As the networks biggest star faces new allegations of Sexual Harassment and protests calling for his firing. And get well. Former president george h. W. Bush hospitalized in houston, recovering from his second bout of pneumonia this year. What his doctors are saying about his progress today, wednesday april 19th, 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. Its a wednesday morning. Willie in for matt this morning. And news just breaking as we come on the air. Former nfl star, Aaron Hernandez, found dead in his prison cell overnight. Apparently he killed himself. Nbc National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer has the very latestment we are learning just about this. Reporter this happened just a short time ago. Officials say hernandez was found hanged in his cell overnight, in a correctional facility in massachusetts. Medical personnel attempted to perform lifesaving techniques, transported hernandez to the hospital where he was pronounced dead just after 4 00 a. M. This morning. According to officials, the former football star had attempted to block his door from the inside by jamming it with various items. Just last friday, the former patriots tight end was found not guilty in the shooting deaths of two men in 2012. But hernandez was already serving a life sentence for murder in the 2013 killing of odin lloyd. Massachusetts state police are on scene. Hernandezs family has also been notified. A shocking and developing story. Miguel, thank you. Keep us posted. Another story overnight. Results are in from georgias highstakes special election, to fill the seat that was tom prices. This was an early test of President Trumps influence. And take a look, the democratic upstart jon ossoff, just short of an outright victory. There will be a runoff between him and the second place finisher karen handel. Were going to get some insight by Lindsey Graham and others on this. Lets start our coverage with Nbcs Kristen Welker at the white house be more. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. On the one hand, the white house is breathing a sigh of relief. Political newcomer jon ossoff didnt get the 50 needed to win a avoid a runoff. Still, ossoff did get close. A big night in georgia for political upstart jon ossoff. Reporter a big night in georgia for jon ossoff, his strong finish reverberating all the way to the white house this morning. We have defied the odds, we have shattered expectations. Reporter ossoff got more votes than any other candidate, democrat or republican, in an 18way race. Significant because this district is reliably red. While its not 50 needed to avoid a runoff, its enough to rattle republicans. Still gop candidate karen handel who had the most votes on the republican side, struck a note of confidence. Youre looking at the Top Republican vote better, yall. Reporter the seat up for grabs was once held by newt gingrich. President trump got involved in the race. Tweeting overnight, despite major outside money, fake Media Support and 11 republican candidates, big r win with runoff in georgia. Glad to be of help. Trump also recorded a robocall against ossoff. Only you can stop the liberal democrats. Reporter some republicans may be dissatisfied with the direction of their party. He has brought the decorum of the presidency down so low that i cannot bring myself to support candidates like that. Reporter ossoff raised 8. 3 million, much from outofstate donations. An unprecedented number for littleknown candidate. Some celebrities lending their voices. Hi. Im samuel l. Jackson. We have to channel the great vengeance and fury for this administration into votes at the ballot box. Reporter a race in a small district that could have big implications for the president and his party. This morning karen handel tweeted to the president thank you for the call this morning. Moments ago the president tweeted back. Great job karen handel. Its now hollywood versus georgia, the democratic runoff set for june. Savannah and willie . Thank you so much. President trump has just ordered a review of the Iran Nuclear Deal and whether to kill it. Nbcs Andrea Mitchell is here with that story. Reporter good morning, willie. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson says tehran is complying with the historic agreement signed under the Obama Administration to rein in its Nuclear Program. President trump is instead focusing on irans terror ties which six world powers didnt consider at the time because they thought it was more important to stop iran from getting a bomb. In a strong signal, the new administration appears ready to rip up the deal. This morning, the white house talking tough on iran. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson saying the Trump Administration is weighing whether to break the terms of the landmark Iran Nuclear Deal signed almost two years ago. During the president ial campaign, thencandidate trump called it the worst deal negotiated. The deal is one of the worst negotiated deals of any kind ive ever seen. Reporter secretary tillerson admits iran has been upholding its end of the bargain. But in a letter to House Speaker paul ryan, he said iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror through many platforms and methods. The 2015 deal signed by the u. S. And other world powers restricts tehrans Nuclear Program in exchange for lifting of oil and other economic sanctions for ten years. Without the deal, experts say, they would have had a Nuclear Weapon if they wanted within months. Israels Prime Minister netanyahu has been a fierce opponent of this nuclear deal. But critics say the trump review will anger european allies and raise