this is the worst i've seen in the last 12 years. >> i've seen nothing like this for this long ever. a massive petro chemical fire since sunday morning spewing blackmoke. fuelled by chemicals used in gaz owe lean, paint thinners and more. a flooding emergency turning neighborhoods into islands and stranding many communities. warrant for michael cohen. a federal grand jury is the8 was in las vegas

that went terribly wrong. meet the young chess champ. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm marlie hall. >> and i'm frances rivera. a massive fire spewing massive black clouds into the air. authorities are warning people to stay inside. we have more details. >> reporter: good morning, francis and marley. multiple fire agencies have been on the scene nearly days but not able to make much progress. the fire is expected to burn. the big problem is for certain sensitive populations, the risk of negative health effects is not just nearly 36 hours later, the fire

is still erupting. largely invisible from most but far from harmless for some. >> ink overprotective than to se think everything is fine. >> reporter: repeatedly insisting the air was simply safe. >> the levels have not crossed a threshold where they would post harm. >> reporter: the director of environmental science at baylor says they should no better. >> they are really talking about acute, immediate effects. >> reporter: the problem is negative effects from those who suffer heart or respiratory problems may take days or to manifest. >> too often we are thinking about the immediate effects and not a child coming down with an asthma attack the next day. >> reporter: the company said the fire spread from two tanks

to six. air quality monitoring is not a perfect science. >> still possible where you are there might not be a monitor. >> hot spots we may not know about. you are getting high concentrations down wind that is going to be most likely the highest concentrations. it might not be widespread. >> reporter: the next update will be later this morning. back to you. another emergency we are following in iowa, the governor has extended a disaster proclamation to include five more counties as this historic flooding devastates the midwest and plains. rescue crews have been working to save humans and animals. a donkey and three ponies have been saved. following it all from nebraska. good morning.

>> reporter: good morning. the midwest is still reeling from the devastating floods. now residents are coming home and getting a first look at the damage. record high rivers turned small midwest towns into islands. off an air force base under feet of water. entire parking lots submerged. in nebraska, communities cut off as the water raced in. some homeowners have been stranded for days. >> i can't believe how much water came in. >> heavy rain and snow melt fuelled this disaster. the worst seen in decades. minnesota, wisconsin, iowa and illinois hit hard. river gauges near or above flood stag stage. soldiers pulling people to safety. strangers pitching in.

>> thiss what we do. >> reporter: he says the lake is now in his home. water could take days to recede. >> the sad thing is is the family heirlooms are priceless. >> reporter: historic flooding quick to move in and slow to move out. the waters here slowly part to recede, states south could be next. the flood waters head downstream toward the gulf of mexico. >> thank you. we could soon get a glimps into the investigation that brought down michael cohen. prosecutors released redacted copies of the search warrants used on the raid of the home and offices. the fbi scoured his offices and hotel seeking information about alleged hush money payments. the warrant could reveal how authorities learned of the

payments and what they sought to gather. any investigation will likely be redacted. he's been found guilty and will be serving three years in prison in may. breaking news now. just revealed that award winning rock and roll legend jerrj lee lewis is recovering in memphis. the 83-year-old also known as the killer will have to cancel upcoming performances through june but doctors expect lewis to make a full recovery. new zealand's prime minister will return to christ church as families prepare for burials. she denounced the attack that left 50 dead and another 50 injured. parliament members gathered to share condolences for them.

new gun reforms will be announced in ten days. we'll go live to chris church, new zealand. the prime minister has vowed to deny the gunman any notoriety. >> reporter: that's right. the focus now needs to be on the 50 victims. their names, faces and stories. not the alleged gunman. she said she won't give the suspect an ounce of fame. >> references have been made to other terrorists abroad that this suspect has sought to replicate. you won't hear me speak his name. >> reporter: another thing we can expect is there are going to be new gun laws. she'll make an announcement by monday. sweeping changes are expected.

