the wait is almost over. we're just hours away from the highly anticipated total solar eclipse. the path of totality running right across the country, but will the weather hold up? michelle grossman is track it

all. israelis and palestinians are marking six months of war. israel now says it's pulling some troops out of southern gaza to prepare for the next steps. and families of hostages demanding their release. we have a lye report with the latest. more terrifying moments in the air. the covering on a southwest plane engine flies off during takeoff. the plane returns safely. the question remains what happened. the battle over one of america's national treasures. a mine planned for the edges of the okeefenokee swamp. environmentalists say it could be a disaster. and basketball phenom caitlin clark looking for one more big win before going pro. how did her hawkeyes fare against undefeated south carolina? we've got all the highlights. it's monday, april 8th. "early today" starts right now. hi there.

good morning. i'm frances rivera. moments are preparing for the path of totality to see the moon block out the sun during today's eclipse. nbc's priscilla thompson is in one of the first cities that will be in the dark this afternoon to start it off, dallas, texas. >> reporter: a last-minute crush of travelers are flooding into the path of totality, hoping for a chance to see history. >> it gives you tingles up your spine, you know, for it to happen. >> for our family it's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience to see. that's why we decide toad travel. >> reporter: as more than 44,000 take to the skies today alone, the faa is warning about delays at airports in little rock chicago, burlington and more. cities along the roughly 100-mile swath from texas to maine will go completely dark on monday afternoon as the moon passes between the sun and the earth. >> and we are literally over the moon to welcome over one million people to our state. the millions of tourists are adding to the more than 31 million already living along the path, prompting concerns about

supply shortages, cellular outages and traffic chaos. here in dallas exits like this one off of major highways that lead into downtown will be closed at certain times during the big event. nbc's maura barrett is in bloomington, indiana. >> reporter: this small college town normally has a population of 80,000 people, but it's expected to balloon to hundreds of thousands all for the eclipse, which will be seen just above this stage in this football stadium, all while william shatner, captain kirk himself narrates the moment of totality. that excitement is spreading nationwide. schools in buffalo, cleveland and indianapolis canceled for eclipse fever. >> it's called the eclipse bourbon. >> reporter: texas restaurants are serving up specialty cocktails and blackout burgers. in maine, eclipse-themed tattoos. plus, researchers are eager to study how animals will react. the big event is cause for other celebrations, too. in ohio, jenny harris and bart

lombardi are getting married when the sun meets the moon at a huge service for 150 couples. >> definitely the only time it will happen in our lifetime to experience something like this. it's pretty crazy, but just so much fun. >> our thanks to priscilla for that report. the big question, how will the weather be for this eclipse? meteorologist michelle grossman joins us with the forecast. >> hi there, frances. it's going to be so, so fun today. unfortunately, it's all about location. some forecasts looking better than others. west coast looking mostly clear. so looking good there. then northern plains unfortunately looking at thick clouds. where you see the gray, the blue are the clearer spots. east coast mostly clear skies. could see a few high clouds that would be about it. the gulf coast, that's where we're looking at the most cloud cover with rain as well. afterwards a chance for severe storms. we go through some of the major cities along the path here. austin probably the worst forecast. 136. we're looking at showers, clouds

also in dallas, 60%. little lrock, much better there. further to the north, also to the east, indianapolis 40%. 50% in cleveland, ohio. and the forecast looks really good as we head further to the north. burlington, vermont. that's going to be the spot to be in addition to portions of maine. new england will probably be the best spot for viewing this eclipse. we're looking at 10% in terms of any cloud cover. back to you. >> it's going to be huge. okay, we'll see you in a bit. new this morning, the terrifying sight for passengers on a southwest airlines flight bound for houston sunday. these videos appear to show the protective cover that houses the engine peeling back and falling off. it struck the wing flap on the boeing 737. the aircraft returned safely to denver and no one was injured. right now it's unclear what the source of the malfunction was, but southwest has recently had a series of runway scares, including the possible engine fire that grounded a flight on thursday.

the federal aviation administration has launched an investigation into this most recent incident. new this morning, a suspect has been arrested after a fire at senator bernie sanders' office. a 35-year-old man has been charged with setting the fire to damage this building in vermont. according to court records, the suspect went to the third floor and was seen on video spraying a liquid on the outer door of senator sanders' burlington office before lighting the area on fire. senator sanders was not in the building at the time. he says he is thankful nobody was injured. israelis and palestinians this weekend marked six months since the outbreak of the war. it began with the murder of more than a thousand inside israel on october 7th by palestinian militants. the israeli retaliation has killed at least 33,000 palestinians, according to gazan health authorities. in jerusalem, family of israeli hostages protested outside parliament. for the latest, let's go to claudio lavanga. good morning, claudio. what's the latest on the war six months in?

