this morning on "early today," the race continues. after mitt romney's super tuesday win, his rivals vow to fight on as the nomination heads to the bible belt. could diabetes and cholesterol lowering drugs soon be available over the counter? the largest solar storm is sent hurling toward earth. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. , gop presidential candidates swing south today where newt

gingrich locked in his only super tuesday win in georgia. well, now some of rick santorum supporters want beginning hitch out to consolidate the conservative vote against moderate rival mitt romney. brian moore is in washington with more on this. >> reporter: no doubt about it, mitt romney has been stumbling with conservatives, trying to get on message, but he does have the numbers in terms of delegates on his side right now and clearly the front-runner but newt gingrich has the home turf advantage as the gop presidential race heads south and talking about an issue to kick-start his campaign, gas prices. he took a poke at president obama who was in north carolina yesterday talking about alternative energy. gingrich says if you want $2 a gas, vote for gingrich. rick santorum voters are urging gingrich to get out of the way. he only won his home state of georgia on super tuesday. santorum did better winning tennessee in the fall.

santorum insists he can win it all in a two-person race. right now, mitt romney is the front-runner even though his narrow win in ohio and ohio showing he is having trouble catching fire with conservatives and still trying to convince them he is a winner. lynn? >> brian moore there in washington for us, thank you very much. president obama has asked the pentagon to deal with the syrian crackdown. still the president and his defense secretary are resisting calls for u.s. intervention. nbc's francis coe reports. >> reporter: as violence continues in syria, obama administration officials are pushing back against demands for u.s. military involvement. speaking before the senate armed services committee, defense secretary leon panetta said there is no simple solutions to what is going on in syria.

>> we all wish there was a clear and unambiguous way forward to directly influence the events in syria and, unfortunately, it's not the case. it is not an excuse. that is reality. >> reporter: senator john mccain who has called for u.s. air strikes in syria fired back. >> how many additional civilian lives would have to be lost in order to convince you that the military measures of this kind that we are proposing necessary to end the killing and forced to lead power, how many more have to die? 20,000 more? how many more. >> reporter: the united nations estimates more than 7,500 civilians have died so far. and the uprising against syria's president. the u.n. humanitarian chief was allowed to enter a homs district after a deadly four-week siege. government forces took control of the district last thursday after rebel forces abandoned the

area. it was sealed for six days and activists accuse the government of using the time to hide evidence of atrocities committed there. francis coe, nbc news. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. in louisiana, surveillance video captured a thief break nothing a pharmacy and steal 9,000 pills in less than a minute. the burglar filled a garbage bag with nearly $5,000 worth of prescription drugs, including oxycontin and morphine and oxycodone. he remains on the loose. an explosion in cincinnati sent fire shooting up into the street in front of a bus. at least three man hole covers were sent flying from the blast caused by an underground electrical line. luckily, no one there was hurt. also in ohio, a school bus driver is now facing charges. police say video shows the driver going into the middle of the bus and restraining a 9-year-old boy so a girl could hit him.

the driver, who has already quit her job, apparently thought the boy had been teasing the girl. and, finally, a minnesota couple won't have much trouble remembering their kids' birthdays that's because for the third time in a row, mom gave birth on march 5th like she did two times over the last four years. the parents say they never planned to have any of were their kids born on the same day. thankfully their two older kids have learned the value of sharing. that will come in handy, especially for the birthday time. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with a look at the forecast. >> i would move my birthday. no way! >> i would move it to 6th so billy doesn't get my cupcake. doesn't work that way. >> i know but a big group party and you don't get all of the attention. >> you have to share. >> overrated. good morning, everyone. yesterday, we were all sharing a lot of the beautiful warmth. what a nice spring day it was in so many areas and it's changing in the midwest, though.

