investigation. that report raised questions after news the russian government originally flagged him two years ago. >> they were concerned about his possible radicalization and so they went from there. the fbi did their due diligence and did a thorough job of trying to run that to ground. meanwhile, boston plans remembrances and a moment of sigh len later today. dozens remain hospitalized from the attack including at least two children. nbc's chris pollone is in boston for us this morning with the latest. chris, good day to you. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, richard. we're obviously watching several developments today, monday, in this rapidly evolving investigation. now, as you mentioned, there are still dozens of people recovering in boston hospitals from their injuries they sustained a week ago in this bombing. the latest information we have is that 52 people are being treated. at least 3 of them are in critical condition. other developments going on today, there will be a moment of silence at 2:50 this afternoon,

the exact time that the bombs went off. that moment of silence will be followed by the ringing of church bells away for folks here in boston to remember and memorialize the victims who died and were injured in this attack. another thing that we will be watching for is the possible filing of charges against the 19-year-old suspect. as you mentioned, he has been communicating with his interrogators through writing, though it's not clear at this point exactly how useful or in depth that information just is at this point. that's the story live in boston. i'm chris pollone. richard, we'll send it back to you. >> the city still recovering. more on that story later. we're also watching this for you. five people including a suspect were killed during a shooting at washington state apartment complex. that's a bit south of seattle. it happened in the city of federal way around 9:30 local time last night. one suspect was shot and killed by responding officers. so far the motive is unknown. we'll keep our eye on that one

for you. residents in the midwest are fighting deadly spring flooding. two were killed when trucks were swept off indiana roads by flash flooding. and one died in missouri where towns along the mississippi like clarksville are trying desperately to hold back the rising water. >> it came very fast, faster than '08 and we don't have the help we had in '08 so everyone is pulling together and doing the best they can. >> we're not out of the woods. if we have rain up north or that quick snow melt, we're going to see higher levels yet. >> the river is expected to crest today in clarksville at 11 feet over flood stage and the town is hoping the sandbags will be high enough. nbc's bill karins joins us now. extreme flooding. she was multitasking. >> she's done it before. experienced on the bagging lines. >> it's like second nature for her. did you see that? >> five years ago was the big one. they've had a lot recently. the mississippi and illinois rivers. that's the area of concern. the biggest river we have in our

country, the mississippi river. it's in major flood stage. that's always a big deal for the barge traffic and other economic concerns, too. that river is cresting near st. louis. the river that we're now worried about is more of the illinois river. it's going to crest in peoria on tuesday. that's where we could have more destruction done and millions of dollars and south of there as we go into wednesday. again, the mississippi, it's cresting now just north of st. louis. and it should go down from here. looking at the weather pattern over the west, trying to think about, you know, what's interesting, what's going to happen, what concerns do we have. it's really going to be a very quiet weather period. we'll have morning clouds to deal with in a few coastal areas of california. other than that, here's a map that's given to us by our government estimating the precipitation in the week ahead. the green shows you where it will be light rain around the country. the blue and darker blues and purple shows you where the heavy rain will be. look at the west from california to oregon to washington, over the next week, you'll be hard pressed to any raindrops at all besides maybe next weekend in the cascades. i mean, it's really going to be a dry week as it goes into the end of april.

that's a look at your national warmer temperatures we've had. sacramento, 86 and sunny. quiet in the west and we're warming up. >> yeah. big difference from last week for the west, no doubt. bill karins, thank you. straight ahead, we'll show you what's moving your money including boeing ace big fix and what the government is doing that could increase the cost of your online shopping. plus, thousands line up at a colorado marijuana celebration. we'll tell you what happened after gunfire went off there. "early today" is back in two.

welcome back. here are stories making news for you. the five people killed in a colorado avalanche over the weekend were all experienced snowboarders and instructors. authorities say the group was buried by some eight feet of

snow saturday near love land pass about 30 miles west of denver. also in colorado, gunfire erupted at a marijuana party while revelers were celebrating the 4/20 holiday. at least two people were injured but are expected to be okay. police say they are now looking for two suspects. secretary of defense chuck hagel arrived in israel on sunday for a week-long visit to the middle east. speaking in jerusalem, the secretary said the u.s. agenda is focused on deterring iran and hagel also reiterated what he called the very special relationship between the united states and israel. less than a week after the boston marathon bombings, a chicago teenager has been picked up for attempting to join a syrian jihadist military group. the fbi arrested 18-year-old abdella ahmad tounisi on charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. five people were killed in arizona over the weekend when their van flipped while being chased by border control agents. 22 people were in the suv at the time of the crash. the search continues for survivors of last week's

