so, i just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys. >> the fbi raids michael cohen's home and office in search of details of the $130,000 payment to porn star stormy daniels. >> just one year ago president trump ordered 59 tomahawk cruise missiles to strike syria. will his response to the latest suspected chemical weapons attack be far more devastating? >> prosecution bombshell revealing $3.4 million payment to the woman bill cosby is charged with sexually assaulting. >> multi billionaire facebook founder mark zuckerberg facing some tough questions before congress in just hours.

>> in a case of road rage caught on camera, we'll hear from the biker ahead as he recalled starts right now. >> good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> good to be with you. i'm frances rivera. we begin with the extraordinary news rattling the white house as developments continue to unfold. the fbi raided the office and hotel room of one of president trump donald trump's confidants and personal attorney michael cohen. agents armed with warrants for e-mails, tax documents and communications between cohen and president trump, a striking a backlash from the president. >> it is a disgrace. it's an attack on our country in a true sense. this is getting ridiculous. they found no collusion whatsoever with russia. this is the most conflicted group of people i've ever seen. the attorney general made a terrible mistake when he did this and when he recused himself. we'll see what happens. i think it's disgraceful and so does a lot of other people.

this is a pure and simple witch hunt. >> the chaos derailing stocks nearly erasing the dow's 400-point rally monday just before the market closed. >> and while the washington post now reports cohen is being investigated for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations, overnight the attorney for stormy daniels predicted that cohen would, quote, fold like a cheap deck of cards. and he also linked yesterday's remarkable raid directly to that $130,000 hush agreement that cohen made to porn star stormy daniels just 11 days before the 2016 election. >> moving to the purpose of the raid, anderson, i will tell you and we have announced this previously, we have substantial reason to believe that when michael cohen opened the bank accounts at first republic bank for the purposes of wiring this money, that he was not truthful and honest with the bank as to the purpose of those accounts and what they were designed to be used for. >> this morning the president is laying blame for the raid squarely on robert mueller,

becoming unglued before the cameras as he teeters on the edge of firing the special counsel and possibly setting off a constitutional crisis. nbc's kristen welker has more from washington. >> reporter: a dramatic fbi raid at the new york office and hotel room of michael cohen, the president's personal attorney who paid off adult film star stormy daniels for her silence about her alleged affair with mr. trump 11 days before the election. law enforcement officials say the fbi is investigating that $130,000 payment to daniels which watch dog groups have called a campaign violation. investigators seized e-mails, tax documents, and business records according to "the new york times" which first reported the news. law enforcement sources tell nbc news federal prosecutors in manhattan obtained search warrants after a referral from special counsel robert mueller who found evidence of a potential crime, but determined the matter didn't involve the russia investigation. cohen's attorney lashing out, calling the move completely inappropriate and unnecessary,

saying the fbi seized privileged communications and arguing cohen has cooperated completely with all government entities. >> this means that prosecutors believe they have probable cause to show a crime has been committed. and that they'll find evidence in mr. cohen's office. but what crime and who committed it, that we do not yet know. >> reporter: the president sounded off on the fbi raid. >> so, i just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys, good man, and it's a disgraceful situation. >> reporter: and on special counsel robert mueller. >> a real disgrace. it's a -- an attack on our country in a true sense. >> our thanks to kristen welker for that report. >> the world awaits the united states response to the suspected chemical attack in syria. in his cabinet meeting president trump called the alleged attack heinous saying the u.s. military strike could be imminent. >> we'll be making some major decisions over the next 24 to 48 hours.

we are very concerned. when a thing like that can happen, this is about humanity. we're talking about humanity. and it can't be allowed to happen. >> president trump also promising any country involved in the suspected chemical attack will pay a hefty price. for the latest let's go to nbc's tammy le itn er in london. tammy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. at this point it's not a matter of if the u.s. will respond to the chemical attack, it's really a matter of when. u.s. ambassador nikki haley made it very clear who is to be blamed for this attack when she told the united nations russia is covered in the blood of syrian children. let's go ahead and listen to the rest of her remarks. >> we are beyond showing pictures of dead babies. we are beyond appeals to conscience. we have reached the moment when the world must see justice done.

