green light so more private cash can flow to political campaigns. which party stands to gain the most? this is "way too early." good morning. i'm thomas roberts. this is "way too early," the show that loves a selfie, especially when it's not sponsored by the phone you're taking that with. we have some serious news to start off with. an army specialist is suspected of killing three people before killing himself in a shooting rampage at ft. hood. the dead were active military, 16 are in local hospitals. the soldier identified by nbc news is 30-year-old ivan lopez. he opened fire at one building, then got in a car firing as he drove off. he then reportedly fired at

another building before taking his own life. he was carrying a .45 caliber smith and wesson semiautomatic handgun that he recently bought. that weapon was not registered on base. he was being treated for mental health. >> he was not diagnosed as of today with ptsd. he was undergoing a diagnosis process to determine if he had ptsd. that is a lengthy process. there are reports that he self-reported a traumatic brain injury previously coming back from the iraq war. he was not a wounded warrior. he was not wounded in action to our records no purple heart. not wounded in action. he was on medications. he was undergoing behavior health, psychiatric treatment for depression and anxiety. and a variety of other psychological and psychiatric issues. >> a terror link is not suspected. the president held a conference call while on the road.

five years ago nadal hassan opened fire at the same texas military post killing 13 and wounding 30. despite being a 200,000 acre base, the buildings were in close proximity to the shooting area of 200 2009. we are joined now by jay gray who brings us up to speed on the investigation into i've ran lopez. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, thomas. what i can tell you is overnight that investigation did continue. right now federal agentses along with army investigators are inside the apartment here in the area of the man, did they believe was the shooter in this case, 34-year-old ivan lopez. obviously looking through that apartment for any evidence that may help them as they continue to try and piece together exactly what happened here. the commander at ft. hood saying this was not an act of terror like the attack nearly five years ago at the army post. but they still have no firm answers as to what may have

sparked the deadly shooting rampage. >> jay what has been revealed about lopez's medical history? have there been warning signs that was leading up to an event like this? >> you know, we learned from sources here at ft. hood that he was being tested, diagnostically tested for post traumatic stress disorder at the time of this attack. we also know during his army career he did serve for at least you to months in iraq, serving in combat duty there. he had been treated for both mental and behavioral issues as well as alcohol problems. that's something again that investigators are focusing on. they say it's just part of a puzzle that they don't have all the pieces to at this point. it's an investigation that is going to take some time as this close-knit community, what is the nation's largest army post continues to grieve those injured and lost and wonder how this could have happened for a second time in the last five years. >> such a great question about

how this could have happened. obviously this person did have military access to this base, rights to be there. this is completely unexpected. how was the response? what are people saying about that? >> people say the response was excellent. teams not only on the base here, he was first approached by military police, but also from the community, police poured into this area followed by state police and federal agents from the fbi making their way on to the post. but a lot of people, we talk about the grief, all of the emotions that have come back as a result of this. underneath that there is a growing frustration, an anger that we'll see build as this investigation continues. because a lot of people believe that this army post should be one of the safest places on earth. it's important to remember, however, that only military police carry their weapons on post here. other soldiers are not allowed to carry their firearms.

if they have personal firearms, they can carry those but they must remain in a case. there was discussion five years ago about changing that. i'm sure that's one of the things brought up in the wake of this tragic shooting. >> jay gray, thank you, sir. >> thanks. the supreme court lifted some spending limits for political donations on a controversial decision. in a split 5-4 ruling the court took issue with laws that limit political contributions say they violate political speech outlined in the first amendment. justice stevensteven breyer sai the court in citizens united opened a door, today's decision may well open a floodgate. some say there it levels the p field. >> some say big money has too much of an interest already and this makes it easier for them.

>> the reason we're excited is that it brings the political parties -- the most accountable groups in america, a little bit closer to exercising our first amendment rights, just like everybody else. president obama hit the road yesterday, seemingly back in campaign mode at the university of michigan following what he calls the successful rollout of healthcare.gov. his speech was billed as an address on minimum wage, the president took republicans to task over paul ryan's latest budget proposal. >> when they put these budgets together, they don't usually tell you what they cut. they do have one original idea, which is to repeal obamacare. because they have not tried that 50 times. if this all sounds familiar, it should be familiar because it was their economic plan in the 2012 campaign it was their