>> good morning, frances. well, over the weekend, the delegations from israel and hamas met once again in cairo, trying to reach an agreement on that ceasefire. and at least according to al kahira, a state affiliated egyptian channel, there was finally good progress on those truce talks. but this the last hour, a senior hamas official told al jazeera that he denied that claim. and he said there was no progress back on sunday on the ceasefire talks now. this comes as martin griffiths, the united nations humanitarian chief said that the end of this war is long overdue, and this six months anniversary from the beginning of the war is a terrible milestone. he also issued a statement saying, and i read, it is not enough for six months of war to be a moment of remembrance and mourning. it must also spare a collective determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity. now on sunday, on the battlefield in gaza, the israeli

military announced that it was withdrawing troops from khan younis in what appeared to be a concession to president biden and other world leaders which warned israel not to invade rafah where hundreds of thousands of palestinians are finding shelter, having nowhere else to go. but at least according to john kirby at the united states security council, this is more of a refit and rest operation, and it doesn't necessarily mean that they won't be back. back to you, frances. >> okay, claudio, thank you for the update. president biden today is set to announce a new student loan forgiveness proposal. mr. biden will lay out the details of the plan at the university of wisconsin campus. the aid package could completely wipe out the debt for as many as ten million americans, according to an expert's. the supreme court blocked a more ambitious proposal last year. donald trump is telling billionaire donors he will keep their tax low if he wins back

the white house. that's according to a readout of a fundraising gala from saturday night provide bade trump campaign official. the official also said trump focused his speech on securing the border, energy production, and support for israel. in a video released saturday night with senator bernie sanders, president joe biden blasted trump's promise to his, quote, rich friends, saying billionaires should instead be paying their fair share. now to a new update from baltimore. salvage crews have begun removing containers from the cargo ship that crashed into the francis scott key bridge. it's an important step towards freeing the ship that has been trapped there since march 26th. more than 50 divers and 12 cranes are helping remove sections of the collapsed bridge. six construction workers were killed when the bridge collapsed. the search continues for three of those victims. people in the southern planes will be watching the skies for severe weather rather han the solar eclipse. let's check back this with nbc

meteorologist michelle grossman, who is tracking the risk. >> we're looking at the risk today and tomorrow. we're looking at the chance for severe storms with large hail, softball-sized hail, some wind, and also the chance of tornadoes. now as we go throughout the day here, we're going look at the area of low pressure moving to the east. it's going to stay in place over the next couple of days. we're looking at 16 million people under the risk for severe storms. destructive hail stones. very, very large. damaging winds with winds over 60 miles per hour. could see a few tornadoes, especially where you see the orange. so abilene, off to texas, also the yellow could see a few tornadoes as well. we're looking at the chance of very heavy rainfalls. so we do have a flood watch in effect for pine bluff. the sout.

the chance for storms. that includes a chance of heavy rain and tornadoes. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> okay, michelle, thank you. spacex launching another round of satellites for a brand-new program named bandwagon. >> and liftoff of bandwagon 1 and idd 420. go falcon, go spacex. >> bandwagon 1 is carrying 11 custom satellites including one for south korea. it's is the 14th launch and landing for this particular falcon 9 booster. coming up, south carolina does the impossible. inside the big win over iowa to cap off an undefeated season. but first, we're back in a minute with a new battle to save an american national treasure. everywhere! we're all human, its okay to smell like one. (sniffs) i smell very human right now. which is totally normal. girl preach. but if it bothers you, 4/5 gynecologists

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that's versus the economy, and it could come to a head this week. nbc's priya sridhar reports from this natural wonder. >> reporter: nestled along the florida-georgia border is the 438,000 acre okeefenokee swamp, the largest black water swamp in north america. >> here you can see alligator, bobcat, black bear, river otters, all kinds of wildlife that you wouldn't be able to see in such a concentrated form in other places. >> reporter: michael lusk manages all of it for the u.s. fish and wildlife services. and he believes this national treasure is under threat. >> what we're putting at risk is something that cannot be replaced. >> reporter: under threat from a proposed mine set to be build almost three miles from the swamp. the mine is looking to draw up to 1.4 million gallons of water per day from two surrounding wells. critics argue that water is

critical for the famed swamp. >> it will affect the water levels in the swamp. it could lead to increased drought. and that in turn could lead to increased wildfire. >> reporter: the biden administration, a wide array of environmental groups and celebrities like leonardo dicaprio are also speaking out against the mine. the swamp's wildlife cypress and flooded prairies draw almost 400,000 visitors to the okeefenokee national wildlife refuge every year. some locals fear the proposed mine could hinder tourism and pose a risk to the fragile ecology. charlene runs a campground here. she thinks a mine nearby could hurt her business. >> they're coming here just for the wildlife refuge. and if they do this mind, we're not going to have that. >> reporter: but others who live in the small town of 4,000 say the mine could bring much needed good-paying jobs and investment to this region. >> we're an impoverished community. i think this would bring high-paying jobs to improve the standard of life of our citizens.

