Conversation with Country Music entertainer of the year, luke bryan. This morning how losing his brother as a teenager led him to chase after a career in the music business. Do you feel like you had to grow up pretty quickly when that happened . It makes you appreciate chasing dreams. Youre like, hey, you get one goaround at this thing called life and its very fragile, so you better go after your dreams. That is a sunday sitdown you will not want to miss. But lets begin this morning with washington, where a potentially historic fight could be coming up this week over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch. All of it as President Trump tries to turn the topic away from russia. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is live at the white house for us this morning. Kelly, good morning. Reporter good morning, hallism e. President trump through his tweets is clearly irritated about the swirling russia investigation and whether anyone close to him had any contact with russia, but this week the white house will have to rely on something outside itself, turning to Senate Republicans to deliver on the promise to confirm the president s Supreme Court nominee. He has a sterling record. Reporter searching for a victory. And it involves one of my most important actions as president. Reporter with a movie trailer style message, the president is making a glossy sell for his Supreme Court pick. Judge gorsuch is incredibly qualified. Reporter but a major fight is ahead for this weeks expected confirmation vote. Saturday Vice President mike pence played the hammer and headed to ohio where he called out an Ohio Democratic senator opposing neil gorsuch. Your very own senator, sherrod brown, announced that he and the obstructionist democrats in the senate plan to filibuster judge gorsuchs nomination. Reporter and made clear republicans will take a drastic step, forcing a change to senate rules if necessary. We will overcome the obstructionists and the United States senate will confirm judge neil gorsuch, one way or the other. Reporter President Trump did not leave the white house on saturday, but used his twitter megaphone to bash media and the Russian Investigations. Same fake news media. Pushing the phony russia story. A total scam. But newly obtained documents shed light on former National Security advisor Michael Flynn and his business ties to russia. Nbc news obtained two sets of flynns Financial Disclosure documents. He lists three Russian Companies that paid him for speaking engagements, and so did a turkish businessman with progovernment connections. An ironic twist, flynn also stated he earned at least 5,000 consulting for the fbi. The bureau is now investigating Russian Election meddling. Overall, working for dozens of companies, flynn reported income of close to 1. 3 million. Flynn has become so identified with the trump controversy, voters at a town hall meeting in South Carolina asked senator Lindsey Graham to find out what really happened. Were going to talk about the flynn deal. Its getting weirder by the day, isnt it. Reporter and just another indication of how concerns about the Russian Investigation are expanding outside of washington, the Associated Press has a new poll showing that those it contacted, more than 52 said its time for an independent investigation compared to just 23 . That of course would take a lot longer, hallie, than those on capitol hill and with the fbi. Kelly, thank you much. Chuck todd is moderator of meet the press and is with us now. Chuck, good morning to you. Good morning. President trump is calling this russia story fake news. Youve got republicans like Lindsey Graham saying theyre not going to ease up on this investigation. New revelations about mike flynn. Let me put it this way. Its opening day in baseball. So what inning are we in with this russia story, chuck, what do you think . I think were only in the second or third inning at this point. The Senate Investigation is going to be methodical and its going to take months. And, yes, its possible the political pressure will get so ugly on capitol hill that well have an independent investigation. Well, that would probably mean instead of months, it would take years. But this is the challenge i think for the west wing right now, hallie, where you spend so much time these days. They have got and the president himself, obviously hes consumed by the russia story because all you have to do is look at his twitter feed to see it. He has to borrow a page from the bill clinton playbook from the 90s. Bill clinton had plenty of scandal clouds hanging over his white house. He may have been seething about it behind the scenes, but he compartmentalized it, for better or for worse, and tried to find a way to put it in a box and focus on other things. In fact that was sort of his way he would sit there and almost dismiss questions about the investigation and say im focused on the agenda for the american people. Somehow the west wing has to get their arms around the Russian Investigation, get the president to accept the fact that it exists, and compartmentalize