To death, as he tells his story for the first time in a live interview. And redemption. Rejection. He dunks it down for the fivepoint lead. North carolina outlasts gonzaga to win national basketballs college championship, after losing on a buzzerbeater. Making the party even sweeter in chapel hill today, tuesday, april 4th, 2017. From nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everybody. Welcome to today on a rainy tuesday in new york. It would have worked out either way last night. If gonzaga had won, it would be all hail the underdog. But North Carolina gets to erase that heartbreaking loss to villanova last year. Congratulations to the tar heels. Everybody rooting for a great game. We got that. And in our studio, bob harper. We know him from the biggest loser. Hes a friend of our show. He suffered a heart attack seven weeks ago. But hes doing much better. Hes going to tell us what he went through. He was complaining about waking up early a few minutes ago. But thats okay. Lets start with our top story. A lot of developments on the russian subway bombing. A suspect has been identified. And the white house says President Trump has reached out to russian president Vladimir Putin. Nbc chief correspondent bill neely is in st. Petersburg for us this morning. Bill, good morning. What can you tell us . Reporter good morning, savannah. A rising death toll from a an attack that has been confirmed as a suicide bombing. An attack thats led to a conversation about terrorism between President Trump and russias president putin. But the carnage here could have been so much worse because what was planned was a doublebombing. Investigators say the bomb on the metro carriage was packed with nails and ball bearings. It tore through metal and people. The injured treated on a station platform. Authorities in neighboring kyrgystan named the suspect as a 22yearold russian citizen with links to islamist militants. Amid the smoke, clues. Investigators are examining debris and residue, Security Camera footage and a second bomb. The bomb at this metro station was meant to be even more powerful. Disguised as a fire extinguisher, it was found and disarmed. It will be a gold mine of forensic information. Its still not clear if one man was behind both bombs. No group has claimed the attack. It came midafternoon. The timing significant because russias president Vladimir Putin was in st. Petersburg, his home city. After the attack, he laid flowers at the station and later talked by phone to President Trump, who offered condolences and condemnation. Terrible thing happening all over the world. Absolutely terrible thing. Reporter the attack comes amid russias ongoing bombing of syria thats brought threats of revenge from isis. The Terror Group Supporters posting this just days ago. Promising we will burn russia. Putin said bombing syria would stop terrorism reaching russia. It hasnt. This morning, more flowers for the victims. More prayers, after this citys fist underground terror attack. And the flowers are still being laid at this metro station. The white house says president s trump and putin agree that terrorism must be defeated decisively and quickly. Not so simple here. 7,000 russians went to syria to fight for isis. Many are back. Russia, now, is on high alert. Matt, savannah . Bill neely in st. Petersburg, thank you. Speaking of russia, were learning more about russian interference in the president ial election. It includes the targeting of a trump associate by russian spies. It comes during a fight for Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch. We have two reports this morning. Beginning with chief Foreign Affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. Good morning to you. Reporter the reports by target of russian intelligence intelligence of russell page, later aide to donald trump, adding fuel to the controversy of possible connections to trump associates. Page is not aware at the time that the man was a russian spy. This morning, a new hi released payment, carter page, met with and gave documents to a russian spy in new york city in 2013. An Energy Industry consultant, he is the unnamed man identified in the federal complaint, who met with a russian agent, posing as a Bank Executive four years ago. Page is not a defendant in the complaint, and was unaware the man was a spy, was identified by buzzfeed. And said he gave only basic, immaterial information and publicly available documents. The revelation of pages connection to russian intelligence three years before trump, is the most clearly documented contact to date, between russian spies and someone in trumps circle. In an interview with abc news, page called allegations he had secret talks with russian officials on trumps behalf nonsense. I think its a political stunt from the getgo. Reporter all this comes amid a new report that top Trump Campaign contributor erik prince, giant of the defense contractor formerly called blackwater, a meeting with an associate of Vladimir Putins. The meeting was held in the luxurious estate owned by united erats royalty in the Seychelles Islands and was designed to set up a back channel between putin and trump. It was reportedly created in december, during an unannounced trip to new york. He met with mike flynn and jared kushner. Erik princes ties to donald trump are impeccable. A Major Political donor, he visited trump tower during the transition, and his sister is betsy devos, the major donor and now in the trump cabinet, the secretary of education. And prince is close to steve bannon, now the chief strategist, a frequent guest on breitbart radio