we had a report of an explosion. we have two victims that have been transported to the hospital. i want to put out now the safety alert for the neighborhood. stay inside your homes until we have had a chance to deem this neighborhood safe. >> breaking overnight, a fourth explosion in austin. two injured. police are looking into a connection with the previous explosions that claimed two lives. >> president trump gets personal using the special counsel's name for the first time as he let loose in the approach to tweet slamming the russia investigation and attacking mueller's team. >> opioid emergency over the past three decades, deaths went up in every county in america. today president trump unveils his plan to stop the problem

including the death penalty for some drug traffickers. >> $1 million prize for one deserving teacher. >> will meghan markle sign a pre-nup with prince harry? we have the answer as "early today" starts right now. good monday morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm gigi stone woods. we begin with breaking news overnight. residents in austin are on edge after being rocked by a fourth explosion this month. two people were seriously injured but are now in good condition. police are urging people within a half mile radius of the incident to stay inside. one resident saying the explosion was so loud he could hear it from his home, even with the windows shut. >> this is a quiet neighborhood. we've lived here 20 years. not a lot hapds here. it's a family neighborhood. yeah, it's concerning. >> this follows a string of package bombings that killed two people and seriously injured two others. but police say the latest explosion may have possibly been triggered by a trip wire. >> over 500 law enforcement officials are investigating and

police are now offering $100,000 for information leading to an arrest. texas governor greg abbott also offering an additional 15,000. alyssa going forward of nbc affiliate kxan has the latest on the ongoing investigation in austin. >> reporter: good morning. two men in their 20s were take tone a nearby hospital. they were injured in the explosion. a spokesperson for that hospital tells us they are both in good condition. austin police say the scene here is still not safe for people who live here. they say it is also not safe for us, which is why we're here standing across the street from the neighborhood where it all happened. the police chief says a back pack was also found near the scene. they are working to clear it and the darkness here is making that investigation work even harder. we saw neighbors watching everything unfolding, but they are being urged to stay inside their homes now until police can ensure that it will be safe. fbi and city leaders are here working to support police. their main message to the roast of austin, do not touch any

suspicious packages that might wind up on your doorstep. again, it is a message police chief reiterated tonight in a press conference. in austin, i'm alyssa gored for nfs news. >> alyssa, thank you. >> after the firing of fbi director andrew mccabe, president trump lashed out on twitter over the weekend focusing his frustrations not just at mccabe, but special counsel robert mueller, calling him out by name for the first time. this is a white house attorney insists the president is not considering firing the special counsel. nbc's tracee pots joins us from washington with the latest. good morning, tracee. >> reporter: good morning, gigi, good morning, everyone. we may hear more from the fall out of the firing of andrew mccabe, the deputy director of the fbi. lawmakers asking over the weekend did the white house lean on the white house or the fbi to get rid of him two days before retirement. an internal report suggests that

mccabe released confidential information to reporters and then misled investigators about that. but the president tweeting that it was mccabe's -- that mccabe did not write memos or take notes when they were together. reportedly mccabe has turned over those notes to the fbi before he was fired. and all of this raising questions about the fbi's russia investigation and its head robert mueller. could his firing be next? some lawmakers concerned about that. >> are you worried that the president is preparing to order the firing of mueller? it sure looks that way from his tweets. >> well, as i've said before, if he tried to do that, that would be the beginning of the end much his presidency because we're a rule of law nation. >> reporter: now, the president also tweeting, in fact, he tweeted quite a bit over the weekend about mccabe and mueller saying again that this russia investigation is a witch hunt headed by 13 hardened democrats.

