>> this mblinksology requested abet le today, the justice. thousands rally in florida out raged over the shooting death of trayvon martin. cause of death. after weeks of speculation, we now know what killed singer whitney houston. special delivery. a spacecraft shows that new images of the moon shown by a group of fourth graders. >> this is early today for friday, march 23rd, 2012. >> hello, and a very good morning to you.

today, we begin with a call for action. thousands gathered in tampa florida last night. he was shooting an unarmed black teen. and tempers have temporary stepped aside. >> the cries for justice. it grew louder in florida. >> i'm standing here before you today not knowing how i'm walking right now because my heart hurts. >> forme is my son, trayvon, and your son. >> 17-year-old trayvon carrying only a bag of candy and iced tea was shot and killed in this neighborhood community. >> zimmerman should have been arrested that night.

>> but it's been almost a month. despite growing questions about simm simmerman's claims of self qh fence. >> i pled i will not let my son die in vain. >> with the tensions growing, bill announced he would temp lire ray step aside. for those gathered here, though, it was not enough. >> he said he did a temporary leave. we want permanent justice. >> as the department of justice and the f.b.i. continue on going investigations while the patience of this community continues to wear thin. jay grey, nbc news, stanford, florida. >> nbc news has learned that army staff sergeant is scheduled to be charged today for killing afghan civilians.

a report from washington state says he was investigate d in 2008. the speculation is over about what killed whitney houston in february. nbc's stephanie reporting. >> trouble pop star whitney houston actually drown in a bathtub with cocaine and heart disease as contributing factors to her death. the county core nor released the findings. >> we know that when she slipped under the water, she was still alive. we have evidence of drowning. there were water in the lungs, so that substantiates that findings.

>> one day before the grammies. >> they attempted life-saving resuscitation measures. >> they did find indications of chronic cocaine use. but they did not contribute to her death. houston had planned to attend the pregrammy party the night before she died. houston leaves behind daughter bobbi kristina and the musical legacy that will forever be remembered. >> here's a look at some of those stories making news early in america. two active moon shine stills making booze that goes for a hundred dollars a pint.

neighbors are also accused of making 190% alcohol. elsewhere in texas, a neighborhood is undersiege from a pack of wild chiauchiau. it's believed the man who is a horder kept the dogs. and workers have been trying to keep up. neighbors say the dogs aren't going in the area. the company behind it hopes to rend it out for parties. but before you crack open a cold one, be warned. in most cases, there is no drinking allowed on public streets. finally, don't panic. it is only a replica of a giant snake. it is a life-size copy of a massive reptile.

it ea it's said to have roamed the earth 60 million years ago. >> and now here's nbc with the weather channel forecast. i'll have to say it's the same. >> we're a little cooler back in the midwest and chicago. but, yesterday, another crazy day. detroit was 86 degrees and we were in the '80s in boston of all places. even areas of the west have warmed back up again. so it's only really where our storm is sitting that it's a little cooler. that goes to dallas. we're at 69 to start your morning. that's incredibly warm for this time of year.

there's wet weather from minnesota through wisconsin, back down through chicago, indianapolis. >> so we'll watch those in mississippi. so far, the forecast goes denver today, beautiful, 72 and sunny. notice for the wet weather, look at the east coast. d.c. today in the low 80s. that's a look at your national forecast. >> cleveland ohio, you'll have a chance of some scattered storms, especially as we go throughout the late after. beautiful weather continues. >> big changes for the east coast this weekend.

>> more good job news and a political gas boost. your early morning business headline is straight ahead. plus, if you haven't heard about the hunger games yet, you will before this weekend is out. >> coming up, four teams have moved onto nearly eight. and a number one scene will not be joining them. you're watching early today.

good morning to you. welcome back. here are some of your top headlines this morning. a call girl is claiming john edwards was a client when she worked for new york's millionaire. his lawyer says he denies the allegation. syrian president may be caught

after she reportedly spent lavishly for clothing and furniture. >> the state of mississippi executed jeremy last night for the brutal murder of a clerk in 1995. it was in mississippi as the 11th in the nation. >> calling it an invasion of privacy, he's writing employers asking job applicants for their pass words. and a spacecraft has sent back new images including a view of the far side with the earth, a tiny image in the distance. >> okay, the dow opens at 13,046 after losing 78 points yesterday. the nasdaq lost 12.

