sri lanka in shock after bombs ripped through easter celebrations at churches across the country, killing nearly 300 people. now there is new scrutiny, whether the government could have prevented the attacks. plus -- >> there is nothing wrong with taking information from russians. i probably wouldn't. i would have advised don't do it. >> president trump's attorney kicking up a new controversy while defending his boss in the wake of the mueller report. >> a dark chapter in the history. how slave owners turned the

bible into propeganta. >> beverly hills goes to the dogs with pampered pooches. early today starts now. >> good minute morning. >> easter sunday celebrations were marred upfortunately by deadly attacks in sri lanka after bombs tore apart three churches and three luxury hotels in the surrounding areas. two more were also reported. 290 people have been killed with several americans now among those dead. the entire world has been reeling from the attacks in france. the eiffel tower went dark to honor the victims of the attacks. matt bradley is in paris with the latest. what is the latest in the investigation and who might have done this? >> richard, what we are hearing is that 24 people have been arrested in sri lanka as that massive dragnet engulfs the

entire country. that search for the perpetrators is not without danger. three police officers were killed in what is thought to be a suicide bombing as they tried to arrest the suspects. sri lanka is definitely not out of danger yet. there were two attacks that came hours after the first six. authorities are expecting possibly more. the state department is warning that they remain vulnerable to attacks by extremists. that's why the government has taken measures to tamp down further threats. they had a curfew that has been lifted, but they made the step of clamping down on social media networks including what's app, facebook, and instagram. that's partly because of a history of social networks that has been inspired not just from sri lanka, but south asia. the country is still reeling

from nearly three decades of civil war, but what is unusual is it was deadly and horrifying. christians were almost never involve and almost never targeted. even though the government seems to be focusing the blame and scrutiny on homegrown local islamist groups, people are confused as to why they are suddenly deciding to attack christians and foreigners. >> matt bradley, thank you for that report. >> president trump is back in d.c. this morning and on the offensive in the wake of the mueller report. he railed against the investigation on twitter, tweeting about it five times on easter sunday. calling it the worst and most corrupt political witch hunt in the history of the united states. meanwhile, a small group of lawmakers will get their first look at the copy of the report with far fewer redactions. ranking members of the house and

senate judiciary committees will get to see everything outside of grand jury information. tracy, good morning. >> good morning, everyone. democrats are still trying to subpoena the fuel mueller report by may 1st, including all the secret grand jury information. they are trying to get their strategy together. a meeting is happening today. house speaker nancy pelosi is pulling to figure out the next steps here. they want to hear from the attorney general, william barr. he is set to testify next week. nay want to hear from the special counsel by may 23rd and after the report, former white house counsel, don mcgahn. republicans say it's time to move on. then there was an interesting exchange with the president's attorney over the weekend, talking about the power of the special counsel. >> it doesn't matter whether it

was an underlying crime. it's ilobstruction. >> when did mueller become god. hillary clinton was guilty. she did crush the cell phones. >> you are saying who made mueller god. now you are declaring whether she was guilty or not. >> rudy giuliani saying there was nothing illegal or wrong with taking information from russians during the campaign, referring to the trump tower meeting where several campaign officials met with the russian lawyer. marley? >> thank you. >> now to a tiger at the topeka zoo back on display after being involved in a frightening 10-minute long attack on its long time handler. >> with a human, he did what a tiger would do. he will not be euthanized. for him, life is somewhat normal. >> this is what happened.

their lead trainer entered the exhibit for normal housekeeping and that the tiger should not have been in there at that time. the woman suffered cuts to her head, neck, back, and arm and is recovering after surgery. the zoo's policies and procedures under review to keep people and the animals safe. >> the search for a missing 5-year-old from the chicago area is turning into a growing mystery for investigators. aj friend vanished last week, but there is no evidence showing he has been abducteds and his parents have stopped cooperating with investigators. >> community prayers for the missing 5-year-old. >> the boys so many called aj was last seen wednesday night at the family home outside of chicago. the next morning, he was gone. a massive search for aj continued throughout the weekend, but police say k-9s

have only picked up his scent inside the family home, indicating he was not ob ducted. aj's mom in tears last week as her lawyer said she was innocent. >> are miss cunningham doesn't know what happened to aj and had nothing to do with the disappearance. >> aj's father was questioned saturday, pleading for his little boy's return. >> i just want my son to come home. >> aj had a troubled life. in 2013 he was put in foster care with opiates in his system. in 2015 he was returned home, but trouble for the family again in 2018 when his parents were investigated for neglect and later hear mother for neglect and abuse. they were later cleared. since the disappearance, the state removed his brother from the home and his mom is seven months pregnant according to her attorney. >> tammy leitner, thank you.

