Hotels in las vegas overnight. A fright ing scene for thousands of tourists. An investigation under way. And in the footsteps of christ. Whats long believed to be the path jesus used on his way to the crucifixion, now questioned by historians. A good friday controversy of biblical proportions. On this friday, april 14th, 2017. From nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a friday morning. Start of a holiday weekend. But it is a busy time in the news. There will be a lot of eyes on whats happening in korea over the weekend. A major show of force from the u. S. In afghanistan. The mother of all bombs used to destroy an isis complex of tunnels and caves in that country. That strike coming with rising tension in north korea. We have cleveland coverage starting with Hallie Jackson. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. And new this morning, the Afghan Ministry of defense says 36 isis fighters were killed when that massive bomb dropped. The u. S. Commander in the region this morning is calling it the right weapon against the right target. And says u. S. Forces on the ground there see no evidence of civilian casualties. The military move puts some action behind President Trumps tough talk on terror, as he in south florida, faces multiple International Flash points. President trump, waving as he arrives in florida, after flexing military muscle overseas. U. S. Forces dropping the socalled mother of all bombs. Targeting terrorist tunnels in eastern afghanistan. The gbu43, weighing over 21,000 pounds, 11 tons of tnt explosive. This test video shows what it might have looked like. The commander in chief, comfortable, he says, delegating the decisionmaking to top military brass. Everybody knows exactly what happened. And what i do is i authorize my military. We have the greatest military in the world. Theyve done a job as usual. We have given them total authorization. Reporter battlefield commanders made the decision on their own to drop the massive bomb. The first time its been used in battle. Pressuring isis, as the president promised to do. Bomb the hell out of isis. Im going to bomb the [ bleep ] out of them. Reporter its the Second Military move from the Trump Administration in just the last week. An attack Bashar Al Assad is now calling fake news. In an interview with afp, recorded on Syrian Government cameras, assad is questioning whether pictures of the youngest victims are real. Images President Trump talked about in explaining his decision to act. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered. We dont know whether those dead children were they dead at all . Reporter while a shocking claim, its perhaps unsurprising from assad, who denied being behind a similar attack in 2013. To u. S. Officials, its painfully clear, as they point to evidence, they say, assads regime pagassed its own people. Syria far from the only hot spot for President Trump right now. U. S. Officials believe north koreas getting ready to conduct an underground nuclear test as early as tomorrow. North korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of. Reporter how . Perhaps by president ial praise for and pressure on china. And leader xi jingping. I like and respect president xi. A terrific person. Spent a lot of time together in florida. Hes a terrific man. Well see how it goes. Reporter underscoring the complexity of the fight against terror, news of a deadly friendly fire incident in syria. The pentagon says a Coalition Air strike mistakenly hit 18 allied fighters, killing them. The military is now trying to fig your oure out what went wro. Hallie jackson, thank you. U. S. Intelligence officials tell nbc news the u. S. Is also prepared to launch a preemptive strike against north korea, if the north moves forward with a Nuclear Weapons test. And the regime has warned that a big event is near. Nbcs Kelly Cobiella has the latest on that. Kelly, good morning to you. Reporter good morning. And the next 24 hours are really crucial. Tomorrow is the biggest holiday of the year in north korea. It has been used in the past to carry out the big highprofile weapons tests. And overnight, some tough talk from a north korean official, who called President Trumps policy towards north korea vicious and aggressive. And vowed his country is prepared to go to war if provoked. Flower power on display in north korea. The secretive regime showing off shiny, New Buildings and prepping for parades in the capital, pyongyang. While at n the northeast, at its nuclear site, theres signs that north korea is primed and ready for a sixth nuclear test. Possibly as soon as tomorrow, to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of the nations founder and the current leaders grandfather. The vice foreign minister telling the press overnight, the country will go ahead with a nuclear test at a time and place they deem necessary. Nbc news has learned two american destroyers with tomahawk cruise missiles are now 300 miles from the nuclear test site. Multiple sources telling nbc news that if u. S. Intelligence detects a nuclear test is imminent, for the first time in history, the white house is considering a preemptive strike. A strike that could include missiles and bombs, as well as Cyber Attacks and special operations. Were working with International Partners to diffuse the situation. But the bottom line is, north korea has to change its behavior. Reporter north korea has conducted several missile tests this year. Its firepower already within reach of south korea, japan, russia and southeast asia. And its believed to be developing a missile that could reach the west coast of the united states. And this morning, new worries. The japanese Prime Minister warning north korea may already be able to send a missile loaded with sarin gas into japan. A deadly arsenal and unpredictable leader who is not yet backing