under arrest. neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman is charged in the fatal shooting of unarmed florida teen trayvon martin. seeing red. a republican congressman claims house democrats are communists. and miracle baby. an argentine couple find their newborn baby alive in a morgue 12 hours after she was declared dead. 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 murder charges. after weeks of growing controversy, neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman is behind bars in florida this morning. is he facing a hearing on

second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of unarmed teen trayvon martin. jeff paterson has the latest from florida. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. just after the special prosecutor made her announcement on wednesday, the mayor made an appeal for calm in the community. but there is a strong sense of relief here now that george zimmerman has been arrested and charged with second degree murder. after more than a month of speculation about where he might be this morning we know george zimmerman is here behind bars in the seminole county jail, 44 days after the neighborhood watch volunteer shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin. special prosecutor angela cory has ended her investigation and is now preparing for a trial. >> today we filed an information charging george zimmerman with murder in the second degree. >> reporter: a decision that martin's family and thousands of supporters had been demanding since his death. >> we just wanted him brought to

justice and some type of accountability for the murder of our son. >> reporter: aer the announcement, zimmerman was moved from jacksonville to the jail in sanford, where his new attorney plans to meet with him for the first time. >> mr. zimmerman needs a very good, focused defense. so we'll build him one. >> reporter: a defense that will likely enter its first plea in the case later today. >> we plead not guilty presently that keeps the process moving forward. >> reporter: the high-profile case now moving into the legal system but clearly still being tried in the court of public opinion. defense attorney mark o'mara says he will be prepared for a bond hearing scheduled for his client later today. o'mara says he will be asking for a bond that will allow george zimmerman to be released in sanford, florida, i'm jeff paterson. lynn, back to you. >> thank you very much. last night on "hardball with chris matthews" the parents of trayvon martin reacted to the

arrest of george zimmerman, beginning with trayvon's father telli telling al sharpton what he thought. >> did he realize he destroyed a life? destroyed a family? and that had he second-guessed it, would he just have stayed in the car? most certainly i have no hatred towards him. i would like for him to look into my eyes and feel my hurt, my family's pain. a seed has been taken away from us that can't be given back to us. but at the same time, i just would want to know how he feels about taking our son's life. >> initially i did doubt, because i didn't have much faith in the sanford police department. so there was some doubt there. then it was passed to the state attorney's office. there was a level of doubt

there. but i guess once it got to ms. cory's office, i felt a little more comfortable, even though she did not give us any information that would give us -- that would lead to an arrest. she never said that to us. but i just had a good feel being it once that -- once we met with her. and i just prayed. i just prayed every day. you know? i just leaned on god to lead the way. >> you can see more "hardball" weeknights at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. eastern. elsewhere, the world is watching north korea this morning in anticipation of a controversial long-range rocket launch. the multistage missile carrying a weather satellite is on the launch pad, ready for lift-off, in a window of the next several days. a japanese report quoting north korean sources says poor weather conditions are preventing the launch today. the u.s. and allies have urged the north not to launch arguing it would violate an agreement

against missile testing. to syria this morning, where a united nations cease-fire seems to be taking hold. opposition forces report the situation is calm at the start of the cease-fire but activists are also saying they have not seen syrian army forces pulling back from the cities where the worst fighting has occurred. more than 9,000 people have been killed by syrian troops in the last year, it's estimated. allen west, a tea party favorite, claims there are communists in the house. the comments were made at a town hall event in jensen beach, florida tuesday night. now, west said somewhere around 80 members of the communist party are sitting in congress within the democratic party. west specifically singled out congressional progressive caucus. in a joint statement the

cochairs of that caucus called west's charges "outrageous." now here's your "first look" at some other news going on around america today. cameras were rolling when thieves held up a new york city deli. one camera being their own. they videotaped themselves. the theo did not take any merchandise or cash before escaping with the victim's cell phone. no arrests have been made. philadelphia police are looking for a thief who stalked and robbed a 94-year-old woman in broad daylight. surveillance cameras caught the suspect dragging the woman to the ground as he ripped her purse away. the fall caused the victim to suffer a broken arm and multiple cuts. finally this is unbelievable video. the eruption of a massive brush fire forced new jersey officials to shut down a portion of a major highway. 20-foot high flames fueled by gusty winds kept firefighters at

