>> late night call from president trump to russia's putin and the hunt for the killers of the moscow subway attack. >> the senate 4eded to the neil gorsuch nomination. >> today is equal payday. tom brady's stolen jersey swiped yet again on baseball's opening day. >> and redemption for the unc tar heels. >> to jackson. >> national champs for the sixth time. "early today" starts right now. >> good to have you with us. i'm frances rivera, i'm yasmin

vossoughi vossoughian. russian police search for a suspect or suspect in the saint peets burke attack. >> no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. nbc's keir simmons is following development from our london bureau. what's the latest we know on the manhunt? >> they say they have issued a picture of somebody that they want to find, but there are alternative reports suggesting that that person has gone to russian officials and said that they are that person in the picture and it was not them. so there is confusion over whether this was some kind of a suicide bombing. they have found two explosive devices, one at the site of the explosion and another that did not detonate, that they were able to defuse. the carriage itself, the car itself exploded in a time when it was able to get to a station.

meanwhile, president trump spoke with president putin and offered support for russia at this difficult time. it happened in saent petersburg. perhaps the place and timing is not coincidental. that is president putin's hometown and he was in st. petersburg when the attack happened. >> nbc's keir simmons in london, through for the update. this morning also new develops in the growing russia scandal after nbc cob firms that erik prince at blackwater served as a representative for then president-elect trump at a secret overseas meeting put together by the united arab emirates in early january. "the washington post" first published the scoop reporting the meeting was with a quote russian close to the president vladamir putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back channel line of communication between moscow and then president-elect donald trump. the plot thickens from there with the report saying erik

prince donated $250,000 to the trump campaign and groups supporting trump's candidacy. he happens to be the brother of education secretary betsy devos and was seen in the trump transition offices back in december. senior administration officials calling the suggestion of a trump-putin back channel ridiculous. sean spicer released this statement. quote, we are not aware of any meetings and erik prince had no role in the transition. the white house says it is seeking a path forward on health care saying efforts to repeal obamacare are far from dead. vice president mike pence, the chief of staff and budget director nick mulvaney journeyed to capitol hill for a late night meeting with the house freedom caucus. >> mr. vice president, how was the meeting, sir? >> is there going fob a vote on health care? >> is there going to be a vote, mr. vice president? >> so far no new deal in principle but conservative group says it is interested in what the white house had to say. >> we're encouraged by at least

the idea, intrigued by the idea, but certainly need a lot more information before we can take any action either in support or in opposition. >> the meeting comes after christian welker spoke with the president in the oval office telling her he is serious about working on health care reform. reversing course on finding democratic support for a compromise. but health care isn't the only fight on the president's hands. senate democrats and republicans embarking on a historic showdown over supreme court nominee neil gorsuch who is one step closer to confirmation. for more we're joined by tracie potts and democrats seem to have enough votes to block that this week so will that be enough? >> reporter: it may not be because they may be looking at what's called the nuclear option here, lowering the thresholds of how many votes are needed to get gorsuch on the u.s. supreme court. he cleared committee, now there are enough democrats willing to

filibuster, something never seen with a supreme court nominee, that they could block this nomination without that rule change. take a look. four democrats bucking the party so to speak, three from red states up for re-election. the other from a home city of gorsuch, from denver. all of them saying that they won't block this nomination. but 42 other democrats plan to do just that, forcing, republicans say, forcing the party into this nuclear option where they can essentially confirm gorsuch without any democrats on board. they've got the numbers to do it, but is that going to pave the way for some of the things they need to work together on down the road like tax reform and yet again health care, as you were mentioning. it may not provide for good will down the road but may get gorsuch confirmed this week. that's their goal. >> may come back to bite them. nbc's tracie potts, thank you. many of you reeling from

last night's game. gonzaga lost only one game all year. it was the university of north carolina that came out on top, redemption for the tar heels and red coach roy williams after losing last year on a buzzer beater to villa nova. this is coach williams' third national championship, passing wlaet mentor dean smith who won two. unc students were celebrating big time. this is the school's sixth national championship and the first since 2009. today is equal payday across the united states as activists look to narrow the gender wage gap. each year demonstrations from coast to coast as pro equity activists look to even the field trying to catch up on male colleagues. women earn 79.6 cents for every dollar men make. it's that statistic those like facebook ceo sheryl sandberg are trying to break down. the #20 percent counts, arcing that if women make 20% less than