also this morning, the washington post reporting that president trump had a senior staff sign nondisforeclosure you're agreements that are supposed to last beyond his presidency. it was something he was asked about on the campaign trail, and now the post is reporting it actually did happen in the early days after the inauguration. gigi? >> certainly seems tensions are escalating. tracie, thank you. >> as the midterm election season revs up, democrats are finding themselves with a huge polling advantage. an nbc news "wall street journal" follow finds 50% democrat controlled congress come november while 40% prefer republican control. the double digit lead is since february. there is an uptick in the president's approval. 43% say they strongly approve of the president's job performance, up 4% since january, 53% say they disapprove. >> as president trump's legal

team attempts to move the stormy daniels's case to federal court, one legal analyst says it is a risky move. the plan of attack is clear. move the case to federal court briefly then ask that court to send the case into arbitration. arbitration would heavily favor president trump, but only if his team succeeds in getting there. now, if the case stays in court, he opens himself up to a deposition where he cannot refuse to answer. for more on the legal analysis, head to nbc news.com. >> your personal information, like likes, online friends and anything you post may have been abused in what some are calling the biggest data breach in social media history. a british firm called cambridge analytica has been banned from facebook for the way it got information on more than 50 million americans, all in an alleged effort to sway votes to republican candidates. once a user answered survey questions, the app captured their friends' online information, too. cambridge analytica said the information in question has been destroyed, but "the new york

times" reports the data still exists. >> russian election officials are responding to claims of voting violations and president vladimir putin's recent land slide victory. ke keeping him in power another six-year term. surveillance footage in moscow and three other locations show incidents of ballot stuffing and others allege numerous violations such as forced voting. nbc's richard engel tells us more. >> reporter: even before the polls open, it was already clear president vladimir putin would win six more years. voters were greeted at the polls by costume characters, dancing and cookies. tiny enticements to lure the crowds. >> russia is very important country in the world, and it's because of our president. >> reporter: the atmosphere here is utterly relaxed. it feels more like a holiday than an election.

there is zero expectation of political change. the only question is how many people will bother to show up. turnout is a matter of pride for putin to show that russians would still come out for a shoe-in. it's also a focus of putin's rivals, alexie an election leader was told not to vote. in these videos verified by the a.p., voters seem to insert multiple ballots. one election official appears to stroll over to a box and stuff it while no one in the room seems to mind. but these would only be vanity votes. putin doesn't need fraud to win. he has deep support. and as the ballots were still being counted, putin came out by red square for a brief acceptance speech, looking energetic, he thanked voters for their trust, promised hard work and unity, ending with a cheer. russia, russia, russia.

he's already made clear his priority for his next term, confront the west while the united states is in political turmoil. the question is, was it putin's plan all along? early results show president putin earned more than 75% of the vote with an over 60% voter turnout. the next leading candidate was more than 60 points behind him. gigi? >> all right, richard, thank you. >> this morning 19 million people in the south are at risk for tornadoes, damaging winds and hail especially in georgia, tennessee and northern alabama. over the weekend kansas highway patrol posted this video showing high winds, watch, knocking that tractor-trailer near dodge city. there is word of more severe weather and possible storm in the northeast. here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. we're done, we know that. >> this march, we're done with it. it's going it be a crazy three days. life-threatening weather will be this afternoon, this evening. if we get any of those tornadoes

in the areas we just mentioned, the storm system is bringing snow to colorado, even storms, thunderstorms in the middle of the night in areas of kansas. there's the 19 million people at risks from nashville to birmingham, tupelo, the atlanta area. isolated tornadoes and the wind damage will sweep through areas of georgia and north florida late tonight. that will continue early tomorrow morning. so, we'll get the line of storms with the wind damage right through the carolina coastal areas, south of georgia and north florida. then we'll get round two during the afternoon and we could even get an isolated tornado with that, too. that is from orlando, eling like winter and that cold air is going to set the stage for our snow event as we go into tuesday night and wednesday. and yes, unfortunately it is

now looking more likely for a possible nor'easter on wednesday for the mid-atlantic and northeast. we'll talk about that coming up. >> not even surprising at this point. thanks, bill. someone in pennsylvania got extremely lucky this saint patty's weekend. a single ticket matched the drawing for the powerball jackpot worth more than $456 million, the 8th largest jackpot in the game's history. winning numbers, 22, 27, 59, 60, 67 and the powerball 7. so we don't know who won yet or where the lucky ticket was sold. so we don't know if the luck of the irish is responsible. >> we have some lucky charms there, too. still ahead the president takes on the opioid crisis. and the battle of gettysburg. so she said, look for one that's shaped like a dental tool with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's rounded brush head surrounds each tooth to gently remove more plaque, and oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the american dental association for its effectiveness and safety.

