nikki haley fights on, the republican hopeful vowing to stay in the race after a crushing defeatto donald trump in her home state this weekend. we are live with the major blow to her funding network following her south carolina loss. is another ceasefire on the horizon? the new sign of progress in

talks between israel and hamas that could pause the fighting and speed up the release of more hostages. breaking overnight, a manhunt under way for an escaped murder suspect in louisiana, how authorities say the man was able to get out of the back seat of a deputy's suv and then stole the vehicle. the new body camera footage from a massive house explosion in michigan, the homeowner escaping just in the nick of time. phoning it in? the mixed reception for at&t's plan to pay back customers for last week's nationwide outage. and the double dose of good news for a navy sailor who had two dreams come true in less than a week. it's monday, february 26th. "early today" starts right now. hi there, glad to be back with you, i'm frances rivera. nikki haley is not giving up her fight against donald trump, even though the odds are stacked against her. trump has won every nominating contest so far, including haley's home state of south carolina. for the latest we're joined by

nbc's alice barr. hi, alice, good morning. the haley campaign is also facing a financial setback this morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. and this could potentially be even more damaging, overnight nbc news learning that some major donors are dropping their support for nikki haley's campaign. the political network largely funded by billionaire charles koch says it will no longer be sending funds to support haley. according to an email obtained by nbc news the group says it no longer believes more of its money can make a difference, but the haley campaign does not seem deterred, they say they've raised a million dollars in grassroots donations since the south carolina primary loss and that they have the fuel to keep going. haley is looking ahead to the primary tomorrow in michigan. she held a rally there last night where she argued that former president trump does not have the support to win a general election. >> he as a republican incumbent

didn't get 40% of the vote of the primary. he's not going to get the 40% if he is not willing to change and do something that acknowledges the 40%. and why should the 40% have to cave to him? >> reporter: super tuesday is one week after the michigan primary, that's one week from tomorrow. many of those contests are winner take all states, meaning it will be hard for haley to pick up any delegates. the trump campaign believes he will be able to have this nomination locked up by the end of march. frances. >> and we're almost there. alice, thank you. in the middle east this week qatar will host a new round of mediated talks between hamas and israel with the aim of finalizing a truce agreement, that's a corporation to egyptian security sources. the first round of talks would happen in doha before a second one in cairo. there is no confirmation on that from either israel or hamas. for the latest let's go live to

claudio lavanga. what do we know about the state of the negotiations? >> reporter: good morning, frances. as you mentioned, neither hamas nor israel have officially confirmed this new round of talks in doha that you mentioned but according to israeli media israel has proposed a six-week truce throughout the holy mount of ramadan which this year starts on march 10, in exchange of the release of 130 hostages still in the hands of hamas. again, no confirmation about this detail, either by either side. now, as for hamas, the leader of its political wing said on al jazeera and i quote, we are engaged in a fierce political and negotiation battle that is no less significant than the battle we're 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. in the meantime tensions continue to rise in the region, not only because of course the

ongoing war in gaza, but also on sunday american and british fighter jets targeted about 18 houthi targets in yemen after the iranian-backed militias continue, even increased the attacks on vessels sailing through the red sea. last week a missile fired by the houthis from yemen struck a british-owned ship causing not only catastrophic damage, but also causing -- or triggering environmental concerns because oil started leaking into the sea. now, on sunday a senior houthi official said on its x account that the ship can be, and i quote, salvaged if aid trucks are allowed into gaza. frances. >> claudio, thank you. now to 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 breaking news in louisiana, authorities are searching for an escaped inmate. leon ruffin is a second-degree murder suspect who was in custody in jefferson parish. the suspect had been transported for medical treatment and on the way back he managed to pepper spray a deputy and steal her suv. they do not know how he was able to get pepper spray. the vehicle was found overnight but the inmate was not, the sheriff warns, that ruffin is dangerous. an 18-year-old student at campbell'sville university in kentucky was found dead on campus. a fellow student is charged with the murder in the death. the discovery of the dead body in the dorm room prompted university authorities to lock down the campus. a man was arrested off campus in

