breaking overnight, donald trump is kicked offer th the ba in illinois as the current and former president head to the border an out of control fire

scorching the texas panhandle, fueled by record heat and high winds. the inferno is exploding in size our angie lassman is tracking whether any relief is on the way. a miraculous it escape for passengers of a helicopter that came crashing down anheuser busch and the teamsters strike a last-minute deal to keep the beer flowing. we'll take you inside the tense negotiations and the heartwarming reunion that's sure to make your morning. an army dad surprises his twins after serving nearly a year overseas it's february 29 get ready to leap into march early today starts right now glad you could be with me, i'm frances rivera we begin with the latest in the l legal battles of donald trump. a judge in illinois has ruled

that donald trump can be removed from the primary ballot. what's the impact of this decision in illinois >> reporter: this is very similar to the rulings in maine and colorado where it was also decided that former president trump should be disqualified from running for office because of his actions surrounding january 6. but in all three states, those rulings are on hold so appeals can be heard and the states are waiting for the supreme court to rule on the colorado case. the justices recently heard arguments and could release a decision any day now and they will also weigh in on a case in which they'll decide whether he can use presidential immunity in the criminal election interference case mr. trump has said he believed he is being wrongly prosecuted for official actions taken while in office. >> if you have a president that

doesn't have immunity, he's never going to be free to do anything, because the opposing party will always indict him as soon as he leaves the white house. >> reporter: the court says it will hear the case beginning the week of april 22nd, which will further delay any trial in this case, likely for months. today former president trump is expected to visit eagle pass, texas. and at the same time, president joe biden plans to travel to another area along the texas border a senior biden administration tells nbc news that they welcome this split screen. frances? >> brie jackson for us, thank you. congress has struck a deal to avert a government shutdown, but only for a while the bipartisan deal will fund part of the government two funding deadlines that were rapidly approaching will be extended to march 8 and march 22nd respectively. still, the house and senate need to pass the stopgap measure by the end of tomorrow to avert a partial shutdown while a house vote is set for today, senate rules require a

vote from all 100 senators there was a surprised of announcement in the senate senator mitch mcconnell announcing he will step down from his leadership role in september. he is the longest-servine longe leadership senator he says it's time for a new generation to take over. >> father time remains undefeated i'm no longer the young man sitting in the back hoping colleagues will. >> reporemember my name >> in the house, tom suozzi was sworn in turning to texas where at least one person has died after

rapidly-spreading wildfires are burning across the state's panhandle. the blazes have devoured a combined 1 million acres here's guad venegas. >> reporter: the series of exploding wildfires tearing across northern texas leaving a path of destruction. massive walls of fire incinerating homes, cars and businesses and overwhelming first responders flames surround roads as residents flee to safety the smokehouse creek fire, the largest of at least five fiefrns f five fires in the panhandle the unfolding catastrophe fueled by strong winds, unseasonably high temperatures and dry grass, forcing cattle in hutchinson county to run from the flames. officials telling residents in the town of fritsch to prepare themse

themselves w themselves as 100 homes could be destroyed. >> there was a whole lot of smoke and a whole lot of heat. it was hard to breathe >> reporter: the governor issuing disaster declarations for 60counties, urging rescounts kenprecautions. guad venegas, nbc news, fritsch, texas. in moscow, russian president vladimir putin's annual state of the nation speech is getting under way right now. putin is expected to outline plans for the next presidential term elections are scheduled for about two weeks from now for the latest, let's go live to

matt what should we be looking out in this speech? >> reporter: we're still waiting for president putin to begin his address. but luckily this morning we've seen his spokesman dmitry peskov setting the stage. putin today is giving a state of the nation address and appearing in his capacity as a presidential candidate, and so, in a lot of ways, the kremlin is starting to tease the address this morning as a sort of presentation of a platform for an election in two weeks and more than just a platform for the next term, the kremlin is saying that what g that what goi we're going to see, we're going to see bold

talk about the future. and the war in ukraine will be a big topic, but the economy, i think, as the primary focus going into the election, russians generally speaking only care about the war so far as it affects the economy. that's going to be the big thing on the agenda for him. i don't expect we'll hear a lot about the several americans that russia has in custody, one of them detained just in the past two weeks, ksenia karelina. we might not hear about that from putin, we'll be keeping an eye on it. >> certainly as important as what he says is what he doesn't say. the state of texas last night put to death convicted doubling murderer ivan cantu he used his final words to insist he was innocent he had long claimed that his conviction more than 20 years

ago was based on false testimony and questionable evidence. the state of idaho failed an execution yesterday. serial killer thomas yeweugene creech is their longest-serving death row inmate they are considering their next move lawyers for creech have filed a motion for a stay. wicked weather plaguing the midwest with tornados ripping through ohio, indiana, michigan and illinois at o'hare, hundreds huddled in the airport's emergency shelter. an entire apartment complex was destroyed, leaving more than 50 people homeless. the dangerous storm dropping heavy rain and golf ball sized hail a tornado blew through an airport in ohio. for more on where the system is headed, let's bring in angie

