Nbc news exclusive, the sister of that tennessee teacher accused of kidnapping his student and taking her across the country speaks out. What she says to her brother after his arrest. Why would he do this . Why shes standing by him despite the horrible things she claims he did. And airline agony. American suspends a Flight Attendant over this altercation with a mom and other passengers. You almost hurt a baby this just two weeks after uniteds now infamous passenger incident. My god who are you doing . This morning, that mans lawyer is here for an exclusive live interview today, monday, april 24, 2017. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studios 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, welcome to promises to be a very eventful week. A lot of countdowns. You talked about the countdown to a president potential Government Shutdown and all this conflict with north korea right now. Let us set the stage for you. Today President Trump welcomes the u. N. Security council to the white house for an unprecedented meeting. High on the list of priorities north korea, syria and u. S. Cuts to u. N. Funding. Well talk about that more with the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, nikki haley, in just a moment. Budget battles will also dominate, as mentioned. The white house releases its tax reform plan on wednesday while Congress Faces a friday deadline to pass a new spending package if it wants to avoid a Government Shutdown. Heres another thing you should watch out for on friday, President Trumps address to the nras annual leadership forum. We have complete coverage starting with Nbcs Kristen Welker at the white house this morning. Kristen, good morning. Reporter hi, matt, good morning to you. President trump has been down playinth Associated Press its an artificial barrier and not very meaningful, but countering that, a flurry of activity ended at raking up more wins the. President trying to revise health care and vowing to introduce a new tax plan but looming over all of it, that potential Government Shutdown set for friday. With Donald Trumps presidency approaching the 100day mark, the president and his aides are sounding a triumphant note. He is fulfilling his promises and doing it at breakneck speed. Reporter but the new nbc news wall street journal poll tells a different story. 45 of americans believe hes off to a poor start. His job Approval Rating stands at 40 , the lowest for any president at the 100day mark in the history of the poll. Still a new abc News Washington post poll shows President Trump is holding on to his base with 96 of trump voters saying theyd vote for him again. On twitter, the president calling the new polls very good considering that much of the media is fake negati negative. All this as washington faces a looming deadline. If congress cant pass a budget deal by friday the government will shutdown. The government is going to stay open . I believe it will. Reporter we one sticking point, republicans are looking to include funding for the president s border wall in the spending bill, a signature Trump Campaign promise. Who is going to pay for that wall . Reporter the president suggesting u. S. Taxpayers may need to make a down payment tweeting sunday eventually but at a later date so we can get started early mexico will be paying in some form for the badly needed border wall. But democrats taking a hard line against funding the wall. The wall is, in my view, immoral, expensive, unwise. Reporter some republicans warning against letting the issue shut down the government. The last thing we can afford is to send a message to the world that the United States government, by the way, is only partially functioning. Reporter this comes as the white house is also aiming to resuscitate the failed effort at health care reform. Were hopeful for this week but, again, its not something that has to happen in order to define our success. Reporter and today, former president barack obama, whos been spotted vacationing in recent weeks, is coming off the sidelines, hosting a discussion about Community Organizing at the university of chicago. Obamas first public appearance just days before the current commander in chief marks a major milestone. Aides say on sunday mr. Obama met with atrisk young member in chicago. In terms of his message, aides say dont expect the former president to criticize President Trump but he will advocate for his own policies. The two leaders havent spoken since the inauguration. As for mr. Trump, expect the entire week to be a runup to saturdays 100day mark. In fact, later today hed hold that unprecedented white house meeting at the u. N. Security council. Matt, avenue tha matt, savannah. Kristen welker at the warehouwhite house. The world is reacting to a vote in france. Nbcs chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel is in paris for us. Hi, richard, good morning. Reporter good morning, salve. That french voters rejected the establishment. 