it's wednesday, april 8th. coming up on "early today," dramatic cell phone video footage captures an officer shooting and killing an unarmed man. >> shots fired. suspect is down. he grabbed my taser. >> that cop's version of the incident doesn't tell the whole story captured on video. next to the terror group isis using new english language radio bulletins to spread their message. the huskies make history with a big three-pete and severe weather ahead including possible tornadoes. that and much more as "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm dara brown. reaction is pouring in following the shooting death of an apparently unarmed african-american man by a white police officer in south carolina. officer michael slager has been

charged with murder in the death of walter scott. we have to warn you, the cell phone video that captured the shooting is graphic. it shows the officer shooting at scott at least eight times as he runs away. a bystander recorded the video which ultimately led to the arrest of officer slager. a small memorial has been set up where the shooting took place. south carolina governor nikki haley released a statement saying in part what happened in this case is not acceptable in south carolina nor is it reflective of our values and i assure all south carolinians that the criminal judicial process will proceed fully. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington. tracie, can we expect more backlash today? >> reporter: we probably are going to see at least more protests in that area today, dara. i want to reemphasize that that video may be very disturbing to see and hear by some people. the fbi and the justice department are investigating. it happened saturday morning in north charleston south carolina, a traffic stop a

brief scuffle, then this. walter scott shot at eight times as he was running away. >> we've got 343 police officers in our department. this is a bad decision by one of those 343, that is the result of that video and the bad decision made by our officer, he will be charged with murder. >> reporter: officer michael slager says he felt threatened. >> shots fired. subject is down. he grabbed my taser. >> reporter: the video shows the officer picking up an object after the shooting and dropping it at scott's feet. >> this was a cop who felt like he could get away with just shooting someone that many times in the back. >> i don't want to see anyone get shot down the way my brother got shot down. we've all seen the video. if there wasn't a video, would we know the truth?

>> reporter: scott's family is planning to file a civil rights lawsuit. and the family's attorney says the person who recorded that video is cooperating with authorities and at some point will come out and talk about what he saw and what happened. >> tracie potts in d.c. thanks so much for that report. now you can hear from isis in english right on your smart phone on the same day a fourth man in brooklyn is expected to be arraigned for trying to help the islamic militant group. the islamic state is stepping up recruiting. they started publishing what they call a news bulletin in english on their radio network. for instance one of those things discussed in the first update, the alleged death of a commander in the syrian refugee camp. this is pro isis media video that purports to show battle in that camp although nbc news can't independent vary five the authenticity of it. the radio station is available online. it was a busy night at the polls in several areas across the country. in chicago, mayor ram emanuel keeps his job.

he won the first ever runoff election for mayor. in ferguson, missouri voters elected two african-american candidates to the city council. ferguson is two-thirds african-american and until last night, only one city council member was black. now three of the six city council seats will be held by african-americans. this was the city's first election since michael brown was fatally shot by a white police officer. in springfield missouri voters repealed an ordinance that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. the city council passed the ordinance last october. the republican side of the 2016 race is heating up. yesterday kentucky senator rand paul announced his entry into the gop primary race. paul is hoping to appeal to a larger swath of voters with his anti washington message. last year he bolstered his bipartisan credibility by partnering with new jersey senator cory booker but his

day-old white house run hasn't been without its quirks. his announcement was blocked by youtube for copy write infringement. paul walked out to the john rich song "shutting down detroit." his official website store has the things you'd expect from signs to iphone cases and hats but there are some unexpected items. for $15 you can get an nsa spy cam blocker to cover the camera on your laptop. for $100 you can play a game of rand paul bean bag toss. for a grand you can even have a bound copy of the u.s. constitution signed by rand paul. well the uconn women's basketball team are national champion ps for the third straight season. the huskies took down notre dame in tampa. kaleena mosqueda lewis and moriah jefferson each scored 15 points. you con wins 63-53.

coach auriemma has won ten trips to the game. afterwards he spoke bluntly about the historic win. >> some people are going to say this is really really great and historic and an unbelievable achievement. some people are going to poo poo it. as you can tell by some of my comments in the last couple weeks, i've lost the ability to care and give a damn what people think. >> not a shy guy. coach auriemma ties with john wooden for the most national titles in college basketball. on a sad note seven people died yesterday morning in illinois. they were returning from the ncaa men's basketball championship in indianapolis. among those killed two were from illinois state university deputy director of athletics aaron leetch and men's basketball associate head coach torrey ward. authorities believe heavy fog and light rain may be partly to blame. >> what we can do from radar data we can determine what's

called ground speed. that's part of our investigation. it will be part of our followup activities. >> the illinois state community is in morning. they tweeted the red bird family lost two today. thanks for reaching out. to a bombshell in the aaron hernandez murder trial before the jury was set to begin deliberations deliberations. listen to the wording in the defense's closing argument. >> he was a 23-year-old kid. who'd witnessed something, a shocking killing, committed by somebody he knew. >> did you catch it? for the first time the defense admitted the former new england patriot was at the scene of the murder of odin lloyd who was shot six times at an industrial park less than a mile from hernandez's home. they say hernandez was an innocent bystander and his two friends who will be tried later were the real killers. the prosecution disagrees. the jury continues deliberations today considering testimony from

