civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it. israel must meet this moment. with regard to our policy in gaza, look, i'll just say this. if we don't see the changes that we need to see, there'll be changes in our own policy. >> that's u.s. secretary of state antony blinken laying out president biden's latest message to israel following a tense conversation with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. we'll have much more about yesterday's phone call and the future of u.s. policy straight ahead. meanwhile, there's a new development in the race for the white house. it's now looking less likely that there will be a serious third party candidate this year. we'll tell you about that. plus, we'll bring you an update on donald trump's legal issues including the new york attorney general trying to dig deeper into the bond that was posted earlier this week on behalf of the former president. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this friday, april 5th. we made it to friday. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we'll begin this morning with president biden's warning to israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the two leaders spoke by phone yesterday for roughly 30 minutes. their first conversation since the israeli air strikes that killed seven food aid workers in gaza. the white house says that the president told the prime minister that israel simply needs to change its approach to gaza with immediate action and that future u.s. support for that country depends on it. secretary of state antony blinken who was listed on the call gave more details about the conversation yesterday while appearing in brussels. >> the president emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. he made clear the need for israel to announce a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. he made clear that u.s. policy with respect to gaza will be determined by our assessment of israel's immediate action on these steps. he underscored as well that an immediate cease-fire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians and he urged prime minister netanyahu to empower negotiators to include a deal without delay to bring the hostages home. >> following the biden-bibi phone call israel committed to opening more aid routes to gaza saying it'll use the port for direct assistance and open a crossing to allow aid to reach the territory. israel is also committed to increasing the amount of deliveries from jordan into gaza but no timetable for this is spelled out. according to it national security council the steps announced by israel, quote, must now be fully and rapidly implemented. meanwhile, house speaker mike johnson is criticizing the president over conditioning aid to israel. in a social media post johnson wrote this. the president's ultimatums should be going to hamas, not israel. biden should not undercut our ally amidst an existential threat by conditioning our support. meanwhile, johnson himself has been blamed for not bringing an israel aid bill to the house floor. now, israel has been on high alert this week due to threats made by iran in the wake of monday's strike in syria that killed members of iran's military wing. the israeli newspaper reports that israel has intensified the blocking including population centers like tel aviv and jerusalem. last night a spokesman for the idf confirmed the military was responsible for signal jamming done to throw off gps navigated drones or missiles iran or proxies might fire at the country. iran blamed israel for the strike in syria monday and has vowed to respond. we'll have much, much more on the situation in the middle east in just a moment. but here back at home president biden while juggling that crisis will also travel to baltimore today to receive an operational update on the francis scott key bridge collapse. in addition president biden will meet with some of the victim's families during his time there in maryland. since the accident last tuesday crews have been working to clear the wressage, and the federal government has provided $60 million in relief funds to the state. biden has been pushing for congress to fully foot the bill to rebuild the bridge as the port of baltimore is a major hub for the entire u.s. economy. joining us now white house reporter for bloomberg news, akala gardener. good to see you this morning. let's begin with the trip to baltimore. biden has said he wants the federal government to foot the entire bill for the bridge repair and the work that needs to be done to reopening that port. give us any sort of timetable as to when that reopening may happen, but also how is the white house trying to get these federal funds authorized? >> yeah, that ask was formalized today. the office of management and budget director shalanda young sent a letter to the heads of the committees in the senate and house asking to cover 100% of the cost here. and this is a major issue potentially even within the maryland delegation just because we know so many things in congress, there's just simply so much disagreement it's been one of the most unproductive houses probably in the history of the country really. and so they're trying to find consensus and build consensus, and i think that's exactly what we're going to hear president biden pushing today while he's on the ground in baltimore he'll be receiving an operational update about the cleanup efforts there. he'll be with governor moore and the u.s. department of transportation head, pete buttigieg. and they're going to be really pushing for that funding. and of course biden is also meeting with the loved ones of those seven or six people that were killed in this tragic collapse as well. >> you mentioned maryland governor wes moore, he'll be a guest with us on "morning joe" in a couple of hours. let's turn back to the president's phone call yesterday with the prime minister of israel. pretty clearly the toughest language yet from the administration to the prime minister, suggesting the current situation with not just the air strike that killed these humanitarian workers but suggesting israel simply has not paid enough mind, has