breaking overnight, an execution unlike any before. alabama, the first state to use

nitrogen gas on a death row inmate but the moment didn't come without controversy. will the race for the white house veer through capitol hill? how donald trump is i how donald trump i throwing a wrench in plans. a repeated incident is raising new questions over whether law enforcement is doing enough of the it's big tech's biggest investment steve sedge swik hewick is here and justin timberlake feeling in synch with fans we are the first listen. no strings attached. it's friday. "early today" starts right now hi there good to be with you. i'm frances rivera the race for the white house seems to be impacting business on capitol hill. the top republican in the senate is casting doubt on a new spend

bill that would include funding for israel and ukraine and address the border crisis. senator mitch mcconnell says donald trump's opposition to the deal could sink it brie jackson joins us from d.c hi, brie, how has trump become involved in these negotiations >> reporter: former president trump has been pushing republicans to oppose this new deal that would tighten immigration laws if there is chaos at the border the republican frontrunner can continue to use that as a campaign issue senator mitch mcconnell held a closed-door meeting with republicans and a source says he does not want to do anything to undermine trump. mcconnell told supporters they are still working on the deal and that trump's opposition to it is not anything new president biden was in wisconsin celebrating reports of a booming economy and had this to say about donald trump >> my predecessor recently said he was actually hoping for the economy to crash

that's a quote hoping for the economy to crash. can you believe it i don't, he said, he's hoping, because he hopes it happens soon while i'm still president. that's what he's hoping for. america now has the strongest growth, the lowest inflation rate of any major economy in the world. >> reporter: and biden has made it clear he sees trump as the candidate he'll be facing in the general election a member of the republican national committee actually floated a drft resolution to declare trump the presumptive nominee, despite nikki haley showing no signs of dropping out. news of the draft quickly drew criticism and was withdrawn once trump came out against it himself. he said he wanted to win the nomination the old-fashioned way. frances? >> brie jackson, thank you closing arguments will begin today in donald trump's civil

defamation trial the former president took the witness stand on thursday but was only there for a few minutes. his testimony was limited by the judge. last may trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer e. jean carroll. trump defended himself on the stand saying he considers it a false accusation breaking overnight in alabama. for the first time ever an inmate was executed using nitrogen gas kenneth smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m the supreme court reject add last-minute appeal from smith's lawyers who raised concerns about this untested method of execution. officials say nothing out of the ordinary happened. this was the second attempt to execute smith after a failed lethal injection he was convicted for the brutal 1988 murder of elizabeth senet he was hired by her husband, a pastor

opening statements have begun in the trial of jennifer crumbley her husband james is also facing four counts of involunteerary manslaughter >> they did nothing. they didn't do any number of tragically small and easy things that would have prevented all this from happening. >> four students were killed in the shooting the parents are accused of ignoring warning signs from their son, like when he was taught by a teacher googling how to purchase ammunition a man in new york city arrested for the third time in a week for allegedly repeatedly stalking pop super star taylor swift. and it's not just her. ellen lopez explains how hard it is to keep female celebrities and women around the country safe from their stalkers >> reporter: taylor swift arguably the biggest pop star in world, not safe from repeated

stalking two hours after this man left a court accused of doing just that, stalking the super star, he was right back in front of her home again, leading to his third arrest in five days, even after the court ordered him to stay away from swift david crowe has been to swift's home more than 30 times in just the past two months according to court documents. swift also targeted at homes in california and rhode island of she's one of countless female celebrities dealing with obsessive stalkers and the corrective shrug they can get from law enforcement >> oftentimes it's just scape i gots, oh, they're overreacting >> reporter: they can get up to seven years in prison for the most serious offenses. but a doj study found only 12% of all stalking cases result in criminal prosecutions. >> in a city size of new york you're not going to be held in jail pending a charge for a misdemeanor of this kind >> hi! >> reporter: just last year a

man rushed the stage at a drew barrymore event saying he quote needed to see her. no charges were filed against the man until he showed up weeks later, looking for the tv host' home in the hamptons just weeks after that, more low-level charges after he broke into an event and demanded to meet harry potter star emma watson in 2008, "killville" actress uma thurman's stalker received 90 days' probation after he reportedly showed up at her home with packages and notes, calling her family and sending e-mails the man violated the probation would years later when he attempted to contact thurman again. california would be first state to get anti-stalking laws on the book after the murder of rebecca shafer all 50 states now have similar

