breaking overnight, a fatal collision involving a pickup truck and a college van carrying members of the men and womens golf teams from the university of the southwest there were multiple fatalities in both vehicles including the head golf coach. late details aheadpond on day 2n ukraine asa bombardments escalate ahead of president zelenskyy's address to the u.s. congress in just a few hours wall street and main street are carefully watching fed

chairman jay powell today which is expected to be in the first interest rate hikes since 2019 thanks for being with us fry francis rivera >> and i'm vinita nair we begin with breaking news in west texas the department of safety confirmed a head-on collision between a pickup truck and a van. the van was carrying members of the university southwest men and women's golf teams a spokesperson for the dps said there were fatalities in both vehicles which caught fire but they're unsure how many people have died. coach tyler james was among those killed in the crash. we'll have much more on this breaking news story throughout the morning. russia's attack on ukraine growing more intense now 21 days into the invasion. the kremlin's forces increasing bombing on the capital of kyiv

which is now under extended curfew and 27 people were evacuated and at least two were injured after shelling caused an apartment building to collapse this morning. we turn to nbc's molly hunter who's live in lviv, and, molly, despite the dangers of traveling to kyiv three european prime ministers made the trip to visit with prime minister zelenskyy. >> reporter: yeah, it was an incredibly brave meeting to take the prime minister of the czech republic, of slovenia and poland all got on the train it's the only way into kyiv. of course the airport has been bombed, is not functioning they met with president zelenskyy just before curfew began last night the czech leader told ukrainians they are not alone and the czech leader really tried to send a message europe was with them this was a huge show of force, europe backed zelenskyy and

detail for many hours about what else and how else the europeans could support zelenskyy. this is the first group of western leaders to actually meet >> and, molly, with russia's continued onslaught even apartment buildings or residential areas are being destroyed now. >> reporter: yeah, and that's not brand new. that is what we've been seeing the russians do for the last couple of weeks. the reason the human itarian corridors have failed is they're shelling the exact places where ukrainians are meant to be two apartment blocks apparently were hit and we just got word in the last hour, that is the destination for people eevacuating from mariupol a botanical garden and railway station were hit which is extremely worrying

because that was supposed to be the place residents from mariupol were supposed to get to relative safety and figure out their trek west. so they'll have to figure out a new route. >> so those safe havens becoming no more. every eye in congress is on kyiv this morning ahead of zelenskyy's virtual address. during his speech to both the house and senate the ukrainian president is expected to plead for more help against the russian invasion nbc's brie jackson is in d.c. with the latest. brie, this could prove to be a proprietary historic address >> reporter: there are sure to be comparisons to winston churchill's 1941 address to congress just weeks after the bombing of pearl harbor. zelenskyy's speech will likely look similar to the one he delivered to canada's parliament yesterday. he made an emotional plea the ukrainian leader also called

for more weapons and sanctions on russia. president biden will deliver an address of his own he's expected to announce details on a roughly $1 billion military aid package mr. biden will also travel to brussels next week to meet with nato allies. >> putin's aggression against ukraine has united people all across america, united our two parties in congress. we're moving urgently to further augment the support to the brave people of ukraine as they defend their country. >> reporter: so what kind of support will the u.s. provide? nbc news that learned that the white house could give ukraine killer drones equipped with missiles that could target russian tanked and artillery from miles away. our ken dilanian got an exclusive look at the devices called switch blades back in december they're essentially robotic smart bombs, single use weapons that can deployed in a matter of minutes. now, that could be part of the

new package the president is expected to announce later today. back to you. >> brie, thank you the u.n. estimates that at least 3 million refugees have left ukraine so far, and unicef believes children make up about half that number that means 75,000 kids become refugees every day averaging one every second jay, those refugees -- in. >> reporter: yeah, we continue to see mothers with their young children moving through this train station. not as full we've seen it in the past, but we do have a train just arriving now from ukraine, so we expect this to fill up pretty quickly here as families continue to try and escape the violence the suburbs in ruins, russian troops now pushing to the edge of kyiv, their missiles inside this strike taking down high rise apartments in the capital city the mayor instituting a curfew

