another shutdown showdown taking place on capitol hill we're live with that and the president's new comments on the border battle overnight. new this morning bombshell allegations against

sean colmes, tbetter knownbette diddy. the growing fears for an american couple who disappeared after escaped prisoners hijacked their yacht. maybe the question's not where's the beef but when's it cheaper? and every great headline begins with two simple words florida man. now a new competition is celebrating the best and the brightest of the sunshine state. from evading police to wrestling over beer. we'll take you inside the florida man games. it's tuesday, february 27. "early today" starts right now hi there glad to be with you. i'm frances rivera we begin with the growing pressure on capitol hill to reach a deal to keep the government open. today president biden will meet with the four top congressional leaders at the white house to try to find a slauolution to the

spending showdown. brie, good morning if these talks aren't productive, we could end up with this week ending with a shutdown >> reporter: that's right, good morning, frances there is a friday night deadline to strike a deal if no agreement is reached, about a third of the government would shut down, impacting depa departments like the fda the veteran's affairs. the meeting will be about more than just averting a shutdown. another focus will be on passing a national security package that includes aid for ukraine and israel and the topic of kbr immigration is also likely to come up. president biden is blaming trump. he said this on late night with seth meyers. >> i was told that trump was

picking up the phone calling speaker of the house saying don't let it pass. why? not because he doesn't think it's good but it will benefit biden. he's saying oh, don't do that, it will help biden help biden it's not about biden, it's about the united states of america look it just -- i don't want to get started. [ laughter ] >> reporter: the white house has announced that president biden will visit the southern border on thursday, the same day donald trump is expected to travel to eagle pass, texas. president biden will be in brownsville, texas, a little over 300 miles away. immigration is a major issue for both of their campaigns as they look ahead to the general election >> brie, thanks. there is growing fallout and anger over the murder of a georgia student nakmed laken

riley >> thank you all so much for being here today >> reporter: motions on height as the students remember 22-year-old laken riley, murdered on campus last thursday while she was out running. tribute tributes pouring in. the suspect charged, 26-year-old jose antonio ibarra. police say they didn't know each other. >> i think this was a crime of opportunity. >> reporter: immigration officials say ibarra, a venezuelan citizen was arrested when he illegally entered the u.s. in 2022 he was arrested for endangering a child under 17 and released both times >> an unwillingness by this white house to secure the southern border. >> reporter: riley's death igniting a political firestorm state house speaker john burns

indicating that the georgia house will take steps on illegal immigration and look at ways to strengthen the security of our state. outrage growing on social media from female runners across the country. >> i shouldn't have to worry about being killed on my run >> reporter: and kim on the uga campus afraid to walk alone. some carrying pepper spray for the first time from anxiety to anguish. emotions on full display >> thicampus is really heavy rit now. >> reporter: grieving the loss of a life and their sense of safety athens, georgia. let's turn now to the race for the white house. it is primary day in michigan. nikki haley is ramping up attacks on donald trump and vowing to stay in the race through super tuesday, which is a week away. president biden is facing

backlash from the large arab-american community. the cease-fire in gaza could be just a week away, according to the president while he was at a taping at that episode of late night with seth meyers, a reporter asked about mediation efforts in the middle east and here's what the president said >> my national security advisor tells me that where he' close chlt we're close >> do we know what this deal might look like? >> reporter: reuters has been reporting that a senior hamas official says biden's remarks are premature and do not reflect the situation on the ground. the senior hamas official told reuters there are still gapsto

be breached before a deal can be reached. israel is willing to agree to a temporary cease-fire in exchange for all of the hostages still in the hands of hamas hamas on the other side says it wants a permanent end to all the conflict before it hands over the hostages it kind of looks like we're back to square one. but if you look at news reports, it looks like something is moving they are saying that israel is ready to release 400 palestinian prisoners in exchange of 40 hostages, mainly women and elderly men. meanwhile, israel is saying they are willing to agree to a two-week cease-fire across the holy month of ramadan in exchange for the release of all the 134 hostages, and considering the ramadan this year starts on march 10th, it

looks like the clock is ticking here back to you. >> claudio, thank you. now to a nbc news exclusive. hip-hop mogul, sean "diddy" combs has been sued by a producer the suit alleges that combs forced jones to engage in unwelcomed sex acts with prostitutes that he himself had to procure for the star's lavish parties. he is seeking $30 million. an attorney for combs says the reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines. jones says his claims are supported by hours of video and audio. an american couple in the caribbean vanishes after escaped prisoners hijacked their boat. here's liz kreutz.