not taken enough steps to limit the number of civilians killed there in gaza, but will these tough words be followed up by actions? the president has been criticized a lot this week including some of his closest allies for not doing enough to to stand up to netanyahu. what do we think happens next? >> i think this was really the starkest language we've seen come out of the white house it comes to israel. and frankly, after covering this conflict for many months now, not language we thought we'd ever hear. this is the first time we'd see them placing condition on israel and stop fighting so conditioned be better and the catalyst for this was really the deaths of the world central kitchen workers. we saw jose andres really saying his organization took all the right steps here to be safe, and yet his workers were still killed here. but i think something really interesting to me from the language yesterday we heard trum the white house is this an immediate cease-fire before it was automatically attached to that hostage deal, but now they're saying they want that immediate cease-fire to also just simply reduce fighting, reduce civilian harms, make conditions better for humanitarian workers because we're seeing now humanitarian aid organizations including world central kitchen leaving because they fear for the safety of those workers, and they do not want to see the harm and the famine that is really looming there continue. >> we heard from the white house yesterday this real fear of imminent famine. lastly and briefly we heard from national security spokesman john kirby and other officials say these changes need to happen very, very quickly. is there any sense as to the timetable what israel will follow through on what they've agreed? >> they have not put a strict timetable on this. we know israel is conducting a preliminary investigation of those deaths that have happened, but we see the white house is saying they're watching this very closely. they're going to be using their own assessment. they're not just going to be taking israel at their word here. and at the end of the day they're conditioning their support in some ways, i don't know how much of that is actually going to impact military aid, but that is certainly something to watch out for. >> all right, white house reporter for bloomberg, thank you for starting us off this morning. we'll have much more on the situation with israel and gaza a little later in the show. next up here on "way too early," the no labels group has announced it's abandoning plans for a third party presidential ticket. we'll tell you what the organization's national director had to say about voting this november. plus, amid increasing threats, election workers want the biden administration to do more to protect them. we'll bring you some new reporting on that. those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. sports and weather w right back power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley power e*trade's easy-to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley if you have chronic kidney disease you can reduce the risk of kidney failure with farxiga. because there are places you'd like to be. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ not all caitlin clark's are the same. caitlin clark, city planner. an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. just like not all internet providers are the same, don't settle. get real deal speed, reliability and power with xfinity. she shoots from here? that's kinda my thing. get the real deal with xfinity internet today, and get fast speeds and a reliable connection to all your devices in the home —even when everyone is online. welcome back. to politics now. and after months of trying, the centrist group no labels is now ending its effort to field a third party presidential ticket. the move comes as the group failed to find any candidates to lead it. it worked to gain ballot access across the country and claimed today have done so in 21 states before their long shot bid for the white house ended. in a statement no labels ceo and co-founder nancy jacobson writes this. no labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we can identify candidates with a credible path to winning the white house. no such candidate emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down. the group was spurred by at least a dozen candidates during its recruitm efforts from chris christie to senator joe manchin to governor chris sununu. and here's what no labels national director told fox news when pressed to name a candidate that he'd vote for in november's election. >> no labels was looking for a hero, and a hereo never emerged. >> who are you going to vote for, joe? >> who am i going to vote for? well, no labels itself is a c4 organization that doesn't advocate for or against political candidates. you know, we were merely securing -- >> you have two prominent and maybe robert f. kennedy. the choice for you as a person. >> me as a person i would vote for biden than for trump. >> there had been real fires in the biden camp a no labels candidate would draw from his pool of support. that no longer the case, but we still should expect some third party candidates to be out there. cornell west, jill stein, and most notably robert f. kennedy jr. and a concern from both parties as to their impact. meanwhile, as election season ramps up, there are growing concerns for the safety and well-being of election workers. this as they face increasing threats and are frequent targets of disinformation. nbc news homeland correspondent julia ainsley brings us more. >> election workers calling on the biden administration to do more to protect them ahead of november. in philadelphia commissioner omar severe says he and his staff have received threats every year since the 2020 election including this phone call. >> we want from the federal government more resources to protect our election workers and to protect our election officials. >> reporter: he says part of the problem baseless claims from former president trump like these. >> guard the vote. and you should go into detroit, and you should go into