i can't let that go. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. it is monday, may 16th. coming up on "early today," a defensive donald trump says "the new york times" lame hit piece on how he treats women is a joke. president obama goes all jersey on the donald and republicans before tens of thousands at the rutgers commencement. wait until you hear what job hillary clinton has in mind for her husband, if she becomes president. plus, it was a bruising weekend in baseball. ouch. the world's largest cruise ship sets sail. and a shark bite like we've never seen. "early today" starts right now. good monday morning to you. a busy day of politics ahead.

bernie sanders and hillary clinton are on the eve of their head-to-head matchups in the oregon and kentucky primaries. and in a bruising fight for the democratic nomination, clinton is looking for her opportunity to put the contest away, but we begin with president obama, who without a democratic presidential nominee is embracing his role in the presidential campaign as chief spokesman for his party. addressing rutgers university in its 250th commencement anniversary, he took some not so veiled swipes at donald trump and the republican party. >> when you hear someone longing for the good old days, take it with a grain of salt. the world is more interconnected than ever before, and it's becoming more connected every day. building walls won't change that. let me be as clear as i can be. in politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue. isolating or disparaging muslims, suggesting they should be treated differently when it comes to entering this country, that is not just the betrayal of our values. >> as for trump, well, he's not hitting back against the

president, but he is going after "the new york times." they published personal stories from women who either met or knew the republican presumptive nominee for president. some of the interviews revealed unwelcome advances, a shrew reliance on ambition, and an unsettling workplace conduct over decades. trump lashed out, calling it a lame hit piece. in a tweet, he said the media is on a witch hunt against him and called the paper dishonest, saying "the new york times" failed to interview women he recommended. one supporter shot back calling the piece inaccurate. rnc chairman reince priebus said trump still has work to do when it comes to female voters. >> look, i mean, these are things he's going to have to answer for, but i also think they're things from many years ago. and i think as christians judging each other, it's problematic. i think it's when people live in

glass houses and throw stones is when people get in trouble. >> all of this as a new interview with trump reveals he referred to massachusetts senator elizabeth warren as pocahontas when discussing his twitter feud with her. trump is also lashing out across the pond, talking about to piers morgan about comments from london's new mayor. >> when he won, i wished him well. now, i don't care about him. it doesn't make any difference to me. let's see how he does. let's see if he's a good man. >> are you offended by what he said? >> yeah, because he doesn't know me, never met me, doesn't know what i'm about. i think they're very rude statements. frankly, tell him i will remember those statements. very nasty statements. >> as republican stalwarts continue to push for a third party candidate to take on trump, "the washington post" reports gop figures have been

commissioning private polling, lining up major funding sources, and courting potential contenders. kasich has privately told sources he has no interest in running. the rnc chairman called a possible third-party run a suicide mission. but trump did have a moment of bipartisanship this weekend. he and vice president joe biden sat just 30 yards from one another at upenn's commencement. trump was there for his daughter tiffany, while biden's granddaughter, naomi, also received her diploma. joe biden and john boehner also accept ed honorary diploma from notre dame. as for hillary clinton and bernie sanders, both candidates spent their weekend campaigning ahead of tomorrow's primaries. sanders continued his liberal call to arms while clinton began to lay out what role her husband and former president bill clinton would have in her administration. >> i was saying earlier in louisville, where we had a big rally, my husband, who i'm going to put in charge of revitalizing the economy because, you know,

he knows how to do it, especially in places like coal country and inner cities. >> clinton is expected to campaign in kentucky today. sanders is in puerto rico for town halls and rallies focusing on the country's debt, health care, and more. the ntsb is investigating the bus crash that killed eight people and injured 44 others in laredo, texas. last year the bus company was ordered twice to take one of its buses off the road to fix brake and emergency exit issues. nbc's sarah dallof is in laredo with the latest on the victims and the investigation. >> reporter: we're told the majority of the victims are in their 50s to 60s with one victim being as old as 83. they were traveling to a casino on the texas/mexico border. they were on a charter bus when it rolled just before noon. the county medical examiner describes it as the worst commercial vehicle accident she has seen in ten years. the ntsb now is on scene. they've launched their own

investigation, looking into what caused this accident. one possibility, slick roads. we're told it was raining at the time of the accident. no word yet on if that contributed to this tragedy. in laredo, texas, i'm sarah dallof, nbc news. the obama administration's diplomatic point man in the fight against isis says the group is shrinking. special presidential envoy also says the terrorist group is losing territory and that the u.s.-led coalition against isis is succeeding. >> they're finding the leaders. we're killing the leaders, and that's going to continue. they're shutting down access to internet cafes. they're doing all sorts of things in raqqah, which shows to us they're increasingly nervous. and they should be nervous. >> these comments came the same day a string of isis attacks killed at least 29 people, 15 near baghdad and another 14 at a coordinated assault at a natural gas plant near baghdad. more than 141 people have been killed during five straight days of attacks around the iraqi

