Transcripts For KNTV Today 20170320

But will the weather cooperate . Nbc news exclusive. The alabama woman who jumped from the trunk of a moving car to escape her kidnapper opens up. I tried to put it in the back of my head so i can like get through the day. This morning why she says she owes her life to a video she saw on facebook. And how sweet it is. And mckie with a twohanded jam. South carolina stuns duke wrapping up a weekend of march madness upsets, power houses like ucla and North Carolina survive and advance. How is your bracket looking today monday, march 20th, 2017. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning everyone. Welcome to today on a monday morning. All the action on the Basketball Court over the weekend, all the action is on capitol hill and in washington this week. Just a couple minutes ago the director of the fbi james comey seen in this video here arriving at a house hearing. He does make an entrance. He and the head of the nsa expected to testify before congress this morning, on two key issues. One, whether there was collusion during the campaign between russian officials and members of the trump team. And then also trumps explosive allegation that then president obama wire tapped him and trump tower during the campaign. Another closely watched event on the hill this morning, the opening of confirmation hearings for judge neil gorsuch, the president s pick for the Supreme Court. And Republican Leaders bring their vote to the house of representatives. All of this amid a new poll out that shows the president s Approval Rating has fallen to a new low. 37 . We have complete coverage for you including our conversation with former defense secretary and cia director leon panetta. We begin with peter alexander, who is standing by at the white house. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning. Busy day and a busy morning already. Its the start of week 10 of the trump presidency. Without a doubt the most consequential so far. The headhein is testimony of fbi director james comey set to begin as you noted any moment. We can show you that live picture inside the hearing room. Huge stakes as they zero in on russian influence in the 2016 election, and on the issue of wire tapping this really could be the day of reckoning, where comey will be asked to definitively state whether President Trump was the target of surveillance and if so, who approved it. Fbi director james comey the star witness this morning in the highly anticipated first public hearing on russias efforts to interfere in last years election. Ahead of his testimony a striking assertion from the House Intelligence Committee top democrat about alleged links between trump associates. There were circumstantial evidence of collusion, there is direct evidence i think of deception. And thats where we begin the investigation. Reporter the Trump Administrations repeatedly denied ties to russia and the chairman has a differing view. No evidence. Reporter certain to get grilled on the claim president obama. A claim even frustrating republicans. Was there a physical wire tap of trump tower no but this never was. That investigation is ongoing, its not complete. So lets see this investigation run its course. Reporter democrats calling the wire tapping claim a wrecking ball. I hope we can put an tend to this wild goose chase because what the president said was patently false. Its continuing to grow in terms of damage and he needs to put an end to this. Reporter doesnt look likely after President Trump defended the suggestion that British Intelligence eped mr. Obama surveil citing comments even fox news distanced itself from. The episode infuriating the british and driving the agency to dismiss it publicly as nonsense. Also this morning the president s facing a new test from north korea. North korea is acting very badly. Ill tell you acting very badly. Reporter the regime a new rocket engine. Dictator ecstatic. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson in the region last week warned a preemptive strike is a real possibility. And days after President Trump tweeted china has done little to help tillerson sat down with the highest meeting between the rivals since President Trump took office. The two side stepping their countrys disagreements. Projecting an air of cooperation instead. Again as we wait for the hearing to begin were hearing from the president , a prebuttal to frame the hearing in the house on russia, tweeting former director ofnalitynality intelligence claims clapper and others stated there is no evidence that potus coloaded with russia. The story is fake news and everyone knows it. He says in effect its all politically motivated that the democrats quote made up and pushed the story arguing the focus should be on the leaking of classified information instead. All right, peter at the white house, again there are two issues before the House Intelligence Committee today. Whether Trump Officials coloaded with russia and the president s wiretapping claim. Earlier we spoke to leon panetta. We begin which asking him if director comey will provide definitive answer on either and how important it is for him to testify publicly. Obviously everyone is looking forward to it so you know, it is something that i think americas going to be paying attention to. I suspect that on the issue of the wire tapping, that hes going to be asked directly, and i would think based on having the chairman and Ranking Member of both the house and Senate Committee saying theres no evidence to support the claim by President Trump, that director comey will affirm that as well. So, i think were probably headed to at least getting one issue hopefully resolved. As to the russian investigation, i think hes going to be much more ser come spekt and will have to wait for the investigation to play out. Lets go back to that wire tapping. As you mentioned there seems to be widespread agreement that there is no evidence at the moment to support the president s claim, then why do you think as a guy who has been around the block, why do you think the president and the white house would continue to double down on Something Like this when director comey can so easily take the air out of their argument . Well, frankly, i dont get it and i dont think america gets it as to why the president continues to defend his statements here. You know, he made an allegation, there is no evidence to support it. He asked for an investigation by the house and senate Intelligence Committees. They have done that and determined that theres no evidence. I think the time has come for the president to accept the responsibility that he made a mistake here, that there is no truth to the allegation. He probably should apologize i think to the president , president obama, and frankly, he should move on. Hes got to deal with the issue of health care, hes got to deal with a Supreme Court justice who is in hearings this week. Hes got to deal with the threat from north korea. The time to focus on those. What is the biggersh uhere, what do allegations like these, if they are unsubstantiated, do to our standing in the world . Well, first of all, it affects the credibility of the president of the United States. And you know, all the president has, really, is trust. Needs the trust of the American People, needs the trust of the world in terms of what he says. But in addition to that, when it impacts on the credibility of the office, it impacts in our relationship with the rest of the world. The world now obviously is very upset, we upset the british, the german situation didnt turn out the best the other day. It is impacting on our ability to deal with other countries, and to deal with the issues related to our National Security. So, i think its just very important for this president to put this issue aside, and move on to the real responsibilities he has as president. Mr. Secretary, matt said you had been around the block a nice way of saying just about every job you could have in washington. I know you served on a task force, a Bipartisan Task force looking into this issue of how we can reform our system of military personnel. I feel like we are talking about systems or equipment. But you looked at this. Whats the greatest need . Well, you know, let me make clear we have the best fighting men and women in the world. But they are backed up by a personnel system that is outdated. It was developed after world war ii to deal with the soviet union. And frankly, its 70 years old, doesnt keep up with the needs that we face today in 2017. And so what weve got to do is develop a personnel system that reaches out to the skills were going to need, in cyber, in languages, in technology. And really tries to retain people in those areas. Because thats what we need in order to be able to provide for security in this country. Secretary panetta, been around the block hash tag great experience, secretary panetta, great to see you. Nice to be with you guys. Thank you. You saw a couplements ago Opening Statements in the House Intelligence Committee hearing. Getting under way and adam schiff speaking, we heard from deputy nunez. But now with the other big events in washington. Confirmation hearings beginning this morning for President Trumps Supreme Court pick, neil gorsuch. And House Speaker paul ryan expects a vote thursday on the Health Care Reform bill. Kristen welker on the hill with all of that. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. Judge neil gorsuch is bracing for what will undoubtedly be an intense grilling. A source tells me he has been preparing meeting with 72 senators and undergoing days of so called murder boards, those are like mock trial sessions conducted by lawyers from the white house and the Justice Department. But will it be enough . This morning 49yearold judge neil gorsuch is gearing up for what could be a fierce confirmation fight. Three things to watch, his Opening Statement, which he will deliver in hours, a source familiar with his thinking tells nbc news gorsuch will likely say a judges role is limited and bound by precedent, a view of display when President Trump announced gorsuch in january. Our legal order it is for congress and not the courts to write new laws. Reporter second, how will gorsuch respond to tough questions by democrats, including those about President Trumps own words. Democratic lawmakers expected to take aim at gorsuch for not publicly distancing hillself from attacks on the judiciary. This makes us look weak. Reporter now gorsuch like hi pushed to go on the record though he criticized mr. Trumps comments in private. How ugly will the fight get. Democrats are fuming after republicans refused to even give a hearing to former president obamas Supreme Court nominee, merrick garland. Democrats could try to block gorsuch if they disagree with his position on issues like roe vs. Wade. But use every tool that we have. Reporter the political reality, republicans have the majority and could change the rules to override that move. I think its 5050 whether the democrats filibuster. They dont have good arguments against gorsuch. Reporter the other big battle brewing on capitol hill, health care. The house is expected to vote on the republican plan to repeal and replace obamacare on thursday, but the bill is coming under fire from all sides, forcing republicans to rework it aiming to give states more flexibility under medicaid and to help Older Americans afford coverage on the individual market. All putting the Trump Administration on defense. How do you justify to the millions of voters who believed President Trump that there would be insurance for everyone when there is not going to be . The president is committed to that. The fact of the matter is this bill thats moving through congress right now is simply the first step in this process. Reporter over the weekend House Speaker paul ryan expressed confidence that the bill will pass the house on thursday, but at this point it doesnt appear to even have enough republican votes to pass the senate, as for judge gorsuch his confirmation hearing is expected to last four days with a vote expected in april. Kristen welker, thank you. New developments in that wild fire that forced thousands of people to flee their homes near boulder, colorado. Officials now say it appears to be human cause. It started in an area known to have a lot of transient camp sights. The fire has burned more than 60 acres. Evacuation orders for more than 400 homes remain in place. Warm dry conditions have helped fuel the flames but crews hope to fully contain it sometime today. Also this morning there is nurture moyl in the popular Ride Hailing Service uber. Its president resigning suddenly. Hi, jo, good morning. Reporter good morning. Jeff jones, the president of uber quit after less than a year on the job. The founder and ceo battles multiple controversies for the Company Including a new lawsuit accusing uber of stealing its self driving technology. For uber the Company Built on the concept of an easy smooth ride, another bump in the road. With jeff jones resigning after just six months on the job. Jones telling Tech Industry website the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what i saw and experienced at uber. I can no longer continue as president of the ride sharing business. The move comes amid a lawsuit with google pitting two tightens in a high stakes showdown. Google developing is own self driving car alleging that the current head of ubers self driving unit illegally downloaded 14,000 documents stealing trade secrets and committing fraud while working at google in 2015. Last southwest he unveiled ubers first fleet of self driving cars. Ubers mission is Reliable Transportation for everyone. And selfdriving is the core piece of that. Reporter in a statement to nbc news it called the claims a baseless attempt to slow down a competitor and we look forward to vigorously defending against them in court. If other Companies Develop selfdriving technology before uber does and they deploy it in an uberlike system, then all of a sudden his company isnt worth anything. Reporter experts say this suit could potentially make or break uber, the ceo already facing a series of Public Relations nightmares. Including claims of alleged Sexual Harassment and sexism after former ooper employee and Software Engineer susan faller wrote a blog post saying when she complained that her manager propositioned her she was told he wouldnt be punished in part because he is a high performer. Uber hiring eric holder to investigate the claims. Weeks later a dash cam shoeing that the uber ceo arguing with a driver about falling fares on super bowl sunday going viral. You know what. Some people dont like to take responsibility. