hold on to your safety glasses c glasses. the historic solar eclipse is just hours away. but will the spring breakers on the hunt for the lunar event be

hoping for a break in the clouds? our meteorologist michelle grossman will have the forecast. heart-pounding moments in the air. an engine cover blows off a southwest flight, forcing it to make an emergency landing. congress is back in session after a two-week break with a packed agenda. how target is setting its sights on amazon and walmart this week with a new membership program, but will the plan hit the mark with customers? and south carolina does the impossible. inside the big win over iowa to cap off an undefeated season. but while hawkeyes legend caitlin clark is leaving without a ring, her legacy is already driving women's sports to new heights. it's monday, april 8th. "early today" starts right now. good morning, glad you're with me. i'm frances rivera. anticipation is growing for

today's total eclipse. millions have been traveling to the path of totality, hoping to get the full effect of the moon temporarily plunging the afternoon into darkness. the very rare event is uniting people of all backgrounds and ages. >> i'm excited to see what it's like, because i've never seen an eclipse before. and it's just going to be really exciting to see the experience. >> an eclipse is like no other experience. it ties us to the universe in a way that we almost never get to experience. >> about 31 million people live in the path of totality, with millions more traveling to these areas. some cities have declared states of emergency ahead of today over concerns about supply shortages and travel chaos. coming up, nbc's jay gray had jwill join us with a live update from texas in one of the cities that will see the eclipse today.

hi, michelle. >> it's all about location, location, location. some of uscing re seeing really forecasts, some of us not. clouds, rain, snow, not the greatest weather there. plains in the midwest. we're looking at mostly cloudy skies. the east coast mostly sunny at times. we could see high clouds moving in. there's the path of totality. we are looking for a chance of some storms in the southern plains. we're looking at morgan chesky in kerriville, texas looking at 80%. al roker, our friend and priscilla thompson in dallas. bloomington, indiana, 50%. 30% in little rock, where chase cain is going to be. and as we head further to the north, new england, so good where kate snow is going to be.

she is the lucky one. we're looking at portions of maine with 0% cloud cover. >> we'll share our stories after. taking a turn. a terrifying flight bound for houston. these videos appear to show the protective cover that houses the engine peeling back and falling off. it struck the wing flap on the boeing 737. the aircraft returned safely to denver, and no one was injured. right now it's kunclear what th source of the malfunction was. a possible engine fire grounded a flight on thursday. the federal aviation administration has launched an investigation into the most recent incident. israelis and palestinians this weekend marked six months since the outbreak of war. it began with the murder of more than a thousand inside israel on october 7 by palestinian militants. the israeli retaliation has killed at least 33,000

palestinians, according to gazan health authorities. in jerusalem, families of israeli hostages protested outside parliament. let's go to claudio lavanga. what is the latest on the war six months in? >> reporter: good morning, frances. over the weekend, delegations from hamas and israel were once again in cairo trying to find agreement on that cease-fire. and at least according to an intelligence officer we spoke to, a state affiliated, egyptian news channel, the word good progress on those talks, but that claim was later denied by a senior hamas fushofficial who s to al jazeera. they called the six-months anniversary of the beginning of the war a terrible moment. now he also said in a statement that it is enough for six months of war to be a moment of remembrance and mourning. it must also spur a collective

determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity. on the battlefield, israel announced it was withdrawing troops from khan yunis. it looked to be a concession to president biden and other w word leaders who were warning israel not to invade rafah. according to john kirby, this is less of a withdrawal and more of a rest and respite operation, meaning that the israeli military may be back in the future. >> claudio, thank you. that conflict as well as the war in ukraine are expected to be addressed this week on capitol hill. congress is back in session after a two-week break. and funding for our foreign allies is expected to be part of

a very full agenda for the lawmakers. hi, drew, this is shaping up to be a big week for congress. >> reporter: one of the first orders of business could be funding for ukraine. in february the senate approved a supplemental package that included aid for israel, ukraine and taiwan. but house speaker johnson blocked that bill, saying they would come up with their own solution. the house would be moving forward with a product of its own, and he said it had important notifications, but it is unclear what that plan in the house might include. congress has a big domestic funding issue to deal with, the rebuilding of the francis scott key bridge and efforts to reopen the port of baltimore. the reconstruction effort is expected to take ten years and cost billions of dollars. so far $60 million in emergency funds have been released. the senate is also expected to receive articles of impeachment this week for homeland security

secretary alejandro mayorkas. the house voted to impeachhim over his handling of the southern border, but democrats have called this a political stunt. it is possible the senate could vote to dismiss the case before it goes to a full trial. frances? >> a lot of the work at hand. president biden today is set to announce a new student loan forgiveness proposal. he will lay out the details at the university of which is wes campus. the aid package could completely wipe out the debt for as many as 10 million americans according to an expert estimate. the president promised student debt relief during his 2020 campaign, but the supreme court blocked a more ambitious proposal last year. south carolina has achieved perfection. >> the gamecocks closed out their thrilling season with a victory over iowa, claiming their second national title in three years.

