refusing to surrender. ukrainian troops defy russian demands to turn over mariupol as new missile strikes batter the country, one hitting a world central kitchen in kharkiv a chaotic end to holy week in jerusalem more than 100 injured in clashes across the city, raising new fers of an even greater conflict shots ring out at a packed house party in pittsburgh. two killed and nearly a dozen injured as hundreds race to escape the violence. bracing for a spring surge the holiday weekend bringing

crowds back together, while a major city brings its mask mandate back as well it comes as cases are again increasing across the country. and hold the spoon the fda launches an investigation into lucky charms with dozens of illnesses reportedly linked to the popular cereal it's monday, april 18th. "early today" starts right now good morning i'm cori coffin. >> and i'm steven romo there were no signs of a ceasefire this easter weekend in russia as it continues its violence against ukraine the russian military launches more air strikes and demanding the surrender of the battered city mariupol. 95% of the town is no longer standing according to some estimates, but ukrainian forces are refusing to back down. here is nbc's matt bradley. >> reporter: mariupol makes its last stand only a coupe thousand soldiers still holding out in a steel factory, defying russia's

ultimatum to surrender the troops are determined to stay >> the city has not fallen there are still our military forces, our soldiers so they will fight until then. as for now they are still in mariupol. >> reporter: russia's military claims it controls most of the city's center. an assertion that couldn't be confirmed. but if the city does finally fall, ukraine's president warned of major consequences. "the russians are make a huge mistake," said president zelenskyy. "the destruction of all our guys in mariupol, what they're doing now could put an end to any format of negotiations." negotiations that might have prevented the carnage in kharkiv, ukraine's battered second largest city, where fresh shelling killed five and injured 20, according to the region's governor, and destroyed a world central kitchen restaurant that was feeding thousands. but it's mariupol that has become the symbol of ukraine's

civilian suffering russia's two-month siege has trapped hundreds of thousands with little food, clean water, electricity or medical care. hundreds of thousands have managed to flee. >> we escaped. what i remember is dead bodies around us, yeah. so we were driving around dead bodies, dead children. >> reporter: nick runs a local television channel in mariupol dozens of his staff remain in the city he wants to know if they're alive and well but with all communications severed, he can't reach them >> i have had 29 people. 29 people, i don't know where are they i don't know >> like so many ukrainians, he can only wait and hope fear and frustration continues our thanks to matt bradley for that report. now that ukraine has defied the deadline to give up mariupol, there are concerns

about how russian forces will respond today. let's get a live update now from nbc's raf sanchez who is lviv for us ukrainian officials said that mariupol would be completely closed off today >> cori, that's right. an adviser to the mayor of the city saying it is now going to be sealed off by russian forces, no one coming in, no one going out without passing through russian checkpoints. and at those checkpoints, men are being detained they are being interrogated. they're having their phones checked. in some cases, they are being beaten up, according to this official and he says one in ten is being sent to donetsk to the east of the country. that is not a claim that nbc has been able to independently verify but this is a sign of the russians asserting their domination over a city that they have largely destroyed the same adviser saying residents are not able to move inside the city without obtaining first a russian pass now the mayor has said at least 10,000 civilians have been

killed in the fighting so far. but the actual death toll may be much higher than that. still, the city is in ruins. there is very little food. people have been drinking filthy water to survive as you heard in matt's package, the defenders of that city have fought almost literally to the last bullet. they are holed up in the remains of that enormous steel factory it is not clear how much longer they can keep doing so, but they defied those calls for them to surrender. cori, there have also been strikes here in lviv this morning. a number of cruise missiles hitting this western city, according to the mayor cori >> hearing about that, we'd ask you to stay safe, raf. thank you for those updates. and it is only a matter of time to see what is going to happen with mariupol. thank you, raf well, new clashes and protests erupted in jerusalem as holidays where three major religions converged. the violence and fears of more bloodshed may be on the horizon.

j josh lederman gets up to speed >> reporter: with thousands flocking on this easter passover and ramadan holiday, fresh violence in the old city these fireworks set off not in celebration, but in protest. some fired from inside the revered al aqsa mosque, according to israeli police. the temple mount is judaism's holiest site and the third holiest in islam the clashes erupting after israeli police entered the compound to make way for jewish visitors israeli officials say 18 palestinians were arrested for throwing rocks and fireworks, damaging the mosque. palestinian medical workers say 17 were injured amid fears of another wave of violence more than 150 palestinians injured at the same site friday. earlier this month, a palestinian gunman killing three in tel aviv. >> we need to find a solution that provides peace and security

