hudson, captain sullenberger, is going to be a guest on ed schultz's show tonight talking about union busting politics in america right now. this is an interview i have been looking forward to for a very long time. i am so happy ed is the guy who got this interview and i hope you keep it right here and watch. drawing the line. how far should the u.s. go in helping the rebels? libya? cobra in custody, a deadly snake that had escaped from a new york zoo is found. and he's doing what? find out what one tradition prince william will not be following is. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "first look" on mcht s nbc.

we begin with to armor not to arm. there is a fierce debate in washington this morning about whether to supply weapons to disorganized rebels in libya who are losing momentum to gadhafi forces. defense secretary roberts gates and joint chief admiral mullen argued forcefully against supplying u.s. arms. the white house has said repeatedly, it has not ruled out arming libya's opposition. libyan state tv is quoting gadhafi saying he is not the one who should resign, but rather the western leaders who have decimated his military. after a former foreign minister and u.n. general assembly president fled tripoli. three weeks after a devastating earthquake and

tsunami, there are new signs this morning that japan is facing a long-term nuclear crisis. for the first time, officials have detected radiation exceeding government safety limits underneath the groundwater in the fukushima plant. according to officials, drinking water has not been affected. pumps are being air lifted from the u.s. to japan to help cool down reactors. officials say radiation concerns are hampering efforts to recover the bodies of some 1,000 victims of the disaster lying within the leaking plant's evacuation zone. back here at home, federal workers wonder whether a budget stalemate will put them out of work due to shutdown. there are signs of a possible compromise. for more, we go to tracie potts in washington. >> reporter: veronica, good morning. a hint from republicans that they may be much more flexible than originally thought when it comes to making these big cuts, $61 billion from the budget. house speaker john boehner

telling reporters that we can't impose our will on democrats or the white house. he has denied that his party will scale back significantly on those cuts by half, but he did not say they're nonnegotiable. he said their goal is to get a budget and not to shut down the government. the republican party split, the republican leadership under pressure from tea party members and activists who have been demonstrating here saying they were sent to washington to make big changes and not to scale back. the new deadline, april 9th. that is the date that the current temporary funding runs out and both sides have been working to come up with a permanent budget for this year as opposed to yet another extension. democrats say their full list of cuts is not in yet, but they are looking at possibly cutting $3 billion from the pentagon. veronica. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you.

>> last night joe walsh was asked if he thinks the massive cuts will be approved by the senate. >> it's been 40 days since we passed a continuing resolution that cut spending and funded government for the rest of the year. and the senate has given us nothing in response to that. so here we're going to go again and we're going to put it in front of them again because the american people want us to do that. and the american people want the senate to respond with something. >> and you know that the senate has to respond, yyou know it's impossible for your body to pass a bill and to become law. >> absolutely. but here is the broader point. we want a response. you can agree or disagree with us, but the only ones who have been talking for the last 40 days are the house republicans. the president of the united states should be ashamed of himself because he sat back and has just let this play out. the senate can testimodemocrats

d denial. their only play here is to shut down the government, to make republicans look like the bad guys. >> you don't want to miss the last word with lawyrence o'donnell week nights only on ms mb nbc, the place for politics. we now know who the newest american millions are. revealing themselves, a lucky group of co-workers who have tough decisions to make. chris clackum reports. >> reporter: seven say the workers from albany, each getting a share of the $319 million mega million jackpot. their office pool finally paid off. >> i checked the ticket and i rechecked it and rechecked it and rechecked it and couldn't bheef it was real. >> reporter: the winning ticket was purchased at this news

center by mike, who almost lost out when tempted by a candy bar. >> i was sort of like pulling myself out of the line to get a candy bar. this guy jumps in front of me and i'm like maybe i should say something. that was pretty rude, but i was behaving myself. >> reporter: and for his good behavior, they'll each take home $19 million. after taxes. co-winner gabrielle was the first to find out they had won after watching last friday's drawing. then leaving a co-worker this message. >> i hope you were in the pool because i think we won. >> i'm frantic now. i put in two zip lock bags, put it in a bucket of bird foond and hid if in my basement. >> reporter: the only also don't the know what to do about other co-workers who usually participate but did not this time. north have they decided whether

to return to their jobs. now that they each have a slice of a fortune. chris clackum, nbc news. >> some people are so lucky. here is your first look at some of the other news going on around america. a line of severe weather swept across florida yesterday. powerful thunderstorms and heavy winds ripped the roof off several homes, flipped small planes and caused severe flooding in some areas. downed power lines left tens of thousands without electricity. at least five tornados were confirmed to have touched down across the region. in washington state, four avalanches took over portions of the roadway early thursday morning near stevens pass. the first snow slide hit highway 2 around 5:00 p.m. and covered all lanes about 15 feet deep. no one was injured. meanwhile, flood warnings are in place for several swollen rivers that flow off the swollen cascades after two days of heavy rain. in massachusetts, the snow is piling up in new bedford as