capital. federal aviation officials are investigating a deadly stunt plane crash at an atlanta air show saturday that was caught on camera. a warning -- some viewers may find this video disturbing. it shows the plane rising high in the air in what appears to be a loop. the plane descends and seems to lose control, crashing to the ground and killing the pilot. authorities say the weather was clear at the time. still no word yet on what caused that crash. fortunately, no one on the ground was hurt. rescue crews who responded to a florida shark attack on sunday say they have never seen anything like this. a two-foot-long nurse shark clamped down on a woman's arm and would not let go, even after it died. the woman was transported to a local hospital in stable condition with the shark still attached to her arm. officials say nurse sharks are commonly found in offshore florida waters, but attacks on humans remain rare. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with your start of the week weather. good morning to you, bill. >> good morning to you. we're mid may.

i've seen pictures of snow in northern new england, torrential rains down in corpus christi. that's where we'll start with. flooding potential is very high down here. thunderstorm this is morning. some areas picked up nine inches of rain in the last couple of hours, mostly rural sections not corpus christi itself. that's where the worst weather in the country is. later severe thunderstorms will break out in oklahoma. not so much tornadoes. large hail. could drop baseball-sized hail here in western oklahoma. not too many people are at risk. that's also a rural area. but we'll watch that in oklahoma city late tonight. tomorrow big population center will see storms, wind damage and hail will be the threats. not so much tornadoes once again. the rest of the country, the week ahead will not be too hot. it's not even going to be too cold either. we're kind of in between. stormy weather in the middle of the country early in the week. mid week, south and southeast. west stays quiet but toward the end of the week we could bring

wet weather toring how warm we were last week. 90 in phoenix today. weather in the west remains pretty much the quietest and probably the best in the entire country this week . >> i'm still hooked up on snow in new england. what? >> yeah. many areas. >> bill, thanks so much. up next, an nbc news exclusive report on americans joining isis. and then, can you guess which country is buying up u.s. real estate at an alarming rate? be an unstoppable "let's rock this" kind of mom. back pain? motrin helps you be a... "side planking, even though you'll feel it later" kind of woman. body pain? motrin helps you be an... "i can totally do this in one trip"

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leaked cache of files to investigate isis defectors. the information could hold clues to what motivates americans to join the terror group. for an in-depth look to the path to radicalization and reaction, check out the full story on nbcnews.com. the duke and duchess of cambridge, along with prince harry, kicked off a mental health awareness campaign. it hopes to open a dialogue and feature aid mother talking about her struggles with mental illness. over the weekend, dozens of navy s.e.a.l.s and surfers paid tribute to charlie keating iv. a paddle out was held near coronado, california.

a woman tried to walk off with two packages when she ran into the homeowner and his cell phone. >> if i were you, i would put that down. >> why? >> that's my stuff. i live here. that's my house. >> you don't live here. my mom live heers. >> i'm going to call the police on you. >> the woman has been arrested on one count of grand felony theft. world war ii vet is making a cross country road trip on his harley to honor fallen service members. he served as a marine in the pacific, surviving a plane crash at iwo jima. his 6,000-mile trip will take him to arlington national cemetery by memorial day. let's get down to business now with cnbc's landon downey. good morning, landon. >> private labeled goods it sells as it takes on walmart supermarket chains.

several new lines will be launched including tea, coffee, baby food and diapers t will only be available to amazon prime customers, though. also, rushing to get their money into overseas assets, pouring more than $110 billion into the u.s. last year, making them the largest foreign buyers of u.s. property. google is searching for drivers in arizona. sort of. the company has placed ads for people to be behind the wheel for road tests of self-driving car, $20 an hour, you must have a college degree, clean driving record and be able to type at least 40 words per minute. maiden voyage of the largest cruise ship, royal caribbean's harmony of the seas has 16 decks, longer than the height of the eiffel tower and 6300 passengers and 2100 crew members. back to you.

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this morning on "today," jeff rossen investigates the viral video effect. how police body cams are impacting national crime rates and whether you can believe what

you see on tape. let's get you caught up on this morning's sports headlines with my friend, betty nguyen. good morning, betty. >> good morning, dara. the minnesota timberwolves karl-anthony towns is expected to be named the nba rookie of the year. the official announcement is scheduled for later this morning. towns was the number one overall pick from kentucky. he posted the best rookie season by a big man since tim duncan, averaging 18 points and nearly 11 rebounds per game. oklahoma city thunder star kevin durant has already called towns a future hall of famer. now to the action in toronto. the raptors dominated game seven against the heat, winning 116-89. kyle lowery led the way with 35 points for the raptors. toronto now faces cleveland in the eastern conference finals. there was a texas-sized, bench-clearing brawl as the rangers hosted the blue jays. after being hit by a pitch, blue jay jose bautista goes in for the hard slide and the fight is on. bautista got punched in the face by ranger odor.