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck. Reporter he apologized to his staff saying i must change as a leader and grow up. As uber attempts to clean up the list of problem board member huffington told nbc news that he has the full confidence of the board to continue leading the company. Sometimes Companies Like human beings have to go through a crisis for major changes to take place. But thats whats happening at uber. Reporter the latest string of problems at uber has revived the hash tag delete uber and that boycott and youll remember that prompted the ceo to leave President Trumps council. Google asked for injunction to stop the self driving car business. A hearing is scheduled for april 27. Jo, thank you. Ask we have a very special forecast on this first day of spring. It will be sunny. We predict dylan dreyer is back. Its wonderful. Which part . Being back is fun. But just the baby part of the whole thing is just im nervous. I mean its just weird being back. Three months flew by. Look at calvin. Was it hard to get out of the house . It was. I said calvin, he woke up at 2 30. Youll get used to it. Adorable. Were happy to have you back. Thank you. So nice to be back. We are looking at some rain on the west coast. Were going to see that saturday to move in later this afternoon and into tonight. As this moisture streams in off the pacific. We have another round thats going to move in friday and saturday too. Thats going to produce more rain. With this first system were looking at perhaps as much as 2 to 4 inches of rain in some areas, especially the higher elevations. Scattered showers, looks good in l. A. , 68 degrees, lots of sunshine, San Francisco watch out for showers later on. Across the country record high temperatures down sout good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. Looking at some cloudy skies around the bay area and an approaching storm system that will bring us some rain later on this afternoon. So far, weve been mostly dry. Only going to see a spotty light shower early in the day. Then as we go into this afternoon and the evening, rain becomes more widespread, eve an chance of some thunderstorms between tonight and throughout the day tomorrow. Still some lingering showers on wednesday and then going to see more rain just in time for the weekend. Your latest forecast. I did it. And thats your latest forecast. I did it. I was thinking Somebody Just tuning in thinking roker looks amazing. More makeup. Dylan, thank you. Great to have you here. We have a today exclusive. The alabama woman who was able to escape her kidnapper by jumping from the trunk of a moving car talking to us about that ordeal. Why she owes her life to a video she saw on facebook. A rossen report series on secret travel savings, this morning the new airplane seating design that could speed up the boarding process and make the middle seat the best one on the plane. I got to see. First this is today on nbc. This is an nbc news special report. Here is matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie. And good morning everyone. Weve got breaking news on capitol hill. Its under way now. Two key questions to be answered potentially. Leading up to election was there any collusion between members of the Trump Campaign and russian officials . Secondly, is there any evidence to support the the president s claim that then president obama ordered the wire tapping of trump tower . Two hot button issues all before us this morning. And the hearings begin with Opening Statements from devin nunes and adam schiff. We have Pete Williams watching the proceedings so far. And pete, i bring you in adam schiff is laying out a very meticulous detailoriented case. He is. He laid out questions about contacts between Trump Campaign officials and russia and the question he wants to know is, was there any collusion, was this any engineering of the work by the russians to undermine the election of Hillary Clinton . He just said a moment ago is could this all be a coincidence, the answer he said is yes, it could be, but he said theres formation that these contacts are not unrelated. Were told that both the fbi director and the director of the nsa Admiral Mike Rogers will have Opening Statements. The tension here will be how much they can say in open session, normally these Intelligence Committee hearings go into closed session. But the members on both sides will want as much of this out in public as possible. And theres even a question this morning, pete, isnt there, whether there is even an investigation by the fbi into this allegation of collusion. I mean, the fbi director has not publicly confirmed that there is even an investigation, correct . Correct. But thats the worst kept secret in town. Obviously an investigation going on, the fbi doesnt want to acknowledge what its doing here but there will be some question whether they will acknowledge that. On the wire tap question that you raise, pretty much everybody thats been briefed on this says there doesnt seem to be any information to back up the president s contention. So there may be a flat out answer on that today. Were expecting an Opening Statement from director comey in a moment. We understand mike rogers will also deliver an Opening Statement. Pete, would it be likely in his Opening Statement director comey will address both of those key questions . They certainly want him to. Im sure hell say whether or not he can answer them, but he is well aware of what the committee wants to know. Here goes the Opening Statement of Admiral Mike Rogers. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today on behalf of the men and women of the National Security agency. Im honored to appear besides my teammate director comb tee discuss russias activities and intention regarding the 2016 u. S. Election, and want to assure the committee that my team is doing its best to fulfill the various requests of this committee to support your Ongoing Investigations into this subject. Over the past weeks nsa has been working closely with the committee to provide you the information that you require for your investigation, and i can assure you we will continue to do so. When we last met in january, we discussed the classified version of the january Intelligence Committee communitys assessment on assessing russian activities and intentions in the recent u. S. Elections. Today, more than two months after we issued this the assessment, we stand by it as issued. There is no change in our confidence level on the assessment. Of course the specifics of this assessment need to remain classified, to protect sensitive sources and methods so today i will limit my discussion to information in the public due main, that of the publicly released Intelligence Community assessment. I hope you will understand that there are some issues i cannot discuss in an open session. Nor will i be able to provide specifics in some areas. As the committee fully knows the Intelligence Community has a long standing policy of not discussing surveillance targeting information in particular cases. As to do so would open the door to compel further disclosures and litigation or the release of classified information. All of which would be harmful to our National Security. Like the committee, we are also greatly concerned about leaks of classified information as they can reveal the sources and methods we employ, to provide intelligence to american policymakers and war fighters and generate advantage for our nation while protecting its citizens and interests and their privacy. I also want to assure the committee that we take very seriously that obligation to protect u. S. Persons privacy, this applies to all stages of the production of foreign intelligence, but id like to emphasize one area in particular, the dissemination of u. S. Person information. We at nsa have strict procedures in place to make sure that our reporting and the contents of our reporting are disseminated only to those that have strict need to know for valid purposes. Which primarily means in support of the development of Foreign Policy and to protect National Security. I do want to specifically mention that among the collection authorities we have to target foreign actors in foreign spaces, section 702 and executive order 12333 have been instrumental in our ability to produce the intelligence made available to the committee and others in gathering the facts in this election cycle. It would be difficult to overstate the breadth and scale of malicious cyber activity occurring today. Our add vo saers including nation states have not rested in trying to penetrate government systems, steal our private industries intellectual property and cyber attack capabilities. We have a hard working and dedicated team at nsa that works every day to generate insights on this activity and to thwart its effectiveness. Cyber defense is one of nsas strongest partners is director comeys team at the fbi. Im glad to describe how we are working together to help protect the nation and our allies to include providing a better understanding of russian intentions and capabilities. And in light of the assessment and findings, i welcome your investigation into overall russian activities targeting the previous u. S. Elections. Nsa continues to employ rigorous analytic standards applying them in every aspect of our intelligence reporting, our analysts have consistently proven to be reliable and thorough in their technical and analytic evidents and providing our policy makers and war fighters with ammunition to make informed decisions, to protect our nations freedom and ensure the safety of its citizens. They are continuing to monitor for additional reflections of russian targeting of systems and those of our friends around the world to share that information with our ic colleagues and foreign counterparts and produce unbiased unprejudiced and timely reporting of facts in their entirety. I look forward to your questions. Thank you. Thank you, admiral rogers. Director comey, you are recognized for five minutes. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Members, members of the committee thank you for including me in todays hearing. Im honored to be here representing the people of the fbi. I hope we have shown you through our actions and our words how much we at the fbi value your oversight of our work and how much we respect your responsibility to investigate those things that are important to the American People. Thank you for showing that both are being taken very seriously. As you know our practice is not to confirm the existence of Ongoing Investigations especially those investigations that involve classified matters. But in unusual circumstances where it is in the public interest, it may be appropriate to do so. As Justice Department policies recognize. This is one of those circumstances. I have been authorized by the department of justice to confirm that the fbi as part of our Counter Intelligence mission is investigating the russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 president ial election. And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and the russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russias efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation this will also include assessment of whether any crimes were committed. Because it is an open, on going investigation, and is classified, i cannot say more about what we are doing and whose conduct we are examining at the request of congressional leaders we have taken the extraordinary step in coordination with the department of justice of briefing this congresss leaders including the leaders of this committee, in a classified setting in detail about the investigation. But i cant go into those details here. I know that is extremely frustrating to some folks, but it is the way it has to be. For reasons that i hope you and the American People can understand. The fbi is very careful in how we handle information about our cases, and about the people we are investigating. We are also very careful about the way we handle information that may be of interest to our foreign adversaries. Both of those interests are at issue in a counterintelligence investigation. Please dont draw any conclusions from the fact that i may not be able to comment on certain topics. I know speculating is part of human nature. But it really isnt fair to draw conclusions simply because i say that i cant comment. Some folks may want to make comparisons to past instances where the department of justice and the fbi have spoken about the details of some investigations. But please keep in mind that those involved the details of completed investigations. Our ability to share details with the congress and the American People is limited when those investigations are still open. Which i hope makes sense. We need to protect peoples privacy. We need to make sure we dont give other people clues as to where were going. We need to make sure that we dont give information to our foreign adversaries about wa we know or dont know. We just cannot do our work well or fairly if we Start Talking about it while were doing it. So we will try very, very hard to avoid that. As we always do. This work is very complex, and there is no way for me to give you a time table as to when it will be done. We approach this work in an openminded, independent way, and our expert investigators will conclude that work as quickly as they can, but they will always do it well no matter how long that takes. I can promise you we will follow the facts wherever they lead. And i want to underscore something my friend mike rogers said. Leaks of classified information are serious, serious federal crimes for a reason. They should be investigated and where possible prosecuted in a way that reflects that seriousness so the people understand it simply cannot be tolerated. And i look forward to taking your questions. Thank you, director comey. Admiral rogers, i first want to go to you. On january 6, 2017, the Intelligence Community assessment assessing russian activities and intentions in recent u. S. Elections, stated that the types of systems russian actors targeted or compromised were not involved in vote tallying. So my question as of today, admiral rogers, do you have evidence that russias cyber actors changed vote tallies in the state of michigan . No, i do not but i would highlight were in foreign intelligence organization, not a Domestic Intelligence organization so it would be fair to say we are probably not the best organization to provide a more complete answer. How about the state of pennsylvania . No, sir. The state of wisconsin . No, sir. State of florida . No, sir. State of North Carolina . No, sir. The state of ohio . No, sir. So, you have no intelligence that suggests or evidence that suggests any votes were changed. I have nothing generated by the National Security agency sir. Director comey do you have information that any votes were changed in the states i menged . No. Thank you. Admiral rogers, i know that there is a leak of information regarding director clapper and former secretary of defense carter, were looking at relieving you of your duty. Are you aware of those stories . Im aware of media reporting to that. And those stories were leaked as soon as you had visited with president elect trump, correct . Yes, sir. I was asked if i would be prepared to interview with the Trump Administration for a position which i did. Did the leak of that information at all impact your ability in your assessment that you did for the Intelligence Communitys assessment on january 6 . No, sir. If i spent time in this job worrying about reporting i would never get work done. Thank you, admiral. Director comey, i remain extremely concerned about the widespread illegal leaks that you just referenced in your testimony. Just for the record, though, i want to get this on the record. Does the unauthorized disclosure of classified information to the press violate 18 u. S. C 793, a section of the espionage act, transmitting National Defense information. Yes. Would an unauthorized disclosure of fisa derived information to the press vie 818 usc 798, a section of the espionage act that criminalizes the disclosure of information concerning the communication and intelligence activities of the United States . Yes, in addition to being a breach of our trust with the fisa court. Thank you, director. At this time im going to yield to mr. Rooney. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Id like to direct my questions first and foremost to admiral rogers to convey my thanks to the many men and women for their dedication at the nsa, for keeping our country safe. As well as i want to talk about the recent media stories that may have led to confusion in the public about what the nsa is and is not legally collecting and the safeguards the nsa put into place to protect personal data. So id like to clarify as the chairman of the subcommittee on the nsa i got to meet your deputy admiral last week, out at the nsa and we visited and spoke some of these things. What we can talk about here today publicly if you could go into, if you cant you cant. I think that this is important for the people in the room and listening outside understand. Is it true that the nsa would need a court order were going to dip in and out of these questions the next several minutes. Weve learned some things. A headline coming out the fbi director confirming publicly there is in fact an investigation into whether the russians had any contact with Trump Campaign officials, and as i go to pete, as you mentioned before, we came on its the worst kept secret in washington but extraordinary to have an Ongoing Investigation commented upon by the acting fbi director. Right. The news here is not that they are doing it. The news that they say they are doing it. There has been no question at all that the fbi has been aggressively looking at russian involvement and the potential involvement of any americans in that. I think what you heard is jim comey implicitly responding to the criticism of well, you know, you talked a lot about Hillary Clintons emails, why arent you talking about this involving allegations about members of the Trump Campaign . What he said is, you have to remember he didnt specifically say the clinton case but he said other investigations, that it was over when he made his Public Comments in july and then later in the letters to congress. So, thats the distinction hes drawing. What he said is we cant do our job if we are talking about it while were doing it. As you stand by were going back because we understand we are to the subject of potential wire tapping. So it depends specifically on the Legal Authority that were using to execute the collection in the first place but in broad terms . Realizing again it rather varies by the specific authority . We step back and we ask ourselves first are we dealing with a u. S. Person here . Is there something that we didnt expect to encounter that we now encounter. Well ask ours what leads tuesday believe that it is a u. S. Person, if we come to the conclusion it is a u. S. Person we ask ourselves are we listening to criminal activity, are we seeing something of imminent threat or danger for example, or are we just receiving something that has nothing to do with any of our collection authority. Based on that well take a series of actions. In some case we will purge the collect. Make no reporting on it, not retain the data. Its incidental collection, has no intelligence value and wasnt the purpose of what we were doing. In some cases then if we believe that there is intelligence value, for example, whether its a reference to a u. S. Person as an example in a scenario, in our reporting then we will mask the identity of the individual. Well use a phrase like u. S. Person one or u. S. Person two. And i would remind everyone that for our purposes, u. S. Person is defined very broadly. That is not just a u. S. Citizen. That is a u. S. Corporation, that is a shipper aircraft that is registered in the United States, that is an internet protocol address for example, so its not just a particular individual if that makes sense. The term for us is much broader because its designed to assure our protections of u. S. Persons. The procedures and protections you talked about are required and approved by the fisa court, correct . Yes, sir and the attorney general. You mentioned in your Opening Statement that for that kind of information to be disseminated outside of your agency and the nsa, that that dissemination would be strictly on a need to know basis. Is that correct . We use two criteria. Is there a need to know, and the course of the person, or the group that is asking for the identification, is there a valid need to know in the course of the execution of their official duties. Who would that be . It could be another element with the Intelligence Community, could be another element in nsa, could be a military customer, for example reading some of our reporting. It could be a policymaker. I apologize. There was one other point i wanted to make but i lost the thread in my mind. Lets get back to masking briefly. You spoke about masking. And trying to keep a u. S. Persons identity concealed. And when it is disseminated, we often talk about the Intelligence Community about the exceptions to if somebody is masked, how you unmask them. What would the exceptions to that masking be before its disseminated . We use two criteria. The need to know on the person requesting and the execution of their official dutyings and the second part is the identification necessary to truly interested in the context and the intelligence value that the report is designed to generate. Those are the two we use. Is that identity of a u. S. Person communicating with the foreign target, is that ordinarily disseminated in a masked or unmasked form . No. It is normally disseminated. If we make the decision there is intelligence value and were going to report on it. It is normally disseminated in a masked form. I would again as i said we use a reference u. S. Person one, u. S. Person two. I would highlight if you look at the total breadth of our reporting, reporting involving u. S. Persons at all is an incredibly small subset in my experience of our total reporting. No nowho would make the deci to unmask . There are 20 including myself to approve unmask requests. Were listening in to a hearing by the House Intelligence Committee, that is Admiral Mike Rogers head of the nsa, james comey also testifying, were hearing a lot of washington speak and intel speak. We need a translatorment of lets go to jeremy bash, former chief of staff at cia and the pentagon. What are we listening to . Explain it to us but what you think the significance is, what this member is trying to get to. This dialogue between the committee and the nsa director is about mike flynn, the former National Security adviser. If you recall, savannah, he was discussing with ambassador russian policy issues not during the campaign but after the election during the transition. For republicans really to wall off the Trump Administration from any of these critiques about connections between the Trump Campaign and russia, they have to inoculate flynn because he ended up in the white house. What they are saying basically is who gave mike flynns name to other people in the government and how did that get leaked to the press . They want to basically nail somebody inside government for leaking flynns name. However, even if they get someone inside government for leaking that game, how does that, if at all, change the information that was gleaned from that surveillance . Oh, it doesnt change it but the republican strategy here from the chairmans Opening Statement down the republican side of the aisle is to distract from the fundamental issue which is was there could cloogs from the trump inner circle and the russian federation. This is a foreign hostile power engaging in a Covert Campaign to throw the election to donald trump. Adam schiff, the Ranking Member laid out in a very detailed and meticulous way what the circumstantial case is, comey confirmed and i think a stunning way the existence of the investigation, and now the republican job on this committee is to talk about other issues. Leaks and other matters. By the way we heard from chairman devin nu nrk es, the first thing he wanted to hear from both of thesens withes was if there was russian meddling, did it in any way impact votes that were cast in several key states, that decided the outcome of the election. And again, thats another political point that the president and his allies want to press, its not something that the nsa director can really address and he said im really not the guy to talk about this. But again, the core issue here at this hearing is not about wire tapping, a its really not about leaks its about those links between the trump inner circle and the russian federation. Not just during the campaign but during the transition and the administration. Were witnessing the age old bipartisan washington practice of trying to get the focus on to the thing that you want it to be on. Lets dip back into this hearing. With the countrys ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Trump Officials current and former u. S. Officials said the article goes on to say that nine current or former officials who were in senior positions multiple agencies at the time of the calls spoke under the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. Did you read this article . I apologize sir, not an article that references nine particular individual doesnt ring a bell. I have seen plenty of media reporting but again, im not going to comment on specifics. Just basically under the breadth of that article, when we hear that nine former current or current officials had spoke tune the press under the condition of anonymity and we heard director comey and the chairman speak of this as a potential crime, serious crime under the espionage act, assuming if this article is accurate, who would have the who would be in position to request the unmasking of general flynns identity . Would that be you . I would have the authority to do that. Who else would . 19 other individuals. Would that include director comey . Im talking about in the nsa. In the National Security agency were talking about nsa reporting. But would people like director comey also be able to request that . Yes. And the attorney general and director clapper or those type of people on this list . Again, im not going to in general yes. Not with regard not going to talk about the specifics of an individual or hypothetical scenario. Heres what im trying to get at. If what were talking about is a serious crime as has been alleged, in your opinion would leaking of a u. S. Person who has been unmasked and disseminated by Intelligence Community officials, would that leaking to the press hurt or help our ability to conduct National Security . Hurt. Okay. If it hurts, this leak which through the 702 tool, which we all agree is vital or you and i at least agree to that, do you think that that leak actually threatens our National Security . If its a crime, and if its unveiling a masked person, and this tool is so important that it could potentially jeopardize this tool when we have to try to reauthorize it in a few months, if this is used against the ability of us to reauthorize this tool, and we cant get it done because whoever did this leak, or these nine people that did this leak, create such a stir whether it be you know, in our legislative process or whatever, that they dont feel confident that a u. S. Person under this 702 program can be masked successfully, and not leaked to the press, doesnt that hurt that leak hurt our National Security . Yes, sir. Can you think of any reason why somebody would want to leak the identity of a masked person . No, sir. I mean i have raised this directly with my own work force over the course of the last few months to remind everyone part of the ethics of our profession not just the legal requirement but the ethics of our profession is intelligence professionals is we do not engage in this activity. Ive also reminded the men and women of the National Security agency if i become aware of any such conduct there is no place for you on this team. Unacceptable as citizens of the nation. As we move forward, obviously you know, i think that where youre speaking of is the sacred trust that the Intelligence Community has with the American People and with the people that are representing them here on this dias. And if we, i think that its vital that for those who break that sacred trust, if they are not held accountable whether by the nsa internally or by the fbi through conviction or investigation prosecution and through the attorney generals office, of that crime, it is very difficult for us to be able to keep that sacred trust to know that what were doing is valid and what were doing has no nefarious motivations and to us to be able to keep america safe without violating the constitutional protectionsing that we all enjoy. Mr. Chairman, im not sure how much more time i have left, i wanted to can i make one comment if i could. It comes to my mind. I remember i want to remind everyone in general, fisa collection on targets in the u. S. Has nothing to do with 702. I want to make sure were not confusing the two things here. 702 is collection overseas against nonu. S. Persons. Right. And what were talking about here is incidentally if a u. S. Person is talking to a foreign person that were listening to, whether or not that person is unmasked. I want to make sure we understand. Thats all. And whether or not somebody in the Intelligence Community that we put the trust in is going to leak that information to the press for whatever reason. And im not even going to get into the gratuitous what that reason may be. But its really going to hurt the people on this committee and you all in the Intelligence Community when we try to retain this tool, this year, and try to convince some of our colleagues that this is really important for National Security, when somebody in the Intelligence Community says you know what, the hell with it, im going to release this persons name because im going to get something out of it. Were all going to be hurt by that. If we cant reauthorize this tool. Do you agree . Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, do i have enough time to talk about the letter . With the the committee sent to you on march 15th, a letter to admiral rogers and to director comey. Have you had a chance to look at this letter . Yes, sir. I have given you a reply on the 17th. Quickly because i dont want to take up more time can you give us a sense of how many unmasked u. S. Persons identities were disseminated by the nsa from june 2016 to june 2017 . No, sir. As i indicated were in the process of compiling that information, i will provide it to the committee but until that work is done im not going to comment. Can you tell us whether any of those disseminations broadly were involved u. S. People relating to president ial candidates donald trump or Hillary Clinton and their associates. I wont answer until i complete the research. Were going to continue going back and forth between this testimony and our correspondents. Pete williams if you are there, we know as we said one of the headlines from this is that in fact there is an active investigation ongoing at the fbi into whether there was any coordination between the russians and any one involved in the Trump Campaign in meddling the election. What were waiting for now and we should probably find out when adam schiff, the ranking democratic member of this committee, begins his questioning, is that second question about President Trumps allegations that he was wire tapped by former president obama. Right. And everything that weve been told up until now from people in government and outside government, is that there is no evidence of it. And it sounds like mr. Schiff is about to do his questioning. Its interesting, pete, because i think you reported others have that james comey very much wanted the department of justice to go out publicly and debunk this claim by President Trump. So far that hasnt happened but here it seems he would have his chance to do so personally. The only question is whether hes been authorized by the Justice Department to answer the question, and all of the information we have is that the answer to that is yes. But until he says it we wont know for sure. Were looking at republican trey gowdy who is now questioning mike rogers. Pete, now that we know there is an investigation i think we heard director comey say it. Pretty good idea. Now that we have confirmation from director comey i think whats going to be frustrating for a lot of people and probably the media as well, is that we probably dip back now into that classified area where very little else can be discussed in this public forum. You know matt, thats a good point. There has been an astonishing amount of discipline shown by members of congress because they have been briefed and comey said it. We suspected this was the case but hes given them specific information on what they are investigating and including who they are looking at as possible connections with the russians here. Of course who knows where thats going to go. It may turn out there is no evidence off collusion whatsoever. The fact none of that has leaked is really very surprising. And as we understand it, after first stiff arming the committee on these requests, he finally said okay, ill answer your questions to a limited number of people. But if any of this leaks forget any further information. And the members of congress have stuck to that in a very surprising and i must say unusual way. Leaks are certainly the question of the morning. Lets go to peter watching this from the white house. It seems the republican strategy insofar as weve seen it is to focus on the fact that some of this information such as the conversation that then incoming National Security adviser mike flynn had with the russian ambassador, that the fact of that conversation got leaked at all, thats where the republicans want the focus to be this morning. You know, i think you are right. To reinforce that was the fact that the chairman of this House Intelligence Committee began his line of questioning by focusing specifically on the issue of vote tampering that put to rest any suggestion that donald trump won because there were votes that took place as a result of russias meddling. That has never been a suggestion. Suggestion being that the leaking of information, the wikileaks, all of that information that came about Hillary Clinton ultimately swayed the momentum of this race so. One, they were focused on vote tampering, separately on the issue of the leaking of classified documentation. And information. But what is strikinging a we talk about this split screen while much. America will be focused on what james comey and the National Security agencys director mike rogers say, the white house moments ago sean spicer was tweeting about neil gorsuch, the Supreme Court pick by donald trump, who is scheduled to have a hearing, scheduled for a short time from now. While we focus in many ways on russia, they are trying to focus on Something Else as senior white house official crying this. It goes against what we heard from mike rogers. They conclude that russian interfered in the election. That is not in dispute. The understatement of the day is james comey saying these are unusual circumstances. That, everybody can agree on. Peter, we have yet to hear from democrats on this committee. And listen to their questions. But its pretty clear, isnt it, that no matter what is said, in this hearing room today, members of either party is going the customer cherry pick it to serve their interests. Youre right. Thats what i was saying, the republican focus to give wac backup. Where the democrats are trying to say, adam schiff, the ranking democrat on this committee, went on his own tweet storm this morning and said to the president , please stop. He said, it is a fact that russia interfered. It is fiction that president obama ordered wiretapping of trump tower. This gets back to the familiar narrative of the different parties taking their own sides. Well keep on listening as we listen to the questioning of director comey. Im not going to comment on the orarticles. I dont want to compound a criminal act. But its a serious crime and it should be, for the reasons you said. Well take it back up next round, mr. Chairman. I yield 15 minutes to mr. Schiff. Director comey, i want to begin by putting to rest several claims made by the president about his predecessor, namely that the president wiretapped his phones. I want to say what the president said and ask you if theres any truth to it. First, the president claimed, quote, terrible. Just found out that obama had my wires tapped in trump tower, just before the victory. Nothing found. This is mccarthyism, unquote. Director comey, was the statement that obama had the wires tapped in trump tower a true statement . With respect to the president s tweets of alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration. I have no information that supports those tweets. We have looked carefully in the fbi. The department of justice has asked to share with you, that the answer is the same for the department of justice and all its components. The department has no information that supports those tweets. The president accused mr. Obama and the fbi engaging in mccarthyism. Do you think mr. Obama or the fbi was engaged in such conduct . Im not going to try the characterize the tweets themselves. All i can tell you is we have no information that supports them. Were you engaged in mccarthyism, director comey . Try hard not to engage in isms of any kind, including mccarthyism. The second stated, is it legal for a sitting president be wiretapping prior to an election. Turned down by a court earlier. A new low, unquote. Can you answer the president s question. Would it be legal for president obama to have ordered a wiretap of donald trump . Im not going the characterize or respond to the tweets themselves. I can tell you in general, as we were just saying, there is a statutory framework in the United States, under which courts grant permission for surveillance. Based on a showing of possible cause, its a rigorous process that involves all three branches of government. Its one we lived with since the late 70s. No individual in the United States can direct electronic surveillance of anyone. It has to go through an application process, ask a judge and the judge makes the order. President obama cannot order a wiretap of anyone . No president could. Mr. Trump asserted in that tweet, that he was that the application or the president s order was turned down by a court. Was there any request made by the fbi or Justice Department to wiretap donald trump turned down by a court . Thats one of those subjects i cant comment on one way or another. Please dont interpret that in i cant talk about anything that relates to the fisa process in an open setting. Third, the president stated, i bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that president obama was tapping my phones in october, just prior to the election. Director comey, youre a good lawyer. Can you make out a great case that president Obama Wiretapped mr. Trumps phones prior to the election, you said theres no evidence of that. We dont have information that supports those tweets. Well, in my view, you would not be a great but an unethical lawyer but to make such a case. And finally, the president made the following accusation. How long has president obama gone to tap my phones during the sacred election process. This is nixon watergate. Bad or sick guy. The president has compared mr. Obama to nixon and purported wiretap of trump phones to watergate. What was the offense by nixon and his oftives during watergate. A lot of people may be too young to understand what watergate was about. What was the offense . If i recall, the gravimon was breakins, unlawful wiretaps, the cycle of criminal conduct. It was a breakin of democratic headquarters by operatives of the president , right . Thats how it began. And also involved a coverup by the president. Yes, as i said. Here, i think you said theres no evidence of an illegal wiretap by president oba obama. Is that right . The fbi and the department of justice have no information to support those tweets. But there is evidence, is there not, of a breakin of the democratic headquarters by a foreign power using cyber means . Yes, there was, as the Intelligence Community report, the unclass report said in january, the Russian Intelligence Services hacked into a number of enterprises in the United States, including the Democratic National committee. And there was an effort by the russians to coverup their breakin of the Democratic Party headquarters by using cutouts like wikileaks to publish the stolen material, is that right . Certainly, to coverup that they were the ones releasing it. Director rogers, in an effort to explain why there was no evidence to support the president s claim that obama had wiretapped him, the president and his spokesman, sean spicer, have suggested that British Intelligence, through its nsa or gchq, wiretapped mr. Trump on president obamas behalf. Did you request that your counterparts in gchq should wiretap trump on behalf of president obama . That would be against the con construct of the agreements that are in place for decades. Our intelligence partners and britain is one of them . Yes, sir. Do you see evidence that anyone else made such a request . No, sir. My view is the same as mr. Comey. I see nothing on the nsa side, that we engaged in any activity or asked us to engage in that activity. And if you asked the british to spy on an american, that would be a violation of u. S. Law, would it not . Yes, sir. Our relationship with the British Intelligence is the closest with any of the foreign services. Is that true . Yes, sir. The british allies have called the president s suggestion they wiretapped him for obama ridiculous. Would you agree . Yes, sir. Does it do damage to our relationship with one of our closest intelligence partners for the president to make a baseless claim that the british participated in a conspiracy against him . I think it clearly frustrates a key ally of ours. It wouldnt endear the British Intelligence services to continue to working with us, would it . I believe the relationship is strong enough, that this is something well be able to deal with. But its not el pful, yhelpf would agree . I would. President trump met with angela merkel. During the press conference, the president said they had something in common, that they had been wiretapped by president obama. Director comey showed climbs why they were unsupported of any evidence. But the claim he made of wiretapping directed at merkel, referred to something that came up in the context of the snowden disclosures. Im not going to ask you to comment on whether the chancellor was the subject of eavesdropping. But i want to ask if the snowden disclosures did damage to our german ally and if the chancellor expressed concern at the time . Yes, sir. Has it helped our relationship with the chancellor or with german intelligence, to bring this up again in a public forum . Were going to jump in here because were hearing a lot of information. We want perspective on this from Pete Williams, our justice correspondent. Pete, headlines. What are you hearing here . What jumps out . I think the obvious things. The fbi director acknowledging for sure there is an investigation of russian collusion, in attempting to influence the election last year and saying that president obama did not order any wiretaps of President Trump or trump tower. No evidence of to confirm anything tweeted by trump. And went on then, to say, theres no evidence suggesting that the u. S. Ask the british to wiretap donald trump. In fact, mike rogers just saying that would be expressly against international law. Right. And the idea in a you could circumvent the intelligence communi communititys prohibition of spying on people in the u. S. , by asking another country to do it for you, that would clearly be illegal. Lets go to our National Security analyst, jeremy bash. In terms of this question of wiretapping, we heard the president say, when i say wiretapping, i mean any kind of surveillance. It doesnt necessarily have to just be tapping my phones. When you hear what you heard from director comey and from admiral rogers of the nsa, is that a comprehensive denial . In other words, if they say we have no information to back up any of what President Trump said, does that speak of any surveillance that can be done of any agency . When congressman schiff posed the question, did obama wiretap you, he was emphatic. Theres no information to support that. When he reared into was there wiretaps at all on this issue, comey retreated back to no that comment. I cant comment an Ongoing Investigations. To me, that suggests that one of the investigative tools that have been used by the fbi and this would make sense in this sprawling investigation of russia trump connections is surveillance, is wiretapping that have been authorized by the foreign Intelligence Surveillance court. I think this issue really is going to be a subject of inquiry by the Committee Going forward. And by the way, its important to reiterate that mike rogers and james comey said when they say they cant comment on something, they ask people not to speculate on the reasons for that. They cant comment on that. Thats right. Were talking about investigation and information that a we have more on nbc. Com. Also, coverage on nbc. Coverage. [ cheers ] 8 12. Were back. As we mentioned, this is dylans first day back from Maternity Leave. Yay. And im not a crying mess. Just wait. We have an idea. Were going to Facetime Calvin and brian. Okay. That will put that to an end. See how things are going. Good morning, guys. Hey, brian. How are you doing . He has a bottle. Were doing great. How are you doing . Im doing good. Can i just tell you, brian, dylan just said a second ago, i can only imagine how things are going in that household this morning. How are things going . Laundrys done. Lunch is made. Right now, everything is great. How about five minutes ago . Right now, everything is great. Brian, can you brag on dylan a little bit . What kind of mom is she . Unbelievable. I cant believe the strength. And what she does, it blows me away every day. I cant believe shes back to work and what shes doing. And she is the perfect mother. Were so lucky to have her as our rock. Thank you. I knew we would need those tissues. You want to return the favor . Brian sleeps great through the night. He looks so rested. No. Its amazing how we just became this team. And the two of us have never changed a diaper before. We didnt know anything going into parenthood. And he and i just figured it out. The second we heard him cry, you knew your job. Right away. Oh, my god. Pass the tissues back. I need them. He is adorabldorable. Tell him that mom will be home soon. Mom is on tv. And calvins on tv. He looks content with the bottle. Out of sight, out of mind right now. No. Thanks for doing that. We appreciate it. Great seeing you and calvin. Nice to see you guys. The cutest. Lets turn to whats trending today. Calvins trending today. Lets go back to cal. Babies are the top of trending this morning. Its the most natural thing to see babies. We want to snuggle them. New Research Says that touching and snuggling your baby goes a long way in life for them. The study shows how an infant is touched will shape the way the baby will respond to touch once the baby gets home. Gently caressing and kissing the baby, all lasting effects from that. Snuggle up to your babies. Skintoskin, that contact does everything. I feel like i drive him nuts. I cant stop. He is so cute. Do you grit your teeth . I feel like i have ground my teeth. Theyre so cute. March madness, something for the guys here. March madness brought exciting and heartbreaking moments. First, to a high we mentioned earlier. University of michigan, seven seed, pulling off the big upset against the second seed in louisville cardinals. This happened yesterday. And the wolverines have to celebrate the occasion, right . Typically, the players throw water on the head coach. Coach john beilein was one step ahead. Watch. Supersoaker. He couldnt help but take part in the fun to bring in a water gun to get back at the players. While michigan celebrated, northwestern fans didnt have much to cheer about. The Cinderella Team played against gonzaga. The game was intense. Sending one fan into an emotional rollercoaster. This guy made it on National Television a bunch of times throughout the game. Crying, yelling, waving, all why watching his team get defeated. The boy was identified as the son of northwesterns director for athletics. We know what that feels like. Watching the game with my son, who is 8. He couldnt believe the passion on that young mans face and emotion. In all fairness, it was a bad call at the end of that game. Terrible call. That maybe cost the game. Lets go back and look at that, by the way . They made a statement saying they got the call wrong. The video were about to show you shows a close call for one skier. It was shot in slovakia. This is a typical run until he decides to swerve into the bushes. Why would he do that . Spin that camera around. Can we see . An avalanche. A mountain of snow just barrels past him. He avoided getting swept away. He must have heard it. Look behind him . That thing is really scary. Yeah. Carson, shall we do a pop star . Does everybody have a gopro when they ski . Were going to start with sunday night. An emotional episode of keeping up with the kardashians. Kim revealing the details of the robbery in october. But last night, kim shared in her own words, what that ordeal was like. Take a listen of what was going through her mind during the attack. We went back into the room. I remember looking at the concierge who was sitting at this desk. Are we going to die . I have babies. Please, they dont understand me. But tell them i have babies at home. Please. I have a family. Let me live. In the police report, kim estimated having 10 million worth of jewelry stolen. She acknowledged that none of that matters. Its all replaceable. And were glad to see shes on the road to recovery. Up next, beastly earnings at the box office. Beauty and the beast broke records. The film on the animated classic, opened to 170 million in north america alone. To give you perspective, the 91 version of the film, earned 45. 