men they should at least pay 20% less for purchases. local businesses are getting in on the action with 300 businesses in over 25 major cities offering 20% discounts or special offers today. and later this morning on capitol hill, democrats will reintroduce legislation to strengthen protections for women in the workplace. another major sexual harassment lawsuit at fox news. now advertisers are pulling out. also in louisiana, a funnel cloud tosses a car around like a toy as you can see. strong winds in georgia ripping through the roof of a firehouse while lightning has been blamed for an apartment complex fire in alabama. more severe thunderstorms are expected today. >> let's check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins who is tracking it all. >> good morning. yesterday was a dangerous day, 15 reported tornadoes, mostly in georgia. a lot of damaging wind reports. the setup for wednesday looks worse, maybe one of the worst outbreaks of our early spring

season for today, 9 million people at risk around arkansas and missouri. here is the map for wednesday. this is a big, big dangerous sign when you get the dark red for the moderate clouds will break up by the time you get to northern california, nice spring day in fresno, 79 degrees. fever is sweeping japan today. a cherry blossom fever as the country'ses season kicks off in full force. look at those beautiful blooming flowers. a very short season, just one week before those pink pedals fall off the leaves. they're celebrating a lot more than we are in the d.c. area where on the mall heavy rain last night ruined a lot of the cherry blossoms. >> and that frost didn't help either. did you hear who president

trump donated his salary to? a sinister plot to assassinate pope francis involving a new jersey teen. "early today" is back in two. welcome to saturday. sure mom does all the heavy lifting during the week. but on this day dad makes flapjacks dripping with hot, melting california butter. and somehow dad's the mvp? most valuable parent. it's just not fair. moo. love ya mom! return to real food. dairy products made with california milk.

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venus i choose you to be my wife, choose you to be my teammate, because life is going to throw us a lot of curveballs. >> proving their love for each other and their team. that couple tieing the knot before celebrating opening day for the st. louis cardinals. at fenway, patriots star tom brady celebrated opening day in a very different way. finally reunited with his once long-lost jersey. teammate rob gronkowski, made for some pretty fun moments here, hilarious scene as they tackled one another to the ground. you can imagine how the fans loved it.

maybe that jersey was lucky after all. >> he looks better at throwing than tackling. >> he looks better all different angles in every single way. >> switching gears. a 17-year-old from new jersey pleads guilty to trying to help terrorists by assassinating the pope. prosecutors say santos colon wanted to hire a sniper to kill the pope back in 2015. he spoke with someone he thought was a sniper but who was actually an fbi agent. officials say colon wanted to set off explosives at the pope's mass which around 100,000 people did attend. he faces up to 15 years in prison. in colombia, the death toll climbs to 273. rescue workers are searching for signs of life. more than 200 people are still missing. the colombian government has set up bank accounts accepting donations for the victims of the disaster.

a promise donald trump's first quarter salary as president has been donated. he gave his income a total of $78,333 to the national park service. sean spicer announced the move during his daily briefing accompanied by ryan zinc. the funds are going to maintain historic battlefields across the country. today will wall street and main street embrace oath? landon dowdy has more on what it's all about. >> let's play the name game here. when verizon completes its $5 billion deal to buy yahoo!'s internet business this spring, it will combine it with aol and name the new entity oath. it's likely other well-known sites will keep their names so users won't be confused. reports say current ceo marissa meyer won't stay with the new company. amazon has launched a new service to make it easier for

people who don't have a debit or credit card to shop on the site. customers can display a bar code from amazon cash at a participating retailer and deposit cash directly to their amazon account. the code can be accessed through the main site or mobile app. people without a smart phone can print the bar code and present it at stores. google wants to help parents pry phones and tab let's from their kids' hands with google wi-fi they can schedule an internet pause time during which wi-fi is blocked. google suggests using it during dinner, homework time or bedtime. you can set timers and customize how often a pause repeats. >> if that doesn't work, we do the old-fashioned, yank it right from them and say no, dinnertime right now. landon dowdy, thank you. just ahead, why are some 200 movie theaters playing the classic "1984" today. >> a major advertising is pulling out of the no spin zone.

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fast forwarding today, may be 2017 but it's 1984 that's all the rage with george orwell's story taking on new meaning for anti-trump activists and a day in a global protest against the president over 200 theaters are screening the famous film. prepare yourself for a brain freeze. free cone day is back with ben &

jerry's annual celebration coast to coast. the company has been keeping its free ice cream tradition for 40 years. expected to give out over a million free cones. host bob harper opens up on his near fatal heart attack. in an interview with today's savannah guthrie. that is this morning on "today." also this morning new allegations in the sexual harassment scandal plaguing fox news. new accusers coming forward against ousted ceo roger ailes and bill o'reilly after network paid out millions to settle complaints against the star. some pulling ads from o'reilly's show. nbc's stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: former fox news commentator accused the network's biggest star bill o'reilly of sexual harassment. >> i knew how to behave and i simply said i'm sorry, i can't do that.