>> the leader of a group that is detaining migrants at the u.s. border is in custody himself. larry mitchell hopkins is expected in court after authorities arrested him for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. the 69-year-old leads united constitutional patriots. members held migrants in new mexico before turning them over to border patrol. >> we're turn to the deadly weather wreaking havoc in one of the most isolated countries. iran has seen two weeks of rain and flooding that killed at least 76 people and cost $2 billion in damage. we have the story from iran. >> not seen in iran and living memory. opening the floodgates of a crisis affecting some 2 million people. the deluge hitting almost 4.5

thousand cities. 9,000 miles of roads. soldiers, clerics and volunteers clear rubble and distribute supplies. mass evacuations forcing some of iran's poorest people to seek shelter. this man and his wife have middle to start with and now left with nothing except the clothes on their back. this looks like a lake, but it's a village swallowed by the floods and all the farmlands submerged by rain. this woman shows us the remains of her house that her family spent a lifetime of savings to build. her son caught the dramatic moment it was washed away on his cell phone. the familiar blame game between the enemies. they blamed sanctions and secretary pompeo accuse authorities of mismanagement,

leaving desperate and depressed residents for better days to come. nbc news, southwest iran. >> car rivers are rising so hig canada, hundreds of troops have been deployed to assist. more than 1,000 homes have been flooded and at least one woman has died. her car ran into a sinkhole. floodwaters washed away the road sending her into a stream. they fear additional risk as waters continue to fill the streets. >> severe weather to kickoff the week. good morning, bill. >> the huge storm gave us the rainfall in the northeast and northern new england in quebec combined with the snow moment. let's move to the area of this week. not too bad, but late tonight, thunderstorms are brewing in north texas. as we go through tuesday,

isolated strong storms towards dallas and tuesday night and wednesday, a large area of heavy rain in the central portion of the state. we will have a combined total of about two to four inches. watch out for isolated flash flooding later in the week. it's a quiet day for much of the country. tch out for thewa r mild temperatures. 82 in dallas. a chance of thunderstorms later tonight. the forecast will focus on the south and it's that time of year where we have up and down temperatures. we will talk about that. >> thanks. the most pampered pooches in the world took to the stage for the beverly hills dog show.

the canines strutted their stuff along the doggy red carpet. bono the habanese beat out more than 1500 dogs to take home best in show. that is a fancy pooch. >> it is. just ahead, a scare for country star gavin degraw. torn between country and family. the agonizing decisions that come after deportation. struggle. there's an easier way. try mr. clean magic eraser. just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum and caked-on grease from oven doors. now mr. clean magic eraser comes in disposable sheets. they're perfect for icky messes on stovetops in microwaves and all over the house. for an amazing clean, try mr. clean magic eraser, and now, new mr. clean magic eraser sheets. and relief from symptoms caused feel the clarity of non-drowsy claritin by over 200 indoor and outdoor allergens. like those from buddy.

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gives unmistakably clear... ...results written in words. over 99% accurate. absolute clarity, when you need it most. leading the news, the trump administration's tough immigration policies left tens of thousands of families with a difficult dilemma. what happens when one parent is deport and the spouse or child has a legal right to stay in the united states. one family trying to start over together. >> in a rural mexican town, this family is starting over. >> did you ever think this would happen? >> no, no. something from one day to another, everything changed and

never thought living over here in mexico. >> their new home is nothing like the chicago neighborhood where they lived until geronimo got deported. he came illegally as a teen and stayed some 30 years. his wife and girls are u.s. citizens. their van still has illinois plates. >> i miss my family. i miss my home. my whole life is over there. >> you understand the law is the law. that's tough to accept. >> yes. >> as the u.s. deports hundreds of thousands of immigrants, an untold number of mixed status families must decide whether to separate or stay together. including hundreds of thousands of u.s. citizen children. neither the u.s. or mexican government keeps track of home children follow a deported relative here. activists say that's a huge part of the problem. the american citizens are

