george zimmerman in our opinion is not doing well emotionally. probably suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. >> reporter: concerned that he apparently reached out to special prosecutor angela corey. >> one thing every defense attorney tells his client is don't talk to the prosecutors,

don't talk to the cops, don't talk to anybody. >> reporter: citing legal and ethical boundaries, corey refused to talk to the man at the center of her ongoing investigation. but members of the martin family are talking tonight. >> we are surprised. >> reporter: and frustrated. >> today the killer of trayvon martin is unaccounted for. that's extremely troubling for them. in fact, we are really concerned whether or not he is a flight risk. they said he was not in the state of florida, so we are really concerned if he's ever going to be brought to justice. >> reporter: a question that his parents -- >> no justice, no peace. >> reporter: and supporters have been asking for more than a month now. jay gray, nbc news, florida. last night on "politics nation" the martin family's attorney spoke about the departure of george zimmerman's attorneys and he told host al

sharpton that he and the martin family are concerned about some of zimmerman's actions. >> nobody knows where this guy is at. he's unaccounted for. the killer for trayvon martin is unaccounted for. that's terribly troubling for his mother and father who have simply been asking that he be brought to justice. he been arrested from the first day when he killed that unarmed teenager we wouldn't be dealing with this situation. now we are 43 days and counting and no arrests. we have all this we have to deal with now. we've said george zimmerman is a loose cannon. our legal team was talking earlier, this is further evidence that he is a loose cannon, reverend sharpton, and that he is very unpredictable. so we are really worried about him being a flight risk. again, the killer of trayvon martin is unaccountable for. nobody knows where the killer of trayvon martin is. >> watch "politics nation"

weekday evenings at 6:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. the field of contenders vying for the republican presidential nomination just got smaller after former pennsylvania senator rick santorum dropped out of the race yesterday. tracie potts has more for us from washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. good morning, everyone. santorum said he is not down fighting but for now he is done seeking this nomination. that leaves it wide open for mitt romney to capture. romney's reaction? this has been a good day for me, he says. he has now been able to focus forward to the fall campaign. newt gingrich said i'm still here, still campaigning, not dropping out, neither is ron pa paul, but neither one of them close to getting the nomination. president obama is focusing not on romney specifically but on

his wealth and that of millionaires who he says should pay a larger chunk of their income, of their millions, in taxes. the president spent the day in florida talking about that, indicating romney's wealth could become an issue in the fall campaign. lynn. >> tracie potts, thank. elsewhere, new jersey governor kr governor chris christie has sparked controversy. speaking at the bush institute conference on taxes and economic growth, christie said the u.s. is becoming a personalistic society that will bankrupt the country. he also said "we'll have a bunch of people sitting on a couch waiting for their next government check. "here is your "first look" at some other news going on around america. in california, there was a bear scare. a 400-pound black bear made its way out of the mountains and into a residential neighborhood. it crawled across cars and could

be seen attempting to climb a fence. fish and game wardens were finally able to use a tranquilizer dart on the bear, capturing it and sending it back into the wild. in oregon, more than 20 people swarmed into a convenience store in a suspected flash mob robbery. they stole hundreds of dollars of merchandise and there was little the clerk could do about it similar robberies nationwide may have been organized through social media. in los angeles, a freeway chase came to a violent end last night. officers shot the driver after the man stumbled out of his vehicle. the suspect was arrested and taken to the hospital. finally in new york, if you can't get away from work to hit the gym, that's no excuse. one office attached computers to treadmills so you can work and work out at the same time. the advice from one employee, start out slow and you won't even realize you're burning calories while earning your paycheck. let's get to your national

weather. nbcing in t bshgs krshgshg nbc meteorologist bill karins is following breaking new. >> a serious earthquake has occurred within the last hour in indonesia. that this is as big as they get. we only get earthquakes of this magnitude and size around our whole globe maybe once a year, just give you the indication, this is the area right in here. this is the indian ocean peninsula, this is where the tsunami warning is in effect. the magnitude of this is an 8.9. to give you an indication how serious this potentially could be, back in 2004 where we lost 250,000 lives in this area because of a tsunami, that was a 9.1. so this is an 8.9, so this is close in intensity. back in 2004, the depth was 19 miles down into the ground this

one was 20 miles into the ground, so it's similar, in a similar location here. that one was maybe further to the north. i'm sure all the sirens are going off in the indian peninsula they all remember what happened in 2004. there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people fleeing to higher ground right now at this hour, all through the indonesian peninsula, through the indian ocean. serious business here, with an.9 magnitude. this will be an indication of the frequency around the globe. usually we see an 8.0 or greater around the entire globe once a year. that's it. usually we get a lot of 7s and 6s which are still serious. 8.9 is at the top of the scale. we'll wait and see if we get information in. at this point, doesn't appear to be a threat to the west coast of the united states with a storm in this area, or a tsunami heading to the west coast. all of indonesia up through india, all the way through, any

