the next 24 hours are crial. we could close some deals, but they've got to be good to secure or borders. >> if we stay focused on getting a deal and we negotiate in good faith on border security, i think we'll end up with something that can work and keep the government open. >> can a deal be made to avoid a second governmenshutdown? a pivotal day is ahead. the biggest moments from the grammy awards and the women who shined throughout music's biggest night. we'll look at the growing threat of mudslides and the new technology that may decrease the threat and save lives. why a harvard study says the value of friendships in our life could be worth more than anything. will smith as the genie in the new live-action "aladdin."

the reaction has been overwhelming. "early today" starts right now. good monday morning. i'm philip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. with less than a week left to strike a deal, a threat of another shutdown is hanging over the country this morning. president trump will likely draw a line in the border battle with a rally for the wall in el paso later tonight. but he'll face some serious opposition. democratic rising star, potential 2020 challenger beto o'rourke, will lead a protest march in the same city. nbc's tracie potts joins us with the latest from d.c. it looks like budget negotiations hit a wall in congress this weekend? >> reporter: yeah, they've hit a snag. the negotiations seem to be in a stand still right now. we don't know when the negotiators are meeting, frances. the wall is an issue. clearly democrats don't want to give money to the wall. they are looking at how immigrants are dealt with inside this country.

how will i.c.e. agents go after immigrants already living in this country who have not committed crimes. is that going to be a priority? the white house says both the emergency declaration that the president has threatened to pay for the wall and a shutdown on friday are still on the table. >> you cannot take a shutdown off the table. you cannot take 5.7 off the table. if you end up someplace in the middle, you will probably see the president saying, yeah, okay, and then i will go find the money someplace else. >> reporter: $5.7 billion is what he was referring torque the money the president wants for the wall. speaking of the border, california will formally announce today, but we have already confirmed they are pulling their national guard troops from the border. 360 of them. new mexico did the same thing. governor newsom does not want to be part of a manufactured crisis by the trump administration. now, turning a bit to another

washington story, we have another member of congress jumping into the race for president. amy klobuchar, senator from minnesota, take a look, made that announcement on sunday. a lot of white hats watching as the snow came down. but she braved the snow and even used it as an opportunity to tweet at the president about climate change saying that she wants to bring her mid-western grit to washington to fighe chaos that's been happening here. frances. >> already. tracie potts for us to start us off. tracie, thanks. the biggest standing ovation at this year's 61st annual grammy awards was not for a musician but for a former first lady. after michelle obama made a surprise cameo at music's biggest night, she graced the stage alongside alicia keys, loja gaga, j. smith. the crowd stood up and cheered for 25 seconds before she could even begin her speech. she shared her own personal

story of music's influence in her life. speaking of music's impact, singer dolly parton got a star-studded tribute. ♪ here you come again oh looking better than a body has a right to ♪ ♪ jolene jolene jolene jolene ♪ oh i'm begging of you please don't take my man ♪ >> country music queen was this year's music cares person of the year in honor of her charity work. she's also the first country artist to be saluted in the tribute's 29-year history. >> speaking of queens, legendary diana ross was honored. ♪ you've given me the best years of my life ♪ ♪ thank you >> ross brought down the house with a medley of her motown hits. she was recognizit meanwhile the show's motown tribute, led by j. lo, had some controversy.ic

she performed songs with the legendary smokey robinson, alicia keys, ne-yo. rapper drake took a dig he >> if there's people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain, in the snow, spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows, you don't need this right here, i promise you, you already won. >> they cut his mike during his speech. but he won for best ropp song for "god's plan." and cardi b the first female solo artist for best rap album. she brought up her husband on stage. and she thanked her baby colter. to a lawyer for the publisher of "the national enquirer" speaking out in the tabloid's defense. in a heated battle with amazon founder jeff bezos, the richest man in the world. we go to nebraska's morgan chesky. >> reporter: it's a scandal ripped from the pages of a tabloid. involving the world's richest man and nude selfies.

the attorney for the enquirer's ceo, david pecker, goto th chase this week. >> it is definitely not extortion and not blackmail. >> reporter: in january, the tabloid published text messages between bezos and his alleged mistress, lauren sanchez. in a blog post bezos said he launched an investigation into the leak. bezos shared e-mails he says are from the company and have not been independently confirmed by nbc news. in them ami threatens to release 10 previously unpublished racy photos of bezos and sanchez unless he stopped the investigation, an act bezos calls extortion. david pecker's attorney called tic negotiation. >> i think bezos and ami had interests in resolving their differences. >> reporter: it seems bezos might have seen this defense coming, saying, no real journalist ever proposed anything like what is happening here. federal prosecutors now looking into claims from both sides.

