good morning. countdown. in just hours, the mueller report will be out for all to e. se the attorney general setting a morning news conference before its release. democrats say it's spin. >> attorney barr is not allowing the facts of the mueller report to speak for themselves. >> 400 pages long, a two-year investigation. how much ofhe t report will be public? andedow much will be black out? our live coverage just ahead. holiday storm. reports of tornadoes slamminge th south as millions brace for another round of severe weather today. flight cancellations and delays adding ut before the holiday weekend. g al'sot what we need to know. > church scare. a massive police response overnight after a man walks into

new york's famed st. patrick's cathedral carryingas cans, lighters just and three days after that devastating fire at notre dame cathedral. what police are saying about th suspecin custody. all that plus, b the incredible moment a cave dive rescu fter a day in the dark and the deep and his surprising back story. big job offer. the international position ivanka trump says her father offered her. and who is jeopardy james? >> you have just set a one-day record. $131,127. >> the unstoppable c mpion racking up wins and raking in n cash likeer before. his unusual strategy. "today," thursday, april 18th, 2019. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah

guthrie a hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hi, everybody. good morning. nice to have you with us on a thursday morning. craig back from paris. ho at home with baby hope. what was it like to be there? >> it was good to see the resolve of the parisians up close. and the outpouri of support from all over the world. >> we're really seeing that now. we've got a big story coming out of washington this irning. today the day. the final countdown is on to this morning's public release of the mueller report. we'v got in depth coverage on what you can expect, how it's going to play out this morning. we'lltart with kristen welker. good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. oknsions are running high today t t t mueller's highly ancipated report. william barr will hold a press conference this morning even before congress sees the findings. and now democrats are crying

foul. just this g nancy pelosi and chuck schumer say barr's haling of this critical moment has, quote, resulted in a crisis of confidence in his pendence and impartiality. and now they're calling on .ueller himselfo testify on after 23 months of secrecy, this morning answers t for american public. when attorney general william barr releases aac redd version of the nearly 400-page mueller report. president trump striking a node of confidence wednesday. >> you'll see a lot of very strong things come out tomorrow. attorney general barr is going to be giving a press conference. maybe i'll do one after that. we'll see. revelation: but that that the attorney general will speak publicly about the reporth an hour andf before he gives it to congress prompting a backlash from democrats outraged by the roout. >> the attorney genes n unprece sp mueller's nearly two-year investigation. >> reporter: house chairs

including gerald nadler overnight calling on the torney general to cancel his press conference. >> attorney general barr is not allowing the facts of the mueller report to speak for themselves. >> rep further fueling democrats' accusations that the white house and justice departme coordinating. justice department officials have had numerous conversations with white house lawyers about the conclusions made by muellda people with knowledge of the discussions. on capitol hill last week, barr sidestepped a question about whether he he report with the white house. >> have they been briefed on the content? >> i've said what i'm goingy to bout the report today. >> reporter: in march, barr releasedfour-page summary of theweeping mueller report which concluded the trump campaign did not conspire with russia to interfere in the 2016 election. and on the question of obstruction of justice, barr said the counsel didn't give a

definitive answer. but barr concluded mr. trump's conduct did not reach the threshold of a cre. the president insisted he never obstructed justice. subpoena for the report as early as friday. as for the delivery of the report today, it's expected to be sent toen congress bet 11:00 a.m. and noon. and later posted on the special counsel's website when after a nearly yetw investigation the public will finally have its own say. savannah and craig? >> kristen welker leading us off from the whi house. thank you. >> for more on the mueller report, what's in it, what's not in it, and what's next, we turn to pete williams. he's at the justice department where i know you've been talking to your sources. let's start with what you are most looking forward to when this thing drops in a couple of hour >> reporter: first, at a general redacted much of it is or blacked out. congress has thrtened to go to court to get the entire mueller report. there are other lawsuits that have already been filed. so what missing?

second, what actions did mueller look at in investigating whether the president obstructed justice? irw, we can guess some of them. the fing of james comey, urging t fbi to easy on michael flynn. but what were theo others? anhy third, did mueller fail to make a decthion on w the president's actions amounted to a crime? according to barr, the report says he doesn't say whether he did or didn't. so why wouldn't mueller make that call, craig? >> he did make a c pete, on the issue of conspiracy, collusion, whether or not the trump campaign had coordinated in any fashion with t russian's attempt to meddle in our election. what do you expect fm the report t. what abo the underlying evidence? >> reporter: right. i think that's the critical question there. according to the attorney general, the report says that no member of the trump campaign actually cooperated with the russians inin try to influence the election. so question. what did russians do? now we know o some them hacking

into the computers, the phony social media sites. but what other attempts were made by the russians and what members of the trump campaign did they reach out to? and finally, why did this report take almost two years o complete? and why on the other hand did mueller decide to stop when he did? >>ll right. pete, lots of questions. s turn to legal analyst ari r melber. in a lot of ways this mueller report, the legal significance is not particularly high at this moment. we know what the legal conclusions are. no criminal charges coming. what about the political ? significan what dk we're going to learn in terms of the evidence, the conduct, and that kind of aling? >> the politic significance is huge. you see that in this pitch battle as we were coming to air this morning. schumerpelosi and saying mueller's got to testify to clear up what barr is going to do today. the wignificance ist do we learn from the evidence? what do we learn about people who may not have been charged? but did the do things that the american public cares about? >> let's go back to savannah's

point here in terms of the underlying evidence. how t would special counsel lay that out in a report? how might he dereveal evie of obstruction? >> we have clues on this from precedent and reporting. we expect a factual narrative that mueller and his team lay out. here's what we found. here's new stuff you may have never heard about.ee and you n to know when the things that may amount to tryingo interfere with or undermine our independent and non-partisan law enforcement. you need to know about that. and by the way, if the evidence shows that theybelieve, the mueller prosecutors, that the president did things wrong i o that field,course it should matter because he's still president. he ce president. for a long time. he's in chae of the powers to arrest, detain, indict, execute. i mean, this is what it comes down to when you talk about government power. >> it'snteresting because as i mentioned befe there's not sufficient evidence to charge a

crime. but as you know well, we have a high standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. so it will be interesting to see how close it came for mueller. was it just a shade short or did they have nothing tha came close tobstruction or >> that's why everyone has their eyes on barr and whether this ir the br report. if there was a lot there and barr is accused of trying to hide that, that uncorks new questions. >> ari, thank you. we know you'll be watching. pete, th. we'll have continued coverage this morning of the news conference. nbc news will post a cop of the report onbc news.com. let's get to the severe weather now impacting millions as we head into this holiday weekend. al roker standing by with what we can all expect ande the damag that's apparently already been done by those storms. >> that's right. we're talking about 400 flights canceled at dallas already. more on the way. we have severe thunderstorm