jesse kir sch has a front-row seat. >> perfection with a touch of sweet redemption. >> reporter: south carolina women's basketball is perfection. >> they made history! they etched their names in the history books, when this is the unlikeliest group to do it. >> reporter: the national championship capping off an undefeated season. 38 wins and zero losses. >> unstoppable! >> congratulations! >> reporter: the win, south carolina's third women's tournament title and redemption after losing to iowa in last year's final four. >> i'm just so proud of our team. and it hasn't sunk in yet. >> reporter: for iowa, this marks back will be to-back championship losses for a women's program that has never won the tournament. >> to be back in this position and come out here and battle, i mean, south carolina's just so good, like, there's only so much you can do. >> to put up a three here. >> reporter: for caitlin clark, a title would have been a

legacy-cementing finale to her collegiate career which has been filled with crowning achievements. she's division one's all-time leading scorer for women and men. helping women's college basketball explode in popularity. iowa's elite eight matchup became the most-watched women's college basketball game ever, then the final four win shattered the record again. >> she has made such an impact on everybody's lives. >> reporter: the championship expected to reach even more people, thanks to clark's stardom and her formidable opponents. caitlin clark going home without a storybook ending. but, when you look in the stands, it's clear she didn't need a trophy to change the game. >> caitlin clark, if you are out there, you are one of the g.o.a.t.s of our games, and we appreciate you. >> she is. our thanks to jesse for that report. okay, severe weather threats are moving into the southern plains this morning. let's check in with michelle

grossman tracking potential hazards ahead. >> this is going to be a multi-day event. we're looking at the chance for flooding rains and severe storms, not only today but also tomorrow. 16 million americans under the risk for severe storms. that would be later on this afternoon into the evening hours. very large hail, four inches or larger, softball sized. damaging winds up to 60 miles per hour and a few tornados are possible as well. also within this yellow shading as well. san antonio could see some very strong storms as we head throughout the later part of this monday. flooding rains today, also tomorrow, because we're looking at heavy rain up to eight inches in some spots. so we could see rivers, creeks,.

the spot that will not be so good will be the southern plains, the chance for storms and showers. that's your monday forecast. >> certainly got a lot to watch today, michelle, thank you. coming up, our jay gray joins us live with how the eclipse is already eclipsing expectations for small businesses. t rs targeting the competition. how target is taking the fight to amazon this week. hole body d. everywhere! we're all human, its okay to smell like one. (sniffs) i smell very human right now. which is totally normal. girl preach. but if it bothers you, 4/5 gynecologists would recommend whole body deodorant. which gives you 72 hour odor protection. from your pits to your bits. so you can use it on your... (spraying) secret whole body deodorant. inez, let me ask you, you're using head and shoulders, right? only when i see flakes. then i switch back to my regular shampoo.

you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. tiny troy: he's right, you know. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head and shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... little rascals... but good news, there's no itchiness, dryness or flakes down here! i love tiny troy. and his tiny gorgeous hair. he's the best. - make every wash count! - little help please. wall street is starting to second guess rate cuts this year. but first, target is taking aim at amazon with a new membership program. karen tso is in london to break it all down for us. good morning, karen. >> frances, good morning to you. yes, target is hoping it will be bull's eye with its new loyalty program that launches to coincide with spring discounts. first up, a basic membership, which means that any discounts

across the store and online are applied automatically on checkout. the next is the target circle card, which has an extra 5% off every day on top of those other deals. and then there's the target circle 360. this is the paid membership that it's launching. so it typically costs about $99 per year. although for a short few weeks it will be priced at $49. this comes with free same delivery in as little as one hour's time. this as other retail partners that line up to take on the likes of amazon and walmart. meanwhile, shoppers and investors may have to brace for higher interest rates for longer. wall street on the back of the jobs numbers on friday now bracing for the fact that we may not have three rate cuts this year. possibly two, one, or none, frances. that is quite a change to thinking now. >> tough to hear. karen, thank you. coming up, it was a primate face-off at the movies this

