one person's opinion we got -- we got -- got to control this guy because it's a sizeable guy looks like he's probably on something. >> the voice of derek chauvin captured on body cam -- police body-cam video, as events leading to the death of george floyd unfolded our megan fitzgerald reports from the courthouse. this morning, new details involving links between the shooting suspect, and the four people who died in a california office complex including, a 9-year-old child. our tom costello reports on the 15-million j&j doses of

their coronavirus vaccine that were ruined. what went wrong? and is anyone at risk? the bizarre and very rare occurrene beach. we've got details. and our kerry sanders on the surprising, environmental lessons learned during the pandemic and the positive impacts on many species. a special, good-friday edition of "early today" starts right now. good, friday morning to you. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. we begin this, good friday, with a revealing, and highly emotional day ahead in the trial of derek chauvin the jury heard from chauvin's former supervisor, who testified that the restraint of george floyd violated police use-of-force policies. >> when mr. floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint. >> and that was after he was handcuffed, and on the ground, and no longer resisting? >> correct. >> day four, also, included paramedics who described rushing

to the scene, and finding george floyd, unresponsive. and floyd's girlfriend, who gave her testimony, through tears nbc's megan fitzgerald is in minneapolis following it all megan, good morning. >> reporter: frances and phillip, good morning. thursday morning, jurors heard from a number of witnesses, including three first responders in the afternoon primarily, derek smith now, this is the paramedic, who is seen on that video. going up to george floyd, while officers are still on top of him, to check his pulse. he testified that there wasn't a pulse. and that, he thought george floyd was dead he proceeded to describe how he did lifesaving measures, inside the ambulance, to no avail that george floyd never changed his condition, at all. his condition never changed. then, in the morning, there was emotional testimony from george floyd's girlfriend, courtney ross when she described the character of george floyd, she started to choke up and get emotional

she described him, as a man who loved his mom. she called him a mama's boy. she also said he was a loving father of two young girls. i want you to listen to the moments she described how they met. >> floyd came to me. pray with u i was so tired we had been through so much, my sons and i and this kind person, just to come up to me and say, can i pray with you? when i felt alone in this lobby. >> now, courtney ross, also, was very transparent she talked about how she, and george floyd, suffered from opioid addiction and that they were on, and then off, again but she, specifically, said that in march of 2020, she noticed that george floyd was back on, using opioids. and that he overdosed, and spent

five days in the hospital. and, of course, this was an opportunity for the defense to pounce and to -- to play to their narrative, that george floyd suffered an overdose, in that moment, as opposed to excessive force, under the knee of officer derek chauvin. guys, back to you. >> all right, megan, thank you we are learning more, this morning, about a mass shooting in orange, california, where four people were killed, including a boy who was only 9 years old. here is nbc's miguel almaguer. . >> there was about ten gunshots. >> reporter: it ended after a should the out with police the critically-wounded gunman taken into custody at an office park, at a hail of gunfire left four people dead, including a 9-year-old boy who appears to have died in his mother's arms. she remains in critical condition. in the moments after the shooting, families, desperate to find loved ones. >> my brother works there. scared i'm really scared. >> reporter: police have

identified the gunman. on wednesday, investigators say he entered this building outside los angeles, locking the iron gates behind him with a semiautomatic handgun, he targeted his victims. >> the preliminary motive is believed to be related to a business and personal relationship, which existed between the suspect and all of the victims. >> reporter: once on scene, it only took police seconds to engage the suspect it's unclear, if the gunman shot himself, or if he was hit by officers the bloodshed in orange, california, is the third-mass shooting in as many weeks. the president called on congress to ban assault-style weapons and close loopholes on background checks now, four more are dead, including a little boy, who died as loved ones tried to protect him. miguel almaguer, nbc news. and now, to the latest on america's fight against covid-19 the nation's vaccine stock may, soon, get a boost. the fda says it has approved

moderna to put 50% more coronavirus vaccine into its vials. this would allow up to 15 doses, per vial, instead of the previous ten the agency also approved two rapid antigen, at-home covid tests that don't require a prescription to be sold in stores meanwhile, a manufacturing mistake at a plant that ruined 15 million johnson & johnson vaccines has led to an fda investigation. nbc's tom costello has more. >> reporter: it happened here, at emergent biosolutions in baltimore. 15 million j&j vaccine doses ruined, after the ingredients for the astrazeneca vaccine were discovered in the batch. the astrazeneca vaccine ingredients produced on the other side of the sameity. j&j says its own quality-control caught the error, and this batch was never advanced to the filling and finishing stages of our manufacturing process. none of the u.s.-j&j doses are affected. >> johnson & johnson has made clear that they expect to

deliver 24 million doses, in april. and that they expect to meet their commitment of 100 million doses, by the end of may >> reporter: we visited the emergent plant, in february. for months, this pandemic-response unit in baltimore has been manufacturing vaccine for both astrazeneca and johnson & johnson. awaiting approval. >> in that bag, we actually grow the cultures that are used to, eventually, manufacture the vaccine, itself. but >> reporter: but the fda still has not fully certified emergent's baltimore facility. >> as designed and we move forward and continue in production >> reporter: the ap reports fda documents show the company has been repeatedly cited, since 2017, for failing to follow proper testing and lab procedures, training problems, cracked vials, and low-level mold at another facility the company did not respond to request for comment. meanwhile, good news on another vaccine. pfizer says its vaccine provided up to 91% protection against illness, six months after the

