>> always find the silver lining. >> there you go. 7:00 right now. that's what's happening "today in the bay." we're back at 7:25 with a live local news update. >> join us for "nbc bay area news" at 11:00. have a great day. it is friday and the weather is going to be nice. . good morning. breaking overnight the missing link a major new clue emerges in the crash of one of those 737 max planes. this morning what the black box data is revealing to investigators about what went wrong and the connection to that first crash in indonesia. barr brawl. democrats stepping up pressure on attorney general bill barr to testify about his take on the mueller report. the president's victory lap goes on and let his critics have it at a late night rally. >> the collusion delusion is over. the credibility of those who pushed this hoax is forever broken. >> straight ahead will the

public ever see the actual report where the battle goes next. pay up. chicago's mayor now demanding jussie smollett reimburse the city $130,000 to cover the cost of investigating his case as prosecutors face new scrutiny over their decision to drop all charges. all that plus airport chaos. thousands of passengers still stranded this morning after an airline suddenly shuts down. cover-up? stunning claims about what really caused that infamous tiger act during a sigfried and roy show. how sweet it is. >> for the tie. >> march madness returns with four schools moving one step forward in the big dance. today, friday, march 29th, 2019.

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hi remember everybody. good morning. thank you for being with us. how good does friday feel >> extra good. my virginia tech hokies is going up against duke. >> march madness rolls on. let's get right to this breaking news. concerning the 737 max plane crashes. reported black box data from the doomed ethiopian airlines flight that crashed earlier this month is now giving investigators a much better sense of what happened and some of the details are disturbing. nbc's tom costello has been all over this story from the start. >> reporter: "wall street journal report"s investigators say it does appear the and stall system suspected of bringing down the indonesian airliner also misfired and activated in ethiopia as well. both planes went into a nose

divisive shortly after takeoff with very erratic vertical speed and a porpoise effect of the plane bobbing up and down. 350 people died in both crashes. this week boeing unveiled a software upgrade a fix that it hopes will ensure this won't happen again and also giving pilots the ability to override this and stall system. the faa still has to approve that software fix an every pilot who flies the mack has to go through a 30 minute training sieg. we're still talking about many, many weeks before this plane is approved to fly again. >> tom, you have another aviation story in the headlines. a lot of passengers strand with this discount carrier called wow suddenly announcing bankruptcy. stopping all operations. >> reporter: this is a european or icelandic carrier. it elm employed about 1,000 people. carried about 3.5 million people on its small fleet of planes. just 11 planes.

this is a major invention for many passengers. this morning thousands of wow air passengers are stranded. >> i didn't have any idea, none at all. we didn't get an e-mail or nothing. we came here and figured it out wow airlines is out of business. >> reporter: without warning or explanation and for some without compensation. >> even now i got an e-mail this morning no refund, no nothing. >> reporter: after the icelandic budget airline grounded its fleet on thursday wow did post a travel alert on its website that simply states wow air has ceased operation. all flights have been cancelled. frustrated passengers continued to vent on social media. probably the most disturbing discount airline i ever encountered one user writes. absolutely devastated. having to postpone her honeymoon. a school group of 16 from baltimore had to cancel their

plans to leave for iceland tonight. >> my phone is exploding with parents and staff oh, my gosh did you read the news and just what do we do? >> reporter: boston's logan airport, this man missed his uncle's flight. >> i'm very tired and flight. >> i'm very tired. i'm very strong, but i know i have an objective to get to the funeral. his travel costs doubled after rebooking another airline. >> it's stressful, and i'm hoping and praying we get home and get to the funeral safely and we get to be with the family very soon. >> reporter: since 2012 wow has offered flights for as low as $99 to iceland and europe, from toronto, boston, detroit, new york, and baltimore. though it charged more for luggage, food, and leg room, fewer tourist visits to iceland and rising fuel costs may have been the ultimate downfall, and wow consistently suffered poor customer reviews about flight

delays. so wow suggests customers ask their credit card or travel agencies for a refund and says would be customers should look for so-called rescue fares which may be offered by rival airlines. some airlines are offering to help stranded wow customers but they still got to buy another ticket. back to you. >> thank you. now to washington, the fight over the mueller report is intensifying with new pressure on the attorney general to testify, and president trump is sounding off. he had his first rally since the end of the investigation last night. we've got two reports. we'll start with nbc's white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: good morning to you. president trump is capping the week on offense holding his first rally since the attorney general released his summary of the mueller report. it was a free wheeling raucous event with the president yet again claiming victory and vindicati vindication. >> overnight president trump taking his victory lap on the road to battleground, michigan. >> after three years of lies and smears and slander, the russia

hoax is finally dead. >> reporter: the president spending the first ten minutes of his speech touting robert mueller's finding that there was no coordination between the 2016 trump campaign and russia. >> the collusion delusion is ov over. >> reporter: unleashing this expletive laden attack. >> the dpemocrats have to now decide if they're going to continue defrauding the public with ridiculous [ bleep ]. >> and he signaled out some of his political enemies by name including adam schiff. >> little pencil neck adam schiff. >> reporter: earlier in the day schiff angrily calling out the president's conduct and republicans who have been calling for his resignation. >> i think it's immoral. i think it's unethical. i think it's unpatriotic, ayes,i

think it's corrupt and evidence of collusion. >> reporter: it comes amid new details about the mueller report. nbc news learning it is 300-plus pages long. attorney general william barr's summary just four pages. democrats now demanding barr turn over the whole thing. >> show us the report and we can draw our own conclusions. we don't need you interpreting for us. it was condescending. it was arrogant. >> reporter: some considering whether to issue a subpoena to mueller himself if they don't receive the full report. the president insisting it's over. come 2020 he'll be even stronger. >> it's going to be so much easier the second time. >> kristen the president talked about a lot of different things last night including health care, which has very much been in the news this week. >> reporter: it has been and the big question is does the president have a plan to replace obamacare. he's been talking a whole lot about that, and the answer is not yet. the president's vowing that republicans will be the party of

health care. it comes as the trump administration is making another effort to dismantle it earlier this week siding with a federal judge who ruled that obamacare is unconstitutional. the president and his advisers are struggling to explain what comes next. when i asked the president yesterday about the time line he responded he was in no particular rush. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. craig's here with a big story, a big about face from the white house. >> good morning. we're talking about that major reversal on the fate of the special olympics. education secretary betsy devos has been under fire all week over budget cuts that would have eliminated federal funding for the program altogether. on thursday a surprising 180 from president trump himself. nbc's chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has that story. good morning. >> good morning to you. you know that secretary devos has spent days on defense over these proposed cuts. now her boss's abrupt about-face

is getting a lot of applause this morning, including interestingly from devos herself. new reaction to a rare reversal this morning after an unexpected and emphatic about-face. >> why cut money for the special olympics? why would you cut funding to them? >> i've been to the special olympics. i think it's incredible, and i just authorized a funding. i heard about it this morning. i have overridden my people. >> reporter: even the special olympics seemed surprised with a top official telling nbc news i didn't see this coming at all. they've had this position for three straight years now, adding it says a lot about the white house hearing the stories of our athletes and supporters. >> i want to thank the president for responding to your voices. that's how democracy is supposed to work, and guess what, it worked. it worked because of you. >> reporter: those athletes and their advocates using their voices. >> i was sad and i'm really worried about now cutting all

