ing at this? n i take those? lysol. what it takes to protect.® everyone can decide for themselves. there's an election in 18 months. that's a very democratic process. but we're out of it. >> i think he's going to have to answer for apparently testifying untruthfully in both the senate and the house. i think that is the reason he's not coming. he's terried of having to face a skilled attorney. >> don't expect to see attorney general barr today. he is skipping the house hearing, but could that lead to a contempt of congress charge? hailed as a hero for fighting the suspected shooter, this morning new details on one of the victims from the unc aid the largest all bribe yet college

admissions scandal? las vegas was rocking the night away atour highlight oh, my a just like that, soccer brothers goodness. his 600th goal with barcelona. buckle up. "early today" starts right now. good thursday morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. the hot seat gone cold on capitol hill today. attorney general william barr was due to testify over his handling of the mueller report for a second day in a row. but he's now refusing to appear before the house judiciary because he doesn't like the idea of answering questions from the committee's lawyers. the defiant move is further driving calls from democrats for barr's resignation. president trump called the idea ridiculous, but his 2016 rival says otherwise. >> i think that the democrats on the committee did a good job today in exposing that, that he is the president's defense lawyer. he is not the attorney general

of the united states in the way that he has conducted himself. now, it' so ridiculous. he's an outstanding man. he's an outstanding legal mind, and i heard he was really -- he performed incredibly well today. >> meanwhile, barr's dramatic testimony in front of the senate judiciary committee is just the latest chapter in what's turned into a real-life political thriller. he's captured the attention of all of america. if you needed any further proof here, the print edition of the mueller report debuted at number one on "the new york times" best-seller list. for more on the senate showdown and what comes next, let's get to nbc's tracie potts. tracie, the story of the day is not about robert mueller becoming a "new york times" best-seller. it is about the democrats possibly holding william barr in contempt of congress. >> reporter: and it's about that empty chair. we saw and heard plenty from barr yesterday even though some people may argue their questions were not fully answered. but you are the justice department s answer

questions from lawmakers. but democrats say barr and the justice department, the trump administration, don't call the shots here. >> the attorney general has a nerve to try to dictate -- and the administration has a nerve to dictate our procedures. it's simply part of the administration's complete stonewalling of congress. he is trying to blackmail the committee into not following what we think is the most effective means of eliciting the information we need. >> reporter: so today is the judiciary hearing that democrats control. yesterday it was republicans in charge on the senate side where a lot of the discussion, a lot of the questioning focused on the letter that robert mueller, the special counsel, sent to barr that was just revealed the presenting his work to congress.

and democrats say t is important, that there's a particular reason why robert mueller decided to write down those concerns. >> a career prosecutor rebuking the attorney general of the united states, memorializing it in writing, right? i know of no other instance of that happening. do you? >> i don't consider bob at this stage a career prosecutor. you know, the letter is a bit snitty, and i think it was probably written by one of his staff people. >> reporter: so barr a no-show today. look out for either a contempt of congress or, as the committee has said,ry to compel him to testify. phillip? >> the attorney general of the united states versus congress, wow. tracie potts, thank you. millions of americans have already been hit hard by spring storms. more than 25 tornadoes have ripped through the heartland,

leaving paths of destruction like this one in rogersville, missouri. that's where one home was others damaged. the storms have also brought heavy rain and major flooding is expected to continue through the week. for more, we go to nbc's gabe gabe. >> reporter: another round of severe storms is on the move. this tornado tearing through north texas. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: after torrential rain pummeled parts of the midwest and south. emergency crews went door to door using boats to evacuate r: near detroit, three inches of rain trapped some residents in their homes. >> it's all the way up to my steps, and it's coming in. >> reporter: the mayor of dearborn heights, michigan, asking for an emergency declaration. this lake in arkansas overflowing. flood warnings in effect for communities across nine states up and down the mississippi

river. at least 25 possible tornadoes also tore through five states from texf a sudden the winds picked up and the trees starting swooshing, and it was hitting. you could see the wind coming from every direction. >> reporter: -- to oklahoma, where drone video tracked a tornado as it sliced across a field, then hit a small pond, spinning water wildly into the air. another tornado toppled trees and killed at least one person in bryant county. another person was swept away by the rising waters in tulsa while in ozark, missouri, a family of three was injured. witnesses say the powerful winds hit so fast, they didn't have time to take shelter. >> our thanks to gabe gutierrez for that report. thousands of grieving students along with families and loved ones gathered for a vigil honoring the victims of the university of north carolina charlotte shooting. hearts still reeling after a former student fatally shot two people and wounded four others. nbc's morgan chesky has the latest on the tragedy. >> reporter: phillip, frances, good morning. it has been a tough 48 hours for

