largest fine ever in the history of the republic, only in that industry can that result in a great day for your bottom line. it pays to be the most profitable industry the world has ever known. good tuesday morning. husky nation. uconn gets one national championship with another on the line tonight. emotional testimony in the murder of reeva steenkamp. and the only man who knows what really happened is on the stand. deadly weather. p you powerful spring storms bring tornadoes, flash flooding and growing number of rescue teams on alert. plus a marriage propose with a story for the grandkids. police want to know just who is tipping smart cars. and highly sophisticated details behind the u.s. navy's electromagnetic weapon. the huskies have won their fourth national championship. they at times allowed a 15 point

lead to dwindle down to one point. and uconn set the pace early. shabazz napier continued his stellar tournament play scoring 22. kentucky the first team to start five freshmen in a final since michigan's fab five. the wildcats got within one point, but connecticut hit the clutch shots to keep the lead. uconn wins 60-54, giving coach ollie his first title in his first tournament. and notables in attendance included presidents george w. bush and bill clinton. any took in the game with tony romo and others. back on campus, things got wild. shattered windows and minor property damage forced police to lock up dozens of uconn students. and in kentucky, officials reported 17 couch fires, seven

injuries and two arrests. tonight it is the battle of lady huskies taking on the notre dame fighting irish. pistorius is back in the courtroom today. today he read a message steenkamp said to him regarding an argument they had at a friend's party. >> i was not flirting with anyone today. i feel sick that you suggested that and that you made a scene at the table and made us leave early. i'm terribly disappointed in how the day ended and how he left me. i'm scared of you you sometimes and how you snap at me and how you react to me. >> yesterday with his voice trembly, he gave an emotional apology to steenkamp's family. >> i wake up every morning and urt first people i think of, the first people i pray for. i can't imagine the pain and

sorrow and the emptiness that i've caused you and your family. i was simply trying to protect reeva. >> choosing pot to testify before cameras, pistorius also spoke on the difficulties he's had coping since the shooting. >> i have terrible nightmares about things that happen at night write wake up and i smell -- can smell -- i can smell the blood and i wake up to being terrified. >> pistorius says he lives in constant fear, yet the so-called blade runner who has a love for guns says he can no longer keep them around. >> i don't obviously ever want to handle a firearm again or be around firearms. so i've got a security guard that stands outside of my front door at night. >> joining me now former manhattan criminal prosecutor faith jenkins.

good morning. i know you were watching carefully. no question high drama so far, no question raw emotion here. but are we seeing when we come to this apology, will it have any bearing on the judge at all? >> i think she's going to consider everything that he says. and it's going to be about his demeanor. is he being open, honest and frank with that poll xwi or apo. and today we heard testimony about his relationship with reeva, how they met, the days that they spent together when they first met. and you remember prosecutors introduced those text messages where reeva said she was scared of him. now the defense is introducing their own, putting in to context their relationship. they want to dispute the claim that this relationship was other than loving and caring and they want to though that that relationship had its ups and downs like every relationship and the disputes that they did have were minor disputes and that they really were loving and committed to each other. >> yesterday court wassed a

jou adjourned early because pistorius was exhausted. will it play at all, are we reading too much into that? >> she's a professional jurorist. i think on a human level you may have sympathy for someone who is testifying about a trying time. she could also have sympathy for rieeva steenkamp's family. but i think she can put that aside and decide the case based on the evidence. and now you're really getting to the krucrux of his testimony, t relationship and what happened that night. >> the defense contends pistorius was not wearing his prosthesis when he fired the shots. would you be surprise the that for the sake of demonstration that he will take them off to show -- he contends that he wasn't feeling himself when he doesn't have his prosthesis. >> and to demonstrate that to the judge. i think that it's more likely that you'll see some type of graphic or presentation. i don't know that he would do

that in the courtroom per se or that it would be allowed or even necessary. >> no doubt everybody will be watching. thanks so much. more violence in eastern ukraine as pro russian and pro ukranian demonstrators claushed overnight. ukranian officials accuse moscow of orchestrating the latest violence. the white house said there is strong evidence pro russian protesters were paid and not local residents. the white house is warning russia to stay out of eastern ukraine or face more sanctions. >> if russia moves in to eastern ukraine, either overtly or covertly, this would be a very serious escalation. we call on president putin and his government to cease all efforts to destabilize ukraine. and we caution against further military intervention. >> secretary of state john kerry is set to meet with top diplomats from russia, ukraine and the european union this week. military investigators say last week's deadly shooting at ft. hood may have been sparked

