news is on the way. a landmark doj lawsuit against apple.

merrick garland filing a suit fence against the tech giant. how apple is responding this morning. a manhunt for an escaped inmate and his accomplice now over. authorities now saying the man who ambushed police may be linked to two other deaths. the clock is ticking in d.c. congress has until midnight to pass a funding bill that will keep the government open. where things stand in the shutdown showdown. technology out of a spy movie come to life. a colorado startup releasing a smart gun that only responds to person's specific biometrics. why some gun owners still have concerns. and an inside look at the latest innovation from an elon musk company. a brain chip allowing people who've been paralyzed to move things with their minds. it's friday, march 22nd. "early today" starts right now. good morning, and welcome to friday. i'm frances rivera. tech giant apple is facing a

landmark lawsuit from the department of justice. merrick garland filing an anti-trust suit against the iphone maker. the d.o.j. says apple's business model relies on deliberately cutting competitors out of the market leading to less innovation. alice barr kicks off our coverage. >> reporter: in a laak lawsuit, the u.s. department of justice is accusing applg apple omonopo the smartphone market. 15 states and the district of columbia joined the d.o.j. accusing them of illegally cutting competition. in one example, using company e-mails to show they have not improved technology between android and apple phones.

tim cook was asked why the questioner couldn't send certain videos to his mom. mr. cook's response? buy your mom an iphone. >> there are some things that we can see with our own eyes that apple is doing that are anti-competitive. because you have to use certain apple products with an iphone, it will encourage people to buy only apple products and not other products. >> reporter: our partners at cnbc breaking down how that alleged strategy translates to the app store. >> because apple controls that app store, it has been able to throttle the growth of apps that might compete against apple itself and also charge higher prices. >> reporter: for its rtpart, ape says the company noechtinnovatey day and the lawsuit threatens their ability to do that, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people's technology. a major lawsuit that could impact the cell phone and wallet in your pocket.

in washington, nbc news. the house is expected to vote this morning on a pending bill that would avert a government shutdown u the $1.2 trillion deal provides funding for multiple agencies, including the departments of homeland security and defense. those agencies are in danger of shou sh shutting down if it is not passed by midnight tonight. all 100 senators would need to agree to speed up consideration of the bill. officials in oklahoma say no charges will be filed in a school fight involving a non-binary teen who later died by suicide. it happened in a high school bathroom the day before the student died. the district attorney says the fight appeared to be a quote, instance of mutual combat. there questions about whether the fight could have caused a swrur injury leading to death. the medical examiner determined it was a suicide caused by drug

overdose. the manhunt for a dangerous escaped inmate has come to an end in idaho. the authorities capturing the man and his alleged accomplice. now authorities believe they may have killed two people during their time on the run. here's dana griffin. >> reporter: escaped inmate schuyler mead and his accomplice ar arrested after a vehicle pursuit by police. investigators say the men may now be sitied to two homicides during their time on the run. >> we did find the shackles at the scene. the motive and why they did what they did, i don't know. >> reporter: the men, taken into custody in twin falls, idaho, nearly 130 miles from the hospital where three officers were shot during the initial escape. >> had a driver with a shooter. >> reporter: authorities say

both men are members of a white supremacist gang, arian knights. it was formed in the mid 1990s in the policenrison system. they often use violence to target inmates of color. >> the fact that they did basically a movie-type shootout to free him from prison is just really bold and it mean that tmeans that they've been planning it for a while. >> with near certainty, this was not an accident. this was a planned event. we're channeling every resource we have to understand exactly how they went about planning it. >> reporter: a sophisticated plot coming to an end with these jailhouse friends heading back behind bars. dana griffin, nbc news. turning now to the turmoil in the middle east. secretary of state antony