the east coast will have oot day of very warm temperatures just like yesterday. it was 67 in d.c. you were warmer than our friends in atlanta at 66. texas was in the 70s. 80s in new orleans and the warmth spread up to kansas city, chicago, everywhere in between here in the midwest. things have changed because the colder air is trying to push down from the north. it's a chilly morning today from denver up to the dakotas up through minnesota, wisconsin, and iowa. even kansas city is at 34 and even some snow nearby. the warm side of that storm system covers everywhere from the mississippi eastward. so, today, if you're from the mississippi river eastward, another mild day. northern plains in chilly. in the middle, we have our rainmaker and it's raining pretty good in a few spots with thunderstorms in missouri and areas of oklahoma and heavier downpours around baseville, arkansas. the snow on the back side not far from downtown kansas city. keep an eye on that. otherwise, on the east coast, that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window.

a chance of some showers and maybe a few thunderstorms thrown in the mix too. really anywhere from missouri to arkansas. later in the day, louisiana, but especially in texas we could even see some heavier rain with a possibility of some flooding in the days ahead. a little bit of wet weather in the middle, but for the east, one more day of bliss. >> amazing. all right, bill, thanks so much. coming up, high hopes for jobs. a new thicker ipad. and the world's youngest self-made female billionaire. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, indications that things are mellowing out between brad and angelina and jennifer aniston? coming up, peyton says good-bye. a buzzer beater by the mvp and what in the world has happened to the lakers? you're watching "early today."

good morning.

welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the associated press reports a satellite image of an iranian military facility showing heavy equipment paerm to clean up radioactive traces by tests left by a nuclear weapon equipment. a drug to treat diabetes and cholesterol and high blood pressure. would make the drugs available over the counter and should reduce health care costs. in texas, keith thurmond was executed for the 2001 killings of his estranged wife and her boyfriend. the u.s. supreme court rejected his final appeal. his last words were, quote, i did not kill my wife, i swear to god, i didn't kill her. the effects of the largest solar storm in five years hit the earth today. the spectacular eruption has forced airlines to reroute some

of their flights and may even disrupt satellite networks, gps services and utility grids. now here is an "early" look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new treatment for deadly skin carnes might be a turning point in cancer medicine and involves a drug that triggers the body's own immune system to take on melano melanoma. when doctors added radiation treatment all of the tumors disappeared. tests will see if it can work on other melanoma patients and others with kidney and lung cancer. 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. the dow opens at 12,837, after adding 78 points yesterday. the s&p was up nine points. the nasdaq gained 25. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei surged 192

points. while in hong kong, the hang seng spiked 272. some reassurance on the jobs front helped stocks bounce back from their biggest dive this year. a slowdown in worker productivity fueled increase on the horizon. investors were encouraged by estimates, private employers added 216,000 workers last month. banks got a boost from a "wall street journal" report saying fed officials aren't considering awe in type of bond buying program. the treasury is unloading $6 billion in aig stock to help reduce its stake in the bailedout insurer. pandora's after the bell beating continued resulting in a loss of more than a fifth of its market value. american eagle outfitters shot up after a healthy quarter. toyota is recalling nearly

700,000 u.s. autos due to a range of problems. the "wall street journal" reports the justice department is threatening to sue five of the nation's largest book publishers and apple over an alleged scheme to raise the price of ebooks. ceo tim cook unveiled apple's updated ipad which is not called an ipad 3, bay the way. it is thicker and heavier due to larger batteries to display its high-tech display. mexican tycoon carlos lim retained his top spot on the billionaire list. bill gates and warren buffett second and third respectively. new name on the list. sarah blakley, thanks to spanx, she is the youngest self-made

female billion mayor. ladies everywhere thank her! coming up, two last-second nba thrillers. the world's greatest soccer player goes goal crazy. an emotional day for peyton manning. plus, last night, the woeful washington wizards slammed hollywood's heroes. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. as we head towards the weekend, a beautiful warm weather is going to come to an end. with it some rain. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night, the nba's lost lakers blew a 21-point lead and lost to one of the league's worst teams. here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. after beating the heat on sunday it appeared the lakers were once again an elite team in the nba. wait a minute, not so fast. back-to-back losses toted pistons and wizards have basketball fans scratching their heads. here we go to washington. wizards looked like the worst team in the east in the first half. nick yun young on the fast break. toss the ball own the backboard. the wheels fell off. the wizards put together 28-4 run and in the blink of an eye they were down and then out. wizards ninth win of the year

