breaking overnight, is the russia investigation about to head into overdrive? robert mueller's got four dozen specific questions for president trump. and nbc news exclusive, four officials say chief of staff kelly has called the president an idiot, but the white house is pushing back big time. iran lied. there's the warhead. here's the bomb. >> i'm not telling you what i'm doing but a lot of people think they know. and on or before the 12th, we'll make a decision. >> with a nudge from israel, president trump must soon make a major decision on the iran nuclear deal. here's america's need for speed also coming with deadly consequences?

and a dazzling display of nighttime maneuvers. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you on a tuesday morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin this morning with an overnight bombshell from the "new york times." the paper of record is reporting special counsel robert mueller has dozens of questions for president trump. the news organization even going so far as to publish many, it says, are on the list. the "times" writing, "the majority relate to possible obstruction of justice, demonstrating how an investigation into russia's election meddling grew to include an examination of the president's conduct in office." in all, the times says it obtained 49 questions that the mueller has provided to president trump's lawyers. there are questions that mueller wants answered in an interview with the president as he negotiates with the trump team in his pursuit of that under oath sitdown. let's go to tracie potts in washington. really curious to find out more about these questions. >> reporter: yeah, they are interesting and they fall into

four different categories, giving us a glimpse of what robert mueller is trying to find out from president trump. those questions include information about the campaign and whether or not it coordinated with russia. james comey, the fbi director that he fired, former national security adviser mike flynn, and jeff sessions. for example, he wants to know when the president became aware of the meeting at trump tower with his son and even asked whether or not the president had discussions about russia during the campaign. some of these questions also about james comey, the fbi director, who was fired, trying to find out what the president meant when he said, firing comey took the pressure off. there's also a reference to the interview with lester holt about james comey. he talks about, in these questions, whether or not the president will explain what he meant in a particular tweet. this was back on may 12th. and then there are questions

about mike flynn, the national security adviser, who also left the white house, what did the president know about phone calls with the russian ambassador, and jeff sessions, the attorney general, who the president was furious with when he recused himself, they want to know about sally yates who was a whistle-blower about mike flynn within the justice department. 49 questions that, again, we have not verified and the president's attorney, at this point, frances, has no comment on them. >> lot of questions on those questions. thank you. porn star stormy daniels has now filed her second lawsuit against president trump. a new escalation in their legal battle. daniels has claimed she had an affair with mr. trump over a decade ago, a claim he denies, and then was threatened by an unknown man in a parking lot in 2011 warning her to keep quiet. daniels released a sketch of the man who she says threatened her.

her new lawsuit hits back at a tweet from the president which called the sketch and the man nonexistent and a total con job. daniels says the tweet is false and defamatory. here was the attorney for stormy daniels on the new lawsuit and trump's tweet that set the legal action in motion. >> what's really interesting about this is, if he didn't know anything about ms. daniels, never had a relationship with her, never knew anything about the in touch story, michael cohen and he never discussed it, he never knew anything about the $130,000 payment which is the nonsense that he's trying to sell the american people, how would he know whether the guy was nonexistent or not? >> now to the president being called an idiot, at least that's what his own chief of staff john kelly has said on many occasions, according to multiple current and former white house officials. in blockbuster exclusive report from nbc news. four current and former white house officials have said they've heard him use those words. a total of eight officials

describe kelly repeatedly insulting the president's intelligence and casting himself as the savior of the country. the president responding overnight, while never naming john kelly or nbc's reporting, tweeting this. the fake news is going crazy, making up false stories and using only unnamed sources who don't exist. truly bad people. the tweet continues. the white house is running very smoothly despite phony witch hunts, et cetera. fake news is going bonkers. kristen welker has the exclusive details. >> reporter: nbc news has learned exclusively chief of staff john kelly is increasingly on the ropes. his relationship with the president souring with four officials telling nbc news they have witnessed kelly calling the president an idiot behind his back, including around the time of these january discussions about an immigration reform bill which ultimately fell a apart. >> because this should be a bipartisan bill. this should be a bill of love, truly, it should be a bill of love. >> reporter: according to multiple administration officials, mr. kelly questioned the president's grasp on policy,