11 candidates have been whittled down to two and the ruling parties that have governed in france from the left and right for decades were thrown out. Amid high security, millions came out to vote across france. Turnout was 78 in whats considered the most important election in decades. It was a nailbiter. Too close to call until the results came in Emmanuel Macron is the frontrunner to be the french president. This is his first campaign. Supporters are hoping the 39yearold banker from the center left can bring a new life we will win it. He promised. Long live france. He faces his polar opposite, Marine Le Pen from the far right. Trailing by just a few percent, le pen is antiimmigration, wants out of the eu, to drop the euro and has been taking a page from the strategy book of President Trump. Its time for the french people to be free of the arrogant elite she said. Promising to close borders and stop terrorism. The two candidates both face each other in a runoff in two weeks. Analysts say macron has the clearest path to victory and following trump may have worked against le pen. Trump was a counterexample. People have been looking at the whats happening in the u. S. With very critical eye. Reporter with two weeks to go, france is at a cross roads. There has been a trend in Global Politics towards nationalism, first with brexit, then nationalism. France could be where that trend comes to an end. Matt and savannah, back to you. There is new tension the between the u. S. And north korea. The regime is threatening to sink a u. S. Aircraft carrier and over the weekend it detained an american citizen and he was preparing to leave that country. Nbcs koelly cobiella is in seoul, south korea. Reporter leaders from japan and china speaking to President Trump by phone. The chinese leader urging restraint on all sides as the u. S. U. S. Skarl vinson comes closer to the Korean Peninsula and the north koreas hold a third american citizen. College student otto warmbier. Business kim dong which you will and now an american troef. Tony k Pyongyang Airport airport leaving the country after several weeks of Service Teaching and that his detention is not connected with his work at the university. The Associated Press says kim is in his 50s, was doing aid work and was with his wife at the airport when the North Koreans took him away. Another bargaining chip says ambassador Bill Richardson who is working on warmbiers case. Weve been able to deal with the father and the grandfather in the old regime but under kim jongun he detains americans, hes detained three now but we dont know what he wants in return. He doesnt communicate on that level. Reporter instead, more threats. The regime sunday warni ining i combat ready to sink a u. S. Aircraft carrier and threatening australia with a nuclear strike. As Vice President mike pence wrapped up a twoday trip there, the Vice President also talking tough. All options are on reporter this morning, as the u. Ss carl vinson heads towards north korea, south korea says its talking to washington about holding joint drills. The region on edge, unsure what north koreas Supreme Leader will do next. Theres been a lot of speculation and concern that north korea could carry out either its sixth nuclear test or a missile test sometime this week. China has warned north korea not to do either. Meantime, we have that big me meeting at the white house today. 15u8 memb all 15 members of the United NationsSecurity Council set to visit. Matt, savannah . Kelly, thank you very much. Nikki haley, the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations joins us now. Ambassador haley, good morning to you. Good morning. I want to take about that american being held in a second but when you take that incident and combine it with a threat to sink a u. S. A threat to strike australia, when you and your counterparts meet at the white house this morning, what can you possibly come up with to rein in north korea that hasnt been tried in the past and hasnt already failed in the past . I think what youre seeing is kim jongun is starting to flex his muscles because he feels the pressure. Last week the Security Council unanimously condemned what north koreas doing with their testing. China has been considerably helpful in putting pressure on him and hes just trying to show his strength to the people of his country. Its not going to work. But weve been talking about containing north korea for decades now and its not working. What can you come up with . Well, working with china for the first time, they have really been our partner in trying to make sure wehold him at bay and i think its a new day when you have china and the United States working together on a statement to condemn north korea. Theyve put pressure on him. He feels it, thats why hes responding this way and i think it is a different day. What we have said from the say is the United States is not looking for a fight so dont give us a reason to have one. Its interesting you say that. You said you think hes responding to the pressure by flexing muscle, by conducting more nuclear tests. I dont have to tell you, you have a very unstable adversary there. Does the tough talk and the rhetoric, things like mr. Trump saying if china doesnt help us here, well do it ourselves, we may consider a preemptive strike coming from administration officials, do you ever worry about the point of no return with words . Well, i think no. Thats not the case. And keep in mind hes trying to get the confidence of his own people so when he does these things, hes not necessarily doing them to all of us as much as hes trying to prove to his own people he can handle this. Hes very much feeling the pressure. I think youre starting to see him get paranoid and i think youre seeing pressure come from all parts of the International Community and i think we have to keep the pressure up. I think what savannah is getting at, madmb unstable as kim jongun, do you worry words might