in total, eight players and coaches were ejected. texas won 7-6. jason day went wire to wire to win the players championship. no one came within two shots in the final round of the world's number one player. day finished at 15 under, four shots ahead of american kevin chapel for his seventh title in the past ten months. the australian takes home the $1.9 million prize. the richest in golf. not a bad day. serena williams had a good day, too, winning the italian open. congrats to her. world's number one women's player defeated fellow american madison keys in two sets for her first victory in nine months. and thousands of runners took part in the annual bay to breakers race in san francisco on sunday. the race is known for the crazy and flamboyant costumes some runners wear. a texas man who didn't done a costume won the 12-kilometer race with a time of 35 minutes and 23 seconds. so, dara, i guess he is not

dressed in costume. i'll send it back to you. >> betty, thanks so much. just ahead, did the money monster take our captain america at the movies? plus, facebook cheryl sandberg deliver ace message to graduates. morrow is not a given. but entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ ♪ i love ya, tomorrow in the largest heart failure study ever. entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. can cause harm or death an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure... ...kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow i love ya, tomorrow.♪

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worldwide take to over $940 million so far. george clooney and julia roberts' "money monster" was a distant third on its opening weekend bringing in just $15 million. actor wendell pierce, best no known for his role on "the wire," was arrested saturday in atlanta. he faces battery charges and was released after posting a thousand-dollar bond. facebook's sheryl sandberg gave a touching commencement speech at uc berkeley over the weekend. the best-selling author talked about resilience and what she learned from her husband's death. >> dave's death -- when life sucks you under, you can kick against the bottom, find the surface and breathe again. and in the latest edition of "last week tonight," john oliver took the donald to task over his tax return.

>> the rest of the are week was a little bumpier for trump. on friday morning, he attempted to justify not releasing his tax returns, and it did not go great. >> there have been many presidents that have not shown their tax returns. >> actually, every single nominee since 1976 has released -- >> right, before 1976 people didn't do it. >> sure, but there were a lot of things we did before 1976 that seem crazy now, like smoking on airplanes and thinking elliott gould was a major sex symbol. >> he's very funny. >> smoking in the airplane plane is something like in 30 years -- already our kids are like, what are you thinking? >> smoking, drinking, all that. >> they still drink on planes. in moderation, of course. >> that's true. in moderation. i'm dara brown. this is "early today." ay." in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair works...

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leading news in "the new york times," russian official apologizes for doping problem but says athletes should not be barred. the country's sport minister admitted officials, coaches, and athletes made serious mistakes during the 2014 sochi olympics. but despite doping accusations, he asked for athletes to still be allowed to compete this summer in brazil. in "usa today," navy s.e.a.l.s secret medals reveal heroism during past 15 years. two navy crosses and more than 100 silver star medals have been awarded since america secretly went to war in 2001. earlier this year, the pentagon says it plans to reveal the nation's top awards to determine if they should be upgraded. a car's dash cam captured an accident most would find a little too close for comfort.

it happened friday morning as a tapanzee bridge in new york city. police say the truck broke an axle and rolled on to its side. the crash created a traffic nightmare, closing down both lanes in all directions for hours. believe it or not, nobody was injured. >> how does an axel fall off a truck? >> i don't know. so do you want to know the best time to avoid road rage on your commute? a new study says road rage peaks on fridays at 6:00 p.m. >> a long week, huh? >> that is according to road rage posts on social media, august is the worst month with holiday travel and alcohol consumption igniting tempers. it also pens los angeles as the road rage capital with the average driver sitting 80 hours in traffic a year. the queen of england has been celebrating her 90th birthday for about a month. it climaxed last night when the

queen arrived in a massive procession to the grounds of windsor castle. the monarch steps out of the ornate horse-drawn carriage and is greeted by the heir to the throne, her son, charles, and wife camilla. grandson william was in attendance as the celebrations got under way, including military plays on a grand scale with multiple horsemen and cannons. and a birthday truly fit for a queen. she's celebrating for a whole month. keep celebrating. >> they do everything the way we wish we could. i want my birthday party like that. >> let's do it. now it's time for a look ahead. the national parks service says that the washington monument will remain closed this morning for repairs after experiencing elevator power issues over the weekend. happy birthday today to "transformers" actress megan fox. former "90210" actress turned reality star tori spelling is 43. furious flames--- consuming a

san jose auto repair shop, threatening the safety of people livg >>. >> serious flames consuming a san jose auto repair shop threatening the safety of people living nearby. >> paying the price to keep people safe after a rash of freeway shootings. urgent discussions how to stop them. >> live pictures from oracle arena. a season worth of basketball brilliance. "today in the bay" starts now. good morning. thank you for joining us on this monday. i'm sam brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> we need a longer weekend. >> a lot of dark colors up here on the desk. where is that powerful r