economic plan in 2010. it's like that movie "groundhog day." except it's not funny. if they try to sell this sandwich at zingerman's, they would have to call it the stink burger, or the mean-wich. for the second day in a row, the new ceo of general motors was grilled on capitol hill on why the company waited more than a decade to recall more than 2 million cars. marry barra testified about the ignition switch issue linked to at least 13 deaths. barra named ceo in january after 30 years with the company was unable to answer numerous questions about the delayed action and lawmakers did not let up. >> i don't know. i want to understand why those actions were taken. i would like the complete investigation to be completed before i start making assumptions. >> i really hate to say this, but if this is the new gm leadership, it's lacking. >> i think we need to know

whether you believe the company acted in the best interest of the consumers who bought your car and the u.s. taxpayers who bailed you out. >> this, to me, is not a matter of acceptability. this is criminal deception. >> barra was also faced with tough questions about why an engineer is still on the job on the payroll when he is suspected of lying about when the part was actually swapped out. >> has mr. giorgio been fired? >> as the investigation has only been going on for a couple weeks, we made process steps. as i return to the office, we will start to look at the people implications. >> he's not been fired? >> no. >> is he still working there every day? >> yes. >> barra also testified that the recall vehicles are safe to drive as long as no other keys are on the key ring. gm does have a website up where you can put the vin number of your gm model car in to let you know if it's under recall which they highly suggest you check out. the ousted president of ukraine is break his silence

about russia's takeover of crimea. viktor yanukovych said the annexization was a grave pain and tragedy. he said it was a mistake to allow russian troops to enter crimea. he hopes to have talks with vladimir putin to return that region to ukraine. yanukovych said the interim government is ultimately to blame for losing control of crimea. nato's top commander says russian troops positioned at the ukrainian border could launch an attack within hours. an air force general says moscow's forces could complete an incursion within a matter of days. the united nations delivered a rebuke to the kremlin announcing that it will consider crimea part of ukraine and not a part of russia. listen to this. on a personal note, as we talk about vladimir putin, there's some news about his private life. the russian president's divorce is now official.

putin was married to a woman for the past 30 years. they announced their divorce back in june, now it is official. vlad is back on the market. he's single, he needs everybody's help to create his online dating profile. this got our creative juices flowing. tweet us your creative suggestions. we'll put the best ones on the air coming up later in the show. now we talk about business. wall street looks to make it five days in a row after posting another winning session. on wednesday, the s&p broke new ground closing at an all-time high. steve sedgwick is live in london for us. what is the outlook for today? >> 1890 was that level. 1893 was an intraday record high. the data took us forward. the adp private sector employment data had good revisions from previous days. durable goods also beat expectations. we may be on hold today as we await the key jobs figure. the official figure is expected

to be $200,000 jobs created. the whisper number is 300,000 jobs created. >> amazon is taking a major step away from selling other company's products, kind of selling their own. explain this one. >> yeah. this is a settop box. for 99 bucks you will get an internet connected set top box that goes up against the likes of google, goes up against the likes of apple who are way ahead at the moment in terms of shipments. they will put video online, streamed video, plus their own catalog, plus you can buy a games controller. it's voila, a games controller, which you can connect. so there will be a gaming angle as well. they hope that will be a game change nr in what is a three-wa battle for your internet streamed tv. >> steve, thank you. still ahead on "way too early," inside the presidential selfie. was it impromptu or promotional?

details about why big papi took that photo with the president. and the former president stopped by jimmy kimmel also a night. that and weather when "way too early" comes right back. federal officials tell nbc news they put the man under surveillance after family members found some of his writings they called suspicious. avo: wherever your journey takes you

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>> yes, sir. yes, sir. >> the big papi selfie. >> all right. seemed genuine. that was big papi, president obama there, what we believed to be the authentic excite front the world series mvp. that special moment was brought to you by samsung. sports business general that the slugger has a new deal with the photomaker. it was an honor to help him capture such an incredible and genuine moment of joy and excitement, when we heard about the visit to the white house, we worked with david and the team on how to share images with fans. david said he did not know that photo was part of an advertising campaign. >> just when i thought i couldn't like the red sox any less -- any more. >> any more.

they are lovable. they are a lovable gang there. >> where selfies are self indul any way, but that seems too tacky. derek jeter better get used to pregame ceremonies. the late inning drama is in full swing. look at this. >> pregame ceremony honoring derek jeter in houston. roger clemens a former teammate there. andy pettitte as well. he heads out to the field and picks up some goodies. >> a ball high and deep to left field. this is gone! high and deep to left field! bautista has done it again. home run number two. >> on the ground, up the middle. diving is pedroia. throws to first. it's in time! >> way outside, gets away. white sox win it, 7-6.

