this was not a rock, paper, scissors moment. the entertainment world went off the rails after the soon to be named actor lashed out wle protecting his wife. the biden administration continues to clarify what the president said about putin, that he, quote, cannot remain in power as military strikes on lviv continue. the president returns to america with poll numbers

showing the lowest approval ratings in 15 months in office the billionaires tax to help lower the deficit. and then to the red-hot housing market and one strategy being used to help you compete and win the bid for the house of your dreams. and the women take the center stage at the ncaa tournament as the st. peters peacock historic run comes to a tar heel end let's get to it. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning and happy friday i'm vinita nair. >> good to be with you i'm frances rivera the academy awards was last night and, man, one moment in particular has everyone talking. we'll talk about the physical confrontation between will smith and chris rochlkt it happened after chris rock told a joke about jada smith being bald and g.i. jane. the joke didn't sit well with jada's husband will smith.

take a look. >> oh, wow wow. will smith just smacked the [ bleep ] out of me. >> out your [ bleep ] mouth. >> wow, dude. >> yes. >> it was a g.i. jane joke. >> keep my wife's name out of your [ bleep ] mouth. >> i'm going to. >> moments later smith came back to the stage after winning for best actor and in his speech talked about being a defender of his family. >> i'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people i want to apologize to the academy. i want to apologize to all of my fellow nominees.

>> reaction this morning is rampant. look here. the "daily news. the new york "daily news," fresh hit of bel air, and the "new york post" went with "best smactor. >> the oscars saw a number of historic wins. arianna dubose made her the first black winner to win. jane campion became the third woman to become the director of "power of the dog. three-time nominee jessica chastain won best actor for "the eyes of faye." now the russian attacks that continue into the second month now estimating more than 1,100 civilians have been killed

126 children have been killed. those killed or wounded cannot be counted including the besieged city of mariupol which was left out of the report this as another round of negotiations are expected this week this time in turkey. let's turn to gabe gutierrez who's live in lviv good morning what can we expect from these talks? >> reporter: good morning, frances. while it's hard to see any major breakthrough happening as a result of these thank yous, over the last few days, ukrainian officials in the east have suggested there may be some room for compromise, but overnight president zelenskyy here reiterated the harder line he has taken before that ukraine will not compromise on its territorial sovereignty. of course, russia, you know, years ago -- back in 2014 annexed the crimea area and then also has been intensely fighting for areas in the donbas region

controlled by russian separatists. there have been some analysts who wondered could the country be carved up, with some parts going to russia or at least being independent from ukraine but overnight president zelenskyy said that is a nonstarter it will be interesting to see where the talks if any this week in turkey go. >> gabe, we're also watching the humanitarian crisis in mariupol continuing to stay dire. what can you tell us about the evacuation efforts as the russian troops continue closing in >> reporter: well, frances, it's an extremely dire situation. more than 160,000 people remain in that city no power, no electricity, no running water, and there have been great difficulty in getting humanitarian resources there the humanitarian corridor has been shut down at times because of heavy shelling. we spoke with a woman who said she had walked 15 miles with her

granddaughter to try to reach a bus to leave that area over the weekend local officials said some would take an hour and a half outside of town to reach the humanitarian buses, and that's no easy feat considering shelling continues in that city. many say a humanitarian catastrophe is under way there. >> i can't imagine trying to do so gabe, thank you. the president is back in the u.s. this morning, but his fiery remarks are still reverberating around the world he went off script saying vladimir putin cannot remain in power. nbc's brie jackson is live >> reporter: good morning, vinita president biden has stepped up his criticism of vladimir putin in recent days, just last week calling him a war criminal but this weekend's ad-lib took it a step further. the nine words came at the end

of a nearly 30-minute rallying cry for support to ukraine some say it was tantamount to calling for a regime change in russian. >> we'll have a bright futurer rooted in democracy and freedom. of dignity and freedom and possibilities. for god's sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> reporter: the kremlin quickly condemned those comments while secretary of state antony blinken clarified what the president meant. >> i think the president, the white house, made the point last night that, quite simply, president putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against ukraine or anyone else. as you know and as you've heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime challenge in russia or anywhere else for that matter. >> reporter: a new nbc news poll shows that only about 40% of the