watches up, severe thunderorm warnings, flood warnings as well. thinfall rates at 3 inches per hour. system stretches right now about 1400 miles. severe thunderstorm warnings, ewatches. we'vot 19 million people at risk for severe weather from houston all the way to tallahassee today. tomorr it's43 million people from orlando to washiton, d.c. tornadoes possible. damaging winds at 60 miles per hour causing some big problems. here are the storm impacts. heavy rain and flooding. very likely nashville down to jackson. most likely stretching through here. this is through tomorrow.sa rated soil increases the flood risks. then we've got these impacts. look at the rainfall rates. anywhererom 1 to 3 inches of rain accumulations. could be more than that. numerous rounds of heavy in. tense bursts of heavy rain. here's what we see for the airports. nc and nashville,

possible delays. big travel day tomorrow. the i95 corridor is going to be a mess as will i-75, i-90. airports for washington, new york, ch alotte, atlanta expect delays. possible delays for pittsburgh. this is going to be a big-impact storm, guys. ot's going to last right into the weekend and n a lot of great news for easter. we'll look at that later. back to you. >> all right. al, thank you very much. now to the troubling ncident overnight at st. patrick's cathedral just a block fromhere we're sitting here. a man taken into custody carrying gas cans and lighter fluid and lighters to the church. this is just after the flames in paris. kristen dahlgren has the latest on this. >> reporter: good evening to ku. take a loo and you can see the fbi also getting involved inere this investition into a man that police say walked into this cathedral overnight with all of the ingredients for a fire. this morning, a new jersey man

is in police custody after hed trie entering new york city's famous st. patrick's cathedral g with twoasoline cans, two bottles of lighter fluid, and two lighters. just days after a devastating fire erupt in the icaay iconic e dame cathedral in paris. a man they've identified as mark lamparelo of new jersey parked his minivann front of the began walking around the area. returning to his vehicle, he pulled out the flammablete ims and tried to enter the cathedral but was stopped by a guard. the guard notifyi two counterterrorism officers posted outside the cathedral about the incident. police calling his answers inconsistent and evasive. >> his basic story was tt he was cutting through the cathedral to get to madison avenue, that his car had run out

of gas. wek a look at the vehicle. it was not out of gas. and at that point, he was taken in custody. >> reporter: authorities here in new york say they do not have a ttive and say if lamparelo was inspired by the incident in paris. >> it's hard to say exactly what his intentions were. but i think the totalit of circumstances is something that we would have greaton crn over. >> reporter: now, this morning the suspect hasn't been formally charged. police say is too early to call this attempted terrorism, but they do say that his actions were very suspicious. >> kri m fro a scary situation a few blocks away to denver where area schools were reopened following the massive manhunt for the young wccan aed of making credible threats just days before the 20th anniversary of the columbine shooting. the18-year-old was found dead on wednesday. joe fryer has the latest on this. joe, good morning. >> reporter: craig, good

morning. students at o hundreds denver area schools will return to class today. they stayed home yesterday. will authorities search for a young woman acced of making . the manhunt is over with a grim discovery in the snowy remote mountains of colorado. authorities found the body ol pies dead from an apparent self-inflictedgunshot und. >> at this point it looks as if she was alone, that she took her own life with the weapon that she procured. >> reporte the fbi says she legally purchased that weapon on monday. she got it atun the g shop outside denver. the owner says she seemed normal check.sed a background >> she said she was out here visiting friends. she wanted to go shooting and poss. >> reporter: but authorities say pies made credible threats against denver area schools

prompting hdreds to close on monday. half a dozen students forced to stay home including at columbine high. g to do given all the cid certainly since wer live nea columbine. >> reporter: the authorities say she was obsessed with columbine. for months she wrote disturbing ent columbine. and on this gun forumwebsite, it appears she inquired about buying a shotgun in colorado. authorities have not confirmed if the pts are hers. at miami beach high school where pies was a student, stunned reactions. >> she haduch a pretty smile and she just -- i don't know. it's shocking to hear what she wanted to do. >> reporter: valentino gomez has known pies since elementary school. >> i never saw it coming. it was very surprising at first. i didn't believe it. i didn't think she was going to do>>anything. eporter: investigators are gathering more evidence at pies' florida home.

police say her family has been cooperative. >> they are actually grateful that no one else is hurt. >> reporter: while schools are set to reopen today, officials say they're taking no chances and increasing security. >> we're very concernedhat we of the a copycat threat same kind that tries to bring about this level is still moving forward with 20th niversary events including a vigil tomorrow and ceremony on saturday. this communi wants to focus on honoring the 13 who lost their lives. joe fryer in colorado, thank you. we will have more on the columbine anniversary coming up including hoda's powerful conversations wi survivors and family members 20 years later. how they've mov a forward how they've tried to rebuild their lives. >> we look forward to that. lot g toet to this morning including ivanka trump. the first daughter has wrapped up her first official visi m. and she'sing headlines about

what she's saying for turning down a high-profile position her father offered her. peter al exander has that trump on the mueller report. she say she has never had concerns and that hasn't changed. but her focus has been on the other end of the planet in africa. a region that her father has privatel this morning ivanka trump making her way back to the u.s. a er finding her groove in africa. crossing the continent to tout economic empowerment for women. trying her hand at the loom and sampling ethiopian coffee. earlier this week, miss trump paying respects to those lives lost in the deadly plane crash. the president's daughter saying america's commitmt to africa is clear. >> so our actions are speakinging for themselves in

terms of our dedication to seeing africa prosper. >> reporter: still the trip is renewsin scrut of the trump administration's stance on africa. criticized for not expanding aid and other resources to the region. and for t president's derogatory comments last year. callg haiti and african nations s-hole countries. on this trip the first daughter and senior white house adviser also weighed in on issues at home including the flood of migrantsro ac the southern border. >>no other way to feel than extremelor empathetic f these families. but we also have to protect the people within this country as well. >> reporter: president has lavished praise on his daughter evenuggesting she lead the world bank. >> did he talk about you taking on that rol >> he did. >> and what was his pitch to you? >> it was a questi you said no?i >> very happy doing the work

i'm doing. >> are there other positions he floated to you like u.n. ambassador as well? >> i'll keep that us. >> reporter: her father going even further in a recent interview with the atlanticng saf she ever wanted to run for president, i think she'd be very, very har to beat. a suggestion ivanka trump brushed away. >> do you see office in your future? >> no. >> reporter: and as for the 2020 presidential campaign, itrnka p says she's much more focused on policy than she is on politics. she says in her words that she's not really asa pvaolnnitahic,al. >> all right. thank you. and now back to al for the rest of the forecast. >> that's righ ll, our friends out west are experiencing a great day today. lotss of sunshine. temperatmild. we are watching those severe storms getting themselves together throughout texas and on toward the midwest. we're going to get to your local forecastoming up inhe next 30 seconds.

temperatures out t on the mild side. we do have the cloud cover, but more sunshine later on this afternoon. and it's going to feel like thi temperatures shoot into the upper 70s nearing 80 degrees. breezy andhumid. sprinkles out there this morning but they'll dry up as the clouds erode as well. again, a few showers here in frederick county. they'll continue to move to the east. otherwis thi is moving to the our doorstep by to afternoon. tomorrow evening, weather alert for tomorrow. >> we're going to look at that in detail again in the next half

hour. >>hank you, al. just ahead, the overnight rescue of an elite diver trapped in an under water cave for more than a day. then we'll introduce you to the jeopardy champn the middle of a record-setti streak. the unusual strategy that this guy's using to win big bucks. but first, this is "today"nb on with this one little