devastating earthquake in china. the government has so far confirmed more than 150 deaths and some 11,000 injured. engines start. liftoff for the mission to mars. >> cool stuff. it was a successful launch sunday for a new rocket carrying supplies to the international space station. the rocket lifted off from a base in virginia on a test flight to send a cargo ship in space. all right. in health news now, a new report from the journal of pediatrics warns young people to just say no to the cinnamon challenge. the risky trend that went viral last year and dared teens to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon without water in 60 seconds or less. now doctors warn long-term damage could include throat irritation, lung inflammation, asthma attacks and at least 30 teens needed medical care last year including one michigan teen who was hospitalized for a collapsed lung. >> announcer: "early today health" is brought to you by

vagisil ph balanced wash. now to cnbc's courtney reagan. >> the dow's worst drop in nearly a year. apple fell 9% last week. worries about iphone demand have prompted investors to look for the exit. apple has lost $300 billion in market value since last september. and the senate may vote today on a bill to let states collect sales tax on all online purchases. though ebay ceo has reportedly been recruiting users to rally against the measure. and gas prices could drop another 20 cents by memorial day. it's due to falling oil prices and continued weak energy demand. good news for drivers looking to hit the road. richard? >> we will take that. thank you so much. here are other stories we're keeping an eye on for you. if you're traveling by air today, allow a little more time. it's the first weekday with a 10% slash to the nation's air traffic controller work force.

the furloughs went into place last night as part of the so-called sequester. delays were mostly nonexistent on sunday except for waits of up to an hour in and around new york and los angeles. but the real test begins today. the furloughs will last through september and are expected to save about $200 million. the u.s. is on the offense when it comes to china and cybersecurity. "the wall street journal" reporting the obama administration is considering several aggressive options to confront china ranging from diplomatic pressure to indicting chinese nationals in u.s. courts. officials tell "the journal" these options is not necessarily imminent, but they demonstrate how cybersecurity has become a central part of diplomacy. and the dreamliner could be flying again within weeks. the faa has approved the aircraft maker's plan to fix its troubled batteries. the top trending stories. plus the atf wants to know what caused a massive ferlt lieser plant explosion in texas. and a funny car that provides anything but laughs in north carolina. details next.

more than four days after that huge explosion at a fertilizer plant in central texas, officials say everyone is accounted for. 14 people killed, 200 injured, and of the 14, 10 were first responders. gabe gutierrez reports from west, texas. >> reporter: new video of the damage in west, texas, after a

fertilizer facility exploded in a blinding fireball. for the first time we see an apartment complex ripped open. chunks of concrete tossed hundreds of yards. a school heavily damaged and this nursing home shattered. investigators said they found the origin of the explosion but it won't say where or what triggered it and they still aren't sure what caused wednesday's initial fire. >> we know there was an initial fire and then an explosion. we do not have a time line. >> reporter: local authorities say everyone is accounted for and they don't expect to find any more bodies. 14 people were killed including buck uptmor. >> we're just such a close family. it's such a big hole. there's such a big hole in it now. >> reporter: more residents were allowed back into their homes but the area closest to the plant is still off limits. >> my daughter's house is caved in but we at least would like to get in and start cleaning up and salvaging what can be salvaged. >> we're going to have to have

service outside. >> reporter: on this somber sunday in texas, a displaced congregation would have to have their service outside knowing their town would never be the same. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, west, texas. just ahead for you, what oscar winner reese witherspoon did to get arrested and the university of notre dame football team has their eye on a whole different type of offense. next.

welcome back. on this monday morning, we're

looking at a very quiet week of weather. beautiful conditions. but you definitely need the sunglasses if you head out, especially during any long drives. sunshine all the way up through portland. 70 degrees, beautiful weather today, continues the trend that you had over the weekend. of course, we are looking at coastal clouds. even as we go into tomorrow, it will have a repeat. i know we didn't get the -- see, it's a problem, richard. we still didn't get enough wet weather and snow pack in the west over the winter. now it looks like it's done. >> at least it will be fun in the sun. >> yeah. >> we'll take that. in sports, to defend miami's opening round against milwaukee, chris andersen rolling to the hoop for the slam there. and reahn that cheering on the heat who crushed the bucks, 110-87. look at those glasses. in the west, san antonio got off to a strong start against the lakers cruising to a 91-79 win in game win of the series. a big trade in the nfl as the jets send darrelle revis to tampa bay for the 13th overall pick in thursday's nfl draft and

another pick in 2014. and in baseball, in the 13th inning, the angels blasted a walkoff home run to left field, and los angeles beat the detroit tigers, 4-3 there. with the bases loaded in the tenth in boston, a two-out walk gave kansas city the lead and the royals defeated the red sox, 5-4, in the game that was postponed friday because of the citywide lockdown during the hunt for the boston marathon bombers. and will middlebrooks of the red sox sent out a tweet showing the bat of jonny gomes that he used on sunday. they were engraved with the words "boston strong" followed by the names of three bombing victims and the m.i.t. police officer who was shot and killed. the bats will be auctioned off for charity. a scary moment at a drag race near charlotte. the fiberglass body of a funny car coming loose. it went flying through the air and over a fence where fans were standing. luckily there were only two minor injuries. in notre dame's spring

