dynasty in the making, villanova university wins its second national title in three years as the wild cats celebrated all through the night. >> president trump tipping his hand to a sooner than later meeting at the white house with russia's putin. >> outf jail, the affluenza teen is now a freeman after serving two years for a probation violation. >> standing up and fighting back, a growing number of teachers are demanding better pay and more education funding. >> and a fan favorite hollywood couple is calling it quits. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm richard lui in for frances. after three weeks, 68 times,

busted brackets, the madness has officially come to an end. >> the nova nation has another national championship! >> you can probably guess it right there. for the second time in three years, the villanova wild cats are at the top of men's college basketball beating every team by double figures on the biggest stage in college hoops. the wild cats went head to head with the under dogs, michigan wolverines. michigan jumping out to a fast start behind the play. their star big man mo vogner. they got up by 7 in the first half before they woke up the sleeping giant. >> fowl play, but the depth was too much for the wolverines to handle. donte divincenzo put on a record performance. behind the 31 points, they jumped to a 22 point lead and never looked back. difficu divincenzo was named outstanding

player. >> this team is so close, we grind every single day in practice. and we're brothers. to be able to be up here with these guys is a dream come true. >> 1700 miles way from san antonio, you see students and villanova fans flooding the streets on campus near philadelphia to celebrate the school's third national championship in university history. light poles around campus had to be greased. a few bonfires so far, but no word on any arrests. a parade through historic downtown philly is expected later in the week. >> villanova was too good. to washington now where we learned vladimir putin may soon pay a visit despite a number of investigations into his pedaling or rather meddling in the 2016 presidential election. after the kremlin announced president trump had invited the russian leader to visit the white house for a summit, the n. tags coming during what some have described as the worst relations between russia and the u.s. since the cold war. for more now we go to nbc's chris palone in washington. chris, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, richard. you know, it appears the president first floated this

idea a couple of weeks ago when he had that infamous phone call with putin in which he congratulated him on his recent election victory against president trump's aides' suggestions. you could see for yourself. he actually floated the idea of meeting with putin shortly after that phone call. >> we had a very good call and i suspect that we'll probably be meeting in the not too distant future. >> reporter: and what's new about the information is the the kremlin yesterday came out and said that that meeting would take place at the white house. that would be unusual, putin hasn't been to the white house since 2005. spokesperson sarah sanders saying yesterday, pushing back on this idea that the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the not too distant future at a number of potential venues including the white house. despite that push back, russia's ambassador to the u.s. says it's a good idea. >> i consider that is a very positive signal from the united states that it's high time for

two presidents to sit together. >> of course u.s./russia relations right now are somewhat strained. the u.s. kicking out several ambassadors from russia last week in response to that chemical attack in england on a russian citizen. but right now we'll have to see if this meeting ever does take place. you remember that the president has been reluctant to criticize putin in the past. richard? >> yes, despite what is happening around the world. chris pollone, thank you, sir. >> now to a movement fueled by educators fed up with low pay and spending cuts. tens of thousands of teachers abandoned their classrooms in poe test and swarmed the state capitals in oklahoma and kentucky demanding higher pay and more school funding. >> in oklahoma the protests come on the heels of a $6,100 pay hike. the first in a decade and the largest in the state history, but in a state that ranks 49th in the nation in teacher salary and 47th in public school revenue per student, teachers and students say more must be done here.

>> teachers that have to work three jobs to make ends meet, our newer teachers can't afford t to payoff their student loans and there are a whole lot of folks saying, i wish i could keep teaching but i can't afford it. >> we need more than teachers pay raise. we need more resources. we need smaller classes. we need better education funding, we need all of that. >> we're here to do what's the best thing for our kids. >> and they are not showing signs of backing down any time soon. look at that. schools in kentucky and oklahoma will remain closed today as the protests are expected to continue. >> a rough start to the new quarter on wall street. the dauphining down about 458 points after even being down further earlier in the day and weighing on the market, i series of presidential actions and tweets from a potential trade war with china to a white house showdown with amazon. nbc's tom costello explains. >> reporter: the closing bell on wall street brought relief that the market did manage to claw

its way back from the lowest levels of the day when the dow was down 3%, 758 points. >> a big sell off today for the first trading day of the quarter. >> reporter: fear of an expanding trade war with china helped drive stocks lower. last month president trump tweeted, trade wars are good and easy to win. china announced tariffs on 128 products after the u.s. imposed tariffs on chinese steel. u.s. exports of aircraft, pork, soybeans, fruit, altar getted by china. that's got american farmers concerned a trade war will cost them. >> one out of every three goes to -- gets exported to china, which is a big number. >> reporter: also falling hard, tech stocks. amazon.com down 5%, targeted by president trump in a series of tweets. facebook down 20% from its highs amid its privacy scandals. the dow, nasdaq and s&p have all entered so-called correction territory, falling at least 10% from their highs set in february. for average investors, though,