>> reporter: wendy walsh says she refused o'reilly's offer to go to his hotel room. >> he got very hostile very quickly. he told me flat out forget any career advice. >> reporter: her appearances on his show soon stopped. walsh's accusations part of a "new york times" report revealing fox news or o'reilly paid $13 million over a dozen years to five other women who alleged similar harassment. her accusations come as fox news tries to move beyond a sexual harassment scandal that led to the resignation of its former chairman and ceo roger ailes. >> they made some changes but the current leadership at fox news is part of the old guard of roger's loyalists. >> reporter: o'reilly posted a statement on line that reads in part just like others i'm vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity. as a father he says he acted quickly when accused to put to rest any controversies to spare my children. fox news was also hit with another lawsuit accusing ailes of sexual harassment.

his lawyer called it total hogwash. management urged employees to come forward if they have any concerns about behavior in the workplace. >> if they are serious about this they are going to have to change their entire culture. >> reporter: the car company mercedes says it is pulling advertising from o'reilly's show. the scandal fox news hoped it had overcome continues to take a costly toll. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. ahead a breakdown of the country's most stressed out states and the twist we didn't see coming. how one company is tracking employees on a whole new level. you're watching "early today." uh, excuse me, waiter. i ordered the soup... of course, ma'am. my apologies. c'mon, caesar. let's go. caesar on a caesar salad? surprising. excuse me, pardon me.

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♪ >> a little slap of the hiney. >> plenty of things that stress americans out. a study by wallet hub monitored work, money, family, health and the most and least stressed states. the south, they actually scored

the worst with alabama the most stressed, louisiana, mississippi, west virginia and kentucky. states in the midwest, they seem to be more relaxed. minnesota the least stressed with north and south dakota, iowa and utah in the top five. >> i remember reading another list and seeing minneapolis was one of the best cities to live in in the entire country. >> midwest have got it pretty good. parents have been tried to read their teenager's minds for years, google finally has some research. the name for the research "it's lit." it starts with how teens define cool. and when asked to rank brands by coolness, youtube, netflix, google, xbox, play station, doritos. favorite snacks, pizza, oreos, chips, ice cream. this is "early today." the smoother the skin, you are in it.

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welcome back. the travel forecast today, worst of it in the northeast. colorado a little ugly, too. rain and snow around denver. higher elevations definitely snow. showers towards seattle. much of california looks okay today. the weather goes downhill as the system moves into wednesday and thursday. a lot of wet weather headed for california. the mountainous areas could get feet of snow by the weekend. >> bill, thank you. authorities are investigating a deadly explosion in st. louis, three people were killed and four others injured after a box company's boiler exploded. debris shot out of the top of the building, flew across the street and landed on a laundry business. one person was killed by the initial blast and two by a falling chunk of the boiler. those two victims were on their

first day of work. >> wow. harrison ford is free and clear. our tom costolo reports ford will not lose his pilot license after the scare that saw the actor coming in on a taxiway instead of a runway back in february, flying right over the top of a packed passenger jet. the faa finished the investigation with no punishment for the actor. president trump signed a bill overturning privacy establishments requiring internet providers to obtain permission from customers before sharing and/or selling their personal data like their browsing history. the republican-led bill passed the house and senate last week. democrats urged the president to veto the bill. the white house has released its first official portrait of first lady melania trump. the photo was taken at mrs. trump's quote, new residence,

the white house. she remains in new york while her son baran finishes school. how about this particular technology. one swedish company is implanting its workers with microchips to act as an id card. they're the size of a grain of rice that allow employees to open doors, operate printers or buy lunch with the wave of a hand. some workers even hold parties for people willing to get implanted. it's interesting, very slippery ethics slow there on how far you go and what you can do. >> i went through a lot for a job. i'm not going to get a microchip implanted between my thumb and my finger. >> you're right. where do you draw the line? where do you stop? >> exactly. let's use the id. we don't need to be implanted. >> thanks for being with us on a tuesday

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north carolina. they're not going to be denied this time. >> and one of the blue bloods of college basketball bringing some sanity back to march madness. the tar heels take it all at the ncaa national championship comes to a close. after heartbreak last year, redemption this year for the tar heels. thank you for joining us on this tuesday. i'm sam brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. you have to love college sports. >> you do? >> is that north carolina blue? >> yes, it is. we know that one person, stephen stock, a tar heel alum, would be proud of you for wearing that. >> let's see if he's