taking a look at overseas trading, the nikkei dropped 113 points. the hang seng cropped 132. but there may be a silver lining. at least some temporary relief at the top could be on the way after worries about dwindling oil demand dropped the price of crude down 2%. here's a global slow down. those warriors to a four-year low last week. fed-ex also took a hit. after suspending dividends to stockholders. reporting increased spending by its users. dollar general also picked up 3% in better-than-expected earnings.

t-mobile is laying off five% of its work force including ssfp call centers. and in the wake of an industry, bank of america has begun a pilot program to rent their home from the bank to avoid foreclosure. thousands of other federal workers from insider trading. president obama has vowed to sign it. finally, after one of mitt romney's compared his strategy to an etch-a-scotch, they nearly tripled. >> ohio and the underdogs prevail. plus, michigan state is the first number one to be planned out at the ncaa tournament. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

>> and the weekend forecast is all about going bye, bye. that's a look at your weekend forecast. you're watching early today.

>> very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is early today. in sports, moving on to the

elite eight as march madness marches on. here's a look at all of your sports headlines. >> good morning, grab a pen and check your bracket. louisville gave number one mississippi state a pick. >> george felt like a man among boys. finishing with seven blocks. they simply smothered the tournament's best shooting team. defense led to offense on the other team. louisville pulled off the upset. number one syracuse survived the bracket. 14 from beyond the arc. but when he needed it most, they came up short. and syracuse escaped 64-63. up next, they won a sea saw battle.

they came roaring back and took the lead. but the duo simply too much. combined for 49 points. running out the night's action, florida and mar kety. a lot of people had market winning in game. they had a 68-58 win. it's finally the biggest comeback in the night not in an ncaa tournament, but in the nba. paul george knocked down the three and indy was on top for the first time in the game. john wall the floater, but he didn't get it up in time. the pacers stun the wizards. have a terrific weekend. >> early today sports.

>> still not sure to break records this weekend? plus, these guys are normally a favorite shark snack. but coming up, we'll tell you the happy story of the one that got away.

welcome back. first things first, today, we still have more heavy rain. new orleans, southern, mississippi, on and off scattered rain.

as we go into saturday, definitely on the east coast, definitely in the afternoon and the evening. we'll have a chance of storms. everyone else is looking great. nice, beautiful spring weather. still temperatures above average. and then sunday, that storm lingers. well, if you're watching us on nbc 13, birmingham, alabama. see the country's largest collection of the vietnamese dragons. >> sounds like a good one. >> an early look at this morning's deadlines. the meet and greet has made hollywood shy away. we get one of the biggest adaptations of all time.

"hunger games from suzanne collins stars newcomer general ferns lawrence. >> in an unrecognizable futuristic war-torn america, they're forced to take part in a kill or be killed spectacle. unlike the twilight, this one will draw both young males and females. we'll have the historic opening. people have been lining up all over the streets to see it. >> yeah, i guess it's the next, big thing. >> i heard the books are sold out. >> i just don't have time to get into one more thing. >> i think you're right about that. >> all right, this one now comes

to us from wjrnbc 10 news. >> a rescued baby seal made a triumphant return to the sea. after being rescued just before valentine's day, he suffered from infected wounds, possibly after a shark attack. but valentine got love in the form of medical care. >> you always like to see them go in and bye, bye. >> this is your first stop of the day today.

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4:28 is the time now. 64 degrees already out there this morning. and it looks like we have kind of misty skies. we'll check with veronica in a moment. good morning, i'm joe krebs. >> good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist in for eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" on this friday, march 23. we begin with breaking news this morning. two people dead in a fiery crash near the maryland/d.c. line. this happened on connecticut avenue at the chevy chase circle. news4's tracee wilkins at the scene for us with the latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, aaron. we have two people dead and two people injured after this

vehicle crash that happened here. police were following this vehicle. they say that it was a stolen vehicle. at some point the suspects crashed into the tree here. you see behind me the scene. police are still investigating. this is definitely going to impact traffic this morning. the circle is closed right now. whether you're coming from d.c. or montgomery county, you are not going to be able to go through chevy chase circle until they're done with this investigation. let me give you a closer look of the scene. this is the way montgomery county police described this. they say that just after 1:00 this morning, around 1:13, an officer on patrol noticed a vehicle and ran the tags. the vehicle was somewhere in the area of dunlap and goodale. turns out that the vehicle was stolen. the officer called for backup as he followed the vehicle before turning on his lights. when the lights came on, evidently that car took off. eventually crashing into a tree here at the chevy chase circle. that's when the car burst into flames. we understanat