this morning we'll take you inside one of america's most prestigious labs for a hunt. survival of the fittest. the republican party in turmoil as liz cheney retains her leadership position while embattled marjorie taylor greene retains her position on committees. a shortage for everything from car parts to paper towels we'll tell you why and when things will improve. 100 million people usually

tune in to the super bowl this year for many people it's not the game that draws them in. we've got a preview of commercials. two years ago olympic athletes raised fists for racial inequality we'll tell you how the younger generation is carrying that on "early today" starts right now. >> i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. more than 452,000 lives have been lost to the illness, but there is new hope on the vaccine front. select pharmacies will start getting shipments next week. now cdc directors say schools can safely reopen. in chicago the nation's third largest school system is battling with the teachers union over safely returning teachers to the classroom they're set to continue negotiations. and another major city, san francisco, is suing the school district so schools can reopen despite some of the lowest

infection rates, schools have been closed since march. over in the uk a new trial will start to see if you can mix and match vaccines 800 volunteers will each get a dose from oxford and pfizer and researchers will study the effective ps meanwhile in the u.s. they're busy studying new covid strains. nbc's steve patterson is following that story for us. good morning. >> reporter: the lab has staffed up in the last few weeks they've extended the hours to be 24/7 so you have researchers in there that are literally working around the clock, and they're all working toward one goal. they take in these positive samples, and they're working toward sequencing those samples so they can get a better sam sh what's happening this is the new front line in an

ever changing battle of covid-19 we were given rare access to stanford's clinical virology lab where scientists work 24 hour as day testing and then sequencing thousands of positive covid samples. >> this is a sample of a realtime pcr instrument, and this is what we're using as a mutation >> reporter: dr. benjamin pinsky leads a team of viral detectives they look at how fast the virus is mutating and raising its red flag o refusing the vaccines. >> if you see them pooling together, we can confer there's a new variant. >> reporter: then the race to isolate variant-positive people as that will become the dominant strain in the u.s. by spring. >> we are a bit behind compared

to other countries, but i think we can catch up rapidly. >> reporter: a renewed effort to gain ground in a sprint for survival scientists are predicting the uk variant could be the predominant strain in the u.s. as early as march. meanwhile we're still lagging behind other countries in sequencing the u.s. ranks 35th across the world. experts here, the researchers here, the team here hopes their efforts can help contribute to the overall effort back to you, phillip. >> we can only hope. thank you. house minority leader kevin mccarthy decided not to strip the controversial qanon conservative marjorie taylor greene a cheney survived her effort to be stripped of her leadership role. >> we're not going to be divided

where people can pick off any leadership it was very resounding acknowledgement that we need to go forward together. >> a new axios and surveymonkey poll hints at the direction the republican voters are heading in overall greene has a much higher favorability rate than liz cheney meanwhile democrats could take action today peter alexander has more. >> reporter: freshman congresswoman marjorie taylor greene heading to a meeting where colleagues will decide her fate democrats demand they punish her or they'll do it themselves. she's accused of endorsing violence against top democrats >> marjorie taylor greene is totally out of control as a qanon caucus leader, sim poo theser. >> reporter: democrats plan to take an unprecedent step against the opposite party the top house republican kevin mccarthy saying he condemns

greene's comments unequivocally and he said as much tuesday when he met her, saying we have a responsibility to hold her to a higher standard than a private citizen. greene tweeted defiantly about her critics. owe them no apologies. we will never back down. republicans also grappling with tensions over liz cheney's role in the party, currently the number three rupp in the house who voted in favor of impeaching president trump while the vast majority of her party opposed it late wednesday we learned inside that meeting liz cheney told her fellow republicans she would not be apologizing for supporting impeachment and kevin mccarthy defended her phillip? >> thank you. president biden will be performing his first policy directive. our tracie potts joins us with mfrm tracie, this is a major moment for the new