saying some version of, quote, i'm the one saving the country. adding to the west wing drama, kelly has roiled some of the female staffers by telling aides multiple times that women are more emotional than men and when it came to dealing with rob porter, the staff secretary was ousted after allegations of abuse from two exwives which he denies, kelly was consistently protective. >> at the time of the controversy, kelly wondered how much more porter would have to endure before he could have his honor restored, which really surprised many female white house staffers. >> reporter: kelly says stuff you can't believe, said one senior white house official. still, the white house is pushing back. three spokespeople say while they concede the president does at times get frustrated with kelly, they say the two men have a good relationship. >> it's the white house chief's job to accept the president's decision and then execute it. and that's a real problem if the chief of staff is criticizing the president out loud. >> reporter: john kelly fired back in a statement, calling his

relationship with the president candid and strong, adding, quote, he and i both know this story is total bs. i'm excommitted to the presiden his agenda, and our country. secretary of state rex tillerson was ousted but mr. trump never got over reports that tillerson called the president a moron. so is kelly the second chief of staff leaving any time soon? several white house officials say that's anyone's guess but there is broad agreement that his standing has been d diminiirned. a new gun law named for the late son of former vice president joe biden will allow for stricter controls. the act was signed on monday. he was surrounded by former vice president joe biden and his family outside the biden institute at the university of delaware. the law aims to restrict access to firearms for those who mental health professionals believe are a danger to themselves or others. actress ashley judd is

taking disgraced film producer harvey weinstein to court. she claims he tried to destroy her acting career after she refused his sexual advances. the civil lawsuit focuses on comments made by lord of the rin rings director peter jackson who says weinstein dissuaded him from casting judd in his film. that came about a year after judd rejected harvey weinstein's advances at a professional breakfast meeting in his hotel room. a representative said he had neither defamed ms. judd nor interfered with ms. judd's career. weinstein continues to deny all accusations of sexual harassment. many schools shut down for a fourth day in arizona as tens of thousands of teachers protest for higher pay and more resources for their classrooms. this comes on the heels of a pay hike proposal by governor, but educators remain skeptical. now one conservative think tank, goldwater institute, is threatening to sue school districts if they do not reopen schools.

the teachers are not backing down. one member of the state's largest teacher membership group says there would be no limit on the length of the walkout. nbc's steve patterson has the story. >> reporter: state lawmakers arriving the a passionate welcome. day three of a statewide walkout over 30,000 teachers descending on the capital, demanding more funding. the legislature in session for the first time after arizona's governor proposed a 20% pay increase for teachers over three years and $100 million for school funding. supporters of the walkout are dubious but still waiting on details. >> what are the chances something is going to pass that everybody here is going to be happy with? >> not likely. unlikely. that's the reality. >> one more time loud! >> reporter: high school teacher courtney thompson says she works four jobs just to make ends meet. struggles at school. >> we have cockroaches in our school. we have rats in our school. >> it is crowded. >> reporter: the budget is

likely to pass this week, putting pressure on teachers to go back to the classroom just three weeks before the end of the school year. steve patterson, nbc news, phoenix. might be a tear-wiping moment right here. take a look at this. >> oh! >> that's amazing. here's the story. after being in a wheelchair for for months, that's morgan from texas surprised her prom date at the door by walking on her own. so you can see right there, they were excited. a scream. ran up and gave her a big hug, asked her how did you do it? how did this happen? that has gained over 12 million views and has been liked more than 1 million times and those are the special moments right there that you play over and over again, never gets old, right, bill? >> that was really sweet. his reaction is so genuine and she's so happy, you can hear it in her voice and the laugh. that was great. i'm going to talk about stuff that's not so great, unfortunately. severe weather season is here.

