>> reporter: so deep the national guard was called in to help reach dozens of stranded motorists. more than 2 inches of snow an hour pushed by hurricane-force winds. >> we're going to step outside and let you see what it's like so far. >> reporter: whiteout conditions the national weather service described as a crippling, historic blizzard. the storm pounded oklahoma as well with more than a foot of snow in several areas there. and as it moved into kansas -- >> it's pretty bad coming in on the interstate. >> reporter: -- many rushed for last-minute supplies preparing for their second winter blast in the last four days >> there's not much we can do about it, so you just get through it. >> reporter: a challenge that like the snow totals continue to increase across the region. jay gray, nbc news, wichita, kansas. >> and we'll talk more about that. on the heels of a ten-day recess congress is staring down a busy week ahead. today, the senate is expected to vote on whether to move forward on chuck hagel's nomination as secretary of defense. chicago voters in former congressman jesse jackson jr.'s

district will brave the snow to cast their vote in today's special primary to replace him. if the senate finance committee approves jack lew as the treasury secretary today a full senate vote could come as early as tomorrow. on top of all that, could lawmakers prevent the sequester's $75 billion automatic spending cuts? nbc's tracie potts is live in washington. good morning to you. who feels those cuts first if congress fails to act, a lot of people are asking? >> reporter: a lot of people could. we're talking about heating assistance, food for new mothers being scaled back, fewer dollars for school construction, unemployment checks for long-term unemployed people could be cut back 10%. with all of that going on in washington, president obama is headed out of washington, headed south to newport news, virginia, where he'll speak at the business of a shipbuilder that has ties to jobs all over the country, using this autos a back drop to make his point to the

american people that the impact of these cuts could be devastating. republicans, meantime, including republican house speaker john boehner think the president should stay here, facilitate some sort of negotiation. right now nothing going on between the white house and capitol hill. nothing in front of the cameras, nothing behind the scenes to prevent these cuts on friday. richard? >> we have big egg we got on a tuesday in terms of negotiations. tracie potts, thank you so much. turning to a developing story. at least 14 tourists were killed in a fiery hot air balloon crash in egypt. as the balloon approached luxor south of cairo, an on-board fire triggered an explosion in the gas canister causing it to plunge 1,000 feet into a sugarcane field below. the pilot and tourist who jumped out of the balloon survived with critical injury.

cardinal keith o'brien faced accusations he acted imappropriately with priests back to the 1980 says. the vatican says pope benedict accepts the retirement because he was near the retirement age of 75, not because of these accusations. today marks the one-year anniversary of 17-year-old trayvon martin. this evening a candlelight vigil will be held in sanford, florida, while a million hoodichltd e gathering is scheduled in new york city. he was shot and killed by george zimmerman, who has pleaded not guilty and claiming self-defense. his trial is set to start this june. in california, the search continues this morning for four people whose 29-foot sailboat disappeared off the coast of monterey sunday. the coast guard released a distress call believed to be made by a man who was with his wife, son and a young cousin

before they abandoned the sinking vessel. >> coast guard, coast guard, we are abandoning ship. we are abandoning ship. >> the bodiers said their electronics were failing and fashioning a make-shift raft. officials hope the call will lead to new information that can aid in the search. now dylan with the forecast. >> you saw the radar and that's a massive storm. just the second one in a week. the h heaviest snow falling across central missouri. wichita, kansas, has come in with the snowiest february on record. the last record was set 100 years ago. it's starting to clear out of kansas but it does look like missouri is going to be the jackpot for up to another foot of snow coming off of the snowstorm last week that also dumped a foot of snow around the kansas city area.

the west coast minus a couple of showers, there's not a whole lot going on. temperatures today should top out in the lower 70s through l.a. a comfortable day out there way. 60 in san francisco. temperatures should be in the upper 40s. we'll be in and out of from bak, yuma, arizona, temperatures like nice and mild. but again, all eyes are still on that midwest storm. it's going to move into the chicago area so that creates flight delays all across the country. >> punxsutawney phil may be right about the west in terms of spring. >> around here it's not too bad. looks like rain midweek. what spooked the market in yesterday's major drop-off

continue today? plus, the diet that will ward off heart attacks and strokes. iran photoshops the first lady. details in two minutes. you're watching "early today." welcome back.

