a dramatic twist in the jussie smollett case. why investigators are now looking into whether the actor staged the alleged assault himself. declaring war on the president's emergency declaration. the latest from the fierce fight over the border wall in both congress and the courts. a reality check for students. the new program teaching high schoolers how to spot fake news. terror on the track at daytona. a fiery crash wipes out half of the drivers in the final minutes of the race. who emerged from the wreckage a winner. can music strike apaents? the unique therapy offering hope to those fighting the disease. "early today" starts right now. good monday mena.

>> i'm marlie hall. the investigation into an alleged racist and homophobic attack against "empire" star jussie smollett has taken another strange turn. this time with chicago police saying that they no longer consider smollett a victim, but can't say he is a suspect himself. a police source familiar with the investigation told nbc news that the new focus is now whether smollett staged the assault. nbc's steve patterson has been following this story for us. steve, what's the latest? >> reporter: marlie, this is yet another stunning turn in what has been an incredible series of events in this story. now sources close to the s noveonger considered a victim, nor is he yet considered a suspect. and at this point they just want him to come in so he can clarify n to stage an alleged attack two against him. in january jussie smollett filed a police report stating two

masked men assaulted him while hurling racist and homophobic slurs before pouring bleach on him and tieing a rope around his neck. he identified the attackers in this blurry surveillance picture. >> i don't have any doubt in my mind that that's them. >> reporter: friday night police said they questioned and s released two men i.d.'d in the picture, confirmed by nbc news as two brothers, both followed by smollett on instagram, no longer suspects. investigators say they searched the brothers' home and found a rope, bleach, and black masks.l >> reporter: police issued a statement saying new informatio with the brothers shifted the trajectory of the investigation. law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation tell nbc news smollett is no longer considered a vicinnor is he con. and at this point police just want him to come in and clarify his story. attorneys for smollett

categorically denied the notion that he staged the assault. he has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that jussie played a role in his own attack. nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying. and this morning the actor remaining steadfast, standing by his story, despite the growing scrutiny. marlie? >> all right, steve patterson, thank you. president trump's national emergency declaration is under siege from all sides this morning. a growing chorus of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are voicing their concerns over the president's last-ditch effort to fund his border wall. and now several states are getting ready to sue to block mr. trump's move. he efforts setting the stage presidential election. nbc's tracie potts joining us now from d.c. with the very latest on this. so after all of this, the backing down.

the white house confirmed that over the weekend. but here on capitol hill, this is a border battle with many face you just simply don't need to, as the president puts it here, finish the wall. on the other side, you've also got republicans supporting the president and republicans against the president because they're looking at this from a larger angle, thinking this is a power grab, president trump's national emergency, to take budget authority away and fiscal authority away from congress. some republicans don't like that. so the question this morning, will president trump use a veto if congress decides to v resolu? here's what we heard from the white house over the weekend. >> if they pass a resolution of disapproval, will the president veto that, w the first veto os going to protect his national emergency declaration, chris. i know we're out of time, but i

there's no threat -- >> yes, he will veto? >> he's going to protect his national emergency declaration guaranteed. >> lawmakers, critics, opponents, supporters, all trying to game out how this may play out in court, because that may, in fact, be the next stop, moving its way up through lower courts to the u.s. supreme court. that is now a little bit more conservative with trump appointees than it used to be. the question is, declaring a national emergency is one thing, proving it in court could be quite another. philip? >> entirely another thing. all right, tracy pottsrom the former acting fbi director. during an interview with "60 minutes," andrew mccabe suggested the president may have broken the law while trying to undermine the bureau's investigation into his campaign ties with russia. >> the president had gone to jim comey and specifically asked him to discontinue the investigation of mike flynn, which was a part of our russia case. the president then fired the

