a historic monster storm is on the move, including a bomb cyclone, complete with blizzard conditions and warnings from many parts of the country. plus high winds and flooding. this weather is no april fool. a public health emergency is declared over the growing measles outbreak. those not getting vaccinated will face hefty fines. chaos in the capital. more resignations at homeland security as the number two steps down while attorney general william barr returns to the hill for a second grilling. hero on and off the battlefield. honoring the u.s. marine and firefighter who made the ultimate sacrifice. and how much did you risk? >> 38,314. a new one-day record.

>> an incredible six-figure one-day total for a jeopardy champion. should ken jennings be worried? and oscar winner emma stone is gearing up to host "snl." "early today" starts right now. great being with you on this wednesday morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. it may officially be spring, but blizzard conditions are expected to hit the central plains. a potentially record-setting storm is heading for states still suffering from flooding caused from last month's bomb cyclone. areas of minnesota may see up to two feet of snow by thursday evening. crews at denver international airport say they are ready for the coming snow, and they're urging travelers to check with their airlines about possible delays. >> what a mess. bill karins is tracking it all for us. good mog,te we have 15 million people that are at risk of seeing the winter storm, including winter storm warnings, advisories and the blizzard warning shown here in purple. and we'll extend those later today in minnesota and

wisconsin. here is the snowfall footprint. when we're said and done, it's snowing now in the rockies. today the snow is breaking out in the central plains. but it's this area especially in south dakota, into minnesota, this going to be one of the biggest snowstorms you've seen this year, even in maybe the last couple of years. 1 to 3 inches per hour. could see thundersnow with this. blowing and drifting will create zero visibility. interstate 90 and interstate 80 will likely be closed at the peak of the storm. not to mention that, a lot of airport travel too. not only do we have the high winds and the snow, this is just piling on top of each other. >> it's going to be headaches. >> good luck with travel. >> headaches for a l people. >> for this time in april. >> all right, bill, thank you. we have an urgent update for you on the growing measles outbreak. new york city declaring a public emergency, warning the public to get vaccinated with 465 cases now confirmed across 19 states. here is nbc's anne thompson. >> we have to stop it now. >> reporter: a health emergency declared by new york's mayor for parts of williamsburg, brooklyn, ordering mandatory vaccinations against the measles, a highly

contagious and potentially deadly disease. those who refuse face a thousand dollars fine. thinking is an unusual action, and it's because of the sheer extent of the crisis. >> reporter: 285 confirmed cases since october, the largest outbreak in almost 30 years centered in williamsburg's orthodox jewish community. rabbi david neederman. is there any religious reason not to vaccinate? >> the answer is no. >> reporter: but people are confused. >> you get fact wrong and junk science and junk medical studies. >> reporter: near chicago, pediatric hospital network sending this letter to all parents in their system with unvaccinated children, urging them to get protected. as well as children who are immune compromised. five in intensive care, he n a . >> you are de facto making the decision for the people around you. >> reporter: a decision science

says has the power to stop a disease. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. "full house" star lori loughlin is facing even more serious charges in the college admissions cheating scandal. loughlin and her husband were hit with a second indictment, along with 14 other parents. this just a day after felicity huffman and a dozen others made deals to plead guilty in their case. loughlin has been charged with an additional felony, but could they be heading to prison if convicted? for more we go to nbc's miguel almaguer. actress lori loughlin and 14 other parents are nowha conspir paying bribes to cheat their children's way into college now face up to 40 years in prison. >> i think both the judge and the government want to send a message, and that is famous, bu not beyond the long arm of the law. >> reporter: the ioe notelicity huffman and a dozen other parents who agreed

to plead guilty. the oscar nominee admitting monday she paid $15,000 for a proctor to correct her daughter's answers on the s.a.t. guidelines call for huffman to serve between four to ten months behind bars. >> these other parents have not come in and plead guilty. they certainly haven't done it early. so the government has added charges. i think at least some of them will go to prison. >> reporter: while many parents face similar charges, sentence guidelines vary, based in part of the amount of the alleged bribes. legal experts believe loughlin, who allegedly paid half a million dollars for her two daughters to get into usc face admin mum of two years prison, with charges the stakes are higher. >> lori, lori, lori, pay my tuition! >> the rich are paying the price for wil have leeway when it comes to tension. she will considernes

but has the final say in making that determination. frances? >> thank you. there is now official winner yet in the israeli election, but that hasn't stopped both benjamin netanyahu and his challenger benny gantz from declaring victory. as votes continue to be counted, netanyahu appears to be poised to make history as the country's longest serving prime minister. >> for a closer look at this very tight race, we go to nbc's bill neely. bill, good morning. >> good morning, frances. well, they are still counting the vote in israel's hotly contested election, but here at benjamin netanyahu's election headquarters, they say he's won and that he's won the right to israel's duelling election claims. benjamin netanyahu says he has won again and he is forming a government now. jubilation at his rival's headquarters. former army chief benny gantz claims he's won, but it is too close to call. president trump's role perhaps decisive. the president was like a running

