Now dating his younger brother. This morning, what the couple and the biden family are saying about that relationship. And triplethreat. Movie, music and tv superstar Jennifer Lopez, live in our studio. Today, thursday, march 2nd, 2017. From nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning. And welcome to today on this thursday morning. Were looking forward to having Jennifer Lopez with us later on. Between now and then, a lot to get to. A lot happening overnight. The Trump Administration facing a new controversy over russia. Nbc news confirming attorney general Jeff Sessions met with the Russian Ambassador to the u. S. Twice last year. And thats raising some questions now about whether sessions misled lawmakers during his confirmation hearing. Now, weve got all of this covered. Well start with nbcs Peter Alexander at the white house this morning. Hi, peter. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. What a busy night. White house officials are dismissing this as another partisan attack by democrats. But it is a serious issue that could have significant implications. Among the questions this morning, did attorney general Jeff Sessions commit perjury when he received undernea oath n he didnt have contacts with russians last year . With lawmakers calling for an independent investigation of russian interference in the election and conflicts between candidate trumps campaign, and the russians, bombshell revoluti revolutions. The Washington Post reporting that Jeff Sessions, one of mr. Trumps earliest campaign surrogates, had two conversations with russias ambassador to the u. S. Last year. But didnt mention it during the confirmation hearing. If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump Campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what would you will . Im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign. And i did not have communications with the russians. Reporter in fact, the post reports that he spoke with lkislyak. This was as a senator, not a surrogate. The attorney general released a statement saying, i never met with any russian officials to discuss the campaign. I have no idea what the allegation is about. It is false. The post reports that sessions was the only lawmaker that it reached, including john mccain, who met with him last year. Overnight, the reaction on capitol hill was swift. Some democrats calling on the attorney general to recuse himself from any Justice Department investigation into russias interference with the u. S. Election. Others including House Minority leader, nancy pelosi, saying sessions should resign immediately. Late wednesday, Lindsey Graham was pressed on the issue on cnn. If theres something there that the fbi believes is criminal in nature, for sure you need a special prosecutor. If that day ever comes, ill be the first one to say it needs to be somebody other than jeff. Reporter the new accusations come less than a month after former security adviser, michael flynn, was forced to resign, after revelations he spoke to the same ambassador before mr. Trump took office. The Trump Administration has denied all accusations that the campaign colluded with russian officials. How many people have to say theres nothing there before you realize theres nothing there . Reporter also overnight, according to a New York Times report, citing a halfdozen and former and current officials, some white house officials scrambled to spread information about russian efforts to undermine the election. And about possible contacts between mr. Trumps associates and russians. The former u. S. Officials had two goals. To ensure theres no much meddling in future elections. And to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators. So far this morning, nothing from president trump, nothing on twitter, about his new attorney general. George w. Bushs chiefs ethics lawyer tweeted misleading the senate with worn testimony f of ones own contacts is a good way to go to jail. Matt and savannah, back to you. Lets bring in pete williams. Pete, good morning to you. Lets talk about this answer he gave under oath, during that confirmation hearing. Depending on who you talk to, its the truth, its a lie, its an omission, or its mi ees mi. How is his explanation going over . Theyre saying a couple of things at the Justice Department, matt. Theyre saying he had one private meeting with the Russian Ambassador last september. And that was in his capacity as a senator, not somebody involved in the xacampaign. And the other encounter was with a group of ambassadors after he gave a speech in july. That was not a oneonone meeting. They are saying his answer to franken doesnt misleading because he was thinking about trump surrogates giving Campaign Information to the russian government. And he didnt know any, matt. Others are saying perhaps the attorney general should appoint a special prosecutor to look into all of this. If he is a witness in his own investigation, is that not a textbook case of when an attorney general needs to appoint a special prosecutor . Of course, what