the long road to rebuilding the baltimore bridge after this week's deadly collapse, our closest look yet at the mangled wreckage, revealing why the job could take years, and the new clues aboard the ship that caused the catastrophe. an american journalist accused of spying by russians has now spent 12 months in a

notorious moscow prison. we're live with the fight to free evan gershkovich. presidents take the big apple. the rare appearance with president biden and his predecessors. and former president trump makes his case against rising crime in new york city. we're taking you all to the ball game with all the opening-day action across the country. while the road to the elite eight is paved with busted brackets after a huge upset. and saddle up. cowboy carter is here. beyonce ushers in a country renaissance. we'll have a first listen to her new album. it's good friday. march 29. "early today" starts right now. good morning. glad you're with me this early on a friday. i'm frances rivera. we begin with the latest developments in baltimore. the white house announcing the release of $60 million in emergency relief funds to help maryland begin the process of rebuilding the francis scott key

bridge. special equipment has been sent to help clear the channel, while the search for the remaining four missing workers continues. jay gray is there. >> reporter: federal investigators back on board the wrecked container ship. >> our entire focus on scene is to collect the perishable evidence. that's documenting the scene. it's taking photographs. it's taking any sort of electronics or components. >> reporter: the ntsb recovering and now analyzing the ship's voyage data recorder and continuing interviews with crew members. the team also spending significant time in the engine room of the vessel. black smoke was pouring from the ship, which apparently lost power and propulsion just minutes before slamming into the center column of the francis scott key bridge. divers have now been pulled out of the water just a day after locating two of the six missing victims. the four men still unaccounted for, believed to be buried under

debris, which means identification likely won't begin until the salvage operation begins. >> this work is not going to take hours. this work is not going to take days. this work is not going to take weeks. we have a very long road ahead of us. >> reporter: it's still not clear how long it may take for the nation's 11th largest port to come back online. rebuilding the bridge is expected to take five years or more. jay gray, nbc news, baltimore. now to the latest in the race for the white house. president biden getting a major boost of support from his former running mate. mr. biden was joined by his predecessors, barack obama and bill clinton for a star-studded fundraiser in new york. brie jackson joins us now. and the biden campaign says this wasa record-breaking event. >> reporter: that's right, good morning, frances. first lady jill biden called this the fundraiser to end all

fundraisers. there were special guests, including lizzo and queen latifah. ticket prices started at $250. but some of the largest donations were as big as half a million dollars. the campaign said they raised $26 million, a record for a single event. stephen colbert moderated a conversation between the current and former presidents. the nearly hour-long discussion was interrupted at least five times by protesters. outside radio city music hall, more than 100 pro-palestinian protesters gathered and chanted slogans attacking the white house's response to the israel-hamas war. former president donald trump was just a few miles away. the republican frontrunner attended the wake of nypd officer jonathan diller, who was shot and killed this week during a traffic stop. mr. trump spoke at the event, calling for law and order. >> what happened is such a sad,

sad event. such a horrible thing. and it's happening all too often. and we have to stop it. we have to stop it. we have to get back to law and order. we have to do a lot of things differently. >> the white house says president biden spoke with new york's mayor about the death of officer diller, saying he offered his full support to the city. frances? >> brie, thank you. we are learning new details about that violent spree attack in rockford, illinois wednesday. the suspect is blaming drugs for an apparent psychosis in the rampage that saw him kill four people and and jinjure jinjure . >> reporter: christian soto in court, facing 13 charges from first degree murder to home invasion where police say a rampage, spanning five crime scenes across this northern illinois community. they say soto attacked 11 people

total, killing four, including a mailman on his route, a mother and son and a 15-year-old, jenna newcombe. >> jenna died saving her sister and friend. >> reporter: the spree started when soto visited a friend in the first house whom he said gave him laced marijuana. >> he said he became paranoid after the drug usage. he retrieved a knife from the kitchen and proceeded to stab jacob and ramona to death. >> reporter: from there he targeted at random, breaking into one home where three teenaged girls were watching a movie, grabbing a bat. >> he started swikinnging the b. >> reporter: darlene says he came in their back door, attacking her and her children. >> he had the world's biggest smile on his face. >> reporter: they say the family dog, brandy, bit soto on the leg as weber's son fought him off. >> i grabbed a syrup bottle and