questions about why the white house wants to risk letting iran go nuclear when its already in a major crisis with north korea which already has an arsenal of Nuclear Weapons. A busy inbox. In the meantime Vice President mike pence issued a warning to north korea overnight, just hours after we learned the u. S. Naval fleet that was supposed to be heading toward the Korean Peninsula in a show of force was actually sailing in the opposite direction. Kelly cobiella is in seoul, south korea for us. Good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. You said it. Vice president mike pence talking about north korea. Talking tough. Calling it an urgent and dangerous threat. So urgent, in fact, that last week, President Trump said he was is way as a show of force. Now, were learning that Carrier Group wont be here for another week. Vice president pence on the u. S. S. Reagan in japan this morning with a familiar message for north korea we will fight any attack and meet any use of conventional or Nuclear Weapons with an overwhelming and effective american response. [ applause ] reporter the uss carl vinson aircraft carrier, used to back up the talk, is heading to the region, as a prudent measure, the pentagon says. Over the weekend, when kim jongun was showing the world his new weapons, threatening the u. S. And testing a missile, the vinson, was 3,500 miles away, moving in the opposite direction, for a military drill with australia, despite what trump did last week. Were sending an armada. Very powerful. Reporter the military threat had the region on edge, with china and russia calling for restraint. Late yesterday, the president backed off the tough talk with kim jongun. Hopefully he wants peace and we want peace. And thats going to be the end determination. Were going to have to see what happens. Reporter this morning, the Vice President said all options are on the table. But no mention from the Vice President about the uss carl vinson, or the confusion surrounding the timing. Also this morning, were hearing from the pentagon, that two jets were scrambled late monday night to intercept a pair of russian bombers 100 miles off the alaskan coast. The Defense Department says those russian bombers were in International Airspace and they acted, quote, very professionally. Kelly cobiella for us. Republican senator Lindsey Graham is with us this morning. Good to see you. A wonderful day. A lot to talk about with you. Lets start with iran. Rex tillerson, the secretary of state, notified congress is going to review that deal. I know youre not a fan of that deal. The president is not a fan of that deal. If you undo it now, has iran received all of the benefit and were walking away from what would be the benefit to the u. S. And to the west . Heres what i would say. They have most of the money or are in process of getting most of the money. When you look at the deal when it was signed until now, theyve not gotten better. Theyre helping the hewittitys in yemen, backing assad, they help hez bol lae. Being a large state sponsored terrorism. The deal looks at those issues the disconnect, the behavior rof the regime from a Nuclear Program. It was to be a disconnect between the Nuclear Program. Let me ask you about the uss carl vinson. The president said he was sending in an armada. And yet, it was 3,500 miles away and in the indian ocean. Lets not get tweets in the navy. How does that happen . A lot of americans wonder how in the world does that happen . I dont know. Obviously miscommunication. But theyre headed in the right direction. The fact that the Vice President goes to the dmz and looks across the border and says to the North Koreans, were not going to allow you to send a missile to our homeland. I talked to the president about this topic. I said, do you want on your resume that during your presidency that North Koreans could hit the american peninsula with a nuclear well on top of it . He said, absolutely not. Thats what this is all about. What did you suggest to the president he do, beyond putting pressure on china. Tell china, if they dont take care of it, we will. What does that mean . It means if china cant stop the regime from building a missile that can hit the american homeland, we would do everything, including diplomatic sanctions and military strike to stop the missile program. Look at it this way. Do you really want north korea to have a missile that can hit california with a Nuclear Weapon on top of it . 20 years ago, north korea didnt have any Nuclear Weapons. Every republican and every democrat has screwed up north korea. Theyre close to getting a missile to hit the homeland. Now is the time to stop. For a preemptive strike . Thats what it would take. Im not going to allow vote in the senate, north korea to develop a missile with a Nuclear Weapon on top to hit america. Not going to happen. China can stop it if they want to. If they dont, i think President Trump will. If the u. S. Were to launch a preemptive strike, we would be at war in the Korean Peninsula . It would be terrible. It would be bad for the Korean Peninsula. Bad for china. Bad for japan. Bad for south korea. It would be the end of north korea. But it would not hit america. The only way it would come to america is with a missile. And were not going to let that happen, i hope. Les talk politics. Your state next door, georgia. A congressional race. This is a seat that republicans have long held. But it wasnt a seat that trump won very handily. A point and a half. The democrats get the top votes in this special election. Does that mean this is a oneoff . Do you look at this as an ominous sign for things to come . That district is changing. That