this morning on "early today," tornado terror, ravaging storms wreak havoc across parts of texas. game over? mitt romney sails to victory in three gop primaries. and medieval myth? new clues raise the question who was the real king arthur? captions paid for by nbc-universal televion hello and good morning, i'm lynn berry. today we begin with path of destruction. cleanup and what will likely be a long recovery begin for folks in dallas ft. worth. this after yesterday's terrifying tornado outbreak spawned scenes of chaos few have

ever witnessed. nbc's jay gray reports from lancaster, texas. >> reporter: texas under attack. >> hey, guys, it's throwing 18-wheelers. >> reporter: the raw power of a massive tornado playing out on live television across north texas, tractor-trailers, more than 50 feet long and 60,000 pounds, tossed hundreds of feet in the air. >> this is something i have never seen before. >> reporter: this section of tornado alley is no stranger to twisters but few have seen anything like this. multiple tornadoes tearing through the dallas ft. worth area, tossing everything in their path. >> to see it on television, you know, we saw it, you know, in the midwest and it's another thing when it comes and hits you personally. >> reporter: hours after the storms it's hard to believe, the tractor-trailers twisted and tossed to the side, neighborhoods tattered and torn, survivors who clung to life during the storm now clinging to each other. >> oh, my god, look at these cars, inside of this house.

>> the wood from the back fence was going that way. i pulled back in, i heard a thump, turned around and here was this truck. >> reporter: many say early warnings and the graphic pictures likely saved their lives. >> after seeing on the news that the tornado was on the ground, it's been on the ground for ten minutes, i went to cover. >> reporter: this nursing home lost an entire wing but somehow not a single life. at dfw airport hundreds of flights were canceled and more than 110 planes damaged by hail. a vicious round of storms, an ominous warning as tornado season now moves into what traditionally are its most violent months. jay gray, nbc news, lancaster, texas. mitt romney took a big step closer to the general election last night, easily beating rivals ron paul and newt gingrich in the districts of columbia where rick santorum was not on the ballot. in maryland, romney sailed to

victory with a double digit lead over all three contenders. in wisconsin it was a much closer race but ultimately a clean romney sweep. nbc's steve handelsman has details. >> reporter: his wins in d.c. and maryland were assumed, mitt romney's big triumph was in wisconsin, a battle ground where he aimed at barack obama. >> when you drive home and stop by the gas station, take a look at the prices and ask yourself, four more years of that. >> reporter: romney gets a big delegate haul. romney won all ages, men and women in wisconsin, even the tea party vote. a big loss for rick santorum. he gets few, if any, delegates but back home in pennsylvania denied it's game over. >> we have now reached the point where it's halftime, half the delegates in this process have been selected and who's ready to charge out of the locker room in pennsylvania for a strong second half. >> reporter: president obama was

throwing fall campaign fastballs, aimed at mitt romney. and the deep spending cuts he backs. >> it's laughable. >> reporter: the president will campaign on taxing millionaires more. >> i ra ep what i said before, that is not class warfare or envy. that is math. >> reporter: rick santorum math is one, one more chance, pennsylvania in three weeks. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. president obama had harsh words yesterday for the republican's latest budget plan. speaking at a lunch in washington, the president denounced the gop budget passed by the house last week as, quote, thinly veiled social darwinism and a trojan horse disguised as deficit reduction plan. the plan would cut $5.3 trillion over ten years through deep cuts in spending and entitlement programs. there's virtually no chance the senate will pass it.

-- not to overturn health care reform. the judge interpreted the president's remarks about unelected judges undoing lawed passed by congress through, quote, judicial activism as denaying the court's right to find acts of congress unconstitutionally judge, a reagan appointee is involved in a separate challenge to the health care law and ordered the justices to weigh in on the matter in a three-page specific response. here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. in california, dozens of protesters were pepper sprayed last night at santa monica college. students could be seen rubbing their eyes from the spray. they had been trying to force their way into a meeting of the board of trustees attempting to get past campus police officers. the students were angry about proposed tuition hikes. in connecticut, frightening video as an suv plows right into a convenience store, narrowly missing that customer right