9 million during its theater run. The film tops the list of the highest grossing opening for a p grated move. Beauty and the beast is ranked in 350 million globally and is well on the way to join that billiondollar club. And finally, adel, getting in touch with her inner queen bee. Adele took a break from singing to do a little dancing. Real fans right here. I dont know how she does it. Just how does she do that . Im going to practice this. Hang on a minute. Give me a beat. Thats adele giving her best beyonce hair flipped. She laughed off the performance saying i dont know how she does it. And one note on pop start. The passing of the godfather, chuck berry. The best to his family. With the weather. Yep. Tell us more about calvin. Gladly. Is that storm coming in, calvin . Could be. We have a rain moving into the northwest. We are looking at some heavier pockets of rain expected later this afternoon in northern california, moving into southwestern oregon. It gets heavier in the day and overnight. Were looking at a couple inches in the highest elevations. Really, the snow level is too high. Were going to see a lot of rain out of this one. Were looking at three to four inches of rain in the sierra mountain ranges. Were keeping an eye on that storm out west. But were also looking elsewhere across the country for thunderstorms today across the southern Great Lakes Region and northeast temperatures will be in the 40s a good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. Clouds are rolling into the bay area as you step out the door at 57 degrees in the peninsula as well as the south bay. 55 in San Francisco. It will be cloudy throughout the day and going to start to see some spotty light showers for parts of the north bay. Thats mostly this afternoon and then it becomes more widespread, some pockets of heavy rain later on tonight. Well also have a chance of a few thunderstorms, between late tonight and throughout the day tomorrow, so be ready for some more wet weather. And thats your latest forecast. Matt . Dylan, thank you very much. Folks, mark your calendars. You have less than a month before this years april 18th tax dead lionel. What can you do to save money and boost the size of your refund . Jean chatzky knows everything you need to know. Jean, good morning. Nice to see you. April 18th, less than a month away. You say dont wait. Dont wait. Taxrelated Identity Theft has become a big problem. Essentially, somebody trying to score your refund before youre able to do it yourself. So, the best thing you can do is just file now. Lets talk about some things people can do to lower their tax bills. You say you have three good tips. Make an i. R. A. Contribution. Theres two kinds of i. R. A. You have your roth and your traditional i. R. A. Only the traditional is tax deductib deductible. It grows overtime. You can contribute to a spousal i. R. A. Account. If you have one person in the workforce, one person at home, you both have the ability to make up to a 5,500 i. R. A. Contribution. 6,500 if you are over age 50. And then, weve got something called the savers tax credit. This is for people who earn a little less. It gives you a credit, which is better than a deduction, for making an i. R. A. Contribution. How do you know if you should be itemizing . Itemizing is something thats harder to do than taking the standard deduction. But it can be worth it, particularly if you own a home or you own a business. But essentially, you want to run the numbers and see if it makes sense. For example, if you itemize and you have medical costs that equal 10 or more of your adjusted gross income, which might have happened, it pays to itemize. Also, if you live in a state where theres no state income tax, you want to look at deducting state sales tax. Everybody is eligibility to do one or the other. If you bought a car or a big expense, it can make sense. People forget they can write up small charitable deductions, with donations to the bake sale or the miles you drive back and forth to the volunteer job. Student loan interest. If youre a parent thats paying off a loan thats in your name, can you deduct it . Your kid can deduct it. Thats the wrinkle. A child, whose parent is paying off their loan, can take up to a 2,500 deduction. Education expenses are valuable and often left on the table. And the earned income tax credit, which is worth up to 6,000, we know that nearly 25 of people just dont even take it. What about Home Office Deductions . I heard a couple years ago the irs was cracking down on that. The irs was because they realized that people were squishy around the edges. The deal is, if you have a place in your home that is exclusively a home office, you should not be leaving this on the table. Theres two different ways to take it. The simple way is just take that Square Footage of your office, multiplied by five. You can do this up to 300 year feet or 1,500. If you itemize, you take track of the bills and take a percentage of housing and cable and that stuff. What about the fee for having someone help you prepare your taxes . How do you lower that cost . You should be shopping around. Its possible to go online and do a couple of ways of preparing your taxes with a couple of software programs. And figure it which one at the end costs you less before you file it. These are on the web. Its not like you have to buy your software ahead of time. April 18th is the filing deadline. And you say do not wait. Get it done right now. Absolutely. Jean chatzky. Jean will be back with us tomorrow for something new, taking care of mom and dad today. Its all about aging parents and the Financial Issues that come with that. Carson . Matt, thanks. Coming up, one of the most talented people in hollywood, Jessica Chastain is here, looking lovely. Well chat with her. First, your very good morning to you. 8 26. The criminal trial scheduled to begin this morning for a teenager who was previously admitted to killing a Discovery Bay boy. Prosecutors say William Schultz stabbed the boy to death in 2015 as he slept. Schultz was 18 at the time and the friend of the family. Investigators say he was staying at the home at the time. He later confessed during a jailhouse interview telling a reporter he killed the boy in order to see what it was like to take someone elses life. The trial is expected to last several weeks. Lets switch gears and talk about the morning commute. Hopefully thats a little better out there, mike. No big surprises now. The big surprise, no major crashes. Over on the peninsula side, were looking at 84 here, off the dumbarton bridge, around the split. Facebook, we have a crash reported, but it hasnt caused much of a disturbance over the last half hour. Likely a distraction over on the shoulder now. Smooth drive into the south bay, look at this pushing out of san jose and most of the traffic flowing through the area of cupertino and sunnyvale. Live look through oakland, 880, around the coliseum, up to downtown and the maze moves well and we have the backup at the toll plaza for the bridge. Another local news update coming up in half an hour. Have a good morning. Good morning, everybody. 8 30. Its monday morning. 20th of march, 2017. First day of spring on our plaza. Weve got the place all decked out with flowers to mark the occasion. Well have more on that in a moment. Good morning. I have to say, theres a great sign behind us. It says matt lauer is my spirit animal. I like that. Thats a good thing, right . I wonder what kind of animal. Hmm. Love you, matt. Love you, too. Not crazy about the picture. But thats all right. Meanwhile, along with the flowers, jill martin is broug brightening our morning. Shes here with steals and deals on fashion. Less than 100 dubucks. Well talk to Jessica Chastain, about playing a hero in her new movie. Everything you need to create your favorite indian takeout dish, looking forward to that. First, a check of the weather. Looks like spring but doesnt feel like it. A little chilly in the northeast. Temperatures will start warming up. Lets look at what we can expect this spring. Aboveaverage temperatures expected in the eastern twothirds of the country. Nearaverage in the pacific northwest. As for precipitation, above average across the northern plains. And above average in the northeast and the southwest. We could see more rain than normal down south. The flood risk because of recent snowfall and rainfall, you can see through the middle of the country and also back out good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. The clouds are rolling in this morning, a few peaks of sunshine. Thats about all well get today. Well see clouds rolling in and have the umbrella handy in case as you go through the afternoon and into the evening. The rain will be moving in. Starting out with spotty downpours and getting heavier, a little more widespread later on tonight. Well also have a chance of a few thunderstorms by late tonight and into the day tomorrow. Off and on rain for the forecast also for wednesday. Thats your latest forecast. It is the first day of spring. Our plaza is in full bloom, courtesy of the macys flower show. Susans team is responsible for the colorful carnival theme cornucopia of flowers we have in front of us. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. I love the macys flower show. What can people see this year . Our theme is carnival. And we decided to take all of the flowers and transport you into that magical time when you go to a carnival. And you see all of the motion, the lights and the sound. You have carousel horses, ferris wheels, rides. All kinds of exciting interpretation of flowers. We have some of the pieces here, covered in thousands of flowers. What goes into making this happen . We do the flower show in three different cities, new york, chicago and San Francisco. And its many hours and many people all teaming up. We install all week long. And for two weeks, youll see it, beginning sunday, in the stores. Its so beautiful. Do you have a favorite flower . I like the hyacinth because of the smell. I like calla lilies because i know what they are. The macys flower show, sunday march 26th through sunday april 9th, in new york, San Francisco and chicago. Matt . Dylan, thank you very much. In the zoo keepers wife Jessica Chastain plays a he heroine. They took people and hiding them in their zoo. You can never tell who your enemies are or who to trust. Maybe thats why i love animals so much. You look in their eyes. And you know exactly what is in their hearts. Jessica chastain welcome back. Thank you. Youre also an executive producer on this movie, which always tells me that theres more of an emotional, vested interest in a project. Why on this one . Its a labor of love for me. Niki caro is the filmmaker. Its a great story about this female hero thats been untold. We had a female screen writer, female producers. It was a girls group. Were lucky to have you here when you have projects. And one of the things that comes up in the notes i read, you love to research. Were you familiar with this story before you got involved with it . I was not familiar at all. I was shocked by it. And what i loved about this story, is that it really showcases the good in humanity in a time of war. And thats what i was really impressed by. You have a chance to meet the daughter of antonia zabinski. What does that add, other than pressure, because you know that everything you put on film is going to be viewed by a living relative of the person youre playing. The novel is based on an toe ninas journal. If your mother was an animal, what kind of animal would she be . All of the psychological questions that i could build the character on. Antonina says in that clip, thats why i love animals. To explain the backstory, she has seen some really horrible things in life. And gravitates towards animals because of the innocence they provide her. Yeah. Theres a healing power with animals. And antonina knew that. All living creatures were special and equal. She lived alongside animals. They would go in and out of her house. Her children were raised with animal brothers and sisters. Its a beautiful story. When the german soldiers would come, the way she would warn her guests, as she calls the people she was hiding in the zoo, she would play the piano. And that would be the sign that they needed to stay hidden. In the movie, you played the piano when they chose not to i dont mean to they chose not to dub in someone else playing the piano. How was that . All my faults exposed. All my flaws. Yeah. I dont play the piano. And when you learn, youre playing mary had a little lamb or twinkle, twinkle, little star. And they want me to play chopin and beethoven andback. They liked the authenticity of that. She was not a concert pianist. Youre pretty good. Thank you. One of the other things i noticed in the clip, when someone cries in a movie and its very emotional story, there are two kinds of cryers. From are pretty cryers and ugly cryers. Youre a pretty cryer. Thank you. Dont you you have to agree with that . Depends on which part of the movie you watch. Theres a lot of very, very difficult crying. In that scene, thats a pretty cryer. The delicate crying. Are you going to take a break some time soon . Im taking the next few months off, which is going to be nice. My next film i will probably start shooting in the fall. The zookeepers wife hits theaters on march 31st. Up next, bargains. Jill martins new twist on steals and deals just in time for this first day of spring. First this, is today on nbc. Were back, 8 40. Something new were calling jills spring steals. This is a spin on steals deals. A little different. We love to shop when jill martin swings by. This time, we sent her on a shopping spree. She found the best of the best. Got special offers and discounts, of course. What a way to celebrate spring. How does this work . My job is so tough. I had to go shopping. I took some of my favorite items for spring going into summer. These are promotion ps and Free Shipping on most of them just for the today show. Its a little spin. Its limited. You have to go on to today. Com. I would get your pick tfingers. These are going to fly off. Youll hold some for the west coast. We will hold the product for the west coast. Doing everything, less than 100 bucks. What do we have . I want to introduce our models that are part of our today show family. They are coloring. Were saying hi, right . Theyre part of our beach segment. This is fabulous. From pottery barn, from pb kids. 29. 