Stay wednesday, march 18, 2015. 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 wednesday morning. You may be enjoying your coffee. If you like to get it from starbucks you might be interested in this. They are causing a stir on line. There is a new campaign the coffee giant offering something extra with your latte. Its definitely stirring controversy. People weighing in on both sides, good and the bad. Well tell you more about that later on. Lets get to the top story on a wednesday morning. The phone calls to the u. S. Embassy in japan threatening to kill Caroline Kennedy. Katy tur has the latest on this. Officials are not taking this lightly. Not at all. The calls reportedly came in from somebody speaking english. Caroline kennedy, daughter of jfk, assumed the post in 2013. She is obviously a very high profile figure over there. And with the violent attack on another u. S. Ambassador this month, police are investigating just how serious this threat might be. All seemed normal with ambassador Caroline Kennedy today. She gave a lecture in tokyo. The Associated Press reports Japanese Police are investigating Death Threats against her. Japanese media say the calls were made to the u. S. Embassy and came from somebody speaking english. They are looking into the possibility the person might be trying to blackmail tl 57yearold mother and diplomat. The u. S. Embassy did not have a comment but threats like this against u. S. Politicians and diplomats are not uncommon. Im bleeding. The reports come on the heels of the attack on u. S. Ambassador mark lippert in south korea earlier this month. A kreen national testified he knifed lippert because of his symbolic representation of the united states. Kennedy has been the ambassador to japan for just over a year. The Associated Press reports tlorts believe the threats made to her are similar to ones targeting the u. S. Concull general in okinawa home to 50,000 u. S. Troops. Michelle obama who landed in tokyo this the morning. The first lady is kick off her educational tour promoting schooling for girls. Other than the suspected blackmailing no other motive is known. Any one who follows international and domestic policies knows that unfortunately these threats are not uncommon, but matt and savannah, given the attack on mark lippert who we should say was okay, these threats potential growing antiamericanism are looked at closely. Governments full attention. Katy tur, thank you. Another threat closer to home investigated by the secret service, an envelope sent to the white house that is tested positive for cyanide. Kristin, what are you hearing . According to a spokesperson with the secret service, officials at the white house mail screening facility which is located in the washington, d. C. Area, received an envelope on monday that was suspicious. Initial tests showed that it was negative for toxic chemicals. On tuesday, that chemical testing returned a presumptive positive for cyanide. He said the envelope has been sent to another facility for more testing and there is an investigation. This was first report bid the online publication the intercept which said that the envelope can be traced to a man who has a record with the secret service dating all the way back to 1995. And who sent multiple suspicious and disturbing packages over the year. This as the secret service is under 2350ir after two agents allegedly drove on the white house complex while inebriated. Secret Service DirectorJoseph Clancey was on capitol hill yesterday and told lawmakers it took him five days to learn about that incident and it was anonymous source who informed him. He faces more hearings and outrage from both sides of the aisle. Back to you. Kristen welker, thank you. Another story in washington also around the world today resounding victory for israeli Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. In his countrys closely watched election. So, what does it mean for the u. S. And president obama . Andrea mitchell nbcs chief Foreign Affairs correspondent in tel aviv. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning. Netanyahu not only won, won big. The Opposition Leader conceded this morning. Instead of a tie that might have forced netanyahu to moderate his assistances he has a clear sailing to form a government. What does that mean. In the closing days of the campaign he came out against the creation of a palestinian state. The celebration last night was raucous in his headquarters even before the votes were counted. They know what this means. He is against a palestinian state, a clear reversal of decades of israeli commitments to the u. S. Including netanyahus own commitment to president obama. This also means that the relationship with the president , president obama, is going to be more poisonous because on election day netanyahu appealed to his voters to come out saying that the Arab Israelis were coming out and said that foreign money from the u. S. , from the state department, was financing his opposition, thats only going to make it even harder to get along with president obama. It also vindicates republican congressional leaders inviting him to congress. This is going to be a big issue for 2016 candidate notably hillary clinton. It has a big effect on america. Andrea mitchell, we talked about a couple weeks ago when Prime Minister netanyahu spoke to congress that the relationship between