there. then the woman who barely escaped injury hopped up on to the counter, the driver threw it in reverse and just took off. police later caught up with the man behind the wheel. they arrested him and say he admitted driving drunk. and finally, who knew the easter bunny could swim? someone dressed up as the furry holiday creature threw on scuba gear and dove into the waters off of florida keys. the rabbit's mission, leaving easter eggs on the sea floor near the national marine sanctuary, underwater adventures will go hunting had for the eggs on sunday. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast and a lot to get to with the tornadoes. >> yesterday afternoon, the dallas ft. worth area, you don't see pictures like that, especially live on television, too often. in all, there were 17 tornado reports. some of these were probably the same tornado as it went through the dallas area.

what's interesting about this tornado, it wasn't on the ground say like a long track tornado, like the ones that went through illinois and indiana two or three weeks ago. this was bouncing a little bit. it wasn't as strong as when you saw it pick up the tractor-trailer on its entire region. there were two super cell thunderstorms from the dallas ft. worth area into northeast texas. a lot of wind and hail reports in the shreveport area, into arkansas. the threat has died off this morning. areas here along the gulf probably has the best chance of see something of the storms from new orleans to baton rouge and into the beaumont, port arthur area. there will be heavy rain, new orleans that right now. the severe risk today is in this area in yellow. isolated tornadoes not a big tornado threat today like what we saw yesterday. that's a look at your national forecast, now here's a look at the weather outside your window.

memphis, tennessee could see strong storms rolling through. the tornado threat today is a lot less than yesterday. the winds are not as much sheer in the atmosphere as we had yesterday. that's the winds changing in direction and height. we'll have the forecast update coming up later in the show. >> thanks so much. also coming up, internet giants squabble. airline giants flirting and barbie has a friend who's going bald. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. usually it's his looks that get people talking but this morning it's his heroics. coming up, a new look for the seahawks, the heat clinch a playoff spot and a perfect ending for the baylor lady bears. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today."

i'm lynn berry and here's some of your top headlines this morning. police say one go, the suspect in the shooting spree at an oakland, california religious school had been expelled in january for anger problems. he told police he had been teased about his poor english skills at the college. jetblue captain clayton osbon, the pilot whose meltdown triggered an emergency landing appeared in federal court. he understands understands the charges against him. a syrian government official says troops have started pulling out of some cities and headed back to their bases. syria is facing an april 10th deadline to begin a cease-fire under an international plan approved by syrian president bashar al assad. and was king arthur really a roman? experts are studying the tomb of a roman general in crow aratia took soldiers to england in the

2nd century a.d. they think his exploits served as the basis for the king arthur stories. here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,199 after losing 64 points yesterday, the s&p lost 5 points, the nasdaq down 6. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei sank 230 points and in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 268. all eyes will be on the latest jobs data today with reports out on private sector payroll and layoffs. the release of minutes from the fed pushed markets lower yesterday after indications the central bank is less inclined to provide more economic stimulus. troubled internet search firm yahoo! is expected to announce about 2,000 layoffs today. and facebook has filed a countersuit against yahoo! claiming it violates several facebook patents, including photo sharing, the news feed and

tagging. james murdoch stepped down as chairman of british sky broadcasting, giving up one of the biggest jobs in the murdoch media empire amidst the deepening phone hacking scandal. "the wall street journal" reports u.s. airways trying to force a merger with american airlines has been seeking support from american creditors. rents took their biggest jump in four years as more americans help off on buying homes. auto sales zoomed higher in march in part because of the rising cost of gas. as consumers look for fuel efficient vehicles. burger king is going become again. the hamburger chain will relift its shares within three months. and after a viral campaign, mattel will create a friend of barbie's who is bald. it's all to help kids dealing with hair loss. the company will donate dolls to children's hospitals around the world. coming up, the sharks chomp the stars, the heat burn the

sixers and the teams of the nfl get a makeover. plus, the women at baylor celebrate a perfect season with an ncaa title. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. there will be severe weather today but nothing like what we saw yesterday, at least let's hope not. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports last night, the buffalo sabres kept their playoff hopes alive with a thrilling come-from-behind victory in overtime. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. we are down to the final days of the nhl season and playoff spots are going quickly. the buffalo sabres need wins. they got one last night. here we go. maple leafs jumped out to a three-goal lead and then the sabres kicked it into high gear, rallying to tie the game with two minutes to play. leopold found the puck and forced overtime. the sabres are alive and kicking. they won 6-5, they're now tied with the caps for the final spot in the east. here we go to the west, the sharks picked up a much-needed win. logan scored the go-ahead goal in the second. san jose beat dallas, 5-2.