the funding and all the money out. >> reporter: as education secretary betsy devos used hers to defended proposal which looked to cut nearly $18 million in federal funding. >> whoever came up with that idea gets an special olympics gold medal for insecurity. >> let's not use disabled children in a twisted way for your political narrative. that is just disgusting and it's shameful. >> reporter: devos had become the face of the controversy publicly backing her boss's budget for days including in this viral moment tuesday. >> i have two nephews with autism. what is it that we have a problem with with children who are in special education? kids that are affected. >> i think special olympics is an awesome organization, one that is well supported by the philanthropic sector as well. >> that congressman, mark pocan asking can someone pull betsy from under the bus? devos for her part has pointed

to personal donations she's made to the special olympics and is now hinting she's always opposed the cuts. in a statement saying this is funding i have fought for behind the scenes over the last several years. >> keep in mind, it's not the president but lawmakers who ultimately staten isladecide on budget looks like. congress did not want to make these cuts. the special olympics was probably never at risk of losing federal funding. i asked the vice president of the special olympics about that. he pointed out making the the point that the administration does have influence. in his view it's pretty significant they changed course and changed their minds of this. >> significant indeed. hallie jackson for us in washington. now to another controversy facing facebook. the government now accusing the social media giant of violating the laws that have been on the books since the civil rights era. nbc's gadi schwartz joins the table with more. >> that's right. critics are saying this is

basically a form of discrimination in the digital age. the aclu is comparing the problems with ad targeting with segregation in the 1960s when often where you could live was based on the color of your skin. the department of housing and urban development is saying enough is enough. >> reporter: this morning a new black eye for facebook. the social media giant facing a lawsuit from the department of housing and urban development, the suit alleging discrimination against groups like minorities and women, by allowing facebook to restrict who sees their ad based on race, religion, and national origin. the agency claiming they're violating the federal fair housing act. hud secretary ben carson saying facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live adding using a computer to limit a person's housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone's face. the social media giant recently settling another lawsuit with the aclu over its advertising

practicing. >> everybody who uses facebook knows that you see advertising right? but you don't know or stop to think about what advertising you're not seeing. you don't know there's a job out there that's being withheld from you because you are a woman or because you're african-american. >> reporter: facebook says it's now removing advertisers ability to target housing, credit, and job ads based on age, gender and zip code while the aclu says they hope lawsuits will help rein in social media companies. >> they were trying to establish that the civil rights laws apply online. >> in response to the most recent lawsuit, facebook says we're surprised by hud's decision as we've been working with them to address their concerns and have taken significant steps to prevent ads discrimination. a spokesperson adding we're disappointed by today's developments but we'll continue to working with civil rights experts on these issues. >> so gadi, this whole thing may go to court if that happens, then what happens? >> there's a lot of potential

possibilities. facebook could be looking at an injunction, which would force them to stop doing things like this immediately or even civil fines, which could include a possible payout to people who may have been affected. it might also bring out more information on how facebook's algorithm works, which is something that facebook usually keeps very close to the chest. guys. >> all right, gadi, thank you. 7:15. time for our first check of the weather, and al's the man of the moment. >> as we look right now, we're looking at showers stretching from new england to memphis, and snow showers back behind that. we also have the risk for some severe weather this afternoon into tonight in the central plains, hail, possible damaging winds. we're not looking for tornados but can't rule those out. this front stretches from new england into texas. rain for the plains on the back side of this system, we're looking at snow as well, and then saturday it makes its way into the northeast all the way down through the mississippi and ohio river valleys with scattered showers and thunderstorms, and then on sunday rain along the east

coast, but as you can see, some snow showers back behind this. rainfall amounts, the heaviest amounts going to be somewhere around one to three inches down through the mississippi and missouri river valleys, also the ohio river could be seeing up to an inch. look back here through the northeast and parts of the midwest. we could see anywhere from to three inches of snow on the back side. the good news is temperatures are warming up. we'll start to see a lot of snow melt rather quickly that causes problems ♪ oooh oooh aaah ♪ i'm discovering, i'm discovering ooooh ♪ ♪ all the color in, all the color in the world ♪ ♪ i'm uncovering, i'm uncovering ♪ ♪ oooooh bring color to life with the very best paint, only at your sherwin-williams store.

. good friday morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. patchy fog in the north bay as we start out on this friday, we will see clearing conditions, highs into the low to mid-60s today. over the next few days, much warmer temperatures on the way, highs in the low 70s for the inland areas, and we should enjoy the weekend, because there will be rain coming back to the bay area early next week. an weather. guys. >> thanks, al. >> thank you, al. >> coming up, jussie smollett, hit with a $130,000 bill for the cost of the investigation, but will he pay it? the latest twist in that bizarre case. >> and one of cig freed and roy's former animal trainers speaking out and making a stunning claim. has a cover-up been the real reason for the tiger attack that ended their popular las vegas show. but first this is "today" on nbc.

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i )m - -... we )re following breaking news right now .. involving a plane that had been headed to san francisco. good morning. a follow-up involving a plane that had to, that was headed toward san francisco, seven passengers on board that plane had to be taken to the hospital, this is after an unscheduled landing. the united airlines 737 was supposed to arrive in san francisco a little later afternoon, but instead, it was diverted to dulles airport shortly after taking off from baltimore. passengers say they could smell a heavy fuel odor. seven passengers were taken to the hospital for the evaluation. as for the cause, the airline has not yet issued any statement. now we want to look at the

weather for today, kari, turned out to be a nice one. >> after this fog clears out, especially in the north bay, you can barely see anything, as we try to look at highway 101. watch out for the fog, and then we'll see some sunshine, as we go into the afternoon, highs reaching into the low to mid-60s. the weekend is looking very pleasant. we get a nice stretch of some dry weather. temperatures warming up into the low 70s for the inland areas. it cools down next week as the rain returns and for san francisco, we're also going to see a very pleasant and comfortable weekend, with some showers early next week. let's get an update on the commute now from mike. >> kari, we're looking over here, you notice mostly green all around the bay, great. south bay mild slowing northbound build. this has been a problem since before 4:00 a.m. and it does not sound like northbound 238 is going to clear any time soon. we have a hazmat situation, a fuel and hydraulic fluid spill, only one lane is open from north 238. big rigs are allowed on 580 westbound, but it is jammed through castro valley, that is a

huge issue. the rest of the bay shows a smooth drive. there's fog in the north bay, creeping down toward the golden gate bridge, just touching the north tower. back to you. >> all right, we'll have more local news in half an hour.

