the way. ews on the way. dueling border visits. donald trump and president biden in texas, address one of the major issues of the 2024 campaign mr. biden welcoming his predecessor to work together on a border bill.

and the largest wildfire in state history. twopeople confirmed dead as th flames spread into neighboring oklahoma alexei navalny will be laid to rest in moscow. his burial coming a day after russian president putin issues another nuclear threat to the west if nato troops enter ukraine. royal watchers want to know where is kate middleton. the princess of wales out of the public eye as she recovers from surgery. why her announced absence is fueling questions. it's friday, march 1st "early today" starts right now good morning, i'm frances rivera we begin with that split screen response to the crisis at our southern border. president biden and former president trump each touring parts of texas but still hundreds of miles apart. mr. biden invited his pr

predecessor and current reelection rival to work together to find solutions on immigration. here as gabe gutierrez >> reporter: facing criticism over his handling of the congr immigration crisis, mr. biden making his second trip to the border since taking office, blasting house republicans for tanking a bipartisan border security bill at the urging of former president trump >> the toughest set of border security reforms we've ever seen in this country. it's time for the speakers and some of my republican friends in congress blocking this bill to show a little spine. join me. or i'll join you in telling the congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill we can do it together. >> reporter: earlier, the republican frontrunner landed about 300 miles away in eagle pass, texas. >> this is a biden invasion over the past theree years. >> reporter: arguing the president could end the crisis

on his own, slamming what he calls mr. biden's lax border policies >> so we had remain in mexico, remember that? we had no more catch and release. we released them in mexico >> reporter: mr. trump pointing to recent high-profile crimes allegedly committed by migrants, including the murder of georgia nursing student laken riley. >> joe biden are newill never sy laken riley's name, but we will say it and we will never forget it >> reporter: crime has dipped in cities that received most migrants should president biden have gone to a different part of the board? >> ibo border >> i think so. >> reporter: the border patrol union telling us he should not have reversed trump policies a nbc news polls shows 57% of

americans say mr. trump can best secure the border. just 22% say mr. biden will. beyond the political submit sk screen migrants wait to cross. monica from el salvador waits for a bus with her 3-year-old son. she tells us the journey was hard and she spent four months waiting in mexico for a point for an initial asylum screening through an app on her phone. now she's off to meet family in houston as the border battle in washington intensifies and a federal judge has temporarily blocked a controversial law here in the state that would have allowed local police to arrest migrants suspected of being in texas illegally. the governor is vowing to appeal and the case could end up in the u.s. supreme court back to you. >> gabe, thank you it appears that the government will keep the lights on, at least for another week.

congress cleared a stopgap funding bill last night to avert a partial shutdown it will keep much of the government up and running through next friday and the rest until march 22nd republicans and democrats are far apart on funding decisions for major departments like the pentagon and homeland security in just a few hours from now, russian dissident, exaalexi navalny will be laid to rest in moscow he died suddenly in a russian penal colony two weeks ago let's go to matt bodner. how much do we know about this funeral? >> reporter: thank you, frances. we know a good amount. it's been, i think it goes without saying, it's been a very difficult funeral for navalny's family and team to organize. his direct family and his mother, they are all outside of russia his associates, friends and colleagues are either in exile, also incarcerated in russian prisons or killed in previous

years. there's not a lot of people around to help them organize the authorities held onto the body for two weeks and have made things very difficult for his mother to manage this process, and things that we've been hearing in the past few days from navalny's people are that the authorities have actually been putting pressure on hearse companies to try to interfere with arrangements for the funeral. this morning we're starting to see, in moscow, there is a church that will be hosting it and a cemetery taking the body of course there is a funeral taking place what the authorities are going to allow, that's a big question. we're seeing preparations from the police that look like classic preparations for a navalny demonstration two or three years ago. a lot of police vans they put barricades up around the church the authorities have been doing everything they can to signal to the public, don't show up at this, not everyone, but there were demonstrative arrests made at various vigils around the country other the past two weeks

in navalny's honor so attendance is a big question. the organizers aren't there. we'll see what happens, frances. >> thank you the official death toll in gaza has surpassed 30,000. a staggering loss of palestinian life in less than five months. it is likely an undercount say officials, as thousands are missing and presumed dead under the rubble the new death toll comes as palestinian health officials say dozens of civilians were killed by israeli soldiers who fired into a crowd waiting for food distribution in gaza city. the israeli army says it did not fire on those seeking food but on those approaching soldiers who felt their lives were at risk nbc news has not been able to independently verify the death toll or the circumstances surrounding the incident in alabama, lawmakers have