locations bordering the indian ocean. as soon as we get confirmation. we're waiting to see if there is a tsunami. that's the biggest question out there now. there's warnings out there, all of the conditions, the size of the earthquake, the location of it, the depth shows that there should be a tsunami with this. the question now is how big is it and where will it hit the hardest? what we have now is these buoys out there in the indian ocean and all the ocean basins, once the tsunami hits those buoys, we'll know the size and magnitude and give those areas the warning they need. it's so close to the indonesia peninsula, that those areas may have already been hit. as far as the forecast back in the united states, nothing really going on here that is too devastating or life threatening, just showers and storms in texas. i'll be watching closely with that earthquake and the potential of that tsunami. again, lynn, 8.9 magnitude off the coast of indonesia. close to the intensity of what happened in 2004, life threatening to say the least. >> it's the location and the

depth that you talked about. coming up, alcoa kicks off earnings, caterpillar drawls backwards and is if filing taxes is not bad enough, what you need to know about tax day, your "first look" at the business headlines is straight ahead. arkansas drops the hammer, ozzie guillen apologizes and the boys in blue celebrate their 50th anniversary of dodgers stadium in style. we love gardening...

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. cleaning better doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna...use these. ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] unlike mops, swiffer can maneuver into tight spaces without the hassle and its wet mopping cloths can clean better in half the time, so you don't miss a thing.

mom? ahhhh! ahhhh! no it's mommy! [ female announcer ] swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back.

welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories. a powerful 8.9 earthquake that bill was just talking about has struck this morning roughly 300 miles southwest of indonesia's banda aceh, a city devastated by an earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2004 that killed over 260,000 people. a tsunami watch is now in effect for the entire indian ocean area. north korea is loading fuel

into a long-range rocket that they plan to launch in orbit. the u.s. is urging the mission be cancelled because of the ban on missile tests. syrian troops continued attacks on opposition forces yesterday. but kofi annan insists syria will respect the cease-fire. they say they will respect it starting tomorrow. u.s. secretary of state, hillary clinton, says syria is now becoming a regional security issue. the maryland winners of part of the giant mega millions jackpot came forward to accept their big check for $218 million, but they kept their faces hidden and they wore gloves. the trio, a man and two women who work in public schools, call themselves the three amigos and will keep working. and a 42,000-year-old baby wooly mammoth is going on display in asia. the animal was frozen in siberia in the ice age, while they lost most of her hair, otherwise she is the best-preserved woolly

mammoth ever found. here's your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at 12,715 after tumbling 213 yesterday. s & p dropped 23 points, nasdaq sank 55. looking at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei fell 79 points, in hong kong the hang seng dipped 215. upbeat earnings after the bale from alcoa could bring cheer. after the market closed, alcoa was the first blue chip out of the earnings gate. the aluminum maker reported much better quarterly earnings than wall street expected, offering some hope to the dow's five-day losing streak. yesterday, wall street suffered the worst loss of the year. investors are worried about earnings season and the brewing debt crisis in spain. the nasdaq finished below 3,000

for the first time in a month. apple hit the $600 billion mark on tuesday before joining the downward trend. best buy took a hit after the ceo resigned and the company investigation into his "personal conduct." home builders lennar and pulte group both tumbled more than 6%. caterpillar led industrials lower after march sales in china plunged 50%. nevis lost on news the fda will review a weight loss drug for three months. one bright spot, grocery chain super value jumped 15% on its full-year forecast. and death and taxes may be among life's few certainties, but let's just try to present a double whammy here. according to new research, traffic accident deaths have risen by 6% on tax day for each of the last 30 years. if so, let's all chill out, get

some sleep, be sure not to hit the bottle before hitting the road on april 17th or any other day. coming up the braves get a boost, celtics beat the heat, no rose, no problem for the chicago bulls. plus a game-winning homer by a birthday boy on dodger stadium's 50th anniversary. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. car insurance . ah, claim trouble. [ dennis ] you should just switch to allstate, and get their new claim satisfaction guarantee. hey, he's right man. [ dennis ] only allstate puts their money where their mouth is. yup. [ dennis ] claim service so good, it's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can always count on them. unlike randy over there. that's one dumb dude. ♪ the new claim satisfaction guarantee. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate.

