tragedy on the runway as a passenger plane thts russia bursnto flames on a hard landing. at least 40 have died. the susquehanna deploying an aircraft strike route to send a message to iran. >> the day his fixer micha cohen is due to report t prison, president trump ss robert mueller should now not testify before congress. we'll hear from some of the survivors of the 737 that skidded off the runway in jacksonville. plus nasa is shooting star, the photographer who captured o truly of this world images over the past 30 years.ly "eartoday" starts right now.

good morning, a passenger plane bursts into flames midair leaving at least 40ea people and dozens more missing in moscow. the plane caught fire after attempting an emergency lding at one of the major airports. investigators are trying to piece together what went wrong. joining us from london with the latest is sarah onha do we know anything about the victims on board? >> gd morning, bha a nightmare. 40 dead in this horrific incident. this was a regional russian flight from moscow to the northern northern city. so it's thought that most of the passengers are russian. however, there are reports of one americaneing amonghe dead. just this morning, the russianc wire servi started reporting they recovered both black boxes from the scene of this incident. now we haven't been able to probable at, but it's they could have found the black boxes and work will begin to

discover what went wrong. a number of people managed to survive the fiery crash. escaping emergency slides. it's unclearen exactly what wt wrong. the pilots issued a distress call almost immediately after pltakeoff. the ane turned back making an emergency landing. 30 minutes after it left the airport. this was a rush jet and inbestigators are going to closely examining video, interviewing survivors and combing through what's left of the plane for clues about why a ssenger plane turned into a fireball. >> thank you. shipping out, the u.s. is deploying a carrier strike group and a numb of bombers to the middle east. this comes in response to a number of troubling warnings from iran and threats to u.s. force this is ttit region. naal security adviser john bolton issued a statement

announcing the deployment of the u.s.s. abraham lincoln strike group. the deployment is to send a clear message to the regime is a that any attack on united states interests or allie will be met with unrelenting force adding that the u.s. is not seeking war with the regime but prepared to respond to any attack. thehi w house is in for a major day of deadlines and ecowdowns. a dion is expected to be made about the tax return returns. william barr could face contempt of congress if he doesn't hand over the mueller report. the president reversed course on how he feels about mueller testifying. >> that's right. he reversed course during a a tweet overnight. so here's little bit from what president trum had to say. as recently as last h friday, said that it should be up to the attorney general williamarr as

to whether or not robert mueller appears on capitol hill and testifies before lawmakers. but in a tweet overnight,t he presidenpeared to reverse course saying robert mueller should not testify, no redos for the dems. as you can imagine, a lot of democrats are upset about at. chuck schumer accusing the president of ting to silence mueller. this comes as democrats and members of theee house committ are trying to work out an agreement to get mueller to testify. they are looking at a target date of may 15th to hear what the special cosel has to say. so all of that is playing out as democrats have issued this new deadline for attorney general william barr to turn over a less redacted version of mueller's report and make that available to all lawmakers. they want to see that as well as the underlying evidence. and the chairman is threatening to hold barr in contempt if he does not comply or if he doesn't put forth a good faith effort to work with members of the

committee. now the other dead line is the fact a that michael cohen is reporting to prison today to begin that first day of his three-year sentence. in part for lying to congress. a lot to watch. tiger woods will beho the a white today. the nation's highest civil yan honor. michael cohen is waking up to his last morning as a free man before he begins his three-ye sentence in federal prison. ent's former lawyer is due to report to an institution in new york this afternoon. for more on his last hours of freedom and what's coming next, we're joined b kathy park. >> reporter: good morning, time is up for michael cohen. today the former fixer for donald trump will be starting a new life as a federal prisoner. but this weekend cohen took full advantage ofhe life he's inaving behind

michael cohen walkg around manhattan enjoying his last hours as a free man. >> did you think when you started working for donald trump you'd end up in prison? >> he snaps at a reporter. >> moments later he's shaking hands and posing for a photo with a fan. cohen gins a three-year sentence for tax evasion, campaign finance crimes and lying to congress, all while working for donald trump. in an interview with a new yorker, he dbled down on his former boss asking how come i'm the one that's going ton? i'm not the one that slept with the porn star.il ko her honor wserve his sentence here in new york in the prison's minimum security camp he will join the situation from jersey shore, convicted of tax evasion. and billy mcfarland, convicted of fraud. >> they come in and they are nobo.

