♪ this morning on "early today," monster storm. a line of severe weather tears through the midwest claiming at least a dozen lives. remembering davy jones. super sized new consents. scntists recover remains of prehistory ig megafleas. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. i'm veronica de la cruz. good morning. deadly winter twisters. 12 people killed by a twister that roared through the midwest on wednesday. it touched off one killer

tornado with winds up to 170 miles per hour. nbc's jay gray has details now from harrisburg, illinois. >> reporter: splintered wood and twisted metal and shattered glass twisted across five states. >> all of a sudden, windows went out just like a big shotgun went off. >> reporter: threatening communities. >> opening up the door. the whole neighborhood was gone. >> reporter: shattering lives. >> they are devastated. they lost one member of the family. >> reporter: a path of death and destruction stretching from kansas through kentucky. >> overturned semis and cars. >> reporter: harrisburg, illinois, may have taken the hardest hit. winds of 170 miles an hour soaring through this tight knit town. >> we have lost children and lost loved ones and lost part of our family here in this community. >> reporter: six people died in harrisburg. at least a dozen were killed in storms across tornado alley over the last 24 hours. and more than a hundred were injured. some of those in the resort town

of branson, missouri, where a twister stayed on the ground for 22 miles. and the cleanup started as soon as the winds died down. forecasters warn it could happen again but the possibility of more storms across the heartland through friday night. jay gray, nbc news, harrisburg, illinois. the same massive storm system that brought all of that destruction caused a dramatic snowstorm a little further north. in duluth, minnesota, wind gusts up to 65 miles an hour with more than a foot of snow in some places. it was a blizzard leaving pretty much everything closed. nbc meteorologist bill carins will have more on the storm in a few minutes. campaign on the trail. presidential hopefuls are ramping up their rhetoric before tuesday's ten-state matchup. tracie potts has more. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. super tuesday is a big prize or perhaps prizes, depending upon

how these delegates are split up. ten states, more than 400 delegates and georgia is the biggest prize newt gingrich banking on that. ohio is a big one why we have seen a number of candidates campaigning there. virginia will be interesting because only mitt romney and ron paul are on the ballot. now, let's talk about rick santorum who almost, but did not, win michigan. he got quite a few delegates there. after that, now he is focused as well on ohio. santorum said wednesday that this race is now down to two people, himself and mitt romney. the other candidates following far behind. speaking of romney. he commented yesterday on something happening here on capitol hill today. an amendment that would allow employers with religious objections not to pay for certain types of health insurance like birth control, it's been a big issue here. is there a vote here on capitol hill on it today and it is aimed at the obama mandate that would require these religious affiliated employers to cover birth control.

romney said on wednesday he opposed it. then said he actually misunderstood the question and that he supports this amendment allowing those religious objections. it's expected to fail today. lynn? >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. a dramatic development wednesday indicated relations between the u.s. and north korea could be headed in a new direction under newly installed leader kim jong. north korea says international expectors will be allowed in to verify all nuclear testing is stop. hillary clinton called the agreement, quote, a modest step in the right drecket iirection they will be closely monitored. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. an pell-year-old man when flames burned through his car. a store clerk saw the fire and ran to help. the victim is believed to be

homeless living out of that car. he is now recovering. the hero who saved him said it was scary but he didn't have time to think about the danger. in texas, a second horse has been saved from euthanasia with help of a prosthetic leg. his hoof had been torn off which meant putting the horse down. the device was attached to the horse after a miniature horse was also kept alive thanks to a prosthetic. a local company both designed and bow natdonated the artifici. in iowa, a semi crashed on the highway sending pigs all over the road. a few pigs didn't survive but many rescued after hours long effort to round them up. the driver blamed the accident on high winds. finally. a real leap of faith to mark leap day. base jumpers took a plunge off the roof of a 43-story casino in atlantic city, new jersey. oh, my goodness.

