yankees and the nats bryce harper coming out swinging. those highlights are ahead in sports. finally, a little late night love. jimmy fallon welcoming jay leno on to the big show last night. you thought there were tension between the two. you see is how they tried to put that talk to bed. first, though, here is the news at 5:30 eastern in the nation's capitol. we begin with north korea. insisting it's following through on its pledge to boost the country's nuclear weapons arsenal. announcing plans today to restart a reactor used for producing plutonium. that complex had been off line since 2007 when the regime agreed to take part in international talks. tensions have risen dramatically obviously since then with the north repeatedly thread ening south korea and the u.s. with war. a spokesman for the general department of atomic energy says once the nuclear reactor is up and running, it can pump

approximate p out enough material it can equip one atomic bomb a year. jim maceda is live for us in south korea. jim, i want to start by asking how the people you've met there are reacting to the threats from the neighbors to the north. >> hi peter. good to be with you. as you know well having been here, south koreans are conspicuously not reacting to that kind of news about the reactor. you'd be hard-pressed to find any concerns in the streets of seoul. people don't want to talk about politics, especially not about the north. korea watchers are telling us that that really masks a generalized sense of anxiety that these people are feeling, perhaps for the first time in years. remember, the border is only 30 miles away from here. the news of the reopening of that nuclear plant has got to be increasing already high levels of tension. if you remember, when this relatively small plant was shut down some six years ago, it was

seen as a major victory at the time for u.s. diplomacy here. it looks like leader kim jong-un who says he's angry about new sanctions and the ongoing war games happening not far away, he seems to be undoing any signs of progress made in the past. that said, experts are still calling this plant the reopening of a more symbolic -- it was partially destroyed, it's going to take years to rebuild and to reopen. meanwhile, peter, we're at day three of the effectively declaring a war by kim on south korea and the u.s. and we have so far seen no signs of north korean troop mobilization, any sign of imminent attack at all. back to you. >> jim, one follow-up question quickly. there was a lot of conversation now specifically from experts on that region that there are some calculus behind this for kim jong-un, specifically that

there's political motivation in the wartime posture now. can you explain more of that? >> yeah. that is going on. first of all, with his domestic audience, his domestic situation, he is clearly pumping himself up, putting himself out there as someone who will stand up to america and the west and that is as all strong men have done, his father, grandfather, the kim regime, that gives him street credibility, particularly with the military brass here. he only started a couple of years ago. he was thrown into this situation because his father died quite suddenly. and he has to have the military on his side to literally survive. at the same time, he wants to tell everyone, look, i'm here. you need to deal with me. that's the external track going on, which is probably why he's trying to reopen this nuclear

reactor that was closed with great ado and fanfare years ago. he's saying look, i can control things in my country. you the west, the united states and south korea need to sit down with me and work things out. back to you, peter. >> focused on that part of the world. jim maceda in that part of the world for us. armed minimum tants managed to knocked out electricity to a major part of the city. that's in the northwest part of pakistan. gunmen used automatic weapons and rpgs in the assault that took place out peshawar city. seven people killed and four others taken hostage. no group has claimed responsibility but the taliban vowed to step up violence there ahead of next month's general elections. 3 1/2 months after two schoolchildren were killed in that mass shooting at sandy

hook, connecticut lawmakers reached a deal for what they call the toughest gun laws in america. it includes a ban on magazines carrying ten or more bullets. search warrants out last week showed that the newtown killer fired off more than 150 shots in less than five minutes with 30 bullet magazines. the bill creates a new registry for existing high-capacity magazines. it extends the state's assault weapons ban to include 100 new types of guns. it also creates a dangerous weapon offender registry. it imposes immediate universal background checks for all firearm sales and addresses an issue that people are focused on, mental health and school safety measures. donald williams spoke about approximate the message the new bill sends to capitol hill. he said in part, "democrats and republicans were able to come to an agreement on a strong comprehensive bill. that is a message that should resound in 49 other states and in washington, d.c. and the message is: we can get it done here and they should get

it done in their respective states and nationally in congress." it will be voted on tomorrow. it's controlled by democrats. this is expected to pass. ahead of the president's trip to denver tomorrow to push for stricter gun laws, prosecutors in colorado announce they will seek the death penalty against james holmes. he, of course, is the man accused of killing 12 people at that movie theater last summer. by doing so, the prosecution rejected a plea deal by the defense that would have had holmes pleading guilty in he is changes for life in prison without parole. this caught me when i heard it. the district attorney said simply "for james eagan holmes, justice is death." . the 25-year-old faces 166 counts of murder and attempted murder. the trial date by the way, is set for february of next year. also in colorado, president obama as we noted touching down there tomorrow. he will continue that push for tougher measures aimed at

