today i'm announcing that new zealand will ban all military style semiautomatic weapons. >> breaking news today. new zealand's prime minister taking swift and sweeping action to rein in all weapons used in last week's terror attack as the funerals of the dozens killed continue to take place. i endorsed him at his request, and i gave him the kind of funeral thatewanted, which i didn't get thank you. that's okay. >> make that four days in a row that president trump obsesses over the lenator joh out. plus gas on fuel. we'll introduce you to the man who decided to test leash

laws at one pet store with a hefty steer. and just out this morning, the new crash test ratings for some of the most popular pickup trucks. plus, is this texas man going a little overboard for presidential candidate beto o'rourke? just wow. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm marlie hall. >> and i'm frances rivera. we start this morning with breaking news from new zealand. as burials continue for the 50 people killed at shootings in two jacinda ardern is taking urgent action on gun reform. >> today i'm announcing that new zealand will ban all military-style semiautomatic weapons. will also ban all assa rifles. we will ban all high capacity magazines. in short, every semiautomatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on friday will be banned in this country.

>> while a proposed ban and gun buyback program will be submitted to parliament during the first week of april, these weapons have already been reclassified to require a police permit, and the prime minister says submitting an application would be a fairly pointless exercise. gunowners have been given a window of amnesty to turn over any illegal weapons. >> the new zealand police association has congratulated the government for taking decisive action, and the minister of police had this to say. >> i want to remind that it is a privilege and not a right to own a firearm in new zealand. we know that there are many gunowners with legitimate reasons for owning firearms, especially in our ruralthis and them. >> in the united states, reaction to these developments has been somewhat muted from the applauding the swift left have developments.

congresswoman ocasio-cortez says sandy hook happened six years ago and we can't even get the senate to hold a vote on universal background checks. bernie sanders says this is what real action to stop gun violence looks like. and he urges the united states to follow new zealand's lead. boeing continues to face intense scrutiny this morning over its troubled airliner. the fbi is now joining the growing investigation into the 737 max and how it was certified to fly in the first place. it comes after a pair of deadly crashes claimed over 300 lives. tracie potts has the details from d.c. tracie, good morning. >> frances, good morning. this is a new development, the fact that a federal grand jury may now be looking into not the accident but how that plane was whether this was more than justy criminal activity and questions being asked whether there was something there. remember, it was just yesterday that we heard from pilot captain chesley sullenberger who pointed out the fact that boeing was

involved in the process, working on some of its own planes, and the transportation secretary has asked the inspector general for which he calls an objective and detailed audit of how that process played out. in the meantime, the boeing 737 max 8 and max 9 are grounded in the united states until they can verify safety. >> all right, tracie. and shifting now to this mueller investigation here. there is growing speculation that the special counsel is nearing the end of that. we've known it could happen any day now. >> rite. and there was an intes 11-day extension, saying they mueller asked the cou are going to be very busy in coming tt maybe they're wrapping up this invettiga read. something president trump says he looks forward. to. >> yeah. and the question is whether that becomes public or not for all of us. thank you. the first amendment is front and center at the white house today. president trump is set to sign an executive order this afternoon promoting free speech on college campuses.

the president has flexed his first amendment rights all week, much to the chagrin of even some in his own party. he fired yet another round of criticism at the late senator john mccain during an event in ohio. nbc's kristen welker has the details. >> reporter: president trump again taking aim at the late senator john mccain. >> i endorsed him at his request, and i gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted, which as president i had to approve. i don't care about this. i didn't get a thank you. that's okay. the press keeps what not my kind of guy, but some people like him, and i think that's great. >> reporter: the stunning new attack on mccain nearly seven months after his death part of a five-minute rant, including about that unverified steele dossier on mr. trump and russia. >> john mccain got it. he got it. and what did he do? he didn't call me. he turned it over to the fbi hoping to put me in jeopardy. and that's not the nicest thing to do. >> reporter: the president's attacks sparking another rebuke