unlike some gamblers, luck was on their side, because the jump went off without a hitch. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with a look at the forecast. is that something you would ever do? >> no. i don't like going through the crosswalks in new york city. >> i hear you on that. >> no risk for life. yesterday, the top of the show we brought you amazing pictures of the system we were tracking. pretty impressive for a late february tornado outbreak. of course now into march and where the tornado season begins in the deep south but you don't usually expect it across areas of the middle of the country. 30 preliminary reports of tornadoes. already about 20 have been confirmed by the national weather service that actually gone out there and gave us a specific on the wind the worst of was definitely here the one in southern illinois. this was an ef-4 tornado which is incredibly strong for this time of year and winds of 180 miles per hour there in

harrisburg, illinois, where some of the worst damage was. the one in branson was pretty bad. the one outside of topeka, kansas that was pretty bad and in tennessee late yesterday. right now not a lot of severe storms and watching a couple of storms in areas of alabama and into atlanta. this storm system is leaving us. the next one is right on its heels. no big severe weather outbreaks today but as we go into friday we expect another tornado outbreak and damaging winds and unfortunately the same areas that just got hit. much of tennessee, northern portions of alabama, kentucky and into indiana and areas of ohio. we will watch that that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. areas in new england are still watching the exiting winter storm. kind of a wintry mess from boston to albany, springfield, mat, southern new hampshire and other areas of the east coast and midwest is just fine.

looks like we are into one of those spring patterns. it's been so warm this winter, i guess it shouldn't be a big surprise that now we will start tracking tornadoes. >> scary weather out. appreciate you watching it. thanks. big ben speaks and apple hits a new high and your chance to own the home court of a basketball icon. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she grabbed the spotlight with her sometimes outrageous behavior but this morning, she is making headlines for a completely different reason. coming up, a huge win for usa soccer and kobe bryant like you've never seen him before. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back. i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the disabled cruise ship costa allegra is safely. they lost power after a fire on

board monday. nobody hurt. force american tobacco companies large graphic images on their cigarette packages. the ruling said the requirement would have violated the free speech amendment to the constitution. george rivas leader of the gang known as the texas seven was executed wednesday for killing a suburban dallas police officer during a robbery. rivas had organized the biggest prison break in texas history in december of 2000. davy jones, the most popular teen heartthrob star of the 1960s tv show of the monkees died of a heart attack at age 66 in florida. he was born in england and starred on broadway and tv before the huge success of the monkees. finally. fossil hunters found the remain of giants fleas that sucked the blood of ancient dinosaurs and grew to an inch long, ten times bigger than present day fleas. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off

the day. dow opens 12,952 after losing 53 points and s&p down six and nasdaq fell 19. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. tokyo the nikkei lost 145 points. long congress, the hang seng dropped 292. well, you knew this was coming. will market kick off march like a lion or a lamb? wall street closed out best 14 years despite hinder from the fed chair bernanke a third round was not in store. yesterday, 800 banks snapped up 700 billion dollars in cheap loans from the european central bank. meanwhile, protests broke out after greece parliament approved more pension reform. the government reported the u.s. economy grew more than it thought last quarter as personal

income. today, traders get fresh retail and manufacturing and construction data. the nasdaq briefly broke through 3000 for the first time in more than a decade. that was thanks, in part, to a major apple milestone. its market value topped half a trillion dollars yesterday. wall street collected 14% less in bonuses last year, while bank profits plunged by some 50%. meanwhile, bank of america is looking to recoup some of that cash from customers by dusting out new fees on basic checking users unless they agree to bank online or agree to maintain certain balances. james murdoch has resigned as executive chairman at "london news international." finally if you really want to be like mike, here is your chance. michael jordan sprawling suburban chicago estate is up for sale for a mere $29 million.

jeremy lin is bloodied, but not beaten. kobe bryant plays a mass adventure and mavericks, big man goes down and out. some calling it america's greatest ever soccer victory. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, all eyes are on the next severe weather outbreak coming on friday. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." owe we e