it and focus somewhere else. Until he does that, its going to consume him. Heres the thing that he wants to be talking about, his nominee for the Supreme Court, neil gorsuch. We are looking to see this shape out this week on capitol hill. How bad is the fight going to be, especially with democrats signaling theyre going to try to block this thing . I think its going to be noisy, i think its going to be ugly and a week from today neil gorsuch will have a new title. Instead of judge, it will be associate justice. I think democrats appear to have the votes to filibuster and republicans appear to have the votes to change the rules. If you look at what happened in 2016 with the Merrick Garland nomination, republicans went way out on a limb to deny him a vote because they wanted the issue for the campaign, for the president ial election, and it succeeded. So of course theyre going to do whatever it takes to get neil gorsuch confirmed. Its going to be a decade from now, i think, until the public realizes what a mess both parties in the United States senate have created because this slippery slope that they have been on, theyre going to point fingers at each other, but they have been hand in hand sliding right down it together. You talked about the president s agenda, what he wants to be pushing through over on capitol hill, but look at his approval rating. Hes down at 35 . You know hes all but declared war on members of the Freedom Caucus, that ultra conservative voting bloc. How difficult is it going to be for him to do things like tax reform, like hes been talking about, like infrastructure . Hes got to essentially stop making enemies. You know, if he attacks the Freedom Caucus and democrats at the same time, hes attacking a majority hes attacking a majority in congress and that would be a majority that he would be fighting. Why fight a majority in congress. Why not create a governing majority in congress. So i think theres a point where hes picking too many fights. If you pick too many fights, you have too many enemies. When you have too many enemies, you cant get anything done. So again, it goes back to hes got to figure out how to compartmentalize russia and how to Start Building bridges to some sort of governing coalition on capitol hill, because right now he doesnt have it. Chuck, before i let you go, did you have North Carolina and gonzaga in your final bracket . Its the first year i didnt get a single final four team. But here, number two one seeds, so what kind of upsets who says that the march madness was upset central. A one seed versus a one seed, but go acc. Chuck todd, thank you very much, appreciate it. We will be watching meet the press when chuck is joined by the democratic and Republican Leaders of the senate. Now lets turn to other stories maybe k headlines, starting with colombia where a search and rescue mission is happening right now. A devastating landslide has left nearly 200 people dead, hundreds of others missing. Heavy rain meant three rivers swelled up, sweeping through a small city. People were fast asleep. The colombian president has declared a state of emergency. This is one of colombias worst disasters in recent history. This morning investigators are looking into a deadly Carbon Monoxide leak at a hotel pool in 34i michigan. A 13yearold boy died and half a dozen other kids were left unresponsive after a pool heater malfunctioned. A number of First Responders got sick as they then tried to help the kids and their rescuers are expected to make a full recovery. A scare at an nhl game. A player collapsed in the crease right after the game started. He was taken off the ice and to the hospital on a stretcher. The flyers say he is awake and alert but no word on what caused all of that. As we were talking about with chuck, two basketball powerhouses are all set to face off in the mens College National championship tomorrow night. North carolina and gonzaga, after a final four to remember. Nbcs ron mott is live in glendale, arizona, where its all happening now. Ron, good morning to you. Reporter hey, hallie, good morning to you. Theres a reason they call them free throws and North Carolina almost learned the hard way just how costly they could have been. Second one, no. And carolina saves it on the glass. Reporter what goes around comes back around. Number one seed North Carolina fending off oregon in a nailbiter for a return trip to the championship. Tense moments down the stretch, missing four freebies in five seconds. I remember how much we hurt last year and now weve got one more shot. Reporter gives it to jenkins for the championship. Yes reporter the tar heels marched back after a heartbreaking loss to villanova. Gonzaga is a totally different team. At the end of the day its just playing as hard as we can when we get out there. Reporter in the first semifinal, gone zagga, that little known hoops powerhouse, also a one seed, with stood a Late Comeback by underdog South Carolina. The journey that we have been on has just been unreal. We just never stopped believing. Weve had the utmost confidence in ourselves the