7:30 now on this friday morning, it is march the 29th, 2019. check that out. that's the beautiful. that's the sunrise in cape may, new jersey, not too far from where we are. let's get a check of the headlines this morning, this major new clue that has emerged in the deadly crash of that ethiopian airlines flight earlier this month. "the wall street journal" is reporting that investigators say it appears that antistall system suspected in the lion air crash back in october also misfired and activated in ethiopia as well. both planes went into a nose dive shortly after takeoff. the pilots struggled to regain control. this week boeing unveiled a

software upgrade, but the faa has to approve that fix before the plane gets back into service. for the second time this week, a tourist has died while visiting the grandcanyon. a man from hong kong was taking photos when he stumbled and fell. it happened at eagles point. that man's body was recovered by a helicopter. earlier this week the body of a foreign national was found in a wooded area away from the rim. the cause of death there is unclear. more than 6 people visited the grand canyon last year. four teams punching their ticket to the elite 8. number one seed virginia moving on after hanging on to beat those oregon ducks 53-49. elsewhere gonzaga headed to the elite 8 for the third time in five years after their 72-58 win over florida state. and texas tech, texas tech manages to upset michigan to advance in the round of 8 for the second year in a row. they won that one easily 63-44,

and this was perhaps the game of the night, perdue surviving a late comeback attempt by tennessee. they won it in overtime. >> wow. >> 99-94, there are now four more spots left to fill in the elite 8. those games all tonight. by the time we come back here on monday, we will know who's playing in the final 4. there's a good chance it will be virginia tech. >> is that what you think? >> i love a good upset. >> i hope so. >> you didn't look like you believed. >> i was shocked but i'm happy to hear that. there are new twists in that head spinning jussie smollett case. the actor cleared of criminal charges but not out of the woods. still facing federal investigations and a bill to reimburse the city of chicago. nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer has the latest on this one. >> good morning, the war of words is turning into a demand for cash. jussie smollett remains defiant, his lawyers still proclaiming he was the victim of a hate crime, but now chicago's mayor wants more than just an apology.

>> reporter: this morning jussie smollett may have avoided charges but chicago's mayor is sending him a bill, this letter asking the actor to fork over $130,000. the cost of police overtime from detectives who investigated the case. >> given that he doesn't feel any sense of contrition and remorse, my recommendation is when he writes the check in the memo section he can put the word i'm accountable for the hoax. >> reporter: with the department of justice opening a review of the case, the president called the situation in chicago outrageous. >> that is an embarrassment to our country, what took place there. >> reporter: after prosecutor kim fox says she recused herself, her office later dropped 16 felony counts against smollett for two days of community service and $10,000 in court fees calling the deal fair and just, but smollett's attorney told savannah there was no deal. >> were those conditions on his dismissal of charges?

>> there were no conditions and obviously there was no plea. there was no agreement in place. >> prosecutors are now trying to say, well, there were conditions. this wasn't a get out of jail free card. >> he had to do nothing. there were no obligations, no conditions. >> a special prosecutor should have taken over suggesting the manner in which this case was dismissed was abnormal and unfamiliar to those who practice law. >> this appears to have been a case of special treatment for celebrities, and any special treatment in the justice system fundamentally is not just. >> reporter: after the county prosecutor said smollett's case file should be unsealed, police are still barred by court order from sharing evidence. investigators have already said the actor hired the o'sin dario brothers to carry out the attack. after smollett said his attackers were why ite. >> i was looking up the brothers and one of the first videos that

showed up actually was one of the brothers in white face doing a joker monologue with white makeup on. it's not implausible. >> the lawyer apparently referring to this video showing the brother doing a scene from batman in white makeup. why so serious. >> this morning smollett out of legal trouble, but in chicago and beyond still facing backlash. the actor who police call an attention seeking fraud, will this weekend be up for an naacp image award. >> miguel, a lot of the focus has been on prosecutor kim fox, cook county state's attorney there. she says she recused herself. others say that may not be the case. what's the reality? do we know? >> legal experts say under illinois state law the cook county prosecutor should have had her entire office walk away from the case when she recused herself, but that did not happen. that could be reviewed by the department of justice. smollett is scheduled to attend

glad awards or he was scheduled to attend glad awards overnight. he was a no-show. his attorney says he has nothing to hide and also says it's the city of chicago that owes him an apology. craig. >> miguel almaguer there in los angeles. thanks. 7:35. let's get a check of the weather. what you looking at? >> we're getting ready to head up to the arctic. that is ground zero for where climate change is happening. we are going to be heading up there, and this week it has been -- in fact, this month we're talking about extreme warmth in alaska. a persistent high pressure system has pushed the jet stream up to the north. so this month parts of alaska anywhere from five to upwards of 30 degrees above average, and it's not going away. where we're going to be heading and north of there, 17 degrees above average. bethel 15, anchorage nine above. fairbanks two consecutive days above freezing. this is the earliest on record for them, and look at what's going to be happening later this week. it's going to get up to 31 in uk

ta vick, highs this weekend are going to be anywhere from 20 to 40 degrees above average. this is where climate change is happening. we're going to be there, and next week we'll be live from alaska bringing you the latest on what researchers say is an environmental disaster that is rolling on with good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. we can see the clouds rolling over the south bay and at times some sunshine because we are seeing patches of fog moving through the tri-valley, and as this dissipates and lift lifts, will see mostly sunny skies. high temperatures load to mid-60s today and for the weekend gets warmer with highs reaching into the low 70s. we won't see the dry weather lasting that long. by the middle of next week, we have more rain coming in, along with cooler temperatures. >> that's your latest weather. >> so wait, you're heading to alaska? this is exciting.

>> the sea ice is melting at record rates. alaska is warming far faster than the rest of the united states and other parts of the world, and so there's really a lot of experts that say this is ground zero for climate change. we're going up with nasa, noaa scientists, national science foundation folks and we're going to be with them as they do a lot of this testing. we'll be live monday and tuesday. >> you've talked a lot about this, it's nice to see it in person. >> we're very excited about it. just ahead, olympic star simone biles revealing how she coped with crippling depression in a courageous and emotional new interview. also ahead this morning, we are live in boston where parents charged in that massive college admissions scandal are facing a judge today. plus, there's a new chapter this morning in the spectacle that is, al's spectacles. >> you taking those to alaska with you? >> i don't think so. but first, stunning claims about the infamous tiger attack that led to the end of siegfried and roy's famed show.