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ahh! easy, easy! but you're in labour... don't mess with my discount! (clearing throat) get a discount up to 30% wi drive safe & save. 7:26 is your time now on this thursday, april 18th, 2019. good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm molette green. n thoseot vaccinated are most at risk for measles. the caps are back on the ice tonight to defend the cup. thee gam in raleigh, but there is a free viewing at capital one arena. puck drops at 7:00. now let's get to your commute with melissa mollet. >> good morning. inner loop here near braddock road,rash on the side.

rest of the beltway looking typical.ro earlierem inbound 66 before the beltway is gone. 270 at montrose road a tiny bit slow. the lanes are moving well. >> thank you so much. later today on news4, how to make your credd work for you. cash while eating out. >> we show you how it works this afternoon at 4:00. we'll take a break. your

we've got temperatures out there in the 50s. little mild but also aittle cloudy. ing through les m maryland at this point. oey'll move outf here. clouds will move out of here. sunshine later on this afternoon. 80 degrees today. it's going to be humid, sunny, and breezy this afternoon. weather alert tomorrow. showers in the morning, severe thunderstorms tomorrow evening

through the overnight. few showers on saturday. unfortunately a few showers around for your sunday easter. more rain next week. >> all right, lauryn. thanks so much. another local news update in 25i tes. >> for now back to the "today" show after this short break. have a great day.

you have just j you havt set a one-day record. again. $131,127. >> we are back at 7:30 on this thursday morning. and that is james holtower. he is the jeopardy champion on a ten-game winning streak. we're going to hear from him about his unprecedented success ahead. if you haven't watched this guy compete, his strategy, it's something to behold. >> it's like a professional gambler. i thin h he knows whate's doing. obviously. let's get right to the headlines is morning. lawmakers in the public will get their look today at a redacted version of robert elmuler's

report. the nearly 400-page report on russian interference and obstruction is stirring controversy even before it's . released he zscheduled has news conference this morning before it's made public. nd nancy pelosi and chuck schumer are call for mueller himself to come testify as soon as possible. the ceo of boeing took a test flight wednesday aboard an upgraded 737 max plane. he says the company is making steady progress towards t. improvemen followg two deadly crashes. after the flight, he reiterated that the company is committed to safety. >> safety is our responsibility. we own it. and the work of our team will make t 737 max one of the safest airplanes ever to fly. >> the faa says it will require pilots who undergo additional

back in the air.tt simulator to update now on the prostitution case involving robert kraft. age florida jud has issued a temporary protective order that blocks the release o hden camera video from inse the spa. the decision was announced after prosecutors in a case said they inrelease that video. final decision on the tape will be made on the 29th. has pleaded not guilty at two counts of solicitation. breaking overnight, an elite driver who took part in last year's rescue of the thai soccer team has been found alive after he disappeared exploring in tennessee. >> kerry sanders joining us with the latest. this is a one. >> repor you know, first of all, cave diving is such an incredibly dangerous hobby to have. in this case, the divers were down in a passageway that was so

narrow, two divers couldn't swim bast each other. and the water there is so murky you can't see your hrod in f of your mask. lucky in this case the diver has a story with a hpy ending. this was the moment when a missing british cav diver emerged. safe and unhurt after being trapped and lost for some 27 hours in a treacherous watery cave. emergency officials were elated. >> he was awake, alert, and roriented. >>or josh brachly was with four others exploring the remote cave when they somehow gotpa serated. >> five went in the cave. kwhen they came bac out, they realized they were missing an individual. >> they tried for hours to rescue him before finally calling 911. tennessee authoriti immediy calling in the country's top specd r divers. >> it was very dangerous.

>> reporter: ed sorenson arrived first. he went into the technically complicated cave dive alone. >> it wasn't very far. it's just a lot of ups and downs, jagged rock turns, silty, low, low, low visibility. >> reporter: after navigating the narrow space, sorenson discovered brachly in a large air pocket waiting to bed. resc >> shockingly there he was calm as could be. he just said thank you, thank you. >> reporter: just last summer brachly himself played a part of rescuer as a mber of the british team who helped save the thai soccer players and their coach. his experience possibly saving his li. >> he did a great job in aiding his rescue. we were in and out quickly and smoothly. >> repor after being trauned r ground for more than a day, he was healthy but hungry. >> his only request when he goas to the sur w that he wanted some pizza. >> that is understandable.

hope he got it. kerry, you're an experienced dit r. i don'ow if you've ever done caves like this one. i'm curious what's the appeal. they say it's so dark and you can't see anything. why do people do it? >> reporter: ds who do it say not only adventure but the sense of exploration. i've actually been into a cave not like this one where you can't even sr hand in front of your face. i was taken in by an experienced diver. when the lights are out, you've never seen darkness like that before. it can become disorienting. you're not sure which way is up. in this case, the diver was we know he was a rescue diver. when he got into that void there with the air, he was able to keep himself breathing a the water was 55 degrees, so he had hypothermia possibly setting in but kept his body up. even though he was in that void, run ir was beginning to thin. he did have a tank like this one t to fill it up with more.he r

but he divers say his tank was almost empty. so he might have had six or seven more minutes added to whae was about thr hours. at the end of the day here, guy, this is a hobby that small select group of people who are looking for some sort of adventure and exploration.in interesty, these guys from england who are here right now say they're going to be diving again as early as tomorrow back in another cave. >> okay. i guess - it's theold, because it's there answer in a way. the mousain climber always give that. that was interesting. >> that you're interested in? >> not unlesshere's a nice wall of wine cellar down there. >> i'd like to explore that. >> meanngme, we are talki about this line of thunderstorms that's causing big problems. in fact, we are looking still at 3 inches per hour. are going and that's a big problem. this is a very slow-moving system. and so as it pushes to the east, we're looking at the strong

storms. heavy rain with a flood risk from new orleans all the way up into the midwest. there's thg moiste ple coming up. plus a powerful jet stream storms.owering these and it's a slow-moving system. so typically a system like this would move about 800 miles between now a. friday this one's only about half that typical speed. and so that's going to enhance the flooding. and then saturday upnnd dow the eastern seaboard, a real mess. airport delays, we are going to look at the problems. and the soil is really saturated. there's nowhere for this moisture to go. we're going to see some flooding as well as the day goes on. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> again, that system headed for ourom areaorrow afternoon through saturday ferning. sprinkles out there right now wheve got cloud cover. not the pret feeling like summer. 80 degrees today. humid by the afteron and kbreezy by the afternoon. but if you're traveling on

friday, pass i don't ever. listen. we've got some severe storms. >> that's your latest weather. >> all right, al. thank you so much. still to come this morning, ancient jerusalem. our journey the city of david where we got the rare chance to help unearth of relics. but first ahead of the 20th anniversary of the columbine shooting, hoda talks to str to forgive. str to forgive. aage my money? it's racquetball time. ahhh carl, does your firm offer a satisfaction guarantee? like schwab does.e? guarante carl, can you remind me what you've invested my money in. it's complicated. are you asking enough questions about how your wealth is being managed? if not, talk to schwab.