from meghan mccain. >> he would think it was hilarious that our president was so jealous of him. >> reporter: but now joined by a growing chorus of criticism from republicans, senator johnny isakson slamming the president's comments as deplorable. and this from senator mccain's close friend lindsey graham. >> i think the president's comments about senator mccain hurt him more than they hurt the legacy of senator mccain. i'm going to continue to try to help the president. >> in his mind, john mccain is the person that somehow triggered the mueller investigation. and that is where he goes with this, and that is the core of all of his anger. >> reporter: all of it comes as the president also escalates his feud with the husband of his senior adviser kellyanne conway. >> i don't know him. he is a whack job, no question about it. but i really don't know him. i think he is doing a tremendous disservice to a wonderful wife. >> reporter: george conway has been blasting the president for months, including again accusing him of having a narcissistic personality disorder.

and kellyanne conway defended the president wednesday, telling politico you think he shouldn't respond when somebody, a nonmedical professional accuses him of having a mental disorder? conway didn't respond to our requests for comment. marlie hall? >> kristen welker, thank you. >> over the past several days we heard president trump making a few misleading comments about the late senator mccain, and now the mccain institute at arizona state university is setting the record straight. here's what the president had to say about a key program for veterans. >> mccain didn't get the job done for our great vets and the v.a., and they knew it. that's why when i had my dispute with him, i had such incredible support from the vets and from the military. the vets were on my side because i got the job done. i got choice and i got accountability. accountability meaning -- >> well, the truth is that senator mccain originally co-sponsored the choice act alongside senator bernie sanders and it was signed into law by

president obama in 2014. senator mccain fought for years for an expansion of the program which mr. trump signed into law in may. it's named after three veterans who served in congress, including mccain. >> and over the weekend, the president claims senator mccain was last in his class. he actually graduated fifth from the bottom at the naval academy before going on to become a war hero in vietnam. if you drive, you may have noticed gas prices are surging for the first time in months. nationwide, the average price of regular unleaded is up to $2.58 a gallon. that's up 35 cents in the past six weeks. the states with the biggest price hikes are in the midwest. michigan, ohio, and illinois. so what's causing it? analysts point to the turmoil in venezuela and the switch from winter to summer gas. they expect higher prices to continue into april and perhaps even memorial day. a suspect is behind bars. a nashville police officer lucky to be alive this morning after

he was dragged through the streets saturday by an atv driven illegally during an s.e.c. basketball tournament. that whole ordeal was caught on camera. police say the atv driver 30-year-old walter moss was involved in a hit-and-run. sergeant john borek was attempting to stop him. he sustained some injuries from the incidents but spoke about his quick recovery. >> much better. i feel good. good to be back in the office and getting back to normal. >> the suspect has been charged with assault. what you're about to see may be disturbing. it's unbelievably terrifying new video showing the fatal impact when a car crashed into a public transit bus inhirossg an intersection. the car was speeding away from a ce 100 miles an hour and ran a red light when it slammed into the bus. the impact pushed the bus into a guardrail and set off an explosion in the vehicle, killing all three people inside, but no one on the bus was seriously hurt.

we are continuing to follow the historic disaster unfolding in the midwest. river flooding has persisted throughout the central united states triggered by storms and snow melt. about 250 residents of the town of craig, missouri had to be evacuated. the missouri state highway patrol said a temporary levee was breached and the town was taking on water. all right. bill karins is here with our forecast. any relief in sight? >> they're not getting any rain there for the next week, but the spring flooding will go well into april because there so much water and still a lot of snow to melt. today is washington, d.c. philadelphia flood watch. 8:00 a.m. this evening until later this evening. about 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. he i-95 er issues that will corridor. the airports will have significant delays. it will be windy and heavy rain. isolated totals of the two inches. and on top of all this, we're going get snow on the high country. the adirondacks will get it

good, the white and green with that raw rain and wind running through the midatlantic region and new york this afternoon. the weekend forecast will look a little more springish and feel that way too. we'll give you those details coming up. >> i can't wait to hear than. all right, bill, thank you. in today's quick hit, sony released new photos of tom hanks' mr. rogers from a the upcoming film to celebrate what would have a been fred rogers' 91st birthday. the film hits heaters in november. cvs says it's now selling cbd products in eight state including top kashlgs creams, spray-ones, lotions and salves.

