♪ purple rain purple rain it's monday, april 25th. coming up on "early today," teaming up to stop the donald. ted cruz and john kasich join forces ahead of tomorrow's five-state primary, but is it too little, too late? president obama plans to send 250 more personnel to syria to fight isis. the manhunt continues for the killers of eight family members in what police call a pre-planned execution. plus, new details surrounding the death of prince, ago as his body was cremated over the weekend. and some dicey weather ahead as we kick off a new week. "early today" starts right now. good monday morning, i'm dara brown. the stop trump movement has its biggest backing yet in the form of an alliance between ted cruz and john kasich.

last night the cruz and kasich campaigns announced an agreement to coordinate efforts to prevent trump from reaching the 1237 delegates needed to win the nomination before the convention. as part of the agreement, cruz will focus his time and resources in indiana while kasich will take on oregon and new mexico. kasich has already canceled multiple events in indiana scheduled for this week. other signs of change are already coming into focus. after announcing friday a huge campaign to attack kasich in indiana, the super pac backing cruz tells nbc news they will look over their options and announce new intentions later today. and katy packer, the head of the anti-trump our principals pac, says she's encouraged by the news. trump has responded, tweeting that lying ted and kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the republican nomination, desperation. and in a campaign statement, trump continued the collusion line while also saying, because of me, everyone now sees the

republican primary system is totally rigged and that this is yet another example of everything that is wrong in washington and our political system. there are 57 delegates at stake in indiana and nearly as many combined in oregon and new mexico. and the latest poll out of indiana shows trump with an 8% lead over cruz. kasich is far behind. before all of this played out, trump's oldest son, donald trump jr., spoke out against cruz, saying he has no chance of winning without, quote, bribing the delegates. tomorrow night five states are holding primaries, all in the northeast. expect another big night for trump. he's ahead by 18% in pennsylvania with cruz and kasich well behind but in a close race for second. in rhode island, trump is ahead of kasich by 13% and 24% ahead of cruz. meanwhile, prominent republican backer charles koch made some explosive comments about the election, stopping just short of backing hillary clinton. >> is it possible another clinton could be better than another republican this time around? >> it's possible.

it's possible. >> you couldn't see yourself supporting hillary clinton, could you? >> well, her -- we would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. let me put it that way. >> the clinton campaign responded on twitter, saying she was not interested in koch's endorsement. just like trump, expect another big night for clinton tomorrow. she's ahead of bernie sanders by 15% in pennsylvania. clinton is also ahead in rhode island by a smaller but still significant 9%. for his part, sanders may be seeing the writing on the wall. the senator spoke out about his path forward this weekend in a more resigned tone. >> obviously our goal now is, while we have a narrow path to victory, we're going to fight through that path. we hope to win. but i think the fact that we have shown that there is massive dissatisfaction in this country. people are showing in this campaign the desire to stand up

and fight back. >> both hillary clinton and bernie sanders will appear tonight in back-to-back town halls at 8:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. president obama now confirms the deployment of about 250 additional military personnel into syria as part of the escalating fight against isis. the uptick amounts to the first major increase of u.s. forces since november when troops were first sent to syria. >> local forces fighting isis in syria, small amount of special operations forces are on the ground in syria. expertise has been critical as local forces have driven isil out of key areas. given the success i've approved

the deployment of up to 250 additional u.s. personnel to keep up this momentum. they won't be leading the fight on the ground, but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces that continue to drive isil back. >> the 250 additional troop also join the troops on the ground to try to retake key territories from isis. the president's decision comes as he asks leaders worldwide to do all they can to assist in the fight against isis. joining me from hanover, germany, is nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: good morning, dara. the news today is about the president's announcement that he is sending 250 more special

operations troops to syria, to back up the small contingent of forces already there. he announced he was sending 250 troops to iraq. now is he beefing up troops in that part of the world. the u.s., since the attacks in brussels, is trying to increase the pressure on isis there. the president has said over the past few weeks or so some 40% of the territory that isis once held in syria and iraq has been recaptured and we know there are operations going on now to try to put pressure on the terrorists in the stronghold, headquarters in syria. there's also an attempt to put pressure on mosul. the president said that he suspects mosul, held by militants for a long time now, will fall by the end of the year. it will be a significant fact if it does, in fact, happen. the importance of europe, standing with the united states in this effort.

