finish dishwasher cleaner clean dishwasher. clean dishes. we're obviously hopeful there are no more injuries, no more fatalities. we can't say that for certain until search and rescue is complete. >> deadly storms pounding parts of the south during a heavy weather week are now headed east. our bill karins is tracking it all. in a fresh interview, president trump delivers stinging comments on new rival joe biden as the former vice president becomes the 20th democrat to declare. breaking overnight, eight-time nba champion and leading celtics scorer john havlicek has died at the age of 79. we'll look back at his amazing career. surprising results from popular crash tests. are you actually safer in the front seat than the back? with the first pick in the

2019 nfl draft, the arizona cardinals select kyler murray. >> the first round of the 2019 nfl draft is in the books. we'll have the highlits. plus we've got your first listen of new music dropping overnight from legendary bruce springsteen and also superstar taylor swift as we kick off your friday. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm marlie hall. >> and i'm phillip mena. 20 million people are at risk for severe weather as tornadoes and flash floods sweep the south. so far at least five people have been killed, caught up in flash flooding and targeted by tornadoes. the deadly storms are carving a path of destruction, leveling homes and scattering debris, and now it is turning east. jay gray i latest. >> reporter: wind and water, the weapons of choice for mother nature during a violent attack. >> i thought it was the end of the world. that's literally w end of the w >> reporter: a string of thunderstorms flooding parts of

texas and louisiana, spawning tornadoes, ripping apart communities and claiming at least five lives. >> it was terrifying. it was -- i couldn't believe it was really happening. >> reporter: homes and businesses peeled open, debris scattered for miles. from the air, you can see the path of a twister that cut through ruston, louisiana, and this cell phone video captures a tornado near college station, texas. all across the strike zone, power lines and roadway signs seared at their base, sheet it was just one second and all this happened. it. >> reporter: other areas swallowed by unrelenting rains as thele begins, the storm system continues its march toward the northeast. jay gray, nbc news. bill karins is here tracking those serious storms. how far east will they reach. >> all the way to the eastern seaboard, then be gone by saturday. the storm is currently over kentucky and areas of ohio.

no severe weather right now. it will be later on this afternoon is when we're concerned, especially if we get heating in this area. we're talking eastern north carolina from raleigh all the way through greenville, washington. then from norfolk to richmond. if we get any isolated tornadoes, it will be from the d.c. area to richmond, through salisbury, maryland. here's how it will impact travel. airports, especially charlotte to raleigh durham airport, then in the northeast, with those thunderstorms, significant delays are possible and maybe some cancellations. >> bill, thank you so much. after initially praising the mueller report, president trump is now working to discredit the special counsel's ook aim at robert mueller himself. >> it was leekike one-sided wit hunt as i called it, and, you know, bob mueller -- i turned him down to run the fbi. the next day he was appointed to

be the head of this -- this special counsel. >> meanwhile, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein is hitting back against his critics over the doj's handling of the russia investigation. and he's pinning part of the blame on the obama administration. >> some critical decisions about that russia investigation were made before i got there. the previous administration chose not to publicize the full story about russian computer hackers and social media trolls and how they relate to russia's broader strategy to undermine america. there's a story about firefighters who arrive at the scene of a fire and they find a man on a burning bed. and when they ask him how the fire started, he says, i don't know. it was on fire when i lay down on it. i know the feeling.h. it's official. joe biden is jumping into the 2020 race. the former vice president president trump. he enters the fold as the at front-runner, leading a field of 20 democratic candidates. buor biden.

nbc's blayne alexander has more. >> reporter: joe biden is officially in. >> hey, guys. how are you? >> reporter: the former vice president already a front-runner in a crowded democratic field, launching his long-anticipated campaign with a kickoff video focused not on policy, but the current president. >> if we give donald trump eight years in the white house, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and i cannot stand by and watch that happen. >> reporter: casting himself as democrats' best chance to beat president trump. the president tweeting a greeting of his own. welcome to the race, sleepy joe. >> he's concerned. the president responded to that immediately. and that should tell you everything that's ahead. >> reporter: the chair of the rnc already pouncing along with the president's former adviser. >> no chance that he c on donald trump one-on-one.