what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. look." i'm lynn berry. in sports, scandal claimed the job of yet another major college

football coach. here's nbc's mario solis. good morning. we'll start with big news from college football the university of arkansas fired head roach bobby petrino after lying about his relationship with a 25-year-old coworker and her involvement in a recent motorcycle accident. the married father of four mislead the school when arkansas hired his mistress as student athlete development coordinator. petrino was 21-5 the last two years at arkansas. baseball, it wasn't just another home opener for the dodgers, it was the 50th ape anniversary of dodgers stadium. this one had an ending out of a script. andre ethier, hitting the game winner, on his 30th birthday. andre unwraps the present for los angeles as the dodgers beat the pirates 2-1. yankees and orioles, raul ibanez rallied to win in the 12th. chipper jones returning from the

dl in sty. had his first hit in his first at-bat. in the second, this happens, a two-run bomb, chipper is back and so are the braves getting the first win of the year with the 6-4 win over the astros. the marlins suspended ozzie guillen five games for commenting about his admiration about his leader of fidel castro. he apologized yesterday calling it the worst mistake of his life. nba, derrick rose sitting out another game and the bulls getting another win. hard to believe chicago might be better without the mvp. the bulls avenging sunday's loss to the knicks with a win. with everyone talking about the bulls, knicks and heat you can't overlook the celtics. almost an after-thought in the east. the cs are moving up the standings giving miami more than they can handle. boston wins 115-107. that's your "first look" at sports, i'm mario solis. now let's check back in with bill karins who, of course, continues to follow this indonesia earthquake.

what's the latest? >> just the magnitude is scary. initially reported 8.9 by the earthquake service that services the indonesia peninsula. if accurate that would be the sixth strongest earthquake recorded since 1900. we are talking about a very rare event in our world, in our globe. if it is the 8.7, which the u.s. geological survey is saying that's what their early estimate is, that would be the eighth strongest earthquake ever recorded, and the third strongest ever in the indonesian peninsula the one in 2004 that had the incredible tsunami that killed 250,000 people, that was a 9.1. these numbers get revised and estimated. initially in 2004, when we had the big, huge earthquake in the area that was initially reported at 8.8. it was later revised to a 9.1. we are in rare territory here. this only happened about 45

minutes ago. 4:38 a.m. east coast time. so that tsunami that would form here around banda aceh would be approaching the island areas. any time now, any minute, we will find out if there's a devastating tsunami. all the sirens are going off, everyone from banda aceh to padang are seeking higher ground. they're about 14 hours, 15 hours different than us, so this is taking place in their later afternoon and evening. hopefully everyone is getting to safe ground. as soon as we get more information, but it's a very serious earthquake. all right, thank you very much. coming up, christian wiig talks about leaving "snl." and we know the simpsons live in springfield, but we finally know which springfield. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. is to create it. [ female announcer ] now create a new future for your skin. only aveeno positively radiant has total soy, for a whole new level of radiance. it's clinically proven to visibly reduce blotchiness, brown spots, and other past damage, while broad spectrum spf 30 helps prevent future damage. healthier, more radiant skin. it's in your future now. [ female announcer ] positively radiant. and for sun care that helps keep skin healthy and beautiful,

try aveeno continuous protection sunscreen. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

welcome back to "first look." it's time for entertainment news. for 23 years the audience of "the simpsons" has wondered which springfield in america do the simpsons live in? now we know. it has been now said that america's dysfunctional iconic home is located in springfield, oregon, near portland. he lived on a street named evergreen terrace. english boy band "one direction" is being sued by a group which filed for a trademark on the name first. they want the group to change their name and they are suing cowell's record label and sony music for $1 million in damages.

kristen wiig has spoken out about leaving "saturday night live" sort of. she was asked about it on alec baldwin's podcast and wiig n mysteriously answered everyone has to leave. she added when she does, it won't be because she is sick of it or because she has something better, it will be because it's time. >> time off. >> playing the politically correct card. >> yeah. i'm still trying to deal with the stuff about the earthquake. >> you are distracted doing some important work. >> one thing i read that is important, they're saying 20-foot waves -- 20-foot tsunami can be expected from the indian ocean, for the people in india. >> we will continue to follow this on "way too early." i'm lynn berry this is "first look" on msnbc. rick santorum drops out of

the republican race for president, all but guaranteeing mitt romney is the party's nominee. the question is will conservatives now rally around the candidate they've been opposing for months? mark halprin will join us live in a moment. can we expect to see more of the pole rising for the president as the 2012 election approaches? and the marlins drop the hammer on ozzie guillen, suspending him for five games after he praised fidel castro. how will the controversy impact the ballclub on and off the field? it's "way too early" for this. good morning. i'm luke russert in for willie geist. this is "way too early," the show that's been