laws in place. but public figures have still dying at the hands of stalkers last year a washington state podcast host was found dead in her home, kifled by lled by a s she had warned police about. kristina grimmie was shot and killed by an obsessed fan while she was signing autographs >> john lennon shot to death >> reporter: beatles' legend john lennon murdered all of the killers had shown signs of mental illness or obsession with their targets activists say action needs to be taken sooner >> we need to keep pushing for these things to be taken care of sooner >> i want to thank ellen lopez for that report. millions are under flood

alerts north of new orleans, homes and businesses flooded, and several trapped cars left abandoned. some used kayaks in mississippi, authorities say there's been one weather-related death after a driver lost control of a vehicle and ran into a tree. and more rain is on the way. let's bring in michelle grossman for the latest on n that this. tthat >> we're going to see more rain this weekend that's the south also the pacific northwest, that's going to bring localized flooding, from oregon to northern california. mountain snow in the rockies and inner mountain west as well. then the great lakes, heavy rain falling right now. we're going to see freezing rain, snow into portions of northern new england a lot going on once again today. wet across the country this is what it looks closer to the great lakes. heavy rain there and heavy lane

fal rain falling across the south again it is so soggy there, and we are going to add a few more inches more rain into the midsouth. severe weather threat across portions of alabama, also georgia. then sunday the rain returns to portions of the northeast. notice the snow here he mild side warm in florida but also looking at the chance for stormy weather along the gulf coast all right, there's your friday forecast "early today" is back in a minute with what's fueling america's economic boom, and real concerns over the future of artificial intelligence. the new investigation into the massive investments by big tech. massive investments by big tech.

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the federal trade commission is launching an investigation into big tech's multi-billion dollar investment nos into artificia artificial intelligence. our steve sedgwick is here to break it all down for us happy friday to you. >> we've got a.i but have the regulators on multiple fronts caught up? no so they're racing to catch up with guardrails, whether it's safety or competition. so the ftc chair is basically going to have a really strong look and extensive study no the biggest players. we're talking about amazon, alphabet, and of course open a.i. there is no a.i.-exemption from the laws on the book, and we're going to have a close look at the companies and how they're using their power.

not o so good news for activisi blizzard there is going to be cost cutting. i'm afraid microsoft will be cutting 1900 employees out of a total 22,000 in their gaming un unit >> steve, thank you. wall street is on track for another winning week fueled by new data underscoring the strength of the u.s. economy stocks surged with the s&p closing at a record high senior business correspondent kristine romans has the story. >> reporter: at this commercial glass factory in bensalem, pennsylvania, owner joshburg says the much-forecast recession never happened you grew your workforce and grew your top line and bottom line numbers in a year we expected a

recession? >> that's correct. as counter intuitive as that may seem >> work happening on factory floors like this one has kept the u.s. economy humming in fact economic growth last year was stronger than the average for the entire decade before the pandemic. the economy grew 3.3% in the final three months of 2023, for the year, a robust 2.5%. fueled by strong consumer spending and hiearing, smashing expectations >> continually throughout the year we have had strong growth, and in this case stronger growth than expected. >> reporter: president biden in superior, wisconsin. >> america now has the strongest growth, the lowest inflation rate of any major economy in the world. >> reporter: but polls show americans overwhelmingly disapprove of the president's handling of the economy. the ongoing effects of high inflation and the least-affordable housing market in a generation contribute to

many not feeling the economic growth but back in bensalem, tempered enthusiasm from josh burg. what it was in a letter grade? >> a minus a well-earned year for everybody here >> and our thanks to kristine for that report. still to come, what goes around comes around, even if it takes a little over half a decade we break down justin timberlake's first solo release. in year ch solo release. in year chx ♪♪ cold water can't clean tough stains? i'd say that myth is busted. turn to cold, with tide. [stomach growling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion♪ ♪upset stomach, diarrhea♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief when you need it most. febreze! your bathroom... needs febreze small spaces... the always-on, odor-fighting air freshener you set and forget.

