tomorrow morning. the political right will still go nuts about that speech, but they'll be able to do it now after a good night's sleep. be able to do it after a good night's sleep. "first look" is up next. good friday morning. a new twist in the boston bombing case. word that the suspects were headed to new york city. their target? times square. the senate moves to help ease those massive travel delays brought on by faa furloughs and the sequester. u.s. intelligence now says syria has used chemical weapons in civil war. will the obama administration intervene? plus ufive living u.s. presidents share a stage. the first round picks of the nfl draft. and "boston" magazine's inspirational tribute. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. the boston marathon was just the first target.

dzhokhar tsarnaev reportedly told investigators they also planned an attack in new york's times square. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams begins our coverage. >> reporter: investigators say they've been told that while the bombing suspects were fleeing from boston in an suv they carjacked last thursday night, they came up with the idea of driving to new york, taking along a half dozen bombs they had with them. >> in the car, they made a decision to go to new york with the remaining explosive devices that they had and to detonate one or more in times square. >> reporter: one of the men, dzhokhar tsarnaev, had visited times square at least once last year. whatever plans they had came to nothing thursday night when police caught up with them in watertown. this photo shows that suv after the shootout with police. now new questions about whether the interrogation of the surviving suspect was stopped too soon. the chairman of the house intelligence committee says he's

been told that a judge came to the hospital to read dzhokhar tsarnaev his rights before interrogators were done questioning him. >> that's really dangerous and concerning, especially when the fbi will tell you, we weren't quite finished with him. we didn't really believe we had all we could get out of him. >> reporter: in response, the fbi and justice department say the judge's arrival monday was not a surprise. and that 16 hours after the interrogation began, time was running out before he had to be read his rights. back in watertown, police were again at the scene where dzhokhar tsarnaev was found last friday wounded in a boat. officials say he had no gun. they are trying to determine why the police began shooting in the first place. and one of the survivors of the bombing, heather abbott of rhode island, who lost part of her left leg, says the support from he hospital and even total strangers has been uplifting. >> i'm sure at some point i will be interested in the details and have an opinion about the individuals that did this, but i'm -- i just haven't let my

mind go there. >> nbc's pete williams reporting. as the investigation continues, more victims are being released from the hospital. this morning 32 people remain in six boston area hospitals. that's down from a high of nearly 200 in the immediate aftermath of the attack. at least one of those patients is described as critical and three more are in serious condition. just in time for the weekend, sequester-fueled flight delays could be over. the house is expected to approve legislation ending furloughs for air traffic controllers after the senate approved the measure last night. nbc's tracie potts has all the details live from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. let's re-emphasize. the senate unanimously approved it. every single democrat and republican coming up with this fix so people don't have to sit in the airport for up to three hours as we've seen in some airports this week. they are shifting money from one part of the faa budget to another. $253 million that had been slated for airport improvements and other projects now to pay these air traffic controllers

who have been off the job one day every other week. as a result of sequestration cuts. that left aports short 1500 controllers a day since sunday, thus, leading to the delays. they had to slow down takeoffs and landings. so the rest of those on duty could safely manage the traffic. the white house reaction? they are saying this is a temporary fix but a good idea for travelers and a good idea for lawmakers, too. because after today, they are headed home on a week-long break to face all those frustrated and angry travelers, hopefully, though, with good news. mara? >> tracie potts, thanks. a potential game-changer for u.s. involvement in the syrian civil war. they believe they have used chemical weapons. something the obama administration said would cross a red line if true. traces of sarin were found in blood samples from victims of an attack last month in aleppo. president obama has warned it

could prompt u.s. military action in syria. although intelligence officials have varying degrees of assessment in their confidence, it's not strong enough for u.s. military intervention. >> we still have some uncertainties about what was used. what kind of chemical was used. where it was used. who used it. >> this morning, secretary of state john kerry will join intelligence officials on capitol hill for a closed briefing with house members on the situation. more than 70,000 people have been killed during syria's civil war. >> your country will remain ever ready to help you recover and rebuild and reclaim your community. >> president obama is reassuring the community of west, texas, that they are not alone. he spoke at a memorial service yesterday for the 14 people killed in the fertilizer plant explosion. most fatalities were first responders. 00 people were injured. a rare sight when president

