that does it for us tonight. rachel will be back in this chair tomorrow night and i'll see you on my show "up." "first look" is up next. good tuesday morning. right now on "first look," tense phone call. russia's president claims the u.s. is misinformed about what is really going on in ukraine. but president obama vows serious consequences if russia persists militarily. boston strong. one year ago, terror struck at the finish line of the boston marathon. today the incredible recovery of those impacted most by the bombing. severe weather, freezing temperatures, major damage, flooding and thunderstorms, all ahead today. thanks for joining us. in their first phone call in more than two weeks, president obama warned putin that there will be serious cause for further actions in ukraine.

meanwhile separatists seized more government buildings in eastern ukraine. president obama is urging putin to use his influence to convince them to stand down. so let's get right to to nbc's danielle leigh. good morning. did this phone call do anything to really ease those tensions between the u.s. and russia? >> good morning. well, they definitely didn't seem to agree on much. but the good news is this got the conversation going and those talks will continue later this week in geneva. in ukraine, protesters upset about the government's lack of action rallied through the night. pro russian separatists have confiscated more buildings in eastern ukraine. the kiev government warned it would send troops to retal great, but so far hasn't followed through. the white house expressed growing concerns rush is that is behind the highly organized separatists. >> the evidence is compelling that russia is supporti ining t

efforts. >> reporter: adding to the tensions, a russian attack plane made several unauthorized passes over ap-american warship at sea. in a frank phone call, president obama and putin talked. russia says putin denied responsibility for the protests. and called on the president to prevent the use of force. both sides will continue talks in an emergency meeting in geneva this will thursday. it's an opportunity for dialogue, and that's why we're holding the meeting. the hope is to deescalate the situation, but the white house is also considering additional steps and new sanctions. vice president joe biden meets with secretary of state john kerry for breakfast this morning and the situation in ukraine is sure to come up. >> no doubt. thank you. it's been a year since the tragic boston marathon bombings. and today the city pauses on remember the three people who died, the 260 people who were hurt, and the officers and first responders who helped them. chris malone is live in boston

ahead of today's events. good morning to you. it's sure to be an emotional day. >> reporter: it certainly will be an emotional day here. the city of boston stops to remember those who died, to honor those who survived, and to give thanks to every who has helped the city heal. in boston, it's a day to look back and to look forward. as the city prepares for next week's marathon, it pauses to remember what happened last year when two bomb blasts exploded near the finish line, changes the lives and city forever. >> it will be a hard day, but it's an important step in the healing process. >> reporter: it's been a year filled with sorrow and also with hope. some survivors spent weeks in the hospital adjusting to new realities, getting use aed to amputations, scars and prosthetics. now facing the reality that the day on the calendar is here

again when their lives so drastically changed. >> feels like a month gone by because everything has been so quick. i've been doing so much. kind of fighting yourself to move forward. >> they will honor those who died while simply watching the marathon. they will also remember m.i.t. police officer sean collier shot and killed as the bombing suspects tried to flee the city. regardless of what happened a year ago, the city is resolute to carry on as it always has. 9,000 more runners than last year will take to the streets next week. many running to honor the victims. others still to show that fear will not win out. >> boston is a resilient town. we bounced back from there. always in our hearts and minds. boston strong lives on. >> reporter: showing strength simply by putting one foot in front of the other, regardless of how hard that might be.

two registered sex offenders are suspected serial killers. police say they were wearing gps trackers when the crimes were committed. anaheim police have charged them with the rains oig and murders of four women. they were out on parole wearing gps bracelets and had been checking in with police every 30 days per the rules of their release. at a news conference monday, authorities said they had no reason to watch them more closely and did not explain how they were able to carry out the killings while being monitored. we'll shift gears now and move on to sports. and my friend richard lui. >> good tuesday to you. let's talk about the nba playoffs. picture set in the west. home cooking not enough there, memphis beating phoenix at home, 97-91. memphis gets its eighth playoff spot. and in the east, indiana gets the number one seed after washington beats miami.

114-93 there. and it might be wearing retro jordan sneak ners the playoffs maybe. 31 styles of jordans on sale april 19th. and these are originals, not remakes. they don't got any sizes for you, though. mostly large sizes will be available. maybe we can cut them in half for you. it was a home run derby between cincinnati and pittsburgh. combined ten homers in just six innings. heavy rain suspended play, so they have lee ihave three innin when play resumes. and puig's amazing story, sources saying smugglers held puig for a quarter million dollar ransom for getting him out of cuba. then miami financiers payed a crew to save puig from his captors later. and as we know, puig signed a $42 million contract at the end of this amazing story. >> soundslike a movie.

>> so if your goal is unprotected and your opponent is about to score, what do you do? one player on the side lines still in his warm-up gear jumps in for the illegal block. opponent gets a penalty kick. they miss it, though. his team loses anyway. cheating does not pay, my friend. >> he's changing the plays. >> you run the play i call. >> so that is fictional, in the movie, he forgets plays, he didn't listen to his coach. as the nfl draft nears, a lot of comparisons being made. saying teddy bridge watwater ise in the movie. >> not a good comparison. thank you. earlier this morning, a blood moon was visible across

the country. while in the mid eclipse stage, the moon was bathed in a beautiful red glow. that reddish orange hue was you caused by sunrises and sunsets reflecting off the lunar surface. it's now over, but if you missed it, the blood moon will return on october 8. so you have another chance. meanwhile, though, extreme weather tore through parts of the mississippi gulf coast last night. straight line winds overturned about 20 to 30 rvs in one community. the santa maria rv park was hit with 50-mile-per-hour winds. will this all came when a strong line of thunderstorms moved through jackson county. the national weather service doesn't think it was a tornado, but there were todowned trees a power lines. two minor injuries have been reported. bill karins is watching all of this including that blood moon that we actually didn't get a chance to see.

>> not many on the east coast did. the same storm we just showed you you pictures from caused to be cloudy. >> we have to wait until october. >> or see a million pictures of it today. let's talk about where we'll see the rain moving next. it will be definitely a changing weather pattern. look how cold it is in the midwest this morning. 38 in dallas, 60 th 0 in boston. all the warm air on the east coast, all the cold air soon to move in, though. it snowed overnight in detroit, it is snowing in ohio right now from columbus down to louisville. we even have a band of snow coming off of lake michigan. and a lot of rain to the south. we have freeze warnings from dallas all the way through the deep south. pretty much goes all the way to d.c.. so in other words, it's very cold behind the rain. do expect airport delays today and periods of heavy rain all the way from georgia to florida right up the east coast. and if you're in the northeast,

no jacket this morning. you will need hat and governlov tomorrow morning. >> all right. thank you, bill. murder suspect oscar pistorius is being accused of using emotional outbursts in court as a way to dodge tough questions. plus, driver beware. sound cannons are being fired directly at motorists to get them to slow down. [ female announcer ] who are we?

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time for your first look at business. >> good morning. we'll begin with a story on social security. the social security administration is halting a program under which thousands of people had their tax refunds seized to pay off old debts. social security recipients have complained, they have been forced to give back money that was stips paid to their parents when they were children. google updates terms of service for g-mail telling users their e-mails are being

automatically scanned to create targeted ads. users say the practice violates their privacy, but google says they consented as part of the e-mail delivery process. and rising rents are pricing people out of many markets. the average rent in 90 cities is more than 30% of a person's medium gross income. a reason for the squeeze, more americans tip to represent instead of buy. some stories also making news this morning, oscar pistorius continued to break down in tears during cross-examination monday just as his defense began to break down, as well. the lead prosecutor accused pistorius of using his emotions as a shield and claimed he has changed his defense multiple times. >> you perceived an attack, that you fired at the attacker to kill him. that's not try. am i right? >> i didn't try to kill anyone, my lady. >> all to ward off an attack.

>> my lady, i thought it was somebody coming out to attack me, so i fired my firearm. >> your defense has now changed, sir. from self-defense to involuntary action. >> remember that 14-year-old girl who sent a tweet to american airlines claiming to be part of a terrorist plot? she has been arrested by dutch police after sending the tweet in question, the girl began to backtrack saying she made a dumb joke. but the airline that you now been inundated by similar tweets from copycats. the "washington post" and guardian were awarded the pulitzer prize monday for their articles on the nsa surveillance programs. these articles were based on documents leaked by edward snowden and not everyone is happy about the awards. peter king calls it a disgrace.

slow vehicles ahead. slow vehicles ahead. >> that, my friends is the song drivers in missouri will hear if they're driving too fast in a construction zone. the state department of transportation will begin using military grade sound cannons to penetrate the windshields of cars and warn motorists that they are going too fast. these devices can hit 153 decibels which equates to hearing a fire work from three feet away. straight ahead, scrambled politics including something called electile dysfunction and speaker john boehner. to the next level. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams

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nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? don't wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. you now here is your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. an arizona woman accused of throwing that shoe at hillary clinton during a speech in las vegas now faces federal charges and could get up to two years in federal prison. could chelsea clinton run for mayor or u.s. senate some day? in an interview she said i live in a city and state and country where i support my elected representatives. if at some point that weren't the case, maybe then i'd have to ask and answer the question for myself and come to a different answer.