and urging those who aren't fighting to take cover >> i call to everyone, every civilian, please spend the time if it is possible in bunkers >> reporter: as so many in other areas rush to escape this 29-year-old leaving most everything she owns and her dreams behind. >> i -- sorry. i love my city it's very beautiful. sorry. we want to live the whole life there. >> reporter: more than 3 million mostly women and children have left ukraine victoria wishes she could go back in. her mom and grandparents trapped in their small village right now with no way out. >> my heart is broken. we're just praying for us, god

they will be okay. they can't leave now >> reporter: she moved to the u.s. six years ago but couldn't stay away as the fighting started in her homeland. >> today we had a lot of little toys for kids, coloring books and crayons and brought some medicine but we can't sit home. we had to be here to help the ukrainian people >> reporter: help so desperately needed by so many right now. yeah, and look, we have heard while we're seeing probably the tail end of the first wave of refugees here, frances, they expect millions more to be making that journey over the next several weeks new developments this morning in a pair of police shootings that rocked chicago. prosecutors said that officers will not face charges in the deaths of 13-year-old adam toledo and 22-year-old anthony

alvarez. they were killed within days of each other last year after chases with police new this morning a ground breaker in the executive branch. history is made as the senate confirmed young as the director of the white house manager of budget young has already spent the past year overseeing the largest department in the executive office she's expected to be officially sworn in by vice president kamala harris. we have some new details on the death of bob saget this morning. investigators believe the actor's injuries were likely caused by a fall on the carpeted floor of his hotel room. the sheriff's office ruled out foul play in its final report on the actor. he was found by security after he failed to check out in january. school officials say the

77-year-old driver was having some kind of medical emergency there were 14 middle and high schoolers onboard. two helped safely stop a bus before high reached a nearby river and the another called 911 and tried to perform cpr the driver was taken to the hospital and later died. the 2022 iditarod champion has been crowned sass who celebrate his first win after competing six times with fours says he couldn't have won the anniversary without the trust of his teammates >> feeling like spring for a lot of us. let's turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with more on that. good morning >> good morning. and on this wednesday severe weather will be an issue especially in the southeast. doesn't look like a huge event but isolated cases of damaging

winds and hail northwards up towards chattanooga, 6 million people at risk of severe storms. especially around orlando and down to the space coast, this will be early today # a.m. to 11:00 a.m. when the biggest chance of those storms wild hea the i-4 corridor throughout this afternoon. i wish i had better news for st. patrick's day in the northeast but that forecast has changed and not for better >> thank you up next we've got important news about the covid vaccine booster shots. >> plus are you ready to share

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the johnson & johnson covid-19 vaccine has had a bumpy journey, but there is growing evidence that the vaccine which was once named least protective is actually preventing infections, hospitalizations and deaths at least as well as the pfizer and moderna vaccines. according to "the new york times" roughly 17 million americans have received the j&j vaccine. >> the news comes as the office of the vice president has announced that second gentleman doug emhoff tested positive for covid on tuesday vice president kamala harris has tested negative for the virus. meanwhile pfizer is asking the fda to authorize a fourth covid vaccine shot for older americans. nbc's miguel almaguer has what you need to know >> reporter: seeking emergency use authorization nbc news

confirms pfizer has submitted new data to the fda hoping to green light a second covid booster shot for americans 65 and older citing waning immunity several months after a third dose, the company ceo says a fourth shot would dramatically improve protection against infection. are americans really going to be willing to get a second booster or a fourth shot >> i think we've seen problems with people getting their first booster. we only have 50% of eligible people boosted right now and that's already a big problem >> reporter: pfizer's push comes as covid cases spike in pockets of the globe cases in mainland china up 377%. in the u.k. infections have surged over 52%. dr. fauci attributes thr englans omicron subvariant ba.2 is more transmissible though not