force him into a catastrophic mistake . No, and i think if you look at what is happening now, if theres a catastrophic mistake its going to be because hes continuing to try to ins kate an issue. Well continue to be stable and to have the International Community stable. Its the reason why none of us are even trying to pick a fight with him. But well have to wait and see, what i can tell you the International Community is very united. Ambassador haley, every single leader says all options are on the table, they always say that. Is a preemptive strike against north korea really being considered . Is the administration actively planning for that . We are not going to do anything unless he gives us reason to do something. Whats that reason . Our goal is not to start a fight. What would that reason be . Do you have that threshold in your mind . Well, if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental that. But were saying dont try to do any more actions and i think hes understanding that. Let me make sure i understand what you said. If he tests another intercontinental blil aal balli missile, you say obviously were going to do that. Do you mean military retaliation . I think the president steps in and decides whats going to happen. Let me ask you real quickly before i leave. Do you have any more information on this american being detained . His whereabouts or why he was detained . Its very hard to get information out of north korea, obviously, but were doing everything that we can. You know, this makes three detainees that they have right now and again this is him trying to pick a fight with us and what were going to have to do is work very hard to find out information and see what we need to do to get these three out safely. Ambassador nikki haley. Ambassador haley, always nice to see you, thank you very much. Thanks so much. Breaking overnight, u. S. Defense secretary jim mattis making an unannounced afghanistan as the Trump Administration is weighing sending more u. S. Troops to that country. His visit comes three days after a Taliban Attack on a Northern Afghanistan Army base. It killed at least 100 people there. Kabul is the final stop on secretary mattis sixnation tour intended to bolster relations with allies and partners. Disturbing new information coming to light in that alleged kidnapping of a tennessee teenager by her former teacher. Were hearing from the suspects family for the First Time Since his capture. Nbcs Gabe Gutierrez is in columbia, tennessee. Gabe, good morning to you. Reporter matt, good morning. The hometown is grate it feel nationwide manhunt is over and were getting our First Insight into why her former teacher says the pair spent more than a month on the run. This morning, Elizabeth Thomas is being welcomed home to columbia, tennessee, with signs and banners while the sister of her accused kidna, exclusive interview she talked to her brother three times this weekend. Daphne quinn says she wants everyone to know hes not a monster. Hes done this horrible thing that he has to pay for but hes still my brother and i love him. Reporter cummins is scheduled to be arraigned in sacramento on federal kidnapping charges. His sister says he doesnt believe he kidnapped elizabeth. I asked him why. Why would he do this . And the answer he gave me is that she wanted to run away and she wanted to leave. And he didnt want her to go alone and so he went with her so he could know she was safe. Reporter the 15yearold and her former teacher were found with more than 2,000 miles away in a remote cabin in Northern California with no electricity or running water, a camping stove, food, toilet paper and two beer cans. During their 39 days on the run, the pair was caught on Surveillance Video at an oklahoma walmart one bed. She was obviously traumatized by the whole incident, including the takedown, but she seemed to be in good health. Reporter daphne quinn says she does not defend or condone what her brother did. Hes repentant sounding and i think he would like to get his family back but it hasnt hit him that he thats not going to happen. He has to learn a new normal. He has a very long tedious road ahead of anymorehim in a place never been and hell have to deal with it. Reporter Elizabeth Thomas family lawyer says the 15yearold is in a safe location and shes being evaluated and treated by Mental Health experts. Matt and savannah . Let us turn to mr. Roker. Tell us something good about the weather. Weve had rain in the southeast thats helped knock down the wildfires in florida. Thats good news. The bad news is we have rain coming up the east coast and its going to be a big, big amounts that will cause flash flooding. In fact, 15 Million People under some sort of Flood Warning or Flash Flood Watch through the southeast. Doublebarrel lows slowly moving up the coast so its going to dump tons and tons of moisture. We have a flood risk, air delays and road problems from boston, new york, Atlantic City upwards of an inch or more but the big numbers get posted in the southeast. Isolated areas, North CarolinaSouth Carolina border could see upwards of 10 inches of rain before this is all over on tuesday. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Good morning, we are facing a very cloudy day today with with rain showers off and on through most of the afternoon and evening hours. Dont stray too far from that up what. Youll need it today, tonight and tomorrow, too, as all that rain across the carolinas