the clock is ticking after a weekend of intense diplomatic discussions on all sides the military is ska lags continues. is the russian invasion of ukraine only a matter of times >> thousands marched on the wall protesting vaccine mandates. >> the three officers involved in the george floyd murder go on trial today. we've got a preview. caught on camera, how grandmother turned the tables on a phone scammer and caught him trying to steal thousands in cash. >> and the mysterious case of

the letters sent during world war ii that just arrived and how a surprised family was filled with joy "early today" starts right now. good morning and thanking for waking up with us. i'm vanita nair. >> and i'm frances rivera. growing concerns russia could soon invade ukraine. u.s. is warned not to travel to ukraine. two officials tell nbc news that president biden was briefed this weekend on options for responding if russia does invade its neighbor good morning what actions have we seen so far from ukraine's allies? >> good morning, francis well, the u.s. promised financial and military aid to ukraine and kyiv just got its first shipment

200,000 pounds of lethal aid and ammunition for the front line. britain has provided them with short-range anti-tanker missiles and it's not just support that's being stepped up but rhetoric as well let's take up to what secretary blinken and deputy prime minister dominic raab had to say. >> if a single additional russian force goes into ukraine in an aggressive way, that would trigger a swift, severe, and united response. >> we will support them in defending themselves but also their international nay though allies and the u.s we're standing shoulder to shoulder there will be very serious consequences if russia tries to invade and also install a regime. >> britain has even accused putin of trying toe british for

said the information was released to shine a light on russian activity designed to subvert ukraine. and with every passing day vladimir putin is increasing the military throe to the border making the russian troops amassed there more lethal and dangerous while the temperature keeps risinging, forcing president biden to weigh more options like the ones secretary lloyd austin presented to them like avoiding flights. and the moving of troops and equipment from other parts of europe into poland, romania, and other countries neighboring ukraine. and most of the responsibility and a plan is going to fall on the shoulders of the u.s. as the eu and nato are not as unified as they should be. the u.s. has warned a significant response if russia invades, but the hope is there is still room for agreement.

well, the omicron surge shows signs of slowing in the northeast, it is still rampaging across much of the country over the weekend the u.s. skyrocketed past the 70 million case mark. meanwhile they're putting plans on holworldwide.ia on hold back here at home there is growing frustration over vaccine mandates nbc's brie jackson is in d.c. with the latest. what can you tell us >> reporter: good morning. there were thousands who marched on the national mall to defeat the protest. there were speakers such as robert f. kennedy jr about 63% of the country is fully vaccinated the biden administration has imposed strict measures to try

to boost that number even higher but has faced setbacks in court. protest organizers said they were against the mandates but not the vaccine itself supporters say it's the only way to get life back to normal meanwhile an nbc poll shows an erosion of trust across the board on the pandemic. only 44% of the americans trust the cdc on coronavirus with a wide gap between democrats and republicans. that partisan gap turns into a chasm for president biden. now, overall, 37% trust mr. biden on covid 73% of democrats and only 8% of gop voters former president trump fairs even worse with 21% on handling the coronavirus. now, the most trusted figure, according to our polls, about six in ten of the people polled say they trust their employers on covid back to you. >> those poll numbers always tell you so much

thank you. it has been a violent weekend for police officers. in houston, texas, corporal charles galloway was killed during a traffic stop after pulling a car over on sunday morning. he pulled over a car and the suspect got out and immediately began firing several times it comes days after a gun battle in new york city one nypd officer was kill and the other is left fighting for his life they were responding to a domestic fight in harlem when the suspect fired multiple times. he was shot and is hospitalized in critical condition. ready or not, tax filing season starts today, however, the irs is an underfunded and understaffed with millions still waiting for their 2020 tax refunds. our monica alba reports on what you can do to speed up the process on your end. >> reporter: when tax filing season kicks off on monday, ethan will be ready earlier than

ever eager to file online to avoid a long delay for a refund >> i hope i'm not with the people waiting months and months. >> reporter: like millions of americans still waiting for their 2020 refunds including sydney rodriguez. >> i'm newly married, i have some student loan debt, and it's something i could use right now to alleviate some of the anxiety. >> reporter: the main reason why, the irs is simply overwhelm and understaffed processing refunds with a shrinking staff and reduced budget 15,000 employees were available to handle 240 million calls at this point last year that's one person for every 16,000 requests. the white house placing blame on both the covid pandemic and the previous administration acknowledged the severity of the situation friday. >> the irs right now has an