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fast forwarding into your wednesday, theranos is back into the spotlight. he's accused of defrauding investors and patients lgbtq advocates here in new york will hold a protest against the don't say gay bill in florida. it's set to be the largest rally in the country denouncing it over 600 people across the city are set to take part

and public tours of the white house will resume, after more than two years 1600 pennsylvania avenue is opening its doors to the public. those tours will start april 15th now to wall street where investors are likely baked into today's expected quarter point interest rate hikes and starbucks new plan to integrate new cups >> hey, good morning, frances. and now it's sort of died into the background in terms of prominence, but we are expecting a quarter point rate hike. at some point we even thought we'd see half a point and this is due to the tightening of this ultraloose policy we've seen in the past two years as a way of dealing with the pandemic. if stead we're looking for a sort of forecast from the federal reserve about increased number of rate hikes, maybe five or six this year, maybe two or

three next year, and key about this is inflation, taming that run away inflation we've seen around the world but in the u.s. as well, and ukraine plays into that because the spike in commodities prices and energy prices is something that will hinder growth. similarly the covid situation playing out in china at the moment will have a knock on effect that's something the fed will have to keep in mind and something they will keep in mind as well when they're talking about tapering off their asset purchases which have swelled to $9 trillion of the fed balance sheet. >> some tough times for us here in america thank you. up next bill is tracking dangerous brush fires. >> and they're raising their voices for relief. how the met is helping the ukrainian refugee crisis [girls laugh] -nice smile, brad. -nice! thanks? crest 3d white. 100% stain removal.

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spain's weather service reports extremely poor air quality, limited visibility and increased temperatures due to that dust. residents are being advised to use their face masks to shield themselves when going outside. authorities say the dust could travel toward northern parts of europe they believe changing weather patterns due to climate change could be responsible and we've got a change now, seasonal bill is back with our forecast, feeling more like spring hi, bill >> yeah, with spring comes severe weather threat which we have in florida today and brush fire threat as the winds pick up in the southern plains coming out of new mexico. we have an elevated fire risk here, and this is the time of year we see those brush fires in the plains and if they do form, they can spread pretty rapidly. 75 in st. louis today, 71 in sincenity and another beautiful day from d.c. to boston. enjoy it, guys not as nice tomorrow >> all right, we sure will thank you. fetching their way to our

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the journalist who held up a no war sign-on russian state tv is reportedly only facing a fine russian news agency raa reported marina was ordered to pay 30,000 ruble, that's the equivalent of $280 the journalist told the bbc she was questioned for over 14 hours following her protest on a live broadcast. russian soccer teams are still off the pitch after the court of arbitration for sport upheld the uefa ruling to ban from thum competition. a ruling on fifa's world cup ban is expected later this week. slack has begun

disconnecting russian customers from its service this comes as its parent company, salesforce, is set to sever business with russia now to a record truly out of this world astronaut mark vande hei he broke the record tuesday with 341 consecutive days in space. his biggest challenge will now be riding in a russian capsule back to earth. he's due to leave the international space station on march 30th and will touch done in kazakhstan. by then he'll have logged 355 days in space. russia holds the world record with 438 you might never need to change your clocks again the senate voted unanimously yesterday to make daylight-saving time permanent beginning in november next year year the sunshine protection act still needs to pass the house and signed by the president before it becomes law. the annual ritual began in 1918

to create more daylight hours during warmer months a new survey found 40% of dog owners said they expected to miss their pup more than their spouse or their kids when they go back to work. the pet care company, wag, polled a thousand pet parents. over 60% say they adopted their dog during the pandemic and 93% said they view their canines as a source of mental health support. the american kennel club has revealed the most popular dog breeds of 2021 lab brudor retrievers were the topdogs in the united states for the first time for the first time since the '90s, poodles made it into the top five >> all makes sense also in the mornings you need your cup of joe and starbucks is set to pour their efforts into the planet by ditching single use plastics in a statement by the end of

2023 they said customers in the u.s. and canada will be able to use a reusable personal cup for their orders it'll take some time to get used to but at least you're getting your cup of coffee thanks

neighborhood in shock, after a shooting in the east bay. this morning the families of two men are speaking to us, detailing the frightening moments leading up to the gunfire. plus, in less than two hours, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy will address congress. the help he's asking for as the turmoil in ukraine continues. and it's been two years since the bay area went into lockdown for covid. how one bay area city is moving forward to help restaurants stay afloat. this is "today in the bay." and a good wednesday morning to you.