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>> the only bridge on archers creek? >> archer's street? >> reporter: dispatchers sent first responders to the wrong bridge more than a mile away from the crash. >> we have someone missing. >> reporter: losing 28 minutes of valuable time that mallory beech's family says might have saved the 19-year-old. it's not first the time first responders have been left blind, unable to locate cell phone callers. but there is technology that could change that. it's called 911 eye, and c a cell phone. it's been used in europe for years, and now is coming to the u.s. i'm in manchester township, new jersey, the first in the nation to use the system. for this demonstration, all they know is i'll be calling with a simulated emergency, but they don't know where i am. i call their dispatch center. >> i don't know where i am. >> what i'm going to do is send a link to your cell phone. it's going to come to your text message. >> as soon as i click the link, dispatch can see my exact

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booth, a washed up actor and his long-time stunt double. the film is set to hit theaters in july. when you have leo and brad together in the same movie you can't go wrong. >> under quentin tarantino's direction too, and margot robbie. that's going to be a good one. a royal baby is on the way and there is a lot of buzz on royal watchers who are already making bets on the newest name for the little one expected this spring. it's not surprising that some of the favorites include diana and victoria for a baby girl or arthur for a boy. bets on baby name, gender and date of arrival for prince harry and meghan markle's first child are all up for grabs. just ahead, a very disturbing infestation in texas. plus, the surprise reunion that's moving so many to tears. stay with us. i was on the fence about changing from a manual to an electric toothbrush. but my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums.

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haven't been a mice seen in weeks. let's get to this weekend forecast. we are going to watch some snowy, windy conditions exiting as we go throughout the day on friday. but it's not going to be prett northern new england. then we're going to watch a new we there too.o to areas of the so we'll continue to watch what happens with that. saturday and sunday, chilly in the northeast,guys. the northeast,guys. >> proof that a new pet so now, i use heavy duty swiffer sweeper and dusters. for hard-to-reach places, duster makes it easy to clean. it captures dust in one swipe. ha! gotcha! and sweeper heavy duty cloths lock away twice as much dirt and dust. it gets stuff deep in the grooves other tools can miss. y'know what? my place... is a lot cleaner now. stop cleaning. start swiffering.

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>> that voice, that nickname only his dad would know. come on, shib, stopping him in his tracks. >> is that all we got? >> daddy? [ applause ] the tennessee national guard w d sh a big boy. i am so proud of you. >> he says it's service members' families who deserve the applause, because their sacrifice is even greater. >> i'm enjoying it. i miss him so much. >> luke, like thousands of children away from their parents,udor in their own way, serving our country too. >> you going to play hookie tomorrow? >> peter alexander, nbc news. >> love those stories.

an eyelash coming lose right here. the tears coming down when it comes to those stories. they get me every single time. >> yeah, i think we need some tissue. that's a good one. well, they say everything is bigger in texas, and that includes the animals allowed into stnted.o test petco's claim that all leashed pets are welcome. so he a african watusi steer. employees happily welcomed the 2,000 pound cattle and snapped a few photos, of course. and from the looks of it, this ain't their first rodeo. how did that thing even fit in the door. >> it's texas, man. everything is bigger than texas. it's a whole lot of country. an artist in texas, the only place you'd see something like this. a guy supporting his 2020 candidate. so that's stan holding a sketch of beto o'rourke that he used to create what he calls beto earth work. that land near an austin area airport was donated so travelers can see the two-acre portrait of

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work, a change, no rain. >> it's not raining, so that's good. but we see changes tomorrow. here's a ranger. we'll enjoy one dry day in between the storm systems