flooding like some places have never seen. water cutting off communities and main roadways. thousands in shelters as rescues continue into monday. in new zealand revealing details on the sinister plot behind the mass shooting. plus the social media component that drove the suspected killer to act. the uproar over using undersea seismic testing to search for oil and gas that's got environmentalists pitted against the energy industry. president trump unleashes a tsunami-like twitter storm over the weekend targeting many, including the late senator john mccain. >> plus, bikinis in the midst.

how some russians welcome the end of winter. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you this monday morning. i'm frances rivera. >> i'm marlie hall. the midwest is bracing for floodwaters to rise even more after historically high waters have already been blamed for the deaths of at least three people. with record snowfall in february followed by heavy rains the rivers are cresting. 11 million americans now face the threat of flooding. for the latest on this, we're joined by nbc's jay gray following it all. jay, good morning. >> reporter: hey, marlie. it is really overwhelming. it has taken out homes, neighborhoods, and dozens of communities and dozens more in jeopardy. right now water continues to pour across the plains and midwest. swallowing apart everything in its path. >> it is kind of overwhelming, i think. kind of surreal.

i guess i'm having trouble processing it. >>reporter: the flooding in many areas has reached historic levels. water in places it's never been before. >> the entrance to paradise lakes. insane. >>reporter: communities cut off from major roads and, in many cases, the mainland. newly formed islands with families stranded unless they have access to a chopper or small plane. >> we can't get in and out. and i want to go be with my kids and my husband. >>reporter: evacuations continue across the region. thousands are in shelters. tens of thousands are watching and working downstream. >> it is something you anticipate. if you're going to live here, you have to accept what the river does and it just did. >>reporter: in clarksville, missouri, building mountains of sandbags trying to save downtown. while the water continues to flow out of control. yeah, that water continuing to threaten more than 10 million

families right now. marlie? >> jay, thank you. tributes are pouring in from all over the world for the victims of new zealand's deadliest modern mass shooting. thousands gathered in christchurch for a ceremonial dance. at least 50 people were killed. as some mourn, others hang onto hope, holding up pictures of their loved ones. sarah harmon joins us live from christchurch, new zealand. sarah, what is the latest on the investigation? >> reporter: hi, frances. good morning. christchurch is a city united in grief. you can see this massive sea of flowers behind me at this makeshift memorial for the victims. we are learning more about how the gunman acquired his weapons. four of them were purchased

legally online from a store called gun city. the owner of the store said he did not sell the suspect any military-style weapons. the conversation in new zealand is now turning to gun control. three days after this deadly attack on two mosques that left at least 50 people dead. the prime minister says she'll unveil concrete measures in the next 10 days to reform the nation's gun laws. meanwhile, police are saying anyone who wants to voluntarily give up a firearm can bring it down to the police station. and the rifle club where the suspect was a member, has temporarily closed the shooting range saying their members are in mourning. frances. >> sarah, tell us about this viral video of a senator getting egged. that is not sitting well with the prime minister. >>reporter: right. so this boy, will conley, egged frazier anning, a senator from

australia, who made anti-muslin remarks, including blaming this attack on muslim immigration. this boy is being hailed as a hero for egging him. the prime minister is calling for the senator to face charges after slapping him. an degrees. is sarah harman, thank you. one of the most disturbing things about friday's terror attack was the shooter's decision to live stream the shooting on facebook. now the company says it has removed more than 1.5 million videos of the attack within the first 24 hours. facebook and other social media platforms are having trouble completely wiping it out. >> reporter: an act of violence made to go viral. this still frame a split second of 17 minutes of murder streamed on facebook live. condemnations came quickly. facebook, twitter, and google all promising to remove the video. youtube terminating any account that shared it. but the footage lives on. almost impossible to regulate.

>> they know this is a problem. they have the technology to stop it. but they have to have the willingness. >> reporter: facebook responding, in the first 24 hours we removed about 1.5 million videos of the attack globally. of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload, adding they're also removing any praise or support for the crime. now lawmakers are faced with the question of how to contain the online chaos. >> this is a new, very, very important challenge for us. i don't think there's an obvious or easy answer. >> reporter: the new zealand government taking a legal stand against the video, saying anyone who shares any version of that footage is in violation of local law. >> morgan chesky, thank you. a u.s. navy veteran is locked in a tense legal battle in iran this morning. michael white was the first american known to be detained by tehran since president trump took office. according to his u.s.-based lawyer he was convicted for insulting iran's supreme leader and posting private information and sentenced to ten years in prison. nbc's ali arouzi is in london