lassman. it seems like this part of the country needs a break after all this >> they sure do. they're going to get it. the system is long gone, but we're still dealing with wind alerts and gusty conditions. new york expecting 30 to 35 mile-per-hour wind gusts, and that's the same kind of story that we'll see up through parts of boston, buffalo and as we go through the day today we'll likely start to see those winds relax, especially as we get into the evening hours tonight. and much-needed rain over parts of the country that have been dealing with these wildfires we're going to continue to see these scattered showers developing over parts of the southern plains today. by tomorrow a big swath of the northeast is going to get in on the action the rain is mostly focussed across the southeast but notice the wintry precip that will make travel a little difficult for folks there. meanwhile, much chillier temperatures across the northeast, compared to what we dealt with yesterday 40s in new york. raleigh only topping out at 53

degrees today. by the time we get into d rapids dealing with cloudy conditions 50 degrees in dallas today and 57 for houston and that's a look at your forecast, frances. terrifying video out of medellin, colombia, showing the moment a helicopter took off from a building. watch it spiral out of control, and then it crashes seconds later, leaving the chopper and its passengers wedged right between those two structures texas native francisco salass was on board and described the ordeal >> i said but we're perfectly wedged here. you guys cannot move and we've got to wait for help i really just felt that if i didn't keep the positive energy

that that negative energy, i don't know, maybe it causes people to freak out. >> and it helped all the passengers survived but took three hours to rescue them. local authorities are suspending all helicopter flights as they investigate that crash "early today" is back in a "early today" is back in a minute (singing) with a new l good ♪ tdeal to keep the beer flowing deal to keep the beer flowing. ♪ na na nuh na nuh na nuh ♪ ooo, yum. hey! ♪ bum bum bum bum bum ♪ i feel good. when you smell the amazing scent of gain flings... time stops. (♪♪) your heart races. (♪♪) your eyes close. (♪♪) and you realize you're in love... steve? with a laundry detergent.

gain flings. seriously good scent. and 50% more fresh. now that's love at first sniff. ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop, and powerful vicks vapors to vaporize sore throat pain. vicks vapocool drops. vaporize sore throat pain. another round of layoffs are hitting the already-battered video game industry. but first there's a tentative deal on top between the teamsters and anheuser busch good morning, sylvia >> good morning. the largest u.s. brewer has announced they've reached a deal with workers on witnessednesdayt a day before they were due to go

on strike. they reached a five-year tentat tentative deal that would significantly improve pay and benefits elsewhere elsewhere, employees at ea are not getting such goodnews. 5% of the workforce will be laid off. and they're stopping work on some of the games, and in addition, they're reducing their office space as part of a restructuring plan, frances. >> okay, sylvia, thank you so much there's a new study in raising health concerns about recreational marijuana the research found that people who use cannabis every day primarily through smoking had a 25% increased risk of haeart attack this is one of the largest studies to lockok at cannabis ad heart health reviewing data from nearly 435,000 americans.

still to come, sydney s sweeney traps an snl cast member in her net t member in her net. to severe plaque psoriasis symptoms define me... emerge as you. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 4 months... ...and the majority stayed clearer, at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge as you. emerge tremfyant®. ask you doctor about tremfya®. mr. clean magic eraser powers through tough messes. so it makes it look like i spent hours cleaning, and you know i didn't. it makes my running shoe look like new! it's amazing. it's so good. it makes it look like i have magical powers. magic eraser and sheets make cleaning look easy. 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. mom's gonna love this! alright kids come on. it's time for bed! ( ♪♪ ) good morning, mr. snuggles. make breakfast special with the cocoa and hazelnutty goodness of nutella. ( ♪♪ ) you can't leave without cuddles. but, you also can't leave covered in hair. with bounce pet, you can cuddle and brush that hair off. bounce, it's the sheet. always dry scoop before you run. listen to me, the hot dog diet got me shredded. it's time we listen to science. one a day is formulated with key nutrients to support whole body health. one a day. science that matters. [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.

>> . not funny, not funny, too funny. i'm so sorry >> i'm so sorry. >> let me get that for you you know, this is one of my favorite books of all time this is crazy. but, would you ever maybe want to -- oh, she shileft a while ao >> sydney sweeney saying anybody but you. she makes her studio 8-h debut alongside casey musgraves. she's got so much going on

she's actually pre deuoducing a horror flick she flew her two grandmothers in to star with her as nuns she plays nuns her two grandmothers are going to be there. they film in italy she's like, all right, i'm going to go. >> i can't wait to see how it turns out. we know liam kneeson can do comedy act comedy, action and drama the long-awaited reboot of the naked gun franchise will hit the theaters next july he will star as the son of frank dreben of seth mcfarland is on board as executive producer i haven't seen the originals but i think i'm going to have to go back, watch and watch the reboot >> you have to, especially with