he doesn't have the stamina. he doesn't have the smarts. >> reporter: biden served as delaware senator for nearly four decades, and as number two to the nation's first black president. but in a field of increasingly diverse candidates, biden is a contrast and was recently saddled with accusations from women who say his contact with them, while not sexual, made them feel uncomfortable. at age 76, if elected, biden would be the oldest president to ever take office. >> america is coming back like we used to be, ethical, straight, telling the truth. >> reporter: now launching his third bid for the white house. blayne alexander, nbc news, washington. a toxic gas leak in the suburbs of chicago sent 37 people to the hospital, leaving seven in critical condition. this after a form of pure ammonia leaked from a container creating a chemical cloud overu of gas fille t tractor carrying a potentially deadly chemical leaked. >> the smell was very, very strong. >> it kind of looked like a

really dense fog. >> reporter: first responders arrived to people unconscious on the street. some emergency crews were initially overcome by the fumes. residents ordered to shelter in place because the chemical, anhydrous ammonia, can be fatal at high concentrations, the reason first responders checked more than 100 homes. >> we want to be sure if somebody was sleeping with the windows open last night, that they're safe because this is a silent gas so to speak. >> reporter: more than three dozen people, including 11 firefighters were hospitalized. several in critical but stable condition. >> the smell just hit me like, oh, what is that? >> reporter: the chemical is used as fertilizer. exposure causes eye, nose, and throat irritation, difficulty breathing, burns, andblisters. the emergency order lifted, still no word on what caused the leak. ron allen, nbc news. now to the scandal and offices of mayor catherine pugh. nbc's pete williams has the details on why the feds made

their move. epter: agents from the fbi and the irs searched the home of mayor catherine pugh of baltimore and her office in city hall where she hasn't been for more than three weeks. >> thank you, everybody. >> reporter: their involvement is more bad news for the mayor, already under state investigation over the hundreds of thousands of dollars she earned selling her series of children's books to a heal plan that does business with the city and the university of maryland medical system she once helped oversee. just before vanishing from office, she apologized. >> i am deeply sorry for any lack of confidence or disappointment this initiative may have caused. >> reporter: searches were the first sign that federal authorities are now investigating, suggesting they're looking at more than just the book deals. baltimore's entire city council has urged mayor pugh, who is a democrat, to quit, and maryland's republican governor tweeted, for the good of the city, mayor pugh must resign. her lawyers say she's, quote, entitled to the presumption of

innocence. pete williams, nbc traditiona boos, nfl commissioner roger goodell ushered in a new era of football on thursday. >> the arizona cardinals select kyler murray, quarterback, oklahoma. >> some football fans were kind of surprised by this because kyler murray is not even 6 feet tall. he is a heisman winning quarterback, though. for years it was pretty much assured that all quarterbacks were going to be over 6 feet tall. he is not, but still he's number one. >> you've worked so hard to get to this moment. there's a lot more work to be done. >> the top of the draft, though, belonged to those who do the tackling. seven of the top ten picks were defensive players, anchored by ohio state a nick bosa, who went second to the niners. >> just a storied franchise. they know how to win, and i think they're on the right track. so i'm excited to be a part of it. >> this year's draft curveball was duke quarterback daniel jones, who went number six to the new york giants.

many experts thought new york was going to take drawayne hasks out of ohio state instead, but that did not happen. he did go in the top ten. look at the look on his face, many die hard fans were not happy about that pick. patrick mahomes, the reigning nfl mvp, will now grace the cover of this year's madden game. bill is back. >> once we great r-- here's the severe weather later on today. this is at 5:00. the line of storms will be in eastern pennsylvania, crossing over the chesapeake. by the time we get to 10:00, 11:00, the severe weather threat is over. by tomorrow morning, everyone has j also have thunderstorms t morning that are sweeping through north florida.

weekend forecast coming up, yes, it does include that four-letter word of snow. >> uh-oh. thanks, bill. >> it's almost may. the wait is finally over. the boss is back. ♪ hello sunshine >> this new cut is titled "hello sunshine." the first single off bruce springsteen's new album, western stars, due out june 14th. this is his first record since 2012. in a tweet he called it a return to my solo recordings and a jewel box of a record. just ahead on this friday, we will remember a boston celtics legend. a look back at john havlicek's incredible life and career next here on "early today."

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celts, no moment defined him more than the infamous steal against the sixers in the 1965 eastern conference final. >> havlicek stole the ball! >> they would go on to win that championship along with eight others. throughout his career, hondo put up more than 26,000 points, and he is still the franchise's leading scorer. john hondo havlicek dead at the age of 79. leading the news, at least one person is dead and several others injured after a fiery crash in denver. police say there may be more fatalities after the crash that involved approximately 15 vehicles including 12 cars and three semi trucks. it happened on interstate 70 thursday afternoon. police say one of the trucks involved slammed into slower traffic, causing the pileup. the accident shut down the highway in both directions. one of the trucks lost its load of wood, which was scattered all over the highway.

at some point police say a vehicle ignited and flames spread to several other cars. authorities say one firefighter suffered minor injuries when he was hit by debris that may have been from a tire that exploded. the highway remains closed. there is an eye opening new look at how stressed out americans really are. with so many people expressing more worry and anger that at any other time in the last decade. nbc's miguel almaguer has the story. >> reporter: from the moment we wake up, stress builds. traffic, phonecalls, it turns out americans are now experiencing the highest levels of stress, anger, and worry in a decade. >> what could possibly go wrong? it already stresses me out even though it hasn't happened yet. >> reporter: you probably don't need the new gallup poll to tell you americans are among the most stressed people in the world. 55% of americans say though experience stress a lot of day.

