another college campus in mourning. an 18-year-old student found dead in his kentucky dorm room. a fellow student under arrest in just the latest in a recent spate of high profile campus killings. nikki haley digs in, refusing to drop out of the 2024

race, even after a crushing defeat in her own home state. can she gain ground with a-takid the corner? a new round of truce talks set to begin between israel and hamas as israel plans a ground offensive in rafah. we have a live report. measles concerns expanding across the country. the outbreak in florida growing as more states confirm more cases of the infectious disease. after last week's widespread outage, at&t says it will compensate customers who lost service for several hours. but the credit amount already causing new frustrations. it's monday, february 26th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. an 18-year-old student at campbellsville university in kentucky has been found dead on campus. a fellow student now charged with murder in the death officials say. this is just the most recent in a spate of killings at american universities that has staff, students, and parents on edge. marissa parra starts off our coverage this morning.

>> reporter: a new murder charge and the latest case casting anxiety over yet another college campus. this time kentucky's campbellsville university. 18-year-old josiah kilman found dead in his dorm room yesterday sending the campus into lockdown until 21-year-old charles escalera was found and arrested in a barn, both of them students. a cause of death not yet released. this as we're learning new details over student killings in colorado springs. 26-year-old celie montgomery and student 24-year-old samuel knopp gunned down over a week ago in a university of colorado dorm room. knopp's roommate, 25-year-old student nicholas jordan charged with two counts of first-degree murder. newly unsealed documents show a history of tensions in the apartment following a january argument. jordan threatened knopp he would kill him and said there would be consequences if mr. jordan was asked to take out the trash again. >> i still feel really on edge. >> reporter: meanwhile, university of georgia reeling

after 22-year-old lincoln riley was murdered while running on campus thursday. 26-year-old jose antonio ibarra a non-u.s. citizen from venezuela charged with her murder. authorities said they didn't know each other. his brother, diego ibarra charged with possessing a fake greencard, together igniting a political firestorm among conservatives like georgia governor brian kemp, demanding president biden take federal action to secure the border in the wake of riley's death. >> you have people like these two individuals that came into the country and committed crimes and nobody was notified of those and why were they not sent back? >> reporter: meanwhile, a student-led petition has almost 25,000 signatures demanding the campus re-install emergency blue lights, call boxes used to quickly alert authorities to someone in trouble as students grapple with trying to find safety and closure. >> and our thanks to marissa for that report. new this morning, plans for a congressional summit at the white house. president biden is expected to

host the party leaders from both the house and the senate tomorrow. according to a white house official, the president will urge the lawmakers to pass the new foreign aid package, which recently passed in the senate with bipartisan support. the $95 billion proposal includes emergency funding for ukraine and israel. the bill has been stalled in the house. the president is also expected to push the lawmakers to avert a looming shutdown, which could begin on march 1. in the middle east this week, qatar will host a new round of mediated talks between hamas and israel with the aim oa finalizing a truce agreement. that's according to egyptian security sources speaking to reuters. the first round of talks would happen in doha before a second in cairo. there is no confirmation on that from either israel or hamas. for the latest let's turn to claudio lavanga. claudio, good morning. what do we know about the state of negotiations? >> good morning, frances. as you mentioned, there is no confirmation yet by hamas or israel on those new round of

talks, but according to israeli media, israel has proposed a six-week truce throughout the holy month for ramadan, which starts on march 10th in exchange of the release of 130 hostages still in the hands of hamas. again, there is no confirmation from hamas or israel on these details either. on the hamas, the leader of the political wing of hamas mohammed said to al jazeera "we are engaged in a fierce negotiation battle that is no less significant to the battle we are fighting on the ground. the priority now is to stop the aggression and provide relief to the people in the gaza strip, but so far there is no promise to stop the aggression on gaza lowe. meantime tension in the region continues to rise, not only of course because of the ongoing war in gaza, but on sunday, the u.s. and british fighter jets hit about 18 houthi targets in yemen following an increase in the attacks by the iran-backed