show. Erik prince, the founder of blackwater. Thank you for taking time away today. I know you are busy, to join us here on breitbart news. Reporter prince is also controversial. Four guards from his former company were convicted in the 2007 death of iraqi civilians during the iraq war. Overnight, the white house said, were not aware of any meetings and erik prince had no role in the transition. U. S. Officials told the Washington Post, the fbi has been looking at this latest meeting as part of its brooder investigation into trump contacts with russia and moscows attempts to influence the u. S. Election. A spokesperson for prince said the meeting was not about trump. Secretly, former National SecurityOfficials Say there was nothing about susan rice requesting the identity of people picked up in surveillance of foreign officials despite the white house saying it was political spying. Matt and savannah . Andrea mitchell, thank you. Trump is expressing a new willingness to compromise to reach a deal on health care. Thats one of the topics discussed oneonone with Kristen Welker. Reporter good morning to you. This was an impromptu meeting in the oval office that lasted a few minutes. But during the conversation, President Trump told me hes serious about reviving Health Care Reform. Hes also disputed reports hes not engaged in the details. When i asked if he can work with democrats, mr. Trump says he thinks his republican colleague holds the best chance for compromise, citing the raw relations over his Supreme Court nominee, judge neil gorsuch. About an hour after our conversation, the Vice President and chief of staff all met with members of the Freedom Caucus, the same group that rejected the offer for repeal and replace obamacare. Mark meadows, liam leader of the Freedom Caucus spoke to reporters. We remain openminded and willing to look in detail at the details of the plan. And so, were hopeful that well get the legislative text within the next 24 hours. Reporter meanwhile, there are mounting tensions over neil gorsuch. On monday the Senate JudiciaryCommittee Approved him, sending his confirmation to the full senate for a vote. Democrats are vowing to block gorsuch with a filibuster. Republicans have the majority and say theyre prepared to go nuclear. That would mean theyll change the senate rules and push gorsuch through without democrats. It would be the first partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court judge in history. This white house wants a win, though, after a rocky few weeks, and the president has indicated he fully supports the effort to go nuclear. Savannah . Kristen welker with her information with the president. A lot of headlines out of the white house. Thank you. Want to talk about a new round of Severe Weather causing death and construction across the south. Gabe gutierrez is just west of atlanta. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning to you. Were here in carrollton, georgia. To give you an idea of how powerful the winds were. Look at this splintered tree. It was tossed on to this house. And now, a major cleanup effort is under way. Power crews throughout the night. As we look from the air, you see the blue tarps that have been going up on the buildings that were so heavily damaged. Here in georgia, no one was injured. By five deaths have been blamed on the latest round of severe storms throughout the south. Through the night, a line of vicious storms slam the southeast. Wind and rain hammering communities from florida to North Carolina. In the last two days, the storm spawning at least 17 reports of tornadoes. Scariest thing ever. Just, like the world was ending. It was just that loud. Reporter residents of carrollton, georgia, stunned after the powerful winds literally blew the roof off this firehouse. I was terrified. I was shaken. I had never seen anything like it before. Reporter throughout the region overnight, multiple weather alerts, tornado watches, up through the gulf coast and through georgia. And dangerous thunderstorms pounding the carolinas, bringing the threat of flash floods. The wind is picking up. Reporter the wife of glendora, mississippis, mayor, killed by a massive tree that fell on her home. Another woman trapped in her car, calling dispatchers, relaying her desperate calls for help. Sadly, rescuers could not reach her in time. Across several states, tens of thousands left without power. And this morning, the cleanup is under way in louisiana. Governor John Bell Edwards touring stormravaged neighborhoods. Getting the Community Back to a sense of normalcy is incredibly important. Reporter there were two deaths in louisiana, two in mississippi, and one in South Carolina. Here in georgia, yet another reminder how quickly a life can change. And now, other parts of the south are bracing for another potential round of Severe Weather, possibly tomorrow. Guys, back to you. Gabe, thank you very much. Dylan is in for al this morning. She will be tracking that Severe Weather. Well get to her forecast in a little bit. In the meantime, crews say they are not ready to give up hope after finding survivors after catastrophic mudslides swept through a small city in colombia. This morning, the death toll is rising again. Tammy leitner is there for us. Tammy, good morning. Reporter this morning, hundreds are missing, after heavy rain sent a torrent of water and mud through mocoa a few days ago. Now, the recovery operation. More than 150 dead, and so many still unaccounted for. Families lined up outside of the cemetery to identify loved ones. Did anyone survive . At this moment, no. At