obama joined all other living presidents to dedicate george w. bush's new presidential library in dallas. the library is on the campus of southern methodist university. it houses 43,000 artifacts, including a piece of twisted steel from the world trade center. as fireworks lit up the sky, so, too, did the center's focal point known as the freedom hall. interesting facts, the building meets the highest standards for energy conservation and holds more electronic records than any other presidential library. and now it's time for your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. well, there were lighter moments at yesterday's dedication ceremony for the george w. bush presidential center. at some points it felt a lot more like a roast. take a listen. >> people began to joke that i was getting so close to the bush family i had become the black sheep son. my mother told me not to talk too long today. and barbara, i will not let you

down. >> there was a time in my life when i wasn't likely to be found at a library, much less found one. >> we know about the father who raised two remarkable, caring, beautiful daughters. even after they tried to discourage him from rung for president saying, dad, you're not as cool as you think you are. mr. president, i can relate. >> meanwhile, speculation is swirling about a third bush in the oval office, jeb. but the family matriarch tells the "today" show, not too fast. >> he's, by far, the best qualified man, but, no. i really don't. there are other people out there that are very qualified and we've had enough bushes. >> well it may not be as famous as 867-5309, but mark sanford's phone number is blowing up with phone calls. that's because the former south

carolina governor and gop congressional candidate put his personal cell phone number in a newspaper ad encouraging voters to call and chat with him. that's one way to get attention. later today, president ob a obama -- >> lots of people called. president obama will become the first sitting from the address planned parenthood. he spoke to their political arm in 2008 before winning the white house. comedian conan o'brien stopped by the white house yesterday as he gears up to headline the white house correspondents dinner. will take place at the washington hotel in the nation's capital. you can watch the dinner tomorrow night beginning at 9:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. and that's your morning's dish of "scrambled politics." and i will predict it's the last time i sing on this show. you can't say those numbers without a little tune in there. bill karins is here with the weather. >> it's a tough job for conan tonight. it's very difficult to do. you are roasting the president. he's sitting right next to you. it's like -- it's awkward. but he'll -- it will be

interesting to see how he does. as far as the forecast goes, everything is looks thumbs-up for temperatures. the rain is a different story as we head into the weekend. almost coast to coast, a little cool, minneapolis and chicago. we were in the 60s in so many spots around the nation. so this morning, how are we looking? things are starting to look warmer in the midwest once again. we're continuing to see it heating up. melting that snow in a hurry. even minneapolis, up to 48 degrees. the one spot, though, we're still struggling is in north dakota where it still remains in the 30s. i've got good news for you. as far as the rain goes, looks like a rainy two to three days. kansas city today, st. louis down through areas of the ozarks, northern arkansas, oklahoma today. as we go towards tomorrow, a lot of this mess moves into kentucky and tennessee. your forecast as we go throughout the next couple of days is going to focus that rain that's now in areas of missouri. eventually going down into the southeast this weekend. if there's one spot that can complain about this weekend, it's the southeast with more

clouds and rain than they'd like. but the rest of us, not so shabby. >> finally spring. thanks, bill. coming up, it's a race against the clock in bangladesh as the race continues for survivors in the tragic building collapse. from the imagination of nas aincredible insight into galaxies far, far away. "first look" is back in three minutes.

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now to some other stories making news this morning. a fast-moving fire tore through a psychiatric hospital in moscow, russia, last night, killing at least 38 people, including two doctors. reports suggest a short circuit may have caused that blaze. a death toll in the fatal bangladesh building collapse has now climbed to 290. and the government has declared a national day of mourning. the search continues for survivors. rhode island medical examiners have confirmed a body found earlier this week in the providence river is that of missing brown university student sunil tripathi. he was briefly misidentified as

a boston marathon bombing suspect and had been missing since mid-march. a new nasa animation shows how some galaxies can form from starbursts. where millions of stars are born. and the first round of the nfl draft kicked off last night. >> the kansas city chiefs select eric fisher, tackle, central michigan. >> for the first time since 1970, offensive tackles were the first two picks and they were followed by more very big men. seven linemen for all of the first seven selections. now for a look at what's moving your money today, we go to cnbc's courtney reagan. >> good morning. with the u.s. economy likely rebounded in the first three months of the year after growth stalled out at the end of 2012, investors will get a look at first quarter gdp numbers a little later this morning. growth is expected to get a boost from the improving housing market and steady consumer spending.