morgan chesky, nbc news. now to virginia where the capitol is still engulfed in controversy. governor ralph northam tells "the washington post" that he will not be resigning despite demands from republicans and democrats that he do just that. all this as the lieutenant governor is barely hanging on to his job after facing a second sexual assault allegation. nbc's jeff bennett has the latest on this unfolding drama. >> reporter: virginia democratic governor ralph northam in his first tv interview since becoming engulfed in a blackface scandal says he won't step down. >> i'm not going anywhere. i have learned from this. i have a lot more to learn. >> reporter: new plan, pushing an agenda of racial equity. f virgia's history, we're now at th first indentured servants from africa landed on our shores in old point comfort what we call now ft. monroe. >> also known as slavery. >> yes.

i think i'm in a position where i can take virginia to the next level. >> reporter: as politicians pile on -- >> he should resign. >> reporter: -- a new sign of support. a "washington post" poll finding a majority of african-american virginians want northam to stay on the job. >> it happened years ago. ralph northam has been with the black community since then. so i think he's changed. >> i think they need to get off him, let him do his job. >> reporter: the governor still reserving judgment on his number two. lieutenant governor justin fairfax. who stands accused of sexual assault by two women, dr. vanessa tyson, and meredith watson. fairfax seen leaving his northern virginia home, flatly denies both allegations.

in a new statement writing, i call on all appropriate and impartial investigatory authorities, including the fbi, to investigate fully and thoroughly the allegations against me by ms. watson and dr. tyson. i ask that all three of us be respected during this process." now meredith watson and vanessa tyson say they're prepared to testify if impeachment proceedings against justin fairfax move forward. both women say they stand ready to publicly refute his claims that the encounters were completely consensual. philip? >> all right, geoff, thank you. a california mother who rushed into her burning home to save her four children has died. bakersfield firefighters say they were able to rescue four children, but one person was left inside the home. the family's pastor told reporters the mother was not home when the fire started and that she rushed in trying to save her kids. the four children suffered minor injuries. investigators are looking into what may have sparked that fire. shocking images out of glendale, arizona, show police officers tasing a man nearly a dozen times. now after spending months in jail, the father of two is suing the cops accusing them of torture. a warning, the video may be hard to watch. the footage gives a dramatic picture of the amount of force the officers used.

you can see police grabbing the man's arm while he is still strapped into the vehicle. they continue to struggle for him. he would drop into fetal position after being tased by police. by the end of the ordeal, the man from arizona had been tased a total of 11 times, according to his lawsuit. his wife, a friend, and two young children were all inside the vehicle and witnessed the whole thing, which happened following a routine traffic stop back in july of 2017. glendale police say the father of two failed to obey officers' instructions. he was arrested for assaulting a police officer and he remained in jail for months because he couldn't afford bail. one of the glendale police officers involved was suspended but has since returned to active duty. we turn to that winter wallop in northern california. hundreds of drivers strand for hours on an interstate after a heavy rainstorm forced it to shutdown. according to officials the snow brought unsafe travel conditions across a 95-mile stretch of interstate 80. whiteouts and spinouts expedited the road closures. some people remained stuck on the shutdown interstate for at least 18 hours and twe forced to sleep in their cars.

the roads have since been cleared and reopened. deal with these dangerous conditions, good morning, bill. >> good morning. seattle keeps piling on the snow. another three and a half inches yesterday. another storm moving in today. this will be a little more messy. 14 inches on the season. why is that important? we only average five for a season. this makes it the snowiest month in the last 33 years. compared to boston, it only had two inches this winter. that doesn't happen very often. seattle is getting to this next storm.

tech titans taking on with amazon live. a service let's brands live stream products and show them off. congresswoman ocasio-cortez is coming to netflix. the now documentary called "knock down the house" for $10 million. love is in the air at starbucks. the coffee chain is bringing back its cherry mocha drinks, as well as heart-shaped treats just in time for valentine's day. but you have to move fast. the special items are only around for a week. up next, new technology that

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the growing menace of mudslides in places like california are starting to spark change. areas ravaged by wildfires are susceptible to dangerous mudslides during a major rainstorm. that's why in california's central coast they're trying a new technology to stop the threat in its tracks. nbc's tammy leitner has a closer look. >> it was a flash panic of what does one do? >> reporter: rivers of mud ravaged montecito last year, killing 23, wiping out 470 homes and businesses. come. >> when it rains this year, i think people do immediatel flash back. >> reporter: residents already evacuated six times this the year are taking action. they believe these steel mesh nets from switzerland are the key to stopping the next deadly

mudslide where it starts. these canyons are beautiful but can be dangerous. >> they can be very dangerous. especially under conditions post-fire or with intense rainfall. >> reporter: a small team raised more than $4 million from residents. six nets will be installed in this canyon, and two others. >> water, soils, mud, can go through the rain nets. but the rock stays behind so it's basically a shock absorber. >> reporter: these excavators have been working around the clock to clear out debris from rains that happened just last weekend. and the concern is, without these nets, these giant boulders will continue to flow downstream. >> we are absolutely at risk today. >> reporter: fire chief kevin taylor says the nets can provide safety for years to come. a new line of mudslide defense that helps residents like thomas imagine a safer future in the place he calls home. tammy leitner, nbc news, montecito.

