tomorrow is the day to spill it. all of this is going to play out 12 hours from now. and you can be sure that we will be watching. and that does it for us tonight. rachel's going to be back in this seat tomorrow, and i will see you next weekend on my show. rachel will be back tomorrow. and up next, "first look." good tuesday morning, right now on "first look," what caused that terrifying fall at the circus sunday. we'll tell you what investigators think is to blame. chilling message. what an islamic leader in nigeria is threatening to do with 300 kidnapped school girls. and supreme court rules on whether it's okay to start meetings with a prayer. plus a colorado pilot is lucky to be alive. airline fees hit another all-time high. and the stars come out for one of fashion's biggest events. good morning to you, i'm richard lui. we start with this. a snapped clip may be to blame for the high wire accident that

sent eight acrobats plummeting in rhode island. a carabiner which is a common clip was found in pieces on the ground after the accident. all eight acrobats are still hospitalized this morning. four in good condition, four in serious. ron mott has more detail. >> reporter: it's hailed as a human chandelier. eight females hanging just by their air. but it turned frightening in a flash. their fall cushioned only by a thin rubber mat leaving them and a male performer below with multiple broken bones and in one case internal bleeding. >> they're in shock. they didn't expect their equipment to fail. >> reporter: officials are focusing on the attachment point affixed to the rafters. the fire chief said a single carabiner clip, a steel hook about five inches long and half inch thick designed to hold 10,000 pounds broke.

>> when you get into those kinds of heights with people, it's dangerous. it's a dangerous occupation. >> reporter: authorities say the hair-hanging apparatus weighed about 1,500 pounds, fully loaded. the nine performers are mostly foreign nationals. viktoriya medeiros who designed the act and rigging with her husband was also hurt. the show's producer says the hair-hanging feat is new this year successfully performed about 150 times before collapsing sunday injuring the performers. >> they're just incredibly, just struck by their strength and spirit and just the sense of community and family that we have here at ringling bros. and their determination is incredible. >> reporter: the show goes on to hartford, connecticut, but without this attraction. ron mott, providence. the leader of the islamist militant group boko haram threatens to sell the girls kidnapped a week ago. they also promise to abduct more

girls. here's nbc's ann curry. >> reporter: the leader of the militant islamic group boko haram bragging that he was behind the kidnappings. i abducted your girls, he said. i will sell them in the market by allah. i will sell women. more than 300 girls ages 15 to 18 were taken by force from their government boarding school in nigeria three weeks ago. some escaped, but well over 200 are still missing. officials in neighboring cameroon tell nbc news some have already been sold across the boshder. their disappearance triggered outrage across nigeria and now the outrage has gone global. nigeria's government seems powerless to take on the mi militants who have killed thousands since 2009. >> they operate like their own country within a country. and they do not care.

they have more power than the government at this point. >> reporter: and the leader's comments and behavior suggest he cannot easily be reasoned with. western-style education should end, he said. girls, you should all go and get married. the u.s. calls the kidnappings an outrage and a tragedy but is not involved militarily and is not providing overhead surveillance saying nigeria hasn't asked. >> the state department has been in regular touch with the nigerian government about what we might do to help support its efforts to help find and free these young women. >> reporter: for now many fear where the girls are, what their fates might be, and when if ever they might be seen again. now to a 5-4 decision. the supreme court weighing in on a matter of church and state. it ruled local governments do not violate the constitution by starting their meetings where a prayer. the rochester's board starts

with a prayer that is mostly christian. the prayer does not denigrate nonbelievers or religious minorities, threaten damnation, or preach conversion then it is acceptable. the number of uninsured has dropped to a five-year low. it's from a poll the white house often cites to show obamacare is working. gallup finding adults without insurance in april was 13.4%. it dropped nearly 4 percentage points from the end of 2013. rates among blacks, hispanics, and the poor experienced the steepest decreases. this new number is also the l lowest uninsured rate since it was started being tracked in 2008. healthcare.gov adoption state by state has led to another development. massachusetts officials plan to get rid of romneycare and merge with the federal enrollment site. a quick-thinking pilot survives a crash landing with a

dramatic escape. witnesses say the single engine plane began trailing smoke as it towed an advertising banner. shortly afterward the plane began a nose dive. it slammed into a two-story house. luckily no one was home. the pilot escaped with only minor injuries. so worsening weather in oklahoma is fueling yet more wildfires jumping lines and families having to evacuate. more than 30 structures have been destroyed so far. for much of today, winds could reach 30 miles an hour. temperatures 90-plus degrees in places. and humidity below 10%. residents north of the flames had been told to leave their homes. so far more than 100 firefighters have been treated for smoke inhalation. the guthrie county fire department says one person has died. let's get the latest from the sports.

>> in los angeles they did not miss a beat against oklahoma city. the clippers hit 15 three pointers. on the fence they get 23 points off turnovers. it's 122-105. l.a. takes game one. this was oklahoma city's worst playoff loss at home. washington gets their first second-round win in 32 years. indiana trailed 13 points out of the first half and never recovered. washington starters got double figures and shut down the comeback. outrebounding them. wizards win game one 102-96. all right. so the new york/pittsburgh series is no longer tied. the penguins net two scores and that is all they need. they win 2-0 to go up two games to one. back to l.a. their 3-1 win over anaheim makes it six straight. they lead the series 2-0.

are you ready for some football? bad news for michael sam. the openly gay prospect is a fifth rounder at best or may go undrafted according to 21 scouts polled by the milwaukee journal sentinel. if drafted this week, sam will be the nfl's first openly gay player. philadelphia has an afghanistan war vet ready to suit up for next season's gridiron battles. captain armando nueva was a westpoint grad. he signed with the team on monday. this after the army ranger served three tours and received a bronze star for saving soldiers during a firefight. >> when you come here to play in new york or certain stadiums, they talk about you, they talk about your mother. you know, it's olivia, by the way, not dolores. just to clarify.

>> you know what, richard? nothing funny about this story. oregon state fired craig robinson after six seasons. the president's brother-in-law. no worries. not going to be needing government assistance. the former basketball coach is owed $4 million. >> not bad. >> not at all. and finally new york city honored mariano rivera with his own street. the street outside yankees stadium once known as river avenue is now known as rivera avenue. >> just add the "a." >> next he'll be going for governor and everybody will vote for him. >> popular guy. >> he's a guy everybody loves. >> he's humble. >> he could run for governor. >> for being that awesome and great at your craft, so humble. >> you want to talk weather? >> a little bit. we can't win. we had a horrible winter and then tornadoes. now we're dealing with fires especially in oklahoma. could deal with more brushfires

today. it's a very warm morning across the country. you don't even need your jacket in kansas city, phoenix, dallas, san antonio, houston, new orleans through atlanta. it's a warm day. high fire danger. we have a new storm kicking out of california. out ahead of it with the southerly gusty winds. everywhere in red is under a high fire danger, red flag warning for today. in those areas, what that means is there's low humidity. and if fires do form, they would spread rapidly. they're telling people do not do any controlled burned or try to avoid burning anything outside. last night we had some rain move through the washington, d.c. area. even some thunderstorms. that is now heading out to the chesapeake. so your forecast for your tuesday, very warm in the south and sunny and dry. northeast, not bad. we do have to watch that fire danger in the central plains. it's not until tomorrow, richard, into late evening. then thursday severe weather in

the middle of the country. but not too many tornadoes. >> so oklahoma has to wait another day or so then. >> yeah. they have a chance for a bit of rain, but not enough to make a difference. coming up, coca-cola and pepsi co. work to get rid of the flame retardant in their drinks. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ]

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now to some developing stories we're following. ukraine sending forces to port of odessa to keep it from being lost to russia. 46 people have been killed since last friday when clashes broke out with pro-russian forces. meanwhile, "the new york times" reports the white house is lobbying u.s. executives to skip an international economic forum hosted by vladimir putin in russia this month. the companies include goldman sachs, pepsico, and morgan stanley. the spread of polio is declared a health emergency. pakistan, syria, and cameroon have allowed the paralyzing virus to spread to fragile countries.

pepsico is joining coca-cola to help remove vegetable oil from the rest of its drinks. it was linked to flame retardants. at a white house event marking cinco de mayo, president obama told advocates they should press republicans to push immigration laws. and marked the holiday by re-enacting the victory over france in 1862. all right. just ahead, we'll talk to alice about the start of the 2014 primary season today and the tea party's chances this time around. i'm their mom at the playground

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ask your doctor about experiencing cialis for daily use and a free 30-tablet trial. okay. here's your daily dose of scrambled politics. rick santorum thinks republicans should support raising the minimum wage. >> let's not make this argument that we're for the blue collar guy but we're against any minimum wage increase ever. it just makes no sense. >> hillary clinton will make her first political engagement of the year. it's a fund raising event may 16th for her daughter's mother-in-law march ye margolies. vice president joe biden also hits the road. he'll deliver the commencement address at the university of south carolina. a new pew research poll finds republicans are beating democrats for the 2014 midterms. 40% of voters say they would

vote for the gop candidate in their district. margin of error plus or minus 3%. republicans voted down a tea party backed resolution to secede. also called for legislation to nullify obamacare. common core education standards and the use of drones in the state. the federal government ordering more than 1,000 pounds of medical marijuana for research on the heels of a new rule from the drug enforcement administration that increases the government's production quota from 21 kilograms to 650 kilograms. and canadian pop singer ai lan this morissette gets political here. she composed a campaign song for marianne williamson. take a listen. ♪ reactivate our nation

♪ we ignite our generation today ♪ >> i wonder if that's a first. i haven't heard something like that before. we'll see how that works out. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. it's being called the republican civil war and today the first battles the primary race begins. and also the balance of power within the republican party as the tea party tries for a three-peat, if you will, on election influence. news day columnist ellis henican joins us this morning. >> bring it or, richard. this is going to be fun. come on. >> it starts today. when we look at ohio, we've got a senate race going on, congressional race as well. and we've got some key establishment funding at play here trying to push out those tea party influences. if it turns out that the

establishment candidates here win what's that say for the rest of the country and 2014? >> it says the tea party might be on the ropes a bit. let's watch north carolina. that's the one to keep your eye on today. as you know, these business-oriented republicans have had a tough time. they've got all the money, but the passion has been on the tea party side. so the chamber of commerce types have had trouble figuring out how they actually influence. it looks like they might be smiling this evening in north carolina. >> we'll see how big that wave or what's left of that 2010 wave. >> that is right. mr. tillis, you know, he's got to get over this 40% threshold to avoid a runoff. it's looking like he might be headed in that direction. >> okay. so the hill leads with this on the 2014 elections. this is their headline. election year benghazi probe is risk for both gop, democrats. this is looking at the elections

in 2014. is this boehner caving in here if this were to happen to tea party efforts? in the white house they could try to boycott these hearings as well. what happens in the end? who's going to be the winner? >> look at it from both sides. the republicans need to conservative energy and the tea party plays right to that red meat stuff. so they want to keep those people fired up so they get out to the polls. but they have a risk at the same time because you know what? this benghazi push doesn't really play to the middle moderate kind of people. so the demes have to make sure they don't ignore it and the republicans have to make sure they don't go too far. >> it is a delicate line to walk down. when we think about the other issues going back to north carolina, obamacare, the economy. and we've had number -- those are very local things. these are state, local races we're talking about in midterms. >> stuff normal people care about. >> right, right, right. look at the new numbers we've got out on friday. we've got the new poll that came

out over the last 24 hours. which way is this going to play? >> you think i know? come on. >> that's why you're here. >> all of the signs right now point that it's going to be an easier year for republicans. the generic polls are getting stronger for republicans, democrats have not done as good a job making their case yet. so if you're going to bet, you have to say the momentum is going that way. but richard, we've got months. what will we talk about if we knew already? >> all right. well, we have time to talk about it. >> see you soon. >> ellis, thank you so much. appreciate your time today. coming up, bill and betty are back talking about a critic job posting and a hail mary touchdown too good to be true and it just might be. [ dennis ] it's always the same dilemma --

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first buzz. betty, we'll start with you because i know you're good with critic grams. really good. >> really good at that. i'm a cryptic person. the nsa is good. take a look at this tweet they sent out. it looks like they did a pocket dial. but no, there's really something in that. and when you decode it. >> reporter: what is that? >> richard lui is a spy. >> that too, but when you decrypt it, here's what it reads. want to the what it takes to work at nsa? check back each monday in may as we explore careers essential to protecting our nation. you look at that and figure wla are they talking about. but only the best and brightest understood. >> i thought you waved your magic wand and decrypted it for us. >> to be a good programmer and

they call you up saying come work with us. it hasn't happened yet. >> not yet. so you want to talk about -- this is not too cryptic because it's very obvious. this is a great throw and a great catch. >> is it though? >> i don't know. >> let's take a look. a high school senior in texas. he throws himself a 50-yard hail mary pass. he's a track star, great wide receiver. >> he threw himself? >> he posted this vine. gary haynes is his name. a lot of people are not believing it. >> i was going to say how is that possible. >> you think he threw it off to the right and somebody else is throwing that. >> i see what you're saying. would it be policy if he threw it really high up? >> it is physically possible, but he would have to have such a great arm. >> you're jealous, bill. >> i could watch it 30 more times. i want to finish with this. the oldest man in the united states right now, he is my neighbor in the upper west side. >> really? >> that's right. his name is alex imich.

he is a week shy of his 112th birthday. he asked his secret to living long. he said i don't know. i simply didn't die earlier. >> that's a good point. >> i'm richard lui. this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" with thomas roberts, that starts right now. ♪ you want to talk about disrespect? i see what you're writing down there. you wrote down blah blah blah for everything she said. why are you not respecting her by writing that on your note pad? >> we're going to move on. i'm going to ask a question. if you answer respectfully, we might -- >> you have to give respect in order to get respect. >> whoa. in oregon a u.s. senate candidate explodes over one reporter's note taking. but you'll never guess how that exchange ends. the #bring back our girls explodes on social media as nearly 300 nigerian school girls are kidnapped.

and potential new answers for how this high wire act went so wrong at a rhode island circus. the answers we have. this is "way too early." ♪ hey, everyone. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is tuesday, may 6 president then welcome to "way too early" the show that always flies coach but ask for the exit row because the leg room is amazing. we're going to start talking about b a nigerian terror group that kidnaps hundreds of girls and threatens to sell them into slavery. the leader of boko haram releasing this video yesterday. more than 300 teen girls were taken from their boarding school by militants who oppose western education. they consider it to be a sin. some of those girls