this morning, millions of americans are still fighting for a vaccine reservation as president biden holds a national moment of silence for the 500,000 americans who have died from covid. dozens of boeings are grounded after the accident on saturday. new details today about the investigation into what police and paramedics did wrong in the death of elijah mcclain. and one woman making history by crossing the ocean. "early today" starts right now

good tuesday morning i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. overnight our nation paused to look at the devastating toll of the pandemic president biden offered these words of comfort. >> they're never truly gone. they'll always be part of your heart. i know this as well, and it seems unbelievable, but i promise you, the day will come when the memory of the loved one you lost will bring a smile to your lips before a tear to your eye. >> more on the challenges we still face to end this pandemic, here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: the president with the enormity of the death toll on his shoulders paused to remember the half million americans who have lost their lives to the virus

grandparents, mothers and fathers, even children, more fatalities from the year-long pandemic than the number of americans who died on the battlefield in world war i, world war ii, and vietnam combined. >> the people we lost were extraordinary. they span generations. but just like that, so many of them took their final breath alone in america. >> reporter: as our nation loses far too many every day t struggle to vaccinate continues. >> i thinkit's crazy that they don't have, you know, more vaccine. >> reporter: by midweek authorities say they will have caught up for the 6 million doses delayed because of winter weather. still supersites like san diego's petco park nowhere near the storm remains shuttered because there is no supply in los angeles county where 100,000 have died, major

vaccination sites are closed today. vaccines can save lives if you can get one. while authorities warn now is not the time to be complacent, movie theaters in new york can soon open at 25% capacity as the ncaa announces march madness with fans will take place next month. as the nation tries to move forward, families like the lopezs will always look back danny, the father of seven was married 33 years, but in two months the virus stole his life. >> i am wasn't by his side when he needed me the most. >> reporter: for the families of half a million americans, life will forever be changed. miguel almaguer, nbc news. former president trump's protracted battle to protect his tax returns finally comes to an end in the supreme court justices declined to block a newer grand jury from accesses trump's personal and corporate tax records. our capitol hill correspondent tracie potts joins us now with

more tracie, it doesn't necessarily mean we'll get to see those records. >> that's right. documents turned over to the grand jury are supposed to be kept secret. they do not have to be disclosed, but in this case, the former president and his accountants will have to turn over those records to the manhattan district attorney, cyrus vance seeking tax returns covering eight years for a grand jury investigation into hush money payments and other financial info this all came out after former president trump's former fixer michael cohen disclosed a $130,000 payment to stormy daniels to cover up the affair with her the former president denied that allegation, and he has fiercely fought to keep his tax records private from prosecutors and the public >> i'll release them when the audit's completed. >> at the appropriate time i'll release them, but right now i'm

under routine audit. nobody cares. >> while i'm under audit, i will not give my taxes. >> actually i paid tax, and you'll see that as soon as my tax returns -- it's under order. they've been under order for a long time. >> mr. trump blasted the supreme court decision in a statement saying in part that this investigation is a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of the country meantime president biden today meeting with canadian prime minister justin trudeau. they're expected to talk about trade, climate, and the covid-19 pandemic back to you. >> the prime minister the first to call president biden on his election victory all right, tracie, thank you. the senate wants answers about the string of safety failures to contributed to the capitol riot we'll hear from former house sergeant-at-arms paul irving and former senate at arms michael

stenger. neither has spoken publicly since the wake of the riot. president biden's pick to head the justice department will appear before the senate judiciary again today after garnering bipartisan support on day one of his hearing our pete williams has more. >> reporter: merrick garland says the siege of the capitol shows violent extremism is more of a threat now than it was 26 years ago when the oklahoma city federal building was bomb and garland led that prosecution he said the capitol riot will begin with the rioters. >> we'll work from the ground up. >> reporter: garland pledged that the politics and white house won't interfere with the investigation including the investigation of the trump campaign and the tax investigation of the president's

son hunter. >> i would not take the job if i thought politics would have any infl influence. >> reporter: he called the child separation policy shameful and couldn't think of anything worse. while he rejected any calls to defund police, he would look at others. >> the country took us in, protected us, and i feel an obligation to the country to pay back. >> reporter: the confirmation hearing continues today with outside witnesses, but marek garland is likely tobe handily confirmed with broad bipartisan support. phillip? >> pete, thank you. the findings of an investigation have been releed critical failures by the aurora police department led to the death of elijah mcclain