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and now try new maple cheerios. we are back. 7:42 now. "in-depth" today. saturday marks 20 years since the shooting at columbine high school when two teenage gunmen claimed the les of 13 people. >> the worst school shooting in history at the time.at hoda s down with those who rebuilt their lives and asks if >> emergency. >> the a peopleund me were running. and there were screams. they sounded terrified. >> shots being fired inside the school. >> about 75 yards away, i saw a gunman coming towards me. >> we doave some fatalities. >> i saw them coming to the library and treat human life

like it was a game and play god. >> reporter: the bullets took 13 lives and tore through an entire no years after the massacre 2community. at columbine, we find families who forgave, students who returned, and ari pipal who kept them all together. we want to understand how you guys all came back from that day. >> all these people that i was prayin for, 30 minutes later their brothers and sisters were -- their brothers and sisters were showing up. >> but not your ster. >> the nation stood still as 16-year-old craig scott shared the details of the sister he had lost and the friends he saw killed. but what lingers is a simple gesture. in your moment of utmost grief, you held his hand. >> yeah. i went on the "today" show to

give my friend's dad a hug. i started to get emotional and isaiah's dad reached out his hand and put his hand on mine. it was just a very special toment. >> reporter: tha connection amidst the heart l break to a life's purpose. >> each and e ory one us in this room has a great capacity. >> reporter: through his sister rachel's story, craig now preaches compassion to teens across the country. >> the shooters wanted to make a negative impact on the world. so i wanted to leave a bigger impact but in a positive way. >> reporter: his mother beth says s honors her daughter by letting go of hate. i think t it bitter a road a lot of people would have gone down. but you went down the path of forgiveness. >> forgiveness isn't saying it's okay this happened. what forgiveness is is giving yourself permission not make that your life sentence. >> reporter: beth says she blames the gunmen but has since

made an unimaginable connection. there's forgiving and then there's meeting one of the shooter's moms. >> we both lost our .children but she had all the shame and reproach, the hate. i asked the lord, i said what am i supposed to say to this mother? he lord said ask her who her son was before april 20th 1999. and i did. and tears just rolled down sue's cheeks. she said nobody wants to know anything about my little boy thatis raed. ,d i just i saw a moth's heart. and i had that same feeling for rachel. reporte from those who found forgiveness to the students who returned now teachers at columbine withs less of their own. one by one, all of you cse to come back to columbine.nd >> a it truly is like home. everybody just ches u on each other. >> i think if you asked me as a

senior, i woul said i'm never comingback. but to find meaning and purpose out of a tragedy and not let it break you is really powerful. >> reporter: chris, are you ain different k of teacher because of columbine? >> yeah. the fact i'm a teacher at all is because of columbine. how i model myself in the classroom is based on 1999. >> i remember our first day back in the building. all of the parents lined the sidewalk so as we were walking in,t just felt like there was a protection aund us. and that was really powerful. that gave me a better understanding of the strength and resiliency of the community. >>eporter: who were the helpers when you were students? >> that guy behind us. >> ablutely. mr. d. was huge. >> reporter: and for these former students, the principal who taught a community how to deal. i wondere how you eured those years. you were helping and you were broken. i mean, that's -- that takes something special.

>> my counselor was on speed envisioning that gunman and if i heard a large sound, i a meltdown. so this is where my counselor helped. he said, frank,f you're going to continue to be the principal, you can't keep having these images of walking over kids that are dying. you need to celebrate their ves. and now i saw lauren townsend playing volleyball. and i saw rachel scott on the stage. that's what kept me going. >> reporter: did yfe >> all the time. those kids walked in my school at 7:00 a.m.de mr. sanrs walked in, and they mever returned and that's something i have to live with for the rest of my life. but i made a promise. there's nothing i can do to bring back the i13, but not going to allow them to die in vain. each morning when i awake, i awake by reciting the names of my beloved 13. >> reporter: he would remain at

columbine until every child touched by this tragedy from kindergarten up had graduated. >> but ooum going love you for the rest of my life and the rest of your lives. >> reporter: he kept that promise. and in 2014, columbine's beloved principal soared from the rafters cooverming his own fear of heights with a finn lesso for the students he calls his kids. there is a columbine slogan and it is -- >> we are columbine. we are columbine means no matter what happens to us, we'll always have that special bond and no one could ever take that away from us. >> we are columbine! we are columbine! >> my god. >> there is so much wisdom in that six minutes in what those individuals were able to overcome. i'm so moved by it. i think hoda did a beautiful job

and our producer. i think it's such a picture of grace. >> to think that all of those people could have had that tragedy define their lives in a different way and to see how all to leaduse that tragedy a life of purpose, you're right. >> positivity is really uplifting.e >> would mentive more from thosn our website. i should mention they have so much wisdom to offer. we should hear it. it'stot y.com. >> and that is how we should remember columbine as well. coming up, more oyour movi frontiers of faith series. this morni savannah's trip to the jerusal of the bible. and the ancient treasures that she helped find wethere. you an archaeologist. >> for about ten seconds. >> for about ten seconds. >> but first these messa ( ♪ ) we are all going for something more. ( ♪ ) and new special k protein has more, with 15 grams of protein plus extra nutrients

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7:56 is your time now on this thursday, april 18th, 2019. good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. a third case of measles has been reported in maryland. the state department says the puic may have been exposed to the vus in parts of baltimore county. atse not vaccinated are most risk. now let's check on your first 4 traffic.g. >> good morn we have a crash on the right side t here are the delays. it is really jammed there just after the springfield ng intercha alexandria northbound at edsall, crash on the center of the road. southbound 270 going 22 miles per hour.

alright boys, time fur bed. listen to yo mom, knuckleheads. hand em over. hand what over? video games, whatever you got. let's go. you can watch videos of pmeple playing video gas in the morning. is that everything? i can see who's online. i'm gonna sweep well, look what i found. take control of your wifi with xfinity xfi.

let's roll!' now thats simple, easy, awesome. switch to xfinity with this great limited time offer. plus, get your choice of dvr or a speed upgrade free for a year. click, call or visit a store today. well temperatures out there right now in the 50s. so it's a little mild but also a little cloudy wut there.

wel get some sunshine later on this afternoon. it will be breezy. it will be hot. it will be humid with temperatures nearly0 degrees. a few sprinkles now dissipating. you can expect those over theou next or two. this is coming our way for tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow no travel is definitely going to be impacted not only aroundu here pretty much throughout the eastern part of the united states. this is a huge asstem. fl flooding, flooding around here possible. few showers on satd br on saturday. even a few showers on. sunday then we've got rain chances through the middle part of next week. >> all right, lauryou. anotheda local news upte in 25 minutes. now back to the "toda show after thie short break h

