this morning on "early today," close enough. mitt romney ekes out a narrow win in michigan to clutch a double primary victory. ohio tragedy. the death toll from a scooting rampage rises. california confrontation. a dispute between native american tribal members turns violent. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm richard lui. today we start with romney rebound.

republican presidential contender mitt romney was the winner in both tuesday primaries for restoring his momentum as he heads into super tuesday next week. in arizona romney beat rick santorum by 20 points and won all 29 delegation there and they will each get some of the state's 30 delegates in michigan. nbc' steve handelsman has details from detroit. >> reporter: good morning from detroit. here in the state where he's from, mitt romney, last night, tried to held his head hide but what he had accomplished was to avoid disaster. mitt romney had to win michigan or face the collapse of his campaign and he did win. after losing the lead and then gaining it back. >> we didn't win by a lot, but we won by enough and that's all that counts' i'm going to deliver on more jobs, less debt and smaller government. we have to hear that day in and day out. >> reporter: he went two for two. romney gets all 29 of arizona's

delegates. rick santorum wins delegates in michigan and he claims he won more. >> a month ago, they didn't know who we are but they do now! >> reporter: santorum vows to fight on into super tuesday. that's what ron paul hopes to grab delegates and that's when newt gingrich makes his stand next tuesday in georgia. must win for him, georgia is gingri gingrich's home state and that is why romney, born and raised in michigan, had to win tonight. what is not clear is whether romney is trailing santorum in this state and nationally before turning things around will leave romney stronger or more vulnerable in the tough week ahead. from detroit, i'm steve handelsman, nbc news. richard, back to you. >> steve, thank you. it was a somber mood in chardon, ohio, last night. family and friends held a candle

light vigil for the students. jay gray reports from us from ohio. >> reporter: thousands gathered for a memorial at st. mary's church, mourners filling out of the sanctuary and into the parking lot just a few blocks from chardon high school but a day after the deadly attack, seemingly miles from what is supposed to be normal here. >> you just feel so bad for all of the families. it's a horrible, tragic thing to happen. >> reporter: as this grieving community struggles to work through its pain. >> there's a student with a gun. >> reporter: newly released 911 calls provided glimpse into the chaos inside the school's cafeteria the morning the shots rang out. when the shooting stopped, five students had been hit. three young men, daniel parmerter and daniel hewlin and victims who prosecutors say were

targeted randomly by alleged gunman tj lane. >> he went into a school cafeteria and shot ten rounds. he stated he did not know the students. >> reporter: mourners don't know why it had to happen here. >> we're not just any old place, chardon. this is every place. as you have seen in the past, this can happen anywhere. >> reporter: but it did happen here and it's going to take a long time to heal. jay gray, nbc news, chardon, ohio. >> now to other stories making news early today in america. one person stabbed in a california brawl that broke out as factions of a native american tribe feuded over election results. protesters there are now asking for federal invention but it's not clear if it will happen. a deer slammed into an 11-year-old girl who suffered a concussion. surveillance video shows the deer running across the store

aisles as you see there. police had to be called out. they had to put down the animal after it, too, was injured. finally, a new guinness world record has been put to bed shall we say with a single push. 850 people got together in new orleans to form human dominos. they were attached to mattresses and one by, they all came tumbling down! that wasn't the only thing to fall here. their accomplishment shatterses the old record for human dominos set in belgium last year. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with a look at the forecast. interesting. >> give them credit for that. >> anything to break a record nowadays. >> exactly. we had serious weather overnight and continues this morning. reports that branson, missouri, the last couple of hours took a hit from a tornado. looks like it did a lot of damage and best western there was significantly damaged but so far, everyone is accounted for and just some minor injuries. this was associated earlier in the evening near hutchinson, kansas. the funnel coming down.