a barn. a cause of death has not been released. now to michigan where newly released police body cam video shows the moments after a terrifying home explosion. nbc's maggie vespa has the details. >> reporter: like something out of a disaster movie, body camera video just released by ann arbor police gives a firsthand look at the jaw dropping home explosion that rocked this quiet michigan neighborhood. >> what did you think when you saw how big this was? >> definitely it was a surprise for me. i was really shocked. >> oh, my god there's been an explosion across the street. >> reporter: beginning with 911 calls and dash cam video as police raced toward the scene, the nearly two-minute clip shows a neighbor blurred by police running toward officer zach cunningham. >> is anybody there that you know of? >> somebody was in there. >> the other officer very quickly found the man who they thought was inside, it turns out

thankfully he wasn't, he was outside the home. >> correct. i think officer betts was able to locate him within the first 30 to 60 seconds of us being on scene. >> everybody back off. >> reporter: officers scrambled to clear the area, moments later the home completely caves in. >> the chimney, a brick chimney, the brick makes it across the street into the neighbor's yard. >> it scared the living daylights out of me. >> reporter: our affiliate was there as neighbors and the city's fire chief pieced together what happened. >> we do have reports that propane was possibly being used inside of the house for heating. >> reporter: investigators later confirming propane tanks caused the explosion, adding no other homes were damaged and the man who lived there, in his 70s, was injured, but survived. he and his neighbors now left with a terrifying story to tell, caught on camera. >> our thanks to maggie for that

report. a democratic operative is admit to go 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 those 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 home operation used what he called easy to use technology online and warned, quote, with a mere $500 investment anyone can replicate my intentional call. cramer had been working for biden rival dean phillips. both say phillips who has denounced the calls was not involved. this morning the supreme court will hear two cases that could have sweeping implications for social media moderation. the cases center on laws passed in texas and florida that make it harder for social media platforms to remove certain posts or accounts. both states argue the platforms were unfairly sensors the views

of more conservative users but tech groups bringing the cases say the laws infringe on the company's first amendment right to make decisions about their plat platforms. officials are calling to end a college tradition after things took a dangerous turn over the weekend. students and fans stormed the basketball court. in the crush of it all 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. the east is getting a taste of spring and the west is stuck in the snow. michelle grossman is tracking both sides of the weather spectrum this morning. good morning. >> good morning. yeah, it's a battle of the seasons. we will see temperatures soaring 30 if not 45 degrees above normal for this time of year in portions of the central plains, northern plains, into the east, the southern plains will feel like summer in some spots and out west we're tracking the snow. starting with the wrarmt first, we are tracking the chance of breaking records over 25 states, in 25 states and over 100

records could be broken over the next three days. this is what it looks like for today, we are looking at 91 degrees in dallas, the record is 90 degrees. 80s in amarillo, el paso, port smith, 70s in portions of the tennessee valley. looking at 66 degrees as a high today in chicago. the record there is 64. the warm stays in place whom, temperatures in the 80s in oklahoma city, pinebluff, 90 degrees in san angelo, 60s once again in the midwest, detroit 62 degrees, 61 syracuse. out west heavy snow and really gusty winds, winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour in some spots. this same storm system just a heads up for tomorrow, we could see strong to severe storms it's going to feel summer like,

hot in the southern plains today, temperatures soaring into the 90s, 91 degrees today in dallas. all right. that's your warm monday forecast. >> thank you, michelle. now to history maker on horseback. earlier this month 25-year-old shariah harris became the first black woman to play in the u.s. women's polo championship. harris whose team made it to the semi-finals has been playing the sport since the age of 8, this black history month she shared a message to the rising number of black girls getting involved in polo. >> if you don't see anyone who looks like you, that's okay, it might not feel okay at the time, but it's okay because you never know if you will be the catalyst. >> great message. and when she's not on horseback harris is a nurse in pennsylvania. coming up, the promising new drug to fight food allergies. but first at&t gives the digits to pay back customers for last week's nationwide outage. ♪ i knew that i would ♪ ♪ na na nuh na nuh na nuh ♪ ooo, yum. hey!