philadelphia. and we've got to watch those votes when they come in. when they're being, you know, shoved around in wheelbarrows and dumped on the floor. >> reporter: around the country election officials reporting physical threats, even receiving fentanyl in the mail. biden administration officials tell us their hands are often tied by free speech protections. nbc nfs david noriega. >> we work closely with state and election officials as well as law enforcement community to ensure the integrity of the election process, to ensure the physical safety of election workers. >> reporter: but experts say dhs under the biden administration is doing less than the trump administration did to alert social media companies about online election disinformation. >> there's been a real pullback since 2020 in sharing that information. >> our thanks to julia ainsley for that report. this is an important story line, one we're going to be following between now and november. next up here we'll turn to sports. and it's been a simply awful start to the season for the new york mets, but they did finally pick up their first win yesterday. we'll show you how it happened, and we'll tell you about the new home -- temporary one, for one of baseball's oldest franchises. all that plus a check on the weekend forecast when we come right back. eck on the weekend forecast when we come right back ahh. it's a good day to cough. oh no. bye, bye cough. later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! not coughing at the movies!? 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[both] we'll screen with cologuard and do it my way. cologuard is a one-of-a-kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive. it's for people 45+ at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for me, cologuard. opening in the ballpark 0 and 5, hitless through 7. feels like rock bottom. >> that was play by play announcer garret cohen on the state of the play yesterday as the team looked headed for another loss. you saw that depressing tableau, but the tide turned in the next frame. to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and bret brady reached a walk, advanced to second, and then outfielder tyron taylor did the rest. >> 3-2 coming to taylor. and hooked, base hit down the left field line! here comes batey around third. he will score, and the mets have their first win of the season. >> you've got to believe taylor brings home the winning run on that walk off single and the mets end up splilting that doubleheader. that win leaves the miami marlins as baseball's only remaining winless team. elsewhere in baseball this season will now be the last for the a's in the city of oakland. the team has announced it will play at least three years in the minor league ballpark in sacramento before it's planned move to its new home in las vegas. as part of the temporary arrangement with sacramento the team will not include a city name in its branding. it'll simply be known as the a's. this will mark the 56-year tenure in oakland. such a good town, a good story franchise. i know sacramento is not that far away, but we'll see. that las vegas deal still not officially done. turning now to the nba and new playoff hopes for the philadelphia 76ers. boosted this week by the return of returning joel embiid. using a run to close the game and tighten up the eastern conference playoff race. now all they need to do to avoid the play in tournament it keep winning. it ranks some of the weakest in it league with four of their final games against below 500 opponents and the last three coming at home. to college hoops now. the pirates scoreded the final 9 points of last night's title game to rally past indiana state. they were blocked on two three-point attempts. congrats to them. they win 79-77. meanwhile the ncaa tournament action resumes tonight with its final four. this is going to be a lot of fun. number one overall south carolina takes on third seated nc state. that's the first game before a showdown featuring caitlin clark and number 3 yukon. the winner of tonight's game will play for it final four. time now for the weather and weekend forecast with meteorologist angie lassman. >> good morning to you. we made it to friday. it's looking a little bumpy on the coast. we've got some snow showers lingering across parts of the north east. the middle of the country looks great, clear skies, quiet. we'll be actually quite warm for that section of the country. out west we've got another storm system we're going to track to bring more snow and rainout there. today it's the showers and the snow that we expect across parts of california and the north west. then as we get into tomorrow especially saturday plans for the central plains, these stronger storms are possible to develop into the afternoon hours. we're looking at mainly the hail and the strong wind gusts, but a couple of tornados not out of the question. as we look ahead to the weekend, big picture that snow will be across parts of the rockies. there's those storms i just mentioned. much of the eastern half of the country is going to be quiet. you'll notice it's a little cool and breezy for folks especially on the north east. we might see a couple of snow showers sticking around for parts pof new england and then see showers and thunderstorms work their way farther to the east, but nice conditions on sunday across the east coast. if you're looking ahead to that big event we're all talking about, of course the eclipse that's happening, here's the deal as far as your forecast is concerned. new mexico to the midwest we'll see mostly sunny conditions. notice the cloud cover specifically dallas. i know that's a big spot folkserize excited about to watch the eclipse. places like cincinnati and little rock we'll see a little bit more of the cloud cover and a little mix of sunshine. but overall we're going to see a couple of rain showers for our friends in the south, and then this is really the place to be. if you're looking at it in the north east, jonathan, we'll likely see some nice conditions, too. not the best, couple of clouds in the picture but hopefully we'll all be able to see it.