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, two of the hottest teams in the nba met last night in san antonio and unlike at the rodeo, the bulls won out over the spurs. here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. before last night, the spurs had lost just one game at home all year. the chicago bulls changed that. here we go to san antonio. spurs and bulls back and forth the entire game. tim duncan looked like the duncan of old in the third and finished with 18. deng caught fire and drained a pair of threes late. derrick rose scored 29 and the bulls won it 96-89. time for your daily dose of lin sanity. he was smacked in the face against the cavs and bloodied and bruised and returned and had 19 points and 13 assists but however steve novak was the story. sparked new york with a flurry of three-pointers in the fourth and knicks rally from 17 down to

beat the cavs. no that is not the phantom of the opera! that is kobe bryant wearing a face mask to protect his broken nose. came out flying, ten points in the first and another 14 in the third. the nba's leading scorer finished with 31. a broken nose wasn't going to stop bryant. lakers won big 104-85. fresh off his mvp performance in the all-star game, the thunder's kevin durant had a sluggish start in philly but picked it up down the stretch. eight of his 23 in the final minutes. thunder knocked off the sixer 92-88. tough night for the cup after losing -- dirk nowitzki left the game early in memphis. went on to win it 96-85. finally, huge win for usa soccer. they took on out one of the best teams in the world. it took 78 years and team usa finally beat italy for the first time ever. they pulled off the yaupset, 1-.

>> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. which superstar called yesterday one of the best days of her life? and why? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, sure. every leap year, you see a story about a kid born on the odd calendar day but we guarantee you haven't heard the baby story that we are going tell you in a moment. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." we get a break from the severe weather during the daylight hours today. so that is good for the cleanup that is still ongoing. later on tonight, though, the next major worm that inter stor forming and moving across also country. hail possible in areas of like arkansas and a severe weather outbreak in the ohio valley come tomorrow. if you're watching us on wfay tv in nearby norfolk, join smoky the bear and woosy outline in home sweet home at the virginia leaving museum. that is your "early today" event of the today. >> i haven't seen smoky the bear for a long time! very good! here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. is she or isn't she? when it comes to "jersey shore" snooki and a possible pregnancy,

the "new york post" reporting that snooki despite consistent and direct denials over the past is indeed three months pregnant. she has brokered a big money deal to announce her pregnancy on the cover of "us weekly." >> ben affleck used facebook to announce the birth of his son. he posted he and wife jennifer garner had happy about the healthy boy. the couple's first after two daughters. congratulations. finally, lady gaga went to harvard university yesterday to launch her "born this way" foundation a student run organization against bullies with support from the likes of oprah winfrey and health and human services, secretary kathleen sebelius. she called the anti-bullying event up with of the best days of my life. congratulations to her well. kls 5 news in nearby philadelphia.

one mom has decided to tie a world record. she is a new brother and gave birth for the fifth time but what is remarkable here her third child born on february 29th! leap day! yes! this is true! the odds of having just one baby born that day are 1 in 1,500. mom says the first child's birthday was a fluke and admits putting in effort on the timing for the other two and she says at least one of the babies, one of the leap babies, that is, will get a car when they turn, take dah dah, 4. >> at least it's in the month of february. >> what are you going to do? so unfair. but really cool at the same time. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. consumers today have a legitimate concern about the chicken they eat.

they want to know more about how they were raised, what they were fed. we spend a lot of time on the feed because a chicken is wh it eats. [ jim ] this seal verifies we feed my fresh all-natural chickens an all-vegetarian diet including corn, soybeans, and marigolds. we actually ask the usda to come check us. we have never fed steroids or hormones and never will. no blood meal, no meat and bone meal. yuck. no animal by-products. it means when you put my chicken on the table, you know where it came from.

and we have 57 degrees out there. >> what? >> unbelievable. good morning. well, i believe it. it says it. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to this thursday. it is the first day of march 2012. new death toll continues to rise after a huge tornado spawned in the midwest and south. officials in eastern tennessee say three people were killed in the powerful storms. six people died in illinois and three in missouri, bringing the total number of deaths to 12.

more violent weather could come today and tomorrow in parts of the central and southern u.s. in one of the hardest hit communities, harrisburg, illinois, is trying to clean up the damage there. the city is under a dust to dawn curfew ave a devastating ef-7 hit. an estimated 250 to 300 homes have been damaged. 25 businesses are destroyed or damaged. authorities say winds of 170 miles an hour whipped through the rural town, bringing down almost everything in sight. >> overturned semis and cars and apartment buildings shredded to bits. >> we've lost children and loved ones and part of our family in this community. >> the tornado ripped through a popular part of branson, missouri, as well. it shirred some of bran son's famed music theaters.