here's gabe gutierrez. >> stop because you're being suspicious. >> reporter: the body camera of elijah mcclain's deadly encounter with arain shower rah police in 2019 later sparked wide protest police got a call about a suspicious man wearing a mask. he died after officers tackled him, placed him in a neck hold, and sedated him. at the time they said he fought back in a newly released report, a panel of the city council says neither the caller or any of the offers involved identified a claim and that the ems gave them -- him a grossly inaccurate amount of am get meechblt for elijah mcclain's father, the

report reinforces a central question did this have to happen. >> no, it didn't if they would have treated him like a human and talked to him. >> reporter: mcclab's family wants the officers involved to be fired and arrested. >> it's time for these officers to take accountability for what happened so that this never happens to anybody else. >> reporter: no comment so far from the aurora police department mcclain would have turned 25 this week. frances? the wife of drug kingpin el chapo was arrested she was busted at the airport in virginia she's facing drug trafficking charges and accuse of helping her husband escape prisonen in 2017 she was aware of his activities and took messages. she's set to appear virtually before a judge today. for once we're not talking about snow, ice, sleet, and everything in between.

let's check in with meteorologist bill karins who's watching a february thaw that's in the works bill, good morning >> good morning. i'm allowed to give good news, right? why not? let's start in texas and spread through the rest of the country. these temperatures are already warm for this hour of the morning. 51 degrees in dallas already we couldn't break 32 last week for five straight days this. afternoon we're heating things up the expanding warmth is everywhere shown in the bright colors. when we look at the red, that's 20 degrees warmer than normal. 79 in dallas look at st. louis. some areas in arkansas had 20 inches of snow by the end of the day, it will be gone. some of the warmth makes its way to the east coast by the end of the week it looks like we're going to stay pretty mild0s and low 40s and the same for

it looks like the plains and wisconsin, we'll see snow skauls but nothing like the snow yesterday. yeah, guys this is one of the nicest forecasts we've talked about in a long time. >> we're rounding out february, the last week. ing that you, bill. up next, what investigators believe caused the shocking boeing engine fire. >> and mars keli you've never heard it before. the first secrets beamed back from nasa's new rover. with soothing honey-licious taste. nyquil honey. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever best sleep with a cold medicine. ♪ ♪ ♪thick like homemade. no way around it.♪ ♪prego's so good they may as well crown it.♪

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from over 100 million miles away, perseverance captured that familiar sound that is a wind gust. the ntsb has begun putting pieces of the puzzle together to find out why a united boeings 777's engine failed over the weekend. they suggest metal fatigue may have been if cause and they also say this isn't the first time a plane of this time has had this engine failure tom costello has the latest. >> reporter: it was saturday when the 911 calls overhead, 13,000 feet, the engine on a united 777 headed for honolulu was on fire and coming apart with huge pieces

falling across the denver suburb of broomfield, smashing through a roof, crushing a truck, and raining down onto a soccer field. >> all of a sudden i heard a big boom and the house shook. >> i see right away it's the front end of an earn engine. >> reporter: amazingly no one was hit. demetrius was was of 240 people onboard the plane. he began texting friends. >> i was texting loved ones. >> reporter: thankfully it landed safely. ntsb found two broken engine fan blades leading to a rare but potentially catastrophic engine failure. it's when the fan blades literally rip apart in flight and tear through the engine casing or cowling. >> reporter: but this has happened twice before. in 2018 a cracked fan blade on another united 777 caused the engine to come apart last december it happened on a

japan airlines 777 three years ago a passenger on a southwest 737 waindow, and pulling the passenger from her seat investigators determined routine inspections had missed previous cracking now the faa is ordering similar inspections for the 777. >> there could be a problem with the fan blades on the engine >> reporter: in the u.s., only united is affecting with 24 planes grounded. they're cooperating. importantly cracks develop in fan blades, it's almost routine. but inspections are designed to catch those cracks the question right now is whether this particular fan blade, which is hollow as you heard, whether this particular fan blade may be more prone to cracking, and if so, how do you catch those cracks before they become catastrophic. back to you. >> so alrming.

