today," regaining mow meant item. mitt romney scores a resounding win in porcello's republican primary. brink of disaster. newly released video captures the sheer terror of an ef-4 toernd. and indian iron n. a former mr. universe celebrates a big milestone. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with an overwhelming win. mitt romney rakes in all of porcello's 20 delegates on sunday after walking away with more than 50% of the

republican's primary vote and now the spotlight is on illinois. tracie potts joins us with more on this. good morning. >> good morning. illinois's primary is going to be a little different than what we've seen so far. it's not winner take all. it's not proportional. they have separate votes for the president and for the delegates. the popular vote does not determine who gets those delegates. illinois's the necked by prize. tomorrow's republican primary will decide most of the state's 69 delegates. >> if we're able to come out with a huge surprise win, guarantee you, i guarantee you that we will win this combination. >> it's an uphill battle for santorum. he's not on the ballot in all illinois districts plus mitt romney's got a clear lead in the poll by as much as nine points, plus romney is coming in with momentum. he won porcello's delegates

sunday. >> those people who don't think that latinos will vote for republican, need to take a look in puerto rico and see there the conservative principles and latino voters go together. >> the democrats question whether romney can seal the deal. >> every time it looks like mr. romney has some momentum, he gets set back. he hasn't been able to make the sale to his own party. >> republican leaders say it's early in the game. >> we're only at halftime. i think this process is going to play itself out. we will have a nominee, i think fairly soon, one, two months away. >> now, newt gingrich and ron paul are also on the ballot in illinois but with very little support. in fact, finn grich said this one is going to be largely between romney and santorum. lynn? >> thank you. at least two powerful tornadoes touched down in nebraska last night. the twisters hit near north platte in lincoln county in the

southwest part of the state. at least two people were injured as roofs were torn off the buildings, they knocked down trees and knocked down power lines and of course nbc's bill karins is going to have much more on that. that's going dom up in just a moment. but first spring doesn't officially arrive until tuesday morning but across the country it already feels like spring, even summer in some places. the warm spell has been smashing records with high temperatures in a lot of spots. nbc's frances kuo reports. >> reporter: the marathon heated up. temperatures in atlanta soared into the 70s. runners elsewhere experiencing the same surprise. in new york temperatures more typical of june than mid-march. the windy city better described as balmy, five 80-degree days in a row.

all records. 35 degrees above average. >> it's pretty unusual to debate whether or not you're going to turn on the air conditioning in march in chicago. >> reporter: because of that debate, the jet stream that has been pushing through keeping cold air in arctic and ushering warm gulf air through most of the country. in the nation's capitol, the cherry blossom's 100th festival got off to an early start. the blossoms were predicted to peak between march 24th and 31st. st. louis, missouri, is seeing blooding blooms too as spring descends on the gateway to the west. >> finally there's some snow up in this place. >> reporter: further west, though, in northern california, winter is hanging on. >> there's no bad time for snow in the notes. we love it, cree crave it and we're stoked. >> reporter: skiers hoping to hit the slopes through april. frances quo, nbc news. one of the few places you

can actually do that. now here's stories making news early today in america. newly released video shows the fury of a tornado's direct hit on an indiana school earlier this month. classes had just let out for the day, but 80 high school students and teachers hunkered down as the ef-4 twister rip aid way the roof of the gym along with other parts of the campus. nearly half the school was destroyed, but thankfully no one was hurt. in los angeles, a light rail train crashed into a car, sending the driver and five passengers to the hospital. firefighters had to use the jaws of life to free the victims. witnesses say the driver had run a stoplight just before crossing onto the tracks. there were no passengers aboard the train and the conductor wasn't injured. and finally an extreme st. patrick's day party in north carolina. for your the second year in a row, rafters and kayakers rode it out on what's billed as the only white water river turned

green. 12 million gallons of water got a dye job at the u.s. national whitewater center in charlotte. now for a look at your national and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. welcome back, bill. took a little time off preparing for st. patrick's damon you? >> no. a little basketball on the menu. >> thank you for using that time wisely. we missed you. >> i'm allowed to use my time however i like. >> no lecture here. hey, i'm going soon. >> good morning everyone. lynn showed you the highlights, the incredible temperatures, snow outside and last night tornadoes. we still have a severe weather threat early this morning. we have strong storms in areas of northern texas, pushing through western sections of oklahoma. mostly a wind damage threat. lightning strikes obviously with it. you see them popping up here.

eventually they'll try to move slowly toward oklahoma but they'll probably dissipate by the time they get there. over the next few days we're going have multiple weather events and outbreaks and we're going to end up with a lot of heavy rain from dallas to shreveport on up along the border of missouri, arkansas. this is the area that could pick up as much as five to six inches of rain. it was very warm with highs that were incredible. 80s, 90s, widespread. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. well, you can see these temperatures. pretty incredible today. areas like cleveland and chicago. now, there's a slight chance of showers an storms later in the day. oklahoma city, also have to watch out for strong storms later this afternoon. and unfortunately it looks like the severe weather will continue today. maybe more tornadoes later this afternoon. i'll update that forecast a little later. >> thanks so much. also coming up a big

announcement from apple. getting your news on the go. and batman is on duty in brazil. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, could it be hollywood's new formula. a remake of a tv series that in no way resembles a tv series? march madness upset and a buzzer beater on the ice. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines this morning. intense fighting broke out today in syria's capital of demass was between government croups and opposition forces. machine guns and rocket propelled grenades were used in one of the most heavenly guarded areas in the city. a motor cycle riding gunman believed to be connected to al qaeda killed an american teacher for allegedly promoting christian religion. the gunman escaped.