director. in the firing of the director, the president specifically asked rod rosenstein to write a memo justifying the firing and told rod to include russia in the memo. rod, of course, did not do that. put together, these circumstance circumstances were articulatable facts that indicate a crime may have been committed. the president may have been gained in obstruction of justice in the firing of jim comey. >> mccabe also claimed deputy attorney general rod rosenstein discussed using the 25th amendment to remove mr. trump from office. senate judiciary committee chairman lindsey graham accused rosenstein of trying to stage an administrative coup and vowed his panel will investigate the matter. mccabe is currently promoting his memoir "the threat" which paints a dire portrait of the oval office. hundreds gathered yesterday to honor the victims of the shooting in aurora, illinois. five white crosses were carried

four miles through the snow representing each of the henry pratt company employees who were killed during a meeting on friday. the procession led to the aurora police station where officers were thanked for their service. police say gary martin, the man who opened fire on his co-workers, had his gun permit revoked in 2014. but it's unclear what was done to make sure he handed over his firearm. several police officers were injured by gunfire before martin was shot and killed. as of sunday one officer was still recovering in the hospital recovering. the new york police department is investigating one of its own after a new york daily news report following an alleged threat involving rappersy fwnt. deputy gonzales allegedly told his officers to shoot 50 cent quote on sight during a roll call at the station. the threat was made after the rapper was set to attend an nypd charity boxing match. according to their sources gonzales and fitty had an

ongoing feud stemming from threats made against the officer last year. a spokesperson said the incident is under internal review. officer gonzales remains on active duty. fitty cent says he is consulting with legal counsel. chaos on the speedway. number 21, paul menard, triggered a massive wreck that wiped out 21 cars in this fiery crash shortly after a restart with 10 laps to go in the race. thankfully all the drivers were able to get out without being injured. it brought out a red flag that stopped the race so it could all get cleaned up. the great american race had five crashes and two red flags over the final 20 laps. in the end denny hamlin raced to his second victory in four years. memory of the late j.d. gibbs. gibbs cofounded the race team along with his father joe. he passed away last month after battling a rare neurological disease. a lot of people are off school and work, but those who

have to commute, we have icy spots from madison to milwaukee. a little bit of snow this morning and anyone cleaving from cleveland to erie and buffalo, a lot of people in southern portions of new england. we've had a little bit of ice in areas outside of new york city. really the snow is further to the north in the hudson valley and areas into central connecticut. by 7:00 a.m. the blue shows where the snow is, primarily northern new england and areas of eastern new england, should be snowing pretty good from providence southwards down to the cape. by the middle of the day it starts to break up a little bit. by this evening we're completely done. we're only going to say another inch or two possible in areas, especially connecticut maybe up to 3 inches more south of boston. fla. temratures todad- take a look at the week ahead forecast coming up. we'll talk a lot about rain. >> oh, man. all right, we'll look forward to

that, bill, thank you. this presidents' day weekend was a slow one at the box office. the sci-fi fantasy "alita: battle angel" topped the charts leading one of the slowest presidents' day weekends at the box office in years and has a way to go to make up its $170 million production project. "the lego movie 2" followed by "isn't it romantic." coming up, your last chance to see a super moon for seven years. you don't want to miss that. plus the power of music. alzheimer's patients singing the praises of a new treatment. aid ♪ ♪ girl, you take care of me ♪ ♪ you are my thera♪y ♪ the better half of me ♪ say it again ♪ ♪ if you love me, love me, love me ♪ like you say ♪ ♪ darling tell me all the ways ♪ tell me all the ways ♪

now, we're bringing you all the ways target run and done. everyone wants to be (cthe cadbury bunny because only he brings delicious cadbury creme eggs. while others may keep trying, nobunn ty knn cadbury!® before she puts them in the dishwasher.hat es the dishwas. prewashing and removing stuck-on foods, the first time.

