. good morning, urecedented disaster, historic flooding in the midwest now blamed for at least three deaths forsang thounds to flee theirho mes. >> this our entrance. insane. >> nebraska dealing with the worst flooding there in half aur ce entire communities cut off, and the water is still ising. unbearable grief, overnight emotional memorials for the 50 victims of the mosque shootings in new zealand, and the hero whose quick thinking saved lives. >> i just wanted to take the focus out from the mosque. >> just ahead what we're learning about the gunman's twisted plot. on a tear, the president spends his weekend onwitter tweeting dozens and dozens of

times to air a variety of grievances as 2020 rivals hit the trail. all that, plus breaking overnight, new black box data from that ethiopian airlines crash and the disturbing possibility the 737 max plane has aundamental flaw. ny, not funmonica lewinsky on how late night comics treated her at the height of the clinton scandal. >> i was watching myself or this version of myself running away if me, stolen, my identity was stolen. and let's dancfothe field r the ncaa tournament revealed, the top seed stars ant cinderellas tch as you fill out your brackets today, monday march 18th, 2019. >> announcer: from nbc news, thisda is " with savannah guthrie andtb hoda koive from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. hi, everybody, good mornino welcome monday. nice to have you with us.

i haven't started my bracket yet, but i alwaysit dtrictly by emotion, not by facts. >> just by gut feeling. >> if that's the case i got >> and wofford for the first ti time and craig melvin is so excited. we're going to start with that historic flooding in the heartland. >> heare rain, melting snow aco ining, breached dams, mandatory evacuations and rivers that are r still oise this morning. we're going to get to al in just a moment. first nbc's kathy park is in iowa just across the border from omaha, nebraska. kathy, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. behinde is the missouri river, but typically this would be the parking lot for the harris casino next door. the river is not just overflowing, thents are moving fast. just one example that the flood risk is still very high. this morning the midwest is under water, thousands forced to

evacuate their homes because of historic flooding. states of merge have now been declared in wisconsin, iowa, and nebraska. >> a little tooeuch to tak in right now. it's like i look out there and i st see nothing but a big ocean. >> reporter: multiple states feeling the effects of the bomb cyclone, one of the hardest hit, the mighty missouri. >> hopefully people understand with the quantity of water that's coming down the msouri ver that you stay out of the water. >> so far at least threeha peop been killed by the raging waters. in iowa one victim drove around a safety barricade and was swept away by flood waters. in nebraska a person was killed after refusing to evacuate their home. another drowned while trying to save a traed motorist. it's so bad even horses are waiting to be rescued. >> our concern is really horses nearby thatre stranded in a barn. >> reporter: some animals

warning their owners of the danger. >> the house is right here. their dogs woke them up because they got in water, and they were cold, and theytarted barking. >> many residents say the water rose so fast they had just minutes to evacuate. >> maybe a half hour we had to get out of there. >> reporter: entire towns like fremont, nebraska, are now completely cut off. small planes and helicopters are the only way in. >> all the road infrastructure is gone, covered in water. >> reporter: after assng the flood zones, the governor of iowa says a cleanup will be massive. >> we'll do it. we'll get through it, b we've got a lot of work ahead. >> reporter: work that can only begin when the waters recede. and many roads are still impassable in parts of nebraska. bridges have even been swept away, so pilots are actually volunteering their time shuttling people, flood victims into communiti like fremo

that they can get to their homes and take a closentroook at the damage. guys, back to you. >> good for them, kathy, thank you very much. >> for more on the flooding and what's to come this week, let's turn to al roker. he happe to be on the road this morning. he's lending a hand to tornado victims in north carolina. we do start with that flooding. >> looks like we'llnge hea down there as well. right now the big concern is that water getting out of the river areas. we've got 11 million people impacted. the heavit area is around the southern gulf. as you make your way into thera ce plains around omaha, nebraska city, falls city, not only was that rainfall from that big bomb cyclone but melting snow. this snow melt is adding so much water to these rivers, the missouri and the mississippi river. in fact, so much snow melt, we're talking about 186,000 square miles of melted snow. that's larger than the state of california all funneling into

these rivers. you caniv see how many r points are at major flood stageo 282 locations flood stage right now. we look for example, at the missouri rivert nebraskacity, still above flood stage. it finally starts to recede a bit by friday, and we have at least a little bit of a break from the weather in that flood zone, maybe light rain and snow on tuesday. otherwise it stays sunny and t dry, andt's good news. savannah. >> thank you very much. we'll check back in. now to the ter attacks in new zealand. overnight thousands paid tribute at makeshift memorials to the 5. vict we're learning more this morning about the investigation andhe heroes who helped save lives. nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer is in christ church for us this morning. >> reporter: this peaceful countryl is st shock after so much bloodshed. more people were killed in these two attacks, 50, than are typically murdered in an average year. this as the suspect showed up in court giving little signs of

regret. this morning in the face of overwhelming grief, signs of hope emerging after so much hate. the deadliest mass shooting new suh lazealand's historying 50 lives. >> when i woke up everyone was either wounded or dead. >> aliyah deeb survived under a le of bodies. his father sammy i in serious condition. >> i don't know how someone is capable of doing such a thing. >> reporter: as victims cried for help, survivo say the gunman shot them at point-blank range. children died in the arms of their parents. >>lease pray fore and for my daughterte >> reporr: the 36 minutes of terror finally came t an end when the gunman came face-to-face with abdul aziz.

>> i just wanted tis take focus from the mosque. g aziz found one of the shooter's emptys and chased him with the weapon preventing further bloohed. >> i hope this never ever happens in this situationut b if i see i can save some lives i'll jump in. >> reporter: arrested by police a few blocks away, brenton, the suspectiled in court flashing the white power symbol. the 28-year-old australian apparently e-mailed a racist manifesto minutes before the shooting his family says he showed no sign ofextremism. >> it's just so much for everything to take in that somebody in our famil would do anything like this. >> reporter: the suspect bought four weapons legay, new sooe listened' -- new zealand's prime minister promising tougher gun. la >> we will have announced

reforms which will, i believe,k ur community safer. >> reporter: this morning a national tragedy afternother senseless shooting. 50 lives lost and so many more forever changed. >> reporter: with dozens still hospitalized not far from here, nine people remain in critical condition. the suspect officially faces one count of mu ter, thought number will rise, and also plans to represent himself it. co guys, back to you. >> miguel almaguer in new zeald for us, thank you, miguel. >> craig joins the table. good morning, ethiopia's te transport min says data from the black box shows there is a clear celerity between the ethiopian airlines crash and the crashn indonesia five months ago that involved the same type of plane. the united states and other countries have since grounded boeing 737 max 8 planes. officials are looking whether

faulty sensors and tre to blame now to politics, president trump is facing pushback this morning after a weekend tweet storm that included renewed criticism of john mccain seven months after the senator's death. and there are some interesting developments in the 2020 presidential race as well. we're going to start wit nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: hey, hoda, good rning to you. it is not unusual for president trump to spend part of his weekend tweeting, but this weekend m have set a new record. the president sending out 50 tweets ore-tweets by our count. he lashed out at multiple targets including as you say the te senator john mccain who of course is no longer hereo defend himself. >> call it a st. patrick's day tweet storm, president trump taking on a long list of topics over the weekend from general motors to google hitting out at snl, which was a repeat while taking the time to both praise and f blaox news asking the

network to bring badge judge janine peer roe who was off the air waves after making offensive comments about ilhan omar, and hitting out at shepard smith. >> the president is not a white supremacist. i'm not sure how many times we have to say that. >> it was the president's tweets against the late senator john mccain that seemed to stand out nearly seven months after mccain's death from brain cancer. it comes after ken starr lashed out amid reports that court documents show a mccain ally shared parts o a controversial dossier with the media. >> john mccain was an american hero that did so much for the country. >> that dossier included information linking trump to the russian government. on saturday the president saying

mccain had far worse stains than this before going on to call mccainast in his class at annapolis. reality mccain w fifth from the bottom, and again, mr. trump criticizing that no vote repeal and replace obamacare in 2017. mccain's daughter anme a freaked trump critic fired back in her own tweet, no one will ever love y the way they loved my fher. still, it's an intraparty feud that dates back to thecampaign. on sunday mccain's former colleagues defended him. >> this is ange outs action by the president. john mccain waser a war >> reporter: republican senator lindsey graham, one of mccain's closest friends and allies also defended mccain but stopped short of criticizing the president. tweeting mccain stepped forward to risk his life f his country. nothing about his service will ever be changed or diminished. the white house hasn't responded to our questions about what's

behind the president's tweet storm. it is worth noting it comes fweps the backdrop of washingto waiting for the mueller report expected soon. kristen, thanks. it was a busy weekend for the growing crowd of 2020 hopefuls. and kirsten'rourke gillibrand made things official, a potential candidate who hasn't announced y raised some eyebrows. >> this morning we are getting our first look into how much money the newest candidate in this race has raised. beto o'rourke announced moments ago that he has brought in $6.1 million in thatur first 24 since announcing his race. that's the most of any candidate in that time period yet. keep in mind this democratic field is not set with one big name still deciding whether to jump in making in a speech a slipup that seemed like a big tell. >> the 2020 attention this morning on an accidental almost

announcement. >> i have the most progressive record ofbo a running for the -- of anybody who would run. >> joe biden in front of a very friendly crowd catching alip of the tongue since he's not technically in the race yet. i didn't mean -- >> reporter: the former vice president expected to decide within days whether he'll make it official as senator kirsten gillibrand did herself after weeks of an exploratory bid. >> we need a leader who makes big, bold, brave choices. someone who isn't afraid of progress. >> that's why i'm running for president. >> the senator hinting at a rally next week outsi the trump hotel in new york, a signal of h aggressively she plans to confront the president. candidatesre kris crossing the campaign trail already including beto o'rourke. >> i g ahance to be part of badlying that the count needs and that is coming

together at this very divided moment. >> reporter: forced ao respond n attack by the gop who aeeted out this picture from 1998 arrest for drunk driving. >> the people want us focused on the big picture, on outgoals. want us to be defined not on this pettiness or the personal attacks we see in ones ke the ad you just described. >> and after o'rourke mem rably toldbo "vanity fair" he wa for this race. >> growing up in the '70s in this country, i don't think people thought ald girl ce president. i wasn't born to run but i am running. >> many democrats are eager for diversity. now some of the men in the race like o'rourke and senator cory booker are already suggesting if they get the nomination, they'll pick a female vice president. >> i don't know if it's in the vice president's position or the president's position, but if i have my way, there will be a woman on the ticket.

>> you mentioned those eye popping numbers that beto o'rourke aounced how does it stack up? >> we're talking about those first 24 hours since these candidates announced. rourke sitting at $6.1 million raised. bern sanders raised about 5.9 million. and senator kamala harris at 1.5 million in that first day. o'rourke's campaign did not lease certain specifics like the average donation or the number of new donors. information that other campaigns have released and sometimes those details can be really telling. money obviously is the currency in politics sometimes, it's an interesting metric. thank you. appreciate it. get those brackets -- >> are you ready is thti. >> we're g in. come on. >> time for march madness. the ncaa handing out invitations on sunday to the 68 teams that will make up this year's tournament. let's talk about the number one seeds. duke the overall seed, the

blue devils and their star forward zion williamsonge pegd by the odds makers. they're pegged as the favorite to wint all. >> there are two other teams from the atlantic coast conference also earned a number one seed. r ey are virginia, north carolina, the othetop seed is gonzaga, the bulldogs making their 21st consecutive trip to the big dance. ames are of four tomorrow and wednesday. the rest of the games tipoff on thursday afriday. >> go ahead. >> who's ready? >> i'm just saying we'll have a little more later in the broadcast on the wofford terr r terrie terriers. this is not the school's first trip to the big dance. >> no, but we've never been a seven seed. team from the southern conference including that davidson team from aew years back, they weren't even a seven tie. >> well, we like

little about that inust a bit. see what's going on around the rest of the country. we are looking at a of sunshine down the east coast, a few showers along mid-atlantio t. nice and warm pacific northwest. plenty of sunshine there. in fact, the only really dangerous weather that's firing up is down in southern florida. we're going to look a that coming up in the next half hour. but first we're going to get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds.

good morning, everybody. i'm storm team4 meteorologist. it will be a cloudy dayt from sto finish. a few raindrops and maybe a wet snowflake or two mixed in. no accumulations of snow today. a chance for rain showers late morning into early afternoon so grabumbrella. it will be chilly. temperatures in the mid to upper 30s to 40 now. most will stay in the 40s todayu dryer weatheday and wednesday. coming up >> coming up in the next half hour, talking abo why the sunshine is going to be anything but. >> all right, al, thank you. can new commentsrom monica lungs, her message to late night comedians. e on those new clues in the 737 max 8 crashes and the stunning safety concerns now being raised by u.s. pilots

about their training. but first this is "today" on nbc.

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-again, i'm not the maid. i prott your home and auto. -hey, campbells. who's your new maid? this is ane4 today" newsbreak. 7:26 is your time now on this monday march 18, 2019. good morning, everyone i'm eyang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. police are looking for this man. he's wanted in connection with the shooting death of his uncle and wounding a woman early yesterday morning in lanham. >> right now lawmakers are adding pressure to the national park service to pick potholes o major d.c. roadways. according to news partners at wtop, the national park service half es it has less than the money it needs to fix all the potholes. now let's check on your commute with melissa mollet and first4traffic. good morning, melissa. >> good morning. speaking of potholes, parkway

has a lot of them, seeing slowdowns. after 216 daytona beach with the right lane b at skaggs. beltway looks okay. monrovia new near market, a crashnd we are seeing delays there too, aaron. thank you. outhis week we're helping make sure your credit is on the right track purchase consumer reporter susan hogan will show you what to bthe lookout for when reviewing your credit report. weakl take a b now. your forecast is up next. stay with us. [female voiceoveedith the penf car buying service from penfed credit union, you can get rates as low as 1.49% apr on new vehicles. and everyone is we to apply. visit penfed.org [music]

[female voiceover] today, people across the nation are experiencing the benefits of joining penfed credit union. with the penfed car buying service, they're finding the right car at a better price. and everyone is welcome to apply. join today at penfed.org cloudy and cold outside thi morning. temperatures in the 30s to around 40 degrees. a few raindropsnd maybe a stray snowflake or two to be found. as i mentioned. 33 gaithersburg, 42, 47 in ince george's county. a cloudy day start to finish. stuck in the 40s today and a period of light rain possible late morning into early this

afternoon. good news is we'll be back to sunshine tomorrow but it will be on the col side, near freezing tomorrow morning. near 50 for a high tomorrow. uck, thanks. another update in 25 minutes. >> back to the "today show."

wofford's terriers out of the southern conference come into the tournent on a 20-game win streak. >> that's a pretty goodseed. i thought they'd be in that neighborhood. >> 20-game win streak, what? we're back the ncaa tournament selection show that we're sure put a smile the faces at the melvin household. in fact, we have the picture to prove it. go fford! >> we had a good time last night. wofford the only team in th untry undefeated in conference play. >> don't get cocky. we want you to do well. >> just wanted to make sure you knew that. >> full of wofford fts this morning. we're all going to get on the wofford train with you. we start with that historic flooding in the midwest. it's now being blamed for at least three deaths there, and thousands of people have been

forced to evacuat their homes. states of emergency have been declared in wisconsin, iowa, and nebraska. the flooding in nebraska has damaged up to 500 houses in one county alone, and a lot of residents are saying the water rose so fast they hamijust tes to get out. last week's bomb cyclone as it's calledlas beingd for those rising waters. thousands of residents in a small texas town were told t shelter in place on sunday after a fire broke out at a petra chemical storage facility. this is a live picture from then massive flames, thick black smoke can be seen for miles. the fire at intercontinental terminals company in deer park, xas, started sunday morning, was still burning throughout the night. no injuries have been reported there. police innashville, tennessee, are asking for the public's help identifying a suspect aicer a pol sergeant was dragged down the street by an atv. nheck this out, it was all caught camera saturday. dozens of people were riding around on atvs and dirt bikes.

you can see one of those atvs dragging sergeant joh bourke down the street. he was freed after slamming into a metal barrier. investigatorsnere hoping someo will recognize that suspect or his atv and call police. this morning monica lewinsky speaking out in a new and candid way. >> she sat down with hbo host john oliver and opened up about a topic she knows all too well, publ shaming. >> the internet and of course social media we now have situations where it's exacerbated beyond, i think, hat anybody could have imagined. >> monica lewinsky talking one on one with comedian johnab olir t a topic she knows firsthand, public shaming. >> you were on theving end of one of the worst internet fueled public shamings of all time and hopefully in a way ever. how the y [ bleep ] did get through that? >> yeah.

i don't actually ?know, you kn >> really? >> it was a [ bleep ] storm. it was an avalanche of pain and humiliation a obviously i could not have gotten through it without my family, and eventually when i was allowed to talk to my friends, my friends too. i think as a -- at 24 years old, it was, you know, really hard to hold onto a shred of dignity orm self-esteewhen, you know, you're just the butt of so many jokes. >> it comes 20 years after the scandal that made her a household name her feelings still fresh when asked to reflect about becoming aniate ght punch line and her public persona at the time. >> it was not only just the sl shaming, not only havingti had te relationship with someone who is now describing me in a way that no young woman would want to be described. there was just also my looks.

i was very about the touch-ups and the makeup, part of my vanity now comes from just the wound of having been made fun of for my weight, yfo know, people saying i was unattractive. >> lewinsky who in recent years has made ase name for h in taking on bullying saying this when asked why she never changed her now infamous last name. >> there were several reasons i didn't. first of all, i don't think it really would have even worked. like when i was job hunting people even suggested, you know, well, why don't you put a different name on your cv. er then i'm going to walk into an office for an iew and the person's going to be like that person looks like monica lewinsky ande ndering. you're starting out a professional relationship on a lie. there's not that andhen lastly i think it was also a princel in the sense that bill clinton didn't have t change hisname. nobody's ever asked him did he think he should change his >>na.

the 45-year-olde'cknowledging made mistakes but refusing to let them definedaho she is >> i'm not proud of all of the choices i've made in my life, but i'm proud of the person i am. i'm not ashamed of who i am. >> it was very candid and at times very funny interview. lewinsky telling john o was recently invited to this '90s theme party and she decided to poke fun of herself by wearing a ret. the first time she's done that in 18 years. >> if you want to besp ed, there's a great ted talk she gave that will wake you up. it's >> it's interesting to see after all those years she's sort of coming into the pubttc eye a bit more, and the more you hear her, you s how much work she's put into herself, into thinking about this. she doesn't shrink from her own responsibility. she's just done a will the >> hey, guys, good morning.

our good friend rodney scott, rodney scott barbecue in alabama, has already started lping to serve some of the volunteers here at the providence baptist church. we'll talko him in a little bit. first let's talk about rain. a lot of rain down where they normally don't get it that much this time of year. we're talking about heavy rain in central and southernflorida. a rain train coming across a low level jet bringing heavy rain there. anywhere from 4 to 6" of rain in rts of southern florida into central florida. and we've got cold air coming in. spring begins coming up on wednesday. it starts at 5:56. we're looking at temperatures well below average for new york all the way down to chicago, miami, charleston, on into new orleans. really a we go into the end of next week you'll see -- this week, i should say, we'llee temperatures trying to rebound. spring begins wednesday 5:58 eastern time.

that's what going on around the country, here is what's happening in your neck of the woods. all right. good morning, everybody. city camera shows a fairly cloudy start to our day in washington. ps here e a few raind moving out of the d.c. metro area. there will be more where that came from. don't plan on a whole lot of sunshine today. temperatures are in the chilly 30s to around 40 now. again, keeping that 40 to 50% chance of light rain later thi e morning intly this afternoon. should dry out by 5:00 or 6:00,a but not whole lot of sunshine today but sunshine is back the next few days and the weekend lookgreat. >> and thas your latest weather. in the next half hour, guys, we're going to lend a hand and help these folks remain beauregard strong. >> doing good work, al. ank you so much. ahead, s should thetudents involved in the college icadmission scandal bed out of their schools? plus we are getting real

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or life- threatening allergic and skin reactions. decrease alcohol use. use caution driving or operating machinery. tell your doctor if you've had mental health problems. the most common side effect is nausea. talk to your doctor about chantix. this morning on in-depth today, the crashes that have grounded boeing 737 max planes all around the world. >> as we mentioned, officials now say the black box data shows e, clear celerity betwee the ethiopian airlines and the lion air crashes and there are new questions about training fos pi nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest onhis story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. today new clues about that fatal crash as those boeing 737 max 8 planes remain grounded across the world, and now the pilot's union for american airlines says the training they receive on an

ipad just isn't enough. this morning a clear celerity, i etopia's transport minister shows data shows a connection between the ethiopian airlines crash last weed the lion air crash in october. the faa saying it has not validated the black box data in the ethiopian crash. the two crashes claiming more than 300 lives. officials in ionesia and ethiopia areooking into whether faulty sensors and the ' plans software are to blame for bothes c involving boeing 737 max 8 planes. hours before the u.s. made the decision to ground the max 8 last week, american airlines pilot unions said it had full confidence in the max. now the union says its pilots were not adequately trained. captains dentager has flown the max 8 and is a spokesman. >> we were provided a 66 minute ipad lesson, which we could accomplish at or wherever we chose to because it was advertised as an aircraft that

was virtually the same. >> but it wasn't he says. there was a new system. >> when you add additional information, addional systems that we didn't know existed before that changes everhing. >> simulator training for the pilots wasn't offered for the max 8, something the faa signed off on. the acting administrator telling savannah this last week. >> my questiono you is why 737 pilots were not trained on that system, h ne still been trained on that system, and in even know this software system was on the plane. how does the faa explain that? >> well, the mcast system is explained in the manuals. >> at the time of the plane's release, u.s. airlines didn't have specific simulator for the plane. aviation experts say the training was appropriate given the information they had at the time. boeing telling nbc news it followed a process that was absolutely consistent with introducing previous new

airplanes and derivatives, but according to tager similar tors are free. >> a iimulator critical in any pilot's deep tissue understanding of their aircraftt >> it's n clear what training on the max 8 the ethiopian air and lion air pilots received. tager says after the lion air tragedy the american pilots union asked for similar simulators and boeing. >> wo don't want see another 10 or 15 minute ipad course to tell us here' the differences, now move along and mfly. >> it told us pilots have had simulator trainingor situations similar to what the ethiopian air and lion air pilots would have facey so t would have been prepared to respond. guys, back to you. >> all right, gabe gutierrez,k thu.

>> we'll continue to watch it. up next, what should happen to the students involved in t massive college admissions massive college admissions cheating anda tremfya® can helh moderate to severe plaque psoriasis get clearer. and stay clearer. most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctorf you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. tremfya®. stay clearer. janssen can help you explore cost support options. tremfya®. stay clearer. ♪ ♪ ♪ now, more than ever- don't miss all four walt disney world

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daly. we're talking about that massive college cheating scandal. ay>> federal prosecutors s this is the largest admissions scheme they've ever osecuted. nbc's joe fryer has the latest on the fallout for the and for the schools involved. good morning. >> good morning, this ol multimillionrs alleged scam has disgraced celebrities and sparked multiple lawuits. he ten-month long investigation is igniting a national conversation abo how college admissions may favor the rich and famous. t his morning eight of the nation's top universities a under the microscope as are dozens ofic and famous parents accused of paying big bucks to get their kids into college, along them lori loughlin, the couple paid half a million dollars in bribes to g eir two daughters into usc.be in a youideo from 2017 loughlin jokes about the cost of her daughter's schooling. >> if you would have said england is my city, iould say

why did i pay all this money for your education. loughlin has since been dropped from the hallmark channel in her future with the netflix fuller house is up in the air. her younger dau is facing harsh criticism online, even blocking comments on her videos. >> it's like the coolest thing getting dms for girls, like i'm applying to college right now, ite fun. >> sf olivia's sponsors including sephora and tinsemme areg their partnerships th the social media influencer. nbc news has learned oliviarnd heister remain enrolled at usc. federal investigators are also looking at faculty memberslv in in the scam, the women's soccer coach at yale rudolph meredith is accused of saving a spot on the team for a student he knew did nmp play itive soccer. meredith has not responded to nbc news's request for mment, but in a statement yale's president writes in part, our

long-standing policy is to rescind the admissi students who falsified their yale colapge ications. the school also says it's conducting an internal review to see ife people were involved. also caught up in the scandal, desperate housewives star felicity huffman who prosecutors say paid $15,000 to have a proctor correct her daughter's s. t.answers. tee fbi says eight universities unwittingly adm students as part of scandal. none of the schools are facing charges, but they are facing pressure to re-evaluate their admissions process. investigators say william singer, the alleged mastermind of the scam accepted $25 million from parents since 2011. last week he pleaded guilty in federal court to fraud othand or charges. >> just ahead we're going to take a closer look at the legal and illegal ways families are getting their kids into college.

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7:56 is your time now on this monday march 18th, 2019. good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. right now we want to check on your commu with melissa mollet and first4traffic. hey, melissa. >> good morning. bw parkway between 198 and 97 blocked, delays. "rivedale" southbound with left lane blocked. 395 and 14th street bridge, disabled vehicle, left side is blocked. beltway looks pretty normal. >> all right, melissa, thank you. we'le a break and check your forecast next. stay with us.

good morning, everybody. it's a mostly cloudy start to the day. probably a few raindropssnmaybe a straflake or two in there prince george's. temperatures above freezing so just barely cold enough to support a flake or two. skies will remain cloudy all day day. there's a chance for more passing rain showers late mornin early afternoon. we'll stay in the chilly 40s for today.ea milderer does come back especially by the weekend. >> all right, chuck. thank you. another local news update in 25 minutes. for now back to the "today show."

, it's 8:00 on "today," historic flooding wreaking havoc across the midwest claiming at least three lives. >> i look o there and see ocean. but a big >> thousands forced to flee their homes, and in some areas this morning, the water is still rising, we're there live. plus, lending a helping hand, al is live in alabama with families impacted by those devastating tornados. >> this here was my home. >> the rebuilding can happen. >> just ahead we'll meet the families and see how they're doing ahead of a big surprise. and legally owned. what actress reese witherspoon had to say about a recent report th she and jennifer garner are

expecting, her perfect response that has people talking today monday, march 18th, 2019. ♪ >> two sets of twins from southern maryland. >> sending our love to everyone back in nebraska. >> portland, oregon. >> for m 50th birthday, go turks! >> celebrating ming my 11th bir on the "today" show. >> good morning "today" show, we're playing with our grand soson perry! >> last swing before the ring on "today"! >> does that sound like a bachelorette party? it's a party for sure. welcome back to "toda on a monday morning. >> we are going to head out soon. my gosh, that's a great crow >> and we have al down in alabama lending a helping hand. good morning. >> hey, good morning, guys. it's a really special morning here inre berd, alabama, where this tornado last week hit

really hard, over 23 people killed. so many people homeless. we're going to be helping them, rodney scott bbq, we've got the eat folks from bell forrestoratiofo for restoration here, back t >> got some big surprises for folks too. >> it's going to be good. we will start this half hour eith your news at 8:00. thousands of peoave been forced from their homes as deadly flood waters surge acrosp largets of the midwest. nbc's kathy park is there inrd it council bluffs, iowa. kathy, good morning. >> savannah, good morning to you. states of emergency have been declared in wisconsin, io, and nebraska because of this extreme, historic flooding. behind me is a swollen missouri fr river. this would be the parking lot to the harris casino. all just completely under water right now. clearly the highk threat is still very present here in the midwest.

now, residents describe having just minutes to spare oncer the wa started to rise, at least ng three deaths blamed because of the flooding. many bldges as well as roads are still impassable. the only way in is by plane or by boat. we do know that the damage i extensive, but the cleanup can only begin once the water starts torecede. fortunately we are starting to see that in some areas. guys, back to you. >> kathy park, thank you very much. >>rners in new zealand paid tribute to the 50 men, women, and childre killed by gunman at two mosques on friday. their prime minister is vowing a quick change to the country's gun laws there. n nbc's miguel almaguer joins usi from c church. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. tributes like the one behind me are growi across the country. this as we learn more about the gn ofltice call his r terror 36 minutes of terror. 50 people were gunned down during that time frame. another 50 peopleere wounded.

today nine people remain in critical condition and are still fighting for their lives as the suspect is expected in court in just a few weeks. he's officially charged with one count of murder. that will nooubt rise. he's also planning to represent himself. as for the victims we know they range in age from 2 years old to into their 70s. many of them are still fighting ver their some still have more surgeries to go as this s community,is nation, as the world mourns for what happened here in christ church. to you.c >> miguel, thank you. we've got some breaking news this monday morning from the la nethernds. police say several people have been shot and wounded on a tram in the central city of uchrek. ere may be one fatality. the terror threat has been raised to its highest level. hools are locked down as heavily armed police search for the gunman. medical helicopters have also been called to the scene there in the netherlands. security has beenncreased at

airports and other public facilities. the dutch government is tnvening a crisis meeting respond to the shooting. big health news this morning, the american heart association has come out against taking daily low dose aspirin to prevent strokes a heart attacks in healthy older adults. new guidelines suggest it's more importanto control blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugarhrough lifestylechanges. the guidelines say doctors can consider aspirin for older high risk patients as long as there's no increased risk for internal blooding. aspirin can be a lifesaver for patients who have had astroke, heart attack or heart surgery. there's more than one way to share a drink on st. paddy's day. the philadelphia6ers, mike scott showing good hustle. loose ball, r a ands in the steeats but before getting to his seat, he reaches over, grabs a fan's drink and takes a sip. the question is, what was in the cup? scott posted on instagram it was jack straight up no ice adding

shoutout to her. >> man. >> wow. >> all right. that could have been a boost. you've got aone. i've got another one. we're going to stay in the sports lane. a 9-year-old boy named austin hasn't let cerebral palsy stop his dream of playing basketball and he has the support of h teammates. watch player number 50 in the game. he's determined to get that ball to austin so that austin the first try comes up a little short. the team made sure he gets one more shot at it. when he does, he hits a 2 pointer. >> how about that. >> his reaction is priceless. austin's mom says her son will do anything to make other pple smile. isn't that so nice? he kept going, tried lik t four time get the kid the ball. it was the sweetest. >> i love that. straist ahead, al in alabama, and he's lending a hand to people in need. >> hey, guys, we are so excited and honored to be here in beauregard, oiabama. we are to tell you all about what's going on, the great to lenthat's happening to lenthat's happening a hand today when we continue. when you find yourself in a strange land...

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wasabi & soy sauce?! mmm! don't deny your cravings. eat 'em! all the flavors you crave, in a superfood. blue diamond almonds. crave victoriously. thto help janet change whher front tire... monsoon is the same type of person who can help you find exactly the right car from our inventory of over 50,000, because helping people is what carmax people are all about. we are back with lend a hand today, we love when al roker makes these special trips, this time heading t alabama. he's helping families impacted by those devastating tornados month.r this hey, al, good morning. >> hey, guys, good morning. you know, it wasarch 3, two sundays ago, when almostrn 40 os touched down in georgia, alabama, also on into south carolina. the hardest hit state was alabama here.

23 people killed, a tornado an ef 4 tornado destroyed the town of beauregard and so we'veci deded to come here at lend a hand today. rodney scott bbq, i r sawney last weekend at the charleston wine and food fest. you have a place here inrm gham. i asked you if you would come help feed the volunteers. you didn't h itate for a moment, why? >> i feelike i'm aumlways been sentimental to people who are down, who are troubled, and we alwaysted to uplift them, and so when i heard about the tornados i just had to do something. >> we so appreciate it. you've been feeding folksgll mornlong. we've been on the ground here, and we have discovered that despite everything that's happened here, the folks are remaining beauregard strong. >> is that it? >> listen to me right now, get in that tornado safe yoplace. life could be in jeopardy.

>> at that time riley and i grabbed up and we went out, and it was probably five minutes or so before the storm hit. >> my son, he said mom, what are we going to do? i said just go to the thom. that's what we do. >> that's the right thing to do. >> that's what we normally do. >> t roaring g stronger. you was like this is too close. went to the bathroom, once g i in the bathroom i literally had time to shut the door and then it was like a bomb went off. >> you've got a tornadon the ground and probably a very, ver. bad on >> it immediatelyed colla us down. the roof went and you could see the wholehing just. >> the rain was coming down in a white sheet.ul i not even see in front of me and all i could think is dear lord y got u out. get us to safety. >> this is sheldon yellen from belforrestoration. they go all around the world seeing disasters and this one is particularly tough.

>> this is unbelievable. >> this here m was home and my home is here behind us. that's where everythinglanded. >> we have this foundation. we have the foundation in god and the rebuilding can happen. you know. in time. >> and it's symbolic you bring that up. the foundation is here and youru foundation in faith is here. >> i thank the lord. you tell god >> my mother, she's still in rehab and recovery, and she's >> tornados ravaged my great state leaving behind trails of devastation and the loss of human life. >> i got a surprise for you. >> yeah, we brought rprise. >> hey, sugar. >> hello ms. ree. >> oh, mr. roker. >> how are you? >> oh, my lord, i can't believe it. otection was put over me and

my grandson and that there is a reason why i'm still here. >> we we able to make it. we were able to pull together as a community. we'lle m it. we'll rebuild. >> and we are here in the parking lot pf thevidence baptist church, and we're joined by the families that you met r. earlie we've got la shawn and cindy and her families. how are you guys feeling this morning? >> feengblessed, really blessed this morning. >> very blessed. >> a goods looking familie here. really good looking families. speaking of good looking, i've got my buddy sheldon yellen here who is frombelforstoration. he runs the whole thing. i called you and you didn't hesitate to say what do you need? and let me help. >> you know, al, we've been together a little bit, nd i've seen some of the great things you've done fordeople in nee around the country, and when you

call, we're there for you. >> and what didh you bring w you? >> al, we would like to surprise these peopl with some temporary taken homes that will be to your places today for you to live in. >> oh, wow! on behalff belfor people throughout the world to show you our support t and wenk you al for calling us and allowing us to be a part of it. u. we thank d anwhore a y oublessed. very blessed. >> are you guys happy? >> yeah. >> yes. >> you guys look like you're smiling pretty good. >> oh, yes. >> thank you so much. >> you know what has impressed me about you both is that your faith, you talked about faith and i got to tell you, ihink it's a message we could all listen to. >> it's wonderful. >> that's right. the lord is using both of us, i do believe to let people know that his word is true and that he has so much love and grace and mercy for all of us.

d yes, yes. know god will see us through this. >> yes. >> he's going to guidehos thro the devastation. this community is strong, and i think he'll t lead us rebuild and grow and, you know, it's a step in the right direction. >> thank you so much to both of you and sheldon, as usual, tha you my friend. >> real pleasure. >> thank you. >> and we'veot little more help for our friends. we called our friends at walmart, and they didn't hesitate for a moment. they decided to provide some plies and h needed s things for us, so we've got all these nice folks from walmart who are going to be handing this out. it's all going to be disibuted ncover here at the provide baptist church, and everybody at walmart, these lovely people. they've been in this truck all night, haven't you? they were stuck in there. it's just a little gamey but they're doing a lovelyob bringing stuff. it is our honor and our

privilege to lend a hand today and the folks from walmart, belfor and rodney scott barbecue. we want to thank em. we want to give you your national forecast, show you what's going on right now, a you' the northwest is going to be . gorgeous plenty of sunshine. there is heavy rain for it, though, down in southern florida. that's what going on around the country, here is what's happening in your neck of the wos. >> good morning,everybod it's a mostly cloudy day. it's going to stay chilly all day as well. have a few little raindrops, maybe a wet snowflake or two from the district, east, anne arund arundel, contra costa. another ripple in the afternoon. another chance for passing rain showers l mening into the middle parts of the afternoon. it's going to stay chilly. those clouds willeep us in the 40s for today. we'll be back to sunshine tomorrow, though.

>> and that is your latest weather. guys. your latest weather. guys. do.al, we love what you a lot of happy face there is and great partners, and i guess the power of an al roker phone call. >> i tell you. >> that woman's expression when he wked into the hotel room, oh, mr. roker. >> al. >> ms. yoree, n that's my best friend. >> you have a lot of friend there now, al. thank you so much. >> good job. >> thanks for lending a hand. >> thanks, guys. >> mr. daly. >> atrong sense of faith down there, too. nice to see that in tough times. let's get t pop startnow, many people were out and about celebrating st. patrick's day. we've got a roundup of our favorites. we'll start across the pond where the duke and duchess of cambridge continued their tradition of spending the day with the irish guards and a hoistiint of begin begin esz. and courteney cox sharing a photo of cookies, kate hudson, that's her daughter ronnie

getting in on the st. paddy's caption. not everybody felt the same about the holiday. andy cohen posting a family photo. that's a not so happy benjamin. maybe he wasn't on board with the pj's. reese witherspoon and jennifer garner had fun over the weekend joking about a tabloid story. this is the coverf ok magazine with the headline jen and reese baby bomb shell, shock and joy. she capture the photo, hey, jen, can we raise our imaginary babies together. jennifer chimes in about the headlines. we are going to be the cutestmi imaginary . the ladies having a laugh dispelling that rumor. jason sudeikis hosted ellen did a great job, but ellen had just one complaint. hoda, i can tell you his hair. ellen was not a fan of his long hair, and in an episode airing later today, ellents confr jason about his look and brought

his fiancee actress olivia wilde to convince him to chop off his lo locks. >> olivia's here because we think it's long. we think it's getti kind of -- >> just a little long. >> right. it's like as long as your wife's hair. >> it's the sam as my hair. >> it's only the same. >> there's only room for one of these in our house.ah >> >> so. >> i agree. so what we did - o we're going to? >> we're going to cut your >> my hair? >> i shaved julian edelman's beard. i don't know if you saw that. oved it. there's not much of a difference between shaving and cutting. >> i would disagree strongly. >> yeah. do you have a desired look, a style? >> yeah huma a human man. >> tell us what look you're going for. right. is it weird that i've hadfo thi dream ? this is fantastic. >> ellen. >> do you like the idea of a

mu mu mullet? >> no, i mean, metaphorically, yes. >> what's your side looking like? >> it's looking so, so good. >> why don't you guys swap sides. >> yours is all combed. i just went rogue. >> oh, my gosh. i keep hearing gasps. >> it's good. it's not bad. it looks like a human man. >> having a little fun there. the jury's out on whether or not he looks bettes, i gues but that is your pop start. >> that was something. >> how about a daly click. little chloe was practicing counting when her mom added a new challenge. take a lten tothis. >> backwards for me, please. >> yeah. >> okay. 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10! >> well done. >> her mom's request to count backwards very literally, but she passed the test nonetheless. >> chloe's a smart little girl.

>> yes, she is. >> that's right. that's so cute. straight ahead, here?s who's >> suze. >> suze. she's going to tell us everything we need to know. g we've to set ourselves up for a brighter financial tomorrow. people retiring at 70 no living longer. you know what suze says save that money, people. >> girlfriend. >> let's do it. >> but first

thi is a "news4 today" newsbreak. good morning, everybody. 8:26 now on this monday march 18th. i'm aaron gilchrist. let's get right over to melissa mollet. sheas look at first4traffic. good morning, melissa. >> good morning. laurel southbound bw parkway between 1987 and we are jammed. left lane is blocked because of a crash."r erdale" southbound before 410 a work zone and some delays. inner loop, outer loop of the beltway looking very pical, 66 west, of nutley, inbound west of there. >> we'll have a check of the weather when we come back. stay with us.

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good morning, everybody. it is a mostly clou day today, but little peeks of sunshine can't be completely ruled out. also a few drops of rain across southern parts of the district moving into prince george's complaint, anne arundel, mostly cloudy today, 30s to around 40

now. we're going to be stuck isthe ost of the day with a lot of clouds around. not a total washout of a day and back tounshine for tomorrow. >> thank you, chuck. you can get the latest news and weather in the nbc wasngton app.

. hey, everybody, welcome back to "today," 8:30 on this morning march the 18th. you are looking at mr. al roker as he and his friends are busy down in alabama giving backo s.e tornado vict they are doing incredible work so hats off to them.ti me, you guys, a sunny start here, a chilly start in manhattan, and this crowd is. >> pumped up! >> amazing. >> all right, so i've got a crowd moment. on.d listen up. all right, hold on. where is xile lexi, lexi? >> hi lexi. so what grade are you in, e? swee >> i'm in 8th grade. >> you had to write an essay about something, didn't you?

>> no, i had to do an interview. >> okay. >> and. >> so i had to do an interview so a high scho that i was auditions for, and so they asked me one of the questions was what's your dream job, a who you look up to? because i am a broadcast journast because i'm a communications major, and so my answer was savannah because amazing. >> savannah guthrie. >> would you like her to come er and say hey? come on down. >> here i am! oh, so nice to meet you. >> you too. >> what year are you? >> i in 8th grade. >> oh, 8th grade. you g the whole world ahead of you. >> ,le what's your last name? >> . kercheck >> remember that name. >> wow wowsa. >> save the tape. >> he ran theal h marathon yesterday, did his best time yet. so yossef congratulations. >> 1:31. >> congratulation >> you ran a half marathon, all

you're s standing, wow. >> what did we do? sit around in our fat pants like a normal sunday. coming up, do you worry about having enough money for retirement? >> yes. >> suze orman is here and she's got some advice to make your savings last. she's also going to some of your quese ons. whave a packed third hour,ur katie is going to be back in studio 1a sharing a very personal mission that we hope saves some lives this morning. >> you ran the half marathon on st. patrick's day? i did the exact opposite of that. >> i know. >> like literally. >> you drank 13 beers. >>y goodness. >> i did an hour 31 also in the perfect pint. also coming up, if you're addicted to the show "this is us" here on nbc, you're going to want to check out a new show e.lled "the "agvi weoie members. we're going to head back to alabama and check in >> hey, guys. i'm surprised.

if you say joseph's name three times, normally his shirt comes off. >> chilly. >> that didn't happen. that didn't happen this time. anyway, we are here in opelika, alabama. again, want to thank our friends from belfor, the barbecue did not hesitate to come down and feed volunteers, theel l folks from lmart. guy riving our camera crazy. of course, the other thing we talked about, faith that sustains all these people. one of the churches that's been very instrumental here, providence baptist church, just one of the faith-based ganizations volunteering here and just doing a wonderful, wonderful job. what's your name, young man. jordan. >> jordan. how old are you? >> ten. >> i know you broke your arm during this and lost a little brother, right? >> >>yes. but i understand you're a big

weather fa right? you like weather? so you're going to help meoss our local stations, okay? >> okay. >> here is what you say. you look right over here -- you look right here and you say, that's what's gng on around the country. >> that's what's going around in the country. >> here is what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> here is what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> what >> way to go there, jordan. job well done indeed. right here in the washington area, skies are cloudye the a few pockets of very light rain now from washington across par of prince george's county and parts of southern they aren't going to hang around all day long, not a washout. may take the umbrella to play it safe. 30 to 40. because of a cloudy sky, willth stay i 40s. a few more showers around. dry weather tuesday and wednesday and dry for the weekend, too. >> and that is your lates weatheagain, guys. beauregard strong all the folks here send tir well wishe to

you back in new york. guys. >> great work there, al. thank you so much. he's going to have a l more from alabama on the third hour of today. e from alabama on the third hour of "today." just ahead from here, a inside loot the admissions process and just what does it really take to get into college in the wake of that stunning bribery scandal? but first this is "today" on nbc.

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welcome back, the scandal involving hundrs of families buying their way into top schools has the college admissions process facing scrutiny. >> the process seems to confirm what many have believedor a while, that it's not always fair. kate snow joins us with a closer look. >> good morning, guys. full disclosure, just the othert night i spe night at a high school meeting about college admissions. you can ask any parent like me of a high school student, this process is so daunting and for so many families it's very stressful. who gets in, who doesn't can

feel really arbitrary. one college admissions officer says it's not a process where if you do the right thing you get in. it's a game. >> reporter: this morning college student who is didn't cheat speaking out about fnjustice. >> it's just kindike a slap in the face. >> the first lawsuits filed say th system rigged after a week filled with allegations of the v unbeliable things parents did to try and get their kids into elite schools. one father micromanaging an image of his son enprng to play water polo to get him recruited as an athlete asking a graphic a designer chance to put him in a setting that looks pool.an outdoor polo one mother submitting a photo of her son's handwriting so someone taking the a.c.t. could match his writing style. her message, good luck with this. their alleged criminal acts pulling back the curtain on when a former education secretary calls a larger systemic problem. >> there are significant advantages for wealthy students andll-connected students in

process.ges admission >> reporter: there are plenty of legal ways for well off families to stack the deck. 25% are hiring private college. he says consultants are just the beginning. >> access to tutoring, access to ntoring, to internships, access to decision-making and guidance that students without wealth wouldn't have access to. >> consultant sarah hall verson used to be associate d of admissions at the university of pennsylvania. >> this is n a fair process. it's only fair sometimes for the kids who play unfair or the families who play unfair. >> reporter: the average college acceptance rate in the u.s. is 65%. harvard, the most competitive had a 4.6% acceptance rate for the class of 2022. m>> we havetiple schools that yee getting over 50,000 applications per. they have the same number of spots as they did even five, ten

years ago, but they're getting more applications. >> reporter: and families who can afford to make a huge donation get a leg up. jared kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adver was reportedly accepted to harvard not long after his father pledged $2.5 million to the school. >> ifld a bg is donated, that's a pretty sure bet that the child is probably going to be admitted. >> reporter: no secret the system also favors athletes. they want winning tea because it builds great school spirit on campus. it helps alumni feel more engaged and somet aesmni are more willing to give a bigger donation. >> they recommend students find a hook, something they're uniquely good at but it's gettinazy. one former admissions officer told us he's heard of students sendingod baked singing telegrams with their applications. >> >> all that said, the experts we spoke with and we were talking about this on the break, savannah, they all say don't

just think about a limited number of schools. don't just think ivy league. there are hundreds and hundreds of schools out there that can serve your stunt well. >> i think that's a great point. it seems to unfairly prop up theseop ten, top 20 schools. i went to aco junioege. don't underestimate the respect you can have for a learning institut your hometown. rhood, >> you haven't done so badly. >> absolutely not. >> here's the thing a lot ofav folks come to realize over the past week, our admissions process, it's broken. it's flawed. >> iis. >> how do we fix it? >> good question. i asked that of the experts and there's kind of differing . opinio some said transparency. we talked to the president of hunter collegen friday who said we're going to be more transparent about who we accept p why we accept them. that will help parents navigate. it's also a business. the more selective the colleges, the more prestigious, the higher the tuition they can charge. unless our whole system were to change and become all public. >> you reported on this and you're in the middle of it.

so what's your one t fe away a parent watching with a junior in high school? >> the thing that i just said is owhat i'm trying tell my son, which is there are a lot of options out there. >> that's good point. >> you're not necessarily going to go to the top, top, top. >> by the way, you don'tto have >> that's my point too. and take mipride in some of the lower one. >> sometimes being a big fish in a smaller pond is the better way to go. therfs a lot ways to chase your dreams. >> i'm trying to just breathe ask not put a ton of pressure on my kid. >> so you're notoing to do the singing telegram? [ laughter ] >> probably not. >> thank you kate, and good luck as tll. >>nk you. >> thanks kate. coming up next, a road map for planning your financial future in realistic ways. suze orman's here with where to invest, when shoul you start, and the golden rule she wants you to know right this minute. but "irst ttoday" on but "irst ttoday" on s

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and we're back with our special series living longe today, exploring ways to liver not only longer but better. >> this morning we're focusing on your finances and the new advice experts are giving to make your money really lasthe >> good news americans are living longer, what that means, a new focus on making your monea . >> as you're planning for your future, don't underestimate how long you're gng tolive. >> in fact, about one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live past 90. >> the old advice used to be that as you're planning forec retirement e to live into your 80s. now the expectation is that you'll have a good chance of living into your 90s, maybe eve celebrating your 100th birthday. >> with longevity can come the added stress to save more. >> planning for the future has become a lot more challenging and really the onus is nown the individual more than ever. >> so how do we make sure we're financially prepared for all those extra years?

it's easy.l just cuze orman, a personal finance expert. she hosts suze orman's women and many podcasts. >> we're living longer. that's gat, but the bad news is, we surveyed our today.com audience they said 6f them felt like they don't have the amount of money that they'no saving right that, that it won't last them through their retirement. it,f you really think about you guys, most people barely have the money to pay their biets today alone save in their minds for the future.e >> peo feel like they can't save. >> they just feel that way, and they have to change that because they are going to spend more years in retirement than they ever did working if you think about i because most people think they're going to retire at 65, maybe they work 30 years, they're going toe l 100 possibly. >> oeing a house was always in the plan, but for these millennials, they're open about the fact they think they'll neve be able to afford a house,

never mind some longevity or 401(k). >> that's not such a horrible thing. i doink that the key to your retirement is owning a home. i think the key to your retirement is having enough money to pay whatever your texpenses happen to be s key is to get rid of as much expenses as you can, don't he debt. if you do have a home, make sure your mortgage is paid off by the time you retire. that would be my number one tip to tell everybody they have got to do if they do own a home. we're going to get into that. we have the three w's. the first is whe. where is the best place to invest your money so if you do have 30ish years of retirement you're set? >> i've said for a long time, just forget the tax write offs of your pretax01(k) or ira. forget those now, and if your corporation offers it, can you do a roth 401(k) or a roth ira ich are after tax contributions. why? you don't have to worry what the tax g brackets areng to be 20, 30, and 40 years from now.

i personally think they're going to skycket over the years, so therefore what you see is what you get in roth ira or a roth 401(k). again, it's pretax versus after tax, but after that it's taxfe ed versus tax free. it's for your beneficiaries in a pretax account they're going to pay total taxes on it. >> let's go back to debt for a second. h for people we student loans, they've got credit cards, they've got that mortgage. how dori youitize the debt? what do you pay and when? >> student loan debt is the most dangerous debt you can have bar none because in % of the cases, 99%, it is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. so they have the legal authority to garnish your wages and to really then decrease your income so student loan -- >> take care ot. that fi >> first that. then if you have credit card debt that needs to go because debt is bondage. you got to get out of that. ynd then you start working, if you're going to s in your home for the rest of your life, get rid of your mortgage

payment. >> i want to follow up on that. you don't want to have a mortgage, a live mortgage still going by the time you retire. rhy? >> because y mortgage payment is your highest monthly expense that you're going to have bar none. >> when you retire. >> it's far easier to pay off your mortgage than to saver the money to generate the incom to y off your mortgage. your goal in retirement is to be totally debt free 100% in retirement. if you don't have enough money, decrease your expenses, andhen your money will go further. >> got you. >> what about when, wn do you start? i know, when we're born we should start saving. >> you have the 2 buc when you're 30. >> people always think they have time, time is the mostortant ingredient in your retirementmp recipe let'sust say you have 40 years. you're young. you have 40 years until you're going to be 70. you put200 a month away into a roth ira or roth 401(k). average market returns, do you know that you would have

$1.1 million at 70, which i think should be the new retirement age, but you wait ten years. >> you're talking about having a surplus of 200 bk when is you're 30. should you take that 200 and apply it tone of these other things. >> you need to be saving especially in a 401(k), espeally ifhey match your contribution. you put in ala d they give you $0.50. i don't care if you have any money. you can't pass up free money. if you started putting, just let's say $200 a month away, and you now only have 30 years left versus 40, you'd only have like $400,000. you just blew $700,000 because you waited ten years. it was only a $24,000 difference in those tenyears. t the ten years, the sooner you begin, the betber you'll >> just to carson's point. if i have 200 bucks to spare, i can either paycaff my credit debt and start saving in a

roth ira, wha would my choice be? >> your choice there is to pay off your credit card debt. >> if you don't have much money you may be behind onour credit card payments, and your interest rates are 15, 18%. that's a guaranteed return. when you pay off your credit card deb you're guaranteeing a fantastic return. >> what is the one small thingd you woell our viewers before we go? >> here's what's really important. many people have advice for a of you. sometimes that advice is good for the person giving the advice, and sometimes it's good for the person receivingit. my advice is this, please don't do anything that you don't understando it is better nothing than s do something you do not understand becauseetimes you can do something and it mlows all yoey, and so if it doesn't feel right to you, you have to trust yourself more than you trust others.r it's y money, and what happens to your money is going

to directly affect the quality of your life, not my life. not anybody else's life, so if you really want po beerful in life, you have to be powerful over your own mone >> that's good advice. in some cases financially doing nothing i better than making a choice to your detriment. >> never talk yourself into trusting anyone. you walk into a financial adviser's office and they feel like they know whag. you're do they must know, you don't know and you believe them. sometimes they give great aed vice and sometimes they give advice that's not so much. >> that stuff's true in anything, right? >> when you think about it, savannah, your money and your life are one. who you are and what you have i. it's you're the one who earns it. you're the one who invests it. you're the one whoaves it, and you're the one who's going to live. >> we'll just go to oyou. you' trusted source. >> come on, everybody, com join me in my women and money 'sdcast. >> soing to come back in the fourth hour and answer your

questions when it comes to money and family. that's a ♪ find a world of inspiration. find something you love today. unique selection. unbelievable prices.

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we are back u creeping on 7:55. do not forget -- >> 7:55? >> or i mean 8:55. oh, my god. the dayng is g so fast. be sure to check out today.com/. >> all day. >> get an interactive guide to wring cleaning, the bestay to clean every part of your home. >> cleaning. >> should you eat breakfast or fast when you're trying to lose weight. we're going to find out from a nutritionistho breaks down the latest research in studies. is breakfast the most important meal of the day? >> it's got to atbe. what we learned growing up. they can't take that away from us. >> oh, but they can. >> just ahead, third hour of today, batie couric isk in 1a. also food network star donatella arpaia is here, but first your

local news and some weather. >> announcer: this is a news 4n break. 8:56 is your time now on this monday march 18th, 2019. good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. let's get right to your commute with melissa mollet and first4traffic. what do you see, melissa? >> gd morning. inner loop at branch avenue, have a little bit of a delay from an earlier crash. seeing some slowdowns we don't typically see. purel southboundkway between 198 and 197 crash with

the northbound lane blocked, in the district0astbound k, 2th street and northwest, crash involving a pedestrian. the right side isdo shut . >> melissa, thank you. we'll take a break and check your forecast when we come back. stay with us. for tile, wood, and stone, come to the nationwide

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good morning, everybody. it is a mostly cloudy sky overhead. peeks of sunshine can still be seen but it will replain moshiy cloudy andy all day today. a little chance of light rain .rom time to ti upper 30s to around 40. don't plan on much of a warm-up today. most areas below 50 degrees today and 50 tomorrow. at least sunshine is back more rain chances on your thursday. dry weather and a nice warming trend for saturday into sunday. >> all right, chuck. thank you. get the latest news and weather any time in the nbc washington app. have a great day. find a world of inspiration. find something you love today. unique selection. unbelievable prices.

homegoods. go finding. > >> announcer: from nbc news this is "today" live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. good morning, everyone. happy monday, i'm sheinelle here with craig and dylan. how are you guys to >> good for a monday. >> we're all cozied up this morning. >> the start of a gd week. we're going to channel that. al is down in alabama this morning for a very good reas. it's to lend a hand to the victims of the tornados that hit there a little earlier this month. good morning to you, al. >> hey, good morning,, gusunda, 39 tornados cutting across alabama, georgia, south carolina, folks iured in those other states, but in alabama 23 people wereilled and we decided to come down and lend a hand today. one of my friends rodney scott who i w