the student body here at unc charlotte, but the first bit of healing began last night at a vigil attended by thousands. everyone paying tribute to those two students lost, one of whom now being called a hero. at unc charlotte, a somber silence. barely 24 hours after a gunman sparked chaos on campus. >> active shooter with several people injured. >> reporter: within minutes, a campus-wide lockdown. the university sending an emergency message to all students, run, , meustscared. i just couldn't believe that it actually happened. >> reporter: with helicopters above, students rushed to safet shooter, guns drawn. >> i heard shouting and everything. i was like, i was scared for my life. >> if you're here on campus, stay away from kennedy. >> reporter: inside that building, police say a former student opened fire, killing 19-year-old ellis parlier and 21-year-old riley howell, who witnesses say tackled the

gunman, sacrificing his own life. >> absolutely, mr. howell saved lives. >> reporter: riley's family describing him as everyone's protector, always the guy you could count on, and he delivered. police arrived to find four others wounded. officers disarming the alleged gunman, trystan terrell. >> we do have the shooter in custody. >> reporter: who dropped out of the university this semester. the 22-year-old now charged with two counts of murder and four of attempted murder. his motive, still unknown. >> i don't think anyone deserves to get shot when they're at school, when they're not supposed to be in harm's way. >> reporter: a last day of classes now known as the worst day in the school's story. and we've learned the suspect in this shooting will be facing a judge for the first time today at 1:30 p.m. in the meantime, everything on campus remains closed as administrators figure out a plan of what comes next. back to you. there are several new developments in that massive college admissions cheating scandal. prosecutors appear to be

targeting a new wave of families. nbc's steve patterson has the details. >> reporter: fresh fears rippling through some of the country's most elite families, worried about this. a nationwide walk of shame. >> are you going to fight these charges? >> reporter: now, new indictments are looming as prosecutors expand what is already the largest college admissions inquiry of all time. multiple people familiar with the case tell nbc news federal prosecutors have already sent letters to a number of parents saying they're under investigation. and a new bombshell overseas. nbc news also confirming a chinese family allegedly paid the largest bribe by far,guilt. prominent california couple isaacson pleadingui paying $600,000 in bribes to get both their daughters into top universities. the couple saying in a statement, our duty as parents was to set a good example for our children, and instead we have harmed and embarrassed them by our misguided decisions. so far, of the 33 parents caught

in the scandal, 14 have agreed to plead guilty, including actress felicity huffman, while celebrity lori loughlin pleaded not guilty, promising to fight the charges in court. some white collar defendants simply can't stomach the idea of going to prison, and for them, it's all or nothing. and adding to the anxiety, sources close to the investigation say new indictments could be handed down within a matter of weeks. >> that's steve patterson. thanks for the report. now we turn to venezuela where political unrest s opp nicas maduro during the second day of dueling demonstrations. opposition leader juan guaido, who has the support of the united states, hasyo defect. but so far, only a few troops appear to have joined him. national security adviser john bolton says the u.s. wants a peaceful transfer of power, but all options are open, and president trump is following the events closely. millions of people out there, i think, 32, are at risk

for flooding. let's check in with bill karins. >> good morning. another dangerous morning. right now we only have one area we're dealing with flash flooding from the overnight storms. that's in areas of southeast texas. as far as the flash flood watch goes, about 31 million people, 32 million now and including areas from chicago all the way down to dallas. we're not done with this yet. here's the additional rainfall forecast through friday. heaviest rains from san antonio to shreveport and right through the heart of arkansas, back through southern missouri. if that's not bad enough, we still have to worry about thunderstorms. 12 million peoplet risk aning towards san antonio. they'll be dodging those storms today in louisiana too. and we look ahead towards that weekend forecast. we have the kentucky derby too.

we don't want a sloppy, muddy track. >> i think we had one last year too. it really affects, and all those people with those nice hats, all muddy. >> don't forget cinco de mayo too. a line drive straight at independent yarns pitcher corey kluber leads to a broken arm. his 91-mile-per-hour fastball came back off the hitter's bat at 102 miles an hour. the two-time cy young award winner tried to defend himself but he only had a fraction of a second to react. he's now on the shelf with a fractured forearm. ouch. still ahead, a major milestone for soccer legend lionel messi. a shocking amount of cell phones on earth right now. we'll dial up the total next. ♪ rub-a-dub ducky... and then...there's national car rental. at national, i'm in total control. i can just skip the counter and choose any car in the aisle i like. so i can rent fast without getting a hair out of place. heeeeey. hey!

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to help that protein do more. i'm truly amazed at the effect thathank you, bob!ple. ok i'll admit. i didn't keep my place as clean as i would like 'cuz i'm way too busy. 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. in today's news by the numbers, a major milestone for soccer great lionel messy. he scored his 600th career club goal on wednesday. it comes 14 years to the day after messi scored his first goal for barcelona. and this may just blow your mind. there are now more cell phones on this earth than there are

people. according to data compiled by the u.n. and world bank, the number of cell phone subscriptions topped 8.1 billion in 2018, surpassing the world population of 7.6 billion. leading the news, one of hollywood's biggest stars making an impassioned plea on capitol hill. ben stiller testified before the senate foreign relations committee to advocate for syrian refugees driven out of their homes by eight years of bloodshed. >> in many parts of the world, the term refugee has unfortunately become politicized despite the fact that refugees are real stories from his time as a good will ambassador for the united nations refugee agency. we have an9-year-old girl ha the video shows the moment a driver flew into this yard in georgia and a pelvis, she's now home. fracred skull and a broken >> i'm doing good, just a few days ago i was walking, but now i can't walk because it's going to like damage my pelvic bone