a long-term truce has been broken. israeli police say a rocket has been fired from gaza strip. it's the first such attack since tensions between the two sides peaked in november. the regime of al assad says it's prepared to talk with rebels while a report in "new york times" says saudi arabia has financed a large purchase of infantry weapons from croatia for rebels. the wife of gilberto valle, a new york city police officer planning to eat, kill and kidnap women, testified. she said she found her husband's

canibalism plans when she looked through his laptop dr. c. everett koop has died. he served during the reagan and bush senior administration. is best known for the work to cut smoking. and advocating condoms to battle aids epidemic. michelle obama showed off her bare arms sunday night while presenting oscar for best picture to "argo." an iranian state news agency was slamming the movie about the iran hostage crisis and the award, they decided to photoshop i new outfit on the first lady, complete with sleeves, perhaps to match the country's dress codes. a new study finds a diet rich in olive oil, fish, nuts, fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes in people by about 30%, underscoring the importance of healthy fat. stocks dropped on news of turmoil in italy. the dow closed at 13,784 after dropping 216.

the s&p dropped down 27 and the nasdaq 45. overseas markets follow today, nikkei plummeted 263 points while the hang seng tumbled 300. we'll see if the fear attack tore that tanked stocks monday happens again today. deadlocked elections in italy panicked investors monday with fears without a steady government italy won't be able to tackle its major recession. worries of a disastrous domino effect sparked volume on the volatility index. the market's so-called fear factor is at its highest. today ben bernanke faces tough questions on his controversial easing money policies. bellwether macy's and auto zone delivers numbers before the bell. apollo fell after hours. the first witness is. anded to take the stand in bp's civil trial over the 2010 gulf oil disaster.

protesters gathered outside the new orleans court on monday as opening statements got under way. big blow-back from marissa mayor's memo yahoo! workers can no longer work from home. virgin founder richard branson reacted writing, quote, working is not 9:00 to 5:00, companies who do not embrace this are missing the trick. musical downloaders are soon going to be hearing from their internet service providers and could even potentially lose service. a number of companies including comcast, parent of this network, will begin a six-strike policy under the copyright alert policy this week. and honesty is the best policy. people have paid it forward to a homeless panhandler who gave back a woman's lost engagement ring with nearly $150,000 in donations. great guy. straight ahead, tom and gisele may have to tighten their budget. a heartless attack on an aquarium. and manti te'o's performance leaves much to be desired at the nfl combine.

now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. we start in the gulf of mexico where the demolition of abandoned oil rigs is killing thousands of red snapper and destroying sea life habitat. the so-called explosive disposal is part of a federal government program aimed at destroying idol idle rigs. officials within the gulf coast fishing and diving industries

say they want the demolitions to stop. in florida, a high-speed pursuit was captured on dash cam. a state trooper had to force a teen driver to spin out. after she struck one trooper working a crash scene and fled. the 18-year-old was arrested for the hit and run and dui. in massachusetts, cold-hearted vandals robs a pet store and smashed a 180-gallon reef track. 25 tropical fish and coral died but one fish that bears a resemblance to dory in "finding nemo" survived in a half inch of water until police arrived six hours later. in texas speeding caused one motorist to launch into a house. the driver lost control or went airborne after hitting a curve at high speeds. the driver was hospitalized in stable condition but no one inside the home was hurt. and finally, new york state assemblyman dov hikind is apologizing after wearing black face and an afro wig as a basketball player for the jewish celebration of purim he wore it to celebrate a

holiday but was surprised by the attention. really? in sports first to college basketball number six kansas against iowa state. with the score tied the cyclones missed the last minute of regulations sending them into overtime. jayhawks poured it on over iowa state. number 12 syracuse facing number 22 marquette, running down clock todd mayo hits a three-pointer and marquette wins their 24th straight game although home, upsetting the orange 74-71. new england patriots quarterback tom brady agreed to a contract extension that pays him only $9 million per season. less than half the $20 million per season that top nfl quarterbacks are making now. brady and his wife, supermodel gisele bundchen may have to cut back on a few luxuries, but the deal clears $15 million from new england's salary cap to sign new players. at the nfl scouting combine, linebacker manti te'o was slow in the 40-yard dash. the subpar workout comes more

than a month after his highly publicized online romance with a girl that was exposed as a hoax. and it could affect where he's taken in the nfl draft. also at the combine, a south miss linebacker jamie collins makes the longest broad jump of 11 feet, 7 inches. lsu defensive end barkevious mingo had the best vertical at 37 inches. sean payton was at the combine but he may need help with binoculars, using them backwards. and a controversial photo has gone viral. it shows three high school students wearing white hoods resembling kkk costumes at a high school hockey game in grand forks, north dakota. the school said the students were disciplined. and in a third grade sports game in dubuque, iowa, an amazing half-court buzzer-beater right there. mason kunkel's amazing shot gave his team the win and a moment he will never forget.

>> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. just ahead, jennifer lawrence's major transformation just 24 hours after oscar. katniss would be so proud. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back. cold this morning in southwestern oregon, 28 degrees in medford. 45 starting off the day in l.a. but it is going to be a cooler,

crisp day, especially central and northern california, in the upper 50s and low 60s. l.a. about 75 this afternoon. some showers in seattle but then as we go into tomorrow, looks like just a few spotty sprinkles at the coast. most other places on the west koes should be nice and sunny. not a bad end to the february month out on the west coast. >> yeah, looking pretty good. thanks. turning to entertainment, if you thought jennifer lawrence would take the week to relax after winning the oscar, you were wrong. less than 24 hours after she took home the academy award, the 22-year-old actress had her blond hair died brown to finish filming "catching fire," the sequel to "the hunger games." daniel day-lewis said he needs to relax after becoming the most decorated star in history. the "lincoln" star said i need to lie down for a couple years. it's really hard to imagine doing anything after this. lots of folks tuned in for his big win. the oscar broadcast scored more than 40 million viewers sunday

night including the best showing among young viewers in eight years. seth macfarlane may be able to take credit for that. according to an access poll, macfarlane was fairly well liked at least more than james franco. not hard, right? and in the music scene, the grammy's mumford and sons is moving from their normal folksy sound to hip-hop. the artists say they have been talking to jay-z about what hub, quote, a fresh experience for the band. that will be interesting. and, finally, wedding bells all around. jacket jackson has officially confirmed she's marrying her billionaire boyfriend. christina applegate also said "i do" in a private ceremony saturday. >> nothing like marrying a billionaire. i'm richard lui on "early today." just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

in china, crowds gathered near a village to catch a glimpse of a very rare sight. a sleeping wild panda cozied up on a roadside cliff near a national nature reserve. although the area is home to 56 wild pandas, seeing one up close and personal is a real treat here. as people gathered nearby they woke the panda who made a hasty retreat back to the forest. this is one baby you probably don't want bouncing on your knee, a czech zoo welcomed the arrival of a newborn elephant this month. she's the zoo's first new elephant and weighed more than 200 pounds at birth. the calf doesn't have a name

quite yet but the zoo plans to have a contest to name her once she makes her public debut. that would be a heavy baby. all the activity at the vatican has given local businesses a boost here. one religious memorabilia store owner said sales have increased as the world awaits the election of a new pope. the papal portraits are apparently the hottest sellers so far. and while pope benedict may be in the spotlight, pope john paul ii merchandise is the favorite among shoppers. he was certainly a favorite and on many people's minds. >> i was in rome, and the line was so long, and i didn't want to wait in line. >> amazon. >> that's true. you can order anything. >> can you get anything on that site. time for an early look at what's coming up ahead and a look back. senators who disagree with the president on how to overhaul immigration will take their ideas to the top. nbc news has learned that republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham will head to the white house later today for talks on immigration.

today marks the 20th anniversary of the deadly world trade center attack of 1993. six people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured when a bomb in the parking garage of the world trade complex. the bomb left a crater 60 feet wide and caused a collapse of several steel-reinforced concrete floors in the vicinity of that explosion. on a much lighter note, singer michael bolton turns 60 years old today. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories and the best political analysis on msnbc. and tonight, be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. get up close and personal with google glass. and find out how the new technology is changing the way we see the world. and studio 1a is kicking it country this morning with a live performance by jason ail dean. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm richard lui along with dylan drey dreyer. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of

the day on your nbc station. have a good tuesday.

new video of the deadly hot hair balloon crash in egypt. more than a dozen foreigners killed. the latest details next. also a sacramento cop arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a half dozen women. why there may be more victims out there. >> all of a sudden a guy sort of rushed into my younger son and he kind of almost tackled him down and tried to steal my purse. a mother's serenity stolen.

how local police stepped in to ease her pain. a live look outside. that is your beautiful bay bridge in san francisco. illuminated right now with lights dancing in the darkness on this tuesday, february 26th. this is "today in the bay." it is 4:31. good morning to everybody. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's check the forecast with christina loren. >> good tuesday morning to you. we made it through monday. we have great looking forecast to carry you through tuesday. temperatures mostly in the upper 30s to low 40s. we're headed toward the 70s in some cities. just about as warm as it was yesterday. i nudged temperatures up just a little bit more and the good news is we keep on climbing as we continue through the week and we keep that rain in the forecast as well. a little bit of something for everybody out there. we'll take you through your full forecast in just a few minutes.