106-101. another shocking outcome in phil. not a huge surprise that the sixers beat the celts but how they did it. led from start-to-finish and won by a staggering 32. sixers won it 103-71. from a blowout to bauser beater. chicago and milwaukee tied at 0 104. derrick rose with the ball and this is why he is the mvp. step-back jumper and that is your ball game. bulls win it 106-104. to new jersey, final seconds clippers up two on the nets. jordan farmar said forget the tie i'm going for the win and he drained the three with less than a second to play. nets beat the clips 101-100. soccer. amazing night on the pitch for barcelona's messy. became the first player ever to score five goals in a champions league game. you'll likely never see a performance quite like that. barcelona won big, 7-1. as expected the colts released peyton manning and an emotional farewell for tmvp

quarterback. >> i've been blessed to play here. i've been blessed to play in the nfl. as i go, i go with just a few words left to say. i truly have enjoyed being your quarterback. >> the end of an era in indianapolis but the sight of a new one somewhere else. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. coming up, whitney's will. snooki's announcement and justin bieber's mom makes her own deal. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's the rock that is rocking southern california. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." if you're joining us from areas of arkansas, areas near memphis, tennessee, back down to northern new orleans and eastern texas and oklahoma, periods of heavy rain. not just today but the next two or three days. could have some flooding issues by the end of the weekend. oes fine and dry. chicago has a little bit of light rain this morning. that should improve as the day moves on. friday, more heavy rain in the deep south. that's going to be the trouble spot as we look at the arklatex area. if you're watching us on wcb-tv, charleston, south carolina, see paintings that capture the landscape and architecture of the southern south of the helena fox fine art museum. that is your "early today" event of the today. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in

entertainment. whitney houston has left her wealth and possessions to her daughter. in a will written in 1993 a month before she gave birth, houston specifies her, quote, surviving children will receive everything. bobbi was her only child. elsewhere. key anna reeves has a third script is finished and says it's pretty good. it's been 21 years since the last excellent adventure. can you believe that, bill? doesn't that make you feel old? "jersey shores" snooki has confirmed she is pregnant and she did it where the "new york post" said she would. the big bucks, "us weekly" magazine. justin bieber's mom is cashing in. patty who gave birth to the pop star when she was only 18 just got a book deal to tell all about being the biebs mom. bill is silent over here and wants to say something. >> nothing good.

a major between angelina jolie and jennifer aniston. aniston responded by sending jolie flowers and a note saying how well directed the movie was. what is that? all is well? >> i send all of my ex-girlfriends that. >> exactly. this comes to us from nbc news news in los angeles where in nearby long beach a party for a real rock star. thousands turned out to celebrate the arrival of the 340-ton boulder. the super stone is on a very slow journey from a southern california rock quarry to the los angeles california museum of art. people came to listen to the music and had the word rocket travel. a truck will deliver the piece to its new home this saturday. i'm lynn berry. 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. >> it is going to be another mild state today. temperatures near 70 degrees. the average high temperature is 51. 54 at the airport. the forecast for today, breezy, mild. we will stay dry but some rain is going to come in tonight. highs in the upper 60's. we will take a look at the seven day forecast. >> that time is 4:57.

coming up, the latest on a cover-up in the death of a 13- year-old girl. >> should he stay or should he go? john leopold should call it quits but that might not happen right away. >> taking a look at your morning commute. so far, so good. we will let you know

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[ 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? >> live, local, late-breaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. >> thank you for joining us. >> yesterday was gorgeous. >> it is going to be fantastic today. not quite as bright and sunny. we will hit 70 this afternoon. you cannot complain. during the day, it will be fine. takeoo