we can analyze companies and buy the ones that are doing well. and sell the ones that are aren't. i like to say there's always a bull market somewhere. i promise to find it for you. i'm jim cramer, see you tomorrow.

in illinois last night, 47% of the vote romney's double-digit vote further justified his claim to be the presumptive nominee landing romney the majority of that state's 69 delegates. steve hamilton has details. >> reporter: mitt romney shored up his front-runner status in illinois. another one this one by a large margin in a big midwestern battleground state. >> join us, join us. together, we're going to ensure that america's greatest days are still ahead. thank you, guys. thank you so much. >> reporter: romney showed his strength. winning men and women voters in illinois. moderates and tea party activists. most said the economy was their number one concern. >> i don't care what the unemployment rate is going to be. >> reporter: rick santorum campaigned on freedom from big government. he missed an opportunity to show he can win in the kind of state republicans need in the fall,

but he stuck to his theme. >> economy. joblessness. national security concerns. the family. all boils down to one word, and that's what's at stake in this election and it's right behind me on that banner, and that's the word "freedom." >> reporter: the republican race boils down to delegates. santorum wins a share of illinois's even though he failed to field them in some district. mitt romney more than likely wins more. he's not on track to lock the nomination but hopes he has enough momentum to score his first win in the south. i'm steve handles, nbc news, washington. >> a new republican year proposal unveiled yesterday drew immediate criticism for proposing to cut deeply into medicaid and programs for the poor while sharply lowering tax rates. congressman paul ryan detailed the proposal which reshaped medicare and calls for turning over responsibility for major

programs for the core including medicare and food stamps. also calls for slashing both personal and corporate tax rates. democrats vowing to protect the elderly and poor point out the senate has no plans to even consider the gop proposal. nbc news has learned that president obama plays to speed up the process of building the southern part of the controversial keystone pipeline. on thursday the president will announce his expediting program. in january, the president denied a permit for the other part of the pipeline from canada to the gulf coast saying there wasn't time to conduct an environmental review. well, the uproar over the shooting death of an unarmed florida teen continued at a town hall in orlando. a line of angry protesters flowed out the door of the allen chapel church in florida as a crowd of some 350 gathered to voice their outrage over the shooting of 17-year-old trayvon martin by a neighborhood watch

captain. a state attorney says a grand jury will meet april 10th to review the evidence. a federal probe has also been launched. later on the "today" show his parents speak out in a live exclusive interview at 7:00 a.m. right here on this nbc station. now here is a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. flash flooding in dallas led to a number of close calls tuesday. police dash cam video shows officer officers save a homeless man trapped in a creek bed. others were pulled to safety. in california a man was rescued from a grain silo. he was cleaning it. it filled up trapping the man all the way to his chest. rescuers had to dig over and over again because grain kept pouring down on top of them. in kentucky fires swept through a home and nearly led to a deadly tragedy. a 10-year-old who escaped looked

back and saw his 6-year-old sister trapped inside. he then ran back in and rescued her. he says he simply felt the need to protect her since he is her big brother. finally the family of a middle school student in delaware is seeing red over their daughter being punished for having pink hair. they claim the school kicked her out of class because of it. her father promised she could get her hair colored if she improved her grades and she did. even make it on to the honor roll. the school district denies she was banned but says her pink hair violates the dress code. hhm. now for a look at your national and regional weather here's bill karins with the weather forecast. she's not hurting anyone, let it be pink. >> every student needs to do it to support her. >> you think so? would you do it. >> i did if that was the real reason they kicked it out. >> that's what i'd like to see. bill karins with pink hair. >> april fools' day not far away. we feel like we've been in the