mate, starring in netanyahu's election videos. >> he's tough. he's smart, he's strong. >> reporter: gifting the prime minister by moving america's embassy to jerusalem, recognizing the golan heights as israel's land. but netanyahu was damaged by corruption charges he's facing that he denies. he's never faced a closer election, and tonight his fifth term in office is far from a done deal. here at his headquarters, they may with celebrating, but it's israel's president who decides who can try to form the next government, and that could take six weeks. frances? >> all right, bill neely, thank you. it is round two for attorney general william barr. today senators will grill the ag over his handling of the mueller investigation, a day after questioning from house lawmakers. he told congress to expect that report within a week. but parts of it will be blacked out, which has democrats already pushing back.

nbc's tracie potts joining us now with the very latest on this. barr's testimony left lawmakers with plenty more questions. >> right. democrats are saying they don't wa out report with no explanation. they want to know why different parts of the report will not be assessable to them. attorney general william barr says when he delivers that report, as he expects in a week, it will be color coded, and there will be detailed explanations for what's blacked out. but he says it's necessary because grand jury information is secret and other classified information cannot be turned over in a publicly available report. >> i think that from my standpoint, by within a week, he will be in a position to release the report to the public. >> this is what drives the public crazy, when they see something like this. this is what we have to try to

avoid. >> and as we follow that second budget hearing today where he will likely get more questions about the mueller russia report, we are also following the shake-up at the department of homeland security. as you know, the secret service director stepped down. that was a day after the secretary announced that she will be leaving as well as of today. now we get word that the deputy secretary claire grady is leaving as well. that clears the way for the person president trump wants to take over the agency. at this point, president trump denies he's cleaning house there. phillip? >> quite a revolving door. never a dull moment. tracie potts in washington. thank you, tracie. magic johnson is saying goodbye to his job with the lakers. the nba legend dropped the bombshell that he is step do you think as president of basketball operations at a press conference ahead of the lakers final of the season last night. he said the lakers owner had not been informed of his decision. johnson said he wants to get back to having fun, adding that he was happier when he wasn't

president. expectations for the lakers were high after signing lebron james in the off-season, but the season ends in disappointment. two spots out of the western conference play-offs. >> it is weird to know that the play-offs are about to start and lebron james is not going to be part of it. all right. let's get back to bill for more on this crazy spring weather. >> let's talk about the wind side. thousands of people in los angeles lost power last night when strong winds went through. we still have high wind warnings from areas of southern california and areas of new mexico. eventually we'll get the high wind warnings later today in areas of texas. the strong winds will be felt from new mexico to texas. el paso at 60. albuquerque at 50. wind gusts would be as strong as 70 miles per hour. and lubbock yesterday we had a dust storm warning for las vegas, which was very unusual. and of course with the storm and the snow. that's whe we'lln northern port

nebraska. it's only about 100 to 150 miles away from each other. very dramatic. this storm is going to have it all, even a little bit of severe weather too. we'll talk about that coming up. >> all right, bill. thank you very much. in today's quick hits, this happened to a lot of us, but not to this extent. a staff writer at "the new yorker" got locked out of his ipad for the next 49 years. his 3-year-old entered the wrong password over and over and over again. so befuddled dad posted the notification to again in 25,000 and something minutes. a terrifying moment when an 18-wheeler hit a day care. all the children are back in the facility and safe. a prequel to the 1978 movie "grease" has been confirmed. what? ♪

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think it's gotten worse. according to a vary involving over 6,000 adult, researchers found 66% think president trump has made race relations worse. just 15% say he has improved race relations. 13% say he has tried but failed. and with mass acts of violence growing from hate groups, online social networks are facing growing pressure to >> reporter: it is voice growinr world. >> hate has become a bit of a virus lately, and it's spreading across borders, and in some cases causing people to commit mass acts of violence. >> reporter: new zealand, pittsburgh, charlottesville, charleston, and suspects arrested with weapons and plans, all with the common bond. white nationalism and the internet. >> without question, they are

using online platforms to recruit new members, activate follower, target communities, organize rallies, stream their murders, and insight violence. >> reporter: representatives of google and facebook told lawmakers changes in policies and procedures have resulted in millions of videos and other content being removed from their platforms. >> we have made significant investments in artificial intelligence to try to detect this type of content before it is seen. >> reporter: but those who track the growth of hate groups say they haven't done enough. >> they can take the exact same tools that they've used against these muslim extremist groups and apply to white supremacy. if they can shut that down online, they can shut this down online. >> reporter: many insist it is literally a matter of life and death. jay gray, nbc news. just ahead, the jeopardy phenom that has just won over 100 grand in just one game. that's next. el sites but there s