the stars are now on life support. sidney crosby and the penguins are ready for the postseason. crosby has 22 points in 12 games since coming back from a concussion. the pens win 5-3. basketball, the heat clinched a playoff spot. lebron james had 14 straight points in the fourth and finishing with a season high 41. heat beat the sixers 99-93. college hoops, if you think kentucky had a good year, you've not been watching the baylor bears. they won the national title. bayl baylor, the first team, men or women, to finish the season a perfect 40-0. finally they say it's not what you wear but how you wear it. for the nfl slim is in. nike and the nfl unveiled their new uniforms. it's a slim and trim jersey that form fits the equipment. most of the unis remain the same except for the seahawks.

they added hints of neon green. nothing says football like neon green artwork. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men mustache and board, keep your edge. who turned down a personal white house invitation? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, tv's oldest single talent show is dominated by the young. coming up, a bran new contest dominated by seasoned veterans of life. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." of course, the amazing pictures of the dallas ft. worth area yesterday has everyone's attention. since april we do get tornadoes, this is one of the busier months. today, just isolated tornadoes. there's not going to be many if there are. we will see them primarily along the mississippi river, possibly into memphis and western portions of tennessee, also hail and storms possible in virginia beach into eastern carolina. if you're watching us on kxan news in austin, texas, see photos that capture the knew ne -- uniqueness of paralympic sports at your access gallery. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. she is now the material mom,

madonna shows no signs of slowing down. that's for sure. the debut of her latest album, "md & a" notched her number one on the charts and biggest album debut of the year. 15 years later, the 3-d version of "the titanic" opens today. one direction is saying no to the white house. first lady michelle obama invited them to appear at monday's easter egg roll but the band declined due to prior commitments. who says no to the white house? and finally, he may have lost out on "people's" sexiest man alive but ryan gosling is a real-life super hero. last week the actor saved a woman from stepping in front of a speeding new york city taxi. it's starting to be embarrassing. our entire staff is like it's a ryan gosling story, we have to do it because lynn's obsessed with him. i'm a little embarrassed.

>> if you see him, don't dive in front of a truck and hope he saves you. >> it worked for one woman. >> i don't know about me. this comes from wtvj nbc 6 in miami where in nearby ft. lauderdale you want sing your way to fame in the senior idol contest. ♪ >> they're good. 150 contestants, all 65 and older, showed off their golden voice in their golden years. the winner won't get a trip to hollywood, california, but they will get a year-long pass to ride the local commuter chain which does stop in hollywood, florida. close. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc stations.

a live look outside on what will be a cloudy day. a little bit warmer than what we dealt with yesterday. tom kierein will be along in a minute with a look at our full forecast. first, good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this wednesday, april 4, 2012. in decision 2012, still too close to call for one race in the district this morning. about 540 votes separate the top two candidates for an at-large council seat. incumbent vincent orange is clinging to a narrow lead. the final decision may come down to nearly 4,000 absentee votes. the tally of the votes aren't

expected until next friday, april 13. other d.c. incumbents, a landslide victory for marion barry to serve a third term in ward 8. he received 73% of the vote. barry served four terms as mayor in nearly four decades in politics. also incumbent democrats muriel bowser and yvette alexander won their primaries, as well. in maryland, republican congressman roscoe bartlett defeated seven challengers. bartlett will face john deadline whoa won the democratic primary. and this sets up a hotly contested house race for the sixth district. a former secret service agent won the republican nomination for senate in maryland. he'll face democratic incumbent senator ben cardin in the general election. on the national stage, mitt romney now a giant step closer to securing the gop nomination after a clean sweep of all three primary statest