administration. >> we heard during the inauguration what the president want dochlts today we'll hear more details how he wants to repair relationships and engage the u.s. in the world. we also know, according to the "associated press," that he'll announce increasing number of refugees allowed into the united states later this year, eight-fold, rolling back the cuts from president trump. now, president biden also weighing in on the former president's impeachment trial set to start next week, biden saying that the trial is valid, but he doubts that enough republicans will vote for his conviction >> he was impeached by the house, and it has to move forward, otherwise it would come off as farcical, what this was all about. it's probably unlikely to get 17 republicans to change their view and convict an impeachment, but i think it's important that

there be certain basic standards that people at least are able to see what happened and make their own judgments. >> now, formerr brief that the trial itself is unconstitutional and that the president, the former president, never incited a riot because he was simply exercising his first amendment rights. >> tracie for us tracie potts thanks. well, we are learning more details about a helicopter crash that killed three idaho national guard members. officials say three pilots were killed when their uh-60 blackhawk helicopter crashed near boise they were in a routine training flight it's under investigation they were flying in rough terrain and bad weather. their identities have not been released. the pentagon is offering a pause. the 60-day stand-down will give

troops and commanders to focus on the issue defense secretary lloyd austin delivered the order yesterday. it's a wakeup call for the department current and former members of the military took part in the riot. wisconsin plos cuters are urging the kenosha court to issue an arrest warrant for rittenhouse. prosecutors argued he should be arrested again and his bond increased by $200,000. in november supporters paid $2 million bail for rittenhouse in the homicide for shooting and killing two people last summer. so far nearly 26,000 acres have burned in western australia. authorities say 81 homes have been destroyed and thousands have been urgetod leave the devastation was, quote, almost too much to comprehend. we remember this time last year

when the wildfires devastated the area and koalas as well. >> that's right. we have a busy winter weather week and it's not showing any signs of slowing down let's get right to meteorologist janessa webb good morning. >> good morning. the nor'easter has pushed offshore and now it goes to the great lakes as a small system is making its way through we do have winter weather advisories and warnings in place for chicago and areas of the ohio valley. right now you're kind of seeing that wintry mix. that will be the case throughout your day for chicago where we could see 3 to 6 inches. higher totals for detroit as well but the warm front is lingering across the south it will bess all of the east coast with lingering snow for the next two days even.

freeze watches across florida today. orlando, 66. man, it's cold in floor, and now we have an iguana watch. i'll tell you about that coming up. >> i think we know where we're headed i love that story. can't wait to hear more. two kansas city chiefs plays are on a reserve covid list after a barber tested positive 20 people were in line for a haircut from this barber, but only daniel kilgore and daniel robertson remained in close contact with him they can still play in the super bowl if they produce five straight negative tests. up next, don't let romance go remote on this valentine's day. plus, a orshtage on car parts and paper towels why it's still happening a year into the pandemic.

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in today's "news by the numbers" nothing says valentine's day like a bouquet by the lobsters. you can ship a bouquet lobster to your sweetheart the bouquet sells for about $82.49, plus you've got to pay for the shipping too. and a new survey finds that 64% of pet parents are interested in giving their fur babies a valentine's gift this year that's double from previous years. and petse the third most popular valentine recipient following significant others and children and grandchildren. we have been living in a pandemic for nearly a year, but there are still food shortages across the country our catie beck has more. >> reporter: nearly a year into the pandemic and supply chain issues are still grinding some products like cars to a halt

thanks to a shortage in computer chips. >> automakers are prioritizing those in demand and those that make profits. >> reporter: as car parts of all kinds just sit on ocean waters outside l.a. >> we have a flotilla of ships off the coast of california right now due to coronavirus restrictions at the court. >> reporter: a consumer food chain still feeling the pinch as well with paper towels, baking soda, and frozen pizzas some of the top grocery items running out of stores. while at restaurants, liquor and gloves are in short supply. >> those supplies are hard to get. friendly to-go boxes, straws became extremely hard and paying a high premium for them. >> reporter: even glass containers like the one used by chicago-based roomy spice are hard to come by. >> it's really challenging. >> reporter: producers working

through a parts crunch as consumers pay the price. catie beck, nbc news. >> it continues to affect us in every single way. >> not surprising. the world is at a standstill in so many areas. coming up, the american auto sts getting a shake up. and an old classic is coming back just in time for st. paddy's day. isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. there's more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze odor remover in every fling. gain. seriously good scent. love the scent of gain flings? then you'll swoon for long lasting gain scent beads. a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam® is clinically proven to shorten colds! coming up, the american auto highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds!