here's our storm ingredients. we're going to watch the slow-moving cold front and a lot of moisture pumping up out of the gulf and that's the recipe. that's what you get this time of year and that's why we have 4 million at risk today of severe storms. if we get tornados likely in central kansas, large hail with the stronger storms too and then tomorrow, a much bigger severe weather threat that goes all the way from texas to wisconsin. 23 million people at risk as we the old clash of the air mass saying and that's typical with that storm system too. could have storms in south texas. temperatures in the 80s. besides the severe weather, it's also going to be a big warm-up. let's talk about that coming up. >> that is what i want to focus on too. bill, thank you. the world's top pilots lit up the night sky in central

china. aircraft with l.e.d. lights as well as dazzling fireworks performed these stunts. you can imagine they were awe struck. the air show first launched in 2014 and has grown into large scale general aviation exhibit showcasing a total of 233 aircraft. that is amazing stuff happening in the skies. that was really cool tool. straight ahead, a decision on the iran nuclear deal is getting closer to reaching a head. crohn's disease. you're more than just a bathroom disease. you're a life of unpredictable symptoms. crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer,

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while the leading allergy spray relieves 6 symptoms... claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. she pretty much lives in her favorite princess dress. but once a week i let her play sheriff so i can wash it. i use tide to get out those week old stains and downy to get it fresh and soft. you are free to go. tide and downy together. the clock is ticking on the iran nuclear agreement. president trump and his national security team are inching closer to making a decision regarding the iran nuke deal. they are hitting the u.s. may pull out of accord altogether as newly minted secretary of state mike pompeo journeys back to the u.s. from his first foreign trip as the nation's top diplomat. they claim documents from israel reveal new information that could give the administration ammunition to take the u.s. out

of the accord for good. nbc's hallie jackson has more from washington. >> iran lied. >> reporter: showing off slides and speaking in english, the israeli prime minister addressing an audience of one, president trump. >> here's the warhead. here's the bomb. >> reporter: benjamin netanyahu presenting intelligence he says shows iran is lying to cover up a secret nuclear weapons program. netanyahu aiming his message at his ally in the oval office with donald trump under deadline within two weeks to decide whether to pull out of the iran nuclear deal. >> i'm not telling you what i'm doing but a lot of people think they know and on or before the 12th, we'll make a decision. >> reporter: the trump administration and international monitors acknowledge the regime is technically holding up its end of the agreement, but the president's not happy, and looks to be leaning toward getting out. >> frankly, he will have some explaining to do because the iran deal will be far more solid than anything he's going to get out of kim jong-un. >> reporter: the timing, critical, with questions about

what signal it sends to kim jong-un if the president pulls out of one nuclear deal with iran even while trying to negotiate another. >> are you worried that it sends the wrong message to north korea? >> no. >> reporter: for president trump, it seems not a matter of if they'll happen but where, highlighting the symbolism of the border between north and south korea. >> there's something that i like about it because you're there. you're actually there. where if things work out, there's a great celebration to be had on the site. >> reporter: still, experts say it's too soon to celebrate even with the president's supporters already chanting about a potential peace prize. his supporters chanting "nobel" there. plenty on his foreign policy plate too, frances. at his first meeting with the leader of a sub-saharan african nation since reportedly referring to some countries on

the continent using a vulgarity, president trump in his talk with the nigerian president said simply that didn't come up. >> thanks. if you need a little jump start this morning, dunkin donuts may have just what you're looking for. we'll tell you about it next. ers and pampers gives all of them our driest best fitting diaper. 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. 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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the force is officially being passed on after a stellar opening weekend at the box

office. "avengers: infinity war" grossed over $257 million domestically, passing "star wars" for the largest opening weekend ever. to show some cinematic love, "star wars" tweeted out this congratulatory photo, passing the iconic light saber on to the outstretched hand of iron man. that's a way to stay classy right there when somebody beats you with the force. >> i heard the new avengers is really good. >> everybody says that. dunkin donuts has big plans for a new line of drinks they unveiled this weekend featuring cosmic coolattas. the two available are cotton candy and pineapple. both are topped with blue raspberry. foot experts say cosmically colorful ice drinks are everywhere. the new drinks will be available through summer and on sale for $2 until may 27th. >> i guess the whole unicorn thing is done. everything was unicorn themed and now it's kcosmic. just don't look at the calorie