started beating him with it. >> i'm not even kidding. if it wasn't for him i don't think i'd be standing here talking to you right now. it was frightening. >> reporter: the woman who identified herself as soto's mother, telling nbc news, he's a loving person, and he has never hurt anybody before. we never felt threatened by him. we can't believe that is my son. maggie vespa, nbc news, rockford, illinois. terrifying new dash cam from a deadly school bus crash in texas. the footage shows the moment a cement truck crosses the center line and hits the bus, sending it rolling over last friday. more than 40 pre-k students were on board. one driver was killed in a car behind the bus. it's been one year since evan gershkovich was detained in russia. the u.s. state department regards gershkovich as quote, wrongfully detained by the russian state. for the latest, let's go to

claudio lavanga. remind our viewers why he was arrested to begin with. >> reporter: good morning, frances. exactly one year ago, evan gershkovich was on a reporting assignment in the mountains when he was arrested by the fsb on charges of espionage , allegedl, for trying to obtain military information. since then, he's been locked in a high-security prison in moscow where he spends most of his days in a small cell waiting for trial. the last time we've seen gershkovich was about three days ago on march 26 when he attended yet another court hearing where the judge decided to extend once again his pretrial detention by another three months. this time until june 30th. now the media wasn't allowed in the hearing, but the court issued pictures and video of gershkovich in a glass box. he looked healthy, relaxed and even smiling in some of the

pictures. the gershkovich family, the u.s. government have all denied the allegations and called for his immediate release. the united states ambassador to russia, lynne tracy, also called for his release and accused the kremlin of using gershkovich and other american citizens as pawns among others who are calling for his immediate release by the cpj. and other commissions sent a letter to the russian ambassador to the united states just a year ago, calling for the release, but that appeal, as the other appeals so far, have gone unanswered. >> hopefully, year two will bring his release. claudio, thank you. the man once hailed as the king of crypto sentenced to 25 years in prison. sam bankman-fried learned his fate yesterday. he was convicted of seven cases of fraud. it was revealed it had a major

cash shortfall. prosecutors said he robbed custo customers of as much as $8 billion. the northeast finally dries out. but it's a very different story for the west. nbc meteorologist violeta t vios wyas is with us. >> the storm is pushing to the north and east. for today, lingering heavy wind and rain along coast with wet snow developing on the backside of this, although we will be improving as we segue into the weekend. out west things starting to raramp up. heavy rain expected for the coastal areas of california along with mountain snow as well. by tomorrow that starts to rotate some rain into the southwest as well, where conditions are pretty dry right now. expecting the flood risk from los angeles into san diego by sunday. mountain snow transitions into most of the rockies, and we'll

see most of the heavy rain transition into parts of utah and arizona. our flood watch is in effect from san luis obispo to ocean side and down through san diego, with 21 million people potentllias clearing out as wel. so we'll see a nice amount of sunshine. that it's a look at the weather in your region, frances, sending it back to you. today marks good friday, the start of the easter holiday weekend. as is tradition, pope francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 women prisoners. the ritual commemorates jesus' gesture of humility toward his apostles the night before he was crucified. pope francis will preside at a

passion of the lord's service in st. peter's basilica. we're covering all the bases for baseball's opening day. and highlights from a huge march madness upset. we're back in 60 seconds. we're back in 60 seconds. the c? does he need to go to puppy school? get his little puppy diploma? how much have i been spending on this little guy? when your questions about life turn into questions about money... there's erica. the virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. only from bank of america. (smelling) ew. gotta get rid of this. ♪tell me why♪ because it stinks. ♪have you tried downy rinse and refresh♪ it helps remove odors 3x better than detergent alone. it worked guys! ♪yeahhhh♪ downy rinse and refresh. ♪♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing, non-medicated vicks vapors.

