our "safety in numbers" event. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 jetta for $159 a month. this morning on "early today", looking for answers. conflicting details emerge about the u.s. soldier accused in the afghan killing spree. rampage aftermath. afghan president hamid karzai slaps the u.s. military with a troubling demand. and a royal sport. the duchess of cambridge shows off her field hockey skills at the duchess of cambridge shows off her field hockey skills at london's olympic park. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the afghan shootings. the u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 people has hired a high-profile attorney to handle his defense. john henry brown, the lawyer for

the unnamed soldier, said his client was not happy about going to afghanistan after suffering severe injuries during three tours in iraq. brown said the decorated soldier's family was totally shocked by his actions and denied reports there were any marital difficulties. the attorney previously represented serial killer ted bundy and the barefoot bandit. meanwhile, a senior official told the "new york times", due to stress, alcohol and domestic issues the soldier, quote, just snapped. the official told the "times" the account of the sergeant's state of mind came from two other soldiers he drank alcohol with on the night of the shootings. fort leavenworth, kansas could be the next place for the sergeant. if convicted of murder, he could face the death penalty. thursday in the continued fallout from those killings, america's military campaign in afghanistan suffered a double blow.

in a rebuke to visiting u.s. defense secretary leon panetta, president hamid karzai demanded a pullback of nato troops from villages and rural areas and asked that the transfer of security forces leading up to a complete withdrawal be sped up. in addition, the taliban suspended all talks with the united states thursday, blaming a lack of clarity on the issues by the u.s., and doubts about america's willingness to carry out promises "instead of wasting time." well, back here at home on the campaign trail, president obama and vice president biden were all out thursday in maryland and ohio with tough talk aimed at the republican rivals. nbc's tracie potts joins us with those details. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn. good morning. good morning, everyone. after months of watching the republicans slug it out in these primaries and in these debates, the president and vice president this week decided to jump into

the fray, giving americans what they call a different choice. >> mitt romney, rick santorum and newt gingrich, these guys have a fundamentally different economic philosophy than we do. >> reporter: a one-two-three punch in his first campaign event. vice president biden told autoworkers in ohio republicans would let their bosses and employees go bankrupt. >> if you give any one of these guys the keys to the white house they will bankrupt the middleclass again. >> joe biden is doing what vice presidential candidates do which is call the other side out on issues differences. in maryland, president obama focused on energy and promises from his republican rivals of cheaper gas. >> they start acting like we have a magic wand and we will give you cheap gas forever if you just elect us. they dismissed wind power. they dismissed solar power.

they make jokes about biofuels. they were against raising fuel standards. i guess they like gas guzzlers. >> reporter: newt gingrich, who promised $2.50 gas, took aim at the president's claims of more drilling since he has been in office. >> this is utter intellectual nonsense. if he wants to represent saudi oil, i will be happy to represent american fuel and american jobs. >> reporter: a campaign new under way with both sides in the ring. and the president has got more events, campaign events scheduled today in chicago and atlanta. lynn? >> tracie potts for us in washington. tracie, thanks. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. frightening moments in columbus, ohio as a police officer rushed to stop a man who had just stabbed four people near a college. police say the attacker turned toward the officer and that's when she began opening fire. the video shows her knocked backwards, but she managed to hold onto her gun. the suspect and two of the victims are listed as critical.

in michigan, a devastating tornado could be seen heading for the rural village of dexter last night. it would go on to destroy 13 homes and damage more than 100. it brought large hail to the area. there are no reports of any serious injuries. and finally, rod blagojevich's last bizarre moments of freedom, smiling for a picture as he flew to colorado, his ride to federal prison was full of detours. he actually passed by the prison at first for one last stop at a restaurant where he signed autographs. blagojevich will be out of camera view for a while as he begins a 14-year corruption sentence. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist ryan phillips down from wtvj our nbc