second dose. and provided strong protection against the dangerous, south african variant. none of those who received the pfizer vaccine developed severe illness. tom costello, nbc news, washington two young migrant sisters are safe, this morning, after smugglers dropped them over a border wall. here is nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: the images are disturbing and heartbreaking all captured on nighttime-surveillance video a smuggler, dangling a young girl over the border fence dropping her 14 feet, to the ground then, tossing over another child, before abandoning them in the desert and running away. >> how did these two little girls survive that drop? >> it is -- it is a miracle. >> reporter: the girls are sisters from ecuador toddlers just 3 and 5 years old rescued by border patrol el paso border patrol chief gloria chavez made sure they are uninjured. >> they are just happy, little girls. the 5-year-old acts like the --

the responsible one, obviously, and is caring for the 3-year-old. >> they are part of that record-migrant surge, at the border after president biden allowed unaccompanied children to stay in the u.s there are now more than 18,000 children in u.s. custody more than 5,000 still held by border patrol. waiting to be moved to health and human services' care earlier this week, the administration allowing one news crew into this overcrowded border-patrol facility in texas. the children, packed, shoulder to shoulder, in the middle of a pandemic none of them get covid tests unless they show symptoms. most, brought over by smugglers like in that video. >> it breaks my heart to see these 3-year-old, 5-year-old, children, just being treated like a commodity, by these criminal organizations on the border >> reporter: the girls had a phone number, with them. border patrol has reached their mother, in new york, and hopes they will be reunited. phillip. >> hope so andrea, thanks nbc meteorologist, janessa webb, is tracking record cold in a chunk of the east coast.

but then, we are also looking ahead for our easter our weather forecast there for hunts, too. >> yeah, i mean, we have a good chunk of the country, across the deep south to the southeast that shouldn't be feeling the cold weather like they are this morning. i do have 63 million people going to be impacted by temperatures that are well-below average. things will bounce back, by saturday afternoon so, it's going to be a chilly afternoon. but i can promise you, a ton of sunshine across the area right now, our temperatures. the feel-like temperatures, currently, in the mid-20s, in some spots look at pittsburgh, 22, the air temperature. but 11 is the feel-like temperature, on your skin. i am watching a few lake-enhanced snow showers but the rest of the country, nice an

39, buffalo. lots of sunshine for the great lakes. #. amazing-looking weekend forecast we will take a look at that, coming up. >> awesome great to hear. janessa, thank you with some fans back in the stands, major league baseball raurned to the ballparks for opening day. the comeback trail for the angels swinging into the night sky and sending the pitch out of the ballpark rbi in the 8th would do it la over chicago, 4-3 in the midst of a flurry, miguel cabrera slammed the first home run of the season in the snow. his two-run shot off shane beiber helped lift the tigers over cleveland. >> can't even keep track of the ball with all those -- still to come. this month's jobs report is upon us so is a rising number of unemployment claims. and the texas bill on voting restrictionss imoving forward we will tell you more when we're

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leading the news texas has gotten one-step closer to having more-restrictive voting laws. the state senate has passed a bill, which will now go to the house. it would limit polling hours, eliminate drive-through voting, and make changes to mail-in voting american airlines, which is based in ft. worth, released a statement, overnight, saying the company is strongly opposed to the bill this morning, all eyes on the department of labor's march jobs report due out at 8:30 eastern. yesterday, we learned 719,000 americans filed for first-time unemployment last week that is higher than economists were expecting nbc's jo ling kent joins us, now, to dig into those numbers good morning, jo. >> frances, that's right 719,000 jobless claims filed last week. unexpectedly higher. but overall, when you look at the past few weeks, we do see a downward-sloping trend of the overall, about 18 million people

are now collecting some kind of unemployment and that's a number that's improved, down about one and a half million so, there is some good news on the horizon, as more people get vaccinated and those stimulus checks start rolling out, as well so, there is a long way to go, though, as we look at the future of jobs coming back. we're, still, millions of jobs in the hole. and so, as we look ahead to the march-jobs report that's going to be coming out here, in just a few hours. economists have a lot of big expectations around it expecting that it's going to be, quote, blistering hot. that perhaps, the unemployment rate will drop down to 6%. we have to wait and see but all the data pointing to stronger numbers in the sprin come, a trr the eyes as washington's famous cherry blossom trees hit peak bloom. plus, taking a closer look at a year-long pandemic's impact

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just a beautiful sight, in washington, d.c. the famous cherry blossom trees are in their final-blooming stage. this weekend, april 2nd to april 5th, is expected to be peak bloom which is earlier than past years, due to above-average temperatures just so gorgeous to see that time. >> got to check it out, if you have not this pandemic. it has brought us so much heartache. but at the same time, the shutdowns have had some

powerful, positive impacts especially, on animals, like birds. scientists say, planet earth got some breaks and some beatdowns here's nbc's kerry sanders >> reporter: when the nation and the world shut down, planet earth got a rare break and for the first time, we saw more deer and turkeys near boston dolphins swimming in a quieter, new york harbor. and waterways in venice, so clear, you could see jellyfish and the rarest of rare florida panthers, boldly, out in the open but, not all was reason to celebrate. starving, wild monkeys, invading cities in thailand, absent of tourists who would normally feed them. >> nature responded to less traffic, less disturbance, especially in urban or wildlife-urban interfaces, absolutely, nature responded. >> but we responded, as well humans >> oh, completely. and i like to think, nature got a break.

>> reporter: but as nature got a break, a new-plas tectic overlod emerged thanks to all our masks. but those paper ones have plastic, and because of the virus, there is no recycling as for air pollution, at the height of last year's shutdown, the often-polluted beijing, finally, had clear skies but just two weeks ago the old days were back and also, in the atmosphere. a stunning-7% drop in carbon dioxide, after u.s.-passenger volume dropped 96%. >> nobody would have wanted to see this pandemic. but, from a science standpoint, the data you collected is a gift. >> that's right. absolutely, right. it's -- it's a gift to the science, but it's, also, a gift to us. to society to the human race. it demonstrates, we can do this. >> reporter: there remains some yet-to-be-understood phenomena biologists recorded loggerhead

turtles lay eggs on the beach. and the song of the white crown sparrow, pre-pandemic, hard to hear but now. >> sort of, the first data showing that animals responded to changes in human behavior >> reporter: what have we learned this-past year even though covid remains a disaster, many of us can work from home. we don't need to drive everywhere and if we hold onto that, scientists say we can positively impact global-climate change. >> this happened, just in a year. >> that's right. >> so, it's -- it's phenomenal we can do this we can solve this problem. that's what it tells me. >> and one surprising revelation from kerry is how much society just stopped scientists recorded a significant reduction in seismic activity i mean, it's fascinating but i think we just saw a preview of human extinction. >> well, here is the thing it -- it makes sense, though we just got to do our thing, little by little

maybe disposable masks i see them all over the place, on ground, the streets small bits. >> just hope we are not polishing the brass on titanic you know >> still to come, miami heat rolls out a vip section for vaccinated fans. >>an> d a close encounter with an octopus leaves one beachgoer with some stinging regrets takn help. metamucil psyllium fiber, gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic metamucil. support your daily digestive health. and try metamucil fiber thins. a great tasting and easy way to start your day. let's start with all the dads who aren't exactly “sports guys.” narrow it to all the non-sports dads who love watching sports... in the rain. with kids who can catch “almost” everything. especially a cold.

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this video's something else. watch that angry octopus coming too close for comfort for one man in australia while he was on vacation, look what happened governm got stung by him the octopus lashed out at him. he had imprints from the attack, on his arm and neck. instead of vinegar, which is more commonly used, the man had to pour cola to soothe the stinging but what a story this guy had to tell after being on vacation with his family i mean, normally, you just hear of jellyfish stings, not an entire octopus.

>> yeah. we have this video because he kept recording it. you know or somebody kept recording it. >> good stuff, though. one of college basketball's most prolific coaches is calling it a career. roy williams, head coach of the north carolina tar heels announced his retirement after 18 years with the program. he led unc to three national championships and he was the fastest division 1 coach to reach 900 wins he also coached at kansas for 15 years after he was anassistant under dean smith at north carolina he worked with the likes of michael jordan and james worthy. he is retiring, still, i think at the peak of his powers there. >> vaccinated basketball fans now have their own sections at miami heat games they are the first-nba team to roll out such a measure. the vaccinated-only sections officially opened thursday as the heat took on the golden state warriors nbc's cal perry joins us with more, cal, good morning. >> frances, the myiami heat are

the first to try tnba and it's . only 450 fans, who will have access to this vaccine section in order to get in, they will have to show proof of a cdc doc -- doc yumument that shows have had the vaccine, as well as a government i.d and somebody at the gates will actually match up that name. it is that process that takes so long, and probably, why the miami heat are starting with such a small number of fans. it's likely that we will see other nba teams try to roll this out, throughout the season when you talk to fans here, some are in favor of it some are opposed to it there is a number of fans who actually think it might encourage a number of people to get the vaccine. i think that's definitely partly behind this drive. you talk to the coaches, the players, the coach of the miami heat saying he hopes it will actually add fans to the games only 4,000 fans are allowed in and this, of course, as the nba season continues and heads toward the playoffs. frances. >> cal, one way to do it going to see if others follow suit, too. right? >> i mean, it's going to make people feel more comfortable, right? they have a smoking section,

outside. have a vaccinated section. >> makes you wonder if it is going to go beyond sports and other venues as well. >> i think that's where we are headed. >> all right thanks so much for being with us have a wonderful, easter weekend, if you celebrate. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. coming up on this good friday,

here we g friday morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. we'll get to the commute in a little bit. vianey in for kari this morning. how is it l