virtually invisible here. >> we keep fighting in mexico and in the united states. >> we are a grass roots organization. >> the other dreamers helps attorneys and americans just arriving in mexico. >> many families come back and after a year or two of trying and hitting obstacle after obstacle, they send the u.s. kids back. >> geronimo is looking for work and nelly is helping the girls adjust a new school and cares for emily who has special needs. >> you wanted to come here with your dad. why? >> because i'd miss him. it's really hard without him. >> worry tough enforcement, it is expected many more families with american citizens who face the same emotional choice. ron allen, nbc news. mexico. >> just ahead, hollywood hops

into the easter spirit. does this picture ring any bells? the saved by the bell reunion. who's got the time to chase around down dirt, dust and hair? 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. ♪ here i go again on my own ♪ goin' down the only road i've ever known ♪ ♪ like a drifter i was-- ♪ born to walk alone! keep goin' man! you got it! if you ride, you get it. ♪ here i go again

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what do you want to see to the easter bunny? >> thank you, easter bunny! >> the "today" show's savannah guthrie sharing the video of her kids being delighted by a visit

by the easter bunny. hoda kotb shared the video with hope katherine. singer john legend is putting on an easter bunny suit and did a full hopping dress rehearsal in the back yard. what is he doing? mr. john legend, what are you doing. adam rippon brought his own flair as well. >> i love john legend in a bunny suit. >> they are fun. definitely fun. >> definitely. saved by the bell may have ended over 25 years ago, but they are back. over the weekend, most of the cast from the hid 90s sitcom reunited for dinner. mark paul gosler, tiffany and elizabeth berkeley. mario lopez shared a video

recapping their night out. no word on why dustin diamond who played screech and lisa didn't join the party. i'm sad to see screech was not there. more than a 10-year challenge. the 25 year. >> gavin degraw needed a pair of skates after performing the national anthem. he was finishing up his rendition of the star spangled banner. oops! that hurts. he took instagram to say he was okay, joking he did not know sing the anthem was a full contact sport. >> from the outside, it looks like a standard bible. but a look inside reveals how slave owners used it to suppress a generation of people. 'cuz i'm way too busy.

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back now with an exhibit at our museum, or at a museum in our nation's capital, exploring a painful intersection of history and religion. it looks at the bibles given to slaves for generations in this country and abroad, and it's what's missing from those scriptures that highlights just how much was taken from them and how much they overcame. here's nbc's geoff bennett. >> reporter: inside washington's museum of the bible, a single volume that is like no other. the so-called slave bible. remarkable not for what's in it but what's not. >> 90% of the old testament's been removed about 50% of the new testament's been removed.

to put it another way, a normal king james version hat 1189 chapters in it. the slave bible has only 232. >> reporter: missing are chapters and verses that might have encouraged uprisings. book of exodus redacted. no story of moses demanding pharaoh let my people go. gone is galatians. in the verse there is neither bond nor free, for ye are all one in christ jesus. and, no jeremiah. woe unto him that useth his neighbor's service without wages. >> what they've left in are versus such as ephesians 6:5, slaves be obedient to your master. >> it's hard to tell anything's been taken out. >> that's correct, it looks like a normal book. for many enslaved africans this would have been the first time they were exposed to the bible. >> reporter: a bible selectively edited to instill obedience. >> when people encounter this exhibit what impress do you want

them to leave with? >> we want to pass the message on, may this never happen again. the bible itself is a whole book, not one you get to carve out and use this piece, that piece. >> reporter: the slave bible designed to repress rebellion but it didn't work. enslaved people in the caribbean constantly fought against slavery until emancipation. >> it's relevant to understand our history. not just our american history but our african-american history, our roots, how we got to this point. >> reporter: a dark chapter in the history of the good book. geoff bennett, nbc news, washington. drivers, start your stilettos. key west's great contra public drag race kicked off this weekend. hundreds of people showed support for the drag community as contestants tried their best so jump between tires and zook down duvall street, just one of the many festivities of the drag independence celebration happening this week. >> it's hard to run through heels let alone an obstacle course, right? >> it hurts to watch. >> it looked fun, though.

thanks for waking up with us. i'm marlie hall. >> i'm richard lui. get your latest updates on nbc's instagram. keept right here. i

and good mob morning with you. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia. we have a lot of spring breakers out. >> very nice weather. yesterday was the first day of a warming trend that's already under way. right now as you head out the door, temperatures are in the 40s and low 50s. hayward, 49 degrees. san jose, 51. napa, 45