down. And to complicate matters, Vice President mike pence was planning to head to south korea to visit troops over the easter weekend this weekend. Were told that visit is going forward. Were also told by a white house source that no action will be taken against north korea until south korea signs off. Matt . Savannah . Kelly cobiella, thank you. Juan seurat serves as the adviser of combatting terrorism under george bush. Let me start with you. If the North Koreans are planning to test another nuclear device, we can do three things. We can strike to deter them. We can strike afterward, after a test, to punish them. Or we can do nothing. Whats our level of intelligence . How sure are we right now about their plans . Well, i think the Intelligence Community is sure they are planning a nuclear test. Whether its going to be the next 24 hours is up for grabs. But the reality is, the North Koreans have quickened the pace of their nuclear test, their capabilities. This will be their sixth test. Two last year, matt. What intelligence officials are worried about is the continued technological advancement. And in reality, you have an anniversary this weekend. That has intelligence officials worried this will happen soon. Weve seen this behavior from the north korea. Sometimes people want to dismiss it. And yet, from the u. S. Side of things, now, theres this report that potentially the u. S. Is preparing a preemptive strike. Theres been a repositions of military resources in the region. That alone can escalate thing. What are the pluses and minuses of the new approach were seeing . The Trump Administration is trying to change the calculus, the battle space. Theyre saying this strategy of strategic patience is over. Were going to try to pressure. And part of this is to prethe North Koreans and also the chinese to do more. Thats why youre seeing displays of force. The potential of use of unilateral capabilities. But this has the potential to have the North Koreans overreact. And you have a potential for miscommunication. And in a tinderbox situation like north korea, thats dangerous. I heard a military expert yesterday who echoed what youre saying. You know what leads to war . Mistakes lead to war. And if you amp up the pressure in a conflict situation, you force if you have an irrational leader like kim jongun, you might force him into making a mistake. And mistakes can cost millions of lives. We know kim jongun wants to solidify his power internally and demonstrate his capabilities externally. If you push him too far, he may overreact. You have to have a game plan. If the north is provoked, they can hit seoul, south korea, carefully. This is why youre hearing from administration officials. U. S. Isnt going to do anything without south koreas okay, first. We talked about the president S National Security team and the process. Were seeing it in objection. Yeah. We heard President Trump say with record to the m. O. A. B. , with the bomb he dropped in afghanistan. I give the military the authority. You take it from there. What are you seeing . Its interesting to hear that you talk about the nuanced calculations this white house staff is making. And how far of a departure it is we viewed this president and his team in the early days of the presidency. The National Security apparatus views the last ten days as the model for four years. They have Rex Tillerson at state, mattis at d. O. D. , and mcmasters in control of the white house nsc. And kjared kushner is the tie t the president. The last four days is the example of not for the world and the public, but for the president and how its supposed to work. You learn that relationships are key. The president is placing a lot of faith in this new relationship these developed with president xi of china. And if the North Koreans test this weapon, he may find that hes misplaced faith there. Yeah. And he wouldnt be the First American president to be disappointed or heartbroken by less than what america would want china to do when it comes to north korea. The sixparty talks has been the diplomatic structure that weve relied on for many years. But the personal relationship that he has enough confidence in to change his position. He was going to call china a currency manipulator. He was going to redo all our trade deals. Hes talking about what an amazing and special man he is because he desperately needs him if were going to protect this country and our allies from north korea. We could learn a lot more in the next couple of days. Nicolle, thank you. Juan, good to see you. Mike pompeo is blasting wikileaks. He called wikileaks founder Julian Assange a fraud and a coward. He criticized Chelsea Manning and edward snowden. Pompeo said he and his colleagues at the cia found wikileaks to be perplexes and troubling. Lets go to georgia after two Police Officers have been fired after video shows them kicking and punching a man at a traffic stop. Gabe gutierrez is in lawrenceville, georgia, with more on this. Reporter this skand at mushroomed for this department. One officer was fired after that video surfaced. Then, just hours later, a second part of the encounter caught on another camera, also emerged. Shocking the police chief and costing a second officer his job. This morning, two officers in gwinnett county, georgia, are out of a job, after one was caught on camera punching a suspect with his hands up during a traffic stop. And the other, kicking him after he was handcuffed. It was surreal. Reporter in an exclusive interview, dimitrius hollins said he had a previous runin with one of the officers during a traffic stop last year. He tried to reach for his cell phone camera to record this encounter but he never got the chance. He told me to step out of the car. I stepped out of the car with my hands up. When i had my hands up, he punched me in the face. Reporter hollins