>>it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, r it's 8:00 on "today." coming up report release. the american people get their first look at robert mueller's report. democrats already blasting on timing of the release. >> attorney general barr is not allowing the facts of the or ller report to speak themselves. >> and now calling for the coecial counsel to testify before ress. plus, digging in. this is very much a live excavation site. you're finding things every day. >> every day. >> reporter: our journey to the city of david. where i had the rare opportunity to unearth treasures. wow. and who is crushing it?

james hoelzhauer making history once again. >> you set a one-day record again. >> a game changer making bol bucks with strategies. could he become the biggest winner ever? "turay," thsday, april 18th, >> here from philly! >> because today's my mom's birthday. >> family vacation. >> from vegas. go knights, go! ♪ >> best friends ma maine. >> watching today on maternity leave in williamsburg, virginia, with your newest little fan. >> we'reere for charlie's hdfth bi. >> morning, everybody. welcome back to "today." it's a busy thursday morning. lots to get to. eat crowd outthere. hoda's off. she's enjoying her ti

>> they should do a shoutout. hope if you're listening. and you as well. we would love to hear from you. all you have to do is use the my today plaza hashtag. it's like you're at the plaza. >> that's right. let's get to your news at 8:00. congress and the public. weeks after the special counsel send his findings to the attorney general. kristen good morning. >> good morning to you. just moments ago, president trump tweeted defiantly about thenv mueller itigation calling it the greatest political hoax of all time. saying crimes were com byke croo dirty cops and dnc. thets democra all highlighting it comes ainst a heated backdrop william barr will hold a press conference this moefing even bore congress sees the

findings. overnight, gerald nadler calling on the attorney general to cancel that press conference. and just this morning, house speaker nancy pelosi and senate minority leader chuck schumer saying b of this moment has resulted in a crisis of cdence in his independence and impartiality. and now they're calling on mueller himself to testif a doj spokesperson telling nbc news barr will address the redaction process this rning inhat press conference. and white house intersections over the last few weeks. now, the report is expected to be sent to congress between 11:00 a.m. and noon eastern and later posted on the special counsel's website. all setting up ael lik showdown here in washington. >> going to be a busy day there. live coverage on mo of the nbc stations and put a copy on nbcnews.com. the white house is investigating north korea's claim thursday that it test d a

guided weapon. it would be the first significanpo wea test in nearly half a year. however, experts say it was likely some type of anti-aircraft system and not a ballistice. missil north korea says its leader kim jong-un directed and the test on wednesday. all of this comes at a time when nuclear talks between thest unid es and north korea remain stalled following the collapse of kim's februarypr summit with id just days after the notre dame chedral fire, police in new york arrested a man trying to carry kas lean, lighter fluid, and lighters io st. patrick's cathedral. he claimed he was wanting to cut through the chuh to reach his car because it was out of gas. but officers say when they checked the vehicle, there was still gas in the tank. counterterrorism officials say it's too early to know for certain what the suspect'sio inte were. a new jersey police officer had a very close call sunday while stepping out cruiser during a traffic stop.

his body camera recorded a passing car slamming into his drive side door. check it out. narrowly misses the officer. the cruiser's door with nearly ripped from the hinges. he got a ticket for failing to slow down or move over when approaching an emergency vehicle. >> that's the news. let's do the boost, shall we? while he awaits his future in the nba draft, duke's zion williamson helped a school employee pull off a slam dunk of a gender reveal. take a look. >> hi friends and family. we have a big announcement to .ake >> so now we just need to find out if it's a boy or girl. so, zion? take it om >> way to stick the landing there. burst of bluefe con .

tee says it all. it's a boy and a cool way to announce ito the world. >> i'd say so. >> i like that. coming up, what is a hot? streak we're going to introduce you to the guy who is using quite the same strategy and smarts to break all kinds of jpardy records. but first our trip to ancient jerusalem. the remarkable treasures we helped to discov g a lot more of him now. da-i'm not calling him "d." -oh, no. -look, [sighs] i get it. some new guy comes in helping ur mom bundle and savew, but hey, we're all in this together. right, champ? -i'm getting more nuggets. ow about some carrots? you don't want to ruin your dinner. -you're not my dad! -that's fair. overstepped. -that's fair. and i smoked while (amanda) my i was pregnant. this is the view i had of my baby in the nicu. my tip is, speak into the opening so

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morning. more of savannah's visually stunning holy week series. >> our producers and photographers have incred in letting us see jesalem. yesterday we saw i a and the ground. and today on t start of passover, our journey just outside the city walls to ancient jerusalem, the city of david. >> reporte these are famous steps. the steps jewish pilgrims followed as they headed to the temple on high holidays like passover. o we are, indeed, ascending to the temple in a sense. the way so many pilgrims during the paayover holid would have made their way up after their ritual bathing. >> reporter: my guide took me up the ancient steps. it adds to the magic of the moment when you climb steps like this and you're going to apprch the temple. before pilgrims ascended to the temple, they purified in cleansing pools at the city of

david. >> so i'm taking you now to the city of david. archaeologists bel they found the foundations of the palace of david. nk nice to see you. >> reporter: thaou for having us. >> welcome to jerusalem from the bible. >> reporter: today the city of david is just outside the walls of the old city. but over 3,000 years ago, this was jerusalem. jerome spielman isea the of the city of david foundation. >> if you take a shovel and dig, whatever you pull out of the ground isooing t match the pages of the bible. >> reporter:l is a sacred place. >> it's where jews purified themselves before heading up to mount.ple when jews say at the end of the passover satyr, next year in jerusalem, whether they know it or not, this is actually the place they're talking about. >> reporter: christian pilgrims are drawn here too. this is also where it is

believed jesus healed the blind man. >> it's an amazing story, sn't it? i'm emotional about it. far from the l. pools in the city of david is an ongoing excavation in the parking lot. an actual lot they dug up. >> we found underneath the parking lot there was orkology. >> reporter: this is very much a live excavation site. you're finding things every day. >> every day. >> reporter: like many places in jerusalem, the excavations at the city of david are thcontroversial. is east jerusalem, palestinians live here. not all of them are happy toth e is dig go on, to see this excavation happen. whatoo you say t that? >> when we say jerusalem whether you're a jew, christian, or muslim, all of the holy places are in east jerusalem. 3,000 years ago there was just jerusalem. >> reporter: to understand ancient jerusalem, archaeogists here have uncovered finds like this one. a 2600-year-old seal. i was given a rare opportunity to be part of the dig.

david is our archaeologist. >> reporter: well, you have the perfect name for this place, don't you? >> i do. what you're standing on right now could be anywhere between the second century a.d. and maybe eighth cen b.c. >> reporter: you dig for itth k you found something. then you test it to see when it might be from. >> are you ready to dig? >> reporter: i am. let's go. >> okay. start by putting on your rglov. >>orter: it's a love tap. okay. i just keep on it? >> you want to dig all the way around it. >> reporter: you say get in there? >> get in there. kind of pry it. >> reporter: oh. wow. >> this is a handle from probably a stora. wow. so we put it in the bucket. we found something. >> that's your finds bucket. >> reporter: uncovering ancient treasures of humanity buried far underground.