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their white tigers and elaborate shows. >> as you likely remember it all ended in shocking fashion 15 years ago when a tiger attacked roy during a performance, and it nearly killed him. now a trainer who helped save roy's life that night is speaking out for the first time in all of these years. nbc's joe fryer has that firsthand account. joe, good morning. >> good morning, the incident was investigated for two years by the u.s. department of agriculture which was unable to determine what caused the attack. now trainer chris lawrence is telling his version of the incident suggesting that ultimately roy horn himself may have been to blame. >> behind siegfried and roy's famous tiger shows were workers like chris lawrence putting in long hours to make those illusions seem like magic. >> what i loved about the job most was my bond with the cats. >> in his 11 years with the show, lawrence worked his way up from cleaning cages to handling and training its prized bengal tigers including monticore the

400 pound male who attacked roy during a performance. >> the point i realized things were kind of going sideways was when roy turned monicore around and he ended up with his face in roy's midsection. lawrence who was just a few feet away offstage says he could see the cat become confused and irritated knocking roy to the ground. lawrence says he tried to pull monticore back but the tiger's power threw him off his feet. >> i remember vividly thinking here he comes. there was no telling me he wasn't coming from me. >> instead monticor ebit roy in the neck and began dragging him off the stage. >> at that point roy was silent his eyes were closed. he was just still. >> in later interviews, siegfried and roy insisted that the tiger meant no harm claiming that roy had a stroke before the attack. >> roy tumbled and monticore

right away he realized and i realized he's in trouble. >> you believe that monticore realized you were in trouble and just picked you up and took you off stage for help? >> usda investigators did not find evidence to support that. one witness writing that it appeared that his only intention was to kill roy. as first reported by the hollywood reporter, lawrence says roy made several mistakes he believes were critical. >> i think his actions in trying to possibly save the routine or rectify the situation actually ended up complicating it. lawrence says what he experienced that night left him with severe ptsd with which he and his family have struggled to cope. >> something in him also died that night. >> lawrence says he's speaking out now to raise awareness about ptsd and how difficult it is to find appropriate treatment. >> very unfortunately roy bears

the physical wounds from the attack, but roy's not the only one that suffers from that night. >> what people are going to wonder how roy is now. do you know anything about his condition? >> well, we know he survived multiple surgeries and was left partially paralyzed. again, the attack put an end to their favorite show. siegfried and roy did not return our request for comments. the tiger remained part of the duo's habitat in vegas until it died in 2014. roy always spoke fondly of what he called his beloved tiger insisting no harm come to it after the attack. back to you guys. >> interesting chapter in the story. joe, thank you. coming up, could miley cyrus be spending her fans a message with her new hair style? with her new hair style? >> but first these messages. ♪

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good friday morning. at 7:56, we're seeing clouds moving across the bay area. some patches of some dense fog and we're watching out for that. we can see the foggy conditions in san francisco, and the mist and drizzle. once all of this clears out by late morning we'll have a nice afternoon. temperatures reaching into the low to mid-60s and our forecast warms up over the weekend with our inland valleys reaching into the low 70s. we will start to see more clouds moving in late on sunday, and continuing through next week. those clouds will bring in some rain and also some cooler air. we'll reach into the lower 60s by the end of next week, with san francisco also seeing a nice weekend with some highs reaching into the mid to upper 60s. monday mostly cloudy and 67, and only reaching about 62 degrees, as that rain returns on tuesday through thursday. we'll be watching that for you with more updates.

mike has an update on the commute. >> right at street level the cars just the fast track lanes backed up lightly at the bay bridge. in the distance you see the low clouds and the fog kari is talking about and the highlight in yellow for the north bay and upper east shore. slow across the benicia bridge right now because of the lower visibility, and jammed out of castro valley through casty valley, five miles and building, north 238 backup, one lane open by the spill and the crash that continues to clear. we don't know when that will reopen. the rest of the bay is fine. i'm marcus washington. happening now, seven people on board an sfo-bound plane have been sent to the hospital for observation, after that plane was diverted to virginia's dulles airport shortly after jakeo takeoff in d.c. some passengers complained of a heavy fuel smell. authorities are investigating a deadly shooting outside of a west oakland b.a.r.t. station.

the woman died late last night. police have not determined'woman was on board the train prior to being shot. april first, means al fools! how some of silicon valley )s biggest tech companies are embracing the day. plus, as you start your work week monday, we )re tracking yor forecast. join us monday morning from

what went wrong, so what caused both of those deadly crashes and what does it mean for the planes going forward. we're live with the latest. plus, change of scenery, keir gets up close and personal with some amazing animals in africa forced to adapt to a new environment. >> everywhere on the planet, it's changing. people are encroaching on the space and the climate is changing, so it's really rough for animals to adapt. >> a look at how we can help

these struggling creatures survive. and the best of both worlds, miley cyrus surprising fans by posting photos and videos dressed as her famous alter ego. >> hey, guys, it was so hard going back and forth, i decided i'll be hannah montana forever. >> could hannah montana be making a come back. >> happy friday from noblesville, indiana! >> quinceyville, illinois. >> and utah. >> we're the gla sers from ohio, and we love "today"! >> from d.c. to nyc for my 40th birthday. >> turning 7-0 on the "today" show. >> celebrating national champions at thomas moore university! >> national champions right there. welcome back, it's friday morning, a great crowd out there. temps are kind of on the rise.

>> you know who's happy it's friday? >> who's that? >> savannah guthrie. >> you're going to have to show us how much you love a friday. >> i love a friday! >> i want that t-shirt, by the way. >> spread the love, right? >> by the way don't forget to send us more of those my today plaza shout-outs. twitter, instagram, there's the hashtag on your screen screen, #mytodayplaza. >> if you woke up the middle of the night #mytodayplaza. investigators have reportedly found their strongest evidence yet of a link between those two deadly crashes involving boeing 737 max 8 jet liners. nbc's tom costello has got the breaking details. tom, good morning. >> good morning. "the wall street journal" reporting investigators who are reviewing the black boxes from the ethiopian airliner that crashed say it does appear that the anti-stall system known as

mcas misfired and activated much as it did in the case of the lion air flight that crashed last october. both planes went into a nose dive shortly after takeoff with very erratic vertical speeds. nearly 350 people died in both crashes. this week boeing has been briefing hundreds of pilots and airline exec tutives on a fix tt it hopes if mcas fires they can override it. the pilots have the ability to have the final say and to prevent mcas to prevent firing to begin with. every pilot who flies the max will have to go through a 30-minute training session. the u.s. airlines say they feel good about the upgrade, but getting final approval to fly the max again is likely to be weeks away in the u.s. it could take even longer for other countries to approve it. >> tom costello with the breaking news, thank you. democrats are pressing to see the entire 300-page mueller report as president trump gets campaign mileage from that four-page summary released on sunday. in michigan overnight, the president held his first rally

since mueller's investigation was finished. he touted the finding that there was no collusion between the 2016 trump campaign and russia. >> after three years of lies and smears and slander, the russia hoax is finally dead. >> mueller's report to attorney general william barr concluded there was not sufficient evidence for obstruction charges. democrats want barr to release the entire report or testify so they can draw their own conclusions. also this morning, parents charged in connection with that stunning college admissions scandal are appearing in court today. it comes after two coaches busted in the scheme faced a judge. kathy park is outside federal court in boston. kathy, good morning. >> reporter: craig, good morning to you. it's expected to be a very busy day here at the federal courthouse. parents expected to appear on fraud and conspiracy charges. prosecutors say some of these

parents actually paid proctors, some even convinced these college coaches to make some of these athletes appear like they were accomplished though they weren't. >> reporter: operation varsity blues landing more than a dozen parents before a federal judge this morning. the mothers and fathers accused of working with college consultant william rick singer to bribe test proctors and college coaches to make sure their kids got into top schools. a wine maker worked with singer to get his daughter into usc as a water polo recruit. singer even submitting this photo with the girl's application even though it wasn't her, allegedly asking at one point, she actually won't really be part of the water polo team right? another father, founder of a private investment firm robert zangrillo not only bribed athletic officials to get her daughter recruited but also had someone take classes on her behalf to get better grades for her application.