was booked on charges of marijuana possession, obstruction and traffic violations. Eyewitness Kenneth Dillard shot the first cell phone video that surfaced. He doesnt deserve that. You dont picture yourself seeing that. You dont see a Police Officer doing that live and in person. Reporter that prompted the police chief to fire officer robert mcdonald. But this second video emerged, charging the sergeant to fire michael bongiovanni. The initial report says hall eh did not have a license plate and he was tasered and kahandcuffed after he refused to get out of the card. The actions were not mentioned or described in the reports. Theres no excuse for behavior like this. Reporter it is just the latest incident involving an officer caught on camera using questionable tactics. Just this week, video surfaced of an officer in sacramento slamming and beating a pedestrian stopped for jaywalking. Today in georgia, dimitrius hollins and his family are still in shock. I wish this would never to anybody. I wish this would never happen to me. You hear about it, happening to other people that it happens to. But when it happens to your own child, it break s my heart. Reporter both officers could face criminal charges. The police chief says that officer mcdonald took responsibility when confronted with the video. But that the sergeant had a slightly different reaction, telling investigators, quote, its different out on the streets. Matt . Gabe, thank you very much. Now, to a bombshell report released overnight by one of the nations most prestigious prep schools. Details and ail fwagllegations rampant sexual abuse of students by faculty members. Reporter this damning report is the product of an investigation that began three years ago, when two alumni reported Sexual Misconduct that occurred when they were student theres. The results has stunned the boarding school. In a quaint, connecticut town sits one of the most elite prep schools in the country. Choat has educated many students that have gone on to big things. Some of its notable alums, john f. Kennedy, michael douglas, glenn close and jamie lee curtis. And ivanka trump. But its reputation is taking a big hit. Shocking allegations that 12 former teachers sexually abused and in one case, forcibly raped students at the school. The allegations dating back to the early 1960s, were presented in a nearly 50page report, prepared by a law firm for the schools board of trustees. It included reports of intimate kissing and touching. One student reported that in 1980, when she was 15 years old, a faculty member asked her to go away with him for a weekend to have sex. The student declined the proposition. Two female graduates reported separately that an english teacher at the school engaged in sexual relationships with them. In another case, it details a Forcible Rape by a teacher while on a school trip to costa rica in 1999. According to the report, none of the cases were reported to the police. And in most cases, faculty members were fired or allowed to resign, going on to teach at other schools. Cohoats headmaster said, the detailed content of this report is devastating to read. One can only have the greatest sympathy and deepest concern for the survivors. The letter from choate was the latest of a series of apologies by dozens of schools facing teacher misconduct. This story is not over. Disturbing. Steph, thank you so much. We have breaking news just in. The pentagon has just released the first video of that mother of all bombs as it was being deployed in afghanistan. This report came out yesterday. The largest nonnuclear weapon ever used in combat. Something like 11 tons of explosive material dropped on a series of isis tunnels and caves, and in a region of afghanistan, killing, according to afghan officials, 36 isis fighters. Thats the video of that weapon, detonating. Apparently explodes just above the ground as its about to make impact. Enormous, they carry it on a cargo plane. Dylan is in for al again. First check of the weather. We had significant flooding out in california yesterday. Take a look at what occurred in fresno. Northwest fresno was dry. But southeast fresno was under water. Some cars covered halfway with that water. Some being toed out to drier land. We saw two inches of rain fall in a short period of time. On the flipside of that, jump over to florida where we have drought conditions. 44 is under moderate drought right now. Were not going to see an improvement until the wet season gets under way about a month from now. More than 28 active fires larger than 100 acres. Were going to deal with the dry conditions for a little while longer. Longer. You see the flow keeping things cover of chainsmokers dont l me down the issues we care about can weigh on us. So lift the weight of caring, by doing. Visit state farms neighborhoodofgood. Com to volunteer in your community. Good morning, im meteorologist bill henley. Clouds but no sign of rain. Clouds will break for more sunshine as the day goes on. Were on track for a warmup. 60s in new jersey. Inland, at the shore, a sea breeze like yesterday. The temperature peaks at 60 degrees. Sunshine takes over in the suburbs, up to 65. 67 degrees in philadelphia. Thats above normal for this time of year. 60s for the Lehigh Valley and delaware. Even warmer for easter sunday. Have a great weekend. And thats your latest forecast. All right, dylan, thank you. Coming up, new developments on t on that united dragging incident. This morning, what the passengers family is revealing about the victims injuries and the big changes this could bring to all of uniteds flights. As thousands gather in jerusalem to retrace jesus final steps, why historians say theyve been following the wrong path. First, this is today on nbc. Still to come, the surprising ages youre the happiest in life. Introducing new parodontax. The toothpaste