>> we have two difworlds. underground world showing our shares history and you have a worl working towards finding a shared history as well. >> isn't it interesting to think that was a parking lot up until a few years ago? >> and you were so good at digging. >> you know, i tried my best th piece ott poery, they tracked it and tested it for us. guess what. it is most likely a handle from a jug of water, possibly a jug of oil. and it dated back more than 2,000 years. >> wow. >> you were standing in history. >> yeah. it was really neat. and wgn you're stand there, you actually see the levels of history. it over of course, differ different times and eras. it was incredible. >> you lerally uncovered history. not overstate the case. >> with a love tap. >> ias afraid it would be some prec and i'd be like, sorry. tomorrow we'll wrap up our frontiers of faith series. we've got some highlights from our trip of a lifetime. again as you said, craig, the photographers and producers o

this just did such a beautiful job. >> you're taking millions of people to places they otherwise would never be able to go. people of faith and people who are not of faith. >> everyone would want to see it for sure. speaking of a piece of history, al roker is here. >> indiana guthrie. where's your whip? >> of course he takes it there. >> what? indiana jones. no. u are the one who took it in a different direction. come on. anyway. we're looking at heavy rain stillng falliown. espe into louisiana and parts of arkansas. this system right now, we've got the risk of severe weather today for 19 million peop. damaging winds and potentially some very strong thunderstorms. especially down right along the gulf. we'l watching that. tomorrow we're expecting to see million people at risk of threatening weather. heavy fwlooding likely through the mid-mississippi river valley. that increases the flood rest

in the northeast. rainfall totals from 1 to 3 inches. could be 4 to 5 inches. a there' slow moving system, intense short-term rail rates. airport delays today. detroit, st. louis, memphis, new orleans, possibly in cincinnati and nashville. and tomorrow, t95 i- corridor is going to be a mess driving. airports as well fromarou orl to new york. >> again, as al was saying, we're likely going to have travel delays especially in our area. few sprinkles out there right now. and i even widened out this picture. aybe a few showers that could move into our area. but we will get some sunshine later on todaer ths a system that al was talking about knocking on our doorstep for tomorrow afrnoon. me will today. upper 70s. afternoon.reezy and more humid then rain >> if you're heading out the door, remember catch the "today"

show sirius xm 108. "today" show confidential today. >> must listen to radio. >> good morning, miss jones. >> good morning. filling in forarson this morning. he's on "the voice" duty. we'll start with kate beckinsale. she shared her secre talent of fake sneezing. something she learned when she was younger to get out of class. >> so people would sneeze, you know, 200 or 300 times and then getent out of a science class. i had nothing. so i sort oforked up a really convincing sneeze. ready? >> i can't do it. >> it's mainly good. you've just got to try it -- >> do it again. >> and the she's out of science class. no wonder they let her out of class.

next up, kim kardashian west recently allowed vogue inside her home for its 73 questionsri se. and fans had some questionsou abt her bathroom. specifically the sinks. take a look which appear to be flat. o yesterday he treated her instagram followers to an inside look of her home and explaining more of the interesting things. >> eight vs of this sink was made. it does slightly slope. and tre's a slit for the water. and it goes in. you can put it on as high . pressure as wa something else you think isin interest is our light switches. they are just threee buttons and they go on, di and off. and my bedroom. 130 inch for the bed. >> yes. that is the television thatse from the floor in front of

your bed. >> wow. >> and as we all know she is studying to become a lawyer. earlier this week she shared she was preparing for her first exam. she tweetedesterday she aced her exam. congratulations to her. she can lay in bed and watch that tv just rise from the floor. >> or relax in the bathr tm that size of a new york city apartment. finally, lenny kravitz. on f schitectural dige g a tour of home andhows a piece of artwork i think someone at this table would find quite interesting. >> entering the master bathroom now. this is a picture of my grandmother albert roker tath. was take nn the bahamas back when i was recording the circus album. >> okay, al. you have to explain here. >> his grandmothe, my grandfathers are brothers.

i guess my dad might have been named after his father, after lenny's grandfather. so we're second cousins. >> al roker connected to fantastic.everyo >> we are all brothers and sisters. >> he you been to that house? >> oh, yeah. many times. no. >> can w trip? >> i'm sure lenny's waiting for us to all come. >> thas cool. does he look like -- is there a resemblance? >> yeah. >> that is cool. daly click quick? >> this is a good one. retirednkowski may have from the nfl last month, but he found a way to leave a lasting impression. the patriots shared a video showing how gronk dented the lombar trophy. >> of course he did. >> literally at the last second with the ball. we see 87 go to a bunt. >> probably not ideal. >> the trophy is special.

not damaged. now it has become vintage iswh at i will say. >> what? your faces probably lk like ours. >> is this a prank? >> no. the incident took place on ening day at fenway park. this is just a portion of the story. he left his mark literally on th >> wow.ise. >> that's all i have for you today. >> you let gronk play around with the lombardi trophy, bad things are going to happen. >> he put his mark on it forever. we are gearing up for the indy 5 lur. the andrettisre here and have a special surprise.

good morning. it's 8s thursday, apl 18th. let's get right to melissa mollet and your first 4 traffic. >> good morning. so overall things look okayoo wn you at the big picture. as we take a look at this live cara right now, prince george's county, little hard to see through these branches but we have someanes blocked. two vehicles in a crash there. one of them has been spun around. nort 95, disabled vehicle blocking a lane. and 270 here southbound going about 30 miles per hour. >> all right. thank you. we'll get ahe check of t forecast when we >

well, temperatures out there right now in the 50s. but we e on our way to near 80 degrees for daytime highs today. gloomy out there this morning. but we'll get more sunshine this afternoon. e this morning. i am watching this little are s into our area along aarm front. that warm front will lift to the north. then it will have some sunshine. then we'll have temperatureseg around 80 des for later on this afternoon. tomorrow afternoon, storms. weather alert.

they'll lea into our saturday. unfortunately we do have some a showersround for the weekend. not a washout, but temperatures in the 60s and low 70s this weekend. >> well, today sounds great. get the latest news and weather in the n ♪ protect your pet with the #1 name inlea and tick protection. frontline plus. trusted by vets for nearly 20 years. fa st, reliable internet is crucial. does it every go down? yes. can't do my job. business grinds to a halt. our gig-speed network not only downloads files up to 20 times faster, we go beyond fast with 4g backup for complete reliability. ap so if the unexpected hpens... ) (snaps fingers you stay up and running. we lost power... but not to tt. i want that. (laughing) for a limited time get fast, reliable internet for a low price. call now. comcast business. beyond fast.

hey! it is 8:30 now on this thursday morning, april 18th, 2019. as we say hello to a big crowd in our corner of the plaza. how y'all doing? >> hi, guys. >> how are you? >> it's quite the crowd. >> my goodness. >> and i have a crowd moment, if that's okay with y'all. there are "today" fans and there are "today" superfans. do we know where karis kara has a list 15 long of why she loves the show. kara you watch all of the hours? >> well, i try to.

i have to be at work early so i also listen on the radio. >> you do? thank you for well, i love number 12. you went to high school where my grandma went. >> ashley hall in charleston, south carolina. ehen your grandfather was vice president, she c to speak at commencement and i was in, like, 11th grade. i remember she opened with, george, what should t ik about and he said, bar, about ten minutes. no one wants to listen any longer. >> she wasn't very good atthat. t thank you so much for watching and for coming today. if she wches all four hours, we're all coming over. >> and you even included saturday. >> love it. >> get the hole groe group. >> and she loves kevin. >> you know how i know she's good people? she's from columbia, south carolina. >> number 13, she listens to "today" show confidential. >> who's your favorite on that?