affiliate in miami, florida. why not stop and get a burger and fries. >> almost par for the course for the road he's traveling. nice weather in the east earlier in the week. things gradually begin to shake up as we get into friday afternoon. by and large it's been a very warm weather pattern across much of the country. yesterday breaking records left and right with afternoon highs running about 20 degrees above average. broke a record high in atlanta. 82 yesterday. 82 in the nation's capital. 52, though, yesterday in new york. this morning we're at 43 in new york. 52 in the nation's capital. but we move into the midwest and into the deep south. temperatures here into the 60s. so a very warm pattern. 44 up the road in minneapolis. clouds and showers extending across the missouri valley, the mid atlantic and northeast where it will be a fairly wet day. that's true across ohio, west virginia and western and central pennsylvania first thing this morning. your friday forecast with more showers and cooler temperatures in the northeast. that's a quick look at the

regional weather. now a look at the weather close to home. more showers in the afternoon hours for new york. temperatures there at 61. orlando, partly sunny and 84. not bad at all. some storms in columbus, ohio at 75. and pueblo, colorado, plenty of sunshine. afternoon highs at 82. into the weekend, we are looking for this above average trend to continue. so some fabulous weather ahead. >> good news. all right, ryan, thanks so much. coming up, the day of the ipad, more good news on the job front, and i'll take green ketchup with those fries, please. we'll explain. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead >> plus, it's not the 21 jump street you may remember, but it is expected to take the top spot this weekend at the box office. coming up, the rich el deal in nfl history, a shoe of nba trades, and, yeah, march madness. you're watching "early today".

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. north korea says today it will launch a long-range rocket mounted with a satellite. the provocative move comes only weeks after it agreed to nuclear concessions including a moratorium on long-range missile tests. united nations secretary general ban ki-moon said yesterday more than 8,000 people have died in syria over the last year. he said the bloody crackdown on the opposition by syrian troops is, quote, indefensible. the most dangerous drivers in america are from st. louis, missouri. this according to men's health magazine. second worst came from dallas. the safest, they were from st. paul, minnesota. ben and jerry's ice cream is producing a limited batch of ice cream to support same-sex

marriage law in england called apple-y ever after. and the duchess of cambridge was training with the national field hockey team and she accompanied prince charles and camilla on a children's art charity where the kids were drawing the queen for their "jubilee!" celebrations. a new report on fertility said overweight men are 11% more likely to have low sperm counts or no production at all. men who fall into the obese category were 42% more likely to have a low count and 81% more likely to have none. for more information on this and other health stories you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil. bring yourself back. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,252 after adding 58 points yesterday. the s&p gained 8 points. the nasdaq was up 15. taking a look at overseas

trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 6 points, but in hong kong the hang seng was down 35. today may be another big day for apple after its stock hit $600 for the first time yesterday before falling back. ipad customers in asia were greeted with cheers as they entered stores to buy the new version of the popular tablet computer. and there are long lines right now in the u.s. as people wait to get their chance. a new tablet is reportedly in the works from nokia finland. the company is working on a device they hope will be able to compete with the ipad. there's a new mobile phone payment service from paypal. it will allow businesses to accept paypal credit or check payments using a small triangular card reader attached to your phone. wall street's winning streak is still alive. yesterday's gains for the s&p 500 left it closing above 1,400 for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.

u.s. and england reportedly may release oil from strategic reserves to lower gas prices. president obama and prime minister david cameron discussed the issue this week. and the rising gas prices at the pump may have pushed the consumer price index, which will be released today. the number of americans claiming new unemployment benefits last week fell to a four-year low as the economy shows more signs of improvement. boeing says by next year it will move production of the horizontal tail of dream liners from seattle to utah and italy. the move would not result in any job losses at the seattle plant. for st. patrick's day, burger king is celebrating with free french fries. sounds pretty good. saturday and sunday you can get a free value size order with green ketchup. not sure that sounds great, but free fries is good. coming up, trade day in the nba, another huge nfl contract and march madness. march is on.