over an argument for a request for a leave. the suspect ivan lopez fired 35 shots over an area spanning the equivalent of two city blocks before taking his own life. >> at this point in the investigation, we can confirm that the alleged shooter specialist ivan lopez was involved in a verbal altercation concerning his request for leave and the processing of that request. at his unit's administrative office. >> it left three dead and 16 wou wounded. today is national equal pay for women day. and president obama is expected to sign a pair of executive orders to even the playing field. tracie potts is live in washington with those details. what is the significant of today's date, april 8? >> reporter: it means women on average have to work all of last year and the first three months

and a week this year to equal the same pay that an average man got last year. and democrats are making a big deal of this in washington today. today president obama is bringing equal pay activist lilly ledbetter back to the white house to watch him sign two new orders for federal contractors, one prevents retribution for employees who speak out about what they're paid. the other requires contractors to report compensation by race and gender. >> the president is using his executive you power to do what the do-nothing congress will not do. >> reporter: the american association of university women says female workers earn 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. women at the white house earn 88 cents. >> it is better than the national average. >> reporter: but is it fair? republicans argue closing the pay gap could hurt men and women. >> we don't want a law that will make employers afraid to give raises because they're afraid

this might invite a lawsuit. it doesn't help men or women. >> january, february, march, a little bit of april, a woman is working for free. it's not about flexibility. it's about total unfairness. >> reporter: the senate is due to vote on pay equity this week. but that senate bill on pay equity is not expected to pass. >> tracie potts reporting for us this morning. thank you. now for the rest of the gay's 130r9 sports headline, we to alex witt. >> let's get to it. a scary day at the office for dale he weearnhardt jr.. he escapes without injury, but finishes last. not the case for joey logano. he has jeff gordon on the first lap to win the race. his first this year. it hit him right in the head. >> omar enfan day took the fast ball in the face. it smashed his jaw.

he left the game to receive stitches and tests to rule out a concussion. a brawl turns into a trick play for his lady's hand in marriage. come on. she's alarmed watching football. but the footage of this fake may lee, but then she saw smiles. the coach has a sign with his proposal. she says yes. i don't know. anyway, and get a load of this. a numb female golfers weren't too happy with golf digest's main cover girl since she doesn't play professionally. so a florida photographer had some fun with this creating a parody featuring middle age men. one pga golfer gave them a thumbs up calling them the gretzky boys. >> that will sell magazines. alex, thanks so much. tornadoes and flash floods ravaged the southeast on monday leaving two people dead. officials say 9-year-old girl in mississippi was swept away and killed after 7 inches of rain caused flash flooding. another person was killed in atlanta when their car swerved

into an overflowing creek. tornadoes tore the roofs off houses, brought down power lines and even lifted a pickup truck off the road injuring a man and his son. 18 other people were hurt in the spring storm. definitely a rough start to the week. >> enough already. >> and i want to hear more about what you have. >> the good stuff is coming, but the eastern north carolina tornado was pretty strong. the pick ju the pickup truck was lifted into a field. did injure 12. so this morning a lot of reports of really dense fog throughout pennsylvania, new jersey, connecticut, and through southern new england. along with some heavy down pours. still leftover rain along the georgia coast. this will stall out and bring heavy rain from tampa to orlando to daytona beach as we go throughout the day.

so the big storm is over ohio heading up into new england during the day today. the good news is there is no storm behind this. there is mild pacific air coming across the country. and it is going to warm up significantly after the storm. even by this afternoon, mid atlantic should be nice. middle of the country looks great. and tomorrow looks even better. we should see 70s around kansas city, 60s in the east coast. so this is it. the last nasty morning. >> we are in business. done deal. >> spring. >> thank you, bill. details that americans are more confident in the economy plus the battle over equal pay among the sexes gets serious. and nose kisses are the norm even for the most famous royal couple. detail next. i'm beth...

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some stories making news this morning. one month after the disappearance of malaysian airlines flight 370, family members and officials are still searching for answers since a pinger locater detected signals on monday, search crews have

heard nothing further. officials said they are, quote, a lot more optimistic than one week ago. moments after steven richard son popped the question, sparks flew everywhere. the hot air balloon hit live power lines. luckily no one was seriously injured. vandals have taken up smart car flipping. early monday morning, police responded to three instances of the tiny vehicles flipped on their sides. the crimes are being investigated as felony vandalism. the u.s. navy plans to test a futuristic gun at sea in 2016. the electromagnet it tick rail gun can fire a 23 pound projectile at 56 miles per hour. no explosives necessary. the chief researcher says it's technology that will make enemies think twice. and the royal nose rub could be the next big thing. they're doing it right there while touring new zealand. the duke and duchess of

cambridge participated in a traditional greeting that involves the cute little nose kisses. cute as long as you you don't have a cold. is president obama getting in on some health care revenge on republicans? details nest. [ male announcer ] this is jim. a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto. like warfarin, xarelto is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner

for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. so jim's not tied to that monitoring routine. [ gps ] proceed to the designated route. not today. [ male announcer ] for patients currently well managed on warfarin there is limited information on how xarelto and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto with aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto if you have abnormal bleeding. xarelto can cause bleeding, which can be serious and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto

before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto. once-a-day xarelto means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. time for our first look at politics. good morning, ellis. nice to see you. happy national equal pay for

women day. >> oh, am i supposed to feel guilty? i want equal pay for ellis day. >> throw me in there, too. evening the playing field for women especially when it comes to federal contractors. but an analysis says the women who work this obama's white house earn 88 cents for every dollar. >> ouch. >> but then you have the white house spokesperson jay carney saying it isn't 1 oorks but it's better than the national average. and we have many instances where a male and female are getting equal pay. >> that is right. it's a fairly female white house. and particularly if you compare to other parts of government, i swear that the house republican leadership i think has almost as many women as the world wrestling entertainment folks do. so we obviously has a long way to go as a country on that. it's a good issue for dems

honestly. >> the cover of this week's new yorker, did you see it? >> i love it. >> so you have here a dr. obama spoon feeding med zin into it a kiddy mitch mcconnell, john boehner, ted cruz. is this revenge on republicans here on health care? >> the president was pounded for months about how slow will thing is and they surpassed the goal. 7.1 million people signed up. doesn't mean all the problems are solved. but you got to expect the guy to take a little bit of a victory lap after the pounding he'd taken. >> but it's clever how he depicted it how he's dr. obama. and what is interesting also, i was reading the "washington post," it seems like some republicans are changing the language that they're using thinking that this might stick. obamacare might actually sick.

>> well, it's tricky for them because so many republicans have run against obamacare and were expecting the november election to be a referendum on the health care plan. but if people are signing up, particularly watch this, if the people who sign up are actually liking it, boy, that will change the political landscape this fall. >> seems like it with the language they're using changing as far as the gop goes. ellis, thank you so much for being with us. >> and good health to you. still to come here, bill and alex witt are back to unveil the first buzz worthy stories including an april fool's prank that's got over 4 million views. [ 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.

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guess what we're doing? a whole lot of boo-hooing for rob lowe. why? because he's so good looking and he's saying you just don't understand, people, the life that i lead complaining that his good looks, you don't know how hard it is being so happenndsom. >> he has to hide behind glasses. >> he says you wouldn't believe the bias. >> hollywood best men in their 50s, denzel verse rob lowe. >> rob lowe. >> clooney. >> rob lowe. >> tom cruise, rob lowe.

>> tom cruise. >> my wife would struggle with this one, john stay moss, rob lowe. >> rob lowe. >> wow. >> that's all she wrote. so you have seen this prank? >> just went viral. grand rapids, michigan. will is a macroeconomics professor and he has a policy if you get a phone call in class, it goes on speaker. so she gets a call from the pregnancy center saying that she's positive and that she can actually get help. the teacher puts the paper in front of his face and then she finally breaks the news to himd. >> i already know what i'm going to name the baby. first name will be april and the middle name will be fool's. >> that's pretty good. >> he was a great sport about

it. if worked. >> that was a great idea. like this is what we're going to do. okay. so "dancing with the stars". >> dancing with the stars. the superstar has to be meryl davis. she was of course the gold winning ice dancer. she's leaving her partner charlie white in the dust. she's not doing so well. but the big thing this week, she danced with the two brothers last week she was with max, she got three tens and a nine. and this week, switched which is i guess a new thing this season, switched have value, did the hot tango, she got again three tens and a nine. >> i don't watch the show, but honestly, i couldn't tell you who was the -- >> i think she'll win. >> this isn't really fair to him either. because now like they're supposed to be the couple that skates together. and now it's like she's the star. >> out for me.

all about me. >> cansing with t inin inin ini guys. >> i still think john stay suppo stamos is better looking. rob lowe. "way too early" starts right now. saved by harrison. takes the shot. back out to andrew for the three. and that one is off. with five seconds in this mo improbable tournament run, comes to an end with a uconn championship. the huskies once again are in basketball heaven. >> there we have it, the uconn huskies beat uk taking the national title and complete a bracket busting march madness to remember. can the uconn women do the same thing tonight. and then overseas, is more of ukraine slipping in to

russian control. the new call for action. and back here at home, joe just being joe. the vice president's new moment when talking about teachers. will his wife give him an a for effort. this is "way too early". good morning, it is tuesday, april 8. welcome to "way too early". can the ladies do it tonight is this we'll talk about it coming up. but we start with oscar pistorius who is testifying this morning for the second time in his own trial at this stage. prosecutors are hoping to shed more light on the relationship between pistorius and his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. and speaking to the court, pistorius said, quote, if anything, i was more into her at times than she was with me. pistorius also tried to explain a text message