bay for hours. the fire scorched about 60 acres before it was brought under control no injuries were reported. unbelievable flames there. now let's get a check of your national weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning to you, bill. >> we need rain. >> we do. and no wind. >> that, too. >> hasn't been our luck. >> lately it's been breezy and dry so far this april. we could use the wet weather. as far as what we're dealing with this morning, really no rain to be found, just cold temperatures. freeze warnings over a large portion, from minnesota down to tennessee, north carolina, back up through the ohio valley. so temperatures are cold for this time of year. the growing season is well under way after our incredibly warm march. the freeze line has not made it too far south, dipping down near chicago, north of indianapolis, down through southern ohio. everything colored in blue is below freezing. that will dip further to the south this morning, especially

the suburbs outside the big cities. otherwise that pesky area of low pressure that continues to bring scattered showers, breezy conditions and cloudy skies to northern new england, today is your last day. all the clear, blue skies, beautiful weather that is today from the ohio valley, that will slide into new england and all of the east coast for your friday. after a gloomy week, it should be a nice tail end into the weekend. storms in northern california bringing more rain today and tonight. a new storm out in the plains will bring severe weather late today. i don't think we'll see a lot of tornados, maybe five or six. those areas of concern will be northern hooklahoma, western portions of kansas. mostly rural country. oklahoma city and dallas, you should be safe today, but you have a chance of severe weather over the next two days into the weekend. as far as the forecast goes, it will be a bit warmer today in d.c. up to new york, still scattered showers especially

from new york city northwards. cool around boston. the southeast, you have been very dry. your drought conditions are getting worse in georgia. today sunny and 66 in atlanta. texas no issue whatsoever. nice day around denver. a peek at your friday, finally the beautiful weather arrives for all of the east coast. it will be a chilly friday morning, but then the afternoon temperatures get up to the 60s. looks like warmer weather for the east coast ahead, lynn, and stormy conditions in the midwest. thank you very much. stocks rebound, the government goes after apple, and heart-breaking college acceptance blunder, your "first look" at business headlines are straight ahead. the stanley cup playoffs begin with an overtime thriller and a walk-off walk. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. here is some of the stories

making the headlines this morning. nine miners have been rescued after six days trapped in an abandoned copper mine. they were able to walk out through a tunnel that rescuers had reinforced. the state legislature in connecticut voted to repeal the death penalty. the governor is expected to sign the law making connecticut the 17th state in the u.s. to end capital punishment. in california, convicted mass murderer charles manson was denied parole for the 12th time. the 77-year-old will not be eligible for parole again for 15 years, when he will be about 92 years old. in argentina, this is amazing a mother said she fell to her knees in shock after finding her baby alive in a coffin in the morgue, 12 hours after she was declared dead. the baby girl was born three months premature, doctors thought she was stillborn, the mother insisted on seeing her, to her surprise, in fact shock, the baby was alive. and that little girl is now improving. they're calling her a miracle

baby. you can see why. here is your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,805 after adding 89 points yesterday. s&p up 10 points. overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei added 66 points. in hong kong the hang seng up 186. stocks snapped a five-day losing streak thanks to a strong start to the earning season. aluminummaker alcoa leaped 6% after posting a surprise quarterly profit and an encouraging outlook after the bell tuesday. that triggered a rebound led by stocks hardest hit during this week's slump, including bank of america, boeing and ge. on the economic front, the fed's so-called beige book report found economic activity in march continues to expand at a modest pace. more fresh data showed rising oil prices drove the cost of goods imported into the u.s. to their highest level in a year

last month. meanwhile a recent drilling womb has driven the price of natural gas below $2 a unit for the first time in more than a decade. here in the u.s., the justice department is suing apple and two big book publishers on accusations they conspired to raise the cost of e-books above the cost what executives referred to as the "wretched 9.99 price point." news of the suit prompted amazon, the alleged target of the price fixing scheme, to announce it will drop some e-book prices to 9.99 or less. a new report shows the number of homes receiving first time foreclosure notices rose 7% from february to march. however, foreclosure activity overall sank to the lowest level since july of 2007. finally, as if college application season isn't stressful enough, get this, nearly 900 applicants to ucla were led to believe they had

been accepted, only to find out later that an e-mail they received was a mistake, and they are, in fact, still on the waiting list. that has got to hurt. coming up, the knicks buck the bucks, the celtics win in overtime, and two a's take one for the team. the flyers shoot past the penguins in a come from behind victory. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. we put a week's worth of bad odors in a home. some aerosols may just mix with them. can febreze really remove it. we asked real people what they thought. [ moderator ] take a deep breath for me. describe the smell. it's very pleasant. fresh. some kind of flower maybe? [ moderator ] remove the blindfold... awww, oh yuck! i didn't smell any of that! [ male announcer ] febreze air effects doesn't mix, it actually removes odors. [ laughs ] wow, that's incredible. [ male announcer ] so you can breathe happy. guaranteed.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. in sports, six of the top nhl teams faced off last night beginning round one of the stanley cup playoffs. here's nbc's mario solis. good morning, the stanley cup playoffs got off to a blistering start last night. the penguins and flyers. pens jumping out to an early lead. sidney crosby got the scoring started just three minutes into the game. the flyers chip away at the lead with daniel briere and brayden schenn. jakub voracek pops in the rebound, flyers rally to take game one, 4-3 in ot. to the west, predators with postseason debut to remember. the rookie scores two goals against the red wings.