even more. >> with a long road to recovery ahead, laderihanna says she is thankful for everyone who has prayed for her. a 28-year-old man authorities say was behind the wheel of a car is facing a long list of charges. >> great to see her back home. the kentucky derby gets a major shake-up days before the race, the favorite, omaha beach, was scratched after developing a cough. it turns out the horse needs surgery to correct a breathing problem. but there's still a shot he could compete in the preakness and belmont stakes. the remaining horses will competor the fixer assemble. chip gaines hill area aus avengers themed post. plus he's just a good boy. everyone loves him. we'll introduce you to buddy we'll introduce you to buddy mercury, next. just because i felt like it was so oily and greasy and that it was going to clog my pores. but what i love about olay regenerist whip with spf 25 is that it's lightweight, it's barely there. and then i can put makeup on over it if i want or if i'm not working, you know, just roll.

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♪ [ howling ] well, that is buddy mercury. the piano playing pooch that's been stealing hearts across the internet. buddy is a rescue dog from long island. his performances have gone viral across social media. he has his own album on itunes with half of the proceeds going to shelters that help save animals. i'm sure a lot of those performances are in the, you know, queen, "bohemian rhapsody" genre too based on his name. >> it's truly charity, though. that's nice that they're raising money. all right. watch out, thanos, a new marvel villain in town. this one is a little smaller and a whole lot cuter. chip gaines shared a photo of his adorable 10-month-old crew sleeping peacefully while sporting multiple colored balls

on the top of his hand similar to that infinity gauntlet. the photo was taken after a family viewing of the box office hit "avengers: endgame." gaines wrote jokingly on his instagram, quote, not sure if we left the theater with crew or adorable. the sleeping baby, anything like that, it's all good. teachers all over alabama are pulling together their sick days to help out their fellow colleague. david green's 1-year-old daughter, kinsley, who was diagnosed with leukemia last october. when david ran out of sick days, his wife took to facebook asking teachers to donate their time. after her post, david got over 100 donated sick days. thanks to all those generous teachers, david will be able to spend more time with his daughter as she fights her cancer diagnosis. and everybody, those teachers, i'm sure the entire community, we are all rooting for her. >> they're all teachers of the year this year. just ahead, a massive tornado overseas, and it's caught on camera. you're watching "early today." wow. uh-oh, looks like someone's

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so you soggy is the bottom line. on saturday, remember we've got the derby going on. the green shows you the rain. what a map this is. the rain almost everywhere. it should be very wet for the derby right during the day saturday and then how about sunday in the northeast? 50s and rainy. we'll be right back here with more on "early today." we are all going for something more. and new special k protein has more, with 15 grams of protein plus extra nutrients to help that protein do more.

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another incredible performance by a more seasoned pop icon, paula abdul. it is safe to say from start to finish, the performances on the 2019 billboard music awards took down the house. ♪ taylor swift and "me." it led off a night of all-star performances from longtime favorites like madonna to more recent breako artists including ariana grande. but in between, there were awra for scorpion. >> reporter: the canadian rapper won for top billboard 200 album. minutes later was back to claim top male artist. >> i just encourage you tonight, show somebody some love. tell somebody you love their music, love what they do. >> reporter: ella may got that message, winning top r&b artist. >> thank you so much. i'm so nervous. >> reporter: but she lost out for top new artist to rapper

juice world. >> this is crazy all the stuff that can hatppen in a year. it's ridiculous. >> reporter: imaginegobts. >> reporter: sent their fans into a frenzy. some even to tears, celebrating the south korean boy band. >> let's keep dreaming the best dreams together. thank you. i lovou all. >> reporter: also feeling the love -- ♪ when a herong as she picked up billboard's >> reporter: mariah carey. she performed a medley of hits icon award. >> and to anyone who has ever told me that a song i wrote helped save your life, i thank you because you saved mine. and i'll be eternally grateful. >> reporter: and those 12 wins by drake give him a new career total of 27 billboard music awards, surpassing the old record of 23 held by taylor swift. reporting from the red carpet here at the billboard music awards, i'm stephanie stanton. phillip, back to you. >> all right. stephanie, thank you.

love him or hate him, drake issiis stacking up awards. >> the otherawards, billboor wa today" on this thursday. i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm lucy liuei joined by charlie's angels stars. li pict

america welcome to thursday morning. we are taking a live look outside by theway. we have another midnight start to our morning. thanks for joining us. >> i have been checking my facebook, twitter, instagram. i haven't had any complaints about this weather. >> it's only 4:30 in the morning. from right. >> best of luck outside, another clear start, low 50s and we'll see those temperatures starting to warm up into the upper 70 we will the