>> also developments of the teenager at the center of the violent egg smashing scheme. >> the boy that went violent for smashing an egg over the anti-immigrant senator has a go-fund me that will go to the families of the victims. he's got a mural in his honor in melbourne. it is confirmed a federal investigation is looking at the boeing 737 max jet and how it was approved for flight. it had been the best selling plane in the world but was grounded last week after two crashes in five months. it is questioned now did the plane get proper oversight. >> reporter: with the world's 737 max fleet grounded, a grand jury is investigating the

development of the max. understaffed and underfunded, much of that process delegated to boeing itself. >> there is always a risk of delegating some of your direct certification authority over the aircraft design but you need the manufacturer's expertees. >> reporter: on line, they say the goal is to identify best practice and oversight. i asked the acting faa chief. >> did your interaction in any way lead you to delay the decision to ground these planes. >> french investigators said clear similarities were noted between the planes before they crashed. bad sensors or a software glitch and new software installed

forced the plane down. pilots weren't told about mcat untilen an ipad course to follow. before they were grounded, american airline pilots stood by the plane. they want simulator time. >> we don't want another ipad course. we take this too seriously. >> boeing continues to stand by the plane and certification. they plan to push a software upgrade. that will not be enough to get this plane back in the air. all authorities including the faa. canada will decide on its own whether to certify the plane again. >> thank.>> there is a new twis killing of a reputed mob boss. turns out it may not have been a mafia hit after all. the suspect may have wanted

revenge over a relationship with the ictim's niece. 24-year-old who they said put ten bullets into the mob boss, on his left hand, maga forever and united we stand. nabbed in new jersey over the weekend along with the blue pickup truck used in the crime. >> is it true you are waiving your right to extradition? >> yes, sir. >> he was gunned down in front of his home last week. >> we do not believe this was a random act. >> is it connected to his role in the crime family. he was angry he was told to stop seeing his niece. what ended in his death started with him ramming his truck into the parked suv. every step captured on surveillance video.

>> was he acting alone? were there others involved? i do not have the answers for you. >> his family has no answers. promising, there is something very wrong here. we'll get to the bottom of it. a young man trying to end one problem, now facing so many more. bill karins joins us now with river flooding. >> i want to explain what is happening here. this shows the snow about a week ago, watch as it melted quickly. the warm air and rainfall, the end result is about 186,000 square miles, larger than the state of california. the flow rate of those areas went from 900 million gallons up to 5 billion gallons. twice the rate of the water that

goes over niagara falls kansas today. we'll take a look at the forecast for the rest of the country coming up. new meaning to the word snow mobil. 140 harley davidson's took on a snow covered hill in italy. winter x games player speed up the slope in record time to win the sixth annual race and snow event. looks dangerous. >> and fun. still ahead, violence in vegas. the dramatic twist in a case

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abruptly changing her plea to guilty. part of wreckless endangerment. >> if she would have pled guilty at the beginning of all of this, that would have shown responsible. hospitalized for a punctured lung. >> taylor heard saying she was going to push her. >> showing her shaking with fear. >> jordan, go. go. >> at times others said jordan didn't want to jump. >> she's saying no. >> ready? >> jordan said she still has an decidi anxiety attacks and hopes the judge sends her to jail. >> for the time i spent in the

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the death toll is expected to rise after a cyclone slammed into southeast africa. officials report more than 215 people have been killed across the area since the srm the president of mozambique said he fears more than 1,000 people may have been killed. officials say three suspects have been detained in connection to the killing of three people in the netherlands. the mayor said this appeared to be a possible terror attack but the first suspect's family in turkey claims the attack was part of a domestic dispute. prosecutors are ruling nothing out. almost 10,000 nurses from texas's biggest hospital are

threatening to strike saying if hospital managem a the new york state nurse's association cannot reach a deal, they will stop showing up for work and start picketing. they said nurses are trying to advance the a gengenda of staff ratios. >> the overcoming so many obstacles to become a chess champion. >> reporter: he's tenacious and smart and simply on the board his opponents do not. >> what i like most is deep thinking. >> reporter: he handily won the new york state chess tournament. not bad for an eight-year-old who onlyear ago.

his family came from nigeria two years ago. christians fleeing purse kugs. >> where do you live? >> we live in shelter. >> reporter: yes. they are homeless. one of his coaches started a go fund me page to help out. >> people are good. >> reporter: the family is overwhelmed. proud of their son heading to nationals in may. stunned by the generosity of a city and country where they prayed to find refuge. >> i'm so prochs, making the right move can make all the difference. >> boy, what a future he's going to have already. story. anything is possible. >> and people are f watching. >> and people are f watching. i'm frances rivera. [boy gasps] for real cold and flu protection

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you, march 19th for us. taking a live look out on the city there. beautiful start to our morning there, and hey, need to get ready, because rain is returning. we had a good run there. check out the radar and see the storm off the coast right now. kari will have a look at that in a second. good morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm marcushi it's a clear starty and we'll still have the warm temperatures but notice more clouds moving in throughout the day. that's a live look outside at 101. toward willow glen notice the cloud icons on there. we'll get peeks of sunshine early in the day with a mild start, hea