thanks for starting your friday with us. coming up on "early today," the coldest day of the entire winter is likely today, folks. that means hunker down bundle up and by all means if you're on the roads stay vigilant. is america one step closer to sending u.s. ground troops into iraq in a fight against isis? rudy giuliani doubles down on h obama doesn't love america comments. the ucla's super bug is worse than we thought. nascar gets ugly ahead of this weekend's daytona 500. and here to warm you up -- it is friday february 20th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. happy friday. i'm frances rivera. today could be the coldest day of the winter.

parts of the u.s. are colder than places in antarctica. this nasty bitter freeze has aan icy grip. niagara falls is an ice castle large portions are entombed and won't melt until may. sculptors in minnesota are building this giant dragon. massachusetts firefighters rescue two dogs although one wasn't too happy. both got nice warm blankets when they reached shore. it is brutal down south as well. nashville hasn't been above freezing since last weekend. of the 50 weather-related deaths reported 11 happened in tennessee. take a look at this really an amazing image. that is a parked jeep that pulled away leaving behind its frozen casing. yesterday's coldest temperature in the lower 48 negative 42 degrees near cotton minnesota. and you can thank the siberian express. arctic air from northern russia passing through the north pole 5,000 miles away.

and it's rough on roads too. a michigan police officer is recovering at home after being hit by an out-of-control car. bill karins will give us his wedder forecast including when we can expect the next winter storm. so another one on the way. an offensive is under way to take back the iraqi city of mosul from isis fighters and could involve american boots on the ground. a senior official from the military central command said the move could be a last resort. u.s. ground and special operations forces will join as many as 20,000 forces as early as april. this would give u.s. officials time to train the iraqi and kurdish fighters. president obama had previously said he would be willing to authorize ground troops if necessarily. the u.s. is also considering providing air support, intelligence, and logistics. some 2,000 isis fighters are currently occupying mosul. a new cbs news poll shows for the first time more than half of americans support boots on the ground in the fight against isis. that's up from october when 47%

were in favor of the strategy. an nbc news poll released last week showed 66% of americans in favor of boots on the ground. health officials in california are trying to reassure the public this morning. they say there is no threat to public health from a super bug the cdc is calling a nightmare bacteria. cre has infected seven people and potentially contributed to the deaths of two ucla hospital patients. the ap cites an attorney saying an 18-year-old student is in grave condition at this hour. cre is incredibly resistant to antibiotic antibiotics. letters have been sent to over 170 patients who may have been exposed. bacteria can get trapped in the tip of a device used to clean the upper intestine. >> this is really the perfect storm. you have an instrument that on the whole is difficult to completely disinfect, and at the same time you have a bug that has become more and more resistant to anti-buy why theics. >> the l.a. county department of public health says ucla followed

the recommended procedures for cleaning those scopes. if you're sitting down for breakfast or making it go ahead and treat yourself to another cup of coffee and extra eggs as well. a government health panel has proposed new federal dietary guidelines. experts have eased some of the restrictions of fat and cholesterol and are recommending new limits on the amounts of sugar we eat. nbc's tracie potts is here to break down the guidelines. what else is on that list? >> reporter: coffee is one of the big ones. three to five cups a day is okay, these experts say. yes, you can add another cup of coffee. in fact some of the latest research suggests that it could even prevent or help prevent type 2 diabetes. eggs the thing with eggs has been that they contain cholesterol. but the latest research seems to indicate that foods high in cholesterol don't necessarily translate into higher cholesterol in your blood. for that reason they're saying that more than the 1 1/2 eggs recommended a day is now okay. the thing you want to watch are

trans fats and saturated fats. some high-cholesterol foods like shellfish and eggs it's okay to eat a little more. others like butter fried foods, ice cream, the good stuff, that you might want to still stay away from. sugar and salt the salt recommendations are about the same. sugar now limiting to 200 calories a day, about one 16-ounce drink. >> and i was ready for that second serving of bacon later on. tracie potts we appreciate it this morning. police have made an arrest in the deadly las vegas road rage shooting. and now they are looking for one more suspect. police arrested 19-year-old eric nalsh after a two-hour standoff. he was charged with attempted murder and discharging a firearm in a vehicle. they believe he is the only person who shot and killed tammy meyers. she and her son went looking for him two days after she and nalsh had a confrontation during her daughter's driving lesson. nalsh lives a block away from meyers' home. her husband gave this emotional interview to reporters moments after the arrest.

>> made my wife look like an animal and there's the animal a block away! are you happy? >> he says his wife used to give nalsh money and try to lead him in the right direction. have you ever gone to school with a new hairstyle and hoped everyone would notice? this morning the world is noticing the supreme leader of north korea. the korean central news agency released this photo of kim jong-un and his new do. so a little bit hightop, a little bit blowout, with just a touch of shaded side burns. people on social media were wondering if maybe he was a "jersey shore" fan. others thought that ivan drag go the soviet musselman boxer from "rocky 4," remember that? at least he doesn't have to worry about re-election. bill karins good morning. can we start talking about an end to all of this madness, this

cold? >> why would we want to do that? we're breaking records, we're making news. it continues this morning. we've had record low temperatures from key west florida, all the way up to new york city. and this looks to be probably the peak cold for many areas over the winter. negative 36, windchills the lowest i could find on the map at wellsville new york south of buffalo. buffalo negative 28. central kentucky at negative 26 there in lexington. so all of this area that is now frigidly cold is getting ready for a winter storm this weekend. what a mess it's going to be. an ice storm is possible. watch out for those headlines around areas of tennessee. they had one about a week ago. there's still ice on the trees. it never melted. now they've got another ice storm coming. the nashville area especially concerned with you. also missouri snow to the north. temperatures in the west some of the cold air tried to bheedleed in late bit. a snow storm in colorado one of the first in a while. the ski resorts will love that. traveling snout of that area is going to be difficult this weekend. right now quiet. here comes that next storm

that's going to dive down and bring the front range impressive snows. everywhere else pretty dry, not a bad area. that's the national forecast. now a closer look at the day west is nice. east is cold. and that continues. weekend forecast coming up. >> all right bill thank you very much. speaking of the west near los angeles, may go from no football team to two nfl teams. rudy giuliani and whether or not he's a racist. the sudden death of one of the members of the hit show "parks and recreation." you're watching "early today." ugh. does your carpet ever feel rough and dirty? don't avoid it. resolve it. our new formula with

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he was one of the program's executive producers. whittles was found dead at his home from a possible drug overdose. police say there was drug paraphernalia in the house. the 30-year-old has spoken openly about his battles with drug addiction and had gone to rehab twice. the last episode will air next week. amy poehler eulogized him saying 80 lost a friend." sarah silverman tweeted "he was my baby. i'm so mad at you, harris." reportedly bobbi kristina brown is getting ready to come out of coma. they have inserted a tracheostomy tube in her threat to prevent infection from her breatheing tube. she will be weaned off of coma nation. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani is doubling down on comments about president obama's patriotism. rudy giuliani said the president didn't love america because "he wasn't brought up the way you

were brought up and i was brought up through love of this country." but in an interview with "new york times" he says some people in the it was racist, i thought that was a joke since he was brought up by a white mother white grandmother, went to white schools, and most of us learned from white people. this isn't racism this is socialism or probably anti-colonialism." cargo ships are sitting ducks as west coast ports remain closed amid a labor dispute. the secretary of labor has given dock workers and shippers until today to hash out a new contract. if a deadline passes for two sides they'll be forced to travel to washington to hammer out a new labor agreement. los angeles is about to go from no nfl team to two. part of a plan by the oakland raiders and san diego chargers to share a stadium. that's if new stadium deals in their hometowns fall through. the new york jets and giants are the only teams in the nfl that share a stadium right now. and check this out, not a care in the world for these adorable red pandas at cincinnati zoo. there's not complaining about the record snowfall. sure are loving it.

looking adorable too. let's get down to business. c fsn's landon downey good morning. >> good morning to you. it's been a week since reports surfaced about apple's plans to build its own electric car. and now it appears that venture is shifting into a higher gear. reports saying apple begins production in 2020. assembling a team of 200 people. it takes vendors five to seven years to develop a car. apple isn't commenting. youtube will release an app for kids featuring age-appropriate content and kid-friendly design with big icons. the free app will have parental controls including a timer to limit screen time. walmart plans to give 500,000 workers a pay raise. average pay for full-time employees will be $13 an hour $10 for part-time workers. walmart will make changes to how it schedules and trains its hourly workers. the company is the nation's biggest private employer. sports is just ahead,

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this morning on "today," jenna bush hager reports on one young girl's request for more female super heroes and a response she got from one of the biggest comic bookmakers. the latest in sports trading places in the nba.

disgruntled suns point guard goran dragic got his wish. he is being shipped off to the heat. kevin garnett returns to minnesota. sending thaddeus young to the nets. garnett spent 12 seasons with the wolves. steven flake will relinquish his number 25 in honor of late blazers legend jerome kersey who passed away wednesday from a blood clot that traveled from his calf to his youngs. lungs. blake will switch now to number 5. the 57th annual duel at the daytona. the top 15 finishers will fill out the top 30 starting positions for sunday's daytona 500. in the first duel dale earnhardt jr. finishes first followed by jeff gordon and the second duel with four laps to go watch this big crash. denny hamlin getting in the back of danica patrick's number 10 car. bad blood there. hamlin wrecked a car in wednesday's practice session. jimmie johnson takes first. afterwards, hook at this heated exchange with rival hamlin.

just wait for it right there. two hands up right to the chest right there. not happy. the deflategate saga continues. colts gm rickson says the team contacted nfl officials before the afc championship game to raise questions about the patriots' game balls. he did not say how the team was tip observed. officials have not yet provided updates on the investigation of the controversy. and the nhl released very cool time lapse video, the transformation at san francisco's levi's stadium from how we know it as a football stadium into a hockey rink. it is all part of the nhl's outdoor stadium series. sharks take on the kings saturday only on nbc sports network. san francisco giants manager bruce bochy underwent a heart procedure to insert two stents. the three-time world series champion manager was being moneyed after discomfort following a physical on wednesday. bochy remains hospitalized overnight in arizona and is expected to be released later today.

and look at this. an artist made a dress entirely out of used new york mets payables. baseballs. the dress is made from the covers the 130 baseballs. the dress will be autographed by players and auctioned off for charity. just ahead, iggy azalea fights back against bullies. and why "frozen's" keen elsequeen elsa is a wanted woman. and "two and a half men," find out if charlie sheen was there. stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america.

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doug, we have the results, but first, we have a very special guest. come on out, flo! [house band playing] you have anything to say to flo? nah, i'll just let the results do the talking. [crowd booing] well, he can do that. we show our progressive direct rate and the rates of our competitors even if progressive isn't the lowest. it looks like progressive is not the lowest! ohhhh! when we return we'll find out whether doug is the father. wait, what?

welcome back. before i get to the weekend forecast and the wet for everyone in the beautiful hawaiian islands, cold front coming through today. there are some showers that will move through. you will see a period of rain during the day. you'll also see temperatures in the low 80s so it's hard to complain about that. as far as the west goes this weekend as we look at the forecast through the weekend, showers especially into the areas of california. not a lot of rain but looks like we'll call a cut-off low could bring showery-type weather. we want to talk about our friends in alaska too. this is where it's going to be a hit chilly. 1 in fairbanks. it was interesting yesterday. at one point yesterday it was colder in tennessee than it was in northern alaska. but that's changing now. it's getting a little bit colder where it should. >> good. that's on the order of something very wrong. good it's short-lived.

at the box office "50 shades of grey" is expected to take the number one spot for a second weekend, pushing through the $100 million sales mark. neither of this weekend's new releases or "mcfarland usa" is expected to break $10 million. iggy azalea is pushing back at bullies tweeting "i am taking some time away from social media. i need to be happy and it is too negative and draining." reaction from bill cosby about news eddie murphy refused to impersonate him in an "snl" sketch. i am very appreciative of eddie and i applaud his actions." if you missed the 40th anniversary special of "snl," catch an encore presentation tonight at 8:00 p.m. even if you watch it, lol at the same time. just as much. no sign of charlie sheen on last night's finale of "two and a half men." it was revealed his character

wasn't really dead but being held in a basement by his stalker rose. meanwhile, kind words from ashton kutcher about costar jon cryer saying thank you, mr. cryer, for making this job never feel like work. i will miss working with you every day. you ar true partner in every sense of the word." elsa here has a bit of a past. >> don't let her fool you, she's been known to do this a time or two. >> talking about that elsa from "frozen." holland county, kentucky, has issued an all points plen on elsa for allegedly casting an icy spell and endangering everyone's welfare. maybe prince hans can get behind that one. i'm francis rivera and this is "early today." we hope it's your first stop of the day on nbc. sunday dinners at my house... it's a full day for me, and i love it. but when i started having back pain my sister had to come help.

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heeding the news in "usa today," defense rests its case in the american sniper trial. former marine corporal eddie ray ralph did not testify in his own defense at his murder trial. a psychiatrist testified he believed ralph was mentally unstable months before he shot and killed chris kyle and chad littlefield. the again's looking for a driver, it is the perfect job. someone who can stay calm under pressure. so for about 23,000 british pounds a year you'd be required to work 48 hours a week. >> driving the queen. >> here's the benefits 33 vacation days a place to live with rent deducted and of course royally prepared meals and getting the inside scoop. >> they're just saying you're

getting the perks of driving the queen. >> just the bragging rights. other stories we're following this morning, two red bull planes collided in midair performing in india. the pilots both managed to land safely, though. hundreds of people were watching the show at the time of the accident. texas put a stop to same-sex marriages hours after the state's first gay marriage took place. the marriage license issued to the couple based on a one-time court order due to health reasons. later today the state's republican attorney general is reportedly heading to court to argue why their nuptials should be ruled invalid. in australia a powerful cyclone hit the northeastern coast early this morning. look at the damage it left behind. the cyclone packed winds and gusts up to 180 miles an hour. more than 900 people living along the coast were told to evacuate their homes. here's a question for you, are tomatoes the new must have item for marathon runners? we ask because there's one japanese food manufacturers who seems to think so.

they've unveiled a wearable tomato robot. it actually feeds you tomatoes at the click of a button while you're still running. it might slow you down a bit. the contraption fits like a backpack and weighs 18 pounds. why don't you just make a protein bar dispenser? why tomatoes? isn't that random for runners? while you're running? >> chocolate truffles. if we're going to have a machine feed me -- >> the whole running thing overall. >> sit in your la-z-boy with a machine feeding you. >> and the hat with the beer thing. we're on to something. >> tomatoes. >> pasta, make some spaghetti. celebrating birthdays. supermodel cindy crawford she's 49 years old. she still looks like that. charles barkley is 52 years old. sidney poitier is 88 years old. keep it here for news, weather and sports. thanks for watching "early today" and happy friday, have a great weekend.

firefighters use theolñ jaws of life to get into a burning building in oakland. plus giants manager bruce bochy to be released from a hospital today after having a heart procedure. what's next for the skipper? and a daring escape. she says she was held against her will for three weeks. now the bay area woman wants help finding her kidnappers. a live look outside downtown san jose. it is friday february the 20th and you are watching "today in the bay." and a wonderful friday morning. it's 4:30. i'm sam prok.brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon.