50 days into russia's war in ukraine and president biden is pledging even more military aid. what's inside the $800 million package. a sigh of relief in new york as police arrest the suspect in a subway shooting rampage. it was from a tip from the alleged gunman himself president biden wrangles record inflation, inside the administration's plan to fight rising prices head on. a tornado outbreak leaves dozens injured in texas where that severe storm is moving

next is crypto all that it's cracked up to be we'll take you inside the first country to make bitcoin its national currency. "early today" starts right now good morning i'm vinita nair. >> glad you're with us i'm frances rivera the presidents of poland, lithuania, lat via and estonia met with president zelenskyy in kyiv to show their support for the war torn nation. and outside the capital ukrainians were scrambling to clear land mines, tripwires and booby traps left by russians leaving the area local officials there say deadly air strikes have increased significantly. this as the white house announces an additional $800 million in military aid to ukraine. we turn now to nbc's raf sanchez live from lviv, and what more

can you tell us about this package? >> reporter: frances, this package was announced yesterday after a long phone call between presidents biden and zelenskyy it's to help them defend themselves from what is expected to be a widespread russian onslaught across eastern ukraine. and there's a small army's worth of weapons in this package including # 1 helicopters, 18,000 how witzers, 300 switchblade drones and a number of drone ships we've been talking about how important it is for the ukrainians to have those as they try to defend their southern coast against russian naval forces and overnight we're learning the flagship of the russian black sea fleet has suffered a major fire, 500 crew members evacuated according to the russian defense ministry now, the ukrainian governor of

odesa says that fire was caused by ukrainian missiles. if that is the case that is an enormous symbolic blow that the ukrainians have demalt. the russians right now are not giving the cause of the fire, but it would be a massive humiliation for vladimir putin who's not a man who likes to be humiliated if this flab ship has been damaged and the ukrainians will be waiting to see what kind of response the russian government may mount now >> we want to ask you about the besieged city of mariupol where russians are claiming 1,000 ukrainians troops have surrendered. >> that's right. they say 1,000 ukrainian marines surrendering yesterday there's been no confirmation of that from the ukrainian side, but we do know defenders of mariupol have been running desperately low on food and

ammunition some of those marines had been posting they were going into battle with empty guns they were able to join up with fighters from the far right militia group that's been leading the defense of mariupol. the mayor of that sit asaying there are still 100,000 civilians trapped inside the bu sieged city. >> seems like it's getting more dire by the day. president biden is back on the road for the second time this week. the white house announced he'll be in north carolina to address his administration's economic policies so, brie, what parts of this policy is he going to be touting? >> reporter: good morning, vinita well, president biden is traveling to the largest historically black college in the country to make his economic pitch. he'll be sfoek sing on supply chains, building in more manufacturing jobs and lowering

prices for working families. this comes as the consumer price index in march revealed an 8.5% increasing hitting a four-decade high and americans, they're not happy about this according to a cnbc survey the president's approval rating sank to 38% receiving low marks on the economy. here's what white house press secretary jen psaki had to say about that >> we understand some realities happening right now including the fact there is a war happening in europe, and that is dominating the air waves which we understand and fully expect and so the president has actually done a number of events on the economy in recent days and weeks and will continue to but our view is the world needs to understand and see how he is leading on the war the country needs to see i guess i should say how he is continuing to lead on the economy. >> and just 35% approve of president biden's handling of

the economy with 43% of americans voicing a bleak outlook. needless to say president biden has his work cut out for him >> i would agree with you on that one new yorkers breeging a sigh of relief today. the suspect in the new york subway attack is now in police custody. 62-year-old frank james was arrested yesterday afternoon he called police from a tip line on himself telling them he was at a mcdonald's. he's due in court later today. nbc's chris pollone has the details. >> reporter: in new york the news an anxious city had been waiting to hear. >> moments ago frank roberts james was stopped on the street arrested by members of the new york city police department. >> reporter: new york city police say they arrested 62-year-old frank james in manhattan wednesday afternoon. this picture was just taken after james was just arrested.

police sources say they believe james called the tip line himself. >> he's been taken into custody without incident and transported to an nypd facility. he'll be charged with committing yesterday's appalling crime in brook00. >> reporter: after the tuesday morning shooting police first called frank james a person of interest they combed through bigoted tirades he'd posted on youtube, but after examining clues left behind at the brooklyn crime scene including the keys to a rented van, a 0.9 millimeter handgun and a bag of fireworks they concluded james was their lone suspect witnesses say a man setoff two smoke bombs and then opened fire >> that's a sort of terror that i haven't seen before since 9/11 >> reporter: investigators say the gunman fired 33 shots before his weapon apparently jammed >> we hope this arrest brings

some solace to the victims and the people of the city of new york >> reporter: ten people were shot but all are expected to survive. chris pollone, nbc news, new york let's toururn now to the otr major story this morning overnight multiple homes were damaged by a possible tornado in kentucky, only one of many twisters to wreak havoc this week nbc's sam brock has more >> reporter: mother nature's four-week assault continues in states like texas, missouri and arkansas under tornado watch again after already suffering heavy blows. >> i was just lucky that i didn't get sucked out. >> reporter: this sturm producing a lightening strike bonanza stretching a 1,000 miles from minnesota to the gulf coast affecting 45 million and

twisters in iowa with this big rig barely outrunning the tornado. >> it's going to hit the semi. there it goes. >> reporter: and texas sustaining the biggest strike of all, a powerful tornado wiping out dozens of homes and injuring 23 people. >> i could just barely hear my wife mumbling because i was screaming for her. >> reporter: the house collapsed but miraculously they all survived how amazed are you you're standing here having this conversation with me today >> pretty much because i thought i was fixing to die. >> reporter: wilson's daughter-in-law explaining the joy of having her family alive as she uncovered precious keepsakes. >> we're very grateful, very blessed. >> reporter: one of the many buildings devastated here is this church which not only had its roof ripped right off but the entire rear portion of the

building is now reduced to brick and rubble >> this is a large bump in the road but not defeating us by any means. >> reporter: millions of americans bracing for whatever is thrown their way. sam brock, nbc news, texas >> how much more life in this system >> the good news is it's coming to an end today. we're seeing less threat for severe weather in terms of severe weather we saw monday, tuesday and wednesday. we do have the heavy rain, also damaging winds the isolated chance for a tornado but nothing like what we saw monday, tuesday or wednesday. taking a ook at radar you can see where the cold front is. it's stretching from the upper midwest all the way to the gulf coast states and looking at lightening early this morning in parts of louisiana, alabama, the gulf coast states, but don't have any severe warnings we watched that all night long and now they have lifted we're seeing heavy rain. we're going to see that cold

front moving to the east that's going to bring the chance for severe weather along the east coast especially from new york city to philadelphia. again, the biggest threat being damaging winds and some heavy rain we're going to see the chance for -- an isolated chance for those damaging winds, less chance for hail, less chance for tornados also, so that's the good news. 28 million at risk today on the backside of the system looky rainfall cold still in the northern plains back behind this cold front. we're looking at temperatures in the 20s and 30s. we're going to deal with the storms today and clear them out and look ahead towards that in just a bit up next former president

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try align, the pros in digestive health. leading the news, the house select committee investigating the january 6th capitol riot has interviewed former white house counsel pat cipollone and his deputy patrick philman according to "the new york times" the two were interviewed separately it's not clear what information they might have provided to the committee. the interviews were not conducted under oath although more formal sessions might happen in the future this comes as the biden white house authorized the national archives to release additional trump era documents to the committee. a group of undocumented migrants from texas arrives in washington, d.c. the group was sent on a bus by texas governor greg abbott as part of his strategy to oppose the biden administration's

rescinding of a trump era border policy local charities setup up an impromptu processing center to help with the food and further transportation cuba gooding jr. has pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of forcibly touching a woman back in 2018 the oscar winning actor had faced a trial of unwanted touching of three women at nightclubs under the employee he'll not face charges one country on the bcoitin trend and is it working out in their favor. toyota pumps the brakes recalling half a million vehicles and gentle exfoliation into one efficient stroke. the bar in the handle removes unseen dirt and debris that gets in the way of the blades, giving you a shave as quick and easy as washing your face. so, you could look like you put in an effort, effortlessly.

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coming up on the "today" show we'll hear from new yorkers back on the trains for rush hours after the arrest of the accused subway gunman. now to our series, crypto universe, and one country that has taken the digital money

trend further than any other, becoming the first to make bitcoin its national currency. gadi schwartz takes us to el salvador to find out if it's working. >> reporter: all right, just cash no, okay bitcoin? no so this is one of the major draws for tourists in this area. so far every single store we've asked no one's accepting bitcoin. it's been seven months since the president of el salvador declared bitcoin as legal tender >> it's an evolution of human kind so we're going there. >> reporter: but so far the first country to adopt bitcoin as currency has seen confusion, glitchy transactions and fluctuating prices that have left most salvadorians slow to adopt as foreign investors watch the president declare a state of emergency due to gang violence

