Picture. Moonlight, best picture. Moonlight, this morning, how it happened and who is taking the blame. The nations governors come to the white house as President Trump touts his first weeks in office. Weve accomplished almost everything weve started out to accomplish. While a group of republicans launches a push to have a special prosecutor look into the trump campaigns ties with campaigns ties with russia. Will the issue be front and center when the president speaks o joint session of congress for the First Time Since tomorrow night. Today exclusive, rare interview with former president , george w. Bush as he joins us live in studio today. Monday, february 27, 2017. From nbc news, this is special edition of today, at the oscars with matt laur and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning. Welcome to today on this monday morning in honor of the oscars. Producers of our show have decided to inform me who i amco hosting with this morning by give accident me this envelope to open live on the air. Todays cohost is that cant be right. Seriously . Says savannah guthrie. Thats right. Is it really . Hello good morning. Good morning, everybody. Hello. How are you, my dear. Good to see you. Id like to thank the academy, hoda. Its like the movie 50 first dates. It is good to be back. Boy, how about the oscars. I did hear about it. That was one of the crayiest scenes ever. Steve harvey, mrs. Universe. Basically nothing compared to this. I cannot believe it. I cannot imagine who is waking on the biggest pit in the stomach like i printed the wrong card. Happy to have you back. By the way, the top story of the moment is the awards moment thats going to be talked about for years to come. Natalie in los angeles this morning. Good morning to you. Were im still shaking my head. Welcome back, we missed you so much. We brought you a lot of drama. Thats rights. Hollywoods big night filled with amazing moments and diverse winners leading up to best picture announcement. In an instant, pure chaos as you say erupted on the stage. It was the hollywood ending that no one saw coming. The Academy Award. After 200 Million People waited for nearly four hours to hear the winner for best picture. For best picture. Major mixup at 89th annual Academy Awards. La la land. The unthinkable happened. Announced the wrong winner. Theres a mistake. Moonligh moonlight, you guys one best picture. Moonlight one. This is not a joke. This is not a joke. Im afraid they read the wrong thing. In is not a joke. Moonlight has won best picture. Moonlight, best picture. A shocked audience watched as the moonlight team gave a stunned acceptance speech sgll i dont know what to say. Im still not sure this is real. It was a show that got off to a rousing start with Justin Timberlake spreading sunshine throughout the theater. And jimmy kimmel playing politics. Were more than two hours into the show and donald trump hasnt tweeted at us once. Tweeting at the president , saying, trump, you up. And bringing in a gag tourists to meet the stars. I now pronounce you husband and wife. Kiss the bride. Hes denzel. So its legal. As far as the rest of the night, best supporting actor for moonlight, becoming the first supporting actor to win an os k oscar. I became an artist and thank god i did, but a we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life. And Casey Affleck won best actor for manchester by the sea. The undercurrent of politics was never far away. Some winners were barred from entering the country by immigration authorities. Our photographer, had a u. S. Visa, tried to board a plane and wasnt able to come. Even with the best picture, the big winner of the night was la la land. 14 oscars, took home six statutes. Best song, best leading actress, emma stone, and best leading actor. I want to thank my fellow nominees. I was floored to be in your company this year. On a golden night where candy rained down from the sky. Stating the present terrorers h given the wrong category envelope. Two announcements for best picture, yet one winner. Still no loser. God, i love moonlight so much. Im so excited for moonlight. And, of course, you know, it was an amazing thing to hear la la land. I think we all would have loved to win best picture, but we are so excited for moonlight. I think its one of the best films of all time. Those guys are extremely gracious in handing over and calling us up to the stage and so much love to them. Well, i go to say, gois, it was a night that hollywood couldnt have script thad end i ing. That has happened once before. Happened back in 1964. To sammy davis junior. Wow, lets hope it doesnt happenat has only happened one to sammy davis jr. Lets hope it doesnt happen again. Is there going to be a bipartisan investigation . There will be an investigation, for sure. Thanks. By the way, we found a photo that really sums it all up. It was taken as the confusion unfolded live on stage. In the center of it all, thats a stunned Warren Beatty being explained of the mixup. An anxious, the expression on emma stones face, pure shock as to what is unfolding there. The award for best poker face does not go to emma stone. But some diagram pa in politics, as always. President trump meeting with the nations governors today in rolling out. New budget proposals, as well. This as his war with the Media Reaches New heights. Peter alexander at the white house this morning. Good morning. Savannah, good morning and welcome back. Were glad youre here. A day before the president makes his first address to a new session of congress, the wall street journal shows us with his disapproval rating. 