this moment, no. Reporter no one . No. Reporter the surge of water and mud so powerful, it moved giant boulders. Theres been a steady stream of people coming through here, carrying their possessions on their back. Clothing, furniture, mattresses. For many, these were the only things thing that could salvage. From above, the damage is extensive. Homes flattened, cars drowning in mud, entire communities destroyed. And from the ground, the emotional toll is obvious. A town united in grief, yet Still Holding on to hope. Tammy leitner, nbc news, mocoa, colombia. Breaking overnight, 170 firefighters battled a massive building fire in south los angeles. A gas leak inside a Food Processing plant was fueling the flames. At one point, firefighters were ordered out of the building and crews were forced to fight the blaze from outside. Thankfully no injuries reported. No word on the cause. But an arson team is investigating. Back to basketball and that exciting finish to march madness. This morning, the North Carolina tar heels are sitting on top of the College Basketball world, bouncing back from the stinging defeat in last years title game. I think we can stop talking about that now. Today National Correspondent craig melvin is at university of phoenix stadium. Craig, good morning. What a game. Reporter what a game, indeed. If you have friends that are tar heel fans, you likely hear this joke. How do you know that god is a fan of the tar heels . They made the sky tar heel blue. Theyve been very proud of their program for a long time in North Carolina, and this morning, even more bragging rights. Off the mark. And this, the confetti is going to fall for North Carolina. Reporter sweet redemption for the North Carolina tar heels. Theyre not going to be denied this time. Reporter a year after losing a championship, thanks to a heartbreaking buzzerbeater. One of the things we had to be tonight was tough enough. And i think this group was tough enough tonight. Reporter the heels have their sixth national title, topping a gonzaga team that lost one game the entire season. A great ball game. It was a slugfest out there. Its two teams that desperately wanted to be crowned national champions. Reporter the bulldogs, led by three at the half. But went nearly 7 30 in the second half without a basket. But points came easy for South Carolina joel berry ii, playing through an injury, he scored 2 points and was most outstanding 22 points and was most outstanding player as his proud parents cheered him on. Were you surprised by his performance tonight . No. Carried him for nine months. I know how tough he is. Reporter in a show of solidarity, the berrys even got matching temporary tattoos. They were pointing to their arms. I was like, what is that . And then, i looked closer. And they all had believe on there. And i mean, it almost made me cry right then. Reporter on the court, the game was sloppy. Between the two teams, 52 trips to the free throw line. Many on social media, blaming the referees were calling too many fouls. At one point, refshow was trending on twitter. Lebron james chiming in. I would like to see the kids decide who wins the game. North carolinas famed coach, roy williams, admitting after the game, neither team played their best basketball. Youve done this a few times. How was it different this time around . The sweetest job in coaching is when you see your guys acting the fool when theyve done something thats hard to do. Reporter roy williams now has one more championship than his mentor, legendary North Carolina head coach, dean williams. Dean williams retired at 66. Roy williams is now 66. He told me last night that he has absolutely no plans to stop anytime soon, matt. Craig, i know you were up all night for this story. Dean smith, not dean williams. Dean smith. I dont want tar heel fans to start emailing you. Too late. They already have. They already have. And gods a fan of the tar heels, too. You dont want to mess up. Thats a bad place to go. Craig, thank you very much. Dylan is here. You had gonzaga going all the way. I did. Its the closest ive gotten. Did you win never mind. Dont poke the bear. Dont bring up that old topic. Weve got severe storms. We are going to see Severe Weather. This afternoon, its mostly but mostly through the Eastern Plains where we could see isolated tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds. This area through the gulf coast will start to fire up as we go through the overnight hours. And well see this develop into a nasty storm system as we go into tomorrow. Through the day on wednesday, we could see a Severe Weather outbreak on the gulf coast, for parts of alabama, into the panhandle of florida and most of georgia. We could see long lived tornadoes with 47 Million People under the threat of strong storms. Then, on thursday, the threat pushes to the east coast, as the heavier rain takes hold of the Midatlantic States across the northeast. In this area, through virginia and North Carolina, we could see squall lines that develop that could produce gusty winds. And we cannot rule out tornadoes thursday, as well. Thats a look at weather across the country. Your local forecast is coming up in 30 seconds. Not just to get up, but to rise. Good Tuesday Morning. Im kari hall. We start out with high clouds moving through the bay area, and its very cool. Rr feeling temperatures in the upper 50s to upper 40s to low 50s. Its 50 degrees right now in San Francisco. Cloudy skies in the north bay. Well start to get some sunshine in here by the afternoon. Up to 71 degrees in the peninsula. 74 in the trivalley, and 65 degrees i