the latest group of court appearances follow former yale soccer coach rudy meredith who was silent outside the courtroom thursday. once inside pleading guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to pretend students were soccer recruits. it was revealed in unsealed court documents, meredith started cooperating with the fbi last year after getting caught in a sting operation, which eventually led investigators to singer and unraveled the largest college admissions scam ever. >> hey, come on, come on. >> reporter: also in court, former head couch of the university of texas austin men's tennis team, michael center who did not enter a plea. prosecutors say he accepted $100,000 to label a student as a recruit for his team even though the student didn't play competitive tennis. his attorney spoke with savannah and hoda. >> does your client deny accepting a bribe? >> my client certainly does.

michael center is a wonderful man. this accusation has been devastating to him, and he denies being guilty of the offense. >> reporter: the scandal stretches from hollywood to boston next week when celebrities lori loughlin and felicity huffman make their initial court appearances. and colleges at the center of the scandal were contacted by the education department for a preliminary investigation, but no schools have been charged with any wrongdoing. craig. >> kathy park for us in boston, thank you. we got the news covered. i got a fun boost for you kids. a volunteer firefighter and voice teacher from connecticut put his talent to work while vacationing at disney world. his daughter asked the hotel piano player if he knew ave maria, and then her dad made the magic happen. ♪

>> oh, man, justin gives credit to his 6-year-old daughter. she created the viral moment. he posted it on facebook so some of his former professors and friends at the boston conservatory could enjoy it. >> look at the little girl's face. >> looking at her dad. >> >> pretty cool. >> thank you for that. >> still ahead here on a friday morning on "today," today in the wild. >> you don't feel nervous this close to them? >> they're shy. >> this one seems to be lurking. >> he's already eaten. >> the important reason behind keir simmons encounter with those massive crocodiles. first, have you heard of depression naps.

gymnastic star simone biles opens up about how she coped with a dark time in her life, sparking a new conversation on mental health. coming up after this. ok, i'm ready... ...is it...? clearblue digital pregnancy test... ...with smart countdown, gives unmistakably clear... ...results written in words. over 99% accurate. absolute clarity, when you need it most.

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♪ make u say oh my god my drop drop ♪ ♪ make you're jaw drop make u say oh my god ♪ ♪ and you never felt this type of emotion ♪ ♪ make you're jaw drop drop say oh my drop drop drop ♪ ♪ make u say oh my god my drop drop ♪ ♪ make you're jaw drop make u say oh my god ♪ we are back with a candid interview with olympic gold medalist simone biles. >> she's shedding new light on the scandal that rocked her sport, how it affected her personally, how she coped. morgan radford has this interview. >> simone biles shook the gymnastics world after she revealed that she too was abused by larry nassar. now we're learning more about how that experience affected her daily life. >> i was very depressed. i never left my room. >> olympic gold medalist simone biles opening up on pree on ka

choep ra's new youtube show about the dark time in her life about being sexually abused by former usa gymnastic team doctor larry nassar. >> i was sleeping all the time, and i told like one of my lawyers, i said i sleep all the time because it's the closest thing to death. that revelation sparking a conversation around so-called depression naps. >> the term a depression nap is a lie down to escape the world through sleep, if you're feeling particularly anxious or depressed. the correct term is something called hyper somnia which means you are sleeping too much. >> up to 90% of adults and children with major depression experience some kind of sleep problem. >> if you find that the sleep during the day is also coupled with other symptoms like feeling hopeless or helpless or losing interest in doing activities that normally would make you happy, i would want you to seek attention for that. >> reporter: the four-time

olympic gold medalist who just celebrated her 22nd birthday says seeking professional help was the answer to her daily struggle. >> therapy is everything. therapy today is so important and it needs to be more normalized. >> reporter: biles also reveals while she was hesitant to come forward with her story. >> i was like no, i'm not willing to put that out there for the world to see. they're not going to see me as simone gymnast, they're going to see simone the sexual abuse survivor, so i denied it. >> opening up about her experience on "today" telling hoda how she kept her internal struggle buried deep while competing. >> i think we're very good at compartmentalizing things so we kind of push it in the back of our heads. >> he can't hurt you anymore. >> no, he cannot. >> fresh off a gold medal win, biles is now reflecting on her journey from that dark period in a more positive light.

>> it wasn't easy, but i feel like i'm a stronger woman today, and i feel like telling my story has helped younger girls. >> simone has seen an outpouring of support on twitter suince th release of her interview, even retweting those comments from fellow sexual abuse survivors thanking her for being so candid. when you're looking through these comments, a lot of people were saying i didn't know what depression naps were. they would say they felt bad or were sleeping but they didn't have the language. >> the great thing about simone, some people go through that and curl up and say i can muscle through it. she was smart. she got help for it. look at her now. >> we've seen the trajectory. it's inspiring, but also you learn a lot about how sexual abuse victims -- first they mooi might not be willing to say what happened, and she's having to do that in front of everyone, and she's showing a lot of grace. >> and so strong. >> and helping other women in the process.

>> it's 8:14, get a check of the weather with al. >> hey, guys, let's look at some of the temperatures. it will be hitting much of the country for this weekend. it's going to stay warm in the south, cool in the north. that cool air is eventually going to migrate to the east. detroit today will be eight degrees below average. kansas city eight degrees as well. richmo richmond, 77 degrees. 12 degrees above average, boston will be 55. as we move into tomorrow, look at that colder air spreading east. chicago you'll be a little cooler at 42. dallas ten degrees cooler than usual. new york city will be flirting with 70. by next week you'll see 50 on monday. 59 wilmington, from 77 on sunday to 59 on monday. indianapolis down to 42 on sunday, and then tallahassee 69 degrees on monday, and again, we've been talking about alaska, big dome of high pressure. that's keeping that -- those temperatures really warm. it's going to stay above anywhere as much as 30 degrees above average for much of alaska going into the good morning.

i'm kari hall. we're seeing mostly sunny skies in the south bay, but patchy dense fog elsewhere. this is a look at our san rafael camera. you can barely see anything. our temperatures will reach into the low to mid-60s all around the bay area. and it will be warming up over the next several days. we'll reach into the low 70s for the valleys for the weekend, but by next week, more clouds and the rain will be back starting tuesday continuing through the end of next week with highs in the lower 60s. >> and that's your latest weather. carson is off this morning, dylan dreyer is not though. >> i'm not, rarely am. good morning, first up we're talking godzilla. it's been nearly five years since godzilla tore through the big screens, delighting fans and scaring so many others. it won't be long until the predator is back. a new teaser for the upcoming film "godzilla, king of the monsters" dropped last night. take a look.