135 witnesses. now to california according to the state's water board, california's water savings has fallen to just 3%. it is the lowest amount since water conservation efforts began in 2013. in february water usage dropped by 2.8% compared to 8% the month before and 22% in december. governor jerry brown has sounded the alarm ordering the drought ravaged state to cut water usage by 25%. parts of the nation's midsection was pounded with several inches of rain and two-inch hail on tuesday. flash flooding in st. louis turned streets and yards into ponds. storms in indiana toppled trees and downed power lines and it is just beginning. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with more on the severe weather outbreak. good morning, bill. >> good morning. the storm system that went through the west yesterday including much of california and there were even some funnel clouds spotted when that went through, is moving into nevada. this is the storm system that, as advertised, will cause us to have a multi dr day severe

weather outbreak. moving late today into the central plains. that's where we'll start our severe weather. as far as the worst of it goes we're dealing with the worst of it over st. louis, possibly chicago. late today, the first storms will be firing up along the stationary front somewhere between oklahoma and kansas. that's where the bulk of it will be. you notice the timing on the future cast as we go through late afternoon, possibility of severe weather in the red here kansas city can be looking at strong storms. late tonight a wind damage threat towards st. louis and a lot of rain in the ohio valley with potential for flooding problems. as far as the severe storms go this area in red, possibility of very large hail with any storms that fall from wichita falls, kansas city, st. louis indianapolis. as far as tornadoes go today if we're going to have any tornadoes, it would likely be between oklahoma city wichita, job lynn springfield area interstate 44 and towards st. louis. even a few large tornadoes. we hope not. we hope they're all misses instead of hits. so farouthwest is

cooler than normal with highs only in the 70s. now it's just a waiting game. we're well prepared and there will be hundreds of storm chasers out there. >> let's hope for calm. thank you so much bill. a nasa scientist says we're getting closer to confirming alien life. how much food must the rock eat daily to remain the rock. what happens when mr. burger marries ms. king? you're watching "early today."

we've got breaking news coming in right now. a senior police official in afghanistan confirms an afghan soldier opened fire on an american delegation visiting gentleman lal bad.

he was then shot bad. the associated press is reporting three u.s. troops were injured. we'll keep you updated as more information comes in. president obama says climate change is harming the health of americans. at a roundtable discussion yesterday he warned of intensified heat raising the risk of strokes and asthma attacks. >> we've got to do better in protecting vulnerable americans. ultimately all of our families will be vulnerable. you can't cordon yourself off from air or from climate. >> high above our planet nasa's chief scientist says we could have strong indications of life beyond earth within the next ten years and definitive evidence within the next two or three decades. it was the grand debut of a new stamp honoring the late maya angelou yesterday in washington but one problem, that quote, it's not hers. it comes from a children's book author. in defense of the post they say angelou did cite it in several interviews. dwayne "the rock" johnson is a big man. now we know why.

he told "muscle and fitness" his seven deadly meals. he's 1,000 calories in cod a day alone, about 821 pounds a year not to mention daily serve vings of chicken, steak and eggs. he's double the calories of men in the u.s. and more than 40 times the protein. on cnbc burger king will pay for the marriage of mr. burger and miss king. the couple will join their names to become mr. and mrs. burger king. let's get down to business with cnbc's landon doughty. >> good morning. cheaper gas may lead to more cash in your wallet. the government say it is average u.s. household will stave $700 this year thanks to lower prices at the pulp. regular unleaded is forecasted to average $2.45 a gallon this summer down from $3.59 last summer. mcdonald's is going upscale,

adding sirloin burgers to the meal. you get a choice of topics. the burgers will be available through the end of june the latest attempt by mcdonald's new ceo to boost sagging sales. 7 eleven wants to satisfy your slurpee craving, bring your own cup day this saturday it could conceivably get you a gallon of slurpee pour the price of a medium drink at $4.49. just ahead, the celebrations are under way. ♪ ♪ >> coach k. and the blue devils celebrate their fifth ncaa title back in durham. plus the catch of a day by a fan and his snack. sports is next.

this morning on "today," living to 100. there's one u.s. city where people are living longer and healthier lives. find out where and why later on "today." let's get to the latest in sports from my friend betty nguyen. good morning betty. >> good morning, dara. the blue devils return home from indianapolis after claiming the men's national title against wisconsin. >> here comes duke! >> the team received a warm welcome on campus. coach mike cha chef ski pumped up the crowd with dance moves before speaking to fans.