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in today's "quick hits,"

former first lady michelle obama announced her new memoir "becoming" adapted for young readers. it's set to build an apple car the tech giant hopes to start production in 2024 shares of apple stock rose 2% after the news broke. mcdonald's is rolling out the shamrock shake again starting this month. the treat along with a shamrock oreo mcflurry will start february 15th. the commercials are always a big draw, but the ads this year could look a little different. nbc's jay gray has a preview. >> reporter: football is the focus sunday, but when there's a break in the action, another big game kicks off and the cost of a ticket to the

commercial super bowl, $5.5 million for a 30-second ad they'll feature plenty of stars. but like most everything in the last year, the super sunday spots won't be the same. >> it's a different world and it's a different super bowl. >> reporter: one of the biggest differenceses, coke, pepsi, and budweiser, normally big super sunday players are sitting the bench this year, replaced by non-traditional varieties. >> these are brands that are online marketplaces who have been helping connect people during quarantine. >> they found a consumer base and gained in popularity during the pandemic and are looking to capitalize that and get a little bit more attention. >> reporter: where that attention comes from may be changing too yes, the bigger tv screens still make a big splash, but potentially the more widespread and longer-lasting impact could come from smaller screens. >> because with online you could have a tangible result

you could see exactly who watched, when, where, et cetera. >> reporter: of course, whether it's online or on tv, the real winner in the ad game sunday will be the one everybody is talking about on monday. jay gray, nbc news, tampa. >> i don't like tosually go to big super bowl parties i like to pay attention to the game and the commentators and the commercials. >> it's the people like me that you're avoiding who are chatting during the commercials at the same time, the marketing and advertising teams, they've got to step it up this year. they've got to be thoughtful and creative and reflect our time this year. >> that's right. much more ahead including janessa's forecast. >> a different type of foam party is bubbling up on the shores of argentina. so you smell them later. ew right? that's why febreze created small spaces. press firmly and watch it get to work.

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nbc news is celebrating black history and highlighting changers today we honor civil rights icon rosa parks who was born on this day in 1913. she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. she wu arrested for civil disobedience, but the incident sparked a year-long bus boycott and was a major catalyst for the civil rights unit. rosa parks was born 115 year

two generations of black athletes raised fists. one is coming together from a younger generation still carrying on that fight mo morgan radford. >> reporter: calls for justice, more than a half century apart at the front of the movement, not just activists but athletes. >> i wasn't concerned about being scared i was more concerned about doing what i felt was the right thing to do. >> reporter: this is tommy smith and giancarlos at the 1968 olympics, head down, fists held high, black socks to bring attention to black poverty, beads to protest lynchings. >> what was happening in the country at that time >> basically civil unrest, and i think we were reckoning with ours in terms of saying enough is enough. >> reporter: it was a protest that follows dwreered of pain

from freed dom rides to the assassination of martin luther king now years later. >> many of the incidents we speak out againsdirectly affect us. >> reporter: she's leveraging her n stow power in the fight for equal pay and equajustice. are you all surprised that you are essentially fighting the same fight for equality more than 50 years apart? >> it's amazing we are fighting the same issues today. >> you know, so one could say, oh, there's black athletes, you know, there's black presidents, black coaches. but who's hiring these black athletes >> that's right. >> who's putting these people in these positions? th if those people don't reflect the society we're in, the job is not gettin black athletes in pa

have always been on the forefront of looking for justice and equality. >> reporter: hoping to inspire generations to come. morgan radford, nbc news, new york. >> the message is so important even now. >> justice and

i did not know that they supported that and i'm glad that they're doing it. >> right now at 4:30, coronavirus and the classroom. the new legal battle now playing out in san francisco. also, need your covid shot? two mega vaccination sites are about to open here in the bay area. plus the new promises coming from the state's new unemployment system leader as it's still reeling from fraud scandals. and bracing for a bumpy ride. the roadblocks muni faces trying to map out an uncertain future

and the possibility of