(mom) wow! that's clean! (vo) cascade platinum. georgand a busy day ahead. george has entresto, a heart failure pill that helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. ♪ the beat goes on ♪ the beat goes on that was great! sky gazers will want to get up early with us tomorrow morning. before dawn on tuesday will be the best time in america to view this month's full super moon when the moon will reach its closest approach to the earth and its surface will be completely illuminates, a chance to see it at its biggest and

brightest. there won't be another opportunity to see a super moon like this until 2026. anthony weiner has been released from prison. the disgraced ex-congressman is now in aer re-entry program. he pleaded guilty in 2017 to transferring obscene material to a 15-year-old girl. he served 15 of his 21-month sentence at a massachusetts prison that houses sex offenders who volunteer for a high-intensity programming to prevent reoffending. as part of his plea agreement the 54-year-old former politician will be under three years of supervised release in new york. he must register as a sex offender and also pay a $10,000 fine. weiner will either be held in a halfway house in brooklyn or under home confinement until his official release on may 14th. now to an inside look at a unique therapy for alzheimer's disease. one growing movement says music may be the answer to help delay memory loss for the more than 5 million americans coping with alzheimer's every day. here's nbc's ron mott.

>> where's my journal? >> i think it was in the back room. >> reporter: when ann hunt was di magazine editor and her husband, bruce, feared a fast decline. so they jumped at the chance to challenge her brain in a new way. ♪ my name's ann >> reporter: by starting to sing. >> how did you guys find out about this choir? >> i was really looking for something i could find that would be a place where i could participate and understand what was happening to me and feel like i could do something about it. >> reporter: the hunts are part of a growing movement in alzheimer's treatment, making music to exercise the brain, reduce anxiety, and socialize. nationwide, at ass een formed for people like ann. the choirs can help calm caregivers too. >> learning new stuff and knowing that there's life beyond the initial diagnosis. i think it's an important message for folks.

>> reporter: dr. mary littleman is an alzheimer's researcher at new york university and founded a chorus called the unforgettables. >> research suggests that music activates more parts of the brain than most other activities and also the parts of the brain that are affected by alzheimer's disease may not be affected as early. >> reporter: long-time chicago choral conductor jonathan miller and wife sandy segal-miller launched the good memories choir here in september. >> when everybody knows you're all suffering with the same thing, there's a natural compassion and opening up that happens. walls come down. >> reporter: the sound of music, the power of song, more proof alzheimer's.news, chicago. >> amazing how something so simple could have such an impact. >> yeah, music, very therapeu c therapeutic. up next, live from new york, it's a fight for the first amendment. the outrage over president

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i'm going to sign these papers for emergency, then i'll immediately be sued, then it will really not go in my favor, then i'll be in the supreme court, then i'll call my buddy kavanaugh, and i'll say it's time to repay the donnie, and he'll say, new phone, who dis? and the mueller report will be -- >> president trump's long-standing rivalry with "snl"

reignited over the weekend after that scathing skit of the commander in chief during the show's cold open, the president slamming the show for mocking his national emergency declaration tweeting, very unfair, and should be looked into. this is the real collusion. that triggered a number of critics who then called him out on twitter. representative ted lieu wrote, one thing that makes america great is people can laugh at you without retribution. the aclu tweeted, it's called the first amendment. alec baldwin who portrays trump weighed in, suggesting trump's tweet could be a threat to his safety. another example of his thin skin. can dish it out all day long but doesn't seem to be able to take it all. baby on boardr. u it took on a different meaning on a jet blue flight from san juan, puerto rico, to ft. lauderdale.

cell phones were recording as a woman gave birth crew and medical professionals on board. both the baby and the mother are just fine. way to make an entrance. >> wow, my goodness. so many things that could have gone wrong there and didn't. what a great story. a soldier's homecoming. it's always a special moment, right? take a look at this here. it is a viral video of army staff sergeant skyler cooper surprising his wife in a hospital in kansas after she had twin girls. she had no idea this was happening, because he wasn't expected home from kuwait until spring. skyler says his battalion commander pulled a few strings for him to make this touching reunion happen after his wife went into premature labor with the flu and ended up having to love these videos. another way to enter the world in a very beautiful way. >> those reunions get me every time. much more ahead, stay with us. did the little piggy cry wee wee wee all the way home?

