push back. the attorney general delivers rare criticism as he claims the president's tweets are making doing his job at the justice department impossible. singapore braces for more cases. a chinese city bans dining out, facebook cancelled conferences in the u.s about to get the latest in the harvey weinstein trial a plane passenger repeatedly punching the seat after a woman in the front reclined. first the cheating scandal reveal said and now members of the houston astros are

apologizing. >> i'm really sorry about the choices that were made by my team, by the organization, and by me. >> it is friday, valentine's day and "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm philip mena >> after a title wave of criticism, barr bears all, admitting the president social media habits are making it impossible to do his job he's been takeing all kinds of heat, seen as -- >> reporter: attorney general william barr, telling president trump to back off. >> public statements and tweets made about the department, about cases pending in the department and about judges before whom we have cases make it impossible

for me to do my job. >> reporter: barr speaking out of scrutiny after the justice department overruled career prosecutors to push for a lighter sentence for roger stone. the attorney general telling abc news he made that decision before the president's tweet, attacking the original sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years. >> i will make those decisions based on what i think is the right thing to do and i'm not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody. >> reporter: president trump, hours earlier, praising barr, suggesting he should have made him, not jeff sessions attorney general when he first took office >> bill barr's a very good man, doing a very good job. >> reporter: democrats say post impeachment the president remains unapologetic and unrestrained, pushing the lim said of law. >> this is abuse of power that the president is trying to manipulate federal law enforcement to serve his

political interests. >> reporter: and feuding former chief of staff, john kelly, saying decorated iraq war veteran, alexander vindman did what we toll soldiers to do, before being pushed out of his post last week adding "we teach them don't follow an illegal order and if you're ever given one, you'll raise it to who gave it to you and then raise to your boss. trump said "he can't keep his mouth shut." and says he has full faith and confidence in his attorney general. >> thank you michael bloomberg's candidacy isn't just grabbing headlines and endorsements, ritit's getting attacks from president trump. the commander and chief mocking the former mayor of new york's height he retweeted the doctored photo

showing a tiny bloomberg in front of a stack of papers >> reporter: former new york mayor, mike bloomberg proving he's a tough guy to deal with trump. >> reporter: and tweeting mini mike is a 5'4" mass of dead energy >> daonald, where i come from w measure your height from the neck up. >> reporter: now the president's seizing on the controversial policy of stop and frisk >> what bloomberg did to the black community was a disgrace >> even though president trump praised it >> reporter: and one that could hurt bloomberg with african-americans. in 2008, ending the discriminatory practice of redlining, denying loans to minority neighborhoods >> officials got involved and

said that's not fair, these peep should be able to get credit and then banks started making more and more loans where the credit of the person buying the house wasn't as good as you would like >> reporter: pushing back, bloomberg's campaign saying mike attacked predatory lending and will help a million more black families buy a house he's still collecting endorsements from high-profile members of black congress. many worrying joe biden has proven not strong enough to defeat the president a 6-year-old girl missing for days is found dead in her own neighborhood >> reporter: heartbreak in casey, south carolina. >> it is with extremely heavy hearts that we're announcing we have found the body that the coroner has identified as fay, marie swell.

>> reporter: confirming a family's wursz fears, finding her body in her own neighborhood fay's body not the only one recovered. police found an unidentified man, whose contheekz cases remains unknown. >> at this time we feel there's no danger to the community >> reporter: this shows one of the last times fay was seen alive, getting off her school bus. they say 3:45 monday afternoon, her mother spotted her playing in the yard. by 5:00 p.m. calling 911 within 24 hours more than 200 officers combed the area, including the fbi, before the grim announcement, authorities said the family was cooperating and asked for help identifying the occupants of this sedan. >> you know who belongs and who doesn't belong so, this is very shocking. >> reporter: a community mourns the little girl with a big

smile. as judgment day nears for harvey weinstein, his fate now lies in the hands of 12 jurors his defense attorney claims this strips adult women of commonsense and autoonomy. >> reporter: hey, there. closing argument for the defense of harvey wieinstein took about four hours in total. there were a couple of breaks. the defense attorney hitting back hard against the allegations made in that courtroom. harvey weinstein gave his defense attorney rave reviews. >> how would you say she did today, sir >> i made the king's speech. it was the queen's speech. >> reporter: saying you're the last line of defense from the overzealous media, from the overzealous prosecutors.

he pleaded not guilty to five charges, including rape. if you don't believe miriam hailey or jessica mann, you must find him not guilty. she argued relationships were consensual, highlighting ongoing correspondence and sexual encounters following the alleged attacked she claimed they tried to strip away the women's responsibility. women are not responsible for the parties they attend, the choices they make for their own careers. telling jurors not to heed to public pressure. "you don't have to like harvey weinstein. this is not a popularity contest. and later added "being a sex addict and a rapist are two different things." some took notes and others doezed off the fate is in their hands the argument you expect them to

make is victims often maintain relationships with their attackers after the attack back to you. >> thank you for that report china has reported a strike nothi ing increase of coronavirus cases. while the majority of cases are in china, the u.s. has also seen a slight rise. the cdc has confirmed a 15th patient has been confirm would a flu-like illness in america. more than 1,000 people have died globally and the united states government, how it plans to fight the virus? >> reporter: well, the cdc has a so-called war room in atlanta where it's tracking the spread of the disease, not necessarily in the u.s. but world drz wide and there's a military emphasis to preparations, 15 cases being

held outside san antonio in texas. and 600 people who are being quarantined in the u.s. are all being held at military bases and indeed the u.s. northern command, military commanders are being told to prepare for a possible pandemic. they got orders tuesday and wednesday to prepare for a worst-case-scenario of a widespread outbreak in the u.s. but that is a worst case scenario in china, the new figures do show rises 121 new deaths in one day. hoar than 5,000 new infections but thats is again really catching up with the new definition china has put if you go to a doctor and the doctor sees you have a lung infection, that's enough to be confirmeda confirmed as a case. but extraordinary war-time