history will record this as the moment when the security council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of syria. either way, the united states will respond. >> reporter: now, this attack happened saturday night in duma which was the last city in eastern ghouta occupied by rebels. there had been fighting going on there for weeks leading up to the suspected chemical attack. and in the last few days we've spoken with aide workers and doctors who had been in the area in the weeks leading up to the attack, and they tell us that entire families had been hiding in shelters for weeks, if not longer, with little food or medical care, afraid to come out when this attack happened. phillip and frances? >> all right. we'll see what unfolds in the next couple of days. tammy, thanks. >> to capitol hill now where today could be the most important day in facebook's

history. the company's founder and ceo mark zuckerberg is set to face-off with senators, expecting to answer some big questions. the topics are likely to include the cambridge analytica scandal, facebook's role in the 2016 election, russia's usage of its platform and the security of use ers' data. today's grilling comes after the social network's founder spent the day meeting with lawmakers in an effort to get ahead of the intense scrutiny he's expected to be under. in those meetings come just after the tech giant made some big changes to its privacy settings. sending out notifications to those 87 million users who potentially had their data compromised. while giving users the power to delete those apps accessing their information altogether. but is it too little too late or can zuckerberg come out of all of this unscathed? for more on this we go to nbc's tracie potts. tracie, what can we expected to? >> reporter: we got a bit of a sneak peek because of course zuckerberg is already here. just showed a meeting with the senators plus his testimony has already been posted online. so, he sat down with four key

senators who will be part of that grilling today. and in his written testimony, zuckerberg essentially falls on the sword and says that he is personally responsible for what's happened. some key passages from that testimony. he says that it's clear that facebook did not do enough to prevent harm. he talks about fake news, foreign interference in the election, hate speech and of course the order of the day here, data privacy. he goes on to say they didn't take a broad enough approach of their responsibility. he says it's his mistake, he apologizes and says he is responsible for what's happened. now, the testimony focuses largely on cambridge analytica, that firm that harvested the data, what's believed to be 87 million users. but there are thousands, maybe even millions of other companies out there getting information through facebook. what do lawmakers think about that? we got a bit of a sense when he sat down with those four senators, including bill nelson on monday.

>> my personal opinion of him was that he was forthright and honest to the degree that he could. but i think there are going to be a lot of challenges for his company in the future. >> reporter: and big questions starting today about privacy, about election interference, about the future of facebook and maybe even of its ceo. phillip? >> it is going to be a very monumental day for zuckerberg and facebook. tracie, thank you. >> overnight, after a week off the air for a preplanned easter break, laura ingraham was back behind the desk. she addressed the swelling boycott hitting her primetime show after she attacked hogg via twitter. she apologized for the attack and she is going after the movement against her. never addressing her controversial comments toward hogg head on. instead she's focusing on the quote, let's plot to silence

conservative. >> bullies on the left aiming to silence conservatives. their efforts are stalinist, pure and simple. their objective is a total transformation of american society, not through rational discourse and open debate, but through personal demonization and silencing. >> well, chicago cubs got benched and what was supposed to be their home opener. it was all due to wintry weather. instead of baseball at snow covered wrigley field, players had a great time playing in the snow taking a few pictures there. their game against the pittsburgh pirates has been rescheduled to today. meanwhile their counterparts on the south side pushed through the snow. the white sox played home opener against the tampa rays. maybe they shouldn't have. they ended up losing that game. >> our conversation should focus more on base balanball and not weather and the snow. hopefully things will take a turn from here on. michelle?