>> masra. >> oh, my. >> they're everywhere. >> that's comforting. >> our planet will perish. and so will we. unless we set godzilla free. >> are you in now? >> i'm all in. >> i figured you would be. >> come on. >> the movie will star milley bobby brown, and sally hawkins among others. you'll be able to catch it in theaters in may on the 31st. up next, miley cyrus, hannah montana is back, kind of. it's been 13 years since the hit show premiered on the disney channel. as you may remember, miley wore a wig when she was hannah the pop star, but rocked her natural brown hair as her normal self miley stewart. the singing sensation gave the

ultimate throwback surprise revealing a return to her hannah montana days. >> you know, guys, it was so hard going back and forth, i decided i'll just be hannah forever. she was getting a lot of press this week. thanks to me. ♪ the best of both worlds, then you rock out the show ♪ >> i think she's loving it. fans will be thrilled to see miley back in character. no word on whether or not we'll see more hannah montana in the future, but for now i think it's a good look. we've got best of both worlds. finally, al, you debuted them on monday, but your glasses are still the talk of the internet, still. savannah gave them a go with a se selfie, craig, even carson joined in on the fun. we now each have a pair of our own thanks to our friends at dom vetro. savannah has the ones i have. i have round sunglasses. >> oh, wow. >> these are fun. >> i've got the square ones.

do they work? does that work? >> roker, what do you think? >> i think they work great on everybody. >> they're kind of designed for every man. >> i like it. >> i like the circular ones. >> these ones? >> you said my nose is too small for the round ones? >> i think maybe we try the squares on you. >> you two are so tough on each other. i don't get it. >> where's the love? >> can i do my daly click in these? >> yes. >> a man was in turkey. he was taken on a ride, a wild ride thanks to some unusually strong winds. he was working nearby when he noticed a patio umbrella starting to move. he quickly hopped onto the base hoping to anchor it to the ground, but -- >> oh, my gosh! >> it took off carrying the man with it. he was several feet above the ground before he decided to jump off. the umbrella ended up hitting a pole and falling back down to the ground unfortunately injuring another man on its way. the winds were the result of a ten-minute tornado that hit the area. >> goodness. >> jeez. >> i've tried to catch one of those. they take off on the beach, and

you kind of can't hold on but you know you have to or someone will get hurt. >> crazy. meanwhile on this friday morning, we've had more of our ongoing series today in the wild. >> it's all about experiencing the natural world and the amazing animals that inhabit it up close. today senior international correspondent keir simmons is in africa. hey, keir. >> reporter: hey there, guys, good morning. we are high above in kenya, a last surviving wilderness threatened by humans, and yet this place has lessons for all of us. as you're about to discover. the great migration, a stunning spectacle of nature where millions of wild beasts cross the river bordering kenya and tanzania. a deadly dare, predators lurk in these dangerously shallow waters, a drama tourists come to see each year. but the annual ritual to find

the best grazing has slowed dwnp to a trickle recently. the weather seems to be getting more extreme here. >> it has become unpredictable. >> reporter: and that he tells nat geo's show runner may affect the animal's behavior. >> they're not the groups we used to have. >> reporter: sammy grew up here, and he's seen the changes firsthand. it's harder for wildlife to find cover from predators. >> we have less trees. we used to have forests. >> reporter: together tom and sammy have been working on the latest gnat jnat geo wildlife s. it is brutal, but for some this is home. their focus, nature's extremes. >> as her home changes, she must take greater risks. >> reporter: the uneasy picture today. >> the battle for survival has never been fiercer.

>> reporter: here on the plains, animals are struggling. >> everywhere on the planet, it's changing. people are encroaching on the space and the climate is changing, so it's really tough for animals to adapt. we're filming in the poles and the jungles and the desert. we're looking at the most harsh environments and the incredible ways animals can adapt to these places where we would be dead meat. >> reporter: so finely tuned he says, even small environmental changes can have a big impact. on polar bears for instance. >> their problem is it's becoming too warm, and the polar bears, they hunt on the sea ice, and now there's almost no sea ice come the summer. >> reporter: while orcas seem to be making the best of it. >> the orcas have learned to go and associate with the fishing vessels and pick off the herrings that are caught in the net. >> favorite moments? >> one of the standouts is we

captured the scene of a snow leopard hunting. it's just this extraordinary moment where a snow leopard launches itself at its prey and literally falls through the air down the cliffs for about 300 meters, and it manages to get it. >> reporter: but some of the extreme forms of adaptation may spell out the coming problems for the planet. >> in my own ways i'm trying to change. i'm eating less meat, i'm starting to recycle more. i think everybody is inherently greedy and lazy. >> we are endeavoring to make the planet more comfortable for us, in fact we're turning it into a more hostile place. >> what's nice for our lives is going to make our children's lives much more uncomfortable. >> any good news? >> here the lions are having a field day because the grass is longer. they can hide in the grass and just wait for the zebra to come to them. >> reporter: and the massive

crocodiles are winning says sammy because the water is unusually low. they ewused to swim in pursuit. >> you don't feel nervous? >> they're shy. they'll go away. >> this one seems to be looking. >> well, he's already eaten. >> i guess that makes us dessert. >> what do you think we can learn from them? >> most of them are opportunists. we are so greedy. >> reporter: we share this planet, says sammy, and if we can learn to share it with the animals, we may survive together for longer. it is a noah's ark of animals. as this new national geographic documentary demonstrates, this is a hostile planet. the irony is we humans are making it a tougher place to live, not just for the wildlife but potentially for ourselves. guys. >> wow. >> really amazing stuff.

we should also mention "today" has produced these reports from africa and included exclusive previews from nat geo's specials which has paid for certain travel and production costs. "hosti "hostile planet" appears monday night on national geographic. just ahead on this friday morning, not one but two big treats, ben platt's about to perform live here in studio 1a. >> plus, our resident social media star, samah dada with a recipe for hergood morning, it .

i )m kira klapper we are following breaking news right now ... involving a plane that was good morning. it is 8:26. we're following breaking news right now involving a plane headed to san francisco. our sister station in washington, d.c. reports that seven passengers on board that plane were taken to the hospital after an unscheduled landing. the united airlines 737 was supposed to arrive at sfo around 9:45 our time. instead it was diverted to dulles airport shortly after takeoff from baltimore. passengers said they could smell a heavy fuel odor. the airline is only calling it a strong odor. those passengers taken to the hospital are under evaluation. now a check of the drive.

>> overall a lighter drive. it is friday and a lot of colleges have either spring break or finals. this has been a major issue continuing westbound 580 jammed up for about five miles maybe more nowoff toward northbound 238. one crash blocks all but one lane there. and another jam westbound 580 a crash in the center divide, so late through livermore. and from the dublin camera as we look over toward the dublin, you can't even see it. so the fog is complicating the backup in many places. and i'll have another update for you in 30 minutes.

hey, everybody, it is 8:30 on a friday morning. how happy are you that friday is here? we have a major crowd. welcome to new york city, everybody. look around. >> this is our biggest crowd of the rolling spring break. >> this is our biggest crowd yet. i see howard university. >> we see you howard! >> i see a bunch of deaf lepered

fans. of this whole crowd, hi guys, down here where is -- where is -- we're looking for -- we're looking for audrey. where is audrey? >> hi. >> audrey, hi. >> audrey. >> hi. >> oh, my god. so nice to meet you. hi. >> audrey is from ohio. you're 15 years old. what do you want to be when you grow up? i want to be an anchor like you guys. >> oh, audrey, you got it. you got it. >> oh, my god. yes. i'm actually an anchor at my school, one of the anchors. >> you are? >> i am. >> have you ever read a teleprompter before? >> huh-uh. >> would you like to try? >> we have a little bit right there for you. >> okay. i'm audrey anchor of my school's news at mason high school, and you're watching "today"! >> well done! >> you killed it!