>> reporter: terror in the caribbean. authorities say a retired couple from virginia who went missing while sailing off the coast of granada are believed to be dead after their yacht was allegedly hijacked by escaped prisoners from the island. >> information suggests that while traveling between granada and st. vincent they dispose of the occupants. >> reporter: kathy brandle and ra ralph hendry were last heard from the same day these men escaped from their holding cell. granada police say there's evidence the prisoners may have attacked the couple and thrown them overboard >> it's unimaginable >> reporter: the couple's sons, nick and brian are i are in theb

cran, d cari caribbean, desperate to find out what happened. >> it seems like a bad hollywood movie. >> reporter: have you ever heard of anything like this happening? >> never >> reporter: rob is the couple's friend and emergency contact >> it's hard to think of their last moments with the idea they may have been thrown over alive. it's difficult to conceive for a friend >> reporter: the three suspects are back in custody, but with cat kathy and ralph still missing and presumed dead, there are more questions than answers. severe weather makes its way into the midwest bringing heavy rain angie lassman is tracking exactly what to expect >> re >> we've got the rain, potentially some snow. a large area of the country, specifically the midwest that's going to see the potential for severe weather through the afternoon, evening and year night hours tonight, stretching from detroit down through pours of the tennessee valley.

41 millionpeople at risk it does include the potential for hail, up to golf ball size this is the area where we're looking for the greatest chance to see that, and also tornados there's the storm system we're going to watch also some of that heavy rain it will work out towards the east coast as we get into tomorrow and be offshore before you know it, but not before dumping a little bit of rain along the way. we've also got really cold air behind it. you can see 20s in rapid city, a big difference from places like wichita, upper 70s chicago will hit 77 degrees today but has a big temperature tumble as we get into tomorrow a high of 27 degrees for tomorrow temperatures will continue to be in the mid-60s for80s in dallas.

mid-70s in amarillo. and partly cloudy skies expected in new orleans >> thanks so much, angie we're back in a moment with why the biden administration wants to bag a grocery store merger why wendy's menu may cost more, depending on time and demand more, depending on time a demand. how do i clean an aioli stain? thankfully, tide's the answer to almost all of them. why do we even buy napkins? use tide. can cold water clean white socks? it can with tide. do i need to pretreat guacamole? not with tide. this is chocolate, right? -just use... -tide...yeah. no matter who's doing it, on what cycle, or in what temperature, tide works. so i can focus on all the other questions. do crabs have eyebrows? ahh... for all of life's laundry questions, it's got to be tide. when your gut is out of balance, your body gives you signs. so if you're frustrated with occasional bloating...

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kroger and albertson's they say it will eliminate fierce competition between kroger and albertson's and reed llead to higher prices we're talking about the second largest grocer behind walmart and the fourth largest grocer. the fear is that they'll eat up competition and become muching abouter much bigger players. on the other side, we've been speaking about wendy's, right? this is very interesting according to location, time and demand, prices may begin to increase or decrease, dependent on that. almost uber style, when you order a uber and there's perhaps

a price surge, not just because of demand, that's pretty much what wendy's is saying here. they're investing $20 million to roll out digital menu logs which could ultimately be changed at very short notice in order to get a little bit more out of consumers. whether consumers will like this or not, or just go through on the down times will be interesting to look out for. >> if not, there's alwaysburg are k burger king and mcdonald's hollywood's biggest night. the latest on an oscar showstopper from ryan gosling. showstopper from ryan gosling. adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of illness-causing bacteria detergents leave behind. clean is good. sanitized is better. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand. and wakes up feeling like himself.