with the latest details. ali, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. that's right. michael white joins a long list of americans to be convicted in iran. a u.s. navy veteran had an iranian girlfriend who was in iran. he'd visited her in the city of mashad in the northeast of the country at least twice before. now his u.s.-based lawyer says he's been sentenced to ten years for posting a private photograph online and insulting ayatollah khomenei, the country's supreme leader. however, that information didn't come from the iranians, it came from the state department which in turn received the information from the swiss who represent u.s. interests in iran. the media or officials have yet to comment. the case is unusual because as far as i know all the americans who have been jailed in iran over the past decades has faced

espionage cases. but that doesn't seem to be the case with white. it's a very opaque legal system, what we can be certain of, it's going to be a very difficult period of time for white and his family back home. back to you. >> all right. ali arouzi for us, thank you. critics are calling president trump's heated rhetoric into question in the wake of the new zealand massacre. the white house strongly denies any connection between the president's past comments and the suspected shooter, but democrats say white nationalism is a growing threat worldwide and that it's time for the president to acknowledge that. nbc's tracie potts has more. >> reporter: in a lengthy manifesto, the new zealand shooter disagreed with president trump's policies but called him a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose. >> his language, actions, works, his dog whistling has elect

filed those groups. >> that is absurd. >> reporter: there is a growing worldwide threat from white nationalists. >> i think it's a small group of people with very, very serious problems. >> reporter: experts disagree. southern poverty law center and others all report more attacks by white nationalists in recent years. >> it is on the rise. and the president should call it out. but sadly, he's not doing that. >> it's a long way to attributing any kind of real link between what the president might say or tweet and the extraordinary type of madness that leads someone to massacre people in large numbers. >>reporter: but the president's latest tweets are in washington. calling john mccain last in his class, accusing him of sending the fake dossier between ties of the trump campaign in russia to the fbi and to the media.

tracie potts, nbc news, washingt washington. a soccer star does something that even the opposing fans applaud. >> oh, my goodness me! >> that's it right there. lionel messi scoring his 51st hat trick. messi magic led to a 4-1 victory. . and let the march madness begin. 68 teams will compete over the next three weeks to decide who will be crowned national champion. so get ready to bust out those brackets. this year the

selection committee used a new metric to help rank these teams. the top four seeds will be three teams from the acc. duke gets the number one overall seed in the east. virginia gets a number one seed in the south region. and north carolina is the third acc team to earn a number one seed in the midwest. and gonzaga earned the final number one seed in the west. >> it might just be the buzzer beater of the season. >> five seconds to go. tie game. seatbelts are fastened. >> a wild back and forth game. l.a. won it at home 119-116. >> i'm not sure we're winning with this forecast. good morning, bill. >> we showed all those pictures of the midwest. we vice president crested all the rivers yet. anywhere from omaha north wards, the rivers are going down. the missouri river sis a

slow-moving river. st. joseph, we have to watch the crest later this week. nebraska is where the missouri river turned into a lake. it was three feet higher than the record, the previous record. that is unheard of. usually you break them by a couple inches here or there. we will see a little more rain in the days ahead. only looks like an inch or . less ago we had cold weather and snowing on the ground in spots. gorgeous weather in central california today too. east coast, west coast looks nearly perfect. middle of the country is where all the problems are. >> hopefully it will turn around. bill, thank you. this morning we remember a rock and roll legend. ♪

that's dick dale known as the king of the surf guitar. dale and the deltones were famous for overpowering amp fires with their loud, fierce sound. ♪ dale reached new audiences in the 1990s when his hit was featured in the soundtrack of "pulp fiction." dick dale was 81. an out of this world tribute to legendary astronauts. and a whole new meaning to toasted marshmallow, an adult twist to a childhood classic candy. next. in search of a whiter smil. and year after year, their choice is crest 3d whitestrips. our innovative, flexible design holds an exclusive whitening formulation that safely whitens 25 times better*

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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. ask your doctor about entresto. ♪ the beat goes on ♪ the beat goes on that was great! ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ heartburn, ♪ indigestion, ♪ upset stomach, ♪ diarrhea... girl, pepto ultra coating will treat your stomach right. ♪nausea, heartburn, ♪ indigestion, upset stomach, ♪ diarrhea... try pepto with ultra coating. that's an aggressive yellow. pretty great, huh? if you're a banana. i find it very... appealing. kellogg's raisin bran with bananas. two scoops meet real banana slices. i've done a good job of raisin ya. i'm going to end it. >> "captain marvel" soared to

new heights in theaters this weekend. the superhero hit dominated the box office earning an additional $69 million in the united states, $120 million internationally. this brings global ticket sales to a whopping $760 million total worldwide. leading the news, a twist on a childhood favorite is here in the famous jelly belly jelly bean was created more than 40 years ago. it's now getting reformulated with a surprise ingredient. cbd oil, short for cannabidiol from the cannabis plant. they come in 38 flavors. due to the popularity it's already picked up, orders can only be placed directly through the manufacturer, spectrum confections. it has been nearly 50 years since mankind first made one small step on the moon's surface. to celebrate the anniversary the explorers club honored ten astronauts who have participated in nasa's apollo missions at a gala in new york city. attendees included buzz aldrin