$2.4 million, that is how much georgia democrat and u.s. senate candidate michelle nunn raised, bringing the total to a whopping $5.7 million. and mitch mcconnell is also raking in the funds. his campaign has raised $2.4 million since january. in an interview with the "los angeles times," hawaii governor questioned the legitimacy of the death bed request to have congresswoman chosen to succeed him. governor abercrombie instead appointed brian schatz who is facing a primary race. a huge number out of a new quinnipiac university poll, 93% of new jersey voters say they're stronger than the storm and do not expect to change vacation plans this summer because of

remaining damage from hurricane sandy. house speaker john boehner's tea party primary opponent has a new ciallis inspired ad. apparently constituents can treat their electile dysfunction by not giving boehner a 13th time. >> if you have a boehner lasting longer than 23 years, seek immediate medical attention because boehner shouldn't counties chickens before they hatch. >> and that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. i'm joined now by columnist ellis th ellis hanigan. >> i think the blood is flowing to his brain very well. i think it's great.

electile disfunction, really? >> first of all, you can make one of these ads today so cheaply. you can throw it up on youtube for no money at all. and then you and i are talking about it in big time television. it gets a ton of publicity. this is a guy who has very little chance of winning. i think he had $1600 in the bank at the end of last year. so it's a hail mary pass of an ad. but you got to give him credit for creativity. >> creativity indeed. all right. let's shift to the serious matter of ukraine. because president obama spoke with russian president putin. should we consider it somewhat a positive sign that the two are still taking each other's calls? >> well, i like the fact that you putin is calling the white house. it shows he has shall concern about what we think. frankly, i wish he had a little bit more concern. because the actions on the ground there in eastern ukraine are very troubling. they're doing some of the same

stuff we saw in crimea and they seem pretty aggressive. the last time it didn't work out well. so, yes, it's good they're talking, but i'd rather have some better action. >> so even though these lines of communication are open, it doesn't really seem like much progress is being made. so what is being done on that front? it seems like it's threat after threat. if you don't do this, we'll do this. are they finding any common ground? >> i'm doubtful because i listen to the reports very closely from the two sides after the call. and it's like they were on different phone calls. the white house expressing some kind of positive feelings. russians giving you the sense that they don't think there is any problem at all. they're just over there trying to quell unrest. i don't know what world they're living in, but i think we have a long way to go. >> all right. have fun down there in new orleans. >> good to see you. coming up, bill and richard are back for first buzz. and the big stories that caught our eyes this morning.

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time for first buzz. this one just makes you cringe. >> it's been happening the last four days. this is wheel of fortune. college competition. watch this. >> mythological hero ahiles. >> a freshman not winning.

he doesn't know who achilles is, but you have to have a generally accepted pronunciation. he's a smart guy. he's a presidential scholar. a smart guy. >> he's not the only one who has missed out on a million bucks. there is a guy in pennsylvania, works at a veeps store, plays the same numbers every single day. bought $25, each worth $50,000. that added up to $1.25 million. but misread the numbers when he saw the winning numbers, he thought he didn't win, so he threw the tickets away and he missed out on $1.25 million. >> doesn't seem right. >> it's too late. >> but it's announced once again, only 2 1/2 weeks away from the kentucky derby.

the mint jute minute jew mint j lip once again for sale. >> i'm not paying $1,000 for a drink, 24 though. it's not often that you suddenly have in a variety of cities all at the same time a bunch of men wearing military gear without insignias including bulletproof vests sprout up against in the form of protests. kind of a heavy handed approach, but an approach that russia has familiarity with in the past. but it's not fooling anybody. >> these are telling observations. so will u.n. peace keepers ultimately end in ukraine to quash the unrest? plus president obama and putin's new chat. details from the phone a friend call. and then the high tech sonar sub

searching for flight 370 falls short. is the remote spot in the indian ocean just too deep for successful recovery of debris? and the video of ultimate determine nation for man versus fence. the surprise ending that nobody predicted. this is way too early. good morning. it's tuesday, april 15. welcome it "way too early," the show that doesn't climb fences, but does mend them game of thrones style. we have the ukranian president asking for the u.n. to send peace keepers to the eastern part of that country. separatists are seizing more government buildings there and yesterday it was a police station. now though it is unverified, there is video that appears to show ukranian police being given orders by