entire season long. Reporter the bulldogs first championship appearance left the campus zigging and zagging with bright. Coach mark few, head under heels, a celebratory hand stand. Theyre always on me to show emotion after a win, so thats my fairly weak effort of showing emotion. Reporter in dallas, emotion still high from an historic win friday. Itty bitty Morgan William sending the uconn dynasty tumbling. One of the great upsets in history reporter a streak of 111 straight victories and four titles in a row over. Propelling Mississippi State into tonights womens championship against South Carolina. Two teams closely acquainted in a tournament rendered unfamiliar with its long standing ruler shockingly dethroned. So now four College Campuses where sleep may be in short supply the next 48 hours. Ron mott, thank you very much. Lets get a check of the weather. Its been raining in through texas. A lot of Severe Weather expected as well today. Del rio has already seen over 5 inches of rainfall since just midnight. Thats more than they typically see the entire month of april and today only be the 2nd. So heres the Severe Weather threat. Were looking for a moderate risk so definitely a strong tornado. It could be possible today. Likely chance for tornados here, look at shreveport as well as lake charles. But once you talk about new orleans, lake arthur, even towards houston. Well continue the threat through monday. Heavy rainfall, we talked about that will continue to be a problem. Dallas, shreveport, also looking for the threat of heavy rainfall in short periods of time which brings the were waking up to 40s and 50s yet again across the bay area. 48 degrees for santa rosa. Half moon bay, and San Francisco in the 50s. And also down to the south bay. Now the 50s will once again warm up to make for a very Pleasant Spring day across the entire bay area. Heres a quick check of your temperature trend. By 12 00, we will be in the upper 60s and expect to top out yet again in the 70s and 80s. Its a dangerous start to tornado season and looks like its only continuing in through spring. Appreciate it. The highs and lows of the week, including a love story as old as time. A little girl, discarded water heater. I promise, it is the cutest thing youll see all week. Plus, caught on camera, a kangaroo with a case of road rage. And later, field of dreams. Former mtv icon tabitha has a look at how dreams live and die on the baseball diamond. Its all coming up on sunday today. As we go to break, our photo of the week and admirer taking a picture of washington, d. C. s world famous Cherry Blossoms. Gorgeous. F hi, im mindy kearns. Its great to finally meet you. Nice to meet you too. Your parents have been talking about you for years. Sorry about that. Theyre all about me saving for a house, or starting a college fund for my son. Actually, i want to know what youre thinking. Have a seat. Knowing that the most important goals are yours. Multiplied by 14,000 financial advisors, its a big deal. And its how edward jones makes sense of investing. Hows it going . Oh, its going good. Yeah . Yeah, its going great. This is my jam. What is that . What . The moment you realize the gardening gene skipped a generation. At lowes, our Grow Together planting system takes the guess work out of creating a beautiful yard. All projects have a starting point. Start with lowes. Hey, it looks good huh . Not bad. Hurry in and get bonnies herbs and veggies, 4 for only 12 at the lowes refresh your outdoors event. The honey in honey nut cheerios likes to take its sweet time. [sighs] thats why we make them for you. But when we brought our daughter home, that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Every great why needs a great how. Before we hit the beach, iwe cant stay here o. Why . Terrible toilet paper ill never get clean way ahead of you, big daddy. Aww charmin ultra strong. Its washclothlike texture helps clean better. Its four times stronger. And you can use less. Beautiful view. wiggles butt thanks to charmin. And you, honeybear awwwww we all go. Why not enjoy the go with charmin . We are back and back with indra as we whip through the highs and lows of the week. Our first high going to the willingness of a world leader to punch a tv star in the face. Yep, former friends star Matthew Perry just admitted on jimmy kimmel that he and a friend did something very shameful to the future canadian prime minister. We actually beat up Justin Trudeau. You beat him up . Yeah. [ laughter ] why . I dont know. The two of you beat him up . We both beat him up. I think he was excelling in a sport so it was pure jealousy. We beat him up. Heres the thing, when you are running canada, you get to have the last laugh. Justin trudeau tweeted just over the weekend, check this out, ive been giving it some thought and you know what, who hasnt wanted to punch chandler . How has been a rematch, Matthew Perry. Trudeau was a boxer, you know. They say it was an april fools joke. Who wins . Matthew the first logos to one kangaroos opinion of tailgaters. A driver had his camera rolling as he was driving behind