. harveyville reported significant damage also. the daylight hours this morning, there will be pretty significant pictures it appears from the tornado last night. in all, so far, 10 or 11 tornado reports. a lot of severe weather reports of damaging winds in kansas city. the southwest corner near pittsbu pittsburg, kansas. lots of power lines down and lots of damage and calling in crews from springfield to help with the cleanup and search and rescue in case it's needed. a situation in missouri, not far from joplin. that has been tornado alley the past year. a couple of tornado warnings through southern portions of the state. st. louis up here to the north in the tornado watch. those storms are now clearing out and leaving your area. we are going to watch next, right where the missouri river meets the areas of the mississippi and the ohio river near cape girardeau and passing into kentucky shortly and areas of tennessee. we will watch you next. the northern side of the storm as advertised a blizzard ongoing

in areas of south dakota and watch that snow just north of minneapolis. icy mess right now in michigan. and northern wisconsin is getting hit with heavy snow. we are expecting that little area to get possibly above a foot north of green bay. eventually, all of this weather, the snowy part of it, it's going to move into areas of new england later on today. your evening drive home will have snow covered roads throughout areas of northern kentucky, areas of -- definitely through massachusetts and up through new england. a significant snowstorm for that area. in other words, a lot going that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. well, the other side of there symptom system that we have to talk about is the severe weather side. damaging storms will continue throughout much of tennessee, kentucky, northern portions of alabama and georgia later on today. a lot of people, you know, waking up to these tornadoes in missouri and i'll give you updates if i get them. >> a gasp of winter, shall we say? >> yeah.

>> thanks a lot, bill. blue chips have a breakthrough and new technology to solve your senior motor. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, one of hollywood's most recognizable faces shows up on what could be the worst fake i.d. in history! coming up, the capitals rally and celtics get back on track and the nets brook lopez single handedly takes down the mavericks. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back. i'm richard lui here are some of your top headlines this morning. a grim pentagon report saying parks remains of so9/11 victories were sent to an incinerator. 40 who died in the crash in the haujed plane in pennsylvania.

women seeking abortions to undergo noninvasive ultrasounds after shelving the bill last week. lawmakers eliminated a controversial requirement for invasive procedures. syria's president could be classified a as a war criminal according to secretary of state hillary clinton. at least 25 people died in syria on tuesday. the u.n. says more than 7,500 civilians have been killed in syria's revolt so far. republican senator olivia snowe of maine will not run for a fourth term. snowe said she is tired of the, quote, my way or the highway atmosphere in washington. debris from last year's tsunami in japan could soon start washing ashore near hawaii. the government says lumber, boats, and other debris have covered about 3,000 miles of the north pacific. all right. now here is an "early" look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study warns about the

danger of sleeping pills. researchers find the death rate for people who take the prescription sleep aids is four times greater than those who do not. even those who take low doses, as many as 18 pills a year, have a greater mortality risk. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, the dow will open five points above the 13,000 mark, after adding 23 yesterday. the s&p was up 4 and the nasdaq gained 20. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. tokyo, the nikkei adding a fraction of a point while in hong kong, the hang seng was up

111. tuesday's close about the three 13,000 level has investors looking ahead with some opt yesterday, the dow rode a surge of confidence in the economy to cross a threshold not seen since the great recession. fueling yesterday's rally? a swell of consumer confidence in february driven by improving job prospects and upbeat overall attitude about the nation's economy. johnson & john son adding 5 1/2 poigs to the crucial rise. microsoft the biggest percentage gain among the 30 stocks that make up the dow adding 2%. indell to buy chips from micron technology sending the s semiconductor index higher overall. on the downside, dreamworks tumbled in trade after a weak forecast after the bell. cable vision saw its stock slide

10% after reporting an increase in capital last quarter. lending has picked up at u.s. banks with financial institutions posting their biggest quarterly lending increase in four years. finally, tired of hunting around for your keys or your glasses in the morning? no problem for you. this little red and white robot will find them for you. that's right. thanks to a wealth of artificial intelligence and two on-board cameras, the mobile robot can identify objects, guide you to them and even recognize human faces. a little scary for some, perhaps. the bucks slip past the wizards and the nets stun the mavericks. plus the celtics snap a five-game skid in cleveland. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather i'll have an update on the major winter storm bringing storms to many areas of the country. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