reducing gun violence. it comes as a paperwork error allowed a violent convict to be released from prison in january. that was four years earlier than originally intended. that man's name is evan ebel. he's suspected of killing the state's corrections chief and a pizza delivery driver last month when ebel should have still been behind bars. state officials say ebel was supposed to serve another four years after completing an eight-year sentence. but that information never made it into the court records and the suspected gunman was let go. ebel was killed in a shootout with police in texas two days after investigators believe that he shot and killed prison official tom clements in colora colorado. clean up efforts under way where barrels of oil spilled. pegasus pipeline as it's called ruptured on monday near mayflower. these are some of the first

pictures we're seeing. exxon was fined three years ago for not properly inspecting another section of this aging pipeline. the spill renewed scrutiny on pipelines as the push to approve the keystone project, of course, spanning from canada to texas intensifies. and not helping the public image, this you-tube video of a mayflower resident driving around his neighborhood. look at that, some of the thousands of gallons still seeping across front lawns and into the street. >> our house is here, which is seemingly unaffected. the smell is unbelievable. i mean, look. incredible. that is oil. >> oil right through his neighborhood. other news now. apple ceo tim cook spending his monday apologizing to customers in china who are frustrated with the company's customer service. china is obviously a major emerging market for the company that's faced criticism over the product warranties that earned

the headline for the newspaper, defeat apple's incomparable arrogance. let's look an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business. karen cho live in london for us. give us a sense, why did apple take what was a dramatic step? >> peter, it is a rare apology from apple. but the number two market for apple, this is where team cook as the ceo of apple has been focusing his attentions on growing market share. if you look at the numbers of revenue, $7.3 billion was what china delivered in the fiscal first quarter. the size of the growth you see from the market explains why it's so crucial to apple. this started a couple of weeks ago on cctv where there was criticism about the customer relations policy from apple and in regards to the warranty where apple was failing to offer a new warranty or replacement on iphones after a year in case of major repairs. this has been -- the company

completely changed its warranty policy on the 4, 4s and the new iphone 5. >> karen, if i can quickly switch dpeers, this is the month of course that our taxes are due. the irs saying it's behind on returning tax refunds this year. what's the deal behind that? >> indeed. the irs is still has outstanding tax returns. it's catching up on some of the tax returns it needs to process. but it's still behind what it processed last year. 7.1 million tax returns has processed through to march 22nd. that's less than the 82 million it processed by the same time last year. what's been interesting is the amount of money coming back into people's pockets is less than last year. $33 less. the average refund is $2,827. karen tso live in london. nice to see you as always. thanks. let us now why you are awake. shoot us an e-mail at msnbc.com. you can tweet me at peter alexander.

always like the twitter love. we're going to read the best responses later in the show. still ahead on way too early, the nats from your nation's capitol starting the season with a bang thanks in large part to the heroics of a 20-year-old phenom. he goes by the name harper. full baseball highlights next in sports. should we be worried that the leader of the free world missed his first 18 attempts with a shoot around at the white house? i ask the question, you give the answers. i'm just saying. we will be back. john gotti. the modern godfather, the so-called teflon don. he always escaped the big convictions in the past. not today. guilty of murder and racketeering. 12 counts. now facing a long time in jail. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

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that's a pretty live look this morning. the jefferson memorial lit up and bright as we get ready for the sun to rise over the nation's capitol. we'll get a check on the forecast now from nbc meteorologist bill karins up in new york. it's compelling as we watch the baseball season get going that some of the guys were throwing out the first pitch with the temperature hovering around freezing. we're thinking the boys of summer have to wait for a while. >> minnesota and chicago yesterday were brutal for opening days. wasn't bad in the east. all the way up and down the east coast, it was a nice day. things have changed overnight. all that cold air that was in the midwest has swept through the east. this is winter's last gasp out there this morning, especially with those windchill values. the southern half of the country is much warmer. but you'll get rainy in the days ahead. the windchills, 12 in buffalo, in the 20s from boston all the way down through new york city

and about 30 and 34 there. pill fi philadelphia, baltimore and washington, d.c. snow showers on the new york state throughway from syracuse to albany. that's an indication of the chilliness out there. as far as the rain today, oklahoma down to texas, especially san antonio to dallas, back to oklahoma city. the good news in all of this is i really see next week a big pattern change. it looks like we're going to completely change what we've been doing for the last month. we're going to get cooler and more stormy in the west and warmer and hopefully drier in areas of the east. so it looked like, peter, i'm planning probably about tuesday next week to say bye bye to all my winter clothes finally. >> we appreciate that. you got the spring suit going. you're looking good. >> i'm trying. >> appreciate it. we're going to move on to sports. little bit of opening day highlights for you. yankees facing the red sox in the bronx. lou pa nell a threw out the first pitch, top of the second bases loaded. comes through with a line drive single to left there.