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will you help me rescue my friends? >> you don't want to go anywhere near that system, it's ruled by alien queen. >> only the toughest you're going to get out of there alive. >> "lego movie 2" topped the box office at nearly $30

million, falling short of its $50 million estimate. "what men want" second with $19 million, followed by "cold pursuit" with $10.8 million, one of the lowest openings for liam neeson. a big week ahead for wall street as investors are keeping a close eye on the u.s. and china as they try to settle a trade dispute. cnbc's steve sedgwick has the details for thus morning. >> happy monday, frances. happy monday, philip. let's put this in context. the u.s. markets have been on a tear since christmas eve. we're still up 15% on the dow since christmas eve. but having said that, we stalled last week. in fact, we came off a little bit on friday. the dow's down .5%, 121 points. the s&p down .6%. it's the juul concerns yet again. it's the shutdown fears and concerns over china trade wars with makings kicking off yet again this week. americans, you're being sluggish filing your tax returns. the number of individual t week dropped more than 12% on last year's, probably because

you're not getting big checks back in terms of rebate. the average refund is in the region of $1865, an 8.4% drop on the $2035 you got in the same period last year. happy monday, frances and philip. >> right? it's a big deal. >> it is, steve. thank you so much. bill's tracking a winter storm. and the first look at will smith as the genie in "aladdin" will leave fans wishing for more. you're watching "early today." ♪ bywith quality ingredients like roasted hazelnuts and cocoa, nutella is sure to bring a smile to breakfast time.

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welcome back. a very active travel week. not a good week to be flying anywhere across the country. heavy rain in the ohio valley. snow in areas of iowa later today. we are seeing areas of snow, especially in the mountains of the northwest. that is as we go through the middle of the week. a good sized storm comes into california. we will be worried about flash flooding in the burn scarred areas. by friday, it moves across the country and a new storm in it place. >> relentless. bill, thank you.ey wl be there for you. we're talking about friends. it helps your health. an abstract painter in a word, he's complicated his food though is pretty simple et basics is a simple diet made with a single animal protein source, and ingredients you can understand it has no chicken, beef. dairy, soy, or eggs.

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tackling what a few consider a big issue in their state, pornography. a republican lawmaker introduced a bill to declare it a public health crisis. michelle udall compared pornography to the tobacco industry, saying it is used pervasively, even by minors. the bill passed its first hurdle on its path to a full vote. utah was the first state in the country to declare pornography a public health crisis back in 2016. similar measures have been passed in 11 states. . the indiana state department of health reports that anyone who may have been exposed to rabies and should see a health care provider about getting a vaccination. officials say the bat's rabies status is unknown but so far no reports of anyone having direct contact with the animal. a 15-year-old girl is literally raising the bar and smashing records at the same time. watch her, florida high school freshman michaela reeves bench pressing 360 pounds at the state championship over the weekend.

yeah, 360. the florida high school athlete association says that reeves broke the state's previous record by 55 pounds and set a record for total combined lift. powerhouse. more power to her. >> that's ridiculous. i cannot believe how much -- and she's a freshman. four more years, wow. looking for an excuse to spend quality time with your best friends? here you go. a study shows that an occasional fr "southern living" reports taking me to end with friends can improve mental and physical health. researchers have found that friendships can actually extend life expectancy, cut down on risk of heart disease, and help us tolerate pain. "aladdin" fans, the genie is back. >> you really don't know who i am? genie, wishes, lamp? none of that ringing a bell? >> digging it. the new trailer of disney's

live-action adaptation of "aladdin" dropped during last night's grammys. will smith makes an appearance painted in blue during the final seconds of the trailer. the movie hits theaters may 24th. he sings in it, does the whole thing, i can't wait. we want to leave you with big birthdays. r&b singer and fellow el pasoen khalid celebrating his 21st birthday. sheryl crow turns 57 today. taylor lautner 27 years old. last but not least, jennifer aniston is 50 years old on this day. she celebrated over the weekend with a star-studded bash and even her ex, brad pitt, made an appearance. >> thanks for being with us. i'm frances rivera. >> i'm philip mena. keep it right here, the news continues.

you cannot take a shutdown off the table, you cannot take

5.7 off the table -- >> from the battle over funding a wall to a fight over the number of detention beds immigration officials have access to, is a second government shutdown all but certain? as the wheels turn toward possible impeachment proceedings in virginia, could a new poll give the govern smer breathing room? the democratic field for president continues to expand as the candidates clamor for early attention. while proposing ever-larger taxes on the wealthy. michelle obama a surprise guest during the biggest night in music as the grammy awards gave us plenty of memorable moments and se one of the greatest american athletes of all-ti