this kangaroo for a half hour. The kangaroo had enough. Turns around. Look at that stance. Pumps up his chest and gets all mike tyson on that car. Looks like Justin Trudeau there. This kangaroo did a lot better after he took a right across the face, remember that, after he went after a mans hunting dog. They may look cute but do not mess. That may be trudeau right there. Lots of boxing this morning. The next has no boxing but it belongs to a little gill in a courtship straight out of shakespeare. The girl falls madly in love. Rain florieina and a water heat. Reina thinks its a robot. The best youll see all week. Watch. Hi, robot. Ahh i love you, robot. I love you, robot. I love you, reina. Life lesson find somebody who will love you the way reina loves that water heater. It was cute but the i wuv, robot . That was even cuter. This is our future, all our kids in the next 20 years will be playing with robots. Smart of the parents to pick up the camera and roll on that. The next low is the feeling you get when you break your head on bricks. 16yearold a black belt in tai kwon do. Decided it was great to break all of the blocks. All the slabs stacked up. Why would he do this . He was trying to set a new world record. Sit, wait and watch. All right. Sole he gets a little shaky here, right towards the end, but who can blame him. Three more to go. He actually a little stumble, ends up getting it done. Look at this Mission Accomplished in just 35 seconds, flat. The crowd goes wild. New Guinness World record. Listen to this, the 16yearold says he thinks he can do even more. He looks a little woozy. I was pretty dizzy watching him go through. I think we have the next rocker thon. Maybe al roker channels his absolutely. Our flnext belongs to a kid from ohio, flipping out. Flipping Water Bottles trying to land them upright, like this one . Pure childs play. Lawrence flips a pencil gets it to stand upright. The best part of it all, the look on his face when he realized hed pulled off basically the equivalent of the moon landing. He looks at the camera to make sure its rolling. Yes, its rolling, yes, youre now famous. The internet being the internet. Some people are skeptical this is trick, whatever . Lawrence posted to prove seeing is actually believing in this case. That is an amazing confluence of luck and timing. Like its not going to fall, dont breathe seriously. A water bottle is high enough. Our final low, the reviews that one artist is getting for his sculpture of a soccer star. Its a bust. Truly a bust. Cristiano rinaldo one. Best, if not the best soccer players. H fans everywhere a little surprised when this bust was finally revealed in his home down airport. Drum roll, please. Check it out. Square head, bulging facial bones eyes a little too close together. This rinaldo probably had a hard time getting a date on twitter. People were so horrified. How did the skuculptor respond said its impossible to please everyone. Neither did jesus. You dont mess up a good jaw. I dont know who would want to look at that. We can run that tape of rinaldo longer. Indra, thank you. Still ahead weve got willies sitdown with country star luke bryan as he gets ready to take on a new challenge. And from tinseltown to the bright broadway. The songwriters of la la land. And a Facebook Live chat in just a few minutes. This lovely lady has a typical Airline Credit card. So she only earns double miles on purchases she makes from that airline. Whatd you earn double miles on, please . Ugh. Thats unfortunate. Theres a better option. The capital one venture card. With venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day. Not just airline purchases. Seems like a nobrainer. Whats in your wallet . At petsmart, well give a meal any to a pet in need. Food so whralphie grabs grub, charlie chows down. And when peaeats, peanut eats. You buy a bag, well give a meal. When this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. Yeah, my dad says our insurance doesnt have that. What . you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Your time is 6 26. And we want to give you a live look outside at the bay bridge. Thats your shot from San Francisco this morning. Looking beautiful after a lovely week of weather. Thanks so much for waking up with us. We have a check of the microclimate forecast. Tell me the temperatures are sticking around. Yes, temps are sticking around, but youre going to notice a slight change. Thats because the winds are going to pick up again. We will expect to see a climb in the temps. Right now, if youre waking up, you may see a little bit of cloud cover in some areas along the south bay and the peninsula as well. 52 degrees right now in the south bay. Peninsula, 51. And the trivalley as always hoping to catch a bit of the 50s, waking up to the 40s. Nice and chilly in some areas but all in all, its definitely going to be very springlike and look at the clouds over the east bay. If youre wondering about the cloud cover, we have are expecting cloud cover to stick around throughout the day. As the breezy conditions pick up in the night hours, we will see windier conditions overnight into the start of your work week. Your temperature trend overall is looking pretty good. Currently 52 in san jose. By 1 00, 71 degrees. Now, if we take a quick check of the temperature trend in San Francisco, 52 degrees, and by 1 00, it will be about 67 degrees. So if you want to know your highs for the entire bay area, thats at 7 00 a. M. Thanks. Looking forward to it. One years ago, a San Francisco mother left her home to pick up her daughter and both vanished. The womans body was found days later in a park, and her daughter hasnt been seen since. However, a new lead in the case is lifting spirits as the family gathered for a vigil. About two dozen family and friends held a candlelight vigil of remembrance in mcclairen park. They were hopeful a car seized friday would help solve what happened. Her body was found in a shallow grave not far from where the vigil was found. Ariana would now be 3 1 2 years old. A babysitter was interviewed by police. Arianas relatives say the baby silter has been strangely silent. The silence on her part and the part of her family has been staggering. You think she had something to do with this . I do. The babysitters attorney told nbc bay area we want the baby to be found. We are as traumatized and as concerned as anyone else. Helena martin was not involved wrarb once it was put out there that she was a person of interest, it made her life very difficult. So far, San Francisco police are not commenting on that babysitter. Another weekend of political demonstrations across the country. This time, the focus on Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch. In San Francisco, protesters took part in the peoples filibuster. Demonstrators say Democratic Senators should block gorsuchs nomination or theyll risk losing ground on a host of issues. He decides against civil rights or against human rights, against the environment, he decides in favor of corporations. Got to make sure we have the Supreme Court actually operating to check and balance. Gorsuch is expected to face a confirmation vote this week. Coming up at 7 00 in today in the bay, lights, camera, action. Well see you back here at 7 00. If i just knew how to pronounce it hero gyro hero or gyro never been filled with so much doubt is it guyroll hero we can simply rule that last one out that country star luke bryan having a little fun with the tonight show the number one singles include a fan favorite, hunting, fishing and loving every day. Bryan tells his story about that simple smalltown life. Tonight, he hits prime time cohosting the Country Music awards for a fifth time. The entertainer of the year in front of two sold out shows in massachusetts. How many guitars do you travel with, do you know . Too many. About two. Too many. She say play it again play it again reporter luke bryan has collected more guitars than he can count during his long road trip in a small town in south georgia to the biggest stages in music. I actually did some math. Leaseberg, georgia, population 2800. You could put it 21 leesburg, georgias in this stadium. Isnt that crazy . Lets go back to leesburg, georgia, do you remember the music on in your house . My parents, the country was on country radio, from ronny milsap to kenny rogers, to George Strait to alabama. We were as country as kids could be country. Somehow, we would be listen nwa made it into our world somehow. And eze and the beastie boys. When did you get your first guitar, do you jeb. The summer i turned 14. Taught yourself . Yeah, i taught myself. I taught myself chords. I mean, i had a piano in my room. Id learn a few chords on piano. At that point, i realized im going to be a horrible athlete. I recognized that and got a little band together and i would play guitar. Reporter after high school, luke was ready to take that guitar to nashville, but with his bags packed tragedy struck the bryan family. Lukes older brother christmased away in a car accident. When christmased away i was 19 years old and chasing my dream. It just totally rocked our familys world, rocked my world. Did you feel like you had to grow up pretty quickly when that happened . It makes you appreciate chasing dreams. Youre like, hey, you get one goaround at this thing called life so its very fragile and you better go after your dreams. Bryan put his nashville dream on hold, heading off to college at Georgia Southern university where he played in a band and met his wife caroline. After graduation, luke made that trip to new york city where he caught on as a songwriter. I could have been a songwriter forever and had number one hits as a songwriter and that would have completed my dreams. I felt like given the right sin snare yo i had the ability to really entertain some people and really make a difference. And i was always kind of shooting for that chance. I was a rock star he got that chance in 2007 with his first album ill say neat which spun off a couple of top hits. All my friends the decades since, bryan has become one of the biggest acts in all of music. Selling nearly 8 million albums and putting out 17 number