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 drags a police sergeant down the street.

a big weekend for sports with a messy hat trick. get your rackets out as the ncaa seeds are ready for march madness. and much more as we kick off your week. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you, 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 more on this we're joined by nbc's kathy park. kathy, good morning. >> reporter: frances and marlie, good morning. parts of nebraska are seeing the worst flooding in decades. evacuations and rescues have been going on for days. entire towns are now islands. the floodwaters have now cut off fremont, nebraska. those who haven't left, stranded. the only way in is by helicopter or small plane. >> we can't get in and out.

i want to go be with my kids and my husband. >> reporter: heavy rain, snow melt, and ice jams creating dangerous floodwaters across the midwest, breaching levees, submerging neighborhoods, and stranding homeowners and livestock. >> we got pictures of the horses in waist-deep water. it's really cold water. >> reporter: thousands of people forced out. many now in shelters indefinitely. >> it looks like an ocean everywhere. >> reporter: nbc's governor declared states of emergency in dozens of counties and tribal lands, describing the damage as unbelievable devastation. in nebraska the 90-year-old spencer dam was destroyed, sending floodwaters into nearby towns. with some bridges washed away, emergency responders went in on boats to help. >> oh goodness, here's our entrance, paradise lakes. insane. >> reporter: the rising waters blamed for at least two deaths in nebraska and one in iowa. a farmer killed trying to save a

trapped motorist. another person refused to evacuate and a driver died after going around a barricade. several communities in wisconsin and minnesota also dealing with flood emergencies. the missouri river overflowing to record levels as residents downstream fear the threat isn't over. and while the water is starting to recede in some places, here in the community of valley, nebraska, the flood risk is still pretty high. meantime, there is a threat of rain on tuesday which could set off another set of problems. guys, back to you. >> kathy, thank you. tributes are pouring in from all over the world for the victims of the new zealand deadly modern mat shooting. in christchurch dozens of students gathered to perform a haka ceremonial dance. [ chanting ] >> at least 50 people were killed and 50 injured as authorities begin releasing the bodies of the victims to their

families. as some mourn, others are hanging on to hope, holding up pictures of their loved ones. nbc's sarah harman joins us live from christchurch, new zealand. sarah, tell us what's the latest on this investigation? >> reporter: frances, good morning. the latest is that the new zealand police are saying this is the largest investigation they have ever conducted. 250 officers, two crime scenes. they believe these horrific attacks were the work of a single gunman. now whether he had outside support will be one of the key components of the investigation going forward. the attention has turned to the country's gun laws, the prime minister promising there will be reform. she's planning to announce concrete proposals in the next ten days. here in christchurch, flowers are piling up at a makeshift memorial for the victims. 50 people now confirmed dead. the youngest just 3 years old, mulad ibrahim, a toddler whose

father and brother survived the attack. >> sarah, what can you tell us about this viral video that an australian senator getting egged during a news conference? >> reporter: yes, so the senator in question is frasier anning and he blamed these horrific attacks on muslim immigration. in response, a young man named will connelly egged him and filmed it. that video went viral. the senator actually slapped the young man who egged him, now australia's prime minister is saying he should face charges for that. the young man in question, 17 years old, has had a gofundme set up to raise money for his legal fees and more eggs. at last check that gofundme had $40,000. frances? >> ugly side to an already tragic moment there, sarah, thank you. one of the most disturbing things about friday's terror attack was the suspected assailant's decision to livestream the shooting on

facebook. now the company says it's removed more than 1.5 million videos of the attack within the first 24 hours. but facebook and other social media platforms are having trouble completely wiping it out. nbc's morgan chesky tells us it's an uphill battle. >> 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. 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 joins truss d.c. with the very latest, good morning. >> reporter: frances, good morning. the president did not acknowledge that, in fact, he said it's a small group of people. the numbers don't necessarily back him up. the fbi, the anti-defamation league, the southern poverty law center all report an uptick in white nationalist attacks in recent years. and now democrats are pointing the finger at president trump saying it's his words, his

rhetoric, that are encouraging people toward these types of acts. the whoulss says that's absolutely not true. >> you've seep the president stand up for religious liberties, individual liberties. the president is not a white supremacist. i'm not sure how many times we have to say that. >> he used the word invaders to characterize people coming to the nation's southern borders. which was exactly the same phrase that the shooter in new zealand used to characterize the muslims. >> reporter: president trump also ruffling the fetters of critics this weekend pointing at the late senator and war hero john mccain. president trump angering people calling the late senator last in his class and complaining that he sent a fake dossier tying his campaign to russia to the fbi and to the media. mccain admitted that he did send it to the fbi for analysis, but denies that he leaked that