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housing market is starting to thaw ahead of spring. at&t is looking to reconnect with customers after last week's outage. s we have those details. good morning. >> good morning. happy monday to you and the team. well, when it comes to at&t, they said they will give $5 to customers that were impacted by a network outage that took place last week. so if you are among those customers that were impacted by this, at&t says you can expect a $5 credit on your account within two billing periods. now, it's important to keep in mind as well that many people were impacted by this, it lasted for several hours really, but at&t said it was due to a coding error, not any sort of cyber attack. elsewhere, also starting to see some positive developments in the housing market. we saw home sales picking up in

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role in "the last of us." "succession" and "the bear" won outstanding for their respective categories. >> and the busy awards weekend continued on sunday with the independent spirit awards for "past lives" won the top prize at the ceremony honoring the best in independent film making. jeffrey write took home a top acting award for "american fiction." >> at the multiplex the king of reggae was crowned the repeat champ. >> reggae is the people's music. >> you know you're a superstar. >> "bob marley: one love" took the top spot at the box office for the second weekend in a row with the biopic making $13.5 million.

the big screen adaptation of the demon slayer anime opened at number two with $11 million, while "ordinary angels" opened at three with $6.5 million. now to hollywood remembering a bright star, actor kenneth mitchell died at the age of 49 on saturday after a five and a half year fight with als. he is best known for playing multiple characters in "star trek" discovery. the show designed one of those characters around his use of a wheelchair which he had used since 2019. mitchell is known for his appearances in films including "captain marvel" and "miracle." a drug approved over two decades ago found to reduce kids' risk of severe allergic reaction > lce to the show. an mlb umpire makes history at spring training. to soothe her with ease. puffs plus lotion is gentle on sensitive skin and locks in moisture to provide soothing relief. a nose in need

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passengers are quarantined this morning after a stomach bug outbreak. the ship was in a 12-day trip while guests began getting sick. an asthma drug can significantly reduce the risk of life-threatening reactions in children with severe food allergies. the drug xolair allows those with allergies to tolerate higher doses of allergenic foods before developing a reaction after accidental exposure. and there's jen pawol, who has become the first woman to ump an mlb spring game since 2007. it was eight years to make the jump from the minors to the major leagues in major league baseball spring training. this past weekend marked her historic debut at the astros/nationals spring contest. i'm sure she got a lot of cheers. motorola unveiled a bendable phone last october and they are toying with the idea again as this year's mobile world

congress kicks off today. when it's flat it looks like a regular phone but you can easily sla.it on your wrist and it turns into a watch or prop it up and use it as a kick stand. the company still has not made any plans to sell it. you will hear from us here when they do. "early today" will be right back. 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. 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 it was not just one dream come true, but two for a navy sailor. gadi schwartz has that and some of our other favorite stories from the past week. >> reporter: there were so many moments celebrating what it means to be an american. ♪ o, say can you see ♪

>> reporter: at a hotel in kentucky -- ♪ by the dawn's early light ♪ >> reporter: students there for a music conference all gathered to sing the national anthem. ♪ at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ >> reporter: meanwhile, near salt lake city -- >> raise your hand if you love mr. favio. >> reporter: hundreds of students surprised their beloved custodian favio gonzalez at foothills elementary school. >> favio, favio. >> reporter: you can see favio moved by the celebration. the whole school honoring him and his wife after they became u.s. citizens. ♪ the stripes and bright

stars ♪ >> reporter: back in kentucky those high schoolers singing night after night. ♪ oer the ramparts we watched ♪ >> reporter: and you won't believe this american dream come true. that's navy sailor roger rodriguez with his wife ashley meeting their newborn baby daughter lila for the very first time. >> there's a joy i cannot describe. i don't cry easily, but i held her and i was like this is part of me. this is my baby. i love her. she's beautiful. >> we haven't been together for several months so it was very much feeling more complete. >> reporter: but that's not all. in that one week, one week,

roger who is from venezuela also became a u.s. citizen and graduated from boot camp. for this young family of faith, it's a new chapter filled with love and hope. >> becoming a u.s. citizen was like a cherry on the pie. i just want to pay to the united states my gratitude and i think the best way of doing this is serving. i feel like i'm living the dream. i'm living the dream

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