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ferry boat he captained. he joined the fdny serving the waterfront as a marine pilot. he died from an illness believed to be contracted during the terror attacks. his tireless work made him sick like other first responders who stepped up. >> president trump is set to unveil his plan to combat the opioid epidemic today including controversial proposal to seek the death penalty for drug traffickers. white house officials say capital punishment would be sought only where appropriate by law, and part of stiffer penalties for drug deelders. administration officials said the plan includes prevention efforts and expanding access to residential treatment for medicaid patients. there were also proposals to reduce the over prescription of painkillers by one-third in three years. and cutting off the supply of illegal drugs, including internet sales. >> the philadelphia zoo shared a pretty fun clip of one of its gorillas. 18-year-old lewis, 500 pounds. 6 foot tall gorilla using his

hind legs to walk up right like a human because he wants to keep his hands clean apparently louis jogs everywhere he's going. he holds his food in hands far away from the ground. he apparently is a notorious clean freak. honestly he looks like he's easier to live with than some humans. >> look at the character, the swagger. >> very cool. >> that's hysterical. >> we love you, louis. >> now to an intriguing new look at a legend that goes back 155 years to the civil war. 2 tons of gold being transported in pennsylvania during the battle of gettysburg. all of a sudden there is renewed interest in the remote site where some believe the gold might be buried. nbc's morgan radford has the story. >> reporter: the legend, going back to the civil war, has echoed to this day. somewhere in pennsylvania a union shipment of gold heading from west virginia to harrisburg went missing. the wagons and dead soldiers found at the time, but 52 bars

of gold, today worth $55 million, vanished. it was long dismissed as a myth, but this past week a team of fbi agents showed up in a state forest at dents run, just two hours north of pittsburgh, and started digging. professional treasure hunters like eric schmidt were surprised. >> i'm very, very, very certain the fbi has never gone outlooking for treasure before. >> reporter: the government's search in pennsylvania comes after a group called finders keepers says it actually found the location of the gold using a high-powered metal detector back in 2004. they wanted to dig, but the state department of conservation and natural resources wouldn't let them. a law enforcement official tells nbc news they went to dented run after a tip there was federal gold at the site. but upon digging they found nothing. >> just because they went there and didn't find anything doesn't necessarily mean that it's not there. >> reporter: the legendary treasure still unfound, inspiring the hunt for history's for tour.

morgan radford, nbc news, new york. >> amazing they may still be out there. >> once the fbi gets involved, that legitimatizes it for the frustrated treasure hunters. we all know teachers worth their weight in gold. you'll meet one honored with a million dollar prize. well deserved. we have your details next. a breakthrough moisturizer delightfully whipped for instant absorption feel a light-as-air finish in a flash new olay whips ageless are confusing quilted northern are confusing quilted northernf. for a bouncy castle. they're both durable, flexible and nice to have at parties. but quilted northern is not a bouncy castle. it's just really nice toilet paper.