for the israeli people, but also safety and security for the palestinian people >> reporter: last year, clashes over jerusalem spiraled into an 11-day war in the gaza strip israel's prime minister calling for calm, but warning he has given security forces a free hand to do what's needed to keep israelis safe. the wyden biden administration says it's deeply concerned by the violence a state department spokesperson says they're working the lower tensions >> josh lederman, thanks for that update. in pittsburgh, at least two people are dead and nine people injured after a shooting shooting broke out at an airbnb rental on the city's north side. as many as 100 shots were fired. police say they're still looking for multiple shooters. up to 200 people attended the party. many of them were underage in addition to those wounded by

the gunfire, several were hurt just trying to escape. the two dead were also minors and have not been identified by police yet the person renting the house has also permanently been banned from airbnb, the company said. days of protest in grand rapids, michigan as outrage grows over the deadly shooting of patrick lyoya the 26-year-old black man was unarmed when he was shot in the back of the head during a scuffle with a white traffic officer. protesters demand the arrest and prosecution of that unnamed officer who is currently on paid administrative leave that's while an internal investigation is conducted chaos and panic broke out on sunday at boston's logan airport after travelers were evacuated due to a suspicious item now police -- state police say they were called about 4:00 p.m. after tsa agents checked the luggage for a delta flight and they spotted something that they felt was potentially suspicious in a bag police evacuated the area, which

triggered confusion, delays and long lines according to police, the suspicious item turned out to be an old playstation console troopers gave the all clear shortly after 5:00, passengers allowed to reenter the terminal. after a two-day delay due to technical issues and weather, spacex had a successful launch from vandenburgh base in california it is the second time the falcon 9 sent a spy satellite into corbett. the last launch of its kind was in february. both contained top secret pay loads. all right. and sticking to the skies, let's get over to nbc meteorologist bill karins, who is tracking a late winter storm. good morning, bill >> ey, good morning. i hope you guys had a wonderful holiday weekend. how cruel is this one going to be it could be a high impact power outage event in central new york, maybe portions of pennsylvania we have two storms that are going to combine into one during the day today. one of them brought some severe weather overnight near

pensacola. 72 miles per hour wind gusts we have snow falling in chicago currently. as the two storms combine, it will actually get strong enough that we're going get accumulating snow out of this. here is how it's going to look with our coldspring storm. our two storms will combine during the day the cold rain moves through north carolina, virginia as far as the snow goes, by about 6:00 p.m., a considerable amount of heavy, wet snow falling right through central pennsylvania, western new york, portions of northern michigan, for a brief period of time even northern ohio. overnight the snow continues in areas from big hampton, scranton north wards, syracuse to watertown. the southern adirondacks will get it too and then the storm will wind its way and end during the day on tuesday. no joke. someone could ge isolated strong

storms and loy aye long the southeast coast. yeah, i thought i put the snow maps away. but i was wrong. >> and the coats you can't put the coats away either now >> that's right. >> all right, bill thanks for that update well, one easter bunny has taken a holiday tradition to new depths during the annual underwater easter egg hunt in the florida keys national marine sanctuary, coordinator spencer slade dressed up as the scuba diving peter rabbit to deliver the eggs to the bottom of the ocean the egg-citing dive helped donations and the donations were given to a local children's charity. >> nothing like that happened when i was kid. >> i know. just the backyard. up next, philadelphia hit with a 50% rise in covid infections what the city is now doing to

> pl the spread. >>us, talking more easter celebrations as they return in a big way. we're back in 60 seconds that's when we started using swiffer. in just a few minutes, duster captures dust before it gets airborne. it traps and locks dust in one swipe. yes! for our floors, sweeper's heavy duty cloths easily trap dust, dirt and hair... locking it in. see ya, dust! and swiffer partners with the american lung association to support clean air. [ drums playing ] ♪ my love for you, baby ♪ ♪ is like a merry go round ♪ ♪ it goes up down ♪ ♪ anyway you want it baby ♪ ♪ up ♪ ♪ down ♪ one prilosec otc in the morning blocks heartburn all day and all night. prilosec otc prevents excess acid production that can cause heartburn. so don't fight heartburn, block it with prilosec otc.