football game, nose tackle louis nicks took over at quarterback. he took the snap in the shotgun formation, running it into the end zone. >> it's a spring game. no one's going to tackle him. >> why not try it? watch this. >> quarterback draw. 350 pounds of thunder. >> all right, bill, that's a notre dame play no one has ever seen before. i don't know if we'll see that in a game. >> out of the way. >> yeah, come august, i'm not sure we'll see that. reese witherspoon apparently had trouble walking the line. her and husband jim tot were arrested and jailed early friday morning for an alleged dui and disorderly conduct. according to the police report, while toth was given a sprite test, reese claimed he was not a real police officer so she was handcuffed but not before telling the officer, quote, do you know my name? >> that never works. >> you're about to find out who i am, end quote. in a statement witherspoon said she clearly had too much to drink and is deeply embarrassed.

three doors down bassisted to harrell was charged with vehicular homicide after causing a fatal crash that killed a 47-year-old man. harrell was intoxicated and also in possession of over 30 assorted prescription pills. in another entertainment news, "oblivion" easily took first at the box office with $38 million. jennifer lawrence presented bill clinton with a glaad media award and ended up flubbing the president's name. >> we are happy to present glaad advocate change award to president glib -- bill clinton. >> it happens to all of us, you know. it comes up, you're a little nervous. >> this is where she got glib from. >> don't you think glaad? i don't know. >> maybe. >> clinton. yeah. i'll work on that. i'm richard lui, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

leading the news this morning, "usa today" says the boston bombing suspect opening up to police. the 19-year-old suspect who remains hospitalized in serious condition began responding to questions in writing because of a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound to his neck. in politico, a fascinating story. ted cruz versus marco rubio on immigration. first-term senators are both having cuban roots and potential presidential rivals differ over immigration and the path to citizenship. now back to our continuing coverage of the terror attacks in boston. today a moment of silence will be held at 2:50 this

afternoon one week to the moment two terrorists tried to shatter the spirit of boston. a nurse tells the associated press she finds strength in seeing her patients' faces and smiles knowing they are getting better. meanwhile, federal charges could come for accused bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev. as soon as today. he will likely face state charges in fatal shooting of a m.i.t. police officer. this morning officials say that he is awake and using pen and paper to answer investigators' questions. this as investigators try to piece together why they believe he and his older brother planted two bombs at the boston marathon killing three people and injuring more than 180. the main focus of the investigation is turning to why the older brother, tamerlan, killed in a shootout with police early friday morning traveled to russia for six months last year. the fbi also admits they interviewed him in 2011 raising questions as to whether possible warning signs were missed. we're also learning this morning an incredible story from a man who witnessed two explosions in just one week.

the boston marathon and the fertilizer plant explosion in west, texas. joe berti ran the marathon and crossed the finish line just 30 seconds before the first explosion. then he and his wife headed back home to texas. >> you see a picture of a nuclear explosion, and that's what it looked like. it was massive. on the left side of the highway. and i was obviously shocked to see another explosion after having just come back from boston. >> and thankfully both of them are okay. later today on the "today" show, nbc pete williams will have a live report with the latest on the boston marathon terror . suspect. and from vertical gardens and eco-friendly fashions and party ideas. "today" celebrates earth day. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and so much more. i'm richard lui. thanks for watching "early today," your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station. have a great start to your week.

new this morning, new information on the boston bombing investigation, including when investigators expect answers from the surviving suspect. they may not get a chance to talk with him. let's show you the bay bridge,

early monday morning. april 22nd. this is "today in the bay." good morning. it is almost 4:31. glad you are with us. i'm jon kelley. welcome back. i'm laura garcia cannon. meteorologist, rob mayeda is in for christine today. look at san jose, 59 degrees. a warm start to the morning. 80s and low 90s today. 70s and 80s around san francisco to oakland. tomorrow, a little bit of cooling middle part of the week. that's when the sea breeze will pick up and cool us off headed into wednesday and thursday. let's check your morning commute with mike. as you expect at 4:31 on a monday. not a whole lot of commute going on. a good volume of traffic if you are not familiar with the short freeway, that's very light over there in berkeley, underneath university avenue. the map will show you the entire area, pretty smooth moving. you do see a lot of yellow

surprisingly for this time of morning. with those few cars on the roadway, they will make the averages come down. we will track that. no incidents around the maze or on the approach. off the dublin interchange, no crashes, or problems. we will check the drive. >> we begin it the latest on the terror in boston. the lone surviving suspect now communicating with investigators. dzhokhar tsarnaev remains in the hospital. he can't talk but is able to write down answers for authorities. the city is slowly starting that healing process. "today in the bay's" chris pollone has the latest from boston. ♪