>> we're getting beat by north carolina -- >> boo. >> look today is not a day to get into that. this is about national champions, all right? >> switching gears over to the nhl. the rangers capture the president's trophy for the third time since 1992 following a 4-2 victory over the devils they reach 52 regular season wins to tie the franchise record with still two games left to play. the mariners-angels gam, a fan loses his snack while catching a foul ball. the ball actually lands in his popcorn. who needs a glove anyway? >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by sea bond denture adhesive. lose the ooze. >> dara back to you. just ahead, more controversy surrounding the daily show's next host. plus just the latest example of

wyma reason 5's adam levine is a class act.

now for some entertainment news it looks like the new "daily show" host is in the hot seat once again. from the hollywood material trevor noah stole material according to last comic standing russ sem peters. >> no, i didn't want that at all. >> it's not jealousy speaking

just because he's cute and skinnier than you. >> no. he's also a thief, but that's irrelevant. he's stolen material from david cowell stolen material from myself. whatever. that's his gig now. congratulations. >> noah has denied the joke stealing allegations in the past, but so far he's made no comment on peter's latest claim. one overzealous fan couldn't keep her hands off maroon 5's adam levine. "the voice" coach was singing on stage at a concert monday night. he told the crowd it was super care phiing and she cut his ear with her fingernail. >> a comedian meeting with mayor de blasio but had to make a quick pit stop first. can i go to the bathroom you have to go real quick. the mayor will be waiting on

stage. i run to the bathroom and i'm trying to pee quickly. >> sure. >> i'm sort of pushing to get the pee out. and there's too much pressure and out the back pop, just pop. [ laughter ]. >> not sure we needed to know that. >> not often you can make jimmy fallon speechless. that qualified. >> tmi there, louie c.k. >> i'm dara brown. this is "early today." we hope this is your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in "usa today," u.s. secretly tracked billions of calls for decades. current and former u.s. officials say the fed started keeping records of international phone calls made by americans in 1992, nearly ten years before 9/11. the program was halted in 2013 after fallout from nsa leaker edward snowden. in denver thousands of goldfish taking over teller lake. wildlife officials believe someone dumped a handful into the colorado lake. this happened years ago and the fish have multiplied. officials are weighing their options including draining the lake. other stories we're following, veteran actor james

bess died thursday. he was best known for his role on the dukes of hazard with his memorable laugh. >> i get it! i love it i love it. >> james bess was 88 years old. a former hooter's waitress was awarded $250,000 in a racial discrimination lawsuit. according to the suit she was fired in august of 2013 because of blond streaks in her hair. she says her manager said the streaks didn't look natural. hooters responded on the website saying the decision was, quote, flawed. gallop revealed the best place to live in america after interviewing 176,000 people in all 50 states. it concluded the area with the highest well-being index is the north sarasota in southern florida. must be that great florida sunshine. >> i've been there. it's nice. it is beautiful. >> absolutely. i'd go now. >> no winter and snore. talk about this being high

and dry, wait till you see this. a raccoon got stuck after it climbed up a light pole in center city philadelphia, yesterday. >> he can't climb down i guess. >> this is not your typical city sight, but it slowed down pedestrians and traffic and no one can figure out how the raccoon got up there or what it was doing up there. but animal control officers did manage to rescue it. why is a raccoon in the middle of center city philadelphia in the first place. >> i've seen raccoons when i lived in brooklyn there was raccoons everywhere. you never know. >> might be the new raccoon factory. >> they can find places to hide. time for a look ahead. president obama departs for latin america stopping in jamaica to meet with the prime minister before traveling to panama to attend the summit. happy birthday to robin wright who is 49 julian lennon is 52 and actor john schneider a/k/a bo duke is 55. i'm dara brown.

thanks for watching "early today." we hope you have a great

san jose police investigating a deadly shooting. a woman's body found in the middle of a busy intersection. and a police officer in south carolina arrested after he's caught on camera shooting a man in the back. what the city is saying. plus the issue of mandatory vaccinations. going before sacramento lawmakers this morning. the controversial legislation stemming from a recent outbreak of measles at disney land. and looking live at the bay bridge. what a difference a day makes. this time yesterday we were getting drenched. but you'll still need your umbrella today. it is wednesday, april 8th. this is "today in the bay." >> from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay."