but i have not drunked out or called her. >> let's hope ellen r /s it may be m april, but a treacherous spring storm is bringing fire and ice to millions. causing closures at several airports. we have theate e. >> the attorney general drops a bombshellmp saying the t campaign was spied upon and the purge at homeland continues. but who i really runninghe department? >> frankly, there's only one running it.s you know who that is? it's me. >> a massive explosion rocks downtown durham. this morning we will get the latest on what caused this deadly blast. >> the jeopardy juggernaut continues with the phenom james adding another 50 grand as he approaches $300,000. >> we have a spectacular sight.

the very first photo captured of one of the universe's greatest mysteries. >> if you have a pet at home, today is their day. show them some love as we kickoff national pet day. "early today" starts right now. good thursday morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. we are following a historic springtime storm sweeping across the country. in the central plains, states still recovering from the last bomb cyclone are seeing blizzard conditions. could fallt of snow in colorado where they've already reported over 9 inches. we did find someone who is supes excited abonow in april. look at this guy.ld go rye treefr having a great time in minnesota where they could feel the impact of this storm until at least tomorrow morning. >> many areas are being hit with powerful winds. in northwest kansas, slick conditions and strong gusts led to numerous accidents like this u.p.s. truck that careened off a bridge. the driver did walk away unhurt. then to thehouth where hig winds prompted the national weather service to issue an

extremely critical.ire ri officials in palm springs reported a brush fire that burned 40 acres. about 20 homes had to be ac ted. and a dust devil was caught on camera in fairfield, california. you can see a man the getting swept up and twirled around in that debris. fortunately, nobody at was injured. let's get right over to meteorologist bill kaacns who is ng all of that for us this morning. bill? >> well, good morning. the peak of the storm is going to be toda we're watching it rapidly developing into what will eventual be another bom cyclone. we are seeing six states that are blizzard warnings. almost all of interstate 90 is closed. they're telling peopl stay ere you are, don't get trapped on the roads. the winds are going to start picking up dramaticallytoday. we'll get the blowing and drifting of the snow. this is the additional snowfall forecast. and anywhere from here through central minnesota, that's still another footo a foot a a half of snow on top of what's already on the ground in many notice that minneapolis is kind of right on the edge of the heavy snow. ght now we're thinkin somewhere total 6 to 8 inches by

the time it's all said and done. powe mentioned as at the top of the show, minneapolis obviously today huge problems. and ao windy conditions even for chicago with thunderstorms as we go throughout the next 24 hours. le lot getting impacted by that. thank you, bill. a powerful explosion tha rocked durham, north carolina is under investigation this morning. officials say firefighters were onding to a gas leak when the explosion took place, leveling a building and showering the strts with debris. 61-year-old carl lee died in the blast. six more people are in it critical condition this morning. one is recovering in a burn center and several others have been treated. we go now to nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: frances, mulckple city b here in downtown durham remain shutdown as the search and recoveryra oon is underway. witnesses say that they didn't just hear this massive explosion. they felt it around the city. the blast shook downtown durham. >> we got a big g explosion. >> reporter: thick smoke billowing into the air. >> we need at least a couple

blocks closed down. >> reporter: witnesses not only saw it, but i felt >> the whole apartment shook. debris from the ceilings like fell down. the windows blew out. >> reporter: listen closely. this security camera nearby captured the moment of impact. >> it was just a really loud boom and you could hear the explosion all the way on the other side of town. >> reporter: at least one person was killed. 17 others were injured, including a firefighter. >> gas leak was caused by a contractor who was boring under the sidewalk. he hit a 2-inch gas line an explosion occurred which actually caused a partial heilding collapse. >> reporter: it's latest gas explosion to rip through a populated area. in february a blast in san francisco damaged five buildings and shot a tower of flamesnto the sky. last year dozens of explosions erupted in three towns just north of boston. andn 2013, at least 14 people were hurt when several buildings ignited in kansas city. experts say any tim you smell gas, evacuate and call 911

immediately. also, you can buy a methane gas detector at home improvement stores. >> there's going to be hot spots for a while. we're going to have smoke and steam awhile. orter: authorities are searching for any more survivors and say parts of downtown will be closed for days. frances, what's incredible is this could have been evenore deadly. authorities got the first call about the gas leak around but the actual explosion didn't happen until about half hour later. they wereble to quickly evacuate people during those crucial minutes. frances? >> so impo gabe. thank you. >> there are new developments in the nationwide fight against the measles outbreak. hundreds of casesdi are spr throughout the country, and now there is a spike in measlesfe ions in new york city. eight new cases confirmed, all linked to unvaccinated children. here's nbc's ann thompson with the latest on the effort to stop measles from spreading further. >> reporter: new york'ste westchcounty, home to the nation's latest measles out break. eight cases including six

siblings from six months to 14 years old. two requiring hospitali htion. >> i'v people tell me there's no measles here so why should i well, hello, today we have measles. >> reporter: why are measles so co bagious? spre droplets, the virus can live in a room for up to two hours after the iected person has left. that person is contagious for four days before the red rash appears, and four days after. nine out of ten people who were not immune and exposed will get the disease. what would you say to a reluctant parent? >> your child's biggest risk is from getting measles if they aren't vaccinated. and i can guarantee you that if they get the measles, they are goingo be quite ill. there's also a small chance that their brain could start to swell and a chance that they could die. >> reporter:as teresa ward one of those parents refusing to vaccinate her two youngest hildren until a trip to india changed her mind. seeing so many so sick with diseasebl >> i don't want to suffer. we don't want itdisease.

just a step in that direction. >> reporter: a dane donald trump's uptick in a disease science has already conquered. ann thompson, nbc news,ns white plnew york. >> president trump is setting his sights on the mueller probe or more specifically the start of the investigation. he once again claimed total esexoneration on wey, but said that the investigation was an attempted coup. this after a bombshell from his attorney general. during a senate hearing, william barr suggested that american intelligence agencies spied on e 2016 trump campaign. >> i think there was a spying did occur, yes, i think spying did occur. spying on a political campaign is a big deal. >>bc's tracie potts joins us from d.c. with the latest. there is a lot of backlash from democrats over those comments. >> reporter: they say it's reckless, evenangerous to suggest this with no evidence. is there evidence? we don't know. barr said there was some basis for huggestion there, but he

didn't say wt that basis was. he said he's not investigating the fbi. it is an internal review, and that the inspector general should have a report t ont sometime in may or june. we are also following this interesting news about former obama white house counsel greg craig. according tois attorneys, he may be indicted for his consulting work with ukraine. if that sounds familiar, it's the same thing that got former national security advisor michael flynn in hot water. here's craig about to face thate indi. and we are following all of the resignations in the department of homeland security. president trump askedhether s advisor stephen miller should be running the agency. >> stephen miller is running your homeland security. ve you ever thought about making stephen miller the d.h.s. representative? >> steven is an excellent guy. he's a wonderful person. people don't know him.

he's a -- been with me from the beginning. he's a brilliant man. and frankly, there's only one person that's running it. you know who that is? it's me. >> reporter: so now you know. now, there are six top spots in the department of homeland security thantare cur open. they are filled with acting officials, secretaries, deputy secretaries,commissioners, but not people who have been confirmed by the sene. >> all right, tracie potts for us. tracie, thank you. >> john legend and chrissy begen made a splash at the annual house democratic caucus retreat. >> if there was one wd you would help particularly women use more frequently, what would that one word be >> [ bleep ] you. >> you can see there they did not hold anything back when it came to president trump. tiegen and legend are both long-time supporters of the democratic party. tiegen also spoke emotionally about trump' policies on family

separation for immigrants. the subject is a soft f spot her whose mother is from thailand. >> a major weaponsfust out new jersey, authorities say there were three people who were driving a brightly colored tonka truck with knives and ballistic vests. officials say they pulledth ove vehicle for a cracked windshield around 8:00 a.m. near the new jersey side of the holland tunnel on tuesday. that's when they discovered what was inside, an arsenal of weapons including two long range weapons as well as five handguns, multiple knives and body armour. a law eiaorcement off said they found drugs. officials say the three suspects are so-called gun enthusiasts and were not linked o terrorism. >> a new push by new york state officials is urgently warning distracted drivers to be rcareful. afte one motorist was caught on hemera plowing into back of a truck and then flipping over onto the medi. the new york department of transportation posted this video to twitter along with aessage about just how dangerousra distcted driving can be.

no word yet if there were any major injuries from that crash. >> seems like we're doing stories like that more and more about distracd drivers. let's check back with bill karins and see what we can expect with more of these storms. >> travel issues because the wi will be big. we dropped a lot of high wind warnings. we he a few left iansas and colorado. wind advisories extend in the midwest and ohi valley. 30 million people affected by that. this is going to be the peak wind throughout the day today. the worst ben bernanke on the northwest side of the north platt to minnesota with gusts up to 16 miles per hour. of course withot it a of airport delays and low visibility. a lot are saying don't travel if you don't have to in areas of south dakota and minnesota today. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. now here's a closer look at your day ahead. you can look at these temperatures. it's more like early march-like temperatures. a few stuck in the 30s. still windy and warm in areas o texa yesterday the dust was unbelievable.

when we come back, we'll give you your weekend forecast. it features another big storm. this one could have tornadoes. we'll give you the details coming up. >> bill, thank you. fast forwarding into your day, we wl remember explain rapper and community activist nipsey hussle. the staplete c in downtown los angeles is hosting nipsey hussle's celebration of life. b.e.t. will broadcast the 1:00 p.m. service live as well as stream it on its website. >> a senate hearings looking to get rid of robocalls. they will give an update on the efforts. >> a rocket launch at 6:35 p.m. eastern, high winds at the kennedy space cen forced the company to scrub the launch yesterday. we'll be right back. cuz i'm way. who's got the time to chase around down dirt, dust and hair? so now, i use heavy duty swiffer sweeper and dusters. for hard-to-reach places, duster makes it easy to clean. it captures dust in one swipe. ha! gotcha! and sweeper heavy duty cloths lock away

twice as much dirt and dust. it gets stuff deep in the grooves other tools can miss. y'know what? my place... is a lot cleaner now. stop cleaning. start swiffering. 98% of us don't get enough omega-3s. which is w megared advanced 4i packs more omega-3 power into one small softgel. it supports your heart... brain... eyes... and joints. megared. what if i wielded the power of i could bend reality to my will, with a snap of my fingers! i just saved money with geico. i saved hundreds of dollars! nice! that is a lot of money. the power is exhilarating!! hahahahahaha! hah. ha. just got something in my throat. yea... marvel studio's "avengers endgame." in theaters april 26.

leading the news, the natinqalrer is on the chopping block. parent company american media is exploring the sale of that and several other tabloids. according to the "washington po," the pressure comes from the company's board of directors.

their concern with difficulties of the tabloid business and the enquirer's reporting practices. >>he lawyersor patriots owner robert kraft continue to push back against the release of the massage parlor videos. his lawyers believe the footage prosecutors say show the billionaireoliciting a prostitute would irreparably harm mr. craft. the businessman and sports team owner a owner is one of dozens charged with soliciting prostitution in florida. there would be no wa the 77-year-old could get a fairia trl. kraft denies all allooations and isking for a jury trial. a hearing about those videos set for tomorrow. >> all right. if you're wondering if your amazon smart device is actually listening to you,he answers yes. somebody actually is. several employees reportedly toldt bloomberg news t dozens of amazon employees from around the world listen to voice recordings taken by amazon's echo systems in order to improve alexa. so once the team listens to the voice recordings, they are transcribed, annotated a fed

back into the software. it's part of an effort to i eliminate gap alexa's understanding of human speech. but here's the important part. you can opt out. amazon says alexa's privacy settings allows users to disable the use of their voice recordings. ey don't make that the default setting. they have to make you go out of your way and figure it out and, you know, turn it off. >> i can't say any of us areri sud to hear that. we always thought alexa was listenin the 2019 wnba draft kicked off wednesday night in new york city. it was a spectacular evening for notre dame. they lost the national championship game but they gained a whole lot here. junior guard jackie young was the number one overall pick by the las vegas aces. she becomes the second irish player to be drafted first. the first four of more ofer fighting irish teammates to be drafted. liberty took asia. a 5'10" guard from louisville.

followed by selections fromev indianer and chicago sky. >> still ahea the jeopardy juggernaut continues to steam roll the competition and rack up more money faster than anyone those details next. care routine without sacrificing results? try olay total effects for a 7-in-1 solution. its unique formula is ecked with vitamin b3,and c to naturally renew skin cells for a visibly healthy glow. in fact, a single dose provides more vitamin b3 than 50 cups of kaleh wh proven to improve 7 key areas of visibly healthy skin. save time and money on your skin routine with olay total effects. bry d power. helping you bubetter. finally, an ege thick and fluffy waffl all to myself, whoa. karen, karen you've got to try this. breakfast in bed? major. husband. points. would you l'eggo your eggo?

thanks to move free ultra 2in1... i keep up with this little one. see the world with this guy. and hit the town with these girls. in a clinical study, 4 out of 5 users felt better joint comfort. move free ultra. movement keeps us connected.

i'm camping on this stage until bgs gets here. >> pick a favorite. >> the others would find out and they would feel hurt. >> love it. emma stone and the women of snl

getting hyped up to see bts perform. and we're all excited he at 30 rock. he returns this weekend for a fourth time. >> she jt needs one more and gets one of those cool smoking jackets when you're a fiv timer. >> the jeopardy contestant who won a record $110,000 in just one game of jeopardy continues his hot streak and his birthday shout outs. >> jeff? yes, and happy birthday. pete, is that going to be the wager? let's see. the 21st of january -- >> no, november 22nd is the closest i could get. >> james holzhauer added a cool 4,000 to his grand total. now sits a hair below $300,000 in just five days, and that puts him at number eig on the list of top jeopardy winners. pete is going to want some nice rthday gift on top of the shout out. lot of cash. >> he's going to be able to afford it, too, as far as that. some sports fans have it worse than others. way dworse. now we know who's got it

worse as espn comes out with its rankings of the most miserable fan bases in sports. on rank the list based things like championships, playoff wins, and those heart breaking losses. all of the sacramento kings fans know what we're talking about. they come out as mostlliserable in of pro sports. they're followed by the san diego padres, buffalond bills the florida panthers. it's no surprise who is on the other end of the fan of course, the patriots who have the happiest fan base inll of sports on the heels are the en warriors,ins and the spurs. >> bill karins is back there. what about the new york jets? new york jets fans haven't s won -- hike this is the year. probably not, bill. probably not. >> the hope is there. >> just ahead, is this the luckiest shot of all-time? judge next on "early today." 25% of your mouth.

listerine® cleans virtually 100%. helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. never settle for 25%. always go for 100. bring out the bold™ ♪ living well do you often wake up with chest congestion? or suffer excess mucus? try mucinex 12 hour. the bio layer tablet immediately releases to thin and loosen excess mucus. and lasts for 12 hours. mucinex 12 hour. finally, an eggo thick and fluffy waffle all to myself, whoa. karen, karen you've got to try this. breakfast in bed? major. husband. points.

would you l'eggo your eggo? you don't see psoriasis. you see clear skin. you see me. but if you saw me before cosentyx... ♪ wa i was covered. iawful. but i didn't give up. i kept fighting. i got clear skin with cosentyx. 3 years and counting. clear skin can last. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you. cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. see me now. i'm still clear. how sexy are these elbows? get clear skin that can last.

ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. spand so do the savings ats kohl's..15 with an extr. or 20% off! save on cookware... an air fryer toaster oven... and new sheets. ffplus - take an extra $10 your $50 or more home sale purchase!... plus - get kohl's cash! k right now - atl's. here it is. possibly the luckiest kick ever. a young soccer player in mexico kicked the ball, it hit the goal post, flew up in the air, bounced back down into the net.> hat's crazy. check in now - >> come on. job.t o >> exactly. let's bet into the weekend forecast. watching friday tnow and the wind from today exiting. storms in the deep south continues into the southeast. we'll be right back here on "early today."

and you look amazingly comfortable. when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck... that's when you know, it's half-washed. try downy fabric conditioner. unlike detergent alone, downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning and smoothing fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. downy and it's done. new lower price. wow. that's a lot of asparagus. yeah, you said get a bunch of asparagus. oh, you... a bunch. i... thought you kinda...

good morning, everyone. st about 4:00 a.m. i'm aaron gilchrest. ck i'm eun yang. >> we want to cith the commute and the forecast. >> melissa mollet has a look at the roads. we'll begin with storm team 4

meteorologist chuck bell. a little wind out there to start off the morning, chuck. indeed. a noticeable northeast breeze awaits you outside. it feels cool to be outside. you'll need the little spring fleece. temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s with us. you wouldn't think that that would be all that cold. and you don't have to worry about a windchill so to speak below -- until you're well below 50 degrees. just knowhe wind out there will have you wishing for a r.ttle extra la so northeast winds will be strongest here during the first part of the day. they'll come aroun to the south, and it won't be anywhere as breezy in the day. temperatures in the 40s this morning. temperatures will climb up into thes. we're going 68 for the afternoon high with plenty of sunshine. and again, enjoy the sunshine, melissa, because cloudsk re coming bd soon. >> you've warned me. thank you. annandale, outer loop between gallows and braddock road, right lane i getting by the work zone. no deln