45% feeling a lot of worry while 22% felt a lot of anger. the rat race having a real impact on your health. >> if your body is at a continued heightened awareness, it's going to start taking a toll on your body, particularly your heart health, your digestive health, your mental health. >> it's not just rent, relationships and our jobsising spend up to 16 workdays a year in traffic, enough to make your blood boil. but there is reason to smile. a generally report more positive experiences than the rest of the world. so don't stress. it's not all bad news. miguel almaguer, nbc ne, the me are back. and a star is reborn. why we might not hear or might not -- >> are you stressed out? >> that might be it. there's a "shallow" reunion coming up. that's what i'm saying. >> just come on back.

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have an even bigger threat to tackle, something we all remember from years ago. it's back. >> i like the old men in black, though. >> everything's redone the shot too. >> with fresh faces. who's ready for more a star is born? in a recent appearance on the ellen degeneres show, bradley cooper dismissed the idea that he and lady gaga will take the oscar winning show on the road for a tour anytime soon. but he did el it the talk show host he is down for a one-night reunion, saying, i thought it would be a cool thing to do. maybe one night would be like reading a live script and singing all the songs, and it would be like the hollywood bowl or something like that. well, it's possible, right? >> well, he busted it out for the awards show and said he wasn't going to do it again. he had that live show in vegas. he says he's not comfortable uping it, but he keeps showing some park rangers in congo, central africa, have taken their camaraderie with orphaned gorillas and turned into this

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welcome back. apologies already, wisconsin. spring snow, even a little bit in southern minnesota. mostly talking southern portions of wisconsin. a lot of it will be on the grass. hopefully not too much will stick on the roads. cool temperatures in the northeast on the heels of our big rainstorm. then on sunday that mess is over the northeast. >> then it's our turn. bill, thank you so much. when we come back, new crash tests reveal which seat in the car is safer. what do you think? the front or the back? there is wisdom in how nature protects

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weekend's avengers juggernaut, jeremy renner. we got together to talk about his role as hawkeye in "avengers: endgame" as i try to get him to spill some secrets about the movie that is expected to break all the records at the box office. jeremy also talks about his other life as a musician and his daughter, who now believes he's cool because he's on her avengers pajamas. our sunday sit-down with jeremy renner along with the latest news and politics this weekend on sunday today. you can catch us in the morning or set the dvr and watch us ipytime. and marlie. we'll see you on sunday. insurance y's top stories, a institute for highway safety finds that a passenger in the back seat of a vehicle has a higher risk of serious injury during head-on collisions than a front-seat occupant. back-seat passengers don't have the high-tech restraints and air bag technology typically available in the front seat. and front seat belts are also specially designed to reduce

chest injuries. researchers are currently working to further evaluate rear seat safety. the fake heiress is facing up to 15 years in prison. a jury convicted anna sorkin on a slew of charges including grand larceny, using the name anna delvy, she bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from socialite friends, banks and posh hotels while posing as a rich german heiress. she used the money on designer clothes to overseas trips and private planes. her sentencing is scheduled for may 9th. prince william is in new zealand meeting survivors of the christchurch mosque attas.he his a >> do you have a daughter? >> do you have a daughter? 5-year-old survivor. >> yeah. she's called charlotte. >> what's her name? >> charlotte. she's about the same age as you. >> she woke up from a coma earlier this week after suffering critical injuries from the attack. pop princess taylor swift is

back. ♪ ♪ i'm the only one of me >> the ten-time dropped some new music overnight. it's a track called "me," faeshing brendon urie of panic at the disco. she released the single accompanied by this music video at midnight, and it already has 11 million views on youtube. 11 million views on youtube. 20's phillip mena. usic since detergent alone doesn't kill bacteria, but adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% with 0% bleach. lysol. what it takes to protect.™

ad lib live p and a good friday morning to you. here is the shark tank where some biting is going to happen tonight. oh, yeah. game one in round two of the nhl playoffs. can't wait to see how that comes out. >> here we go. let's get this friday started,

right? >> good morning to you. thanks so much for starting right here with us. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. here to get you ready for your friday morning. nice and mild right now. >> nice and mild now. it's going to be another hot day. another look outside. hey, it feels like summer. it will stick around for this afternoon. we have the early hours where we start to see the temperatures that are getting comfortable going into late