middle of an april fools' heat wave. incredible warmth. 85 was the high temperature yesterday in chicago. easily shattered the record high. only 3 degrees away from the all-time march high and they weren't alone. it was 80 degrees yesterday in burlington, vermont. which was the earliest they've hit 80 in a calendar year and some of these have records that go back 120 years so this is just off the charts. 82 in detroit was the warmest you've ever been this early in the winter season. now, as far as right now we still have a lot of warmth out there. a very warm day from chicago all the way down to atlanta, but the big story overnight was the flooding rains in louisiana. been a really nasty situation down here in lake charles, beaumont, port arthur, last 12 hour, rain and thunderstorms have not binghamton moving. rainfall totals northward along the border of texas and louisiana anywhere up to 6 to 8 inches in some areas. we've had significant flash flooding in the small communities outside of the big city so that's why we have all

these flash flood warnings for almost all of eastern sections of louisiana this morning. we'll continue with that rain threat towards new orleans and some of that rain back to kansas city. that's a look at your national forecast. the incredible warmth will meet thunderstorms and even our friends in florida all through the southeast and georgia through the carolinas you've been unusually warm with highs in the 80s. temperatures today, more records through ohio. and looks like today is probably the last real peak day of all this record heat. we're going to slowly try to get back to normal soon. >> weather is normal? >> i don't even know anymore. >> you and me both. data on china rattles the streets. the ultimate in intrusive technology. your technology headlines are straight ahead. kermit thinks it's his. miss piggy thinks it's hers. either way the muppets get a star on hollywood's walk of

fame. peyton is introduced. the penguins are flying high and brittney griner slams the gators. you're watching "early today." . . .

very good morning to you. welcome back to early today. here are some of your top headlines. a powerful earthquake hit southern mexico yesterday. the 7.2 magnitude quake caused interruptions but no fatalities. police in france have changed gunfire today with a gunman expected of killing four people at a jewish school. the suspect may have trained in pakistan. troops are battling rebel forces in several cities and two subjects are under tank embarkment today. there's a new u.n. effort to support the crack down on the opposition.

and a painting credited for years to an anonymous artist was actually done by vincent van gogh. researchers used expert techniques to determine that the work was painted by van gogh on top of another work of his. now, here's an early look at one of your top health headlines. new studies say people who took an aspirin every day were 36% less likely to be diagnose nosed with cancer. a daily aspirin also reduced the chance that cancer was spread to other organs by 50%. still, many doctors advise caution for some patients because taking an aspirin a day can increase the risk of bleeding and stroke. check out the health page online at msnbc.com. >> and now here's a look at how wall street looked today. the dow opens at 13,170 after

falling 60 yesterday. the nasdaq was also down four. taking a look in tokyo, the nikkei fell 55 points while hong ko kong, the hang seng was down 31. worries about china's growth had investors on edge tuesday. a drop and warnings of a slow down sparked an early sell off. the s&p's energy index along with industrial and commodity stocks. meanwhile, the housing sector got a much needed dose of optimism that requested a three and a half year high in february. more good news came from amazon's deal supports three quarters of a billion dollars with its warehousemanagement. tiffany and co. served more than 7%. and after the bell shares, oracle traded higher after the

software company rebounded from a rare earnings miss. nissan is going to resurrect datsun after three decades. hewlett packard is merging its printing divisions into one. consumer reports reveal apple's new ipad runs 12 degrees hotter than its predecessor, but it doesn't appear to be a serious problem. beginning next month, the new york times will cut in half the number of free articles on its web site from 24 months to 10. and finally, nokia has taken steps to make sure that you never miss another call or text message. the company filed for a u.s. patent for a tattoo, a tattoo, that would vibrate when someone tries to reach you on your phone. talk about letting technology get under your skin. well, the rock gets to the lakers and peyton manning is officially a bronco.

plus, for just the second time ever in the ncaa tournament, a woman goes up for the dunk. your early morning sports headlines are satterthwaite ahead. >> very impressive, but not as impressive as the record-high temperatures that have been stringing day-to-day across the great lakes. that's coming u7. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is early today. in sports, last night for the fourth straight game since their head coach resigned, the new york knicks were winners. >> good morning. if you think it's hard to figure out the knicks, you're not alone. after dropping 6 and 0, new york is a perfect 4 and 0. another night of balanced scoring and they did something they haven't done all year. they played some defense. they beat the raptors 106-87. down to miami, the suns cruising along when the heat decided to show up. exploded for a 1701. miami took the lead and never looked back winning it 99-95. lakers used to be able to take over the game in a blink of an eye. but this was a different story. the rockets fed off the crowd and rallied in the fourth.