district is changing. The congressman won by 20 something points. Trump won by a point and a half. This guy got clintons vote. I think you see a casting in this race, hollywood versus georgia. But the south is changing. Atlanta is changing. Theres districts like this all over the country, that are getting more moderate. And i think karen will do a good job. Shes probably the best republican we could have chosen. I like her chances to win this seat. But this should be a wakeup call for the Republican Party in the south. Senator Lindsey Graham, thank you. Wellwishes are pouring in for former president h. W. Bush. He is recovering in a hospital after a mild case of pneumonia. Kerry sanders has more for us. Reporter good morning, savannah. Former president george h. W. Bush is at Methodist Hospital in houston for continued observation. His Spokesman Says the 92yearold is just fine. President george h. W. Bush is in good spirits this morning. The 92yearold admitted last friday, after a cough prevented him from getting proper rest. It was determined he had a mild case of pneumonia, which was treated and has been resolved. Hes now being held for further observation, while he regains his strength. Back in january, the former president spent two weeks in the hospital with pneumonia. For a time, he was in the icu and put on a ventilator to help him breathe. At the same time, his wife, barbara bush, spent five days in the same hospital for bronchitis. The pair had just celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary. Recovering enough to take part in aregame coin toss at the super bowl in houston. And earlier this month, the 41st president was visited by his former rival and now close friend, president bill clinton, who gave him colorful pairs of socks. The two caught up about kids, grandkids, old times and new times. Former president bush was recently honored with an award. Most accepting the biggest, most bighearted, always the brightest points of life. Reporter his son, neil, choking up, speaking on his behalf. I would like to speak first as one of the proudest sons on the face of the earth. Reporter president bush suffers from a form of parkinsons. He uses a scooter to get around. This morning well wishes are coming in from around the world. Savannah, willie . From here too as well. Kerry, thank you very much. Now, to the dramatic end of the nationwide manhunt for the socalled facebook killer. The suspect taking his own life after being spotted by a quickthinking fast food worker. Gabe gutierrez is in erie, pennsylvania, with the latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning. It was a mcdonalds employee who recognized the socalled facebook killer at this drivethrough. A remarkable end to the manhunt that gripped the nation. This morning, investigators are trying to piece together how Steve Stephens spent nearly 48 hours on the run before he took his own life. The manhunt for the killer is u his own life. The manhunt for the killer is over. But for Robert Godwins family, the pain is not. I want to see him go to trial because god awful what he did to my brother. Reporter police say stephens randomly chose godwin and murdered him, posting the horrifying video on facebook. He took all of the dignity he had. We all know we going to die. But not like that. Not for the world to see. Reporter the manhunts violent end came 100 miles north of cleveland, in erie, pennsylvania. A sharpeyed employee at this mcdonalds drivethrough recognized stephens. The manager said the suspected killer ordered mcnuggets and fries. But workers stalled his order and called 911. It was going to be a minute for his fries. Wanted to make sure the proper people were contacted. Reporter stephens sped off. Surveillance video showing his car fleeing the scene. The units psp is behind a white board. Reporter after a short chase, he took his own life. The 37yearold had no criminal history but had recently filed for bankruptcy. I lost everything. I lost everything i had, man. Reporter in a video rant, he blamed an exgirlfriend for making him snap. He was a sweet man at heart. Reporter his friend, jason, says stephens called him just minutes before the murder. He told me to call him right back once i saw the facebook post. I attempted to call him back and he did not answer. I went to the police once i saw it. Reporter many here in erie, pennsylvania, are hoping the mcdonalds employee might be in line for the 50,000 reward. Robert godwins family is planning his funeral. His daughter telling us, they have an overwhelming sadness. Some uplift when you think about what the mcdonalds workers did in the moment and the courage it took to keep him waiting there, knowing about his violent history. Courage, quickthinking. Al is here with a first check of our weather. A lot of rain to talk about, especially in the upper midwest and the plains. Watching the storms push through. And as they do, theyre dumping a lot of rain from the dakotas all the way into iowa. Thats going to continue to make its way to the east. Much of iowa under an enhanced are risk for strong storms. Golf ballsized hail to possible tornados. And talking 60mileperhour wind gusts as this pushes to the east. Were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Im meteorologist kari hall. We have a lot of sunshine around the bay area, at least to start out the day. Well gradually start to see clouds move in and a chance of rain late tonight. By tomorrow, all out of here. Well see the temperatures in San Francisco reaching 63 degrees. And a beautiful weekend ahead. Especially as we warm up inland. Looking at highs in the mid to upper 70 by the end of the week. Sunday also looki