blinken had travel from egypt to israel this morning to meet with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and war cabinet officials. this as the u.s. is calling for a vote on the newly-revised u.n. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in gaza. it comes after vetoing three previous cease-fire resolutions. let's bring in josh letterman, and a warning, some of the video may be disturbing. josh, good morning, what could we expect today? >> reporter: good morning, frances. we can expect a vote in the security council on that resolution put forward by the u.s. that calls for immediate and sustained cease-fire. it describes a pause in the hostilities of at least six weeks. and this is really a step up by the u.s. in terms of putting pressure on israel at the u.n., where the u.s. has long worked to protect israel from many of these resolutions. now the u.s. using that forum of the security council to really

make clear that it wants to see a stop in the fighting for a long period of time, as the u.s. tries to prevent more civilian casualties in the gaza strip. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, linda th thomas-greenfield is optimistic about that resolution, but it comes as we are seeing ongoing violence at the al shifa hospital complex in gaza where the israeli military is in the midst of a multi-day operation. the viewers may remember the hospital from november when there was a controversial israeli siege on that hospital. now israel's military says hamas is once again using that facility. they have killed well over 100 militants over the past few days and detained hundreds more. they have lost contact with the medical teams. it is a very delicate and precarious situation at the hospital in the gaza strip. >> josh, thank you.

the biden administration is moving forward with another round of student debt forgiveness. yesterday the administration said it would cancel $5.8 billion in student debt. nearly 78,000 public service workers, including teachers, nurses and firefighters will be impacted through the public servi service loanf forgivene forgive program. late spring snow could make for a very messy great lakes. >> we're looking at heavy snow the next couple days. a two-tier system. by sunday, a second storm's going to come in, impacting us with snow and heavy rain. let's talk about today. we could see up to six inches in some spots. we do have flood alerts in portions of florida. could see strong storms in

southern florida. it's going to move into new england and we could see eight, 12 inches of snow. the heavy rain moves up the eastern seaboard. it's going to slow down traffic. we'll see anywhere from two, three, four inches of rain into the northeast. notice this purple here. that's where we'll see colder air mixing in, bringing in a mixture of snow and rain. and on the northern tier, heiheavy snow. we have 21 million people under winter alerts. that includes the first storm and the second storm. we have flood watches as well. that includes rtions of the mipo texas.

temperatures in the 80s. up to 90 degrees in brownsville. 75 in houston. >> see neyou in a bit. a startup set to release firearms with facial and fingerprint recognition. but a big question remains. itio. but a big question remains. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch? does he need to go to puppy school? get his little puppy diploma? how much have i been spending on this little guy? when your questions about life turn into questions about money... there's erica. the virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. only from bank of america. 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! ♪♪ 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. a colorado startup will start distributing its biometric smart gun at the end of the month. it uses facial recognition and fingerprint tech to unlock the gun only for authorized users. nbc's ken dilanian reports. >> reporter: it's the country's first-ever biometric smart gun to go on the market. like you might see in a movie.

>> there's a micro sensor in the grip. >> it's been in the science fiction zeitgeist for a while. why wouldn't you want that? >> reporter: he started developing his own smart gun as a high school student in colorado after the deadly aurora movie theater shooting. his goal, focussing on a gun with safety and reliable and fast. the way it works, it scans your fingerprint and uses 3d facial recognition as soon as you pick up u if s up. if someone tries to use it they can't. >> it's not the mass shootings, the homicide rate in the big city that gets the attention. it's this incremental impact on

americans. and especially among children and teenagers. >> reporter: last year, at least 157 people died and 270 people were hurt in unintentional shootings by children in the u.s. according to every town for gun safety, a non-profit advocating for gun control. now the company is facing its first big test, with guns arriving in people's hands by the end of the month. so far reaction has been mixed. some gun users are worried about how effective the new tech hwil really be. >> i don't think the technology is there for me to be putting my life on the line and my family's life on the line, betting on a new emerging technology. >> reporter: but the adoption of a gun with this kind of technology has long been a hope of gun safety advocates. even the president. >> no gun should be able to be sold unless your biometric measure could pull that trigger. >> reporter: but some don't want these smart guns to be the only guns they can buy. >> i'm fearful of legislation that would try to ban other firearms or try to force

manufacturers to use biometrics and facial recognition. >> reporter: a law in new jersey a few years ago tried to mandate smart guns drew opposition from the gun industry and second amendment advocates, and the ceo does not want his gun to be mandated in any state. he just hopes that gun users will purchase it for its own merits and adopt it to protect from unauthorized use. back to you. >> ken, thank you. still to come, the date is set for the return to westros. w. 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.