hockey, who says penguins can't fly? over the last few weeks, the penguins have flown to the top of the eastern conference standings. patrick for james neil, sydney crosby for four assists. the pens won big, 8-4. nfl, steeler's wide receiver and dancing with the stars champ hines ward announced his retirement yesterday. he won two super bowls and played his entire 14-year career in pittsburgh. peyton manning finalized a five-year, $96 million deal. denver is out to win the super bowl jump from 75 to 1 to 8 to 1 overnight. brittany became the second woman to dunk in an ncaa tournament game. one-handed jam cam and it's one girl you don't want to play in a game of horse. that's your early look at sports, i'm fred roggin. >> why ninja turtle fans are up

in arms. which super model is having a baby and guess who's turning 50? plus, it's not for the faint of heart, but, apparently, it is for certain folks over 100 years old. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." two weather stories out there today. we've been watching the really significant flooding in louisiana.

that's going to continue for the morning hours. watch out for thunderstorms around new orleans. we're watching the record heat for one more day and then the clouds and rain will begin to slide your way tomorrow. by the time we get to tomorrow, the east coast is still the spot that's going to feel like the summer from d.c. to baltimore to new york near 80 but definitely cools off in areas of the midwest. if you're watching us on 41 action news today, see art inspired by the famous cartoonist robert krump at the kemper museum of contemporary art. >> here's your hat, bill, what's your hurry? >> i've never heard that before, but it's kind of catch chiou. >> here is an early look at entertainment news. that is exactly what richard gere has done. the 62-year-old told an australian magazine he thinks "pretty woman" in which a wealthy businessman falls in

love with a prostitute was a silly comedy. gere said pretty woman made those guys seem dashing, which was wrong. elsewhere, a 30-year-old super model is expecting her second child. producer director michael bay wants teenage mutant ninja turtle fans to take a breath and chill. he's announcing his new film will come from a close alien race. everyone knows it was mysterious radio active ooze that created the turtles. i didn't know that, did you? believe it or not, today, fs ferris buehler turned 50 years old and the muppets got their star on hollywood's walk of fame yesterday. i was disappointed to find out that you can buy your star. >> i know. i heard that. it kind of tainted it. >> can you explain that to me? >> if you have enough money, you

can do anything. it's just a star on the sidewalk. you've got to pay for it. >> i'm going to have to pay for it. >> all right, ksl 5 news where nearby ogden, a 101-year-old woman has made high-flying history. she's been declared the oldest female tandem par glider by the book of records. back when she was born in what was then the territory of arizona, they didn't keep birth records. the great grandmother was inspired by her son who took up the hobby, get this, at age 75. i'm veronica delacruz. this is "early today." ♪

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good morning. at 4:28, i'm joe krebs. we have 61 degrees right now. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this wednesday, march 21, 2012. we begin with breaking news out of prince george's county. police responded to a car fire on palmer road in ft. washington and found a man dead inside that car. the car fire was noticed around 1:00 a.m. when the fire was put out. police say they found a man shot to death. we are still waiting for police to identity theft victim.

we have a crew on the scene. we'll bring you information this breaking news throughout the morning. a school in fairfax is warning students and parents after a girl was attacked near w.t. woodson high school. a man grabbed the 16-year-old by the neck and dragged her along a path on picket road. police canvassed the area but did not find anyone. investigators tell news4 they do not think it's related it a sex assault on a woman next week. hundreds showed their support for d.c.'s glbt community by rallying for victims of hate crimes. ♪ >> the march kicked off outside the ihop in columbia heights, and that's where a gay man was shot on march 11. the demonstration continued toward georgia avenue where a gay man was beaten on march 12. a third attack was reported that same night in northeast where a transgender woman was beaten. demonstrators say they're fed up. >> enough is enough. these are our neighborhoods, to