>> you're a pro, you're already a pro. >> we'll be looking for you soon. >> thank you so much. >> we love you sweet girl. >> thank you. >> go get 'em. >> see, one day they could play this back, and they'll be like remember, audrey, it all started there. >> that's right. what do we got coming up? >> oh, my goodness, audrey. we have a star-filled half hour ahead on this friday morning. willie pays a visit to tracy morgan's house to talk about his life, his hit sitcom, his comeback after that accident, how all of it was influenced by that life changing accident. >> get ready for more dada eats. we also have some exciting news for our production assistant,/instagram star samah dada. she's going to cook up a recipe that combines the muffin and banana bread. it's her most popular instagram treat. >> if that's not enough, ben

platt is here. ben is going to treat us to a live performance in this half hour and another one on the third hour of "today." >> that's right. also #thirdhourtoday, the star of one of my favorite shows mr. james spader is by. this latest episode of "the blacklist" is one you've never seen. it's an amazing twist and turn. >> it's a keeper. >> it's a keeper. >> as a virginia tech fan, i feel like this young girl's trolling me. what is your name? >> natalie. >> natalie. >> who do you think is going to win the big game tonight? >> duke obviously. >> i don't know, fat lnatalie bm happy you're here. >> my brother goes to virginia tech. >> what's on the other side of that sign? >> that's impressive. >> nice. >> mr. roker, you got a check of the weather? >> let's look ahead to your weekend, for tomorrow, mild in the east, scattered storms in the mississippi, ohio river

valley. cool in the plains, sunshine along the west coast, and then on sunday sunday, showers along the eastern seaboard, cool highs in the great lakes. it's going to be mild in the west and good morning. i'm kari hall. foggy as you cross the golden gate bridge. we've also seen some really dense fog in parts of the north bay. after that clears, we'll get sunshine and warming temperatures. highs reaching into the low 60s. even some mid to upper 60s for the inland areas. as we go to the weekend, it will be nice and pleasant, highs in the low seventh f70s for the in valleys. next week as the clouds move in and rain arrives, our temperatures will be dipping. frsz and that is your latest weather. guys. >> thank you, sir, now to a sneak peek at willie's next sunday sit-down. this week he's catching up with tracy morgan, inside the comedian's home actually. they talked about tracy's rise

to fame, the accident that changed his life, and his hit show the last og, and the conversation was exactly as you might expect, unfiltered, can d candid, and very, very funny. >> welcome to the wonderful world of tracy morgan. >> i love it. i'm happy to be in it for a minute. >> yeah. to walk through the front door of tracy morgan's palatial home is to step into a universe all its own. >> there's some love music on. you've got to be creative. fellas be creative. role play. >> this is a hell of a role play. >> you've got to role play. >> i'm jacque cue stow. we're on a boat. >> what was the inspiration for this show? you've talked about the accident. >> the last o.g. comes from my friend jimmy mac who died in the accident. he was an o.g. to me. >> the accident happened in the early morning hours of june 7th,

2014. morgan was a passenger traveling home from a comedy show when his vehicle was hit by a walmart tractor-trailer in a deadly multi-vehicle crash. >> what do we say in the last o.g., second chance is a beautiful thing. i know, i got hit by a truck. i wasn't supposed to walk away from that. that truck was doing 75 miles per hour. >> was there ever a point in your recovery where you thought i may never return to comedy? i don't know if my brain works the same? >> every day. i was scared to death. forget comedy, i didn't know if i was ever going to -- it's bigger than comedy, man. i didn't know if i was going to walk again, man. i didn't know if i was going to talk again. i'm just living my life one day at a time. that's all i'm doing. make something happen today, forget about tomorrow or yesterday. it's over. ain't nothing you can do about it, but the future we can change. >> wow. >> looks like it's going to be quite the conversation on sunday. by the way, you can always see

more of willie's conversations on sunday today and for the full conversation, sunday sit-down podcast free on apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. coming up next, we're psyched for this. samah dada's tasty fix for those old bananas you've got sitting around the counter. first this is "today" nbc.on

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we're back with "today" food, and this baking segment is bittersweet. get it? we've come to know and love samah dada, our lead production assistant. she also doubles as a major instagram star at dada eats. she's decided to move on to leave us to pursue her passion full-time. we couldn't let her go without one more batch of treats. we're going to get to samah's recipe in a moment. first a little more on her journey. >> back with "today" food is someone who is really special, a flr fa

familiar face around studio 1 a. for the past two years production assistant samah dada has built rundowns, run scripts and to our delight baked us delicious goodies. >> wow. >> it's emotion. >> you like it? >> i could just drink this. >> this is so good. >> yummy. >> that's really good. >> while she's just samah to us, outside of these studio 1a walls she's known as dada eats, an instagram influencer popular for her healthy treats and for her "today" food segments. >> remember when samah first did her first segment, she had 35,000 followers? she's up to 100,000. >> samah has taught us. >> if you don't know what tahini is -- >> i was to ask but i didn't want to sound dumb. >> engaged us. >> not yet, hoda, but i love the enthusiasm. >> and delighted us. now she's off to pursue a career doing the very thing she loves. >> yes. >> can't stop hugging samah. >> are you trying to make me

cry? it's working. >> are tears in the recipe? >> a full batch of tears, yes, a bowl of tears. >> we're going to miss you. we couldn't be more proud of you. >> are you going to miss these 4:00 a.m. wake-up calls? >> i'm going to miss you guys so much. i wouldn't do it everywhere else. i literally moved from california to new york knowing no one, and you guys just became my family. i can't thank enough. >> we are really proud of you. >> thank you. >> is this the most popular reci recipe? >> a lot of people have been loving this online. it's just super easy and delicious. >> we like that. >> it's banana bread or what is it? >> these are my banana bread muffin tops but they only require one banana. if you've got this lone banana staring at you for weeks, this is the perfect way to use it. >> you're kind of right. it can be like a brown banana. >> it may not look gorgeous, but the browner, the spottier, the sweeter, we love them. >> we showed our ingredients, almond, coconut flour. all we're going to do is start with our mashed banana. use a fork and mash that

straight in there. once you do that, we're going to add one egg. perfect, and then the next thing we're going to do is add some almond butter . you can use peanut butter, totally cool too. it still works as long as it's creamy. >> i would never know that there's almond butter in it. mine's gone. >> it's very neutral. peanut butter you may be able to taste it more. almond butter is neutral. because we're using a ripe banana, so we're only adding a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup, which is amazing. >> a lot of your recipes are vegan or gluten free? is this either of those things? >> these are dairy free, and gluten free and grain free. all of the things. >> i see three empty pleats. >> only al because he's keto. >> amazing. u love this. we've got our wet ingredients. it's all nice and clean. >> i'm not whisking it to complete.