dossier to the media. frances? >> all right, tracie potts this morning, thank you. the legal troubles just keep piling up for "full house" star lori loughlin and "desperate housewives" actress felicity huffman after one angry mother launched a lawsuit against the actresses, the other parents involved, and the colleges for $500 billion. jennifer kay claims her son applied to the schools where the cheating took place and did not get in. kay claims she raised her son on her own and he had a 4.2 gpa. now she's suing them for emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and fraud. no response from any of the parties involved on the matter. across the country, americans celebrated irish culture this weekend. more than 300,000 people were expected in savannah, georgia, where they host one of the largest st. patrick's day parades. this year's festivities featured over 350 marching bands and dancers. meanwhile in chicago, yep, they do it every year. crowds line the streets to watch the river, dyed in shamrock

green. the city honored the irish and have honored the irish this way every year sense 1962. we got lucky with the forecast on st. paddy's day. >> new york city parade, great weather. savannah, great, chicago, boston, all perfect forecasts. issues with rivers in the midwest. the missouri river south of omaha is cresting as we speak. it's going to take awhile. st. joseph, it's going to take until friday for the river to crest there. we have been watching this one. this has been amazing. the record was 28 feet, nebraska city. it was up there close to 30 feet for almost two or three days. that's been the worst of it. thankfully not a lot of heavy rain in the forecast. just a little bit there on tuesday. that's not going to cause any additional issues. that's a look at the big weaths.

the rest of the week will be a little chilly. we'll take a look at those temperatures coming up. sometimes you just need a beer break in the middle of a heated st. paddy's game against the milwaukee bucks. philadelphia 76ers forward mike scott decided to chase a missed shot into a crowd of fans and then turned the moment into his own bar crawl as he appears to sip on a fan's beer moments after the tumble. scott seems to be just fine and the video quickly created a buzz on social media. that's one way to soothe the wounded ego, with a beer. >> she didn't seem to mind, happy to share. talk about a perk where you can get unlimited coffee for just five bucks a month at a refund too good to be true. why americans may have to return some of theirs. their choice is crest 3d whitestrips. our innovative, flexible design holds an exclusive whitening formulation that safely whitens 25 times better* to remove deep, set in stains. the result? a noticeably whiter, brighter smile.

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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. leading the news, if your tax return seems too good to be true, there's a chance you're right. nearly 66,000 taxpayers in louisiana received double their

refund. now the state is planning to claw back that $26 million it overpaid. a spokesperson for the state's division of administration blamed a computer error for the mistake and says now it's fixed. he says in most cases the money was directly deposited which can be reversed quickly, but if it's already gone, the bank will contact the customer for reimbursement. the republican party is facing backlash over a tweet that some are calling racist. the official gop twitter account took aim at democratic presidential hopeful beto o'rourke on st. patrick's day posting a picture of his purported mugshot from a dwi with a leb ra kahn hat on his head. underneath it says, please drink responsibly. critics say the post perpetuates irish stereotypes. the candidate himself addressed the controversy on the campaign trail. >> people want us focused on the big picture, on our goals. they want us to be defined not by this pettiness or the personal attacks that we see in ones like the ad that you just

described. >> beto announced his presidential run last week. in nashville, tennessee, police are on the hunt for an atv rider who appears to have dragged an officer through the streets on his four-wheeler. the incident was caught on video during saturday's s.e.c. men's basketball tournament. dozens were riding a tvs and dirt bikes outside bridgestone arena in nashville. one person was arrested at the scene but the main suspect riding the atv got away. the officer, sergeant bork, was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay. a question that's been debated for decades. how many eggs can you safely eat? while many consider eating eggs in moderation okay, a new study found that people who ate an extra half egg a day increased their risk of cardiovascular disease by 6%, and their risk of early death by 8%. the u.s. department of agriculture estimates americans now consume an estimated 280 eggs per person per year. burger king is hoping to corner the coffee market. the fast food chain has announced the launch of a

monthly subscription service that can be purchased and redeemed through the burger king app. for 5 bucks a month customers can get one small cup of hot coffee at participating locations each day in that month. specialty and iced coffee drinks not included. just ahead, remembering a rock icon. and between the brackets as march madness gets under way. first, celebrating birthdays today. lily collins turns 30. maroon 5 front man and voice coach adam levine is 40. rapper, actress, and talk show host queen latifah turns 49. vanessa williams is 56. country music legend charlie pride turns 85. ng "four on four" with a barbershop quartet? [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...