50 to 99 retail. The swan is from last season. This is a joke between my melissa and i. Everywhere we went, on top of cars, in the ocean, you saw the swan and its back. How much is this raft . Were giving viewers 20 off all of these with Free Shipping. You can get 20 off new, the hottest accessories. This popup cabana, which comes like this. And in three seconds we have our models with suits and sunnys. And then, you can put your wet bathing suits in there. And the dinosaur. Its a new swan. Its a little cold with the sprinkler. We just saw it outside. And this is the dinosaur thats a sprinkler. Brandnew 89. Go on today. Com. It will link you to the website. Lets get to the girlie stuff, jill. Hottest handbag of the season. I own it. I called one of the companies and said, can we get it for under 100. Elle squared, it ranges from 135 to 595. But today, its 90 for any of the choices here. And they move, too. Is that a fun clutch . Even with a simple outfit. You have diamond necklaces on this rope, which is the trend here, mixing fancy and casual. Its very well explained on today. Com, linking to elle squared. And look how much fun, sprinkles a and sequins. Love it. Get some tote bags. S. G. You can pick white or black. The retail is 225. Allleather. 98, you can get it for. Thats part of our under 100. 56 off, with Free Shipping. And a cute shape. I like the pointy corners. You like it because you can throw everything in. Yes. And find everything. Such as this scarf. It happens to be this scarf. This is a cashmere light scarf for spring. For today viewers, its 75. Thats 81 off of the retail. Its the light cashmere. You can throw it on with white jeans, a white tshirt. Get a fun color that you wouldnt normally get and go for it. Also, Free Shipping. Great. This is superfun. And i wanted to offer this at all price points. This is for everybody. Im wearing some of them. Ryan porter necklaces and bracelets. This is 50 off retail. 12. 50 to 62 for anything here. Some are goldplated. But this is fun to personalize for your kids or yourself. You see the different ones here. And you can see them online at today. Com. You link. 12. 50 to 62. I like that message, no carbs. As we move on to carbs. This is the one plugged in. From amazon, the ninja pro. Rarely on discount. You can make smoothies in the morning. It lifts up out of there. You can take it and drink up. Isnt that great . Yes. Its 25 off retail from amazon. 74. 84. And theres more online of these deals. Perfect segway. You can find more on today. Com. Jill will be back tomorrow. He has deals this time under 50. Coming up next, we head into the kitchen to cook up an indian favorite. First, this is today on nbc. Good deals. 8 47. Back with today food. This morning, shes going to make something special. Its a traditional indian dish called chicken bryani. Its a dish thats served at special occasions, right . Not in my house. You make it all the time . I like it as a weekly meal. Its chicken and race. Basically. Lets look at the ingredients grid. We have basmati rice. Thats a long grain rice. You want to make sure you have that rice. We have ghee, clarified butter. Some onions and garnish that we put on top at the end. Without making it sound complicated, youre going to cook the rice in stages. Why . Briyani, the rice has to be separate. The grains are separated. You want to par cook it. And cooking it in stages helps it become fluffy. How long will it take, starttofinish with the rice . Just a few minutes. Were going to have boiling water. Weve soaked this rice and rinsed it about 20 minutes. You put that in there. Its like boiling pasta. Okay. We want to season it with some salt. And here, i have some clarified butter. This is to help the race not stick to itself. Thats it. Stir that around. Were going to cook it four to five minutes and put it on a sheet tray. That will cool it and give us nice rice to work with. Using boneless chicken . Using boneless thighs. It tastes better in a longer cooking dish like briyani. Talk about the spices. We have turmeric. Its a Health Beneficial spice and gives everything a beautiful yellow color. You have coriander and garam masala. Most people havent heard of that. You probably have some of those in your cabinet. We have nutmeg in there. Black peppercorns. S cinnamon and card mom. That becomes the marinade. Correct. Thats what we have here. Beautifully marinaded about 20 minutes. Perfect. Now, into the dutch oven there, what do you have in there . Onions that have cooked for about ten minutes. Becomes golden brown. And its a base to get the chicken started. I want to mention, palak, that we have people downstairs tasting this. How are we doing . The flavors are s s so good. I never had indian food before. This is my first foray. Three thumbs up. Chicken or the rice . The chicken goes in. We want to cook that. Got it. Put this in here. And what the chicken does, it just serves as a base for the rice. Its like a bed so the rice doesnt overcook and stick to the pot. And we have frozen veggies. You can change the veggies out, depending on the season. Really easy way to get some vegetables in. And then, the rice. The trick to this, you kind of gently want to lay the rice, to get individual kernels across the pan. As we do here, were going to put a lid on that. One thing, were going to put this so it serves as an often and steams the rice because we par cook the rice. There you go. Perfect. This is what it looks like. You present it with fried onions. Were going to do cilantro and mint. These are things you put on top. And serve it with a lentil sla salad. This is something i make at my house. Its a great weeknight meal or a pot luck meal. Thumbs up on this . For sure. Clearing out my sinuses. Its spicy. Thank you, matt. The recipe for this is at today. Com food. Up next, its morphing time. The new class of Power Rangers here. First this, is today on nbc. [ cheers and applause ] the Power Rangers were the rage in the 1990s. Now, theyre back and reimagined for the new movie. And the gangs all here. We have they homeny scott. Becky g. , dacre montgomery, r. J. Cyler and ludi lin. They tried to set the movie with realworld issues and problems. Not silly. Was that important to you . Its grounded and mature. And its interesting. Its fun to watch a comingofage story in a superhero story. Thats exciting. Looking at your ages, not one of you ever saw the original Power Rangers, right . Come on. That was movie magic. I was a big fan growing up. Im an o. G. Power rangers fan. I think whats really cool is i think many generations have been introduced to Power Rangers. Its the first big movie weve seen in 20 years. What kind of stunt training did you have to go through for this . Under water. Flying, with harnesses, obviously. We had a lot of it was a lot of fun. It was tough, physically. We looked amazinamazing. Still do. Becky and i are buddies. Were both from l. A. Incredible voice on becky. Thank you so much. Good to see you again. You have great scenes with Elizabeth Banks in this movie. Shes an incredible actress. She play s rita repulsa, who is wacky and crazy in an interesting way. And working with elizabeth and watching her create this character, taking inspiration from the original and making it more now, is fun. She is scary as rita. Definitely. Thank you so much. We should mention the Power Rangers opens this friday. Just ahead, Tyson Beckford, cohosting our next hour. Got a lot ahead. First, your local news and weather. Good morning, everyone. It is 8 56. The criminal trial is scheduled to begin for a teen who previously admitted to killing a Discovery Bay boy. Prosecutors say William Schultz stabbed 9yearold jordan holmgren to death in 2015 as the victim slept. Schultz was 18 at the time and a friend of the family. Investigators say he was staying at their home at the time he later confessed during a jailhouse interview telling a reporter he killed the boy in order to see what it was like to take somebody elses life. The trial is expected to last several weeks. Bob redell is at the courthouse for that trial, hell tweet updates and look for a live report from bob in our midday news cast. Lots to digest this morning after the testimony from fbi director james comey and nsa chief mike rogers to the house Intelligence Community. Well have a complete wrap in our midday newscast. Go to nbcbayarea. Com. And bay area sports fans stunned after a bombshell announcement from 49er great dwight clark. Hes suffering from lou gehrigs disease. Well have more local news coming up in half an hour. This morning on todays take, were kicking offspring with the hunky Tyson Beckford as our cohost. And from wilson, cheryl hines and judy greer. And salon secrets to get you the best cut, the best deal and the best service. Coming up right now. From nbc news, this is todays take live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning. Welcome to today on this monday morning, march 20th, 2017. We hope youre smiling because its the first day of spring. Youre listening to brandnew by rector. And im Sheinelle Jones sitting next to dylan dreyer. I shouldnt be the highlight of that, though. Look who we have got here. I feel like, your first day back from Maternity Leave is emotional. We decided to bring you a gift. Here you go. Thank you for that. Thank you. It makes the transition easier. Compartmentalize and youll be home burping the baby before you know it. Tyson beckford, great to have you here. Its great to be back. Can i feel your pulse. I whispered to dylan, are you nervous . This is so embarrassing, its not embarrassing. It takes it to another level. I talked to my grandmother this weekend. When i was in high school, i had your calendars all over my wall. Like, you and cheerleading pictures. Okay. Im going to people in my high school will know, middle school. I had my locker rigged when you opened it you. And now, im sitting next to you. It could not be more embarrassing. Oh. If we want to make it more embarrassing, which viewers will remember, it wasnt that long ago, we had a sweetheart competition with your husband. Have you seen this . And the question was, if your spouse gave you permission to have a fling with a celebrity, who would it be . I would go with her response from when she was a teenager. Now, you meet everybody. And thats dangerous. And she knows shall i guess . Yes. Tyson beckford. Tyson beckford. All right. Good morning. That is classic. How are you doing . Whats happening . Im just kidding. Its all good. How did you feel last friday when you found out he was cohosting. That was all over twitter. Sheinelles husband had to say who was your hall pass. Wait a minute. Hes cohosting monday . Hes cohosting for you on monday. I will drop out of frame. I had the weekend to recover. And i promise to be normal and not scare you away so you come back. For sure. How does that make you feel . Im blushing. Im almost as orange as my suit right now. When you see somebody that you constantly see on tv all the time, and they tell you something that, like that, youre like, oh, my god. Really . Were having surreal moments. This is fantastic. Im warm on the inside, for real. I really am. I just found out that you have an upcoming stint at ch chipp chippendales in las vegas. I do. Have you been to a chilli chippendales show . I would be the person on the side. I have never seen this video. Whoa. Was that just you . Did you just flip on your back . Uhhuh. I heard the last time you did this how many times . This is my third run. You broke a record. Why do you think that is . I think with the tv, the movies, and the modeling, i think people want to see you in person. It is a serious answer. But it is true. This morning, in the morning meeting, do you have costumes . Have you seen his costumes yet . I am hoping this is a ripaway suit. It fits in a small ziploc bag. Exhibit a. Stay with us this hour. By the end of the hour, maybe hell put this on. Im just kidding. Well see. Im just kidding. We have to go, the reason for the season today. Spring. Youre back. Everybody wants the hear about calvin. We cant hear enough. Tell us something. It is funny how i planned to come back on the first day of spring and that snowstorm last week. Thats right. You know, i sat that one out. That was nice. I mean, wow. Motherhood is youre a mom three times over. Welcome to the club. You know what its like. My sisterinlaw texted me this morning, and said welcome to the working mom club. It is hard to be away. There you go. You got to visit him. I wanted to make her a little card and give it to you on the show. Welcome to the club. Then, you ran out of time. I ran out of time. You have kids. Theres our california king right there. A little cal king. Hes getting bigger. Hes smiling. Hes so alert. Hes awake so many more mohoursf the day. I dont know what to do with him. Weve done the swing, tummy time, weve taken pictures and hes awake. I dont know what to do. You can sit and stare at each other. We would obviously have presents for you. Come on down. How cute is this . Are those diapers . Yes. You go through a lot of those. I need more diapers. Thats fantastic. Open this. My gosh. In one . Take a look at that. Do you have so many gifts you dont know what to do . This is so cute. Storm pooper. My husband is a huge star wars fan, too. Hell be in that a lot. This is so sweet. Isnt that cute . We wanted to learn about your Maternity Leave. We have a special game for you. A question diaper. Her shower, i had this idea. The last time we had diapers. I put baby food in a diaper. Theres no baby food. I put green peas and made her try it. Just pull out . What has been the most surprising thing about motherhood . First of itsybitsy spider and an aweense song. How do they go . They go the same way. But theyre different. I didnt know itsybitsy spider. We look at you like your crazy. I know, dylan. There you go. Fill in the blank. When the baby is sleeping, i the baby does not sleep. He does not nap during the day. Really . When the baby is sleeping, im in all my glory because its rare that he sleeps during the day. Youre supposed to take a nap. Everybody says, dont do the laundry. Dont check your phone and that stuff. Lets do one more. Okay. Lets see. Whats been your least proud parenting moment so far . Already . Thats like jumping right into it. There was one time in the beginning, its very it can be frustrating when hes crying and i dont know how to help him. I fed him and i changed his diaper and i dont know what is going on. I just handed him to brian and said, you need to take him. I dont know what to do. Every, Single Person watching can relate to that. You need gripe water. What is gripe water . It helps their stomach soothe. You give them a tablespoon of that. Most of the crying is a stomach thing . A little cranky. I heard about that. Gripe water is the best thing. How old is your son . 