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[ male announcer ] but when she used tissues, she went crazy wild. tissue after tissue, she always took a ton. until mom explained with puffs ultra soft & strong, you only need one. two times stronger than the leading value brand, they always win this test. soft non-lotion pillows, they're sure to impress. now the tissue monster had gone away, and puffs ultra soft & strong saved the day. a nose in need deserves puffs ultra soft & strong indeed. for those who prefer lotion, try puffs plus lotion. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." take you to sports. nba teams took to the court again after a pause for the all-star break. here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. the second half of the nba season started with a full flight of action last night. get to ten art sta nestled ncleveland. celts snapped a five-game skid with a win over the gams. ray allen a team high 22.

this came down to the final shot. anthony parker with a three to force overtime but off the iron and the celts held on 86-83. bucks and wizards down to the wire as well. washington up one. ten seconds to play. brandon jennings couldn't get the runner to fall but the rebound tipped in for the lead. the wiz with a chances at the buzzer but roger mason travelled. bucks win it 118-119. going bald? don't worry. have a mascot spray silly string all over your head. raptors beat the rockets. lopez made a pair of clutch free throws in the end for the lead. brooks did it all. they win it 93-92. college hoops. five teams in the top 25. michigan state is ranked fifth but they got more than they could handle from number 20, indiana.

cody zoeller led the hoosiers with 18. indiana won easily 70-55. finally, great finish in washington. if you're a capitals fan. against the islanders. troy brower scored a pair of goals in the final three minutes and tied the game with just 25 seconds left to force overtime. alex ovechkin did the rest, unleashed a rocket from the top of the circle. capitals rally to win it 3-2 in o.t. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> thanks, fred. a bitter hollywood custody battle comes to an greble end. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus a latin dance inspired craze that could be coming to your local craze school? you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." the big weather story overnight and probably the big news story a tornado hit the city of branson, missouri. it looks like significant damage has been done but so far no reports of any fatalities. numerous injuries. they are still responding to the scene and it only occurred a couple of hours ago. we have tornado watches that continue across the mississippi and northern arkansas in a tornado watch along with northern mississippi where the storms will head next. the whole northern half of the great lakes in new england you're in that winter mess on the cold side of that storm. if you're watching us on news channel 2, charleston, south carolina, see a glowing collection of neon light cultures at the ecstasy knowing

museum. that is your "early today" event of the today. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. reports that whitney houston's death will likely be ruled accidental. a likely source tells e. news investigators finds nothing suspicious that connect other people to the singer's death and that the inquiry is nearly completed. jennifer garner and ben affleck welcomed third child into the world. no word yet on the baby's name. court documents obtained by tmz says kelsey grammer and ex-wife have settled their child custody dispute, agreeing to joint custody of their young daughter mason and son jude. a 41-year-old brazilian man was arrested and charged for allegedly using a fake i.d. with jack nicholson photo while opening up a bank account. police say he was carrying

various fake cards at the time but the one with nicholson set off alarms. >> he looked like him. >> still, everybody knows who jack nicholson is! ktiv news 4 in sioux city, iowa, in nearby it's never too young to learn to salsa. one of the moves being talked in a zumba class for preschoolers. they are using 500 dollars in grant money to teach kids what they hope is a fun way to exercise. i'm richard lui. this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. we're starting out with dry conditions. the rain will catch up to us. 34 at the airport. 35 in parkton. rain showers likely. i think the rain will start to move in after 9:00 with high temperatures between 45 and 50. we will come back and check the seven-day forecast. >> at thank you. 40 degrees on tv hill.

police investigate a late-night shooting. >> fill up with gas and you may be asked to sign a petition. >> mitt romney pulls it out in michigan. >> we're looking at your wednesday morning commute. we will let you know ♪ okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief i have an opportunity

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[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> the gorgeous weather had to come to an end. >> we have some good news. i think we'll get to the drive time without any rain and that will help out. cloudy skies. the rate will catch up to ud