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during these celestial events, the sun, earth and moon are in synch, creating solar eclipses. you can look directly at the sun during a total solar eclipse, but only when it's completely covered by the moon for a brief period, known as totality. this is a really special moment. at all other times, you should wear eclipse glasses so that you don't say, bye, bye, bye to your vision. >> lance bass teaming up with nasa to make sure any space cowboys stay safe this afternoon. in a pun-filled video the pop star walked through tips for watching the eclipse like how to make a projector. you heard many of those in synch references. he's on the board of the national space society. >> which i had no idea of until

today. >> he trained on a russian spacecraft. way back in 2002. so it's been a minute, but hey, he knows his stuff. >> he does a good job. and people are going to listen to him because he makes it fun. >> speaking of fun, jolene is running scared because cowboy carter has galloped its way into billboard's top spot. yes, every studio album beyonce's ever made reached the number one spot, making ms. carter the first black woman to lead that list. not only is she breaking the competition, she's breaking her own records. her newest album drop marks the biggest streaming week ever. and it really gives credence to what jay z was talking about at the grammys, where she's never won album of the year, but look how many accolades she's had since then and why hasn't she gotten that top spot. >> this is a country album?

this is a beyonce album, surpassing the genre in only the way beyonce can. box office here. it's still monster mash. there was another primate climbing the chart, monkey man brought in $10.5 millionover the weekend. third place in the theaters goes to the first yeoomen, which ear $3.2 million. it's a monday. not a big box office day. but i imagine a lot of people aren't going to be in the theaters today, especially when it comes to watching this total solar eclipse. >> going to being looking up. >> in honor of today's eclipse, we'll bring you out of this world treats. . ...choose stelara® from the start... ...and move toward relief after the first dose... ...with injections every two months.

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a study found that people with obesity-related heart failure and type two diabetes saw an improvement in heart symptoms and mobility after taking the drug. one lucky winner in oregon became a billionaire this weekend. a single ticket won the jackpot, the fourth largest in powerball jackpot history. the jackpot now resets to 20 million. spacex launching a brand-new set of satellites named bandwagon. they include one for south korea. it's the 14th launch and landing for this particular booster. and while you're watching today's solar eclipse, take advantage of a few items. jeni's ice cream has cosmic bloom and super moon. and if you're quick enough, you got to be really quick. you can grab a free bag of sun chips special edition eclipse

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to see at least a partial eclipse. but some areas of the country will see a total eclipse. jay gray is one of those people. >> reporter: we are just hours away from this astronomical drama playing out here. junction, texas, the heart of the hill country in texas. of course in every drama, there is a villain. that role being played by the forecast, which could bring, unfortunately, heavy cloud cover. the eclipse begins its u.s. journey in texas. and in the heart of the hill country. history getting a proper lonestar welcome. ridin' and ropin'. pickin', and grinnin'. a washer's tournament and sipping eclipse wine from a texas vineyard. the tex-clipse festival, turning it into a three-day celebration.

games, goods, even local royalty gathering outside the county courthouse. eclipse chasers coming from across the country and around the world, hoping for that rare glimpse of the moon aligning with the sun, completely blocking its powerful rays. >> it's incredible. something you remember your whole life. >> reporter: the path of totality moves from the pacific to the atlantic, across 15 states, home to more than 31 million. but forecasters warn a big part of that path could be covered in clouds. the imaginary museum in san francisco teaming with nasa will stream the event live across the globe. and after two years of research and planning, their telescopes and cameras are surrounded by bluebonnets and hay bails betting on clear skies in junction. >> we've studied the weather maps, talked to weather folks, it turns out this is the best place in the united states in terms of weather. >> reporter: everyone along the path of the eclipse hoping

they'll be left in the dark in just a few hours. and we're in pitch-dark right now. that's going to change in a few hours as well. i'm looking up right now. you can still see some of the stars here, frances. that's good news. the forecast has been getting a bit better over the last day or so. if it all goes off, the partial eclipse starts around 12:14 central time. we move into totality around 1:32 with more than three full minutes of total darkness. fingers crossed, frances. >> they say everything is bigger in texas, especially with celebrations when it comes

the wait is almost over. we're just hours away from the highly anticipated total solar eclipse. the path of totality running right across the country, but will the weather hold up? michelle grossman is track i