virginia commonwealth pulls off an upset win over wichita state. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. it's the last weekend of winter but spring weather dominating the nation. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports yesterday's nba trade deadline saw many players changing addresses. but the big man everyone expected to be traded is staying put. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the ncaa basketball tournament got under way yesterday, but before we get to all the upsets there were a couple notable trades in the nba. the biggest deal was the one that didn't happen. dwight howard is staying put in orlando. in fact, he terminated his option. that means he will be a member of the magic next season. wizard made a splash. they acquired may day for mcgee. and the lakers got help in the point guard position. they picked up sessions from the cavs. and they sent fan favorite fisher to the rockets. quick nfl note, six years, $100 million for mario williams. the richest contract for a defensive player in nfl history. get your brackets out. here we go. we begin in the east where top-ranked syracuse received a

scare from unc asheville. down four at the half when james sutherland started hitting three. syracuse escaped 72-65. kentucky, the number one seed for a reason, simply too much for western kentucky. at one point they were up by 32. the wildcats won easily, 81-66. there will be a new champion this year. uconn was crushed by iowa state. what do the cyclones get for taking out the defending champ? how about top-ranked kentucky. now for some bracket busters. colorado not supposed to be in the tournament. the pac-12 champs led from start to finish against unlv. they play baylor next. finally, last year's cinderella is the bell of the ball. bcu knocked off highly favored wichita state. this down to the wire after bradford burgess put the rams on top. off the iron. bcu up by three in the final seconds. wichita state, one last chance. they couldn't get the three to fall. bcu pulled off another upset, 62-59. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend.

i'm fred roggin. russell brand was arrested yesterday, but wait until you hear what he blamed it on. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, they've seen it all, covered the biggest stories but you won't believe what got their undivided attention yesterday. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." the weekend's weather looking good here. we start with our friday forecast in the northeast. clouds and showers coming back. not quite as warm. in the 40s in boston. 76 in washington. some storms in atlanta and 81. sunshine in dallas, 77. then for saturday, nice weather in denver. and improving conditions in the northeast with temperatures into the 50s for boston. about 61 there in new york. improving conditions down in miami. temperatures there at 81. the weekend weather in miami, outstanding for the 7th annual jazz in the gardens music festival sunlife stadium saturday and sunday. missouri, ksdk this morning, if you're getting ready for your weekend, if you're watching us there in nearby jefferson be city, the best of 30 years of nature photography presented by jefferson city native at wildlife magic at the state museum there in jefferson city.

outstanding weather in most of the nation. now here's an early look at some of your headlines in entertainment. the top ranked r-rated come i did makes a comeback. "21 jump street" with jonah hill and channing tatum is looking to regain the raunchy box office mojo they enjoyed last summer. experts think it will muscle out two-time champ the lorax for top spot with at least $30 million. that's going to be tough. speaking of r-rated comedy success, while there's been lots of talk about the overbudgeted underperforming john carter, a and less for project x, a party flick cost $12 million to make, passing $60 million in earnings. russell brand turned himself in to new orleans police to face the music for grabbing a photographer's phone and throwing it in a nearby window.

he said he did it as a tribute saying, quote, since steve jobs die i cannot bear to see anyone use an iphone i reverently. and this comes from the nation's capital where grizzled white house correspondent can get excited when a movie star stops through. george clooney had reporters and photographers race to go keep up with him after he met with president obama thursday. clooney talked about relief efforts in sudan. an nbc source said except for two holdouts the entire press core turned out to see and hear what the hollywood heavyweight had to say. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just 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 have a cloud cover to start the day. it is dry for now but we could see some rain later on. 49 in parkton. the forecast for today -- variable clouds. we'll start up cloudy and maybe a chance for a shower or thunderstorm. high temperature in the upper 60's and low 70's. we'll come back and check the forecast for the rest of the weekend. >> 49 degrees on tv hill. >> a look at the list of guests governor invited to m&t

bank skybox. >> police are making a profound change in the way they do business. >> a campaign for president. the president and vice president have gone on offense. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. shaping up pretty well so far. an accident on the northbound side of the fort mchenry. side of the fort mchenry. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] virtual wallet can help you be that person who's good with money. see what's free to spend. move money with a slide. save with a shake. feel good about your decisions.

[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. happy friday. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> it is st. patrick's day eve. >> i think for the most part the weather will be fine. right