the president and the Prime Minister was at an alltime low. Now they are stuck with each other a couple years. New developments in a case, the robert durst murder investigation. Police searched his home and he was moved from jail to secure medical facility. Stephanie gosk is covering this investigation. What have you learned . Reporter good morning. Well, you know, the defense team fought this transfer, this facility is 60 miles outside of new orleans. They say they need to be closer to discuss the case. They say hes not suffering from any kind of acute medical or mental condition. Meanwhile, investigators in houston are looking for new evidence against him. Plain clothes officers including investigators from los angeles searched robert durst home late tuesday. Not long after the real estate heir was seen leaving a court house with a grin on his face. Durst defense lawyers say they will use a bond hearing to challenge new gun charges and the original arrest warrant for capital murder. Durst denies killing his friend susan berman 15 years ago. My concern is that the warrant that was issued in california was issued because of a Television Show, and not because of facts. Reporter the Television Show the jinx generated enormous attention after its dramatic conclusion sunday. Durst mumbling to himself in the bathroom. Killed them all. Of course. Reporter likely referring to the deaths of his first wife, his neighbor, and berman. Authorities in l. A. Say the series did not dictate their investigation. Its a unique set of circumstances but our case is independent of the documentary, our case will stand on its own. Reporter some legal experts believe the prosecution has their work cut out for them. Weve got to see all of the evidence, see how it connects, what significance to give certain pieces of evidence and what insignificance to give others. This a long way from resolution. Reporter one of susans friends says she believes that durst may be responsible for his own undoing. I do believe that bobby is a very smart manipulative human. I dont know that he has outsmarted things. He might have been bitten by his own bite. Reporter durst was never charged in the disappearance of his wife and acquitted in the murder of his neighbor. His lawyers say they are eager to defend his innocence in california, but they are stuck right now in new orleans. Thanks so much. Natalie is on assignment and then weve got tamron here with a surprising story behind a terror arrest. This one in court today as well. A u. S. Air force veteran is due in federal kourpt accused of trying to join isis in syria. Nbcs Jim Miklaszewski has the latest for us. Good morning. Reporter good morning, tamron. He is u. S. Born and raised a former air force airman who recently lost his job as a m plane mechanic in kuwait. He wound uound up in u. S. Custody facing a federal indictment on terror chargings. Hes tairod Nathan Webster pugh, accused of attempting to join isis. The federal indictment claims that in january the 47yearold pugh who was workinging as an airplane mechanic in the middle east flew from egypt to turkey bound for syria to join isis in their violent jihad. But turkish authorities denied him entry, pugh was deported to the u. S. , secretly arrested by the fbi and held for the past two months. Court records claim pughs lap top was packed with nearly 200 propaganda videos and those disturbing videos of isis mass executions. Even after having discharged so many years ago this is someone who they really want to put in front of a camera, someone they want to put out there and declare his loyalty to isis. Reporter born and raised in the u. S. Pugh was an airplane mechanic from 19861990. To new york congressman peter king, that makes the alleged crime all the worse. Also all the more disconcerting when you find out that if these charges are true that you have a person who is in the military ends up being a traitor to his country. Reporter on his lap tops they found a letter which pugh says there are two only outcomes for me, victory or martyr. He obviously never considered the third outcome, custody in the u. S. Thank you very much, jim. Gun men opened fire in Northern Africa killing at least eight. The attack at the museum forced evacuation of the adjacent parliament building. One of the dead was tunisian. Its not clear who attacked them. Health insurer Premera Blue Cross was hit by a cyber attack that may have exposed 11 million cows customers. The company says it has not found evidence that customer information has been used inappropriately. Meantime, kraft foods is recalling 6. 5 million boxes of macaroni and cheese because some boxes were found to contain small pieces of metal. The recall applies to the 7 ounce size of the original flavor mac and cheese, the best when used by dates of september 18, 2015, through october 11, 2015 are displayed. A fisherman learns the hard way reeling in the big one. The fisherman in new zealand had a big bite at the end of the line and winning the battle. Take a look. Pull the fish to the surface. He realizes that a shark had taken a bite. But then a great white swooped in and ripped what was left of the fish off the line. Giving everyone a big scare and that lady a laugh. I would have fainted. 