unacceptable backlog, and the customer service that people are receiving is not what the public deserves and the president is very mindful on that. >> reporter: calling lawmakers to act and asking for millions to ease the bottleneck and address staff shortages. >> what can americans do now. >> consider hiring a professional if you need help. make any contributions before the tax deadline and do it relatively early that you can file electronically to aprovide any issues getting paid your refund. >> reporter: tax day will be april 15th f a few days later for those emancipated. for now, the irs says that won't be the case for 2022 >> took some mental notes on what to do thank you. an irish man was arrested after causing multiple disturbances on a flight from

dublin to new york earlier this month. according to a federal complaint, shane mcnerney refused to wear a face mask, through a canister at another passenger, and pulled down his pants, mooning other passengers. it carries up to 20 years in prison. a cruise ship in the bahamas came to an abrupt end when a cruise ship was rerouted over not paying fuel charges. a federal judge ordered the ship seized and returneded to the miami port the ship inextend traveled to the bahamas. a personals were returned by ferry. let's tern to janessa webb. >> good morning. they've been going through it for the weekend. another clipper system impacts

them later on this afternoon 50 million people from detroit to chicago, this is even sections of the midwest, this will expand into the northeast so winter weather advisories should go into place later on today. you can see it's a quick mover, but we're going to see at least accumulation 4 to 8 inches across akron, ohio, into ashtabula. it makes its way into northernc. ton of sunshine from san diego to los angeles temperatures, lower 70s. temps really continue to fall across the northeast we'll talk about that coming up, ladies. >> up and down. the jonas family just got a

little bigger. nick jonas and preian ka chopra welcomed their little bachblt she joked she wanted enough children to fill a crib scene. we're back in a minute with a heartwarming story, looking out for a high school kid who needed a lift. and ug ocahtn camera how one grand rah tricked a phone scammer and got the last laugh. bean vitamins. good-for-you nutrients in a tastier for you form. more sweet dreams. more flavorful immune support. new nature's bounty jelly beans. live bountifully. itchy? new nature's bounty jelly beans. squirmy? scratchy? family not getting clean? get charmin ultra strong. go get 'em. it just cleans better. with a diamond weave texture, your family can use less while still getting clean.

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brother. scam targeting older americans have been on the rise thieves have been preying on them one grandmother turned the tables on the alleged criminal matt bradley has the details >> reporter: this is the moment when a scam artist met his match. police in nassau county, new york, tackling a fraudster twho tried to cheat a grandmother out of thousands >> i knew it was a scam. i've hung up on these guys a million times. >> reporter: the fraudster phoned jean demanding she pay $8,000 to bail out one of her grandsons claiming he had just been in a drunken car crash. the former 911 dispatcher called police and set up a sting operation. when the suspected man showed up to get the cash, she handed him

an envelope with paper towels. even the cops had to tip their hats. >> it was dramatic and i think the county, eck is going to deputize her. >> be aware. they're there and they're not going away and double-check before you do anything don't send anybody money. >> reporter: during the pandemic scams against seniors are on the rise. >> you need to tell us what jail he's in. >> reporter: the internet's crime complaint scepter received nearly 800,000 fraud complaints in 2020 with losses exceeding $4.1 billion about 28% of those losses were from people over 60, totaling about $1 billion. >> our seniors are usually very trusting, polite, not likely to say no, and these are the exact character riis ticks these criminal organizations are looking to target. >> reporter: that's because seniors have a lot to lose. >> when older adults are targeted and they're victimized,

they lose so much more money because they have a lifetime of savings. they're sitting on money, and these scammers know it. >> reporter: but even people like jean make good targets, she won't go down without a fight. matt bradley, nbc news. still to come, the bills and asiefs put on an instant clsic. the highlights from the afc nailbiter. that's next. yeah. see you around. i knew that was the last time i'd see tom. the truth is, i was spending too much online jake from state farm. don't give up what you love. state farm has options like bundling home and auto, so you get a rate that fits your budget. tom! i'm gonna buy more stuff! for surprisingly great rates that fit any budget... like a good neighbor, state farm is there. call or click to get a quote today. like a good neighbor, state farm is there. a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesn't get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent... that's why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum...