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yankees is already shining bright. juan soto launched a bomb from the outfield to hrow out the tyg run. and college basketball, not even the highest seeds were safe during the first night of the sweet 16. arizona suffered another early exit from the tournament. the wildcats fell to clemson, who make their first elite eight since 1980. illinois stayed one step ahead of iowa state. the cyclones played from behind the whole time and fell to the fighting illini who will return to the elite eight for the first time since 2005. north carolina and alabama battled to the very end in a high-scoring duel. the tar heels traded blows with the crimson tide until bama pulled away with an 89-87 victory. and there was no upset for

uconn. the huskies blew out san diego state by a 30-point margin. it is their second victory of 30 points or more this tournament. still to come. one of cinema's modern masters gets the only thing more prestigious than an oscar. and the first look at beyonce's latest album. at beyonce's latest album. ♪♪ an all-in-one cleaning tool that gives you a mop and bucket clean in half the time ♪♪ our cleaning pad has hundreds of scrubbing strips that absorb and lock dirt away, ♪♪ and it has a 360-degree swivel head that goes places a regular mop just can't. so, you can clean your home, faster than ever. ♪♪ don't mop harder, mop smarter, with the swiffer powermop. can an oven roasted turkey breast don't mop harder, pack so much succulent flavor, that the mere glimpse of it induces turkey sandwich daydreams? if it's hillshire farm, oh, hill yeah.™

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collaborations from willie nelson and others, loving the whole miley cyrus. but for 27 tracks? it's going to take a while to get through them all. >> i love that she included miley. miley has one of my favorite covers of "jolene." i love seeing this mix of genres and switching things up. >> totally reinvented. >> if you've ever asked yourself, what's the deal with pop-tarts, jerry seinfeld has the movie for you. >> you have to win. are you making any progress? >> it's not to scale. >> what, are you guys 5 years old? little john john draws better than that. >> the legendary comedian makes his directional debut with "unfrosted", the pop-tarts story. melissa mccarthy, jim gaffe

begaccarthy and others join in the story. it's been a little while seince jerry's done a movie. >> even eva longoria did the story of fiery cheetos. after 15 years after making the dark knight, christopher nolan is about to become one of britain's white knights. on thursday, the uk government announced that the director and his producing partner and wife, emma thomas will receive a knighthood and dame hood for their services to film. it comes after they earned best picture and director for "oppenheimer" earlier this m month. the honors are historically announced on new year's day tor a monarch's birthday. so you win seven oscars at the last academy awards, you get to be a knight and a dame. >> he's cranking out really good

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than just work. like when it needs to be a big soft shoulder to cry on. which is why downy does more to make clothes softer, fresher, and better. downy. breathe life into your laundry. this morning, as small town papers disappear, harry smith takes us to maine where local news is getting a lifeline. >> reporter: at rolle's in central maine, many a customer digs into the sun journal along with their breakfast. locals have relied on it since 1847. but like many a local paper, its future was anything but certain. >> it's been tough.

i mean, it's no secret. advertising spending is down exponentially. our subscriptions are down. >> reporter: sun journal publisher, jody jalburt has lived in lewiston all her life. >> everybody was tight. >> reporter: until last summer, when the sun journal, four other maine dailies and 16 weekly papers were sold to the not-for-profit national trust for local news. >> thank goodness. now it was a huge relief. huge relief. the newsroom was ecstatic. they were so thankful. >> marla hoffman runs our night desk. >> reporter: judy meyer introduced us around. a newsroom full of experienced journalists, who knew exactly what needed to be done last october when a gunman opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar here. >> almost everybody in this newsroom has bowled at that bowling alley.

we've been there, we know where it is. we know the people who were involved. and i think we approached it as, this is not a crime story. this is a crime against our community. >> reporter: a story the sun journal continues to work on five months later, long after the rest of us have left town. as a local daily, though, high school sports drive interest, as does restaurant news. and -- >> we still run birth notices in our papers. who does that anymore? >> reporter: not everyone loves the paper, though. some elected officials, community leaders. we're like pests, says meyer. >> there's a lot of a lot of m t mischief that can go on the dark. >> reporter: mainers have relied on the sun journal for 175 years. thanks to the trust they still can. and be assured, delivery person beth colmes will see that you get your copy even at your back

door. >> and our thanks to harry smith for sharing that story. all right, a heartfelt good-bye to harry smith from all of us. he's headed to his alma mater in iowa to teach a class on curiosity. and what better person to do it than harry. we pwish him the best. 50uck scarborough is celebrating

right there. more nbc news now on the way. ew. this morning in baltimore, the white house releasing $60 million in aid, as the city and the nation brace for the economic ripple effect from this week's deadly collapse. the one-time king of crypto headed to prison. how long sam bankman-fried will spend behind bars for his role in defrauding ftx investors.