and brings to his work, modesty, integrity and even handedness and excellence. >> he's known for his more moderate views. he was confirmed in 1997 and has the support of seven current gop senators even hatch who says his intelligence cannot be questioned. and he led the prosecution of timothy mcva bombing and nbc news justice correspondent pete williams with the details. >> reporter: the president introduced merrick garland as decent, and even handed. >> he's earned the respect and admiration of leaders from both sides of the aisle. >> garland was emotional.

my life, other than lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago. >> reporter: one of his daughters missed the moment out in the mountmountains. he grew up in chicago. as a federal prosecutor, he led that team that brought oklahoma city bomber to trial and often tough on criminals. >> ideologically, he's min middle and maybe a little to the left. >> reporter: at 63, he's the oldest supreme court nominee in nearly 50 years but when nominated for the federal appeals court in 1997, he was confirmed 76-23 with 32 republican votes. a point the administration now emphasizes. >> i simply ask republicans in the senate to give him a fair hearing.

republicans continue to say they won't even consider it because the next president should make that choice. >> the decision the senate announced weeks ago remains about a principal, not a person. >> reporter: so far even a few republicans have said they would meet with garland. >> i would not feel comfortable refusing to meet with the president's nominee to the high highest court in the land. and with hillary clinton and donald trump edging closer to securing the nominations, they're now setting their sights on each other. >> racist, torture. >> reporter: game on. going after each other as though they were already their party's nominees. and trump ridiculing clinton as a weak commander and chief, showing her barking like a dog as she told a joke on the

after clinton ridiculed trump in her victory speech. >> our commander and chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. >> reporter: clinton's strategy, don't get in the mud with trumps a some of his republican rivals did. go after him on policy, immigration, the ban on muslims, embracing torture, highlight how he dodges questions about foreign policy on "morning joe." >> i'm speaking with myself, number one, because i have a very good brain and have said a lot of things. my primary consultant is myself. >> reporter: campaign spokesman -- >> with hillary clinton in the general election match up, the option will be clear. who supports defending the president's executive actions.

hitting clinton hard. >> frankly, hillary's a disaster, by the way. you know that. >> look, you know she's guilty. we have numerous polls showing me beating her easily. >> reporter: that was andrea mitchell reporting. is it hillary clinton needs 35% of the remaining delegates and trump needs 55%. if it does come down to a contested convention, former speak of the house, john boehner said he would support current speaker paul ryan. and they clarified. meanwhile, south carolina governor nikki haley has switched her allegiance to ted cruz. she called him a strong leader

another rubio indorser, oklahoma senator has now switched his indorsement to john kasich. this is kasich's second indorsement from a senator and first from outside his home state of ohio. and donald trump picked up the support of rick scott who said it's time to coles behind trump. we have sad news to report this morning. frank sinatra, jr. has died. start spreading the news i'm leaving today i want to be a part of it new york, new york >> sinatra followed in his father's foot steps and eventually worked for old blue

was kidnapped at gun point. his family paid $230,000 ransom. and later in life he performed his father's songs. he died of cardiac arrest while on tour in daytona, florida. and his daughter, nancy sinatra said "sleep warm, frankie." dead at the age of 72. a colorado convenience store clerk is being called a hero. the woman checking out with her infant. she talks to the cashier and then appears disoriented. >> i grabbed the baby's arms. she start stood sway and was lost in space. so, i thought i better take the baby. something doesn't feel right and right then she started to fall. >> after calling 911 for the

was just following her instingtscts and feels bad about not catching the woman. at a naval air force base in san diego and a german shepherd who fell off a fishing boat two miles off the coast of san clemente clemente. she was presumed dead but somehow luna made it to shore and was spotted boo ithe navy on tuesday. other than being undernourished, she's said to be in good spirits. and time to get a check of the weather on this st. patrick's day. you're wearing green. i forgot mine. >> you have other things on your mind. >> baby on the brain. we watched the snow yesterday in areas of the midwest. the storm itself is over lake superior. and upper peninsula, michigan and we're watching a little bit

and the rainfall here that's going to be down along the gulf coast. and stationary front is going to stay here. pensacola, that area's going to deal with rain. and the new york city parade looks great, 54. boston looks fantastic too. 59. we may deal with a little bit of rain in mobile, about 72 degrees and if you've nervlver had a st. patrick's day in savannah, it's fun. there is some cold air out there. colder air to the north and warmer air to the south, 80s and 70s are pretty widespread. and towards the weekend, pretty seasonable from kansas city. chicago has a cold air on saturday, warm up on sunday. and maybe a little bit of snow. now a closer look at your day

well, there's no showers and storms along the gulf coast into the new orleans area and as we mentioned, maybe with the parade in mobile. and looks good in tampa. a lot of fun to be had on this st. patrick's day. >> oh, st. paddy's day isalways fun. and the shocking scene at a medical marijuana dispensary.y. see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% clearance.