he has called upon coalition partners to increase their contributions, air support in supporting the iraqi government as it tries to secure liberated areas of iraq and in syria as well. the president leads here later today after meeting with leaders to try to bring the world together around this effort, to try to once and for all eliminate the threat posed by isis. back to you, dara. >> ron allen, thank you. now to a story in ohio, where authorities say they are still on the hunt for a person or persons responsible for killing eight members of a single family execution style early friday. we are learning that marijuana grow operations were found at three of the four crime scenes. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the

latest on this investigation. >> reporter: the manhunt after a family massacre is intensifying. officers in tactical gear swarming the crime scenes, looking for more evidence with an offer of a $25,000 reward, tips are flooding into ohio authorities, but still no arrests. >> this was a pre-planned execution of eight individuals. it was a sophisticated operation. and those who carried it out were trying to do everything that they could do to hinder the investigation and their prosecution. >> reporter: the state's attorney general confirmed that marijuana grow operations were found at three of the crime scenes, but investigators would not comment on a potential motive for the killings. they're offering protection to the rowdan family, who they say was targeted. >> i can tell you, if you are fearful, arm yourself. if you feel that you need to protect yourself or family, do so and contact the local law enforcement. >> reporter: the victims now identified. dana rhoden and her ex-husband christopher rhoden sr., their children, chris jr., just 16 years old, hanna, 22, and clarence, 20. he went by frankie. his fiance, hannah gilley, also killed.

so were kenneth and gary rhoden. eight lives cut short. >> ma'am, tell me what's going on. >> there's blood all over the house. >> reporter: sheriff's dispute -- deputies would soon find the eight relatives shot dead in four separate homes miles apart. hannah rhoden's baby found alive in the same room. kenneth rhoden, discovered by his cousin. >> i just found my cousin with a gunshot wound. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez reporting there. a private memorial service was held for music icon prince at his paisley park compound saturday. the legend was cremated as crowds of fans gathered outside the fence of where he lived and worked. a representative for the music superstar said the location of prince's remains will be private. this weekend, snl also celebrated the purple one with an hour long tribute that include this had never-before-seen clip. ♪

that was prince performing at the after party of snl's 40th anniversary show. a severe weather system move thud kansas sunday, bring iing powerful winds and hail. more severe weather is expected this week. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with your monday forecast. good morning, bill. >> good morning. the storm system that moved through the west with gusty winds, that's the storm right here that will cause all the problems this week with severe weather. once the storm begins to head through the rockies, upper level jet again is really dipping, negative tilt that helps pull the moisture out of the gulf of mexico. that's really where we set up all the ingredients for a classic severe weather event. moisture comes off the gulf. dry air off the desert areas and cool air out of the mountains and rockies. we'll see strong thunderstorms,

maybe even tornadic thunderstorms developing tuesday afternoon, tuesday evening. the timing of it, and the location -- one of our future radars says -- tulsa, down to wichita falls, the area of concern from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm tomorrow. if we're going to get any big tornadoes, that's tornado alley, also chaser alley. tons of tornado chasers out there. if there's any tornadoes we'll likely see them. that's the area of concern. otherwise, we're looking pretty good in the west, especially the coastal areas,great afternoon r from seattle southward. >> active week ahead. >> thank you very much, bill. baltimore braces for protests as the city marks one year since the death of freddie

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to a whole new level. make any day a pancake day with nutella. spread the happy! hundreds of people descended on baltimore sunday, one year after the death of freddie gray, chanting one baltimore, one vision. organizers called for solidarity and prayed for change as they remember the day freddie gray died while in police custody and the days of civil unrest that followed. marchers say the rally was about peace, not protest. they also want positive change ahead of this tuesday's primary elections for mayor and city council. >> because of the uprising, things have we've tried to sweep under the rug are on full display and are going to have to be addressed. connecticut police arrested

a man on sunday after this tweet. he even told family members to leave the rally to avoid being hit. he was not an imminent threat but was still charged and processed. he has since been released on a $25,000 bond. >> in a race that was literally out of this world, british astronaut tim pete completed the london marathon on sunday from outer space. he joined 37,000 fellow runners in realtime. he was strapped to his treadmill aboard the international space station. the best part, he smashed the guinness world record for the fastest marathon in space, completing the race in just 3 hours and 35 minutes. warriors/rockets playoffs, steph curry returned. he said his injured ankle was feeling better, and things were looking better for houston. >> a nice play off the beautiful feed. final seconds of the first. harden at the buzzer.

oh, he knocks it down! >> hardn at the buzzer, but just ahead of the half, curry slips on the court and goes down. he appeared to hurt his knee as he's helped up from the court. curry did not return to action in the second half and will have an mri on that leg later today. in the second half, the warriors managed to pull away from the rockets, 121-94. they win game four and take a 3-1 lead. drivers, listen up. we have news that will impact your wallet. >> plus, how prince's death is lighting up sales of some of his music. details, up next. hi dad. uh huh. yeah...sorry about that. ♪ think about it ♪ there must be higher love ♪ down in the heart what do you think? ♪ and in the stars above hi ted, glad you could join us, we think you're going to like these numbers. ♪ bring me a higher love

