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 slaps the u.s. military with a troubling demand. >> and 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 to iraq. the 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 shots. forth leaven worth, 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, car caye demanded a pullback from nato troops in villages and rural areas and asked that the transfer of security 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 went all out thursday in maryland and ohio with tough talk aimed at the republican rivals. nbc's tracie potts joins us with those details. tr are acie, 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. 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 claim of more drilling since he has been in office. >> this is utter intellectual nonsense. if he want toss 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. thank you so much now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. frightening moments in columbus, ohio has 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 yon to 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 to on to damage more than 100 homes. it brought large hail to the area. there are no reports of any serious injuries. . and finally, rod blagojevich's last 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 at wtvj in miami,

florida. >> nice to see you again. >> did you bring the sunny weather up here? >> trying to. >> please do. >> through the weekend it will arrive. the last several days spring weather making a fast return across much of the nation. many locations 20 degrees above average. we broke records in d.c. after highs there into the lower 80s. atlanta, 82 yesterday. chicago, 81. we'll try to push the mercury up into above average levels into the upcoming weekend. our temperatures across the nation this morning still above average. 68 dallas. 52 in washington. but cooling off in the northeast. 30s and 40s with more cloud cover. and shower activity stretching from new england back into the middle missouri valley here. but the high plains, high and dry. that continues into the northern gulf coast states as well. real active across central ohio, extending into western pennsylvania and western new york.

the forecast today keeping the showers around the northeast and into the mid atlantic. sunshine back in chicago, 77. beautiful day in minneapolis. 75. showers and thunderstorms in atlanta with highs there at around 81. that's a check of the forecast across the region. now the forecast close to home. new york, i think we'll see showers and maybe a thunderstorm. highs of 71. warm weather still in charlotte. highs there at 80. columbus, more thunderstorms. highs 75. plenty of sunshine in colorado with highs at 82. well, whatever the case may be this weekend, whatever your plans are, the weather looks great. spring almost here. get out and enjoy above average weather. >> ryan, thank you so much. coming up, the day of the ipad, more good news on the job front, and i'll take green can ketchup with those fries. we'll explain. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. it is not the 21 jump street you may remember but it is

expected to take the top spot at the box office. a slew 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. 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 for same-sex marriage in maryland called apple-y ever after. and 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, 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. 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 the store to boy 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 reported 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 pay pal. it will allow businesses to accept pay pal 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 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 terminated his option. the wizards 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 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. syracuse escaped 712-65. 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, 18-66. there will be a new champion this year. uconn was crushed by iowa state. what do the cyclones get for taking out the champ? how about top-ranked kentucky. colorado not supposed to be in the tournament. the pac-12 champs led from start to finish. they play baylor next. finally, last year's cinderella is the bell of the ball. bcu knocked off highly favored wichita state. burgess put the rams on top.

theus 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, save seen 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". we have an outstanding forecast coming up for the weekend, but we have to get through our wet try in the northeast. a nice spring preview earlier in the week. 47 and chilly day in boston. hartford, 57. 68, philadelphia. and not quite as warm today in d.c. at 76. as we move into the midwest, though, beautiful chicago, 77. 75, minneapolis. beautiful in dallas. 77 there. 84 in orlando. 81 in miami where we're getting ready for jazz in the gardens this coming weekend. all right. as we move into the folks in 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. so it should be a really cool performance there. miami gardens and also at the missouri state museum. >> very fun. ryan, thanks so much. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the top ranked r-rated come i did makes a comeback. remember this one? "21 jump street" with jonah hill and channing tatum is looking to regain the raunchy box office mojo they enjoyed last summer. it will muscle out the lorax for the top spot wit $30 million. speaking of r-rated comedy success, while there's been lots of talk about the overbudgeted underperforming john carter, a party flick cost $12 million to make, passing $60 million in

earnings. russell brand turned himself in to face the music for grabbing a photographer's phone. he said he did it as a tribute saying, quote, since steve jobs die i cannot bear to see anyone use the iphone. and this comes from the nation's capital where grizzled white house correspondent can get excited when a movie star stops through. george clooney met with president obama thursday. clooney talked about relief efforts in sudan. an nbc source said except for two holdouts the 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.

our time right now is 4:28. we have 54 degrees in the nation's capital and clouds in the sky above is. good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. >> i'm aaron gilchrist in for eun yang this morning. welcome to "news4 today," it is friday, march 16. and we begin with some breaking news this morning in prince george's county. an amber alert for a 9-year-old boy has just been canceled. police tell us that guilbert garcia has been found in reno, nevada. we're told he is safe. his mother we're told is in police custody now. prince george's county police say the boy was taken out of school yesterday morning by his

mother. garcia's father has full custody of the boy. we're told that sylvia garcia, again, is in custody. we have a crew working on the story now. you can look for the latest throughout the newscast. also new this morning, a car crash sparks a transformer fire in fairfax. the accident happened at the intersection of lee highway and village drive. a utility pole was knocked over, and that set a transformer on fire. fortunately no one was injured. the cause of the crash remains under investigation. route 29 was shut down in both directions for a short time as a precaution. we're told that the road has since been reopened. for you early risers, before you head out, want to check the forecast. meteorologist tom kierein is here. a nip in the air this morning. >> yeah. damp and cool. we've got an east wind bringing in a marine layer of air coming in off of the cold waters of the atlantic. in fact, water temperatures in the atlantic ocean are only around 50 degrees, as well as the bay. any kind of east wind is