well, jcpenney gets a shot in the arm as george soros buys a stake in the struggling department store chain. jcpenney has been exploring ways to raise more cash after firing its ceo last month following a disastrous year that saw sales slump 25%. disney settles a dispute with amc theaters allowing fans to buy advanced ticket for "iron man 3" which comes out next week. disney has been fight with amc and other chains on how to divvy up the box office take. i've never seen any of the "iron mans." >> you have to catch up before the third one comes out. >> i know. i'm already behind. thanks, courtney. have a great weekend. samsung weighed in with record first quarter profit one day before its latest galaxy smartphone makes its u.s. debut. some williams-sonoma stores have pulled pressure cookers off their shelves after similar pots were used to construct the deadly marathon bombs. the fda stopped imports of

cucumbers from two mexican companies after the cdc linked them to 73 cases of salmonella in 18 states. forget about politics and religion. a new study finds most surveyed are more comfortable discussing with strangers their salary, sex life or weight than their credit card debt. 100 years ago, this nickel was worth 5 cents. but on thursday, two collectors pooled their pennies and paid more than $3.1 million for the rare 1913 coin. and speaking of coin, you'll need a lot of it to come home to the most expensive apartment in new york city. the triplex penthouse has four terraces, a marble staircase and 360-degree views of the city all for a mere $125 million. just ahead in light of this week's flight delays, just how effect sieve the sequester? we'll talk to lynn sweet of the "chicago sun-times." and take a look at this. the may edition of "boston" magazine feet thirs images of

sneakers worn at the boston marathon. the shoes are arranged in a heart pattern as a tribute to the runners. color, and design. showing up where we least expect it and taking inspiration from our wildest dreams. because bold doesn't see the world in fixtures and faucets, it re-imagines. coloring our lives in ways only bold can do. it's no wonder the world can't wait to see what bold does next. has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy.

what's the rush? i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. it's time now to take a deeper look at some of our top political stories. joining me on the phone, lynn sweet, washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun-times." lynn, good morning. >> good morning to you. >> so let's start with the senate's vote to get air traffic controllers back to work. i mean, this is starting to feel a little bit like a shell game. wasn't the whole point of the

sequester that it was supposed to be painful to force a resolution? >> well, wasn't supposed to be this painful. and i guess we now know that one of the most active constituencies, vocal constituencies out there, are people sitting on tarmacs. >> apparently so. yesterday in a different story, chuck hagel announced syria may have used chemical weapons in its civil war. do you think this is going to lead to u.s. intervention there? >> well, the obama administration was very, very cautious on this. they are not sure yet if this evidence they have is credible. they use this phrase over and over again, credible. and if there's proper corroboration. we're also facing, the obama administration, a potential showdown in iran. so the answer is, i'm not sure. i think it depends if they have more -- more evidence that's solid. that's why they are also going to the u.n., moving very cautiously on this. >> and on a much lighter note, the white house correspondents' dinner is tomorrow. now normally it's a light, fun

event. but do you think that the tone may be a little different this year given that it's coming so close to the marathon bombings? >> i think in terms maybe of some of the speeches. there's as many parties as ever that are going on, and this is known as the big prom night in washington. but i think you do have a point in that in terms of just some of what the tone of president obama's speech may be a little bit less -- you know, these speeches always have a heavy dose of self-deprecation when it comes to the president. so you, i think -- i think it may be. >> all right. lynn sweet with the "chicago sun-times." thanks for your time this morning. >> thank you. from celebrity flubs to youtube sensations, let's take a look back at the week that was. new details on the boston bombing started to emerge this week as a moment of silence was observed around the country. >> props to pete williams who did a great job when he was