measures being taken by china. now a third city under so-called war-time control 1.5 million people being confined to their buildings, prisoners in their own homes, guys >> that is so, so difficult. let's take a turn and see what valentine's is going to look like outside. >> chilly day for a lot of people it's a winter day. yesterday was very cold in the plains year still cold in the plains. 26 million are under winter advisory we start said to include a few spots in northern new england too. we saw one wind chill area in negative 20 to negative 30 range. it is moving we're watching cold air spread to western new york. we're at 34. and temperatures going down during the day later this afternoon t will be

be down to 23 and recovers a little bit in areas of the midwest. saturday morning is one of the coldest this year. so, this is a very cold air mass but short livered over the weekend. and does look like a big warm up over the weekend >> we like hearing that. representative alexandria ocasio-cortez will be a guest judge on season 12's "drag race." former first lady, michelle obama will have a second school named after her.

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discover what's good - pantene nutrient blends leading the news you may see reports a massive asteroid is going towards the earth this weekend. nasa says our planet is safe it's been monitored for years and say it will miss us by nearly 3.6 million miles, about half the distance to the moon. a tense moment on a plane showing a passenger punching the seat in front of him has revived the debate over whether it's okay to put your seat back >> reporter: the airlines invite paschgers to sit back, relax and enjoy the flight wendy williams says this is what

happened when she reclined a passenger punching the seat and shoving over and over again. williams has been tweeting for days this unhinged jerk feels he could have assaulted me. you have the patience of a saint, said one. and "did you have to recline?" asked one. "so he has to sit sideways so you can recline? wow. airlines say they're investigating. but it's a common complaint as airlines squeeze their planes full of more people. it's helped to keep ticket prices low but tensions are high flight attendant said say they see it every day >> just be thoughtful of people around you >> reporter: while delta is cutting how much seats recline, american asks people to be respectful of each other

it's very often the flight attendants who must keep the peace. >> thanks to tom for that report >> full on jerk move i'm all about reclining. anyone who's been on a plane, the annoyance is from the back, not the front. >> so, you recline behind me and you have more space. jerk >> that's right. still ahead a look at the love-related questions many americans have this valentine's day. one bachelor is going way beyond the apps. the truck? what? parked it right there. male voice: what did i tell you, boys? tonight we eat like kings! (chuckling) you're a genius, gordon! brake! hit the brake! uh, which one's the brake? (crash, bottles smashing) stop! stop! sto-o-op! (brakes squealing) what's happening? what? there's a half of cheesesteak back there. with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. raccoon: i got the cheesesteak!

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othroughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

a manl that i've gotten to know too well. [ bleep] his wife i mean his wife was with me before he was with me, i have to say. >> you know i'll ride on your. [ bleep] any day, man >> hillary clinton. [ bleep] you again. >> did she. [ bleep] again? >> that has to be one of the best ones yet. >> every friday, man, that's all we need. >> and it calms you down after the whole aircraft conversation. feeling clueless about love on this valentine's day? well, you're not alone people across the country are googling love-related questions. new yorkers wanted to know how to breaking thes off

that sounds about right. texans are curious about texting and really feeling the love in the heartland because ohions are ready to propose >> is that something you need to google >> how to propose? yeah one kansas man is offering pretty big bucks >> i'm single, right and i don't want it go back the normal app stuff i'm trying to develop a better way and i think this is it >> so, single entrepreneur is offering $25,000 to a real-life cupid who can land him a girlfriend he even launched a website, called date jeff g.com, on top of the cash prize, he promises an additional 25 grand to a no-kill animal shelter

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willie geist joins us for a preview of "sunday today." >> good to see you this week my guest is emmy award winner john mulainy. he got his start on "saturday night live" where they created the unforgettable character, stephan, among many others he'll return to host snl for the third time later this month and he's now out with his latest hit comedy special for netflix called "john mulainy and the sack lunch bunch." plus the latest news and politics this weekend on "sunday

today. you can catch us in the morning or set the dvr and watch us anytime you like for now, i'll send it back to you frances and philip and see you sunday morning with mlb spring training underway, more fallout as the apology completely backfires. >> reporter: as spring training opens, the houston astros took the first swing at taking the cheating scandal surrounding them out of the ballpark >> i'm really sorry about the choices made by my team, by the organization, and by me. >> reporter: apologizing for using cameras and monitors to figure out what pitches aponents would throw by banging on a garbage can. >> reporter: baseball fined the

astros and they fired the gm and manager but no players have been pinnings said -- punished >> we blame those two guys acountedable >> reporter: and opposing players pointing fingers and wondering how wide-spread these sign-stealing schemes are. >> i've spent time, as i'm sure a lot of people have, wondering all the things that could have been potentially going on. >> reporter: beyond taking a serious tone, they wouldn't say much about the scheme's details. meaning the questions this season will keep coming, despite their best efforts to swat them away >> not going away when it comes to the whole ordeal. as an astros fan, i'm embarrassed. because we only have one title in houston in all those years

and it's going to be forever tainted that way >> thanks for waking up with us. >> coming up on the "today" show, an exclusive intervi withew obama: he's been a leader throughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

right now at 4:30, working to improve your chute. a live report on the new action b.a.r.t. is taking to tackle crime on trains and boost rider ship. i think it is time to stop the tweeting. >> a warning tor president trump from his own attorney. our washington insider is breaking down the rebuke and response this morning. and a live look in san francisco and san jose. on this valentine's day. another sunny day ahead. as you make your plans, kari hall tracking what else is in store for the bay area this weekend. made it to friday. yay! we're her