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>> good. to war then. >> hbo is making fans choose sides in a house divided. the first look of "house of dragon" debuted thursday. the trailer shows the unique factions led by alison hightower. and they battle eachother to take control of westeros. the war for the iron throne resumed on hbo on june 16. we are going full force on here. now they were shooting this when the whole writers strike was going on. the great thing is they were able to continue production, because they were sooting evershooting everything in the uk where the strike didn't apply. >> i'm surprised we didn't hear more of that, that productions were happening in other countries. i've never seen that. i will watch that. at long last, the ghost with the most is rising from the

dead. ♪ ♪ >> the juice is luce. >> michael keaton is again donning the pinstripe suit for beetlejuice. the original cast members, winona ryder and catherine r o'hara will be there. really big flames coming in. >> and long overdue. we've been waiting for this for decades, right? it may be a while, speaking of waiting, before we return to the spider verse. variety reported thursday that a new animated short set in the world of spiderman across the spider verse will hit youtube on march 27. so the spider within a spider verse story will follow e story

minut brooklyn's one and only spiderman. it will be released in partnership with a group that kevin love funds. the collab is part of a new mental health lesson plan. it invites students to tell their own stories. >> it's so awesome. love that. when we come back. if you received a starbucks mug over the holidays, stay tuned for an alert. and medicare is suspending wegovy for some patients. wegovy for some patients. ♪ ♪ rich, indulgent chocolate with a luscious caramel filling. discover ghirardelli caramel squares.

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it includes metallic mugs in a holiday gift set e a combined $1.7 million is up for grabs in the powerball and mega millions jackpots. the next drawing is tomorrow. and the mega millions stands at $977 million ahead of tonight's drawing. and speaking of millionaires, new york is the richest city in the u.s. e riesci ithe u.s. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch? does he need to go to puppy school? get his little puppy diploma? how much have i been spending on this little guy? when your questions about life turn into questions about money... there's erica. the virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. only from bank of america. my life is full of questions...

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person to play chess with nothing but his thoughts. nbc's steven romo has more. >> reporter: the first glimpse of the brain implant developed by neurotech startup neuralink in action. >> it was, like, using the force on the curser, and i could get it to move wherever i wanted. >> reporter: on a video on x, nolan arbaugh appearing to play a computer chess game and move a mouse with his brain. >> that was also done with your brain? >> yeah, it's all brainpower. >> reporter: 29-year-old ar baa says he became a quadriplegic after a diving accident about eight years ago. >> the surgery was super easy. >> reporter: the surgery requires removing part of a patient's skull to implant electrodes, directly into the

brain's tissue. >> it requires cutting a dime-sized hole in the skull and implanting a device with hundreds or potentially even thousands of little threads into the brain. >> reporter: elon musk's company isn't the only one exploring brain computer interfacing or bci. two competitors releasing their own videos of sick uccessful equi implants. >> we think there's a lot of implications. and we're very optimistic, especially since there are so many companies that have diverse approaches, unique approaches. >> reporter: but some experts warn more oversight is needed. >> we believe fda and other regulatory agencies need to do a much better job of not only regulating this but sharing this information with the public. because all of these clinical trials come with real risks to the patients involved. >> reporter: in a statement to

nbc news, when the neuralink device was first implanted, the fda says it has a scientifically rigorous process to evaluate the ri safety of devices. it will continue to monitor the safety of those enrolled in the study through required regular reports. even with criticism and the potential for complications, the technology is giving many a sense of hope. >> i don't want people to think that it is, like this is the end of the journey. there's still a lot of work to be done. but it has already changed my life. >> major brainpower. than

right now at 5:00, criminal investigation. the new fbi letter to alaska airlines passengers who experienced a scare of a