>> libby. >> good answer. h >> do you feel about pete breen? >> he's pretty funny. >> thank you guys for coming back. >> i love th . well, coming up next, we are going to be kicking off festivities for next month's indy 500. we've got the legendary racing family, the andrettis. they are live on the plaza and they are about t reveal something huge. >> that is cool. plus our friend martha stewart is here to get us into the easter spirit. forget the store bought egg kits for decorating. she has fancy ideas but says we can do it. >> i don't believe her. >> next level easter eggs. comingn up o the third hour, actor brendan frasier is here. we're going to halk to about playing a misfit hero. you love this show. and his famo roles as well. but first, a check of the

weather. 0th anniversary of "the mummy." severe storms along the eastern seaboard. showers move into the northwest between mild and sunny. then on saturday, met andild in the northeast. mild highs in the mid-plains. hot and dry down through texas. wet in the inner mountain region. not great mid-atlantic into the northeast. showersd in the upper midwest an cso into the sunshine. and the westoast looking pretty nice on hippity hop easter sunday. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> well, we'vecl got some ds ou stuck in the 50s, but we will start to take the temperatures up witsunshine. we will have clearing after lunchtime. few isolated sprinkles out there right now. i'm watching these showers that kinded out ofd owhere. coulha isolated showers throughout the day. this is marching towards us for tomorrow afternoon intoomorrow

evening. that means we have a weather rr alert day tomo becoming sunny. >> that's yourat lest weather. >> thank you, sir. we are revving up for next month's indy 500 because for the very first time, that race will be right here on nbc. andelping usout, one of the world's most famous families in racing, if not the most famous family in racing. the andrettis. we've got allhree generations of the andrettis. mario along with his son michael and his grandson marco who will be racing in a few weeks. g we to start with grand dad here. we should point out that this is -- this is the car. this is the car you won the indy 500n 50 years ago. >> 50 years ago. can you imagine that? i mean, it's so flattering that we're celebrating the event 50 years later.re and w celebrating as a family as well because, anviously, michael has a team now. we have third generation

marco drivi his car. and then we're about to see a little bit of a surprise behind us. >> we're going to get to trit surp in a moment. >> did i break it? >> no. we're going to get to it. we call that a tease here. michael, we've got this documentary that we're actually going to ben showing nbc leading up to the big race. it's called "drive like an andretti." i know you've seen it. what are folks going to take away from that documentary? >> actually, i have not seen itd i'm excit to see it. i know they've donewe -- they able to go to where my father was born over in italy and trace the whole steps, you know, to where we are today. so i think it's going to be really cool. >> all right. so we took a look at the car from 50 years ago. how about we go take a look for the first time -- this will be the car that you've driving indy 500. and to be clear, you have n seen this ca tharight, no. >> have you seen it, grand dad? >> no. >> all right. so we're going to review it for e first time

we'll go on a three count. i'll help in the middle here. you ready? one, two, three. wow. wow. look at that. >> nailed the color. >> there's your name, marcoet andr. >> that's one of the hardest colors to match. >> a not so subtle nod to grand dad. >> that's prett awesome. we're pretty thankful for u.s. concrete us run it. it's not their traditional colors. but it's awesome. >> you want to go ahead and guarantee a win? >> that'd be nice. be a little tougher than that but we'll try. >> andrettis, great to have you. only one man has won the daytona 500, the f1, and the indy 500. >> how about that? >> how about that? always good to he history on the plaza. be sure to catch the "drive like andretti" on thsaturday, may 11. and the indy 500 on sunday, may

26th right here on nbc. >> all right. thank you, craig. t now to growing buzz surrounding a contestant on jeopardy who just became the second-highest cash winner of all time. natalie morales is out in l.a. with the story. hi, nat,g. good mornin >> reporter: hey, good morning. james holzhauer, he is of course brilliant. his a strategies bold and he's having a lot of fun with alex trebek. and he's on one heck of a ten-day winning streak. >> ourur rng champion james hoorhauer. >> recds are meant to be broken. >> reporter: james holzhauer is now the l secondding jeopardy winner of all time. second only to this man. end.ll goods thingve to come >> reporter: kenng jenni whose streak in 2004. holzhauer has only been on the show ten day behe has the highest records. >> you have just set a one-day record.

again. $131,127. how did you acquire this knowledge? is it just school? is it curiosity? >> oh, no. i hatsc ol. i just studied things i wasn't good at before. you know, tried to shorepoints. >> well, you've shored up the weak points. >> reporter: today he hasearly $700,000 in winnings. a professionaly gambler trade, he has a strategy. he minds the daily doubles always doubling down. >> all of the chips, please. >> all of it? all right. here is the clue for you. >> reporter: and the starts from the bottom of the board up betting dates and birthdays that mean >>something. eptember 8th, 2012, i got married. >> reporter: it's a different strategy than ken jennings used when he was on the show. >> he's thinking about g thee in a whole different way. i never would have had the stomach to make those bets he's making. >> repor this new run at the i record has given a shot in the arm to the show.

trebek posted an update to his health. >> despite what you may have heard, i'm feeling good. i'm continuing with my therapy. and we -- by we, thef, staf is already working on our next season. the 36th year of jeopardy.r: >> reporholzhauer's run has even provided fodder for late night jokes. >> he's really happy. look at hissmile. wow. i'll take awkward smiles we 200,alex he star a for t contestant, he already has the quesanon for last er. plans for holzhauer's winnings. whenever his run ends, he and his wife plan on traveling around the world visiting a favorite city every month. for his part, jennings has only one tip for holzhauer. >> i'd give him the same advice

i give everybody on jeopardy. don't wear a sweater. you looke a dork. >> reporter: guys, he has worn a sweateoc on sion, but he's not dorky. given his success, the #jeopardyjames now treing on twitter. it'll be fun to see how far he can go and if he can rival ken's success. at this pace, h will shatter ken's record in less than half the time. >> they should put them back-to-back. like, have a jeopa see whose strategy is the best. >> reporter: i want the champions edition. >> yes. sweaters. >> also goodo hear from trebek as well. we continue to wish you the best, mr. trebek. just ahead here, with uber safety in the spotlight, an exclusive look at some big changes being made to help keep you safe. first help keep you safe. firs this is "today" on nbt,c.