>> hi there, guys. it's not just professional teams, too. little league games being played, parents shivering outside. we are cold once again. we are looking at snow, snow in chicago like we said. now we are seeing snow this morning in the northeast. some rain, some snow mixture. another cold start to the day. things will change, though, over the next several days. we are stuck in this pattern where we are seeing the jet stream really dip to the south. that is allowing all that cold air to come in. it's been like that for days and days and days. sounds like we are on repeat. back to the west we are looking at some above average temperatures, well above average for this time of year. we are well below normal in minneapolis, 44, about ten degrees what is average for thi timesarts of florida, but we are watching stormy weather, could even see gusty thunderstorms and downpours. all right. chilly once again, you guys, but

we are looking at temperatures in february now, it will feel like june by saturday. >> we'll take it. we've been waiting a long time, michelle. >> we deserve it. >> a plan back fired as a 174-foot silo fell in the wrong direction. look at it. >> woops. >> investigators are piecing together why the blast knocked the silo towards the next door cultural center. authorities say the preparation seemed to be correct, but the dust and the glass in the buildings damaged library, totally different story. no one was hurt, but a big woopsy. >> what happened was -- coming up, did president trump just make china back down on tariffs? plus a bombshell in bill cosby's retrial.

leading the news on this tuesday, actor bill cosby is inside a philadelphia courtroom as his retrial on sexual assault charges begins. inside the courtroom prosecutors revealed for the first time that cosby paid his accuser andrea constand nearly $3.4 million in

a 2006 civil settlement. that's a figure that hadn't previously been publicly disclosed. however, ahead of the court proceedings, cosby was stopped in his tracks. look what happened here. a topless protester with cosby's accusers names written across her body jumped police barricades and rushed toward the 80-year-old actor and his spokesman. she was screaming women's lives matter. the protester has been identified as nicole rashel, an actress who appeared in four episodes of the cosby show as a child. she's been charged with disorderly conduct. cosby's trial is the first celebrity court case since a dramatic cultural shift in the era of the me too movement. cosby has denied all accusations and maintains the encounters with constand were consensual. >> amid an escalating trade war between the united states and china, chinese president xi jinping now says he's willing to lower tariffs to further open china's economy. speaking at a summit, dubbed the asian davos, president xi pledged to significantly reduce tariffs on imported cars and other products this year. he also promised to strengthen

intellectual property protection. the announcement comes a day after president trump railed against car tariffs with china claiming china pays 2.5% on american cars while the u.s. pays 25% on chinese cars. he tweeted, does that sound like free or fair trade? no, it sounds like stupid trade. >> officials are asking for the public's help in finding a driver involved in the florida road rage incident caught on camera. the motorcyclist was riding alongside a gray mazda when the two drivers appeared to get in some kind of argument. the person on the bike then hits the window of the vehicle and the driver of the gray car, look at him, he rams the biker causing him to crash on the side of the road. the motorcyclist is recovering from his injuries. >> wow. just ahead, a pet smart is coming under fire for a series of dog deaths during grooming sessions at a number of its locations. pampers cruisers with three-way fit.

they adapt at the waist, legs and bottom with up to twelve hours of protection for all the freedom to move their way in pampers cruisers only pampers diapers are the number one choice of hospitals, nurses and parents.

the stars of marvel's highly an advertise prat anticipated movie avengeers, celebrate the launch of the upcoming film in london. cast members including ben addict come ber back who plays dr. strange and spyder man pose for pictures with fans. avengeers infinity war hits theaters april 27. >> this morning there is growing outrage against the nation's biggest pet store chain. at least four dog owners claimed their pets died in the last five months during grooming appointments at petsmart stores.

nbc's kristen dahlgren has the details. >> reporter: the latest dog to die a corgi named abby died in tom's river, new jersey after being dropped or for routine grooming. >> your dog is being taken to the vet. >> reporter: she got this call about her dog scruffles at a new jersey petsmart last december. by the time she got there, the 8-year-old dog was dead. they are filing a lawsuit claiming petsmart violated policy by using a driver on the english bull dog, a breed known to be prone to breathing difficulty. >> so many dogs. >> reporter: danielle said she was shocked by how many owners have since reached out with their own allegations. >> i cannot count. there are so many. i cannot count. >> reporter: in a statement, petsmart calls the incidents unrelated, adding, it's deeply saddened by the deaths, but pointing out its investigations revealed associates followed rigorous practices and that pet parents have refused to share their animal's autopsy reports

which could show preexisting conditions. the company did recently form a task force to evaluate grooming procedures, adding its groomers already undergo 800 hours of training. currently no states require a license for dog groomers, but laws in new jersey are now pending, named after dogs who have died, like scruffles. >> she's the little girl bull dog that changed the rules. changed the rules. >> reporter: a family hoping its laws could help save others. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, lambertville, new jersey. child: bye, grandpa! and if you have heart failure, entrusting your heart to entresto may help. entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive

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strong is beautiful. new pantene. foam conditioner. well, welcome back to "early today." that spring chill continues for many of us today. look at these temperatures in the northeast. about 10 to 15 degrees below what is typical for this time of year. even seeing a little mixture of snow and rain throughout the day. new york a high of 49 degrees, 46 in boston. typically we're going to be supposed to be in the 60s. we're also watching storms in the southeast. could see some heavy downpours as we near wednesday we're going to start to warm up just a bit. finally into the 50s in new york, 53 boston, 52 and still seeing some stormy weather in the southeast. then by the weekend we're looking at temperatures close to 70, even 80 in some spots. >> we'll take it, thanks, michelle. still ahead we'll tell you where they are giving out $200 parking stick et cetera. plus the super hot pepper that could be hazardous to your health.

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as long time stormy watchers know, porn -- trump's lawyer michael cohen to stay silent about her alleged doing it with donald. future generations will learn all about it and the trump presidential library's adult section. >> oh, boy, dominating headlines and late night. >> that's right. there actually might be an adult section when the time comes. >> this might make you think twice about renting a vacation home. in south lake tahoe, a recently passed down ordinance has reportedly police doling out

$2,000 parking tickets to airbnb and other vacation renters just for parking on the street. according to the reno gazette journal, you can get fined for making too much noise, for using a hot tub at the wrong times. the new fines are intended to control the explosive growth of vacation home rentals and people ripping it up, partying it up right there. >> hey, if they're looking to scare people away from that place, well done. >> that's what you do. >> all right. it is a first for the united states senate. senator tammy duck worth of illinois gave birth to a baby girl. she's the first to give birth while in office. kamala harris congratulated her on twitter. another barrier broken by an extraordinary woman. congratulations to senator duck worth and baby miley. >> later in life, having the baby later in life. lots to be proud of with those first. all right, a hot chili eating challenge landed a man in the hospital. he ate what's called a carolina reaper hot pepper. it's billed as the world's hottest. look at these things.

he started getting what's called thunder clap headaches resulting from constricted brain artery. fortunately he fully recovered. doctors are urging people to think twice as thunder clap headaches can be a sign of brain hemorrhage or even stroke. let's stick with regular hal pe jalapeno peppers. >> ben and jerry's ice cream are handing out free cones. free scoops from noon to 8:00 p.m. in appreciation to their customers. treat your friends or siblings since today is national siblings day to get some free ice cream. personally, banana split and cherry garcia. >> cherry garcia is always a good one. you'll know when you're around the corner from a ben and jerrys when you see the lines. every year this time of day when they giveaway those free cones, the lines swirl around. >> that's right. anything free, especially that stuff. it's so ghood. >> and for the mind-set it's so cold for some of us in some

parts, a little reminder of what's to come. >> we appreciate you joining us today. i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm frances rivera. keep it right here. your news continues on nbc and our nbc stations. cholula hot sauce is teaming up with jack in the box for the cholula buttery jack. a little hot sauce there... woah. what's happening? jack i'm trying to film this commercial! oh my gosh, sorry. with delicious cholula hot sauce and crispy jalapenos on a signature bun. the new cholula buttery jack. part of the buttery jack family. made with delicious cholula hot sauce,ack.

crispy jalapenos and pepper jack cheese on a signature bun. yep, this is my third one today. the new cholula buttery jack. part of the buttery jack family. only at jack in the box. francisco it is tuesday morning for you. taking a live look outside right now san francisco as we get started, sparkly morning. and thanks so much for joining us, i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. >> i thought it was warmer today. >> a little bit of fog over the golden gate bridge. we'll start out with clouds and we know that acts as a blanket and keeps it a little warmer during the night time hours and cooler during the day. this is a live look outside in san jose as those clouds roll in. we'll be in the upper 50s throughout much of the morning and only making it into the upper 60s for today as we wait for a quick round of rain that will be moving through for later