theyre asking for him is to step down to recuse himself from the investigation. And during the past tweak, hes been asked twice whether he would recuse, take himself out of any involvement with the investigation. And both times he said he would recuse if and when he thought it would be appropriate. Clearly, he has decisions to make here about whether to recuse or whether to appoint a special prosecutor or not to do either one. Pete williams, thanks. That brings us to the political fallout. And Mark Halperin joins us with that. Thats the question. We talked about the legal issues. Is the political pressure so high that sessions is going to feel the heat and feel he has to step aside and get a special prosecutor . Hell feel it from democrats. The question is, are there republicans that will say mr. Attorney general, our former senate colleague, you need to not oversee this investigation. This is a textbook case. I dont think anyone thinks the attorney general can be unconcerned about the appearance of conflict. Thats why he might step aside. I dont think he will go with an independent counsel. But theres big pressure on capitol hill. What kind of investigation will capitol hill do of all of these russia questions . The attorney general giving statements offbase and more than that. Means the pressure there is going to be for a large congressional investigation. It goes to the overwhelming idea that theres some kind of unusual contact between the Trump Administration and russia. This is the latest. And the attorney general of the united states, the man Whose Organization is supposed to be investigating it. Why does this matter to real people . There has to be some understanding of what happened in the last election. Some confidence there wasnt inappropriate contact with russia. I think the white house should and will welcome an investigation that makes this into the open. The suspicion people have is why dont they want an investigation . Because theres more there that they dont want to come out. The attorney general is putting this off as these are innocent meetings. Maybe they are. But they raise suspicion. Is it reasonable to assume that someone like Jeff Sessions, and meeting with that Russian Ambassador, can come xatmentalize that he is with the company and a senator. The one meeting with a large group. And last year, he was a senator. He was a campaign surrogate and supporter. He was doing the job of a senator. Its possible he thought about it that way. He knew he had the meets. But not disclosing it at the hearings, but through a media report. Who else knew he had meetings. The white house went out of its way to say there were no improper meetings with campaign officials. Theres an interesting item in the post that reported this. They reached out to the senators on the Armed ServicesCommittee Last year. And of the 20 who responded, none met with the Russian Ambassador. There seems to have been a lot of contact that we know about and maybe thats still out there, between People Associated with the president and russia. Thats alleged. This is a concrete one we know happened. Attorney general Russian Ambassador. People want to ask questions today. Mark halperin. Appreciate it. Lets turn to wall street, where trading begins on the best day in months. Topping 21,000 for the first time ever. Will the good times keep rolling, as they say . And how much credit could trump be taking for this . The dow has gone up since he was elected. Passing historic milestones of 20,000 and 21,000 points along the way. Msnbcs ali velshi is at the new york stock exchange. Theyre calling it the trump effect. How much credit does he deserve . Im going to get in trouble on twitter when i say it. But thats what it is. I remember a younger day when we saw 10,000 for the first time in the dow. To get from 20,000 to 21,000 just between the time donald trump has become president and now is a very big deal. The dow is up 15 from election day until now. And yesterday, about 24 hours ago, we were looking at a market that opened almost 200 points higher and was soon 300 points higher. Today, were going to have a more muted effect when the market opens, which means it was about Donald Trumps speech in which he reiterated some of his policies. This market was going up before donald trump became president. If you talk to folks about this, they get excited. They see the money go up in the 401 k . But theres a lot of nerves. Weve seen this movie before. What goes up, often comes town. What should we be thinking about . I have spoken with a lot of experts who value the companies and value the market. They say the valuation is very high. Its frothy. The market could be too high. Ive spoken to others who say if donald trump gets the things he wants done, through congress, tax reform, legislation repeal, it will create value in companies that this is all going to make sense. The bottom line to remember is that the market can turn on a dime. When they get word that donald trump cant get one of the things done, you might see a pullback on markets like this. Ali, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Another big thing happening at the stock exchange. Snapchats Parent Company goes public. This is one of the most anticipated ipos of the year. Stephanie, good morning. Reporter this morning, evan spiegel is hoping to be the next mark zuckerberg. The 26yearold ceo and cofounder of snapchat, covering the latest edition of time magazine. And looking to take his place in the ranks of Silicon Valley billionaires, after snapchat goes public today, with a market value of 23. 