count. >> you ruined it. >> yeah. run as fast as you can. that's what this little guy's coach told him to do when he was on base, one base away from home plate. watch this guy. he delivered, but in his own dramatic way. in slow motion, his cousin captured his hilarious run. his coach tries to nudge him to go faster. come on, let's go, buddy. it took some 45 seconds until he finally reached home plate. so maybe not so much an mlb career that's promising for him. >> life needs comedians too. >> "early today" will be right back. got simparica now. simpari-what? simparica is what kills tick and fleas, like us. kills? kills! studies show at the end of the month, it kills more ticks in less time than frontline plus and nexgard. guess we should mosey on. see ya never, roxy! use simparica with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. the most common side effects are vomiting,

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welcome back. a recent warm-up in second degree s-- south dakota caused n natural phenomenon. it's called ice push and happens when ice is being forced out of the lake and on to shore. gusty winds caused ice to pile up several feet high in some areas. a scary moment for many living in that area. you can hear the ice crunching too. so let's talk about this big warm-up. after yesterday, which was just a miserable day, in areas of new england, this is well deserved midweek heat is on its way. midatlantic today into the northeast, philadelphia up to 77 degrees, chicago at 82 and finally into new england on wednesday, we get you into the 80s. you're watching "early today." there. okay. careful not to get it in her eyes. i know, i know what a bath is...

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ooc crews in arizona are battling wildfires this morning. officials say the fires have consumed over 13 square miles, burning several structures and threatening homes and businesses. the 500 firefighters and other personnel inside of the fire include 7 hot shot crews plus engines. bulldozers and helicopters. the cause of the fire remains under investigation but authorities believe it is human caused and you know all about that when it comes to those conditions and fuelling those. plubrush fire season, we're it. less than two weeks ago, nebraska became the latest state to raise its state speed limit to 80 miles per hour on highways. limits on the nation's highways

now hitting 75, 8,0, even 85 miles per hour advocates are urging authorities to step on the brakes. higher speeds don't necessarily get you to your designation that much faster. here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: it happened on a baton rouge highway in the flash of a second. >> the first thing that i can remember is waking up and seeing my child in my dashboard. >> reporter: gabrielle was rear ended and crushed by a driver allegedly texting, weaving, and doing 75 in a 65. five-month-old reese lived just three days. >> it brought me a peace of mind knowing that she didn't suffer. >> reporter: louisiana among the states where highway speeds have risen fast. one of nine states that now have a top speed limit of 75. six states top out at 80, texas allows for 85. and while cars are far safer today, the highway speeds still carry a greater risk.

the insurance institute for highway safety says for every five-mile-per-hour increase on the nation's highways, there's an 8% increase in highway fatalities. rough roughly 10,000 people die each year in speed-related crashes. >> you were stopped for your speed. >> reporter: texas trooper ryan howard says speed is usually just one of many factors involved in serious crashes. what's the most common excuse or explanation? >> i did remember. i hear that more times than often. >> reporter: distracted driving remains the biggest threat. >> nobody should decide when you or i die out on our highways. >> reporter: in baton rouge, a 24-year-old now awaits trial in the death of gabrielle's baby. >> and now they have to live with the fact that they kuld a five-month-old. >> reporter: as a nation of distracted drivers speeds up. tom costello. we thank everyone for being with us. i'm frances rivera. phillip will be back tomorrow. thank for watching "early today."

we'd love to connect with you on social media. your news continues right here on nbc and our nbc stations.

welcome to tuesday morning. taking a live look outside this time from the south bay shark tank. things calming down there, hmm? expecting a nice day ahead. good morning to you and thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. of course we'll have more on your commute in just a minute. >> first to kari hall. >> it's going to be another beautiful day across the bay area. a little warmer than yesterday. if you enjoyed the sunshine and the nice breeze, it's going to be even better today once it feels a little more comfortable. it's a chilly start. here's a live look outside in fremont and we are going to start out with temperatures in the upper 40s at 6:00 this morning, but look at that, it turns into the mid-60s