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♪ that's dick dale, also known as the king of the surf guitar, performing on "the ed sullivan show" in 1963. he died saturday night at a hospital in southern california. dale and the delltaupes were famous for overpowering amplifiers with their loud, fierce sound. ♪ >> sounds familiar? well, dale reached new audiences in the 1990s when his hit "mizerlu" was featured on the soundtrack of "pulp fiction."

he was 81 years old. soccer star does something even the opposing fans can do nothing else but applaud. >> oh! lionel messi! [ spanish announcingen ] >> messi. oh! my goodness me! >> right? lionel messi of barcelona scoring his 51st career hat trick. the legend even allowing for a huge smile there for the opposing crowd. messi magic led to a 4-1 victory. 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 number one overall seed in the east. virginia gets a number one seed in the south region. 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. still ahead, chasing the world's biggest bonfire. three women escape disaster with moments to spare. you're watching "early today." p anything! at the end of a long day, it's the last thing i want to do. well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. it's an all-in-one so it's ready to go when i am. the cleaning solution actually breaks down dirt and grime. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. so, it prevents streaks and haze better than my old mop. plus, it's safe to use on all my floors, even wood. glad i got that off my chest and the day off my floor. try wet jet with a moneyback guarantee found one!one! found one! found one! ( laughter )

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residents in one austrian town claim to have broken the world record for the world's largest bonfire beating out norway. organize else say it took three months to build the 200-foot-high structure, which burned down and collapsed in less than a half hour. turkey, a close call when a 13-foot wall collapsed near three women on a sidewalk. fortunately the women escaped unharmed. the incident is under investigation. firefighters were called to rescue a dachshund that got stuck in an attic while chasing a squirrel. they cut an opening and pulled the dog to safety. she was not hurt and happy to be reunited with her owners. >> i'm guessing the squirrel got away. >> she's lucky she was saved, nice catch there. spring chill continues into the beginning of this week. even through the middle of the week once we get to spring. it's going to stay school. 60s in the southern half of the country, 40s to the north. chilly weather will stay with us all through tomorrow.

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when bill goins became the first black navy s.e.a.l. more than 50 years ago, he didn't know he was a trail blazer. now over 80, this veteran is still serving, inspiring a new generation. nbc's geoff bennett went to virginia and met up with an american hero. >> reporter: retired navy master chief bill goins is on a new mission, encouraging students of color to consider becoming navy s.e.a.l.s. >> the training is excellent. it takes about a year. >> reporter: the 82-year-old nearly missed his shot of joining the elite force because of an accident in his high school woodworking class. >> it's when i went to get exam and the guy noticed that my -- part of my finger was missing.

he said, that's your trigger finger. i said, no, i'm left-handed. >> were you? >> not really. i wasn't 100% left-handed. >> reporter: that obstacle among many he faced in becoming the first african-american navy s.e.a.l. over his 32-year career, goins carried out classified missions all over the world. including three combat tours in vietnam. his favorite part of the job, free fall parachuting. >> i was dumb and young. i couldn't wait to get back up and do it again. >> what's it feel like to be a trail blazer? >> it was way into my career before i realized i was the first african-american navy s.e.a.l. >> reporter: few people of color have followed him. of the more than 3,000 active duty navy s.e.a.l.s, just over 1% are african-american. nearly 9% are hispanic. >> having a diverse group with different ways of thinking helps us adjust to the ever-changing battlefield. >> reporter: but goins did inspire the first black officer

to command a s.e.a.l. team. his identity shielded for security reasons. >> he allowed me to focus on training as opposed to focusing on being the first. >> what reason would you have -- >> reporter: bill goins, long retired, but still serving. >> it's like, if he can do it, anybody can do it. >> reporter: a pioneering navy s.e.a.l. passing on an enduring legacy. geoff bennett, nbc news, virginia beach, virginia. >> such an interesting detail about his function. that would have changed history. >> without a doubt. still blazing trails after all these years. a 22-year-old florida woman is lucky to be alive. officials say the suspected drunk driver nearly drowned after smashing into a fire hydrant. water spilled out so fast that a massive sinkhole was created, swallowing her car. police say the hole was eight feet deep and 20 feet wide. fortunately emergency crews were able to save her and a good samaritan who had tried to help her, very lucky. berlin is showing off its

new polar bear cub. the there-month-old bear was allowed out of her cage for the first time and enjoyed running around with her mother, tanya. thanks for being with us. i'm frances rivera >> i'm mar. liit )s monday marc

ad lib live picture - trans america shot welcome to monday morning. taking a live look outside, transamerica pyramid of san francisco. look at the lights glistening out there. coming off a great weekend across the bay area, really across california it's been nice. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm scott mcgrew. marcus washington has the day off. let's get a check of your weather on this monday morning. >> it's going to be another warm one, last few days of winter. a live look in palo alto, we start out with some low 50s headed into the low 60s later on. now our temperatures back to the upper 60s and low 70s. we'll see a high of 75 in livermore, and in san jose, and 74 today in napa. we'll have a couple more days of this before the rain returns. i'll talk a