welcome back. 8:42 now. the recent death of anaouth carolitudent who mistakenly got into a car she thought was her uber has awakened the safety concerns. >> a new safety feature andsp eaking out about the changes its making. >> reporter: good morning. you know, samantha josephson's parents are now on a mission to make ride sharing safety. in fact, in south carolina, a bill named after their daughter is making its way through the state house. it would require drivers of ride share vehicles to display illuminated signs. uber's chief of legal and securi sat down with us to discuss the impact of the tragedy and what uberin is do to impro university of south carolina student samantha josephson made a mistake most users can relate to. not making sure the car was the right one. the driver who did not work for uber allegedly killed the

21-year-old. now uber says it is taking action. how d her murder affect policy here? >> we are heartbroken about what has happened. for us it's a reminder that we have toy constantl do everything we can to raise the bar on safety. >> repor tod uber is announcing the new technology together in partnership with the university o carolina to improve safety. >> in the app, you'll get morer petent push notifications to your phone that alert you. >> repter: it begins rolling out today. here's how the new safety features work. you open up the app as you normally would and there's a banner at the bottom that says check your ride every time. that means three things. the license plate, the car details, and the picture of your

driver. i plug in my pickup andf dropof information and wait for the driver to be assigned. now i get the second warnin check your ride every time. let's say i lock my phone because i want to get my bag ready and i'm doing some other. things mat screaming. and i get my third notification. and within minutes my uber is arriving. time to go throughhe checklist. here it comes. obviously this is a nissan centura. i may check it from behind to confirm it is that license plate. it is. and here's the really important part when you get in the car. hi, who are you here to pick >> uber for stephanie. >> reporter: all right. and the picture matches. i'm going to get in. there have been stories around the country for years about fake uber drivers. should uber have been more proactive sooner. >> you will never hear meat say the have done enough on safety. it's my commitment, it is the

commitment of the company. >> reporter: women were allegedly assaulted by fake uber drivers. they claimed that uber knew about fake drivers luring passengers in the area, but failed to warn the riders. uber doesn't comment on pending litigation. when i hail a taxi in new york city, i know it's a taxi. it's yellow. it's got a light. the driver has a medallion. is it time for uber drivers to be more official? >> there chat havee about in the last couple of weeks. technology itself is a great tool to ensure that you a getting into the right uber vehicle. >> reporter: i wonder when you consider the new safety technology, do you factor in the fact that sometimes people a little dnk when they use this app. and trying to find license plates or names or makes of cars, that gets difficult. w do you accommodate that?

>> you do your best to be persistent and frequent in the push notifications about that critical information. it's really, really important just as, you know, buckling your seat belt is. it's become sort of second nature whenever we get into a car to buckle up. it haso tbe car secon n tdo ask, hey, who are you here to pick up? >> the new alert system will begin rolling out later today. first in south carolina. uber says it will live in everyone's app in the coming days, guys. >> such a good reminder. you know,g just ask who are you picking up today. such a big part of it. >> check that license plate. >> thank you so up many. we send it over to craig. >> just ahead, we will turn our attention to easter and who better to help us do that than martha stewart? her eggscellent ideas. but first thisde ecorating ias d.

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. easter is a few>> days > easter just a few days away. there's nothing more cheerful than a basket of colorful eggs. here to help is our friend martha stewart. she's brought some creative ideas from the latest martha stewart living. always good to have you. >> yes. it's so much fun. this whole table is covered with new style of decorating eggs. but first, do you want to decorate hard boiled eggs or blown out eggs? >> well, let's show us this blowout thing. >> that one's for you. we dtllled a lit hole in the egg. this little egg employe is a nice contraption. used to make an egg here and a bit disgusting. yourself. >> no, not disgusting now that's your egg. break up the yolk. okay. >> you just used a paper clip? just to break up the egg yolk.

turnt upsidedown like that. do that. upsidedoez. now sque >> oh, look at that. >> so these are available at craft stores. these little egg blower outers. and then you wash it. >> yours cracked. >> don't tell them, savannah! i cracked the heck out of it. >> oh, gosh. the blownout eggs. now you want st cil. here, that's for you. use a brown these are all blown out. thls are so eat. again, these are my stencils. >> are those naturally colored eggs? >> yes. the are eggs from my coop. i have about 200 hensaying all these gorgeous egg put the sten. then a pouncer ae littl bit of craft paint. these are pouncers. they all come in a little egg

decorating kit. >> oh, the do. >> yes. >> a tha at the that's not that hard. >> savannah, you can do this. >> thank you. >> even you can do this. >> none taken. >> and look, look. thest so cute. >> so it takes a little time, but it's tot worth it. now, gold leafing is just for you. >> thank you. >> because you are golden. here's an egg for you. these are hard boiled. you feel how heavy. pounced with an adhesive. let thate dry a little bit before you roll it in real gold leaf. you roll it like this or pick up the over. >> look, ma almost right. >> amazing. >> so close. >> then look, here's your gold. don't waste any gold. you're going to use it on the next egg.

and then brush this off wit your gold leaf brush. and this is -- see?ow nice >> that's lovely. >> you did it perfectly. >>well, good for you. and you have these gorgeous eggs you can hide as the golden egg. >> i'm a little nervous. >> all the ingredients have to be room temperature. this is egg coloring mixed in water. then one teaspoon of oil. >> and this is home made. wow. >> and you just put a teaspoon of oil in the water for the marbleizing. >> we only have 30 seconds left. rool this in and you get a marbled egg. >>eally quickly, i have a d who allergic to eggings. if you have my situation, do th acookie. >> or my method of dip. this is easy decorating. you dip into your royal icing. don't push it too hard. then you drip.

dry. decorate. >> thank you. all this is on the website, by the way, all of it. we're back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc. >> it'll all look like this. .> h

guys, we have more stories at today.com/allday. >> plus next on the third hour, two high school sweethearts lost love but found it again 44 years later. first loca good morning. it's 8:56 onhis thursday, april 18th. let's get right to melissa mollet and your first traffic. what's going on on those roads? >> good morning. right now beltway is looking -- at bravrnch avenue. thlle trees sti blocking a little bit.

lanes are open so that's a great thing. northbound 95 before 234, left blocked. have all lanes blocked because of anen accid there. >> all right. thanks somuch. we'll get a check of the forecast whe.

well temperatures are inhe 50s right now. we have to be patient because we're going to have a few spotty showers, partial clearing into the early afternoon. more suno the later afternoon and evening hours. again, a few showers out there right now. ybe even an isolated thunderstorm as we continue through about noontime. temperatures 70s to near 80. 70 tomorrow. severe storms tomorrow night. get the news and weather any time the nbc es att

live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza, this is the third hour of "today." and good morning. welcome to therd thi hour of "today," #t rdhourtoday. dylan. the gang is back today and stephanie is with us. >> good morning. >> niceer to have you he and craig, nice to have you back dame fire e not over in paris. what was it like to be there? >> only there a couple days. i can tell you, i continued to be amazed. we talked about it. when tragic things happen here the way people rally, and decide to turn a tragedy into something more. the same has been the case there in paris as well. the w speed withch they have been able to raise roughly