>> once we do that, it's nice and smooth it's great. i'm starting with almond flour in this bowl. you know i love my almond and coconut flour. they're grain free, and gluten free. it has this nice cakey flavor. baking soda, baking powder and a little pinch of salt. it's a small batch recipe, meaning it only makes four to six muffin tops. >> that's good. >> if you want something sweet at the end of the night. >> you keep saying muffin top and us middle age people when we hear muffin top it's more like -- yeah. >> let's hope not. it's perfect, if you don't want to commit to a full loaf of banana bread. you can totally just use the small batch. we're going to combine our wet and dry ingredients. savannah if you want to help me mix that together. whisk that together until it's nice and smooth. >> smooth. so i really want to get it -- >> you want to get it all incorporated in there. >> why am i using my right hand when i'm a lefty.

>> and then we're going to add chocolate chips in there. >> i hate the whisk because this always happens. >> you can use whatever you want. you can use the spatula, fold that in, fold the chocolate chips in. >> is this folding? >> that's a little vigorous folding but we still like it. perfect. >> fold it until it dies. >> over fold. >> we've got that, and now we have our batter right here. >> i can't stop folding. now we're going to scoop out nice mountains like that. just scoop them out, and we're going to back them 15 to 20 minutes. >> do i pack it in? >> you can make them as small or as large as you want, totally up to you. what i love is it only makes a few. it's just like a nice little sweet treat. >> it really does. >> we love them. we had two apiece. >> if you like to bake with your kids or something, this is super good. >> samah, you're so good on tv, you're so smooth. don't forget us. >> oh, my god i will never. >> she was like this from the

very first segment, talented. mama dada is here. >> my mom! >> mama dada. >> oh, she's so cute. >> now we know where the cuteness comes from. >> you guys are identical. >> we're so proud of you. >> you're going to come back. on instagram, let's keep it going, folks, dada eats. let's see if we can get those numbers up. >> she's got a digital series called hashtag cooking at today.com. >> ben platt with a live performance. do you want a muffin before the show? show? but first this is "today" on

♪ [ crying ] ♪

you protect them at home. we help protect them online. this is beyond wifi. this is xfi. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity. the future of awesome. >> announcer: the citi concert series on "today" is proudly presented to you by citi. we are back with tony, grammy, and emmy winning -- he

starred on "dear evan hanson." today is a big day. ben is out with a solo album, sing to me instead. >> hello. >> thanks for spending your big day with us. >> where else would i be? >> how does it feel on this day. you've worked on this. this is so deeply personal, and today is the day you put it out into the world and see what people think. >> totally, it's definitely been a bit of a scary thing to sort of be that vulnerable and transparent with people. the first few songs that have come out there's been such a beautiful response. i'm happy the whole project is out in its entirety and the people can listen to it start to finish. >> when you say it's personal, it really is personal. >> i think i've been fortunate to be able to be an actor in lots of different projects, and the reason this project was interesting to me is because i got to present myself free from character and free from narrative and tried to delve into something that means enough for me to sing about like relationships and my family and

mortality and all that stuff. >> did you have to narrow it down? did you have too much to put in the bag? >> we wrote a ton, and a bunch with cowriters. we wrote like 30 some songs and then we really just sat down and we're like what are the ones we just can't live without. >> i saw you doing a little pregame with your voice. what are some of the drills you go through? >> i have my voice teacher liz kaplan here, and we have all of our tricks from evan hanson. we use those hand warmers. she's been holding them to my neck to the chords. you keep it nice and chilly in the studio. >> sorry. >> you've got to keep the throat warm so we kind of hold them here. >> ben, we're excited. what are you going to sing for us today? >> i'm going to sing a song called older that's trying not to look forward too much or look back ward too much.

♪ i was walking down with the same old song in the same old heart ♪ ♪ making plans i'm going to do when i get older ♪ ♪ passed a gray haired man and i found his eyes. it's like he knew my thoughts and he read my mind ♪ ♪ saying life is going to find you when it's supposed to ♪ ♪ but my feet stopped short and i turned my head, tried to lean into every word he said ♪ ♪ when he said when you are younger, you wish you're older ♪ ♪ then when you're older, you wish for time to turn around ♪ ♪ letting your wonder turn into closure, when you get older ♪ ♪ when you get older

♪ oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ♪ have i killed my thoughts right before their prime ♪ ♪ have i bit my tongue one too many times ♪ ♪ have i said it all the way i really meant to ♪ ♪ if i wait until my tomorrow comes, is the waiting all i've ever done ♪ ♪ and will i get to, get to know myself in the place i am ♪ ♪ get to fall in love with another man and understand ♪ ♪ when you are younger, you'll wish you're older ♪ ♪ and when you're older, you'll

wish for time to turn around ♪ ♪ don't let your wonder turn into closure when you get older, when you get older ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh. oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh. oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh. oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh when you are younger, you'll wish you're older ♪ ♪ when you get older, you'll wish for time to turn around ♪ ♪ don't let your wonder, turn into closure ♪ ♪ when you get older, when you

get older ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh. ♪ >> yes! yes! >> thank you. >> that's a hit. >> thanks for having us. >> that's a hit. we'll be back after this. oh, don't forget the album, sing to me instead. and you're going to be back for another performance. >> yeah, i'm going to sing

we are back with a look ahead to the weekend "today." a very personal look at a condition 50 million americans deal with every day, ringing in

the ears. peter alexander's sister is among them, we'll hear her story. >> check that out at tod today.com/alld today.com/allday. we've got our book club read with jenna. the last romantic, such a great book she picked. on monday she's going to announce a new pick. >> i haven't finished that one yet. >> i'm right in the middle of it too. good morning, it )s 8:56... i )m kira klapper at this . good morning. it is 8:56. at this hour in boston, parents tied to the varsity blues college admission scandal are naerg cou appearing in court. until now it has been others including coach and test proctors. the most high profile defendants of course are felicity huffman

and lori loughlin, they are due in court next week. and six parents from the bay area are expected to appear in boston today. the accusations against them include paying money to improve test scores, having others take tests instead of their children, or designing fake profiles for their children. xwl kris sanchez is monitoring the hearing and will have a full report on our midday newscast. also the latest developments in the case of an sfo united flight that had to be diverted to dulles outside washington, d.c. seven passengers wind to tent t hospital for observation. there was some kind of a strong odor in the cabin. passengers reported smelling a strong fuel order. we'll have another local news update in one hour. we hope to see you then and our midday newscast is at 11:00. aprl

fools! how some of silicon valley )s biggest tech companies are embracing the day. plus, as you start your work week monday, we )re tracking yor forecast. join us monday morning from

live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza, this is the third hour of "today.." good morning, everyone, and welcome i'm dylan here with al and craig. al's got a huge trip coming up. are you bringing the blue glasses? >> i don't think i will. i think i'm going to leave them at hom because i don't want anything to happen. we're going to the arctic to talk about climate change, and when you think about it, alaska speci especially is kind of ground zero for climate change. if you look at the map, it gives you an idea of how far we're going to be going. >> you're going to the northernmost city in ka