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coming >> after more than two decades, kevin costner is making his grand return to the director's chair and old west that's his new multi-part saga, it features a sprawling cast through a tale of civil war era america. part one hits theaters june 28 not soon after, part two on august 16. then a part three and part four. this is going to be an amazing, as you can see already >> it looks like, sin matically, just gorgeous. now to an oscar ceremony that will be overflowing with kennergy r ryan gosling will perform "i'm just ken" at the awards. he is up for best supporting

actor in "barbie" and previously questioned whether the star would be asked to perform. it went viral for this reaction after the show-stopping tune won best song at the ceremony. we know he's up against billie eilish's song. we'll see what happens with this one. >> especially performing it live on a stage for everybody to see. we know he's got the performance chops. can't wait to see that it's already been a big week for beyonce. her new single received an honor of a cover from a hollywood power couple you're about to see. ♪ ♪ >> hoo hey! ♪ ♪ >> that's kevin bacon and keyra

sedgwick serenading some of their farm animals it is the second rendition of a beyonce song following his cover of "heated" from 2022's "renaissance". what a powerhouse now infiltrating the country world and just killing it. >> i loved watching it can't wait for more. when we come back, a new york city medical school gets a donation and krispy kreme, something sweet. and krispy kreme, something sweet. simparica trio is the first chew with triple protection. whoa fleas! and ticks! (♪♪) intestinal worms! whoa! heartworm disease! no problem with simparica trio! this drug class has been associated with neurologic adverse reactions including seizures. use with caution in dogs with a history of these disorders. for winning protection— go with simparica trio.

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now for a look at what you need to know "early today. students' albert einstein college of medicine in the bronx will now earn a free education $1 billion was donated to the school, believed to be the largest doenation to a medical school in history.

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clean is good. sanitized is better. ♪♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing, non-medicated vicks vapors. easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick. and try vicks vaposhower for steamy vicks vapors. you've seen the headlines about the ever erratic nflorida man, but now it's an annual competition. sam brock was there. >> reporter: surrounding a large field in st. augustine, florida, people wait to pile in by the

hundreds anticipation growing for the first florida man competition that's one part gladiators, one part cops -- >> oh, he's running! >> reporter: one part mullet mania. you might be asking, what is a florida man, and why are we celebrating him? >> like redneck olympics, florida edition. >> reporter: that doesn't explain why they find themselves competing. so we asked the radio host and podcaster who founded the inaugural event. >> nobody's ever done a florida man festival before. i thought let's do something where people cannens enjoy themselves and laugh and not go to jail for it how great would it be if there as a headline that said florida man arrested at the florida man games. >> reporter: first, you got to

get out of the police car. run over here, get over the first fence, hopefully without falling, get over the second fence. take the alligator through the drive through window come with me, knock over a cow tires, and a pool with an iguana inside, all without getting caught by police this signature display of florida man living stole the show with the assist of the st. john's county sheriff's office, obviously not to be attempted in real life. the weaponized pool noodle duel to stealing a catalytic converter, then a bike before completing an obstacle course of cones. yet for some of the activities, it's the kind of thing you likely only do when you're drunk, but not in this case. i've had to ride out hurricanes before i've never had to ride on a

mechanical dplalligator until n. things started out fine enough, then the florida man ending for me the day had a little bit of it all. justin from st. augustine, powering his team, hanky spanky, to victory, putting the world on notice, florida man is more than just a mystique. it's a lifestyle sam brock, nbc news, st. augustine, florida >> wouldn't be "early today" thout the floridwi

what do i see in peter dixon? i see my husband... the father of our girls. i see a public servant. a man who served under secretary clinton in the state department... where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. i see a fighter, a tenacious problem-solver... who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. because he sees a better future for all of us. i'm peter dixon and i approved this message. the kpa. way way, >>my hope is by next friday we'll have a cease-fire. >> president biden signaling hope for a cease-fire as israe