nashville held on to win 3-2. to vancouver, many think they are the toughest team in the playoffs. kings, jeff carter deflecting the puck, scores the game winner, kings win game one 4-2. nba, eighth place on the line in the east, knicks and bucks back and forth until the end, jason smith knocks down the rainmaker. new york wins it 111-107. if i asked you which team had the best record since the all star break, would you say the celtics? if so, you're right. they have been clicking on all cylinders, getting the win against the hawks, 88-86. finally here's a walk-off in the truest sense of the term. royals and a's in the 12th inning when jonathan broxton hi hi hits cespedes to load the bases. that force the home run winning run and that is the ball game, a

walk off walk, oakland will trade bruises for a win 5-4 in 12. all right. here is bill karins once again. >> much happier not to be covering any earthquakes this morning. >> you are more calm. >> everything turned out okay yesterday. scary moments for a while there. rain showers will lead to a decent day tomorrow, today is the last day of this weather pattern that we have been stuck in since monday. as far as pittsburgh goes, you don't have to worry about the rain showers. it's primarily from albany, new york, back up through boston. just like yesterday from noon to about 4:00 p.m., your best chance of those showers. it's half today, a nice weather pattern that spring warmth will return. hartford jumps to 64 on friday. by sunday you could be up to 75 degrees, almost summer-like with a few afternoon showers or thunderstorms. definitely warmer temperatures are on the way for many areas of

the east coast. today down in atlanta, the last of your chilly days, high temperature of about 66 after a cold morning. even in atlanta, the next five days look nice. this includes all of the southeast. unfortunately still dry. i know we're into the planting season for the farmers and everything else down there. we need the wet weather. it's dry in the southeast. temperatures will stay in the 70s to almost 80 on monday. lynn, warmer temperatures coming to the east. very quiet. we need rain. >> yes, we do. but we'll take 78 and sunny. >> it's hard not to, right? >> i'm not going to complain. is britney spears about to out-do jennifer lopez. and the honor axl rose is turning down in order to have nothing to do with his former band mates. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. plus bill's singing. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life.

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here's a 2012 election update it turns out gingrich's campaign wrote a $500 check to participate in the utah primary, but it bounced. it's true. even mc hammer is like manage your money, brother. this is insane. a man in maryland was accused of selling marijuana out of an ice cream truck. you can kind of tell, instead of playing the normal ice cream truck song, they blasted a phish bootleg cd. you guys hear about this? you probably have.

there's talk -- that the cw is coming out with a new show similar to "the hunger games" not to be confused with the other show about hunger "america's next top model." >> "late night with jimmy fallon" weeknights on your local nbc station. she's no beyonce, but simon cowell's rating boost may come in the form of britney spears. she is close to inking a deal as a judge on the show for $15 million. that is more than jennifer lopez reportedly makes on "american idol." reports had cowell trying to woo beyonce for $100 million a year. >> that's crazy. madonna's latest album notched biggest album debut of the year, but also just recorded

the biggest second week drop for an album, a number one album ever. >> do people still buy albums? >> on itunes. marc anthony's break-up with jennifer lopez is official. he did file for divorce. he is seeking joint custody of their twins. finally, remember this guy? you may not be able to recognize him. >> no, not in that picture. there will be no axl rose or guns 'n roses reunion. rose has warned the hall not to induct him. since the band's angry 1996 split. rose has wanted nothing to do with them. >> they have to embrace each other some time or later. >> did you dance like that? you did, didn't you? i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. 45 days after the shooting

death of trayvon martin, prosecutors bring second degree murder charges against his killer, george zimmerman, who could face a lifetime behind bars if convicted. the question is, is there enough hard evidence to prove zimmerman wasn't acting in self-defense? in his first full day on the campaign trail since rick santorum bowed out of the race, mitt romney sets his sights on the female vote claiming president obama's policies are costing women jobs. will romney's problem with women lead republicans to another female choice for vice president? and finally, some breaking news. the boston red sox are terrible. awful. awful! they lost again. the questionis, after only six games into the season, why does it feel like we've already been eliminated from the playoffs? man, it's "way too early" for this.