violence broke out during a soccer match in athens, greece, as rowdy fans trite to get in without tickets and then set the stands on fire. the game was canceled as 20 police officers were injured and 50 people arrested, some with mott a tov cocktails, firecrackers, and knives. an unexploded one-ton bomb was unearthed in southern france. bomb crews were able to remove it and detonate it safely. and india's famed mr. universe from 1952 is now 100 years old. only 4'11" tall and known as the pocket hercules, he says exercise, a healthy diet, and being happy are the keys to long life. good to know. well, now here's an early look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,232 after losing 20 points on friday. the s&p was up a point but the

nasdaq was down 1. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei added 12 points be u in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 202. it could be a big day for investors in the world's most val ruable company. in a surprise announcement yesterday apple scheduled a 9:00 call today to unveil its plans for a 98 million dollars cash balance. investors have been clamoring for a dividend hoping the company could share some of its mountains of cash with shareholders. elsewhere ups is reporting it's going to buy its dutch rival tnts if $6.5 billion. stocks in asia are higher over what's expected to be improved economic data due out this week. most of the data will focus on the beaten down housing market with reports on new home con stru

strukz, sales of new homes and home sentiment. there are a few notable earnings reports including oracle, general mills, and tiffany's. aaa says the naksal average price for regular gas is up seven cents in the last week to $3.3 $3.83 a gallon. it's 28 cents shy of an all-time record. 178 chevron and transocean employees are being detained in brazil as authorities rew prepared to file criminal charges regarding an oil spill. according to new study, mobile technology is boosting the public's appetite for information. with 27% using tablets or smartphones to get their news. finally is batman in brazil? apparently. a retired cop has donned the black rubber suit to help kids in sao paolo learn the difference between good and evil and they're having some fun while doing it apparently.

well, the flyers light the lamp before the buzzer, a new number one in golf, and down to the sweet 16? march madness continues for the jayhawks as kansas dunks purdue. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. add the record code heads high into the midwest we're getting thunderstorms. 's going to continue. 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, if you love nonstop do or die college basketball, this was your big weekend. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. if your bracket wasn't already busted, it might be now. we'll start in the midwest where 11th seed north carolina state pulls off a huge upset. had a three-point lead at the half against georgetown. held onto it all the way through the second. jason clark with one last chance for the hoyas. nbc state is onto the sweet 16 with a 66-63 win. a fin yish between purdue and kansas. the boilermakers had to leave the game up till the final minutes. the layup, purdue has a shot at the buzzer, but the bang is closed on sundays. kansas rallies to win it, 63-60.

they'll play nbc state. north carolina had no problem taking care of craten, but the win was not without a loss. starting guard kendall marshall broke a bone in his wrist. he plays the rest of the game but is questionable for friday against ohio. north carolina moves on, 87-73. florida state and cincinnati were back and forth the entire game until the end. a costly tonover by the semin e seminoles was the difference. cinci wins it 6 the-56. to the west bracket. michigan state's mr. everything, draven green doing everything including mopping the floor. they cleaned up against st. louis. a shot off the rim a few times. st. louis hangs around but top seed michigan state just too much. they win this one, 65-61. they'll play louisville in the sweet 16. is there's a new number one in golf. lou donald played to take the transition's championship. and finally in the spirit of march madness, the flyers pulled off a last second shot fit for the tourney. time weekending down in overtime against the penguins.

scott hartnell scores with less than a second remaining. flyers snap a winning streak with a thriller 3-2 overtime win and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. a report makes it appear as if lindsay lohan is actually listening to reason. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, seems like births these days are scheduled like clockwork. well, every once in a while, baby comes along when it feels like coming along. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." very important for people that live in the dallas-ft. worth area all the way down through waco, austin, into northern portions of the san antonio region, you're under a moderate risk of severe storms tonight. what that means is it's almost guaranteed you're going to see a strong line of thunderstorms heading through, maybe even supercells later on today, especially this afternoon into early this evening. so keep that in mind. also we're watching dry weather and that v warm trend continues, ohio valley all through the east coast. enjoy it. well, if you're watching us on wxia, 11 live in atlanta, georgia, learn of a man born into slavery who became a world renowned scientist at the jo washington kaver exhibit at the jimmy carter library and museum

and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. sometimes in hollywood when you make a remake, it pays not to really make a remake. does that make sense? "21 jump street" is based on the '80s tv drama, but it was retooled as a comedy cop farce powered by young audiences it jumped to number one, taking in $35 million. former two-time champ the lorax finished second with under $23 million. john carter dropped smartly in its senn skekd weekend for third. but while the $250 million dud flops like an albatross here, it's flying like an eagle overseas. worldwide overall take is $180 million. one other box office note. will ferrell's spanish language spoof casa de me padre played in

limited release in 400 theaters. i opened strongly in ninth with $2.2 million. and finally after last week's hit, tmz reports lindsay lohan has given in to pleading friends and placed herself under house arrest until her probation is over in two weeks. and this comes to us from ksl 5 news in salt lake city, utah where one mom to bee took matters into her own hands. the baby decided to make an entrance on st. patrick's day. the expectant parents raced to the hospital but the husband found out she gave birthhouse. i'm lynn berry. this is your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. welcome back to the work we. today is starting off somewhat to yesterday. we have some low clouds and some fog. the metro area is dry. we can see some showers and thunderstorms trying to make the way over the mountains. this is expected to fall apart. this will be the focal point for any showers that develop later today. temperatures will continue to warm. we will talk about how warm when we come back. >> 50 degrees on tv hill.

making the switch. parents struggle to find healthy snacks for their kids. >> a construction worker is recovering, the victim of a hit and run. >> looking back as will learn the identity of the afghan shooting suspect. how his friends remember him from years ago. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. we will let you know if we are

[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. >> how is it shaping up this morning? >> temperatures are well above

normal. the ch