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number 19, 17 seconds. down the middle to the end zone. >> in the fourth quarter, full of league changes the bills got ahead only for the chiefs to storm downfield and force overtime in overtime they didn't let go of it. the chiefs are on their way to a fourth straight afc title win with the 42-36 win. earlier today tom brady and the buccaneers erased a 24-point

lead but left a little too much time on the clock for the rams a last-minute drive left-hand to a field goal that eliminated the defending champs the rams win, 30-27. and on saturday, both number one seeds fell at home to last-second field goals, setting up these conference championship games. from the gridiron to the hardwood and history in women's college basketball, kansas state's player needed a big game against a ranked opponent in oklahoma and she had just that lee put up 61 points good for a division i single-game record. she almost scored the game all by herself, 94-65. >> you hear the wnba calling. now to wall street where investors are nervously anticipating two, three, maybe four interest rate hikes

here from cnbc karen tso good morning. >> good morning. a major wall street bank is warning rising inflation could cause the fed to become even nr aggressive than the marks have expected this year gold money sax is saying in the first federal meeting this year they're expecting raise hikes in march, june, september, and december, but with rising inflation you could see more with the fed wanting to take some action at every meeting until the inflation picture changes. most of the market expects them to tee up for the first e fed rate height for march this year. tight highest in 40 years. activists have entered the fray over peloton demanding it release its ceo. it's a target for a larger took knolly player and focused on

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on tough messes, the spray-activated suds cut through grease on contact, without water. just wipe, and rinse. get dishes done faster. dawn powerwash dish spray. now available in free & clear. good morning, everyone we do have a pretty active weather pattern across the northeast and east coast heavy rain will wash across the deep outh, southeast today you could see at least 1 to 2 inches of accumulation this morning florida waking up to some of the coldest temperatures this season a ton of sunshine if you're across the pacific northwest temperatures really warming up and staying dry for the west wintry chill invades texas once again for your wednesday, and blustery conditions for late week into the northeast. we're going to watch a very active weather pattern for friday the carolinas, a big-time storm headed that way. we'll talk about accumulation in the next couple of days.

ladies >> thanks. a world war ii letter lost finally delivered 80 years later. brad. -nice! thanks? crest 3d white. 100% stain removal. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. even after you sanitize, every touch can leave new bacteria behind? microban 24 keeps killing 99.9% of bacteria touch after touch for up to 24 hours*. touch after touch, microban doesn't give up.

now to the emotional blast from the past for one family a letter from the front lines of world war ii is finally delivered 76 years later nbc's kate snow has the incredible story. >> reporter: in 1945, world war ii ended ♪ me twic ♪ >> reporter: bing crosby was a jukebox favorite. >> this is the holiday everybody take the day off. >> reporter: a hit on the silver screen too and on december 6, 1945, john gasol, a young army sergeant

stationed in germany penned a letter to his mom back home in massachusetts. 76 years later, that letter finally showed up at his widow's house. >> the mailman rang my doorbell, and he said to me, was your husband in the army? and i said, yes, he was. he said, i do believe that i have something from him. >> reporter: angelina instantly recognized her husband's handwriting. >> i thought, that is unbelievable it was just like a shock. >> reporter: where the letter's been all this time remains a mystery, but it recently arrived at a pittsburgh postal facility. workers there tracked angelina down through the church listed in her late husband's obituary. >> i actually felt as though he was here with me when i was reading that letter. >> reporter: her beloved johnny died six years ago. >> but as for the food, it's pretty lousy most all the time. >> reporter: he spoke about everyday things like the food

and weather. >> it was raining and snowing again this morning. >> reporter: shedding new light on his time overseas. >> it looks as if i won't be here much longer before i return to the states. >> reporter: a glimpse into the life of service angelina had heard little about during their 61 years together. her son rob said the letter has been a gift that the family will treasure forever. >> he really is a hero we didn't know that part of his life just to get that little sliver of informing was pretty special. >>. >> reporter: a special reminder of the man she loved so much. >> and i miss him always yep. he'll always be with me. i'll never forget him, that's for sure. >> john and angelina had five kids together. she's now a grandmother to six and has three great grandchildren. also angelina just celebrated her 90th birthday, so we really wish her all the best. back to you.

>> all right, kate back to you. what a story that's a little, you know, love letter from above i think wherever he is that after all those years i'm with you especially with that penmanship? that's a framer right there. thanks for starting your week with us.

up. a booster deadline arrives in the south bay. who it applies to and what happens. >> and should we mention the pandemic will have an impact on your returns. we'll tell you what you need to know before you file. >> plus, we are tracking your workweek forecast. meteorologist kari hall is tracking what we can expect. this is "today in the bay." we are broadcasting to your tv, also, you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple t