good tuesday morning. coming up on "early today," the vortex returns. tens of millions prepare for another winter blast. military politics. the reaction reasoning behind the pentagon's plan to shrink our armed forces. arizona burning. the right to discriminate may become law, but the nfl, american airlines and apple say on. plus, drama on day one of kerry kennedy's drug driving trial. and the comic genius that had a hand in some of the most quoted films in history has died. it's tuesday, february 25th. "early today" starts right now. and good morning. i'm richard lui.

the historic drought drying out much of california only getting worse. images from nasa here clearly showing the extreme lack of snow covering the state, rain is in the forecast this week. it will help a bit, but it is not enough. public school administrators even being asked here to dramatically cut back on water use from kindergartens to community colleges. meanwhile, for many of those who enjoy the spring-like weather this past weekend, hey you better buckle down. the polar vortex is coming back. the cold wave will push down temperatures to below zero and down to the 20s in parts of the south. what that means is yet another huge blast of winter is in store for tens of millions of americans. nbc's bill karins will have more on the extreme weather in a few. new details this hour, this morning on why the secretary of defense is proposing to shrink the army. chuck hagel says the nation can afford a military being smaller than before world war ii, but only if it keeps its technological edge. nbc's tracie potts is in

washington for us this morning. and, you know, we knew this was coming in terms of, you know, congress being skeptical on the argument here of reduced quantity, but higher quality. the question is, is the plan in danger? >> reporter: well, that is the question that remains. right now the military says their goal is to be able to protect the homeland in any sort of attack here in the united states. at the same time being able to fight one, just one war at a time. the army would lose up to 80,000 soldiers, special operations forces would grow. the f-35 would replace slower more expensive a-10s. drones would replace the cold war d-2 spy planes. army training helicopters would be retired. >> we must now adapt, innovate and make difficult decisions to ensure that our military remains ready, and capable. >> reporter: the military would have to use 1% pay raises toward housing and other subsidies being cut.

>> what we're trying to do is solve our financial problems on the backs of our military. and that can't be done. >> reporter: governors are concerned about the impact on their national guard. >> it could weaken our ability, especially during times of disasters. >> reporter: the pentagon -- >> this plan is responsible. it is realistic and supports the president's defense strategies. >> reporter: one governor described the president's tone as aggressive. >> don't start coming in and now complaining that the cuts are affecting you because you said you wanted it, now you're going to get it. >> reporter: military families are concerned shrinking the force could make it harder to recruit. >> it means they may not want me as a pilot, which in turn scares me because that's what i want to do. >> reporter: the pentagon warns if congress renews the sequester in 2016, expect even deeper cuts. that could mean losing another 20,000 people from the army.

if that happens, secretary hagel says the country could be at risk. rich sna richard? >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. the hunt is on for viktor yanukovych, he's wanted in the death of scores of anti-protesters last week, this as new government there does take shape and the world watches to see how russia reacts. nbc's jim maceda is in moscow. looking at this new fledgling government as it comes together, the question here, i guess, when we look at the u.s. and that region, what relations might become. >> reporter: hi, richard. that's right. and relations are certainly going to improve. this is a boon for u.s. relations with ukraine. the u.s. government came out quickly in support of the new ukrainian government, has been instrumental with the european union, the eu, in advising the interim government on securing the vast amount of funding now that it is going to need. ukraine officials say some $35 billion in cash to reform its

constitution, to get its economy back on track. already deputy secretary of state bill burns is coming to kiev later this week for discussions on a whole range of issues. but the u.s. has said this is not a zero sum gain in terms of russia. it has close historic ties to ukraine and russia, the u.s. says, must also contribute in a respondenti ive supportive way, but russia, certainly, richard, sees things in kiev in a different light. they see this is meddling by the u.s. and the west, and now all eyes are on russian president vladimir putin. what is he going to do next? there are reports of a buildup of russian forces along the border with ukraine, reports completely denied by russia and ukraine. and today foreign minister sergey lavrov warned it is dangerous to force ukraine to choose between the west and russia. but that russia does support the principle of nonintervention, which is good news. here in moscow, many experts say

that putin isn't going to invade. he's not going to try to split up ukraine, but he says they say that his interests are real interests and that could happen in the future. back to you, richard. >> this as ukraine's former leader there, yanukovych on the run and people not knowing where he's at. jim maceda live in moscow, thank you so much. pressure is mounting over controversial new arizona bill that would allow businesses based on their religious beliefs to deny services to gays and lesbians. all eyes are now on governor jan brewer. arizona's two u.s. senators also republicans urging her to veto. john mccain tweeting, i hope governor brewer will veto sb-1062. jeff flake tweeting, saw governor brewer in washington tonight, encouraged her personally to veto the bill. and three state senators who voted in favor of the bill last week now oppose it, which is enough to defeat the bill, but it is too late for a revote. >> it was a mistake and a

miscalculation. we had no idea there would be the fallout that there has been because frankly we voted on the same bill a year ago and sent it up to the governor and she vetoed it. >> the arizona super bowl host committee has come out against the bill as well. so has marriott, american airlines and apple, which is preparing to open a new glass manufacturing plant in mesa. the governor has four days to sign that or veto it. testimony is scheduled to resume today in the high profile trial of kerry kennedy, daughter of the late senator robert kennedy. kennedy is charged with crashing into a tractor trailer in july 2012 after taking a sleep medication before getting behind the wheel. one witness monday saying kennedy was swerving on the highway before hitting the truck and a second witness saying that after the accident, she was slumped over the wheel. her mother, ethel kennedy, and other members of her family attended the trial north of new york city on monday. the world lost a comedy icon. actor, writer and director

harold ramis died monday of complications from an autoimmune disease. known more for his work behind the camera actually than in front. ramis was the man who brought us beloved comedies like "national lampoon's vacation," "animal house," "groundhog day" and you may have heard of his directial debut "caddie shack," considered one of the greatest comedies of all time. bill murray who co-starred with ramis in the army comedy "stripes" saying, quote, harold earned his keep on this planet. god bless him. you may also remember ramis from this on screen performance in "ghost busters." >> well, let's say this twinkie represents the normal amount of psycho kinetic energy in the new york area. according to this morning's sample, it would be a twinkie 35 feet long weighing approximately 600 pounds. >> that's a big twinkie. >> talking about twinkies. makeshift memorial outside the new york ghost busters firehouse

which does exist has what else, a twinkie. harold ramis was 69. bill karins here. talking weather in a second. but really for our generation, for jen x eors and millennials >> his appearance -- >> the way we see nerdism, he wrote that. >> he always wrote the perspective from the poor, the underprivileged, attacking the people on top. >> it explains your sense of humor, by the way. >> i wish i had his humor. a lot of talk about the cold and the west coast, talking about the rain on its way. the cold is -- the eastern two-thirds of the country, and a little bit up there in montana. really the storms that is going to be moving into california that is really going to cause the headline. this is not a drought buster. more like a drought denter. that's what we like. need a bunch of these storms, doesn't do too much damage.

asking for the rodrigueservoirs the snow pack. a little piece will break off and head into california on wednesday. ten-day rainfall totals, well, looks like the map is not updating there. but let me show you what it is going to look like. as far as the heaviest rain goes, los angeles is going to get some rain on wednesday, but friday and saturday could be as much as two to three inches of rain. by the way, l.a. hasn't had a one-inch rainfall going back to, like, october of 2011. almost three years. so tuesday forecast, the last dry day and then we'll welcome in some rain as we go through wednesday, thursday, bigger storm friday. that's your national forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. levels will be very

high with this storm, so we're not going to get socked in with a lot of snow, but will get the rain. >> bill karins, thank you so much. a puzzling polio-like disease has stricken over a dozen children, but paralyzing symptoms. we have details on that. a family's photo-op gone really terribly wrong. look out for that one. you're watching "early today." [ sneezes ] [ coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. hmm? [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. thanks for the tip. [ male announcer ] no problem. oh...and hair products. aisle 9. [ inhales deeply ] oh what a relief it is. ♪

[ male announcer ] when you feel good, no one is immune. emergen-c has more vitamin c than 10 oranges plus other antioxidants and electrolytes to help you come down with a serious case of healthy. emergen-c. making healthy contagious. chalky... not chalky. temporary... 24 hour. lots of tablets... one pill. you decide. prevent acid with prevacid 24hr. to help me become an olympian, she was pretty much okay with me turning her home into an ice rink.

♪ she'd just reach for the bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller, powerful sheet that acts like a big sheet. look, one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with the small but powerful picker-upper, bounty select-a-size. welcome back. researchers are puzzled by a possible virus causing a polio-like syndrome in california children. the news conference on monday, doctors saying about 20 cases have appeared in the last 18 months. this mystery sickness is causing children to experience partial paralysis in their arms and legs. after what seemed to be a productive weekend of bipartisan talks at the white house, governors bobby jindal and dan malloy got no a bit of a war of words at a press conference. >> what i worry about is that this president, the white house, seems to be waving the white flag of surrender.

the obama economy is now the minimum wage economy. i think we can do better than that. >> let's be clear there are differences here. you just heard what i think ended up being probably the most partisan statement that we have had all weekend. >> if that was the most partisan statement he had all weekend, i want to make sure he hears a more partisan statement, which is i think we can also grow the economy more if we delay more of the obamacare mandates. some people are recovering from injuries after a christmas photo went horribly wrong. 24 people fell 15 feet to the ground after a deck collapsed in southern indiana. the family is suing the makers of the deck. health news, sounds like something from a sci-fi movie. the fda is considering whether to approve a new fertilization technique that could create babies from the dna of three people. now, this technique is aimed at preventing mothers from passing on debilitating genetic diseases to their children. but critics argue it could be a slippery slope toward designer

babies. >> "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil, the experts in intimate health. time to get down to business with cnbc's morgan brennan. good morning, morgan. >> thanks, richard. jpmorgan reportedly plans to cut several thousand more jobs from its mortgage business. the financial times says that's on top of the 13 to 15,000 already set to be slashed due to plunging demand for homeowners. jpmorgan is looking to cut jobs at local branches, but most will be through attrition. facebook is dropping its e-mail service. very few people are actually using it. it caused a stir in 2012 when it replaced users regular e-mail on the home page with a default facebook address. taco bell is launching a breakfast menu nationwide on march 27th. items include a waffle taco. the fast food chain wants a piece of the $50 billion breakfast market, which is dominated by mcdonald's. back to you. >> waffle taco, good, like it.

thank you so much, morgan. sports is head including a new mlb rule and more results from the nfl combine. a penalty shot during a tied soccer game. very lucky spin or unlucky depending who you are. [ female announcer ] we'll cook all day today, but we're not staying in the kitchen. just start the slow cooker, add meat and pour in campbell's slow cooker sauce. by the time you get home, dinner is practically done. and absolutely delicious. everyone is cooking with new campbell's slow cooker sauces.

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this morning on "today," one on one with angelina jolie, sitting down with tom brokaw for

a rare interview. and they discussed the man who inspired her latest film. sports, the formerly undefeated earning every win it seems now. syracuse dropping to number four in the rankings, up by 12 with minutes left against unranked maryland. they give it all back. maryland with seconds left, they miss. syracuse survives 57-55 after that try right there. knicks and mavs. talking about slow mo. dirk nowitzki gets off a buzzer beater. dallas 110-108. boing, boing, in. major league baseball's new rule could help eliminate home plate collision injuries. runners cannot leave the base path itself and catchers cannot block the plate unless they have the ball. michael sam who came out as gay this month did not do very well on the field. his 40 yard dash and bench pressing were disappointing,

that could drop him down to lower rounds of the nfl draft. david clowny didn't -- this one really hurt. game tied at french soccer league play. the goalkeeper blocks the penalty shot. walks away. back spin, back spin and they got an own goal. the opponent wins the game. just ahead for you, the tonight shows' jimmy fallon doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. before using her new bank of america credit card, tonight shows' jimmy fallon doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. j doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. vin doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. jim doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. $me than her minimum payment doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. s" doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. "s" doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. s" doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. "s" doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. s" doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. 's" doing what no other host has done before to book a guest. of responsibility.

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geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. all right, welcome back. let's talk about how much rainfall could fall in the next ten days. this is estimated by one of our long range computers. this is what we finally have been waiting for. the last big storm, mostly affected northern california, central california. this one is far reaching and especially southern california, southern mountains, sierra, that's where we need it. we'll get it. look at vegas, phoenix, this could be one of the wettest storms we had. and that would be more or less the friday storm. but we're get something on wednesday too. tuesday is dry and wednesday we bring in the rain. >> so bill karins, after last time, you went back and kicked and punched the computer. >> i saw you messed it up on me to make me look bad. >> get it going. >> i got hamsters that do that. >> hamsters back there. >> they run. >> i don't want to hear about that. less than a year after robin

thicke's hit "blurred lines" topping charts, he and his wife are calling it quits. they made the joint statement on monday. they would be ending their marriage of eight years. the couple had been together since they were teenagers and had a son together in 2010. after a back and forth on twitter with chicago mayor rahm emanuel, jimmy fallon agreeing to participate in the city's polar plunge. #swim #swimmyfallon. seth had a good friend as his first guest, amy poehler and the vice president of the united states. getting the vp on your show. >> the chairs. i'm not buying the chairs. >> they can change that, though. >> they didn't ask me, by the way. >> they will. shortly. i'm richard lui. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day right here on nbc. [ male announcer ] even ragu users a.

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leading the news in the huffington post, eric holder, the state attorney general, you don't have it defend gay marriage bans. he says when laws touch on court constitutional issues like equal protection, an attorney general should apply the highest level of scrutiny before reaching a decision on whether to defend it or not. and astronomers document record-breaking lunar impact. video capturing the meteorite crashing into the moon last september, the impact energy was about the same as detonating 15 tons of tnt. some stories you may have missed, the longest serving member of the house of representatives is resigning. 87-year-old democrat john dingell of michigan has served 29 full terms. that's 58 years. the seat is likely to remain in democratic hands. a push for a bold warning

label for testosterone drugs for men. asking the fda to add a black box warning, this comes aed my growing evidence the hormone treatments can increase the risk of heart attack. the fda is reviewing the safety of testosterone drugs. the supreme court turns up its nose to a smelly washing machine case. it will not weigh in on this one. the court rejected an appeal from the makers of washers who face class action lawsuits. those lawsuits claim a design flaw that causes a musty odor. red bull at it again with an extreme sport that will chill you to the bone here. it has the velocity of speedskating, the physical play of hockey, and the obstacles of bmx. ice cross may be the most diabolical winter storm ever, sport rather that is. this year's event appropriately titled crashed ice was held in sub-zero st. paul. perhaps ice cross will make its way to the next winter olympics. perhaps not. though we needed more dangerous sports when it comes to winter sports. >> jumping with ice skates.

usually you see them jump up in the air but they're like skiers, getting significant air. >> and all wearing helmet cams. >> that's the red bull way. >> yeah. goes without saying. time for a look ahead and look back. new white house rules to unlimit unhealthy foods for students. first lady michelle obama and the agriculture department announcing the phaseout of ads in schools for sugary drinks and junk foods. on this day in 1964, boxing history changed forever. the young cassius clay soon to be called muhammad ali won his first heavyweight boxing title, knocking out sonny liston. how old were you? happy birthday to nba star joakim noaa, 29, chelsea handler turns 39, and deep impact actress tia leoni is 48. now keep it here for more news, weather and sports. i'm richard lui with bill karins. thanks for watching "early today." have a great tuesday.

flames tear through a san jose home overnight killing one person. now investigators are sifting through the damage. good tuesday morning to you. it's 4:30. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. that fire broke out after midnight at a home on south willard avenue not far from meridian avenue. it took crews about 2 1/2 hours to put out the flames. that's when they found a body inside. it's unclear at this time how that person died. investigators have not released the victim's identity. the red cross is helping a family including six adults and one child find a place to stay. it's too soon to tell how the fire started. >> our own bob redell is athe