7 13. Whats our favorite line. Were going to need a bigger boat. Thank you. Before you cut away you have video to show us. You have to see this. Amazing. The northern lights, this aurora borealis, it was visible from nantucket, michigan, as far south as texas. This is due to an electro electromagnetic storm from the sun. Its just beautiful. I mean, those greens and yellows and pinks, a perfect example of the aurora borealis. Lets show you what weve got going on. In the last 24 hours look at the temperature changes, colder by 7 degrees in chicago, columbus, 29 degree temperature drop between this time yesterday and today. New york city, 19degree drop. And look whats going on. The ice melted over lake ontario and so were getting lakeeffect snow streamers across, in fact, in green county, new york, so much snow fell there was accidents, they closed the new york state thruway in green county. Weve got winds today from connecticut to maine down to washington, d. C. Some wind gusts up to 55 Miles Per Hour, so look for airport delays in boston, new york city, philadelphia, and washington, d. C. Were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Roviding a free worldclass education for anyone anywhere. If you look at a khan academy video, they can cover everything from basic arithmetic to calculus, trigonometry, finance. You can really just get what you need at your own pace. And so, bank of america came and reached out to us and said we are really interested in making sure that everyone really understands personal finance. and were like well, were already doing that. and so it was kind of a perfect match. Good morning to you. Im meteorologist christina loren, taking a live look this morning. Really pretty sunrise here. Looking good in San Francisco as well. Very little low cloud cover to kick off the new day. And temperatures are mostly in the 40s and 50s to start. Beautiful finish to today, with temperatures rising to the low 0s just about everywhere 70s just about everywhere. Upper 70s in the north bay. Getting into the next couple days, temps tend to cool off. Atest weather. Seems like we have a lot of stories out of washington this morning. Heres another. The sudden resignation of rising republican star eric schock. It comes amid questions about his spending habits. Kelly odonnell is with us this morning. Reporter good morning. His taste for the good life and desire to post his high flying ways really cost him. Questions proved to be too great of a distraction. His social media handle documented the congressmans passion for adventure. In one trip this media savvy work out loving 33yearold republican did not expect to take was a sudden fall from grace. I know when i take a trip and i post photos online, it can create the misimpression of being out of touch. He is out of a job. Breaking news. Illinois congressman eric schock announces he is resigning march 31st. He was younger and the first millennial in congress. Ben wrote about his downton abbyinspired office and that triggered scrutiny of the u. S. Of taxpayer and campaign funds. A private plane to a bears game taking staffers on a weekend trip to new york for the Global Citizen festival. What do you say we take a selfie . Hello, new york he billed taxpayers for 170,000 miles in his district and records show his vehicle had only been driven about half that far. They said schock will repay the government for mileage and other expenses expenses. Congress will no longer have authority to investigate, but doesnt mean he wont face other legal questions. It spiralled so fast,ee had not told colleagues or the House Speaker and now there is a scramble to find a replacement. On capitol hill thank you very much. Lets turn back to the top of the show. Something extra with your coffee if you go to starbucks. Nothing better than having deep conversations before your first cup of coffee but that new campaign is called race together. You get a cup of coffee and they write race together. The point is to get people talking. They write it on the cups and they want baristas to engage their customers about race. This is blowing up on twitter and people sending in pictures of their cups. Shall we overcome . Race together which we are seeing a lot of. There supporters. Stephen writes proud that starbucks is engaging in ways that others wont. There is a lot of backlash. I dont need to be preached to when i get my coffee. Look at all the white hands in the promos for the campaign. That is an issue too. What do you think . Are you open to discussing Race Relations at the register . Before your first cup of coffee. Go and choose yes or no and there will be a lot more on the campaign in the next few years. Not just race but womens rights and other topics. Its encompassing everything and starbucks want to get it rolling. They have done this in the past. We will see how it turns out. There was a lot of things. Its interesting, but is this going to slow down my cup of coffee. Exactly. We will find out what you think in a moment. What Prince Charles and camilla are doing on their first trip to america as a couple in ten years. Another fraternity at a college suspended. What the members are being accused of sharing on a secret Facebook Page. But first this is today on nbc. I. Coming up all in good fun or fat shaming. The rage over t baja 1000. Pretty impressive huh . Totally. You going offroad . Offroading, camping, fishing. Well the rugged tundra can handle it all. And it has 0 apr financing. 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