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♪ if♪ darling, tell me me, loveall the ways ♪ay ♪ ♪ tell me all the ways ♪ all the ways at the store, or to your door. target run and done. in celebration of black history throughout february, nbc blk has a special women making history today" which highlights the accomplishments, power, and prowess of black women. today we recognize daniel, who founded harlem's fashion row in 2007, to give a voice to multi cultural designers. go to nbcnews.com/shethrives. we're only a few hours into monday but bill is looking ahead to the weekend.

>> let's get through this week, right? we'll be watching heavy snow in the four corner region. morning snow exiting the northeast. as we go through the middle of the week tuesday, wednesday looking like a big day for heavy rain, flash flood threat in areas from nashville, northern mississippi, northern alabama, maybe even thunderstorms along with that flash flood threat. wednesday's a messy day. we're going to see snow, a couple of inches likely. then a wintry mess. even areas like d.c. could get into this and baltimore, philly, new york eventually. the back side of this, a decent snowstorm for areas like wisconsin. then by the end of the week it kind of quiets down a little bit. then another slug of rain comes up into the southeast. that will be the story to see how much flooding. >> it's already soggy, they're going to get a lot more rain this week. jus new program george has entresto, ay ahead. a heart failure pill that helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb.

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we're back with an issue that's a growing challenge in this country and others around the world. how to tell what's true or not among all the information we're exposed to today. nbc's lester holt tells us about a new program called media wise aimed at teaching high school students how to separate fact from fiction. >> reporter: from the moment you wake up and reach for your phone, news comes at you like a newspapers, facebook, twitter, reddit, blogs, podcasts. rbe iormation overload. >> when you r can impact the decisions that you make in real life, and it does. >> reporter: separating fact from fiction is a daily battle for students like baraka, and owen, who i met at washington's woodrow wilson high school. "fire is used to keep chicago trains running in the cold." that appears to be fire on the

tracks. how many of you guys believe that's true? show of hands? >> reporter: in an effort to cut through the noise, the pointer institute, a journalism advocacy group, created media wise, a program that uses real-life examples like these to help students discern the truth. how many of you have ever posted something or put something out on social media that later turned out not to be true? >> reporter: they say they get much of their news from social media. but they often approach it with skepticism. >> do you ever feel like sometimes the story's almost too good to be true? >> i do a key search, i search the same exact headline. i see fit only comes up from that one source or if there are other credible sources like "the new york times" or "washington post." >> people always repost a story they see. you see a lot of people posting that, i might check it out, see what it's about. >> reporter: that story about the fire on the tracks, it was real. media wise is working with stanford to create a curriculum and this fall will roll it out

to teach more than 1 million students how to be more discerning news consumers. i'm proud to say i was named an ambassador to the pointer program and look forward to helping them educate kids around the country. lester holt, nbc news, washington. >> so important in this day and age. >> fantastic idea. you've got to learn how to learn about the world, so important. celebrating some birthdays today. "pretty in pink" actress years . wheel of vanna wer, d peace activist yoko ono turns 86 on this day. mena. >> i'm marlie hall. get your latest news updates on "early today's" instagram. the news continues right here on nbc. president )s day.

ad lib live picture of fremont. it )s cold out there monday, february 18th, presidents day, a great three-day weekend for a lot of you out there. a live look in fremont, it is a cold start to the morning. good morning to you and thanks for joining us.

i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington, and it says it right there on the screen, 37 degrees. >> it is cold. i had to scrape the windshield this morning. >> did you? >> yep. >> you had to do that and freezing temperatures in parts of the bay area. here is a look at livermore, down to 30 degrees, and fog in the area so watch out for freezing fog that could deposit ice on the roadways, especially those bridgesoverpass. watch out for icy conditions in parts of the north bay. we've h