selling could be an opportunity. >> if you're a long-term investor, which most 401(k) investors are, opportunities like this don't come along very often. >> reporter: if the trump administration hits china for intellectual property theft this week, chinese-made cell phones, computers and clothing could suddenly get much more expensive here in the states. phillip? >> all right, tom, thank you. >> the so-called affluenza teen back in the headlines today, either ethan couch now 20, after serving two years for violating his probation, couch sparking national outrage when he received no prison time for killing four people in a drunk driving crash in 2013 after a psychologist testified his wealthy upbringing left him unable to tell right from wrong. both couch and his mother fled to mexico in 2015, but were detained and sent back to the u.s. >> now to two close call wrecks caught on camera in georgia. both involving a truck and a train.

the passerby caught the moment a train slammed into a tractor-trailer after it got stuck on the rails. officials say there were only minor injuries. the passerby who shot the video says it's not the first time she's seen a truck get stuck on the rails. and about an hour drive away in the city of temple, it happened again. this witness video, you can see the driver of an 18 wheeler running for cover as the train sounds its horn. there it is, just seconds later the train slams into the vehicle, completely destroying it. miraculously, nobody was injured. >> what video. let's get to nbc meteorologist bill karins has a lot to talk about today. >> a snow threat, big spring storm threatening the country. travel issues come with it. 48 million people impacted. a few tornadoes are possible. the yellow is a slight risk from houston to baton rouge all the way up to cleveland. this enhanced risk is the area where we have our greatest concentration of the strongest storm and greatest concentration much wind damage reports are likely and tornadoes. not huge, but possible from

memphis to greenville, tupelo, national, bowling green, lexington, that's the area of greatest concern. and the timing of this is more or less going to be towards the late afternoon beginning of it, and then heading into the evening. even by 5:00 p.m., not much there in illinois, it's not until the evening hours kentuck this afternoon. indianapolis right around 66. there's the cold side of the storm this evening. severe weather we also have that snowstorm for wisconsin, northern michigan later tonight. >> all right. thankfully that bad weather in houston might be today and not yesterday because that could have ruined what was 56 years in the making for baseball fans in houston. for the first time in franchise history, the astros unveiled their world series banner before their home opener. and the feeling inside the

stadium was electric for their match up against the orioles. sporting their special championship gold jerseys, the astros jumped out to an early lead and they held on to win 6-1, the first of many. >> all right. beer drinkers listen up. we have a major recall to warn you about plus a new "a wrinkle in time" -- wrinkle in the mueller investigation. stick around. about entresto. about entresto. it helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. entresto, for heart failure. 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.

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special counsel is looking at former trump campaign advisor roger stone's ties to wikileaks. eyeing an e-mail stone sent in august of 2016 claiming he, quote, dined with julian assange last night. stone denied meeting assange, telling "the wall street journal" it was simply, quote, a joke. but that does not seem to be enough to fend off scrutiny from mueller's investigators. stone's e-mail regarding assange came a little over two weeks before he tweeted, trust me, it will soon be podesta's time in the barrel. wikileaks published over 20,000 e-mails from campaign chairman john podesta two months later. >> on capitol hill we're learning democratic congresswoman elizabeth esty will not seek reelection after admitting she failed to protect women on her staff from sexual abuse ask harassment. the connecticut congresswoman announcing via facebook and twitter that she was bowing out. her retirement comes after she was hit with a barrage of criticism and mounting pressure to step aside for allowing her

chief of staff to remain on the job up to three months this despite learning about his alleged sexual harassment and abuse against a female staffer. the congresswoman sounding remorseful on facebook saying, i could have and should have done better. to the survivor, i want to express my strongest apology for letting you down. >> the longest serving uniformed arizona trooper, a 37-year veteran and getting attention is his last message to dispatch before retiring. department of public safety trooper mark gilbert patrolled the highways nearly four decades and that time meant a lot to him. >> it's been an honor and a great privilege to serve in this great department, work with all you fine people. badge 2988, 37 years and three weeks later, it's been a great ride. >> this emotional moment has been viewed hundreds of times already. >> officer gill berg. magic mike star channing tatum and his wife actress janna tatum

have announced they are separating after nine years of marriage. the couple posted matching statements on their social media account saying we have lovingly chose tone separate as a couple. the 37-year-old actors have a four-year-old daughter everly. >> just ahead a newly released video from the parkland florida students take us behind the march. plus, the sinclair broadcasting controversy continues to grow. new details after the break. you're watching "early today." (vo) more "doing chores for mom" per roll more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty the quicker picker upper. eucerin has been solving dry skin problems for over 100 years. discover eucerin advanced repair.