militias against vessels sailing through the red sea. last week, a british-owned vessel was struck by a missile fired by the houthi causing not only catastrophic damage, but also triggering environmental concerns because oil started leaking into the sea. on sunday, a senior houthi official said on its x accounts that the ship can be, and i quote, salvaged if aid trucks are allowed into frances. >> claudio lavanga for us. claudio, thank you. a dramatic story out of d.c. where a u.s. airman set himself on fire outside the israeli embassy. in graphic footage posted online, the man is heard shouting free palestine while burning. after first responders put out the flames, he was taken to the hospital where he remains in critical condition. the air force confirms the unnamed man is an active duty airman. in a statement, the israeli embassy acknowledged the incident, but did not comment

further. no one else was hurt. now to the latest in the race for the white house after defeating nikki haley in her home state of south carolina, donald trump is making steady progress toward earning the delegates he needs to secure the republican nomination. but haley is showing no signs of stepping aside. here is ali vitali. >> reporter: nikki haley not backing down. >> i'm a woman of my word. [ cheering ] i'm not giving up this fight. >> reporter: donald trump's sole rival sticking in the race, defiant, and barreling into michigan even after an historic loss in her home state of south carolina. >> and i'm grateful that today is not the end of our story. >> reporter: trump meanwhile, full steam ahead. >> an even bigger win than we anticipated. >> reporter: ignoring the primary and already wishing for the general election. >> in certain countries you're allowed to call your election date. if i had the right to do it i'd do it tomorrow. >> reporter: he's preparing the party for that, too, seeking to

install family members and allies to run the republican national committee. and next stretch of voting states looming large, michigan followed by super tuesday a week later. most of those winner take all states making it tough for haley to earn delegates unless she actually wins the state. haley's campaign manager last night. >> i think the thing we get hung up, and probably rightfully so is the delegate math. there are a lot of states that are winner take all and proportional states. we know the odds, but we also know the stakes. >> reporter: haley hitting ten states in the next ten days and sees a reason to keep going. >> i know 40% is not 50%, but i also know 40% is not some tiny group. [ cheering ] >> reporter: even the unlikeliest of voices like democrat gavin newsom urging haley on. >> i hope she stays in personally. >> reporter: even independent voter, even those who ultimately opted for trump. >> i think she should keep going. i think she's a smart woman and she should stay in it and see what happens.

>> our thanks to ali for that report. a democratic operative is now admitting to commissioning fake robocalls that impersonated joe biden and discouraged people from voting in last month's new hampshire democratic primary. political consultant steve cramer tells nbc news he created these deepfake calls which are now under investigation. he hired this new orleans street magician to make the file imitating the president's voice with ai software. cramer said the whole operation used what he called easy to use online technology and warned, quote, a mere $500 investment, anyone could replicate my intentional call. cramer had been working for biden rival dean phillips. both say phillips, who has denounced the calls, was not involved. boynton beach,florida said good riddance to a difficult chapter in the city's history. people gathered to burn three ordinances recently removed from the city's laws. the ordinances had segregated the community years ago. one woman remembered being angry

because her classes were integrated, but there were places she could not play with her friends after school. >> i remember we weren't even allowed to go to the beach, boynton beach at all. we had to go to a section called briny breezes where all the african americans had to attend to the beach. parks and recreations were the same way. they were segregated. >> city officials officially canceled the ordinances last week, 100 years after they were put into place. all right, some spring-like temperatures soaring in the middle of the country and out west, but the west bracing for heavy snow. michelle grossman is tracking both sides of the weather spectrum this week. hi, michelle. good morning. >> good morning, frances. yeah, it's going to be battle of the seasons today. temperatures 30, even 45 degrees above normal for this time of year. we're going break hundreds of records over the next several days in 25 states. all these little red dots on the map indicating where we could break the records. and we're going to see temperatures feeling spring-like from the central and u.s., even summer-like in the southern plains because we're going to see 91 degrees today the

forecast high in dallas. 80s in fort smith. we're looking at 60s in minneapolis. bismarck, chicago 66. could break a record there and looking at 76 in paducah. as we go throughout tomorrow, we're going see another really warm day. many spots feeling very summer-like in the south. spring-like throughout the eastern part of the nation. detroit 62 degrees. nashville 76. out west, we are tracking a snowstorm. we had the snow over the weekend. now into the intermountain west today. we're looking at feet of snow. so reallyheavy snow. gusty winds. winds gusting 65 to 70 miles per hour. i do want to give you a heads up tomorrow. the same syso the northeast. and hot for february in the southern plains. we're look at temperatures in the 90s. 93 today in san angelo.