44 of the americans approve, 48 disapprove of his job so far. Today, President Trump is going to the outline his budget priorities. Multiple Senior Administration officials tell me thats going include a massive hike in military and Homeland Security spending made up for by cuts to several federal agencies including the state department and the epa all while protecting Social Security and medicare. At the white house sunday, the glitz and glaerm was reserved for americas governors. After four weeks, its been a lot of fun. But weve accomplished almost everything weve started out to accomplish. It comes as the president is again attacking reports that some of his Campaign Aides had improper contact with russian officials, mr. Trump dismissing the rush of talk as fake news put out by the dems and played out by the media in order to bash the elite. Still, the republicans are calling for a special prosecutor, not the attorney general, to oversee the russian investigation. You cannot have somebody, a friend of mine, jeff sessions, who was on the campaign and an appointee. Youre going to need to use the special prosecutors statute in office. Republican tom cotton briefed by fbi director james comey argues thats unnecessary. Theres no allegations of any crime occurring. Theres not even an indication that theres criminal investigations under way by the fbi. This morning, press Secretary Sean Spicer is reportedly cracking down on white house leaks. With increased security measures including random phone checks of white house staffers overseen by white house attorneys. Of course spicers effort to shut down leaks leaked. He didnt respond to an nbc news request for comment. Meanwhile, bill owens, the father of ryan owens, the navy s. E. A. L. Killed in yemen last month said he refused to meet with President Trump when his sons body returned home. Owens criticized the white house for calling the mission a success. I think anybody who undermines the success of ta rage owes an apology to the life and family of of ryan owens. President trump dininging saturday with daughter, ivanka, soninlaw Jared Kushner and nigel feragh, the british politician behind brexit. After wrapping up attacks on the media, the president said hell skill the White House Correspondent dinner this april. The last president to miss the event . Ronald reagan in 1981 when he was recovering from an assassination event. And the table is now set for 2018 with democrats electing a new Party Chairman quarterback former labor secretary tom perez. President trump tweeting i could not be happier for him or for the republican party. Perezs response, dont get too happy. Democrats united across the country will be your worst nightmare. Also this morning, the Trump Administration is once again looking for a new Navy Secretary after the president s pick said hes withdrawing from consideration, citing privacy concerns and concerns about separating from his business interests. Bilden is the second to withdraw his name. Lets bring in nicole wallace. Welcome back. Thank you. Over the next several weeks, your enthusiasm ties into the election and to the trump team seems to have been tied into your party affiliation. Now enter darrel issa. How does it change things . Darrel issas comments about a person prosecutor completely reorder the defense that the Trump White House has deployed. So far, every time the topic of russia and Donald Trumps apparent affection for all things putinesque has been dismissed as a media war or democratic efforts to undermine his electric tooral victory. So i think this is a game changer for the white house. And their arguments against darrel issa cannot mimic their attacks on the media and their attacks on the credit. Do you think that opens the front gates for the republicans . Well, i thought their arguments they sent out their surrogates on the sunday shows. They werent tight in their reasoning for why not. When the public thinks, why not just let everyone look into it in a bipartisan manner, just prove that youre clean. When it gets easier to make the case for getting to the bottom of it than against, i think the white house is in trouble. Sean spicer, the White House Press secretary, is conducting something of a leak investigation, trying to figure out who in this office, who in my own press office is talking to reporters in a way that is not authorized. First of all, if true, is that the significant . Is this white house really any leakier than the average white house . Well, it is leakier, but leaks are and in any organization. Not just the white house. Leak res a symptom, theyre not a cause. In this case, its the symptom of a like of any central leadership and a symptom of the way their boss hears from them. He hears from them by reading his own set of clips, not by any set of orderly strong Central Management system at the white house staff level. By the way, according to that report, sean spicer said hes doing spot checks on cell phones to find out b can i see your cell phone, please. Youll find a lot of amazon. Com orders. Thank you, guys. By the way, coming up, former president george w. Bush will give us his take on all things washington in an exclusive live interview. And hes going introduce us to some veterans that hes brought along with them. Tomorrow, well be live on capitol hill ahead of President Trumps first address to congress. House Speaker Paul Ryan will be our guest exclusively and well take you on a first of its kind tour live of the capital. This morning, we have new information on a terrifying crash at a Mardi Gras Parade. The driver, who police say was highly intoxicated when he slammed into a crowd is now facing several charges. Nbcs gabe gut aierrez with the latest. 