18. Hes like a man. Im having dinner with him later tonight. That works. Im sitting here thinking, we have a baby diaper and a ch chippendales costume. You will appreciate this next video. We showed it this morning. Jonathan and susan balkin recorded their 2yearold twins for an entire night. The twins know how to party. Thats a party. I love they party in different places. Like, well set up the pillows here. And move the pillows to another part of the room. No surprise, they shared this on facebook, viewed millions of times. Back in the day, we didnt have cameras. But if we did, no telling what kids around the world. Kids say the darnedest things. My 7yearold, we had a small apartment in philly when he was first born. We set up the crib in one room. And had an office space in another room. He was taking a nap. And thats when we discovered he was able to get out. He comes wobbling in. How did you do that . Hes kids are like ninjas, out of the crib, on to the dresser, and hopped on the floor. That was like a baby frat party in that video. Watch out for stuff like that. He will be climbing before you know it. It was a blockbuster weekend thanks to beauty and the beast. Wait until you music the best things in life are free by Sam Cooke Dannon Oikos triple zero is my go to protein snack. Protein from yogurt . Yeah, this greek nonfat yogurt packs 15 grams of protein punch. But what else . It has 0 added sugar, 0 artificial sweeteners and 0 fat. Oikos triple zero. Be unstoppably you. 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Thins our eyes on the amazingly then, feast your mouthhoy nows your chance at completely clear skin. On their rich chocolatechippedness its no trick we put an exclamation point on thin and ta da, its thincredible made with. Express yourself. Brow stylist definer from loreal. The ultrathin tip recreates tiny brow hairs. The spoolie brush blends effortlessly. Now brows get their most precise look yet. Brow stylist definer from loreal makeup designer paris. You need to eat this special. I love it start your day with crunchy wholegrain flakes. And real strawberries. Special k. Eat special. Feel special. Lucis a lucky dog. But not every pet is as lucky as lucky. So we came up with a little idea, this year, when you buy any bag of dog or cat food at petsmart, well give a meal to a pet in need. Its like this when pearl eats, peanut eats. When wolf woolfs, george gorges. And when moose mows down his meal, cuddles cuddles up to a bowl. You buy any bag, well give a meal. Its that simple. Back, now, with todays take and our guest cohost, Tyson Beckford and dylan is back. You come back when everybody is buzzing about kim k. She went into detail about that harrowing ordeal in paris. It was on her latest keeping up with the kardashians. And she opened up about the assault that happened in paris. This was a few months back. It happened in october. And last night was the first time she really talked about it in her own words. But just a warning, it can be a little difficult to watch. Take a listen. Then, they had the gun up to me. And i knew that was the moment. Theyre totally going to shoot me in the head. I just prayed that kourtney has a normal life after she sees my dead body on the bed. I have a family. My husband, my kids. Im a mom. I know how these things go. At least were watching her talking b about it. Shes here to talk about it. Police reported that kim estimated having 10 million worth of jewelry stolen. She says, thats not what matters at all. 17 suspects were arrested in january. They found the guys. I couldnt remember if they did. We were talking this morning the people said it was fake and a hoax and all that. After seeing that that makes you feel like, okay. F forget about the jokes. She is a person that this terrible thing happened to. Want to talk about happy news . Yeah. Beauty and the beast came out. Its killing in the theelt ethe. It earned 170 million around the country. 350 million overall. Becoming the top march opening ever in the United States. More than 1 billion. Thats incredible. Ive been excited for this movie to come out. Not knowing the rest of the world was just as excited. Theres something about this movie that everybody wanted to see it. And the original 1991, the animated version, it earned its theatrical run, 145 million through the whole thing. Is it still on broadway . I think it is. Its not. One of those things, i was thinking about it they take it off so youre forced to go to the movie. I miss it. Well, the movies coming out. Its interesting because this is one of the films when i was younger, i liked the cartoon, right . And in the wind. And you take your kids to see it. Were happy for them. Helping feed the buzz was one of the costars, josh gad. All over the internet. He made appearances across the country at different theaters, showing the film. Take a look. Im going to take some more of that. Thats really good. A lot of butter, though. You know what . You guys can afford it. You clearly work out, sir. I clearly do not. After the movie, was like, who is your favorite character . It wasnt i think this should become a thing. You go to the Movie Theater and hope that one of the stars shows up. Sometimes its in the contract that we get to do that stuff. We showuld ask you. Ive done it for many films. The audience gets to see you. Youre like, oh, my god. And it boosts the sales. Its really good. I feel like they should do that, hit middle america. A lot of times its new york city and l. A. They put us in the big cities, though. Thats a good idea. He did orlando, right . Theres big cities. Yeah. All right. I will do als job today. We have spring here. 6 29 this morning. First day of spring. Fabulous. Looking at nice weather across the northeast. Sunshine, temperatures in the lower 50s. We have thunderstorms moving through Central Indiana and into west central ohio. That could slow things down with the rain coming down. But its all about the temperatures down south and in the southwest. We will most likely see record high temps today, with highs around 25 to 30 degrees above average. Topping out in the lower 90s today. It is going to cool off across most of the good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. We have cloudy skies and now look at this, some rain starting to reach closer to the coastline. This will be heading into the north bay within the next couple of hours. Meantime, its 57 degrees in the peninsula as well as south bay. Expect some times of rain, especially light lane in the north bay and then a few pockets of heavier rain moving in this afternoon. Highs today, midto low 60s thats your latest forecast. We found out this guy works out three times a day. How is that possible . I do my normal workout at noon. Then, before the show, were backstage, pumping up, baby oiling, getting ready for it. Theres that. And we have to go to commercial. How do we go to this show . I dont know. We have to do an exclusive, behind the scenes. Coming up, her hair tutorials have made her a youtube start. Now, she gives you the secrets to get Better Service at the see me. See me. Dont stare at me. See me. See me. See me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. Im not contagious. See me to know that. I wont stop until i find what works. Discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75 skin clearance at 3 months. While the majority saw 90 clearance. Do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. See me. See me. See me. On my way. Find clear skin. And a clearer path forward. For a different kind of medicine, ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. Could bounce back like it used to . Neutrogena® hydro boost water gel. Instantly quenches skin to keep it supple and hydrated day after day. With hydrating hyaluronic acid, which retains up to a thousand times its weight in water. This refreshing water gel plumps skin cells with intense hydration and locks it in. For supple, hydrated skin that bounces back. The hydro boost skincare line from neutrogena®. See whats possible. You dont normally run through a meadow at sunrise. But once you indulge in rich, dark chocolate, lightly salted almonds and slow roasted peanuts. You might surprise yourself. Nature valley sweet and salty bars. Blissfully good. Itthat can make a worldces, of difference. Expedia, everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. Season, you may be thinking about getting a new hairdo. Getting something fresh for spring. We look ridiculous. It looks like we have trash bags on. We have what you need this morning. Today, were kicking off a new series, with the salon secrets to help you get a better cut, color and service. Jennie is founder of the popular blog, confessions of a hair stylist. Thanks for having me. This is exciting. I spend way too much time in a chair just like this. And you have tips how we can get the best service in the salon. I do. Insider secrets. First of all, timing is everything. People dont realize the best time to come into the salon is actually during the morning time. Really . Us air dressers, were on our feet all day. When were fresh and had that cup of coffee and ready to rock n roll. The worst time is to come in friday and saturdays. I go friday at like 2 00. Afternoons, you want to avoid. The reason for it, were social creatures. We might have dinner plans or want a cocktail afterwards. Sometimes were a little on a rush to get out of the salon. And weve seen on our feet all day. How about if we want to highlight or color our hair . The best hair dresses will sometimes skimp out on the color processing time. What i mean, is sometimes color processes about 35 minutes. But if theyre in a hurry, theyll pull you out of the drier at 20, 25 minutes. I would remind or ask your hairdresser, how long does this have to stay on my hair for . And set your own timer on your phone. Just a little insider secret there. Sometimes were in a rush. Especially if youre running late to your appointment. Another one is, a lot of people dont realize, when we use cold water after your color service, its to keep the longevity of the color long lasting. Its freezing. I know. We usually do hot water for the comfort, but if you do cold water, it will keep the color on point. Whats the best way to get the person who is washing your hair to massage manufactuore . I would just ask. Will you give me a good massage. And ill go the extra mile. What is one thing we shouldnt do . Something that stylists wish we didnt do . Put your phones down. Were addicted to our phones. I know. I do it, too. But the thing is, what happens and youre on a Conference Call or arguing with the boyfriend or text messaging, youll bobble your head a little bit, if i am trying to cut a straight line, youll end up with an uneven haircut. This, as a new mom, this is the best time of the week. You have me time. You can work on your phone. Maybe under the drier, its okay. Absolutely. Not when youre getting foil services and whatnot. And people dont realize, this is awful to admit. But if you pick up your phone and youre looking on your snapchat and instagram, we are looking. We know whats going on. You want to be careful what youre opening up. Just saying. Put your pictures away. Ill save those for when i leave. Thank you so much. Coming up, the starstudded the Labrador Retriever and the golden retriever are very different. They eat, digest, and process energy differently. At royal canin, we developed over 200 precise formulas to transform every cat and dog into a magnificent animal. Royal canin. whispering dad trust me, we are going viral. Ing to work . kids laughing whispering mom lets send in max. kids max max now this, is internet gold going viral . Get scrubbing bubbles clean and disinfect. What . 20,000 views sc johnson. A very good morning. Its 26. The criminal trial is expected to begin for a teenager who previously admitted to stabbing 9yearold to death in 2015 as the victim slept. Stults was 18 at the time and a friend of the family. Investigators say he was staying at their home at the time. He later confessed during a jailhouse interview saying he killed the boy in order to see what it was like to say someone elses life. The trial is expected to last several weeks. New this morning, video of an rv fire in concord that last one man in Critical Condition happened last night in buchanan circle. Witnesses called 911 after hearing an explosion. That rv was fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters say the man ran out of the rv without clothes. He had burns all over his entire body. The victim is now being treated at a burn center. The fire is under investigation. However, firefighters are saying a gas can is believed to somehow be involved. Were going to take a quick break but well have a look at weather and traffic right after this. Good monday morning. We are seeing clouds around the bay area. Look at the rain starting to reach closer to the coastline. This will be moving into the north bay as well as San Francisco. Keep those umbrellas handy. Well have a chance of rain throughout the day. Temperaturewise, were in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Going to see the rain off and on for not only today but tomorrow as well and into wednesday before we take a little bit of a break and another round of some rain in the forecast between friday and saturday. Meantime, were looking at some wet weather as we go throughout the week. Heading over to mike, lets get an update on the roadways. Youre looking at a smooth, easy drive. This has been a pleasant morning for most of the commute. Slower drive toward whipple road. Now recovery. South toward hayward into union city. Were looking into southbound where 880 compresses to fremont. Nothing dramatic. Northbound 101 looking pleasant. Theres still more slowing around northbound 87, guadalupe parkway. Well have more local news in half an hour. Dogs just wont. Neither does frontline. Thats why theres frontline gold. With its easy applicator frontline gold delivers powerful protection that doesnt quit for a full 30 days. Its triple action formula is relentless at killing fleas and ticks. Frontline gold. The latest innovation from the maker of frontline plus. For persistent protection you can trust. Good boy go for the gold. Frontline gold. Available at your vet. And we are back, now, with two of the very talented stars from the new Woody Harrelson movie wilson, kw. Woody tries to mend relationships with his exwife and the teenage daughter that he never knew economixisted. Good morning, guys. This movie is so sweet in a vulgar kind of way. Yeah. What was the set like . It was fun. Sweet and vulgar. The cast is really great. Woody harrelson and laura dern and allstar cast. They set the tone. Whatever. Im the most unlikable ive ever seen you. Character in the movie. In real life, and in this film. Finally caught me. Just being myself. I was thinking this morning, we were talking about beauty and the beast broke all these records. And sometimes people want an escape when they go to the movies. And wilson is something happening right at the right time. Its funny, witty and quirky. Talk about that. Wilson is a very honest person. And its refreshing, i think, right now. And oh. Honesty, refreshing . Im not commenting on anything other than film. Im saying in the movie. Sometimes its nice to talk to someone and you know theyre telling the truth. Wilson must be a sagittarius. I like long walks on the beach. Me, too. Go ahead. One of my favorite lines from the movie, wilson is talking to this woman. And hes saying, i feel like im finally ready to meet somebody and start dating again. And its not going