all right, frances, that's your really warm forecast. >> okay. we'll be ready for it. thank you, michelle. officials are calling an end to a college tradition after things took a dangerous turn this weekend. students and fans stormed the basketball court after the duke-wake forest game saturday following wake forest's upset win. so in the crush of it all, 7 foot tall duke player kyle filipowski injured his knee and had to be carried off. afterwards athletic officials from duke's team called for a ban on court storming. coming up, at&t dials up a little compensation for customers after last week's massive outage. but first, we're back in a minute with the rule tstggo contain a measles outbreak in florida. ♪ i knew that i would ♪ ♪ na na nuh na nuh na nuh ♪ ooo, yum. hey! ♪ bum bum bum bum bum ♪ i feel good. when i have pain from arthritis i grab biofreeze. unlike voltaren, biofreeze provides fast-acting relief i can apply it to more areas of my body.

and it's nsaid-free. cool the pain so i can get back on the court. when your gut is out of balance, your body gives you signs. so if you're frustrated with occasional bloating... ♪♪ [stomach noises] gas... or abdominal discomfort... help stop the frustration and start taking align every day. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional digestive upsets. so you can enjoy life. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. we are back with growing concerns about a measles outbreak in florida that appears to be spreading. it confirms as michigan and indiana confirm their first cases in nearly five years. nbc's jesse kirsch has the latest. >> reporter: the highly infectious measles virus is

spreading across more of the country, including in florida, where a concerning outbreak is growing. >> right now i'm not sending my 10-year-old to school. >> there is definitely some concern about parents about their kids being exposed and getting sick. >> reporter: officials in the fort lauderdale area are now reporting a seventh measles case within days, this time in a child under age 5. and unlike the others in broward county, florida, this new case is from outside manatee bay elementary school where the other six were concerned. >> the virus can linger in the air for two hours, stay on surfaces. this is something very easy to give and get, especially in a school environment. >> reporter: florida is not the only state being hit by the virus, which can be deadly. on friday, michigan and indiana both reported their first measles case in almost fife years. and the latest cdc data shows more than 30 cases nationwide this year across more than a dozen states, with most cases related to international travel. that tally is already more than half of what was reported in the

united states for all of 2023. >> is there something about this year that making people more vulnerable to measles right now? >> yeah, it's a combination of people not getting their vaccines on schedule during the pandemic and then just not necessarily getting to the doctor's office. >> reporter: according to the cdc, measles complications can affect children under age 5 especially hard. symptoms can take two weeks to appear and may include high fever, cough, runny nose, red-eyes and a rash. expert says the best thing you can do is get your children vaccinated to keep them healthy. jesse kirsch, nbc news. still to come, there is less than two weeks until oscars. but hollywood isn't sagging when it comes to honoring their best. we bakre down the big winners from this weekend's s.a.g. and independent spirit awards, right after this. it removes 99% of grease and grime in half the time. dawn powerwash has 3 cleaning boosters

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um, i'm a little drunk. ah, i thought i could get drunk. >> okay, pedro pascal stole hearts at the 30th screening a or thes guild awards. he took home for the last of us. winning outstanding ensemble for their respective genres. on the film side, the "oppenheimer" juggernaut could not be stopped. the historical ethic won three awards, including outstanding motion picture cast. and the busy awards weekend continued on sunday with the independent spirit awards. the romantic drama "past lives" won top prize at the ceremony honoring the best independent filmmaking. jeffrey wright and da'vine took home the best actor awards. at the multiplex this weekend, the king of reggae was

crowned the repeat champ. ♪ >> you know, you're a superstar. >> i am a superstar. >> bob marley: one love took the top spot with the bio pic making $13.5 million. the big screen adaptation anime opened at two. wh . now to hollywood. remembering a bright star. actor kenneth mitchell died at the age of 49 on saturday after a 5 1/2 year fight with als. mitchell is best known for playing multiple characters in paramount pluses ""star trek" discovery." the show designed one of the characters around the use of a mitch wheelchair