passed new laws surrounding ivf treatments many clinics paused the procedures out of fear of prosecution after the state supreme court classified frozen embryos as children. the governor is expected to sign the new protections as soon as next week. turning now to texas where the raging wildfires have now claimed two lives. the smokehouse creek fire is still only 3% contained and has torched more than a million acres, making it larger than rhode island it is now the largest blaze in texas history, according to the a&m forest service entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, and the houses can be rewibuilt, but for paul blankenship, home will never be the same. the flames took his mother joyce while she was at home. >> they had already blocked the roads off. so i wasn't able to get in there to her >> some snow has held

firefighters, more high winds are forecast in the coming days. michelle grossman is here with what we expect across country. >> hi there, frances we're going to see those winds picking up once again. we had a little break yesterday, but the forecast not looking great this weekend there the forecast not looking great in the west as well. whiteout conditions and possible travel, up to ten feet of snow in some spots. extremely heavy snow the highest elevations seeing the most snow, also really windy conditions that's why we're concerned about that that will continue on saturday as well. we're looking at really levee rain along the coast, too. from washington through oregon along the coast of california as well we're going to see high snowfall rates, one to two inches per hour also today, rounds of heavy rain will soak the coastal parts of california we're going to see the snow tapering in the saerierras but picking up in the rockies.

6 million people waking up to winter alerts. blizzard warnings all throughout the west, inner mountain west. that's going to be the story the next couple days could ses picking up and the fire danger does continue 78 degrees today in san angelo that's your friday forecast. >> all right, michelle, thank you. now to a wild video of a daring rescue in california's big sur. a california man is safe after spending more than 24 hours stranded on a cliff side califor california highway patrol found the man waving a makeshift white flag he swerved to miss a deer.

he is in stable condition after suffering moderate injuries. coming up, check the medicine cabinet details oon mouthwash recall and we're back in a minute with a kate middleton mystery the palace's response. e palace'. 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. did you know most dish soaps don't remove all the grease, even with scrubbing? whaaat? i just cleaned those! try dawn platinum. it removes 99% of grease and food residue. that's why dawn is trusted to save wildlife affected by oil. dawn platinum cleans to the squeak. jordan's sore nose let out a fiery sneeze, so dad grabbed puffs plus lotion 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 deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. 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. we're back now with a question all over social media right now. where is kate middleton? the palace has made it cler ar e princess of wales is recovering from surgery but some people online seem to think there's much more to the story. here's ellison barber. >> reporter: it's the question going viral on social media. >> i'm sorry, but where is kate middleton? >> everyone wants to know, where is kate middleton? >> reporter: kate middleton, the princess of wales has become the latest focus of online conspiracies, as she remains out of the public eye, following abdominal surgery. >> nobody has seen kate. nobody has heard from kate

>> reporter: kate was reportedly last photographed on christmas day, during the royal family's annual christmas walk to church in sandringham then on january 17, kensington palace announced middleton is recovering from a planned abdominal surgery and that the wife of britain's future king would be taking a step back from public duties until after easter, march 31st the same tayday, it was also announced that king charles iii was also in the hospital to undergo a corrective procedure on january 29th, kensington palace announced that kate had returned home from the hospital. no images of her were released also, king charles is seen leaving a london hospital. >> when there's a vacuum of information, people start coming up with their own ideas and own thoughts about what might be going on almost like a conspiracy theory. >> reporter: fueling the speculation this week, it was reported kate's husband, prince

william, pulled out of a memorial service for his godfather because of a quote personal matter. this sparked a social media firestorm. the hash tag, where is kate began trending >> the alarming thing about kate's surgery and recuperation is the length of time that we are not seeing her out and about. three months for anybody, let alone a young, fit woman >> reporter: many also asking why there have been few updates on kate's health, prompting a spokesperson for middleton to release a statement thursday saying she is, quote, doing well, and that kensington palace made it clear in january the timelines of the princess' recovery, and we'd only be providing significant updates. that guidance stands >> there isn't anything untoward, because we were told not to expect to see kate, and we're not seeing kate. the thing that people have been surprised about is not the fact that we haven't seen kate but that we haven't had more updates about how her rehabilitation and

recuperation is going. >> reporter: to make it clare, th clear, there have been no reports suggesting any of the conspiracies are true. but the debate has been reopened about transparency surrounding the royal family >> the royal family is under no constitutional obligation to disclose information about the health of members of the royal family >> reporter: until we see the princess of wales again, the online community will likely stay abuzz >> our thanks to ellison for that report. still to come, will forte speaks out about a shelved project. and we break down how hollywood is putting its faith into the hands of a first major bl blockbuster of 2014. blockbuster of 2014. deodorant. 2024 2024. everywhere. 4 out of 5 gynecologists would recommend whole body deodorant, which gives you 72 hour odor protection from your pits to your- (sfx: deoderant being sprayed) secret whole body deodorant. when i have pain from arthritis i grab biofreeze.