21 people were rushed to this hospital and others. Incredibly, no one was killed. Were now learning more about what the suspect did in the moments immediately following the crash. And the offduty firefighter who says he yanked the suspect from his pickup truck. This morning, 25yearold nielson rizzutto is being held on 25,000 bail, charged with multiple crimes. Rizzutos pickup truck plowed into a crowd of bystanders at a Mardi Gras Parade friday night. Among them, new Orleans PoliceSergeant Michelle woodborn who is in stable condition. How no one was killed is incredible. When he sped up, people were just bouncing off the hood of his car like bowling pins. A Police Officer tried to open the drivers side door, but it was jammed. He was curled up in a fetal position facing the drivers side. So i reached in and i grabbed him by his collar and i yanked him out and i threw him he literally flew on to the ground and what thought crossed my mind was that he realized what he did and he was so scared that he was just like a scared little child. Fire alarm, be advised there will be a mass casualty incident. Rizzuttos blood alcohol level three hours after the crash was nearly three times beyond the legal limit. But some who live and work along the parade route said the street should have been closed. This sends a clear message that this has to be done. Do you believe that that street should have been closed off . That street, 1 4u7b , should be closed off. If they dont close it off for next year, theres a problem. Among the injured, also a 1yearold child. Everyone is expected to fully recover. And matt and savannah, Authorities Say more charges are possible as this investigation continues. All right, gabe, thank you. Just before the oscars last night, movie fans were stunned to learn of the sudden death of beloved actor bill paxton. In a statement, the 61yearolds family says he died due to xlikdzs from heart surgery. Were going in bill paxton drove us through the eye of the storm in twister. I never dreamed id get to do Something Like that. He helped bridge us hope after a failed mission to the moon in apolo 13 and he said what we were all thinking in aliens. Three years, ive thought of nothing except titanic. Whatever the role, paxton showed he was a versatile player. He told katie couric in 2002 i like playing these guys from the heartland who are kind of conflicted, that are kind of every man. And every man loved by fans and actors alike. Tom hanks tweeting, bill paxton was simply a can you feel man. And kevin bacon, some of my favorite memory res of floating around in a tiny vessel with a brilliant bill backs ton. Charlize tweeted you were a great friend to me, bill, and one of the finest actors to share a set with. Paxton found success on tv playing a polygamist. Just a few weeks ago, paxton recalled a conversation he had on nbcs last call with carson daley. He said what kind of career do you want . I said i want to work in features. She said if you stick to this in the longterm, it will pay off. And she was right, it really did pay off. Now hollywood is showing big love for this admired actor. For today, joe friar, nbc news, los angeles. Such a great body of work and such a sudden death. Hes one of those people, you look at him and his face matches the kindness that he exuded. Its really sad. Al, whats been going on in the weather, my friend . Its been recap the last 2 1 2 months. Im going to send you a link. Youll love it. In the meantime, we have some strong storms firing up through northern mississippi. And this is just the beginning. Its going to push through the southeast and then another round of showers and thunderstorms start firing up later today on into tomorrow morning. And then tomorrow, weve got an enhanced 26 Million People under the risk of Severe Weather. Little rock, springfield, paducah, jonesboro, up into parts of western ohio. And then during the afternoon tuesday, chicago into the mix. Strong storms will be firing up later. We move into wednesday. From new york all the way down to new orleans, 62 Million People at risk for large hail, 1 inch diameter, possible tornados in kentucky and mississippi and well see all that pushing east. Even new york will get into strong storms by late tomorrow afternoon all the way down to new orleans. Well be watching this very carefully. Well get to your local favorite coming up. From the creators of shrek we babies arent getting as much love as we used to. For this to work, youre going to have to act like a real baby. One middle i dont wear nautical. Put this thing on. Whats all the racket . Isnt he adorable . Ive got one for you, too. Bummer. Alec baldwin is the boss baby. Good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. It is chilly and still clouds left behind after Early Morning rain and its only 39 degrees right now in the trivalley. 32 degrees in the north bay while San Francisco is at 44. Were going to see the highs much cooler than average but still some improvements there as we continue on with a warming trend as we go through the week and also more dry weather. There may be a spotty shower leftover later today. And thats your latest weather. Al, thank you. Coming up, a community in shock after a deadly shooting in a bar in kansas. The fbi is investigating this as a possible hate crime. This morning, well hear from the victims widow and witnesses. Were happy to say that former president george w. Bush is joining us live. Well have a wideranging discussion about his time in office, the current white house, and what hes doing to honor our nations veterans. Its an inspiring project. He is. Just arriving at the studio. He didnt wave back. This is today on nbc. When i got into my accident i broke almost every bone in both my legs. When i came home from the hospital i needed to be able to recover. Tempurpedic allowed me to do just that. 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