who joined neil armstrong for the first moonwalk on july 20th, 1969. still ahead, an incredibly close call for a tennessee police officer. and now clues into the deadly ethiopian airlines crash. with a? [quartet singing] bum bum bum bum... pass the ball... pass the rock.. ...we're open just pass the ball! no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. yea. [quartet singing] shoot the j! shoot, shoot, shoot the jaaaaaay... believe it! geico could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. believe it! geico could save you fifteen percent ♪ looking to simplify your skin care routine without sacrificing results? try olay total effects for a 7-in-1 solution. its unique formula is packed with vitamin b3, e, and c to naturally renew skin cells for a visibly healthy glow.

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the hunt for an atv rider who

appeared to have dragged an officer through the streets on his four-wheeler. the shocking incident was caught on video during saturday's s.e.c. men's basketball tournament. dozens were riding atvs and dirt bikes outside bridgestone arena in nashville. one person was arrested at the scene but the male suspect riding that atv got away. the officer, sergeant john bork, was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to be okay. the boeing crisis is escalating this time with u.s. federal prosecutors getting involved. according in the wall street journal, the prosecutors are scrutinizing boeing's max jet airliners. t indonesia's lion air crashed into the sea. investigators pointing out multiple similarities between the two. here with the latest is nbc's morgan radford.

>> reporter: thousands line the streets. 17 empty caskets the focus of a nation in mourning. remains of the victims of the doomed ethiopian airlines flight won't be recovered for months. but news that the black boxes pulled from the field where the plane crashed are already yielding information for investigators. the transport minister says preliminary results show clear similarities with an earlier disaster. a lion air flight that went down just months ago in indonesia. in that case the boeing plane crashed when an automated system meant to keep the 737 max 8 aircraft from stalling actually caused the plane to crash into the sea. >> this data is going to be carefully analyzed. it will tell the tale of what happened. >> reporter: the faa saying the u.s. government has not yet validated the data. a preliminary report is expected to be released within 30 days. morgan radford, nbc news. at the end of a long day,

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now to a controversy that has environmentalists and energy industry making noise. the trump administration has approved seismic testing along the eastern seaboard, allowing companies to use sound waves to search for oil and gas. but conservationists say the tests could harm sea life and they're challenging them in court. nbc's anne thompson has more. >> reporter: the waters of the atlantic the site of a legal and political storm over the sounds underneath. seismic testing to find oil and gas. south carolina congressman joe cunningham tried to replicate the tests. >> was that disruptive, mr. oliver? >> it was irritating but i didn't find it particularly disruptive. >> reporter: noise that can

disturb sound-dependant marine life. >> dolphins and whales rely on sound to communicate, find mates, find food, avoid predators. >> reporter: the trump administration has approved seismic testing along the atlantic coast from delaware to mid-florida. air guns drag behind a vessel, emit sound waves every 10 seconds that penetrate the seabed. the reflected pulses create a map of the oil and gas deposits below. how far can these sounds travel? >> 1,000, 2,000 miles. >> reporter: dr. scott kraus is the senior science adviser at the new england aquarium. how loud is it? >> imagine you're at the end of laguardia's runway and a jet flies overhead every 10 to 16 seconds at 100 feet. >> reporter: his colleague dr. roland says most at risk, the 413 endangered north atlantic right whales. >> seismic is adding one very big stressful impact on top of everything else, and this population's at the tipping point. >> to the point where they

disappear altogether? >> it's possible. >> reporter: the government concedes there could be impacts. but not enough to kill or seriously injure marine life. assurances echoed by the oil industry. >> we've been coexisting with marine ecosystems for years. and we just haven't seen adverse impacts. >> reporter: but atlantic states fear testing could lead to exploratory drilling and another deepwater horizon disaster, threatening the fishing and tourist industries, worth billions. >> air gun blasting is the loudest economically and environmentally destructive noise that humans will never hear. >> reporter: bipartisan opposition turning to the courts hoping they'll listen. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. thanks for watching "early today". i'm marlie hall. >> and i'm frances rivera.

russian skiers attempting a new world record. your news continues right here. have say great monday.

this is our entrance. insane. >> the virtual oceans of water in the midwest consuming farms, homes, and entire communities as the bomb cyclone from days ago leaves behind massive flooding. funerals and memorials by the dozens inew zealand following friday's master error attack. social media now works to control the spread of the actual shooting video. then the state that accidentally gave out $26 million in cup cat tax returns. can you guess what happened next? dozens of atv riders take to the streets of nashville, many driving erratically. one hits and dra