6 billion. Not as high as facebooks 104 billion back in 2012. But enough to cement spiegel as a titan of tech. Hes successful. Hes handsome. He has a beautiful fiancee. He runs his company. And in minutes you say, wow. This guy is a visionary. Reporter that fiancee, model miranne that kerr. Spiegel turned down an offer to sell snapchat to facebook in 2013. Since then, facebook owned instagram and whatsapp after snapchat. Snapchat should be flattered. Mark zuckerberg, the first thought he wakes up with and the last thought, is how do i kill snapchat . Its tough to kill the little app that could. Im on snapchat every day. Reporter launched less than five years ago, snapchat has more than 158 million daily users, who love adding funny filters to their photos and video. The majority of them, 18yearolds to 34yearolds, using the app 18 times a day. Average time, 30 minutes. Theres two things you need in the internet. You have to be useful or entertaining. And snapchat is both those things. Reporter when it was first launched, snapchat was best known for being a sexting tool. If you want something more permanent, you put it on twitter or facebook. And this is like, an easy 24hour thing. Reporter now, its mainstream. In the political season, more 18yearolds to 24yearolds, watched the president ial debates on snapchat than they did on tv. Matt and savannah, you know this company. And thats why investors are clamoring to get in this deal. Its pricing at 17. This is going to break maybe in the 20s. And we know the founders will be instant billionaires. Everybody gets excited by Something Like this, steph. This is todays big thing. Whats coming up on the horizon . Reporter you know, if todays deal dwogoes as well as expected, you have other big names on the horizon. Airbnb, uber, spotify, theyre expected to come in the next year. If the smashmarket is as good a seems, you can see those get moved up. Good segue to al. I cant get these people straight. Al, matt, you are what are the odds . I know we both have beards. Were both bald. But theres a little difference. Hot hand. Thank you very much. We have had some lael Severe Weather over the last several days. The good news, it is getting out of here. This is the last of it from yesterday. This is in central tennessee. Massive tornado. Luckily, i mean, there was some damage. But thankfully no deaths. And as this thing pushed through, it caused big problems. Right now, we have wind to worry about. In fact, our todays top weather story, 74 Million People, under a warning in new england, Midatlantic States. The wind gusts will Start Building as the day wears on. Upper 30mileperhour wind gusts in the 40s. And the other side of this, is going to be temperatures are going to start dropping. Right now, were at 48 in new york city, nantucket, 47. And same in philly. As the day wears on, temperatures continue to drop. Tomorrow morning, well be at or below freezing. And to add insult to injury, we have a quick clipper coming across late tonight into tomorrow. Light snow from the great lakes into new england. Just reminding you that winter hasnt left just good morning, im meteorologist bill henley. A blustery day ahead. The wind is blowing a few clouds through this morning. Well see bright sunshine this afternoon. The temperature rebounds a little bit, just 49 degrees in philadelphia. With the wind blowing, it will feel like the 30s for the day. 46 for the high in the suburbs. Clouds will thin out, bright sunshine, will feel like the 30s. New jersey 38 degrees inland. At the shore, youll feel the cold winds blowing in the 40s for Lehigh Valley and delaware. Have a great day. Thank you very much. Coming coming up, beau bide widow in a relationship with his younger brother. This morning, what the former Vice President is saying about that. And a creative weapon in the fight against drunk driver. On rossen reports, the suit that shows you what it feels like to be intoxicated behind thewheel. Still ahead, what you will see in the new live action version of beauty and the beast that youve never seen. And Jennifer Lopez in studio 1a. If you have a question for success has always been measured in zeros. But shouldnt it be about firsts . And seconds . How about adding a third . We think theres a bajillion ways to measure success. Like making your toddler giggle like this. Yep thats a success can teaching kids in another country how to say pony make you a success . The correct answer is yeah. What about taking pride in everything you do . 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