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let's get down to business with cnbc's landen dowdy. good morning, landon. >> good morning, dara. dow coming off a positive week, holding above that 18,000 level, while the nasdaq ended lower, with disappointing earnings from microsoft. look for reports on housing, consumer confidence and first quarter gdp. fed meeting and meetings from apple and exxonmobil. the average price of regular unleaded jumping 8 cents to $2.18 a gallon. that's due partly to crude oil prices edging up. gas prices are up 41 cents in the past two months. sales of prince's music have

sky rocketed since the artist's death thursday. there were 2.3 million song sales in the past three days, including near ly 1 million jus on thursday. led by prince's biggest hits including "purple rain" and "when doves cry." just ahead, a surprising movie approaching $1 billion. can you guess which one? what brand of makeup is better for your skin than wearing no makeup at all? neutrogena® cosmetics.

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bringing in $60 million. it was followed by "the huntsman: winter's war" which earned $20 million. "barbershop: the next cut" came in third. "zootopia" has earned over $900 million worldwide since released. beyonce surprise launched lemonade. the visual album shocked fans with the lyrics addressing rumors of extramarital affairs. the songs move through the stages of grief to acceptance, many drawing conclusions about the lyrics and artist's own life. "lemonade" is expected to go on sale today on itunes, amazon, and google play. it likely will not be on spotify or apple music. billboard magazine reports tidal has the streaming rights in perpetuity. ♪ me and mrs. jones >> philly r&b singer billy paul, best known for his hit "me and mrs. jones," passed away sunday. his manager told nbc

philadelphia affiliate the 81-year-old had been hospitalized last week following a cancer diagnosis. a statement on his website says, quote, the world grieves the loss of another musical icon that helped pioneer today's r&b music. billy will be truly missed. "american idol" star kelly clarkson posted these pictures of her son, remi. th the #watchoutladies. design flaw in one of the car cars he will be driving. >> a door would have been nice. >> the series returns to bbc america in may. i'm dara brown and this is "early today." what are you doing right now? making a cake! ayla reminds me of like a master chef and emiana reminds me of like a monster chef. uh oh. i don't see cake, i just see mess.

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leading the news in "the wall street journal," former senator presses for release of 9/11 papers that would impugn saudis. former senator bob graham appeared on "meet the press" on sunday. he says the classified documents would prove that the saudis show aid great deal of support for al qaeda in 2001. the obama administration will make a decision on whether to declassify the 28 pages by june. on nbcnews.com, obama doesn't take north korea's promise to halt the nuke program seriously. this comes after north korea's ultimat ultimatum, saying it would stop its nuclear test if the u.s. suspends military exercises in south korea. the president did add he would agree to have serious talks with the country if it is indeed serious in discussing an end to its nuclear program. florida's bubble man was

voluntarily rescued by the coast guard yesterday. beluci was attempting to travel via hydropod. he continued his journey despite officials warning against it. and the boat of the two missing teens from jupiter, florida, was discovered on saturday. the 14-year-old boys went missing last july. an iphone and tackle box was found aboard. authorities are hoping it will help in the investigation. former pennsylvania senator harris wofford announced in sunday's "new york times" he is marrying a man 50 years his junior. wofford, age 90, was previously married to claire wofford, who died after her battle with leukemia 25 years ago. in the article, wofford says, i had a half century of marriage with a wonderful woman, and now am lucky for a second time to have found happiness. dragsteres laced up their high heels for a race around the track this weekend. yep, it was key west great republic drag race. contestants navigated through automobile tires, walked a balance beam, and steered

souped-up shopping carts. >> impressive. >> absolutely. with a minimum of three-inch heels required, even face plants. >> ooh! got up quick, though. >> you know what that face plant is like. >> the sunset. >> the bed races. i don't know about the high heels, though. that would be a tough one. >> i never put my heels on when i went down there. >> not for a race, i'm sure. it looks like they had a lot of fun, though. now it's time for a look ahead. more protests are expected in north carolina against the controversial house bill two that requires transgender people to use the restroom equivalent to the gender on that birth certificate. the state's general assembly is back in session today. happy birthday to bridget jones actress renee zellweger. she's 47. hank azaria is 52. and al pacino turns 76. keep it here for more news, weather, and sports. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today." have a great monday. laura//vo

a popular south bay sports bar & restaurant--- breaks out in flames overnight. the reason multiple departments needed to respond to keep the situation under control... sam//vo and d >>. >> a popular sports bar breaks out in flames overnight. as they try to keep this situation under control. a double killing in san jose as police find two people dead. the case so far unsolved as the homicide count rises. an emotional boost to the heart of brussels. the city continues to climb back from the recent terrorist attacks. "today in the bay" starts right now. very good monday morning to you. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> a bit of a chill in the r. kari hall joining us.