covering this terror attack. brian williams did a great job. serena williams, i thought, was very good. robin williams, will.i.am. everyone. tensions grew on capitol hill over a stalled immigration bill. >> never said that. >> didn't say you did, sir. >> meanwhile, the associated press had their twitter account hacked. >> the ap's twitter feed was hacked by a group calling itself the syrian electronic army. i saw them at bonnaru in 2006. they're amazing. embarrassing moments for reese witherspoon and for jennifer lawrence. >> we are happy to present glaad's advocate to president glib -- bill clinton. your news leader in high definition. >> okay. [ bleep ]. >> it quickly became a hit as did the avian baby's ad. but that's nothing compared to

psy's new music video. it shattered youtube records with 38 million views in a single day. mike myers and dana carvey reunited for a special "wayne's world" screening. schwing! and it's all about the benjamins. the c-note has a whole new look. anthony weiner is back on twitter. >> i hear he posted his first tweet. just a photo of a pamphlet on how to help new york city. can we zoom out on that? >> poor anthony. now it's for another look at the weather, here's nbc's bill karins. >> he's never going to live that down. >> probably shouldn't. let's take a look and show you what we're deal with. the forecast for this weekend. warm temperatures ahead for many of us. probably the best spring weekend. but there's going to be rain today. a chance of rain. it's raining now already. much of missouri and eastern kansas. oklahoma to arkansas. this rain will be slow moving. we could get maybe as much as two to three inches this

weekend. on and off rains with thunderstorms possible from atlanta through alabama, mississippi, tennessee and then even toward areas of louisiana. by the time we get to sunday, i really think that people are going to -- we're going to be okay. >> all right. >> it's going to be nice and mild. spring. water those flowers. >> imagine that. just ahead -- more trouble for the biebs. and the backlack against people's most beautiful woman. plus, they are the words that every "price is right" contestant wants to hear. especially when it's the show's most expensive prize ever. that's a ferrari. how did she do? one...

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turning to entertainment. in sweden, justin bieber's tour bus was searched by authorities after police smelled marijuana on board. officials found unidentified drugs and a stun gun but lucky for bieber, no arrests were made. this week gwyneth paltrow was named "people" magazine's most beautiful women. plenty of people seem to disagree. in a new "access hollywood" poll, 77% of respondents said -- >> let's look at this differently. 23% did think she is. that's pretty good. >> that's a silver lining. finally, "the price is right" revealed its most valuable prize ever. $285,000 ferrari. all the contestant had to do was put the car's sticker price in the right order before drawing three strikes. let's see how she did. >> strike one. [ buzzer ] >> oh. what a mix of good and bad. >> so that wasn't edited that

she pulled out three strikes in a row? but to get a crack at the most expensive prize in a row and then pull three strikes in a row is a mixed bag of luck there. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" starts right now. immediately upon news of the explosions in boston, we fully mobilized the new york city police department's vast counterterrorism operations because we thought there was a possibility that there could be a related attack here. we now know that that possibility was, in fact, all too real. we don't know if we would have been able to stop the terrorists had they arrived here from boston. we are just thankful that we didn't have to find out that answer. new details on the suspected boston marathon bombers and their plan to head to times square. what dzhokhar tsarnaev is telling investigators and the weapons they may have used if

they ever did make it to manhattan. i'm brian schachtman. this is "way too early." also, crossing the so-called red line in syria. the white house says the assad regime is using chemical weapons. the question is how will the united states respond? by the way, you got any weekend travel plans? congress actually does. the deadline pushing lawmakers to end the air traffic controller furloughs by the end of the day. first let's get to our top story here at 5:30 a.m. at 30 rock in new york city. we begin with chilling details behind the tsarnaev brothers alleged plot to attack the heart of new york city after, of course, causing so much damage in boston. according to city officials, the two marathon bombing suspects discussed driving to new york to detonate their remaining explosives in a spontaneous assault on times square. at the time their arsenal included five pipe bombs, one pressure cooker bomb, similar to that one, of course, and the two usedn