one songs. Thank you so much, guys. Luke bryan love you so much. Luke bryan whoo, whoo, whoo youve got your hands up youre rockin in my truck you play songs, you want people to have a good time and you make no apologies for that . Right. I want people to have a blast. Do i get jumped on maybe not being as Artistic Agency the next artist for that . Maybe. But at the end of the day, i feel like my art is the ability to get people together. And make them have a good time. To the point to where they may not even admit to having such a good time. Get to moving in the night ive got to ask you the moves. Its a little bit of elvis. Its a little bit of chippendales. Moves happened from the soul. The spirit. From deep within. I dont know. Most of the time. Its just its just being playful. And if i can doal of that, then they immediately realize, heck, i can, too. Thats the fun part about it. So my wife appreciates that. Your ability to have fun with those jeans. Im sorry, ill teach you. Ill teach you a move or two backstage. Whats the song youll play tonight that will make this place explode . Is there one number where every time you play it . I mean, its a tie, definitely between i dont want this night to end and girl shake it for me its in everybody is here to hear country girl shake it for me girl its pretty magical. But in between the hip swivels and the party songs, luke bryan can slow it down singing about the much heavier subjects. Zblech year 11 years after the death ever his brother luke lost his sister kelly. Tragedy struck again, kellys husband died leaving the couples three children without a mom and dad. Luke and caroline opened their doors again. Its an emotionally tough time watching these children navigating life without parents. We just want to be positive for them. Drink a beer all that loss is packed into one of bryans biggest hits drink a beer a song not about tailgating but about missing the people youve lost. So long my friend longtime friend and collaborate Chris Stapleton wrote the track. Luke talks about his buddy like a proud big brother. Drink a beer theres so many talented people running around nashville. But its just not in the stars sometimes. So, when you line it all up and it does happen and somebody deserves it, a real talent . Yeah, totally. The stars certainly have lined up for bryan who at 40 years old doesnt take any of it for granted. Caroline says growing old is a privilege, and it is. I love the wisdom of 40. Im not sure i love the sore knees at the end of a show. Certainly a stadium show. But with all of the stuff thats certainly happened to me and my family, i think its important for me to inspire people that you have some bumps in the road, but you can still try to walk through your daily life pretty optimistic and having a blast with them. Huntin fishin lovin every day 40 looks pretty good on him. You can catch luke on his huntin, fishin and lovin every day tour this spring. To get a backstage tour of lukes collection of guitars, check out the web extras at told. Com sunday. Willie is back catching up with Rashida Jones the daughter of quincy jones talks about life in the spotlight and how shes able to get out of her fathers spotlight. Indra is back with another check of the weather. This is. Weather. Weve got the spring feeling. Temperatures finally better. Very chilly. New york city, 62, still nice as you go through the week. Look at philadelphia, 71. D. C. , were actually looking at 75 degrees. Maybe not so good for those Cherry Blossoms but beautiful. This is what weve been waiting for all season long. Meanwhile, across the country, milder temperatures in the northeast but still watching that Severe Weather risk into the southeast. Expect another fantastic day across the entire bay area if youre just now waking up, you may noting were seeing a few more clouds than what we woke up to yesterday. 52 in the south bay right now. 51 in the peninsula. The trivalley, 47, but nice, clear skies. Were seeing a bit of haze along San Francisco and the peninsula. At 51 degrees in the east bay. 55, north bay, 48. But the temperature trend is going to make for a lovely sunday across the bay area with breezier conditions. All right. So, beautiful weather finally for a couple days. Weve been waiting. I like it, april spring. Perfect. Indra, thank you very much. Coming up on baseball opening day, Jimmy Roberts finds out how the guys in the smash hit moneyball are doing 15 years hi hey ive made plans for later in case this date doesnt go well. Likewise but, funny story. On top of that . My mom is my best friend. Uh oh. Yeah. Oop theres the rescue text from my roommate saying she needs me. Wouldnt it be great if everyone said what they meant . The citi double cash card does. It lets you earn double cash back the citi double cash card. When youre close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment . If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. Taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. With taltz, up to 90 of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. In fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. Do not use if you are allergic to taltz. Before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. Taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. Inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz. Including worsening of symptoms. Serious allergic reactions can occur. Nows your chance at completely clear skin. Just ask your doctor about taltz. Come true. Sorry, sorry. That is what it looks like when dreams come true. Baseball star brock stassi talks to reporters right after he made it to the major leagues with the phillies. Major League Baseball kicks off today, opening day when no team has a losing record and no fan can stop fantasizing about world series players. Every player on that diamond is living out as pure an American Dream you can get. Heres nbc sports jim . Roberts on what the National Pastime means for all of us. Reporter spring. The season of rebirth and optimism. And on this day, when every steam is in first place, certainly, hope springs eternal. Opening day sets dreams in motion for players from Little League to the minor leagues. Because the National Pastime is the perfect vehicle for the american epic, even if its not easy. Anything is possible. Playing major League Baseball might be a piece of the American Dream, but the road actually be pretty tough. Only 5 of High School Baseball players end up playing baseball in college. And of that group, only 1 in 10 gets drafted into professional baseball. From there, the odds get really long. People dont seem to respond to those kind of rational arguments. And yet that sort of part of what we love about it. Were going to look at those odds and be excited by them, rather than scared off. Are we delusional as a society do you think . Yeah, i think, absolutely, we are. There this glorious heroic hypocrisy at the heart of america that says it could happen to you. You could be the one. You could be derek jeter. Somebody has to pin the pennant. Why not me . Why not me. Right. So anything is possible but anything isnt necessarily probable. It doesnt have to do with logic, though. It has to do with having a dream right up until it isnt. Reporter that was certainly the case for steven cheney. I promised myself i was going to throw a baseball. Reporter openchain was one of 22 players that Tabitha Soren followed for her new book fantasy life. The original idea was to take pictures for her husbands bestselling moneyball but the project came into American Dreamers like him who eventually with once you get operated on. Youre never the same. I didnt have it, i wasnt myself anymore. Reporter a year later, he was released. I assumed all minor leaguers became major leaguers at the beginning of this book. I didnt see it as such a tragic circus as it is. I think all of us believed, when we got drafted, 21 recruits, wed all be superstars making millions of dollars. Reporter john baker was one of the 21 who did make it to the majors. There were five of them. His homer of the experience is vivid, terrifying and nostalgic. Its very hard to stand up there at home plate with a giant picture of your face on the video board right next to your terrible record of how youve done in an environment where theres 50,000 people telling you that youre not going to be successful. Theres nothing more satisfying. Reporter steve openchain now works for a Financial Firm and lives in in. His 8yearold son has taken a liking to baseball. In sorens book, he says, in a weird way, i hope it breaks his heart, too. If it breaks his heart, that means he cared enough about it to really work at it. Reporter generations change, but the game and its promise never do. Spring is here. The season of potential. And the air is once more thick with what could be. Its a game and a season for dreamers. It is opening day in major League Baseball. Jimmy roberts reporting. Jimmy roberts reporting. Tabben that why do people have eyebrows . Why do people put milk on cereal . Oh, are you reading why people put milk on cereal . Why does your tummy go grumbily, grumbily, grumbily . Why is it all . No more questions for you ouph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasnt it . Yeah, happens to more people than you think. Try lactaid, its real milk, without that annoying lactose. Good, right . Mmm, yeah. I got your back. Lactaid. Its the milk that doesnt mess with you. On a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Liberty mutual insurance. Shows like hamilton and phantom of the opera get most of the publicity. But theres a new show that has tons of theatergoers talking. Reporter in the razzledazzle world of broadway, a musical about loneliness, bullying and suicide may sound like a tough sale reporter dear evan hansen is selling out. Reporter its the brainchild of songwriters, ben passic and jason paul. They also wrote the lyrics for la la land, winning this years best song. Dear evan hansen has created a very different story, built around an isolated teenager looking to fit in. When you see it on stage, you see a boy almost swallowed by social media. And the people in the