happening today, philadelphia's reinstating its indoor mask mandate for public places, schools and day cares. >> this move comes after the city's covid cases climbed more than 50% in ten days businesses there can choose to be mask-free if they require employees and visitors to show proof of vaccination meanwhile, new york city's covid case count seeing a spike as well the city's health commissioner says he expects the big apple's covid risk level to move to a medium within the next week. he made that revelation during an interview with ny 1 it came as easter celebrations made a full return for the first time in two years. here is nbc's jesse kirsch >> reporter: a return of the masses today celebrating easter sunday with pope francis the vatican says 100,000 filled

st. peter's square in stark contrast with the nearly empty st. peter's basilica in 2020 and small masked crowd at the vatican last year. >> i feel absolutely blessed it's a very happy easter. >> reporter: from new york city's easter bonnet parade to churches and passover seders too, many americans also celebrating together this weekend. some holiday gatherings in person for the first time in three years. >> it feels good it's good to be back amongst parishioners >> reporter: but as many ease restrictions, this staten island congregation still mostly masked in prayer. their easter baskets coming with covid tests. to have them readily available to just take for free, what does that mean? >> it means that someone else cares. >> reporter: caution as th highly contagious omicron ba.2 subvariant fuels a rise in cases across 27 states hospitalizations are still falling, be the white house is watching in case they go the wrong way. >> our vaccines are holding up really well against ba.2,

against all of the omicron variants, especially if you've been boosted >> reporter: despite the vaccine's effectiveness, some covid precautions are coming back philadelphia becomes the first major u.s. city to bring back its indoor mask mandate. the rule already facing a legal challenge. >> there is no such mandate in any other big city in america. >> reporter: and with millions traveling, the public mask mandate extended, along with broadway's too but this easter, the holiday symbolism is clear many returning to each other >> now we're able to gather. and we need that touch, you know and that fellowship. >> some american colleges have already brought back mask mandates themselves, and on sunday, the white house covid coordinator said he believes they should be local decisions based on case counts, hospitalizations and hospital capacity too back to you. >> a lot to keep up with jesse, thanks. still to come this morning, lizzo, she drops it down low on

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oh, so you want me to sit down on the twerk. got it >> no, not that. nobody wants that. >> i mean i wouldn't say nobody. >> lizzo stole the show this weekend on "snl" as host and musical guest of the night along with her sketches she performed two brand-new songs will appear on her next album coming july 18th before i say this, i have to say i manifested lizzo coming and

having her new album just a few weeks ago, i said we need more music from lizzo, and here it is. >> well thank you. i love that. next wonderful story get ready for actor benedict cumberbatch and the band arcade f fire. well, on ted lasso, he plays a potty-mouthed soccer player, and recently fred goldstein was on "sesame street" to teach kids the importance of the f-word take a look. >> whoa, i love the letter f. >> today's word is -- that's a drum roll. >> that's very nice. >> thank you fairness >> fairness is when each of us get what we needs. >> we need cookie, please. >> oh. >> oh, that f-word that's all right well, instead of his usual f-bombs, goldstein there sharing the importance of fairness.

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this morning we're honoring a special holiday tradition that started centuries ago in new york with the war thousands of miles away, many here are embracing the special meaning that goes into each of these elaborate easter eggs. gadi schwartz has their story. >> reporter: they're a symbol of the season, ukrainian ester eggs called pysanka an ancient art, they are crafted ahead of next sunday's easter. but because of the war in ukraine, many here are now discovering special meaning in

these elaborate designs, which are said to represent strength, renewal and eternal life for ina kozar and her family, things like baking sweet bread and decorating pysanka now represents comfort that's because she fled ukraine just as the bombs started to drop, making the journey with her daughters anya and sophia, crossing the border into poland, and ending up with family in pennsylvania, grateful to be alive. >> they should bring people together in hope and a bright future and the best future for ukrainians >> easter is a symbol of rebirth. we have to forget our previous plans and understand that we have to make new one and like have a new life so we can help ukraine better >> reporter: sarah bahir is an ukrainian artist and found over the pysanky for peace project.

struggling to make sense of the war, she started workshops to raise money for humanitarian efforts in ukraine she calls it a labor of love >> it's a recording of all of that that is written on to the egg. so those intentions are meant for prosperity, for protection, all of those things that ukraine really needs right now >> each egg crafted with patience and perseverance. father john charest is a priest at saints peter and paul ukrainian orthodox church near pittsburgh for worshipers here, making these eggs for others is a tradition going back more than a half a century but this year, he says they are a symbol that ukraine will rise again. >> we have this symbol of hope that life is going to go on. even though cities seem to be destroyed we will rebuild and it will be beautiful, and we will continue to be strong. >> wow our thanks to gadi schwartz for that moving report some incredible artwork in those eggs, and such a sign of report

in ukraine. >> and sometimes in this moment of crisis, not only for adults, but for children especially having these traditions is so important to be able to hold on that and move through this really, really difficult time. >> absolutely glad they have that moment of peace that moment of peace thanks for is your bathroom over 10 years old? i'm mike holmes, here with ivan from agm renovations america's number one kitchen and bathroom renovators thanks mike! bathrooms over 10 years old cause major water damage, flooding, and mold. [mike] ivan, i've seen a lot of this.

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