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bts. bts pretty much the biggest acts in the world, at least they're following them. i'm pretty sure 30 rock is going to get crazy with all their fans. >> emma stone is great. she just rolls with it all. she is hysterical. apparently it's obvious, fourth time doing it. when a jeopardy guest gets this kind of reaction from alex trebek, they must be doing something good. >> and how much did you risk? 38,314. a new one-day record, 110,914. >> look at that number. professional gambler james holzhauer is away tital of $110. he totally smashes the previous jeopardyor$77,000. the 34-year-old hit some huge daily doubles to get his score that high. and check this out. his final amount matches his daughter's birthday of november 9th11-09-14.

this guy is amazing. > he's got to go buy a lotteryn >> go to vegas, all of the above. >> he is doing it. congratulations to him. and it's fun to watch too. all right. american airlines flight attendant says a workplace accident had her mortified. matty peters, she was working in first class when someone bump her tray and sent those drinks flying. half of them fell on her, but the other half landed in the lap of american airlines ceo doug parker. matty says he was a really good sport about it. he joked about it for the rest of the flight. she says when he was getting off the plane, he told me he'd never forget me. i guess that's a good thing, right? wow. ou wrote it up. worst -- that's it's a little much. >> he saw somebody bumped in her. he knows. he's seen everngllou feel bad f. that's the boss of bosses right there. >> that's true. these flight attets really unpr. there was a southwest flight attendant who is being praised for going out of their way to

soothe a restless baby. the baby and her mom were on a flight from austin to atlanta when the baby became uneasy. this is what happened. the flight attendant took the 19-month-old brittany with her to greet the passengers. mom posted video on facebook. the airline even commented saying southwest employees take great pride in delivering our legendary southwest hospitality. and did you notice the baby was all happy. >> yeah, he was. >> it could go either way. the baby could be crying like who are you, stranger. but in this case loving all the new faces. >> she did a favor for the mom too. she got a few minutes, a few breaks. a little break on that flight. up next, bill is tracking that historic bomb cyclone and where it's going to hit the hardest. you're watching "early today." yap yap yap yip licking, scratching, scooting, and rubbing... may be signs of allergic itch, a medical condition that may require fast-acting, prescription apoquel. apoquel has helped over 6 million itchy dogs get the relief they deserve. apoquel goes right to the source of itch

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never settle for 25%. always go for 100. bring out the bold™ welcome back. the snow is the shocking part of this historic blizzard, but we also have lightning north of sioux city. we could get some storms with really large hail. watching areas here northern portions of kansas, southern portions of nebraska. not far away from where they're going to be dealing with the snowstorm. and then tomorrow we'll see a line of storms producing severe weather. just south of chicago, champaign towards indianapolis late in day. of course airport delays likely all through the region. >> thank you. still ahead, remembering our heroes, the fallen marines. you look amazing. and you look amazingly comfortable. when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck...

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♪ my country 'tis of thee >> this was 80 years ago. what happened this week. one of the most important musical events of the 20th century happened on the national mall in front of the lincoln memorial. marian anderson, one of the most important opera singers in history took to the stage and began to sing "my country 'tis of thee ♪ anderson had been invited to sing by howard university as part of its concert series, but the university needed to find a venue large enough and constitution hall was the place. however, the daughters of the american revolution, who owned the hall refused to let her use it because as one anderson biographer notes she was black, and there was a white artist only clause. first lady member of the promptly quit the.

the lincoln memorial was suggested as an alternate venue, and the rest was hess. anderson's story is captured in a new documentary titled "once in 100 years: the life and legacy of marian anderson." it traces her life and struggles against racism, poverty and her quest for equality. >> a true american trail blazer. we're mourning the death of three marines killed by a roadside bomb in afghanistan. christopher slutman and were conducting operations along with benjamin hines. they were killed after a suicide bomber drove into their convoy. sergeant slutman had been a 15-year member o department. >> that's christopher slutman five years ago receiving an new york city firefighter ciour rushing into a burning

woman. life presence. he demanded a lot of respect because of his character, his moral courage. >> reporter: so it was no surprise he put his life on the line for others yet again, joining the marines, becoming a staff sergeant, then came that devastating news yesterday, that he was one of three u.s. service members killed in afghanistan by a powerful taliban bomb. >> christopher slutman, an american hero, a new york hero, and we mourn his loss today. >> he was extremely passionate about being a firefighter and a marine. >> tricketts at his old bronx firehouse and in maryland, where he was a volunteer firefighter. thinking about his wife shannon and their three children and remembering slutman's astonishing courage. what one man did for us. >> i'm better for having known him. i'm better for having him pave the way for me to be here today. nature wiir it transforms natural essential oils into mist; filling the room with fragrance, pausing when it's just right.

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good morning and thank you for joining us. i )m marcus washington. and i )m laura garcia. toss to weather.