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ron mott, nbc news, boston. >> that's going to do it for us on a friday night. i'm lester holt.f us at nbc news, thank you for watching. and good night. popular destination for spring training, and the faithful are packing every game to watch the giants in the cactus league. stay tuned for giants baseball as they take on the rockies next. ♪ >> it's out of here! ♪ welcome to the senora desert, even by cactus league standards it's unseasonably warm. temperatures in the 90

ron mott is in arizona. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: for south carolina, they struck up the band.fect cheer for the school's first trip ever to the final four, a confident cinderel cinderella. cocky, too? but will practice make perfect for the seven-seeded under dogs? >> it's a cool story, the cinderella title. the game has to be played and we'll come out and compete. >> reporter: this week a party welcoming them home to colombia after making the final four, beating a number two, three, and four team to get here. next up, number one gonzaga. every year some of the tournaments most spine-chilling moments are among the most unexpected victories. north carolina state in '83. villanova two years later and monumental upsets. now a chance for the gamecocks to crow their way to the top. their coach frank martin runs the roost famous for his fiery outbursts of colorful emotion, all in the name of love. >> what is tough love? i don't know what tough love is. people love you, they tell you the truth. they don't lie to you. >> reporter: at this stage of the game, though, no room for slipups,

nbc's ron mott explains. >> can you say hi?ter: for this family, parents of 3-month-old twins, ryan and nell, new discoveries are a daily, if not hourly routine. and they've just learned one more, what they believe is a safer way to put their babies to sleep. in a cardboard box. >> there you go. >> i think for me being a new mom it's very steep learning curve, especially with twins. these boxes are awesome because you don't have to think about it. it's a safe space. very portable. >> reporter: it's a simple solution to reduce cases of sudden infant death syndrome, borrowed from an effective tradition in finland where the infant mortality rate is less than half of america. this looks sort of comfortable. >> sleep-related deaths as the number one cause of post neonatal causes, as a pediatrician i would, absolutely. >> reporter: in the u.s., s.i.d.s deaths have fallen sharply from 130 to 100,000 per live birth to 39 in 2015. >> thank you. >> reporter: and the baby box company is trying to drive the number even more. offering bocks

ron mott, nbc news, boston. >> that's going to do it for us on a friday night. i'm lester holt.k you for watching. and good night. >>> new photos -- j. lo's white-hot date night with a-rod. >> the new clues they've gotten serious overnight, now on "extra" from new york. ♪ extra, extra . >>> j. lo sizzling in a sexy white mini dress, hitting the town with her new man, a-rod. >> how is the relationship going? >> inside their cozy dinner miami beach and why she just sold her l.a. mansion. >>> plus, the mets star and the victoria's secret supermodel. >> new york's couple, matt harvey caught kissing adriana lima. >>> president trump versus alec baldwin, the new war of words over alex's "snl" spoof. >> the portrayal of me is ridiculous. >> only we have baldwin and his p>> the next three or four t. months. >>> prince william in the doghouse with duchess kate? inside the royal couple's reunion after his wild night with a mystery woman. >>> the secret about bachelor nick and the four-carat engagement diamond he gave vanessa. >> is it a recycled ring where you've seen it before? >>> plus,

we have all the angles covered starting with my colleague ron mott, just outside detroit. also with us, steve rattner, who led president trump's task force during the auto bailout. rick, msnbc contributor, reporter for "the new york times." ron, break down what we just heard. there were a few different headlines there. >> reporter: hey there, kate, good afternoon. one of the headlines is that, perhaps, donald trump is going to hitch his wagons to the auto industry to keep his base energized while we in the country see these controversies emanating out of washington, d.c. it's a pretty good sized crowd here. a lot of united autoworkers fleece jackets. they were given the opportunity to come here today, to hear from the president and get paid while being absent from work. it's unusual, perhaps, for a republican president to meet with labor union leaders here in the auto industry, particularly also met with some of the auto company executives as well. he did mention general motors making a big announcement today. donald trump as a candidate talked about bringing jobs back. her

. >> nbc's ron mott explains. >> can you say hi? >> reporter: for this family, new discoveries are a daly routine and they just learned one more, what they believe is a safer way to put their babies to sleep, in a card board box. >> i think for me being a new mom it's a steep learning curve especially with twins. the boxes are awesome. you don't have to think about it. they are safe and portable. >> it's a way to reduce sudden infant death syndrome. borrowed from finland. box, pad, baby on their back, nothing else, parents. >> sleep related death is the number one cause of infant related mortality. it's good they learn information right from the start. >> reporter: s.i.d.s. deaths have fallen sharply. and the baby box company is trying to drive the number even lower. offering boxes and supplies for free around the country here in ohio with some of the highest infant mortality rates. >> we haven't gotten a crib yet, to be honest and this was a lifesaver. >> reporter: the company recommends the box until the baby can pull itself up. >

. >> ron mott explains how a major effort is under way to educate parents by thinking inside the box.> can you say hi. >> reporter: parents of 3-month-old twins ryan and nell, new discoveries are a daily if not hourly routine and they just learned one more, what they believe is a their babies to sleep, in a card board box. >> i think for me being a new mom it's very steep learning curve with twins and these boxes are awesome because you don't have to think about it. you know it's a safe space, they are very portable. >> reporter: it's a simple solution to reduce cases of sudden infant death syndrome, from a tradition in finland where the infant mortality rate is less than half in the u.s. nothing else, parents. >> looks actually sort of comfortable on the floor. >> sleep related death as the number one cause, as a pediatrician, i would say absolutely good to learn from the start. >> sids death have fallen from 130 per 100,000 live birth to 39 in 2015. the baby box company is trying to drive the number even more, offering boxes and supplies for free around the country here in ohio, som

half an hour from now, president trump scheduled to speak in michigan and that's erwe find nbc's ron motthe's there talking to locals about the first two months in office. what are people telling you about how the president is doing so far? >> craig, he's got thumbs up from folks here and a few thumbs down. he won this state, which helped put him into the white house. this is his first trip back since january 20th. and now people are ready to see some results. you can see the sign behind me, they are going to talk jobs and we were over at the big sky diner, good food over there. the coffee was flowing and so were the conversations about donald trump. here's a little taste of that. take a listen. >> i think he's doing a fine job. he's my hero. all the bad stuff that has been brought up is all about the media and the democrats. >> how much do you care about his tax returns, seeing them? >> i didn't care at all about seeing them. >> do you think in the future all presidential candidates should be able to withhold their taxes? >> i think so. don't bother me at all. >> i never trusted him. fro

ron mott is live in bay city, michigan. ron, the president squeaked out a victory in what is a democratic leaning state. what are you hearing from voters there? >> the folks who did not vote for him were probably not as impressed as those folks who did vote for him. this man just worked third shift down in saginaw. he's in the united auto workers union. been a life-long democrat. has always voted blue except this past election. you vote forward donald trump. a lot of people talking about tone this morning. how did you think the president did in delivering the message to the country last night? >> i thought he did a great job delivering the message. he really did. he spoke to all americans last night. i think his tone was excellent. sounded very presidential. the best president trump has sounded in a speech. >> was the speech last night one of those moments where you think this is the start of the unification of the country? the country still very much divided especially here in bay county. this is a blue county but the city

ron mott is live at a michigan diner in a county that went red last november for the first time sinceon, i know you have been talking to a politically diverse group of retirees. what is their take on how the president did last night? and what did you order at the diner? >> i got a cup of coffee, and i am trying to keep the peace between a wolverine fan and a spartan fan, and both watched the president last night. you are a retired i.t. professional. what did you expect to hear, and by the way, you voted for hillary clinton in november? >> yes, i did. i was expecting him to go over the broad outlines of the plans that he was expecting to see fulfilled over the next year, and in terms of the things we heard, i didn't hear anything that i found new. i found very little in additional substance. i do think that he did a good job of delivering his message and a more statesman like way than i have seen before. >> but you were waiting for specifics? >> i am still waiting for specifics. >> stan, you voted for donald trump in november. >> yes, i did. >> you just told me a little while off camer

ron mott joins me now from chicago. how many jobs are we talking about and are they the result of this administration's policy or were they in the pipeline before the president was elected? >> good morning. this is good news, no doubt about that. the question is whether this is old news because a lot of what the president is appearing to take credit for was negotiated and announced two years ago when ford signed its newest deal with the united out workers union. in terms of the jobs mentioned today the company will create or retain 130 jobs at one of those three facilities it announced it was going to make an investment in today. they made similar announcements back in january when donald trump took office and at that time they said they would add 700 jobs, new jobs at a new plant that they were planning to build. today's announcement much more modest in terms of jobs, new jobs, and again the phrasing with the company is that it will create or retain 130 jobs. all of this comes as a part of ford's announcement two years

ron mott is live in bay city at irish pub.on't know if you or your producer worked that out, but nicely done. he's talking to people about their thoughts on the president's address last night. what's the feeling there today? did they like the president's tone and message? what did you hear? >>. >> good afternoon to you. this is the irish hub, not the pub. >> hub, i see. is it-t does appear to be a bar behind you. >> reporter: right. a lot of people in michigan four months after donald trump shocked the world are still shaking their head about how he could pull off this victory in michigan, especially here in bay county. he didn't just eke out a victor by hillary clinton. he won by double digits. a big victory here in this country. now, you didn't vote for her. i'm sorry, you didn't vote for her. you voted for hillary clinton. you were a bernie sanders guy. what happened in the election in this county? >> well, i feel the reality is people believed his lip service. he told everybody what they want to hear. i guess he's still do

nbc's ron mott reporting. >> reporter: there are arguably three cinderella stories in north carolina trying to erase that heart breaking ending to last year's march madness. everyone loves an underdog, and this year's final four is a racket busting final four, two schools dancing for the first time, surging south carolina and top seeded gonzaga, that's in washington state for all of you asking. at long last, their 15 minutes of hoops name, well, technically 40 are finally ticking. >> we know we're a great team and we know we have earned the right to be considered a great team, playing at this time of the year, anybody who's still playing is a great team. >> you only got to beat them by one, and then you're the best. >> reporter: in oregon the ducks are quacking with excitement too, it's been nearly 80 years since they have been on basketball basketball's biggest stage since 1939. and while there are plenty of butterflies and pressure to go around, the men in carolina blue felt that way after valuing to villanueva after last week's championship game with this dramatic buzzer beater. t