leslie neilson gone. a whole new audience now who can appreciate that. the comedy's still the same. it's amazing that this guy who can do everything from action to comedy is going to be the one. justin timberlake isn't finished telling his former band mates that he wants them two twe confirmed that the members will be reuniting for one of his numbers. timberlake's album drops on march 15th people were hoping that they would get together, tour, show up because of the strike they weren't able to. i'm a backstreet boy girl. i'm really cheering on 'n sync fans >> get the people what they

want we need a 'n sync reunion. when we come back, why more than 300,000 jeeps are being recalled and we have the details of a wendy's pricing plan whiplash. w. t is entrusted to todd. mr. marbles will receive recurring deliveries for all of his needs in perpetuity, thanks to autoship from chewy. i always loved that old man. what's it say about the summer house? yeah, the beach house. the summer residents goes to mr. marbles. plot twist. i'm sorry, what? doesn't make logistical sense? unbelievable. pets aren't just pets. they're more. you got a train set todd. save 35% off your first autoship order. at chewy. 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. bladder leak underwear has one job. i just want to feel protected! especially for those sudden gush moments. always discreet protects like no other.

with a rapid dry core that locks in your heaviest gush quickly for up to zero leaks. always discreet- the protection we deserve! always dry scoop before you run. listen to me, the hot dog diet got me shredded. it's time we listen to science. one a day is formulated with key nutrients to support whole body health. one a day. science that matters. oh... stuffed up again? so congested! you need sinex saline from vicks. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! mom's gonna love this! alright kids come on. it's time for bed! ( ♪♪ ) good morning, mr. snuggles. make breakfast special with the cocoa and hazelnutty goodness of nutella. ( ♪♪ ) for your most brilliant smile, crest has you covered. ♪♪ (laughing)

nice smile, brad. nice! thanks? crest 3d white. 100% more stain removal. crest. i'm adding downy unstopables to my wash. now i'll be smelling fresh all day long. [sniff] still fresh. ♪♪ get 6x longer-lasting freshness, plus odor protection. try for under $5! (singing) ♪ i feel good ♪ ♪ duh na nuh na nuh na nuh ♪ ♪ i knew that i would ♪ ♪ na na nuh na nuh na nuh ♪ ooo, yum.

hey! ♪ bum bum bum bum bum ♪ i feel good. we are back with what you need to know "early today. chrysler has issued a recall for more than 330,000 of its jeep suvs, a part of the steering wheel may separate, which could cause losing control of the car and crashingd crashing after internet outrage, wendy's is now clarifying what it meant about his plans to test dynamic pricing, the fast food chain will not implement surge pricing and didn't plan to the company now says its new digital menu boards will be used to lower prices during slower times of the day it is leap day

to celebrate, krispy kreme is offering a dozen of its original glazed doughnuts for $2.29 with the purchase of another dozen. if you need a new passport, staples is offering 29,000 free passport photos. we'll be right back. wel rhtac '. 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. for nourished, lightweight hair, the right ingredients make all the difference. new herbal essences sulfate free is now packed with plant-based ingredients your hair will love. like pure aloe and camellia flower oil. and none of the things it won't. hair feels deeply nourished, soft and lightweight. plant power you can feel.

new herbal essences sulfate free. ♪♪ 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. nl okay, get your tissues ready. a military dad in nebraska surprises his 7-year-old twins at school after coming back early from a ten-month deployment we have the heart-warming reunion.

>> i'm with the army national guard and have been gone for a little over nine months, and i'm here to surprise my 7-year-old twins. >> reporter: the major is home about a month early from his deployment to afghanistan. he and his wife kayte knew this would be perfect opportunity to surprise their two kids. >> i'm more comfortable walking through the streets of afghanistan than i am walking through the school for about ten months i've been thinking about it. just thinking about how they're going to react or how i'm going to react >> reporter: first up, lila. the hug they've been waiting months for and the giggles, too just across the hall, lila's

unsuspecting twin brother roman. >> i'm going to go say hi to your brother, okay >> yeah. >> reporter: now, it was his turn >> hey, bud., bud. >> reporter: the family of four finally reunited >> you said april. >> i can go back >> no! >> reporter: mom says the big surprise was worth it. >> just seeing the joy in your kids' eyes and, you know, being there to support my husband as well, it was just surreal. nothing can prepare you for that moment >> reporter: what feelings were you feeling when you turned around and noticed that your dad was standing right behind you. >> i had to double-check >> reporter: the major says moments like these wouldn't be possible without support

systems. >> i always thought i had the easy job but my wife has the hard job >> no, you had the hard job. >> but all the other families out there, the service members thank you for all their support. it's not easy. but it would be so much harder if we didn't have our families >> our thanks for that report. i can't count how many of these stories we've done on "early today. and i tell you what, it never, ever gets old. thanks so much for being with us and so glad to leave you with a smile or maybe even a tear o

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. kicked off the ballot again. an illinois judge ruling donald trump ineligible to run for president over his role in the january 6 attack all while the supreme court decides to take up his immunity case we bring you the details mitch mcconnell's stepping down