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i started crying because it's -- all these people right here, what we did is -- >> just pure support and love and compassion for every single citizen. we are all coming together and trying to help each other. that's what the country needs. it's not -- >> that's david hogg and another student activist from marjory stoneman douglas high school in a new video tweeted out by hogg last night. it gifrves you a sense behind t scenes. the march to protest gun violence and demand reform. >> now to a controversy that could be playing out right on your tv screen. broadcast group sinclair under fire and being accused of the propaganda for requiring local anchors in dozens of markets to read an identical promo script, criticizing, quote, false news and fake stories. well, now sinclair is firing back. nbc's hallie jackson has the details.

>> reporter: a sin chronized script. >> some media outlets published the same fake stories. >> reporter: on dozens of news stations. same words, same message. mandated by the same station owner, sinclair broadcasting group. >> this is extremely dangerous to our democracy. >> reporter: the corporation behind that commentary defiant and digging in. after this video posted by dead spin went viral. in an internal memo obtained by nbc news, a sinclair executive lists its journalism awards and in a statement to reporters writes, we find it curious that we would be attacked for asking our news people to remind their audiences that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media. some critics see it differently. >> it's odd to see all these anchors saying the same thing at the same time with the words that have come out of one central location in baltimore, maryland. that's not our tradition in the united states. it's massive propaganda. >> reporter: the broadcast group which skews more conservative

owns or operates more than 190 stations, including 15 nbc affiliates. two-thirds of those stations are in trump country. the company wants to buy tribune, a merger that would put its stations in three of every four households in the u.s. but it needs approval from the fcc first. the president seeming supportive. tweeting, it's so funny to watch fake news networks criticize sinclair broadcasting, calling the company far superior to fake nbc, a promo blasting fake news, now creating very real headlines. hallie jackson, nbc news, washington. >> and just ahead, now that the kids all grown up, one mother's answer to the easter egg hunt. details next.

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she introduced a game of hide and go seek craft beer. they replaced the easter egg hunt. her kids 22-year-old olivia and 23-year-old dylan, both seniors in college had no trouble at all adapting. well played, mom. >> i was watching that video. i don't know if she hid it that well. you could find those bottles pretty quickly. >> yeah. you never know. maybe they had a head start. maybe they were tailgating before, you know, getting ahead -- >> roll every drink you found. there is the old baseball saying sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. sometimes it snows. new york yankees had to postpone their home opener after 6 inches of snow blanketed the stadium. broncos bombers will take on the tampa bay rays this afternoon. that is if the rain doesn't come down which we anticipate. >> oh, man. just ahead why scott pruitt's days as epa administrator may be numbered. r but there's one... that blows them all out of the water.

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well, buzzfeed reports this morning that mexico's national institute of immigration is planning to disband a caravan of south american migrants traveling to the u.s. border. they expect some of the migrants to continue through with one organizer telling buzzfeed, quote, these people have the right to ask for asylum. the caravan has been the target of president trump's ire who tweeted this weekend, quote, mexico has the absolute power not to let these large caravans of people enter their country. they must stop them at their northern border. his tweet came just an hour after a fox news segment aired discussing the migrants' trek to the u.s., you see it right there, caravan, seen on screen.

>> controversy continues to follow epa chief scott pruitt after it was revealed he was renting a $50 a night room in a capitol hill condo co-owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist with "the new york times" now reporting while pruitt was staying in the apartment, he signed off on a pipeline expansion that benefited another client of that same lobbyist that served as his landlord. the headline comes as the washington post is out with this eyebrow raising report. aides to scott pruitt last year considered leasing a private jet on a month-to-month basis to accommodate his travel needs. and if the bad press couldn't get any worse for pruitt, politico writes, white house chief of staff john kelly has considered the firing of embattled environmental protection agency chief. >> it is day two of jury selection for the retrial of bill cosby on sexual assault charges. so far one juror has been seated. a man who says he has no knowledge of the case and would not let the me too movement influence him. cosby is accused of drugging and sexually molesting a woman at his suburban philadelphia home

in 2004. he has repeatedly denied these and all other allegations of sexual misconduct and says the sexual encounter was consensual. the first trial ended in a hung jury. >> time to get another check on our weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> the spring roller coaster, hot ahead of the storm system and cold behind it. this is exactly bhau would expect as you go through spring. today a huge warm up ahead of our severe weather threat. ohio valley to the deep south. on the backside with the snowy portion of the storm very cold. minneapolis to kansas sfcity. look at cincinnati, 80 degrees. we get one warm day on the eastern seaboard. norfolk in the mid 70s. then the cold plunge behind the storm invading the ohio valley. and unfortunately as we head towards the weekend, another cold shot comes down. chicago could only be 32 on friday. as far south as wichita in the 30s. unfortunately it looks like the cold is still winning out over the heat. >> cannot put those jackets away yet. >> what a pendulum. thanks a lot, bill.

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