community. Right. And the noise that surrounds him and all he wants to feel like is hes invisible. Reporter it must be emotional draining every day . It is. Reporter actor ben platte brings lifes ups and downs in a heart wren heart wrenching performance. Ive seen a lot of kids this way. Reporter so powerful is the show schools are bringing students to the stheert. Its a tearjerker but a positive tearjerker. I thought it was brilliant. I felt like everybody in the o audience can relate to it. I feel like the teachers can get that feel. Reporter of course, its not just of the teens who are affected. The actress who plays evan mom rachel bay jones says every night, she hears from parents. Youll see the mothers behind their teenager with red eyes and beaming at you and saying thank you, thank you, thank you. Reporter while the serious themes, the show ultimately delivers an inspirational anthem to those who feel lost. You will be found, motto that even has its own hash tag. Its an optimistic message, ultimately. I think thats partly why people can connect with it. Reporter for those who feel invisible, its a message of hope signing on center stage for all to see. For sunday today joe fine, new york. Looks like a great show. This week, we highlight another life well lived. Carl clark was serving as a steward first class on board the u. S. S. Aaron ward during world war ii. Japanese kamikazes attacked. Six planes hit the destroyer including one that knocked him all the way across a huge ship. He was hurt but that didnt stop clark from dragging several men to safety. Clark didnt get any recognition when it happened. He said it wouldnt have look good to say a black man saved the ship. After the war, he went on to start the boys and girls club in menlo park, california, becoming not just a cornerstone across the country. On january 17th, 2012, more than six decades after he saved the lives of hundreds of men, carl clark was awarded the navy and Marines Corps commendation medal. His daughter said he didnt consider himself a hero, but we no matter how dusty the room or how high the pollen count, flonase allergy relief keeps your eyes and nose clear. Flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause nasal congestion and itchy, watery eyes. For relief beyond the nose. Flonase. Ready. Set. Go. Go. Go. One way or another, im gonna find ya im gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya one way or another, one way or another, i wanna ya, get ya, get ya, get ya one way or another, well, these have syrup. So, we drain it. Well, these dole fruit bowls are packed in 100 fruit juice. So, you dont drain it . No, we drink it. Dole. The only National Brand that packs its entire line of regular fruit bowls in 100 juice. You feel every mountain weve ever conquered. In our sports cars, you feel every podium weve ever climbed. And now, theyve come together to create something youve never felt before. Introducing the glc coupe. Part suv. Part sports car. All mercedesbenz. Its spring, and we cant wait to open our sheds and get working on our yards. Scotts and miraclegro are here to help. We make it easy to grow thick, healthy lawns, spectacular plants, and bountiful flowers. Because when spring starts right, the months that follow stay perfect. Load up your shed with scotts and miraclegro. Its time to get outside. It has been a blast hanging out with you this morning. Knew willie usually gives predictions right about now but its such a specialty for him, were going to take a week off so they stay in his capable hands. Willie, if youre watching, thank you for letting me keep your claire warm. A lot of people are dieing to fill your shoes. Only one person on the list had the looks, charm to pull it off. Sadly, gary busey was not available. His deal fell apart at the last minute. I guess its not in our budget or an omelet bar and a post show pony ride. Quick notes before we go, check out nbc nightly news when lester holt anchors from south korea. With unprecedented access to the military. I know weve only had a couple weekends together. Everybody has loved you filling in while dylan has been out on maternity leave. From the entire today show team you will be missed. Good luck to you. Thank you. Willie will be back next week on sunday today. Thanks for spending your morning here with indra and me. Well see you next week. In the meantime, have a fr beal igh time now is 7 00. Youre watching sunday today in the bay. Lets start you off with a live look outside. Thats downtown San Francisco from our camera. If you can see through. Its a bit of a hazy start to your sunday. Good morning, and thank you so much for waking up with us this sunday, april 2nd. Im vicka nguyen. Well get a check of the microclimate forecast with vianey arana. Beautiful spring weather. Hoping it sticks around. It will. Thats the good news. The hazy skies, i feel like it might scare some folks. Were not tracking rain yet. But we are expecting to see a little more cloud cover today. Dont be afraid of the clouds because they should be clearing out by midafternoon, and then all of these 50s that