>> reporter: twin pines minerals, the alabama company looking to build the mine, says mining won't affect the swamp. adding it will be conducted below the highest water levels of the okeefenokee. for the swamp to be drained, water would have to defy gravity and flow uphill. the georgia environmental protection division, which has final say is so far siding with the mining company. they've already given it preliminary approval and final approval could come as early as next week, unless environmentalists can convince them the risks to this wildlife wonder isn't worth it. >> it's beautiful. it's big. it's wild. we're doing absolutely everything we can to protect and manage this beautiful place for the american people. >> reporter: priya sridhar, nbc news, the okeefenokee wildlife refuge. still to come, tiger woods eyeing a record-setting appearance at augusta. but first, how caitlin clark fared in her last college game ever for the championship.

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perfection with a touch of sweet redemption. undefeated south carolina has won its third national championship. >> south carolina has achieved perfection. the gamecocks closed out their perfect season with a thrilling victory over iowa, claiming their second national title in three years. usc center camila cardozo was absolutely unstoppable finishing with 15 points and a whopping 17 rebounds. iowa had an early 11-point lead from the huge game from the future number one draft pick, we all know her, caitlin clark. he is finished with three points and 8 rounds, but it wasn't enough. the hawkeyes suffering back-to-back championship losses. >> to be back in this position and come out here and battle, i mean, south carolina is just so good. there is only so much you can do. >> well, clark closes out her

ledge career as division 1 all time leading scorer for women and men's basketball. while she didn't get her storybook ending, her legacy will live on, helping college basketball explode in potlarity. the men taking on off in the championship game at 9:20 eastern. never in my family have we all watched ncaa women's basketball. we did the entire weekend for those two games that iowa was playing. >> the preteen boys and the teenaged boys also watching. it really puts a light on women's basketball and it's really great and really good for caitlin clark. i can't believe it's masters weekend this weekend. it looks like tiger woods will tee off later this week. the golf legend was spotted practicing in augusta over the weekend. if he does make the cut this year, it would be a record-breaking 24th appearance. he won the tournament five times, this last one back in 2019. that was a big win. and woods had to withdraw unfortunately during the last round last year because of foot

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you see that girl on the right? that's freshman jamison harvey. she was working the aggies game when all of a sudden -- >> that's her dad, u.s. army major rick harvey who has been deployed overseas for a year. it was home run reunion they'll never forget. and in oklahoma -- >> we're writing a check for $1940 for school lunch debt. >> sean cummings is on a mission to wipe out the state's school lunch debt, raising money and giving out check after check after check. more than 30 in all since february. sean honoring his beloved wife kathy, who recently passed. she was known for her commitment to community service.

>> every time i show up to those schools, i'm walking out after we're finished, i get hit with the slightest bit of grief and a whole load of happiness. and this was a day of brand-new beginnings for jitana and middleton, but not one they ever expected. this surprise wedding was organized by staff at lutheran general in park ridge, illinois after the one the couple planned got canceled. that's because she had a heart attack and an emergency c-section to save her baby grayson's life. the couple telling me why they felt blessed that day. >> there was a moment you were particularly moved when you saw just saw how much so many people had done for this moment. >> i don't have words to describe it. it is so amazing. >> as soon as i came around the corner and i seen all the of the people that helped save my life and grayson's ife, my emotions went through the roof. i started crying.

>> with so much bad news that we're always seeing, it's kind of important to underline that there really are a lot of good people doing a lot of good things. >> absolutely. >> for us to put a little, you know, a little sparkle of hope on the stwhaun is having a bad day or going through something bad, that miracles do happen. >> and our thanks to jose for sharing those stories. those are the kind of tears that we will welcome any time. thanks for watching "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great monday. be safe out there, especiall

right now at 5:00, excitement ahead of today's solar eclipse. a rare one. ahead, we're going to take a look at how cities across the u.s. are preparing, from the path of tot