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ooo, yum. hey! ♪ bum bum bum bum bum ♪ i feel good. we're back with what you need to know "early today." at&t's ceo has apologized for the widespread cellular outage that impacted thousands of customers on thursday. in a letter to employees, he said some customers will receive a $5 credit to compensate for the incident. google is suspending its ai generation feature for making pictures of people after it created inaccurate historical photos. in a statement, google said it is working to improve these kinds of depictions immediately on its gemini chatbot. human mobile devices is partnering with mattel to launch barbie flip phone. it will have buttons instead of a touch screen. it also will not be connected to

the internet. it's not a smartphone like most cell phones are these days. a 22-year-old from california is selling a rare sealed copy of the legendary zelda game from the first production run. it's now going for more than 700,000 at auction. "early todaywi brit ck. lle gh , your body gives you signs. so if you're frustrated with occasional bloating... ♪♪ [stomach noises] gas... or abdominal discomfort... help stop the frustration and start taking align every day. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional digestive upsets. so you can enjoy life. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. when i have pain from arthritis i grab biofreeze. unlike voltaren, biofreeze provides fast-acting relief i can apply it to more areas of my body. and it's nsaid-free. cool the pain

so i can get back on the court. want the power of 5 serum benefits in 1? olay super serum activates on skin to hydrate, smooth, visibly firm, brighten, and improve texture. it's my best skin yet. olay swifties in australia came in with the rain for the most recent leg of the eras tour. concertgoers had to drop everything now and meet in the pouring rain after lightning forced a temporary evacuation in sydney. but they're ready to dance in the storm in their best dresses down under. nbc's meagan fitzgerald has more.

>> reporter: taylor swift mania has made its way down under, and the aussies coming out in droves. and to say these die-hard fans braving rain and stormy weather are excited is an understatement. >> we've come here. i don't care if i get struck by lightning. i'm happy to be here. i'll take one for the team. just happy to be here. >> reporter: but the lightning and bad weather caused the concert to be delayed. fans even having to temporarily evacuate for their own safety. but the weather wasn't enough to stop fans from coming in from across the region. >> and we drove down for ten hours playing taylor swift on repeat just to come watch her at the eras tour. >> reporter: and even sydney airport getting pumped, tweeting this picture with a plane with lyrics from blank spaces. and among the 80,000 who packed the arena for opening night, celebrities like katy perry and rita ora posting on instagram. katy posting got to see an old friend shine tonight.

orasayinging taye-taye always delivers. he and swift holding hands and feeding kangaroos at the sydney zoo. but the excitement for swift also felt for local businesses and economies where scherr tours. business any is expecting to see a massive economic boost to the tune of $133 million australian dollars from swifties desending on the city. so it's not just fans who are stoked about tay-tay. it's a win-win for every city swift sweeps through. meagan fitzgerald, nbc news, london. >> we see it city after city. a north carolina correctional facility has welcomed the first special needs dog into its new leash in life program. simone is a deaf 2-year-old mix, and she hasn't let her lack of hearing slow down her training. >> we're halfway in, and she already has sit, down, stay,

place, come, walks good on the leash, does a few tricks. >> the dogs live here with the men for ten weeks. they have their own doggy dorm right behind us. and they are taught obedience, advanced obedience, house training, crate training. >> trainers like terry call the program life-changing. he says he loves working with the dogs through the program and hopes simone can find a loving home, despite her disability. just a matter of time. i'm sure she will. fantastic for watching "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great monday.

two years after russia invaded his country, ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy sits down with our own richard engel. hear his message to american lawmakers. nikki haley coming in second in her home state. the landslide victory from donald trump has much of the party calling for haley to drop ou