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he dropped "selfish", the record is set for release on march 15 but you can catch j.t. on sat"saturday night live" as a musical guest. he can host and be musical guest, which he's done so many times. he's had the iconic four-letter word in a box. you know, not to bash the host now. y he's going to be great though. >> he just sort of disappeared hopefully he'll come back from that britney spears memoir now to jake gyllenhaal learning that every problem in life can be solved by-kicking. ♪ ♪ >> like he's mr. rogers or something. >> then he'll haul off >> really interesting guy, overall. >> the oscar-nominee stars as a ufc fighter turned bouncer in

the new row image-imagining of "roadhouse". debuts on prime video on march 21st and i have not seen the original "road house" there was like a block of time i missed the big movies. >> patrick swayze. it would be fun to watch the original and then watch this one. remember how jacked he is and how he had to work out and get his glow up. >> he is so good at everything, except for dating taylor swift >> as we know all too well it's been a big week for colman dough mimingo. he was cast as jackson, joe jackson. it began shooting this week. and if that wasn't enough, domingo will take on dual roles, directing and starring in a film about jazz legend nat king cole.

that's going to be spectacular, too. now he's making his way in "color purple. when we come back, a mars mission coming to an end and later, a group of potty-mouthed parrots. f potty-mouthed parrots. to 50 years with my best friend and my soulmate. [clanking] [gasping] nooo... aya... quick, the quicker picker upper! only bounty absorbs spills like a sponge.

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so you can feel lighter and more energetic. lighten everyday the metamucil way. feel less sluggish & weighed down after just 14 days. sign up for the 2 week challenge at metamucil.com and we're back with what you need to know "early today. nasa has officially ended its mission on mars after three years. its ingenuity helicopter finished its flight across the planet the helicopter is no longer capable of flight. the stanley cup craze continues after the lunar new year themed cups in honor of the dragon the tumblers sold out in 30 minutes. additional stock is only available in canada. netflix has signed a deal with warner bros. to license all six seasons of "sex in the

city." the series will be available to stream in april. african gray parrots at the lincolnshire wildlife park in the united kingdom have become popular for their foul language. they have been regrouped with non-swearing birds to improve their language but they could corrupt the others i wonder if they have a british accent f they have a british accent? ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world.

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championship loss. jared jared goff and the lions will try to make history. the ravens will try to cap their dominant year with their first trip to the big game since 2012. if it is a day ending in y, lebron james is probably making history. he scored his 20th all-star selection on thursday, breaking kareem jabbar's record lebron is joined by nikola jokic and kevin durant the bucks' dynamic duo of giannis and damian lillard lead the eastern conference along with joel embiid all-star weekend tips off on february 16. if just six months, more than 10,000 athletes will descend on paris for the summer

olympics keir simmons is there with a look at how the city is getting ready. >> reporter: the clock is ticking down to the paris games. the merchandise already on sale. the venues almost ready. we got a look at the athletes' village. it's going to be ready >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: this's the crucial question >> we're really early. >> reporter: six months from the games, and they tell us the olympic village will be ready in six weeks. 3,000 apartments for more than 14,000 athletes and staff. many venues are being row cycled many the 1924 paris olympic swimming pool is being refurbished. are you putting the water from the seine in here? >> no. >> reporter: other iconic landmarks will be venues

sunny choi will be there for team usa >> i'll be sitting on the plane and tears will be in my eyes >> reporter: as for the hometown fans, basketball is a huge draw with victor wembanyama expected to lead team france. which country is going to get gold >> france. france >> i think the u.s. is going to get it >> reporter: the u.s.? >> no. >> reporter: we'll see in just six months keir s keir simmons, nbc news, paris. >> it will be here before you know it. thanks for watching "early

you want to see who we are as americans? i'm peter dixon and in kenya... we built a hospital that provides maternal care. as a marine... we fought against the taliban and their crimes against women. and in hillary clinton's state department... we took on gender-based violence in the congo. now extremists are banning abortion and contraception right here at home. so, i'm running for congress to help stop them. for your family... and mine. i approved this message because this is who we are. an execution, th