two runs come around to score. the bo-sox go up early. andrew miller gets robinson canoe to swing. later, he gets kevin youkilis to chase the high heat. the red sox win 8-2. they'll face off with the yankees again tomorrow. the nationals opening the season against the marlins. 20-year-old brice harp wasting no time to make an impact. he crushes a solo shot into right field. that made it 1-0 nats. let's go to the fourth for a second. nats clinging to the 1-0 lead. harper again, second home run making him the youngest player in mlb hisry to homer twice. >> i was in high school chasing junk in the dirt in 1992. stephen strasburg throwing seven scoreless innings. skorts illustrated, they had

start with a 2-0 shutout win. clayton kershaw against the giants. brandon crawford to swing in the sixth. that was one of seven strikeouts on the day for kershaw. scoreless game in the 8th inning. kershaw sends it over the center field wall. his first career home run. the dodgers win this one 4-0. kershaw becoming the first player since bob lemon in 1953 to hit a home run and throw a shutout on opening day. the new york mets taking on the padres at citi field. bases loaded. this is the seventh. deep to leftment mitsinitially s like it's going off the wall. they rule it a home run. 11-2 win over the pads. unlike the other new york team, they start off the season with a victory. to the hard court. dunk city is -- usc, not much of a surprise here.

andy enfield, florida's gulf coast team became the darlings of this year's ncaa tournament advancing to the sweet 16 before getting knocked off by florida. it's named the new head coach at southern cal. enfield was making about $157,000 a year at fgcu. sources tell espn that he will earn roughly ten times that much at sc. enfield does, however, face a pretty significant uphill climb. the trojans have not made the ncaa tournament since 2011. they haven't reached the final four since 1954. here's some good news for a story that didn't start that way. louisville guard kevin ware who suffered that awful compound fracture in the game against duke is expected to head home from the hospital today. if he continues to recover, he should be able to make it home to atlanta to support his team during their final four game against wichita state. atlanta, by the way, is his home as well where he played high school hoops. the university senior, associate

athletic director tweeted this photo of ware. he was up and moving around on crutches after undergoing successful surgery on his broken leg. that's always good it see. coach rick pit inowe visited. they will vase wichita state on saturday. happy to see a good finish to that story. finally, after a rough start on the basketball court at the annual white house easter egg roll, president obama got down to business and showed the kids how the leader of the free world shoots hoops. >> i got to hit one shot before i go. >> i tell you, next time you

hand the ball to sasha. this was the best pool report ever. it noted every single shot. shot number one, back rim. shot two front rim. president obama going two for 22 on a day after hitting a layup on his 18th shot attempt. maybe he should stop getting his basketball tutorials from the washington wizards. but i digress. coming up at the top of the hour, lawmakers in connecticut sending a serious message to capitol hill passing tough new legislation aimed to crackdown on gun violence. the morning joe team will discuss what it could mean for the nationwide debate. when we come back, we'll huddle around the water cooler where a would-be burglar runs into trouble literally while trying to pull off a heist in australia. one of several security cam videos you can't afford to miss.

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all right. back now with way too early. now for the real news. let's gather around the water cooler. come on in. a late-night musical edition. with all the headlines that jimmy fallon is replacing jay leno, leno called his nbc colleague to see how he was hanging in. the two vowed to stay friends

expressing their feelings in a rare rendition of "west side story's" "tonight." >> tonight, tonight, where will they take tonight in new york ♪ ♪ will it stay approximate l.a. ♪ ♪ tonight, tonight ♪ my ratings were all right ♪ 20 years and i'm still in first place ♪ ♪ tonight, tonight ♪ why are do they say we fight ♪ i like you ♪ you like me ♪ we're okay ♪ tonight, tonight ♪ who cares who holds tonight ♪

>> fallon strong with a falsetto there. a little bit of what you missed last night on late night. they brought the tonight show to late night last night. here's incredible footage of robberies around the world you shouldn't miss. a gas station in england on sunday. thieves wiring the atm machine on the right of the screen with a bomb. it detonates, sets off a huge explosion destroying the machine like that and sending bills flying. apparently a little too much of the explosive. police unsure how much money was taken. they're still looking for suspects. by the way, the guys with the burnt off corner on the british pound may be responsible. a robbery gone wrong. a guy sprints into a shopping mall in australia. this took place on sunday. he grabs a purse and runs until he slams headfirst into the glass door. the bystanders didn't know he had stolen the bag. they offered to help. when he passed out, the thief was somehow able to get away

with an accomplice. good times. back here in the u.s., these guys take a different approach. this footage released by the new york daily news shows two armed robbers holding up a kfc in the bronx. when they enter, the employees hide making it impossible to get money from the register. one of the robbers climbs on the counter, unplugs the register and takes it right out of the restaurant leaving a long trail of receipt tape behind him. police are still looking for these guys as well. i like that tug there to pull it. it's like the guy has toilet paper on his shoes the rest of the day. were are you awake? your tweets, texts are next. morning joe just moments away. djibouti, africa, 2004. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment

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