>> he landed flat on comment. watch. there it goes. there he goes. >> swing and a drive, hammered deep left. at the track. at the wall. good-bye. a solo home run. the first hit of the game. >> up high, ball four. bases loaded walk that will force in the winning run. >> hayward coming on in a hurry. dives. comes up with it. >> on the run, dives, another great catch! >> bouncing ball to left. raise the jolly roger. longest game in pittsburgh ends with a pirates victory. >> 1-1. driven towards left center field. that ball will get down. we have another walk-off win for the tigers, back-to-back games. >> good stuff. boys of summer are back. >> they are. jeter got a stetson hat, golf

clubs, a pair of cowboy boots with the yankee pinstripes on them and a 2 on the back heel. >> he better get used to everybody trying to celebrate him. >> it will be a long year of that. let's talk about this storm that we will deal with today. severe weather, typical spring powerful storm. snow on the north side. tornadoes on the south side. already this morning, across missouri and illinois, it is pouring. that's heading along i-70 in chicago, indianapolis, too that's not even the severe weather stuff. that's just the pouring rain and flood threat. later today, area of yellow, isolated chance of strong storms. in the red, a large area of a risk of tornadoes. the cities that we're targeting, memphis, little rock, springfield, st. louis, they'll start forming. i think we'll get our first tornadoes around 6:00, 7:00 this evening. they'll go to until about midnight tonight. those nighttime tornadoes tend to be the deadliest and most

dangerous. we'll watch it carefully. >> we'll have people out there paying attention. 4:00 p.m. is when people need to get home. thanks, sir. coming up on "morning joe," the latest on the shootings at ft. hood. a live report from the base. we'll talk to nbc's chief pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski about this. when we come back, we'll lighten things up. where jimmy fallon captures this communication between vladimir putin and sarah palin. you won't believe what they're ta talking about. [ garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there, but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. worst morning ever. [ angelic music plays ] ♪

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at the top of the show we talked about the tragic shooting in ft. hood, texas. if you want to sound smart tell your friends at about 340 square miles, ft. hood is the largest active duty army post, as of 2013, the population stood at about 217,000 people. it is the only base in the nation which can support two armored divisions. let's huddle around the water cooler. time to talk presidential politics. what have you got for us, louis? >> jimmy kimmel welcomed a special guest to the show last night. former president bill clinton. the conversation eventually moved on to the legend of roswell and the existence of aliens. >> just in the last two years, more than 20 planets have been

identified outside our solar system that seem to be far enough away from their suns and dense enough that they might be able to support some form of life. so it makes it increasingly less likely that we're alone. >> oh, you're trying to give me a hint there are aliens. if we were visited some day, i wouldn't be surprised. feel how threatened we all would be feeling if we were visited. >> you and bill riley would be hiding in a bunker today. >> i love the "independence day" reference. sarah palin made an appearance on "the tonight show" last night, but she didn't

really get to talk to jimmy fallon. >> any way, i should go. i need to pick up more vodka from store. if only i had neighbor who could bring me new bottle. >> well, actually, alaska's not that far from russia. hold on a second, okay? hold on. >> sure. ♪ oh, hey. alaska really is close to russia. maybe i should invade. >> i wouldn't, if i were you, vlad. you may be able to take down a bear, but you're no match for a mama grizzly. >> you know, vlad is back on the market. >> she looked great. i thought sarah palin looked great. >> maybe she can hook him up with some lady friends. >> maybe so. >> single and ready to mingle. still ahead on "way too

early," your best and most creative suggestions for vladimir putin's online dating profile. "morning joe" is moments away. [ male announcer ] the wright brothers started in a garage. mattel started in a garage. disney started in a garage. amazon started in a garage. ♪ the ramones started in a garage. my point? some of the most innovative things in the world come out of american garages. introducing the lighter, faster cadillac cts. 2014 motor trend car of the year. ain't garages great? grossemisconduct... ortho crime files. ...disturbing the pantry. a house, under siege.

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earlier in the show we asked you what vladimir putin should put in his online dating profile now that he's single. justine what do we have? >> louis says i love the bear teddy's. i have collection, 1 fight 1 for fun. i bake cakes with grandnana recipe to make usa pound cake. and then one swipe and i will capture your heart and make it my own. and this one is good.

#machoputin. >> all right. we love to see what vladimir putin will do next. you know, international ladies, get ready to find him on the prowl. that's going to do it it for "w too early" today. thanks, gang. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ event in the past have taught us many things here at ft. hood. we know the community is strong. we know the community is resilient. we know the soldiers and the families of this fort who save so bravely in combat in both iraq and afghanistan are strong and we will get through this. >> an army soldier had gone on a shooting spree. >> good morning, everyone. it is thursday, april 3rd. welcome to "morning joe." we want to start right with the news out of ft. hood, texas. an