to be you, but the woman is like, okay. You appreciate that honesty, right . In real life if that actually happened. Another line i have, he says, were also unbearable. And i feel like i can relate to that. Yeah. For sure. Its fun. Its interesting because there are definitely laugh out loud moments throughout all of it. And judy and i were watching it last night. I look over and shes like i was like, are you crying . You were crying . It was my third time seeing it. And you were crying again . The first time i saw it, im an actress. I was just staring at my face. The second time, i was really watching the movie. Watched the whole thing, instead of yours just me and my flaws. And last night, found myself crying at a part i dont want to give away. I will say, dont worry about, oh, this is a film when you cry. Only judy greer. I cry all the time. Shes emotional and unstable. She has a problem its threw you under the bus. The last time you were here, cheryl, you talked about the fact you have a pet emu. I want to hear about this. I did not know this about you. Yes. Whats an emu . It looks like an ostrich. Thats your emu . It just strolled around the living room . He did. Is that a turtle . Yes. Where do you live . Who is the cleanup person . Thats the problem. You know, have you seen the pigeon poop is that big. Imagine emu poop. Its not cute. Where is the emu now . Well, for a gift to me, my husband gave it away. He is on an emu farm. My sister said, emu farm . No. Its a good thing. He really is on a farm. He is alive. Hes alive. Good. Toby is alive and well. Toby is the name. In the malibu mountains. Are you ever going to visit him . I will one day. Did you see the movie protocol with goldie hawn. She is a waitress. And she gets stuck with the emu costume. I thought of that. Before you leave us this morning, we hear you both have amazing singing voices and that maybe youre going to broadway one day . Is that true . Yeah. I did not know we had that in common. Im a terrible singer. I heard youre a terrible singer. I can join in that club. Are you . Its liberating when you realize that youre bad. Yeah. Do you still own it . Yeah. I do. I mean, i sing really loud really badly. But im taking singing lessons. Oh. Seriously . I am. Is it possible for a bad singer to get better with lessons . My singing teacher said it will take a lot of lesssons. Im working on the 10,000 hour concept. If i do something for 10,000, i will be singing luke adele. When we toss to commercial break, you can give us five seconds of something, right . No. I think we should challenge each other. Two lessons and im singing sesame street. When we check in with you later, we can hear the progress. No. You have a song of hers. We do. Were going to spare you because we dont have the time. Good. America is going to miss out on that one. Wilson in theaters this friday. Up next, two forktender meat dishes that will make your mouth water. You can feed your family for under 20 bucks. That what if we could bring you better value by having better values . At blue apron, we work directly with more than a hundred family farms. So instead of spending on costly middlemen and supermarkets, we can invest in the things that matter most making farmland healthier. Cutting down on food waste. And bringing you higher quality, fresher ingredients for less than you pay at the store. Because food is better when you start from scratch. Get 30 off at blueapron. Com cook living healthy is a balancing act. Thats why i love light fit greek nonfat yogurt. Each delicious cup contains 12 grams of protein and 80 calories. Its nutrition that fits my healthy life. Light fit. Do what fits you. Is whatever makess you feel beautiful. Wear that shade. Wear that shade. Throw shade. Nice. No makeup monday or definitely makeup. Its monday. Go natural. Go big. Go bold. Ladies, dont let anybody tell you what makes you beautiful. At walgreens, weve got the Beauty Products to help you be you. Walgreens. At the corner of happy and healthy. Hersheys miniatures. We pour em we pass em we pick em delicious fun for everyone. Hersheys miniatures are mine, yours, our chocolate. Yours, befi was a doer. Gia, i was active. Then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. My doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. She also prescribed lyrica. Fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. Lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. For some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. With less pain, i can be more active. Ask your doctor about lyrica. Neutrogena® hydro boost hydrating tint. Wake up skin. The first water Gel Foundation with hyaluronic acid it plumps, quenches. Delivers a natural, flawless look. This is what makeups been missing. Neutrogena® 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. Im about to pop a cap of mmm fresh in that washer with unstopables inwash scent boosters by downy. And if you want, pour a little more, because this scent lasts for 12 weeks, which is longer than any relationship ive ever been in. Right, freshness for weeks unstopables by downy. For a fresh too feisty to quit. This morning on today food, meals for under 20. Brenda herrera is here. She has two recipes. Under 20. This is a good one. First of all, what are we making today . We have a Pressure Cooker. Thats a serious Pressure Cooker. I have never used this one, either. It eliminates a lot of the cooking time in the kitchen. Different from a slow cooker. The opposite. Youre going to get excited about cooking because youre not going to slave over an hour of a dish. We are making a cuban dish. Flank steak. My hands are clean. All good. Were going to stick that meat in there. You want to grab the dbay leave. And the ingredients are simple enough. Youre going to close this. You want to cook over high pressure, 35 minutes. Stove top 30 minutes. Same thing, high heat. For 35 minutes . It would usually take an hour, hour, 25 minutes. You want to shred this a little bit. Look how tender and juicy that is. Thats so lean. Thats one of the benefits of pressure cooking, you retain all of the moisture in there. Look how easy that shreds. Youre going to stick the meat in there. Youre not going the use two Pressure Cooker. But for the purposes of leaving it in there. You saute the veggies, two to three minutes. No. The Pressure Cooker serves. You can sautsaute, brown all th. You will stick in this meat. Can i try it . Thoomato sauce, red wine. It had a slow cooker flavor. You know i have to do the salt. What was his name . I dont know. Salt bae. High pressure, only ten more minutes. And thats what you get. This beautiful, shredded you can serve it over rice with veggies. A lot of flavor. Whats next . So, carnitas. To taco tuesday on a monday. Youre going to heat your oil in a dutch oven. You can use the Pressure Cooker for this recipe. Youre going to stick your pork shoulder pieces in here. If you didnt want to use park, can you use the same ingredie ingredients . You can use chicken. Short rib would be nice. Youre going to brown it two to three minutes. You can cut them smaller for the tacos. If you want to use them as a stew, you want to leave them this size. Look how chunky. We have about 30 seconds left. You have it measured out . Youre going to saute your veggies for 30 seconds to a minute, and add all of the ingredie ingredients. Whats that . Thats broth. And chipotle is the key ingredient in here. You guys, ill do it for you. Ready . Stir this. This is going to be 55 minutes to an hour. If you have a Pressure Cooker at home, try this. It will only be 30 minutes. This is restaurant quality. Were going to make tacos. Ready for tuesday. Ready for tuesday on monday . Right. This is so good. This is worth going to today. Com food and getting the recipe. Dylan, i will save you some. My grandmother says i cant wait for dylan to get back. You two eat. Im nowhere near the food. Lets look at whats going on this week. Record high temperatures across the south. Thunderstorms in the ohio river valley. As we get through the middle of the week, we notice some cooler temperatures work their way into the northeast. Stays pretty warm down south. And mild across the rockies. By the end of the week, we start to see the temperatures rebound a bit. But it starts to get a little wet with s good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. Rain starting to approach the north bay. We will start out with some light showers and make sure you keep that umbrella handy. Well see the rain off and on throughout the day. Cloudy sought of the Golden Gate Bridge and then hei then heifer moving in later this evening. More cells will develop tonight into the day tomorrow. Off and on rain in the forecast. At times the rain will be heavy and they be tapers off. Im already eating. Thats your latest forecast. Thats so good. Up next, if youve ever been out of thousands of dollars because of a shoddy contractor or you drove a lemon off the how do they make starburst taste so juicy . They use wicked small fighter jets to shoot the juiciness into every starburst. [ pilot ] its about to get juicy. Whoo i feel so aliii. It takes guts. [ female announcer ] starburst. Unexplainably juicy. Starting at 12. 99, at olive garden. Come for an irresistible meal here, and leave with a great meal too. So you can enjoy family time one more time. Buy one take one, only for a limited time. At olive garden. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® 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. Atblue diamond almonds wein our almondmilk. Iagrown and were proud of that. But the whole careandnurturing part . That idea. We borrowed from the experts. Blue diamond almond breeze. The best almonds make the best almondmilk. You need to eat this special. I love it start your day with crunchy wholegrain flakes. And real strawberries. Special k. Eat special. Feel special. Discover new hydra genius by loreal. The genius of liquid care. Daily hydration thats super lightweight with aloe vera 72 hours of intense and continuous hydration. New hydra genius daily liquid care from loreal paris. 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. If youve ever had a canceled flight, driven a lemon off a car lot or had a contractor that didnt do what you asked, you have to know your rights. Were going to help you this morning. Here to explain what action you can take is our analyst, lisa green. These are important. Once you find yourself in a situation, lawyers cost a lot. You dont know your rights. This is a big one. Home construction, especially on the first day of spring. Right. Say you have a problem with your contractor. You say, work it out or try to . You should try to work it out first. And the best way to deal with your contractor, hopefully you withheld some of the money you owe him or her. If you made a contract that allowed you to hold on to that last chunk on completion, you have leverage. If you didnt do that, you wrote your check, good faith, hoping for the best, start with your contractor first. Call. Send a letter. And you know the instagram photos you posted, all of the notes you cook, keep them and mention them. You say file complaints with the state licensing board. It will help those down the line but can it help you . If your contractor was licensed, you have options. You can complain if it didnt work. If your contractor is bonded, thats an insurance policy. And talk to your states attorney general. Heres the next one. Travel. You go to one of the websites and your flight is canceled. A lot of times its not as easy to make changes. When you go to the airport, the one piece of equipment you need is a charged up mobile phone. You want to get in touch with that third party travel agent that you made the reservations with online. You want to deal with the gate agent or your airlines telephone number. And the best thing you can do to protect yourself. Try to find an alternative that works for you. The gate agent or the Online Service providers will be grateful when you offer them a solution and not just a problem. And sometimes you run into red tape. And youre calling the 1800 number and you cant get to a human voice. You have to be persistent. And try to work with your travel agent and your airline. Nobody wants you to rot at an airport indefinitely. Can i tell you my secret . When youre on the flight and theyre telling you its canceled, take your cell phone and you can get to somebody on the phone a lot quicker. I think youre right. Last but not least, a lemon. You drive off the car lot. You have a problem with the car. You are enjoying that new car smell and something goes wrong. Thats where lemon laws come into place. You can have your car refunded or replaced if its got a serious problem that cant be fixed in a couple of tries and its fairly knew. Start with the manufacturer. Let your dealer know something is wrong. And then, the process begins. Does it bypass the dealer . Often, they think, is it our fault . The manufacturers fault. I feel like you dont know who to talk to. You should be talking to the manufacturer. But let the dealer know. The dealer wants you to be a happy customer. After two failed attempts, its time to contact the attorneys. There are lawyers who specialize in lemon law. And it could be as few as one tries as many as four. You might want a lawyer on your side. Hopefully you helped someone. Were back in a moment. This is today on nbc. We want to thank Tyson Beckford for being here. I think it will sink in later. I had calendars of him in high school. I had calendars of him in high school. Me, too. Thank you. And welcome back to you, dylan. Congratulations. Did i try this stuff . Thats right. I have been waiting. The 10 00 hour is a good hour. It really is. It smells good. What do you have coming up . We have the buzz. Elvis is the artist of the month. First day of spring. Clouds will be rolling in as we go throughout the day with mild temperatures. By 5 00 well see light rain moving into the bay area. More hit or miss showers and pockets of heavier downpours likely tonight. Throughout the day tomorrow, off and on, even a chance of some thunderstorms along with small hail and some of these showers moving through. As we head through the rest of the forecast, going to see off and on rain throughout the week, even as we head into the weekend with cooler temperatures. Lets get an update on the morning commute with mike. Its been a great morning for moss of our commuters. Were in the bay area, lots of folks traveling around. Right now the only issue going on as far as crashes is southbound 880. Two crashes around eighth street. First one cleared and the second on the shoulder. Were look for minor slowing through hayward. Thats not a problem. Across the san mateo bridge, nice drive. The bay bridge toll plaza we should see the lights turn off, metering lights. Back to you. Thanks, mike. Happening now, we keep an eye on testimony from fbi director james comey and National Security agency chief mike rogers. Were posting updates on our home page and throughout the morning. Make sure you watch our midday newscast in an hour. The discovery of a bay area man in a thrill kill murder is going to trial. He once confessed in a media interview. Well have more at 11 00. From nbc news this is today with Kathie Lee Gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hello, everybody. Welcome to fun day monday. March 20th. It is the first day of spring. Yes, it is. It dent feel like it on the walk over here. I will say that. It didnt zbloosh the day is young. Hoda is off with her precious haley joy. Superman, mr. Dean cain is my cohost today. Super womans father now too. Super girl. Super girls dad. When does super girl become a woman . Shes a woman. Shes actually the same age i was when i started playing