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you as long as i breathe >> you will never whlose me as long as you stay who you are >> consider what you're about to do >> silence >> he who controls the spice controls the cinema. hollywood is looking to the highly-anticipated sci-fi epic, dune part two to kick off a sluggish 2024 box office this weekend. analysts are projecting the sequel to open as high as $80 million. this film, actually no film released this year has made over $100 million in the united states this cast has been just going full force all across the globe, like in asia, australia, promoting this so -- >> it's a good cast. it is stock full of stars. >> austin butler, szendaya, timothee chalamet. >> i love him. >> from one of the most anticipated movies of the year, to one that might never ever see the light.

will forte took to x about one of his films, coyote versus acme he called it incredible. late last year, the movie was shelved. despite it being completed it's sad >> it is you put all that energy into it. you invest financially, emotionally, physically in this film and then it's somewhere in film heaven >> he said it was really good. after starting off this year with her first grammy wins, miley cyrus is not slowing down. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i need to rock you, baby ♪ ♪ before your body burns ♪ ♪ let me work it out ♪ >> i'm likin' this she dropped her latest single at midnight the track is produced by pharrell williams and is a reworked version of a meant for her 2013 album "bangers.

it's all miley i'm here for it. she looks fantastic, i'm loving the beats. >> and her hair is down. >> her hair and the moment when we come back, if you have kids at home, you'll want to check your bathroom cabinet, a recall alert ihop is teaming up with a girl scout kky favorite for march. girl scout kky favorite f march. 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.

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oh, hill yeah.™ 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. we are back with what you need to know "early today. more than 100,000 heritage store hydrogen peroxide mouthwashes are being recalled the products from 2010 and december 2023 were not properly sealed according to a new study, eating a lot of ultra processed foods can raise the risk of several diseases they include sugary soda and

packaged baked goods ihop is teaming up with girl scout cookies to debut this. guess the ingredient in there. yes, thin mints. it as topped off with cheese case mousse, thin mint pieces and whipped cream. early today will be right back rltoday will be right back. wei? could be a sign that your digestive system isn't at its best. but a little metamucil everyday can help. metamucil's psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down and also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. 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 even the most chill of parents know when it's time to go into protect mode. nothing kills more viruses on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray.

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facing the wrong direction it is the first to reach the moon in more than 50 years now to the story of a special delivery meet the leap day baby turned doctor who's helping the next generation of leapers come into the world. here's george solis with the story. >> reporter: while many of us may prefer not to work on our birthdays, eric grossman leaps at the opportunity in more ways than one. >> a leap year birthday is pretty unique. >> reporter: you see, he was born on leap year day 1972 he turns 13. >> i'm going to be the same age as my youngest kid this year >> reporter: the good doctor's actually 52. while delivering babies is special, this day is particularly magical >> i think it makes some parents anxious. but i always thought it was fun. and for me, it's nice to bring other lopeeap year babies into e world. >> reporter: this is new jersey.

he hospital welcoming more than a dozen babies at this location alone, including the p the pack tw parker twins. >> i feel like we're blessed >> it's very special >> reporter: right there in their literal corner, dr. grossman with an answer to their first dilemma. what day do you celebrate the next birthday? >> i parents threw a party for me on the 28th and march 1st >> we'll let him pick what day he wants to celebrate, whether it's the 28th or the first >> hgets to age a little slower. >> babies are in their little frog hats. this is so cute. >> it's adorable >> brother and sisters, like wow, we're only going to have a birthday every four years. >> reporter: our friends at the today show throwing a grown-up

birthday party for leapers back in new jersey, dr. grossman remains hard at work making his special day a little more special for others >> february 29th is a unique day. if i can be at work and deliver a baby or two, that's a good day for me >> reporter: george solis, leap day 2024. >> celebrations keep going through the weekend. have a great friday and have an even betteweekend. we'll r se

right now at 5:00, the biggest snowstorm of the season taking aim at the sierra. ahead we have team coverage on blizzard warnings now in effect, along with a warning against driving into the mountains. also, moving the city by the bay forward. a fresh start to the downtown area. how city lears