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a british art teacher has won the coveted $1 million

global teacher prize for her work with inner city children in london. andrea was honored in dubai for helping students to feel welcome and safe in a neighborhood with one of the highest murder rates in the u.k. she beat out nearly 30,000 applicants from around the world. she is the first winner from the u.k.. the british teacher already has plans for her prize money. >> i'd like to think about a project in which i could incorporate my community with, and to celebrate creativity through that. >> go for her. we'll see the difference she makes. >> too often do we hear about teachers not getting what they deserve so that's a nice story. this is, too. prince harry has strong faith in his impending marriage to meghan markle. he is refusing to sign a pre-nup to protect his royal fortunate an estimated $42 million. a source telling the daily mail there was never any question in the prince's mind about foregoing the pre-nup which are not common in the u.k., adding he's determined his marriage will be a lasting one. that is a fairy tale if i've

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the moment was captured by 52-year-old lawrence, resident in the area. the buzz on social media, the long-time fisherman saying he never saw the odd catch. the guy who caught it didn't want to be identified. >> that's impressive. >> he has experience definitely. >> let's chat about what's going on with the storm. all right, we have two storms out of this. one the severe weather, the rain, there will be a little snow come tomorrow morning, especially the higher elevations, northern virginia, maryland, also portions of southern pennsylvania. that's 6:00 p.m. tuesday. then this storm will redevelop off the coast. it will linger and it looks like almost two waves with t. it will develop into one primary low and that should become almost a nor'easter as we go through wednesday evening. so, again, we'll have to worry about that in the next two days. >> all right, bill. thank you. keep it right here. disturbing news about america's childhood obesity epidemic. are . i don't have to worry about that, do i? actually, you do. harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line,

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among our top stories today, senator bob corker is set to meet with secretary of state designate mike pompeo. a spokeswoman for corker says it will be the first of several meetings pompeo will have with members of the senate foreign relations committee which corker chairs. the committee plans to hold a meeting on pompeo's nomination sometime next month. >> childhood obesity appeared to be on the decline a few years ago but a new study finds scientists were wrong. according to the journal pediatrics, child obesity rates were at their highest since 1999 for ages between 2 and 19 years old. most prominently among adolescents, the study finds white and asian american children have significantly lower obesity rates than children of other races. >> it was gold at the finish for team usa on the last day of the

2018 paralympic days in pyeongchang and a thrilling end in the hockey sled. team usa farmer to be precise, tied it up into overtime. it was farmer who scored again, winning it for the americans and giving team usa its third straight paralympic gold. the u.s. led the way in medals winning a total of 36, 13 of them gold. >> incredible to watch. now to a tragedy at a circus show in tampa, florida. an aerial performer for cirque du soleil fell to the ground during a show this weekend and died a short time later. nbc's maya rodriguez has the details. >> reporter: shocking performance after a performer fell 20 feet during the cirque du soleil show volta. >> he was straining to hold onto the rope. >> reporter: long time aerialist died from his injuries. witnesses say the big tent in tampa was packed.

anthony allred shot this cell phone video of the aftermath. >> out of the corner of my eye, i could see something happening, and i didn't pay attention until i heard a thud. he didn't move any more. >> reporter: in a statement cirque du soleil said he had been with us for over 15 years and was loved by all who had the chance to know him. just before the show he wrote on instagram, after so much work and training and staging, our straps duo act is finally in the show tonight. this is not the first time a cirque du soleil performer has died during a show. in 2013 sarah died when she fell 94 feet during a performance in las vegas. at the time it was the first death for cirque du soleil in its 30-year history. now tampa police investigating this latest loss for the acrobatic troupe. maya rodriguez, nbc news. >> i'm gigi stone woods. >> and i'm frances rivera. thank you for watching "early

today." check us out on social media so we can connect there. and your news continues on our nb stations. cad lib live picture - san jose

good morning. it's monday. do you have to tell you that? you're probably already feeling it. looking live in downtown san jose we see clear skies in the distance and we'll tell you you should enzwroi today because there's a change coming. thanks so much for joining us. i'm kris sanchez and we want to get right to that forecast. good morning. >> good morning. over here, kari. >> it does start out with clear skies across the bay area. a cold morning as you get ready to head out the door. that will help wake you up on this monday. we're going to start out with the temperatures in the mid-30s for the north bay, 35 in fairfield now and it's 43 in san jose. 37 in morgan hill and livermore. our highs today are going to be really nice today. the best