while facing questions over human rights but here the president continues to use bitcoin as a rallying cry against dependence on the dollar just put in cash, put in $200. across the country bitcoin atms convert greenbacks into digital currency we finally got our money 2 1/2 hours later, $199.9. only 14% of businesses have made sales accepting bitcoin. the tourism minister said any new system will have bumps but the goal is to give options to the 70% of salvadorians without bank accounts. it's been the vision of the president she says that opens the door for those who don't have access to banks and the president also encouraging the use of bitcoin for remittances

the amount of money sent back here is about $6 billion every year using bitcoin avoids the fees of money transfer companies the international monetary fund has urged el salvador to reverse course on bitcoin and u.s. lawmakers have raised concerns as well. in response he tweeted, okay, boomers you have zero jurisdiction we're not your colony, your backyard or your front yard. stay out of our affairs. support is overwhelming but using bitcoin remains a challenge. at this grocery store we held up a line for ten minutes as the cashier waited for a payment to clear. it showed the transaction was declined but on my bitcoin wallet it showed it had gone through. an exchange of digital currency for a plate of el salvador cuisine. coming up why thursday could be the new friday in california.

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♪♪ welcome back on this thursday we're watching the chance of severe weather frim new england all the way to the gulf coast states it'll be isolated and some gusty winds. it's cold in the northern plains, upper midwest, the central plains, too, with temperatures in the 20s and 30s with those winds going and as we go throughout friday, much nicer, quieter. we're going to start out the weekend with sunny and mild conditions through the middle of the nation and midatlantic looks good through the northeast, looking good on saturday and a nice day in the northeast. looking at some showers in the south central states and cold winds in the upper midwest and watching another storm system move onshore in the pacific northwest. that's going to move into the northern plains on sunday. sunny and warm in the northern plains with some showers along the great lakes. back to you guys next on "early today," a traffic stop takes a turn with a surprise proposal.

>> i love these. during kohl's home sale! find patio furniture starting at 25% off. alfresco dining essentials starting at 20% off. and get 25% off outdoor decor! plus, take an extra 15% off. or save even more with a kohl's card. kohl's. see him? he's not checkin' the stats. he's finding some investment ideas with merrill. eyes on the ball baby. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? you just can't stop. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. king c. gillette is a complete lineup of tools and facial hair care products. this is the style master. designed to style your stubble in one stroke, a pivoting metal head that defines every edge, and three comb lengths for added versatility. one tool that helps you choose, change, and master your style.

king c. gillette a consumer alert to tell you about. toyota has recalled 460,000 vehicles for a stability control glitch this meaning that when some vehicles are restarted the software may not automatically switch the system to on, affecting brake controls all affected models fall between 2020 and 2022. and while dealers are said to be updating the software malfunction owners will be notified by mid-june if you're planning to fly, ride a train or ride the bus in

the next month or so you'll need to keep your mask onch the order will now expire may 3rd. the extension comes amid a worrisome rise in new infections fueled by the ba.2 subvariant. new cases has led howard university to switch to remote learning the positivity rate has more than doubled in the past week from 2% to 5%. this as the world health organization says covid is still a global public health emergency. >> that's despite cases and deaths seeing a global decline for a third consecutive week in a press briefing the organization's director said it is far from being time to drop our guard. this is the moment to work harder to save lives >> california workers might get to skip the monday blues all together the state legislature is considering a bill that would make the standard workweek 32 hours at companies with more than 500 employees

and get this, there would be no pay cuts the california chamber of commerce, however, is slamming the bill as an expensive job killer congratulates are in order for moore house college. the school has become the 2022 all challenge national champion. a group of students beat out 60 hbcu teams in 150 games of academic competition moore house also took him a 75,000 grant a surprise traffic stop that changed the life of one woman for all the right reasons. >> sarah, step out of the car please >> yeah. >> walk back here with me. >> will you marry me

>> oh, that was a good one the chief of the police department was happy he could help on this special day you could tell she was annoyed getting out of the car >> i don't blame her, too. she's in such shock. kudos to the guy for coming up with that idea so great

right now at 4:30, facing a judge. the suspected shooter who opened fire inside a new york subway is expected in court today. what investigators say he did before the attack. plus, masks are staying on. the reason the cdc wants you to stay masked up and planes, trains and buses and for how long. a live look outside. we're tracking cooler conditions and light rain for parts of the bay area. meteorologist kari hall is here with a closer look at how that holiday weekend is shaping up. this is "today in the bay."