residents brace for the brunt of a new storm working its way off the east coast. some areas reported up to 3 inches of the heavy white stuff, causing forecasters to warn of potential hazards from falling tree lines and power limbs. the great cobra hunt for the bronx zoo has come to an end. the snake was found just a few feet from its enclosure. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. all right, what is it looking like out there? >> the forecast has changed a little bit. the areas in new england as far as vermont, new hampshire, maine, you're still going to get a big storm out of this. but the forecast has changed a little bit. it was a little too warm. we didn't get the snow that was expected from albany through the hudson valley, poconos,

connecticut, long island. you're not getting anything at all. this is primarily a northern new england storm out there today. it's still raining in areas like new york city and philadelphia and up here in the hudson valley, but as far as the snow, the only big accumulations will be from worcester, boston, northwards up into vermont, new hampshire and definitely up there in maine. the entire state of maine could pick up heavy snow. that's the white on this map. boston is right on the line. south of boston, you went over to rain. north of boston, you got heavy wet snow coming down. we've gone back and forth from snow to rain to sleet and right now we're back to snow. areas of western mass, already reports of four to six inches at the higher elevations. so the higher elevations are getting the heavy snow and later on today, just all of new hampshire and maine, especially the mountainous areas will get

nailed with possibly up to a foot of snow. so here is your forecast. bangor, maine, 10 to 14 for you. concord, 6 to 10. worcester, about 4 to 8. boston, a slushy 2 to 4. albany, not much at all for you. maybe 1 to 2 inches. and we'll talk more about this coming up, but it's very warm in certain spots. record highs from texas to california. >> that is so unfair. this is the part where you go april fool's, right? >> i wish, but the weekend forecast looks pretty good. >> okay, good. wall street ends march like a lion, the price of oil roars upwards and one of the most expensive homes in the world? your morning business headlines are straight ahead. coming up, opening day in the big leagues and you won't believe what one player said about his injured teammate. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ sneezes ] allergies?

you think i have allergies? you're sneezing. i'm allergic to you. doubtful, you love me. hey, you can't take allegra with fruit juice. what? yeah, it's on the label. really? here, there's nothing about juice on the zyrtec® label. what? labels are meant to be read. i'd be lost without you. i knew you weren't allergic to me. [ sneezes ] you know, you can't take allegra with orange juice. both: really? fyi. [ male announcer ] get zyrtec®'s proven allergy relief and love the air®. a living, breathing intelligence that's helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn...

♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world...work. rethink possible. helping business, and the world...work. funny how nature just knows how to make things that are good for you. new v8 v-fusion + tea. one combined serving of vegetables and fruit with the goodness of green tea and powerful antioxidants. refreshingly good.

welcome back for "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top

headlines this morning. after weeks of pro labor protests, ohio governor john kasich has signed a controversial bill into law limiting collective bargaining rights for some 350,000 workers, including firefighters and police officers. new government figures show highway deaths have fell to the lowest level in 60 years. thanks to seat belt use, safer vehicles and efforts to prevent drunk driving. the transportation department estimates that just under 33,000 people were killed on american roads last year, a figure that is down around 3% from 2009. a federal judge has sentenced two former new orleans police officers to lengthy prison terms for killing an unarmed civilian and burning his body in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. one of the officers was sentenced to 25 years. the other, 17 years. and once england's prince william says i do to fiancee kate middleton at the end of the

month, we can confirm one thing he won't do. he won't wear a wedding ring. while most men in the royal family have worn wedding bands, palace officials say in this case it is a matter of personal preference. the dow opens at 12,319 after dropping for points thursday. the s&p shed 2 points, but the nasdaq added 4. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 46 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 274. wall street ended the day mixed thursday. but after a tumultuous month, stocks ended the year's first quarter in great shape. the dow had its best start to the year since 1999 rising 6.4% in the first four months. the broader s&p 500 rose 5.4% and the nasdaq just under 5%. stocks swung between small ups and downs thursday as traders eyed the price of oil. it rose $2.45, more than 2%, to

settle near $107 a barrel. investors hedge their bets ahead of today's key government report for employment in march. economists suspect the nation added 185,000 jobs last month and that unemployment remained at 8.9%. if so, february and march will mark the best two-month stretch for hiring since the recession began. berkshire hathway's class b shares fell more than 2% a day after the resignation of david sokol, likely thought to be the likely successor to warren buffett. sokol revealed he bought shares in a company before pushing buffett to buy it. the world trade organization revealed boeing received at least $5.3 billion in illegal government subsidies to develop and build new planes. finally, what housing slump? a russian millionaire bought a

lavish 25,500 square foot single family mansion in silicon valley for $100 million. one of the largest home sales in u.s. history. wow. in health news, prostate cancer testing provides evidence that getting screened doesn't cut the chances of dying from the disease. the study found no difference in the rate of death between the men who were periodically screened with a physical exam and a psa blood test an those who weren't. for more information on this and other health stories, you can also always head to the web at msnbc.com. the crack of the bat, the flash of the spikes and the smell of the hot dogs on baseball's opening day, including curtis granderson settling the yankee's opening tilt against the tigers. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

welcome back to "first look". in sports, if the weather isn't convincing you it's spring, then the opening day of a baseball season is sure to do it. here's fred roggin. good friday morning. opening day in major league baseball and the san francisco giants began their title defense in los angeles. against the dodgers, giants down one in the eighth. james loney, a double off the wall. in came matt kemp. l.a. with a little insurance and they would need it. giants got on the board in the ninth. it was all for naught. dodgers held on to win it, 2-1.

in the east, curtis granderson came back to haunt his old team, yankees beat the tigers, 6-3. great finish in cincinnati. pete rose in attendance with a stylish jacket. reds down two. two on and two out against the brewers. hernandez came through in the clutch. walk-off three-run homer. what a way to start the season. reds won it, 7-6. last year, the braves jason heyward hit a home run in his first at-bat. this season, a home run in his first at-bat. keep that up, we'll expect it every year. braves over the nationals, 2-0. >> torii hunter ripped an absolute bomb against the nationals. get out the tape measure, an absolute bomb against the royal, angels won it, 4-2. finally, cards and padres, welcome to the team, cameron. stayed that way until the 11th. mavin hit a single to right scoring what proved to be the winning run. but he hurt himself on the play. they thought it was a knee

injury, only to find out otherwise in the postgame show with closer keith bell. >> oh, wait. we just got word that cameron appears to have cramps. it does not appear to have a serious problem. you were watching from the bull pen. did you think his ball was going to get out to center? >> yeah. we saw the angle. he got a lot of topspin on that ball. but it's good to know that he has crabs. >> did i say that? cramps? >> no, i think he has crabs. >> i'm not sure where to go from there. >> perhaps the doctor. that's your first look at sports. have a great weekend. >> oh, my goodness. now for another quit look at the weather, here is bill karins. that was just a really bad april fool's joke. good a little baseball humor on the field. >> if that's what they call it. >> that time of year. if you're just joining us on the snow, a lot of snow is falling in areas of massachusetts, the high elevations and now vermont into maine. but a lot of other areas did not get it. catskillss are getting a little bit of snow in the poconos, but

really not a big deal. only areas that have travel concerns today is i-95 from boston northward and driving on mass paike, eventually all of nw hampshire. so today's forecast will be kind of rainy and gloomy out there for areas especially from new york southwards. as we go throughout the morning, even in boston, snow should change back over to rain. as far as the rest of the country, what a beautiful day. record highs yesterday out west. going to be 97 in phoenix today. record highs. we'll see very warm conditions in denver. texas will be in the mid to upper 80s. florida looks a lot better today than the mess you had yesterday. and a peek at your weekend forecast shows we're slowly improving everywhere, even in new york we should get it up to 51 and then even new england should be in the 50s by sunday. so hopefully this is it for these big snowstorms. >> in the meanmeantime, the sno pretty bad.

andy says you have to work all weekend because of the snow. >> i usually do anyway. >> april fool's. i was trying to get you. . she is both an old and a new favorite and she is joining the nbc family. in our first look at entertainment is straight ahead. truth: at allstate, you get a check in the mail twice a year, every year you don't have an accident. the safe driving bonus check. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. my vet thinks my insides are in mint condition. [ female announcer ] vets agree, a healthy checkup starts inside. our breakthrough iams premium protection formula is developed with vets with cutting edge ingredients for the lifelong health of your pet. [ dog ] healthy inside and out. come on, up high! [ female announcer ] iams premium protection. our most advanced iams nutrition. ever. [ dog ] i am an iams dog.

♪ woof. it takes knowing we have our work cut out for us. but if you run before the wind you can't take off. you've got to turn into it. the thing you push against lifts you up. so, every challenge is a chance to show that even in this crazy world of no liquids and route cancellations someone still has the passenger's back. and along the way we'll prove we're not just building a bigger airline we're building a better one. how are you getting to a happier place? running there? dancing there? how about eating soup to get there? campbell's soups fill you with good nutrition, farm-grown ingredients, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. you've been stuck in the garage, while my sneezing and my itchy eyes took refuge from the dust in here and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief

from my worst allergy symptoms. it's the brand allergists recommend most. ♪ lily and i are back on the road again. where we belong. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®.

welcome back to "first look." time for your first look at entertainment news. at the box office this weekend, things will be hopping. "hop" the seasonal animated half life comedy about the easter bunny's rebellious son is

expected to blow away the competition with the only real question, can it break $30 million? "source code" stars jake gyllenhaal as a soldier traveling back in time to prevent a terrorist train bombing in chicago. the film, which cost a modest $32 to make should earn about half of that back this weekend. the weekend's other debut is "insidious" a horror film about a boy in a coma who becomes possessed. most experts think it will take in around $10 million. some see it doing much better. finally, good news if you can never get enough betty white. she'll be hosting a new nbc hidden camera show called betty white's off the rocker. white will lead a group of seven senior citizens playing pranks on young people. they should have just started that show today because they would have had a bona fide reason to pull those pranks. >> that's going to be a good show. you tonig don't expect seniors to be doing that stuff. the reaction will be priceless.

>> i know. and i love her. i think that she is absolutely phenomen phenomenal. >> she can carry the show by herself. >> if anybody can do that, it's definitely betty white. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned because we have a lot more news coming right up.