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oceanau au anglenelina jolie speak to several children, telling one to stay strong and had sharp words for the rush of reporters. >> i'm asking you to be more thoughtful. >> she later met with the greek prime minister to discuss migrants and the crisis there. at south by southwest, first lady michelle obama ruled out one career possibility. >> i'm going to continue to work with our young people all over the world. not as president, i will not run for president. nope, nope, not going to do it. >> mrs. obama says her daughters have already had to deal with being the children of a president.

a canadian court. and two prisoners escaped via a helicopter. the prisoners were unable to climb up and eventually flew off with the men dangling from it and dropping them off at a get away car. theyere recaptured just hours later. time to get down to business. friskies is auctioning off what they call the holy grail of publishing. they'll auction the first of william shakespeare's plays and asking price between 1.1 and $1.7 million. and it's the latest technology in self tyivg or adaptive lacing. you step into the shoe and when your heel hits a sensor, the laces automatically tighten.

members of nike plus beginning around the holidays later this year. and these three female royal brunei crew and their maiden flight went to saudi arabia where women aren't even allowed to drive. and president obama's ncaa bracket busters. and steph curry the reign of dominance as the warriors' winning streak rolls on. soup and sandwich and cannonballs and clean and real and looking good and sandwich and soup and a new personal best. and a little help and soup and sandwich and study group. good, clean food pairs well with anything. try the clean pairings menu. at panera. food as it should be. covering is caring

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this morning on "today," the end of an era. after intense criticism, seaworld announces a major change to its killer whale breeding program. find out what it is later on "today." now to sports, we're down to 64 after the final first four. the cinderella team so far is 15-19 holy cross. they managed to hold off southern university. and they will advance in their first ncaa tournament victory in 63 years. and then it was michigan taking on tulsa for the last spot. and wolverines advance to take on notre dame on friday night in brooklyn. president obama fills in his annual ncaa. [ ets. >> 2009, first year of your presidency, picked north carolina and win.

>> that is the third kansas pick of his presidency and they didn't win either time. so, we shall see if it works this year. and golden state warriors just earned their 50th consecutive home win against the lowly nicks and they crushed them. and a heart throb to millions becomes an american citizen.

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now to entertainment news. chelsea handler is getting a new talk show on netflix. it will be on three times a week, wednesday, thursday, and friday. it premiers the 11th. and our sister station e is reporting they're being sued. the tough guy stars said they were stolen from them. in an interview, olivia wild told howard stern she was turned down in "the wolf of wall

enough. and tv land has announced a tv series based on "heathers". it will take place in the present day. model and romance novel coverman, fabio. where has he been? she's finally a u.s. citizen. he was one of more than 6,000 immigrants who took the oath of allegiance yesterday. he said it was one of the happiest days of his life. his hair still looks good, right? and the legendary music studio called magic shop is closing its doors after almost 30years. they hosted top names like david bowie and cold play. and jimmy fallon had things to say about donald trump's recent primary victory. >> actually, he gained a lot of

a really significant number. yeah. when trump said he was good at making deals, i didn't know he was that good. >> i did notice that number, the 666. >> you did notice it. i said wow, that's kind of interesting, although i didn't think to wear green. >> but you did think about that instead. >> the things that go through my mind. >> are you taking your son to new york city parade? >> are you kidding me? he's three months old. i'm betty nguyen. this is "early today." (baseball on tv in background) with heart failure, danger is always on the rise. symptoms worsen because your heart isn't pumping well. (water filling room)

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leading the news in u.s.a. today, pennsylvania man pleads guilty to celebgate nude-photo hack. he's just one of the hackers who got 92 actors personal email a accounts accounts. and plit co names donald trump as one of the top 10 global risks. it could lead to political chaos in the u.s. and heighten security risks for the nation. a 12 out of 25. that is the same as that of the rising threat of jihadi terrorism. well, the washington d.c.

and the unprecedented day long shut down, and inspectors worked overnight to repair over a dozen damaged cable lines in an efrt effort to present fires like on monday. and it was revealed this week that one of the guns found is tied to operations fast and furious. that is a botched u.s. operation that enabled the flow of illegally purchased guns into the hands of known criminals. and a bazar crash put an suv right on top of a car. after it ran a red light and hit by another vehicle, three people were injured but expected to be okay, thankfully. and boy, do they have a story to tell. and speaking of story and videos, this little piggy went

the little guy is on camera twerking to reihannarihanna's latest hit song "twerk". he's twerking. don't down play it. i mean, that's a professional twerker. >> they hit the button -- >> you know you're going to watch this over and over today. i love this video. let's get you a look ahead, shall we. president obama's nominee, merrick garland will meet with harry reed and the ranking democratic on the judiciary committee. andthe st. patrick's day parade.

and gary suniece, and kurt good morning, and happy st. patrick's day, i'm rachel rollar, thanks so much for joining us at 4:30. we have breaking news coming into the newsroom right now including a fire, a deadly accident, plus a deputy involved shooting but first a quick check of the forecast with larry sprinkle. >> not today. it will happen over the weekend. today should be pretty nice and we're starting out with a great view of what's happening traffic wise, not a lot going on an the moment but that will increase throughout the morning and as far as the city looking okay this morning. we have fair skies out there. should be a pretty nice day. we're starting out at 54 in the queen city. our cool spot boone at 42 this morning. 43 at asheville and greenville spartanburg at 43. along the carolina coastline, temperatures in the mid- to upper 60s. as we check your forecast for today, still going to be a nice day.

we saw yesterday. but still pretty nice. by 9:00 a.m. we're at about 53 degrees and mid 60s at 11:00 and 1:00 p.m. we're at 72-degrees with lots of sunshine. we have some big changes for the weekend. we'll check that and the seven day forecast coming up in just a few minutes. larry thank you. now we have breaking news out of east charlotte where crews are on the scene of a two alarm fire. it broke out just before 4:00 at the restaurant on albemarle road. now we're told flames were shooting through the roof when firefighters arrived on scene. the fire is under control right now. but the 5800 block of albemarle is completely blocked. we have a crew on the way and we'll brave you a live report as soon as possible. also following breaking news that could affect the morning commute all lanes of i- 85 south closed right now due to a deadly accident. highway pa tole tells us a pedestrian was hit and killed near the concord mills boulevard exit a that's at mile marker 49. the road is expected to reopen by 5:30 this morning and we'll also have live report there coming up in 30 minutes. and even more breaking news