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we're back with a consumer alert. ford is recalling over 85,000 f series trucks across north america. certain vehicles in the f-150 and superduty lines have windshields that aren't properly

attached to the truck, meaning it may come loose during the crash. ford dealers will reinstall the windshields properly. now to wall street where facebook just did an about-face on news in australia and big news in the auto world here to discuss is cnbc's karen tso from london this morning good morning. >> good morning. it it's an about face after a tweet to a new media law requires did tall platforms are required to pay. they have two months to agree on commercial deals before being forced into arbitration as a last resort. prior to this platforms had feared there would be big settlements as arbitrators were given a choice between two settlements. facebook chief mark zuckerberg had been in contact with the

australian treasurer to negotiate an outcome after facebook was accused of unfri unfriending them by turning off the source meanwhileyear tire has agreed to buy cooper tire. it reensures its position in the u.s. market as number one, also doubles its footprint in china where sales are accelerating in the auto market. back to you. >> thank you. more to get to including insane budget beater that's our shot of the day. plus the sctulpeacar yosemite phenomenon that happens only once a year stay with us puffs bring soothing softness and relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. ♪♪ would you like to try a breakfast sausage made with plants? plants it's delicious and i'm a kid so if i like it...

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take the metamucil two week challenge and feel lighter and more energetic. sign up today at metamucil.com. it is a magical time of year at yosemite national park. in mid- to late february, look what happens the setting sun makes horsetails look like a firefall it only lasts for ten days tomorrow will be the last day to see it this year i imagine it's better seeing it in person. hopefully we've seen the last of the freezing temperatures blanketing this country. bill's back. hey, bill. >> i know you're ready for it, too, a little taste of thi trav. how nice is it from coast to coast? it could be warmer in the northern plains. this time of year, you'll take it as far as travel goes, i think seattle is going to have a little bit of rainy weather.

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iwo jima is concurred. only isolated snipers remain its air strips are already in use by american superfor triss upon mount suribachi, this flag is 625 miles from tokyo. on this day in 1945, this iconic photo was captured by "associated press" photographer joe rosenthal as u.s. marines raised the flag atop mount suribachi during the fight at

iwo jima. >> still ooh cool to see t statue and the photo. now to a lesson on crossing the atlantic theg her way to distinction. nbc's lester holt has her story. >> reporter: it's a test of strength and spirit and jasmine harrison aced it at 21, the youngest woman to row solo across any ocean. how do you feel after a journey like this? >> i feel amazing. >> reporter: the english swim instructor completed her 3,000-mile row across the atlantic saturday, in 70 days, three hours, and 48 minutes. >> you really didn't have a lot of rowing background. >> i didn't feel like the actual rowing was the challenge it was battling different conditions, your mental game, the fatigue. >> reporter: she had a few close calls, nearly colliding with a ship, and her 500-pound boat

capsized twice. >> i was actually in the cabin i had two cellphones one was to contact safety officers and the other was to contact anybody else. >> what did you miss the most? >> i missed my dogs at home and good food. >> reporter: harrison said one incredible moment came early on. a whale of an encounter. >> this is the most exciting thing. >> reporter: her message now. >> i need go do something amazing, too, a small thing that inspires can set the bar. >> that's amazing. capsized twice and still floating what would you do to top that? wow. how about a shot of the day at the buzzer. indiana tech needed a miracle to win. check it out

grant smith going crazy at the bottom of that dog pile. he caught the full-court pass in a two-stride, one step, two step, drained it up. no time left it. was enough for them to get the 81-8

we like it out here, especially since we had such a nice day today. but if they open up inside, yeah, it's -- yeah. everybody's looking forward to it. >> right now at 4:30, a waiting green light. bay area businesses on edge this morning as they wait to get a key update about our covid tiers. the preparations many are already making to get customers coming again. >> plus, plagued with problems. the help that could soon be on the way for those trying to navigate the state's overwhelmed unemployment system. and unlocking more vaccine. the key decision that could soon lead to tens of millions more covid-19 vaccines