they are another number. >> reporter: jack worked at the prison as a case manager. >> you are told when to eat whrks to wake up, when to go to bed and day.d five times a >> reporter: just 70 miles from his park avenue apartment, but a world away.r fos part president trump has denied all of cohen's allegations. cohen is supposed to surrender before 2:00 p.m. today. >> thank you. set is severe storms in the south a investigations into a plane skidding off a runway. it was unable to stop skpended up in it a river. >> reporter: the first look atft the harrowimath of the boeing 737 that slid off a runway and into the st. john's river during s arm friday night. 142 people were on board. retired navy commander bob gibson was one of them.

>> on impact everything went fl ying. the plane lost power. then we were kind of day luged with water. >> reporter: 22ere injured in the accident. thunde torms brought the investigation and clean up to a halt. >> was the fuel leakage inri the r? >> the tanks were breached when the aircraft wintd through the sea wall. >> reporter: investigators retrieved the flight data recorder and according to the ntsb we now know the pilots wanted to landn a different runway facing the opposite direction. >> the cockpit voice recorder will give us a lot more information on what the crew was thinking. >> reporter: the cockpit recorder, which has the recording of the conversations between the flight crew and air traffic control, is in the tail of the aircraft still under water. >> investigators hope to pull theth plane out of river as early as today. controversy at the kentucky derby. for the first time in the

145-year history a winner was disqualiy eied. officials ruled that the race's initial victor maximum security was disqualified after blocking other horses from being able to pass. the decision garnered a tweet from the president. here's ron mott. >> maximum security wins the kentucky derby. >> reporter: the roses turned thorny moments after maximum security crossed the wire ahead of 18 other horses in the biggest race of the year. jockeying forition is common in a field this large. >> there is an objection that's been posted on the board. >> reporter: after a delay of 20 minutes racing stewards disqualified thet apparen winner for interference. you can see it right there for the first time in 145 kentucky derbies. the >>owd shocked. hose horses were all affected by the interference. therefore, we unanimously determined to disqualify number 7. >> reporter: that meant a 65 to

1 long shot claimed top prize of $2 million returning handsome pyouts to anyone daring t bet on him. >> it's bittersweet. i would beyi lng if i said it s any different. >> reporter: but the co-owner called it the most egregious disqualification in the historin of horse rac even the president tweeted. it's not the kind of feel good story the derby usually produces and comes as the sport deals with sagging popularity and two dozen horse fatalities this winter. >> it'sot the best timing to have that happen, but it is the safest thing for the horses and for the jockeys to try to make sure that the riders know they have to maintain a saight urse no matter the quality of the race. fans touring the stables largely agreed with the stewards. >> i have no regrets on how they called it. i think they did the right thing. >> reporter: those fans who bet

on maximum securittelost an esti $9 million because of the disqualification. the question some are asking, what has horse racing lost. >> that was ron mott reporting. millions of americans are hoping for a town it recover after multiple rounds of severe weather. a woman in florida daredo ek out her window athe very moment lightning struck near h home. you can see the moment went flying. the winds reaching up to 105 miles per hour. they were strong enough to flip a bode upside down. terrifying to see that lightning strike. >> very scary. we're joined now by bill kari. what's the latest? >> this week is is a repeat of last week. nothing like florida lightning strikes. they are close. let's deal with the threat this afternoon into this evening.mo ly talking about areas of

north texas and almost all of kansas inclouding the kansas city area. yesterday a little mini outbreak. we had 20 reports last night. then into tuesday, the storm threat is going to sit right over top of the same region. that's why the rainf tl totals up2 to 3 inches is on top of all the rain last week. we have record river flooding in some areas. that's a look at the big weather of the story of the day. all the troublesome weather throughout the beginning of 9 week is in the middle of the country. areas that will have the most dangerous weather will be from kansas to missouri and all the way through texas the next couple days. take a look at the week ahead forecast. we deserve some good weather in the east. >> we do. thank you. today kicks off national nurses week. a time to honor members of the nation's hard working yet

ession.preciated pr businesses around the country are showing their support for our dedicatedh nurses wit discounts. he's just a few. amazon is offering a collection of free nursing books. they can receive a mini roll at cinnabon. and pot bellies is offering a buy one get one free deal. my mom was a nurse. they nddeserve that a so much more. till ahead, a major chick can b recall. and kim kardashian helps another inmate get out of prison. ohhhh... enough already! we need to see a doctor. ask your doctor about myrbetriq® (mirabegron). it treats oab symptoms of urgency, frequency, and leakagen it's the first only oab treatment in its class. myrbetriq may increase blood pressure.ig it treats oab symptoms of urgency, frequency, and leakagen tell your doctor away if you have troubles class. emptying your bladder or have a weak urine stream.

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dinners because a of milk allergen. it involves the home menu. the meals were produced between ber 1st, 2018, and april 11th, 2019. there have been no rofrts of any illnesses. leading the news, in north carolina a final farewell to a hometown hero. riley howell, the university of north carolina student who died after tackling a gunman in last week's shooting was remember with military honors. his casket was brought in as family and friends filed in to attend the services. he w a21-year-old rotc cadet. he was a free spirit who was ki to everyone he met. > reality show kim kardashian at theorefront of criminal justice helping another inmate gain freedom. she tweeted this photo of the family of jeffrey stringer saying they would soon be reunited after 22 years.

stringer was serving life in prison for a low level drug offense. she's been studying to be an attoey andomes a year after helping alice johnson cut her life sentence short. n.> just ahead, the return of "snl"'s opera ma and find out why charlize theron tu derned down a role in "won woman." you're watching "early today." prp tige creams not living uto the hype? one jar shatters the competition. olay regeneriserhydrates skin betthan creams costing over $100,200, and even $400. fact check this ad in good housekeeping.

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>> i really miss opera man. great to see adam sandler back on "snl." charlize theron said she did turn down a role in wonder woman. but it wasn't for what she would be cast for. >> i did not turn the role down. i'm not familiar with it. i k don't reallyw her. this person said, no, it's for wonder woman's mom. >> so theron who is 43 and only 9 years older said being asked to playhe mom is an exampw of hollywood slaps you in the face wyou start ageing.

>> that's a great role though. >> but at the same time, only 9 years older. unrealistic. fire festival founderilly mcfarland is plolting his comeback. disgraced con man is writing a memoir while in prison. like fire, mcfarland plans to use proceeds from the book to pay off the $26 million in restitution he owes. he's set to be released in 2024. so now we have a box to go along with the scandal. >> and also maybe a new frienoh in michael c in jail for the first time today. still to come, the man who captured spaceistory for more than 30 years. lilot will happen in your . wrinkles just won't. neutrogena®ra pid wrinkle repair's derm-proven retinol

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low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ♪ the beat goes on ask your doctor about entresto for heart failure. that was great! entrust your heart to entresto. ♪ the beat goes on let's take a y look atr week ahead forecast. the sun returns in the northeast. all the storms in the middle of the country. sunny and warmer areas in the south. e had storms move throu florida. then all the weather tuesday and wednesday through the middle of the country have to deal with more flash flooding concerns and severe weather. one more nice day on wednesday. then a storm system heads to the east coast. this is like the fourth friday in a row the entire eastern sea board has a chance for a rainy day. >> at least we get the sun for one day today. we'll taek it. marvello bckbuster rayss towards

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happening nos4 on "new today," climbing out of their cars and walking off the job. uber and lyft drivers plan a midweek strike in several major citie

a far bigger demonstration could be coming to d.c. stand o from the crowd. llions of college graduates will now try to find ework. thhings your grad needs to set herself apart from the others. [ scream ] yikes. severe weather strikes. millions clean up from a weekend of strong win and pounding rains. we'reshowing you the hardest hit spots. it is 4:00 a.m. good morning, everyone, i'm aaron gilchrest. >> i'm eun yang. it rained all sunday. mean, i can't remember if there was a minute we didn't have rain. let's begin this morning with a check on your commute and formoast. melissa llet is standing by with your first 4af trfic. >> we'll start withto s team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. i didn't get off the couch until 4:00 yesterday, and then it raining. >> that wasn't the rain, that was the struggle bus. >> 4:00? you have to turn around and go back to bed. >> aaron, get t off couch

before then. four thino