country approves of the response to the war in ukraine. it's now at the lowest level of his presidency while the war was top concern for many americans, inflation and cost of living were the biggest issue on the minds of those polled only 33% of the people approve of the president's handling of the kmichl back to you. >> you'd be hard-pressed to find an american not on board with the tax hike for billionaires. tell us about that as well. >> reporter: that's right. according to a document obtained by cnbc, the billionaire minimum income tax would add a 20% minimum tax rate on households worth more than $100 million half the representative knew would come from those worth over a billion. the document says the tax would make sure the wealthiest americans no longer pay a tax rate lower than teachers and

firefighters the proposal would slash the nation's deficit by about $360 billion. the president is expected to unveil the plan as part of his 2023 budget later today. >> all right brie jackson in d.c. this morning. brie, thank you. down to the wire as teams in the women's and men's hoops punched their tickets to the final four >> three on the shot clock the drive inside and one >> texas kept the matchup close with 1 seed stanford it proved too much to hand the cardinals pulled away and advanced in the file 4, 49-50. the blue jays were no match for top ranked south carolina. coach dawn staley had her time back in the final four south carolina takes it, 80-50 two more teams can punch their ticket uconn has made 13 straight final four appearances on the men's side, the shoe

fell off in the cinderella run for st. peters the peacocks put up a fight but the tar heels ran away with it north carolina advances with the most in the men's tournament history. the score, 49-39 the jayhawks return to the final four, winning 76-50. a blue blood final four is set for new orleans, duke, and carolina in the tournament for the first time ever. a winter chill from the great lakes to the northeast to start off your week. let's bring in meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill what have we done with spring here >> it feels like winter. a lot of people saw snow this weekend from the great lakes to the northeast, at least a little bit. that chill this morning is the worst in northern new england. that's where some of the coldest windchills are found

negative 3 in saranac. buffalo isn't pleasant either. 4 degrees. it's about the coldest it's been in about a week or two i hope everyone still has their winter gear available. you'll need it during the morning. even for the high, it will be in the 20s and 30s from the great lakes to the northeast tomorrow morning will be just as cold it's here to stay for a little bit. that's a look at your national forecast now here's a look at the weather outside your window. up. easter's not that far away spring break too. >> we're ready for it. still ahead, more reaction to the sudden shocking death of foo fighters drummer taylor hawkins. and how to raise your urrer s to lock in that bid fo yo dam home. a strategy next. way you clean'e.

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if you're looking to buy a house, the market's never been hotter with more people making cash offers, it could be nearly impossible for those who finance. sam brock reports on a new strategy. >> reporter: our country is plagued by a basic math problem. lots of people are lining up to buy houses, but there just isn't enough supply. >> it's nearly an impossible task do this without some help. >> i would say yes because i've tried nine times. >> 0 for 9. >> 0 for 9. >> reporter: nine offers for homes, nine rejections he got a hot tip from his realtor. try a new company she works with it's one of a growing group of real estate firms that provide buyers with all cash offers, strengthening their hands in competitive bidding wars the company buys the house and

kyle would buy it right back from them through a loan with them or a lender. >> what kind of advantage does that provide >> it provides a really good advantage. cash is key. >> reporter: investment firms are buying up inventory with all cash offers. look at the latest trend on who's winning the housing tug-of-war in 2020, just one in five homes were all cash sales, but a year later, it's more like one in three. and in some cities it's been even more dramatic like in columbus, ohio, the phoenix metro area, and at the top of the list, atlanta's metro with nearly 70% of homes being sole for cash. >> is there a learning process or are some people kind of spooked by the fact it's such a new concept? >> yes some people are hesitant about it because they're like, what's the cash. >> homework owner says it involves calculated risk with cash as a lure for customers

the customer's strategy is to consolidate the strategy of home buying with a one-stop shop. >> we know when you come in, you can say, i can cloche in five d days, it's a no contingency offer, and when you sign with cash, we know it's going to the closing table. we know your negotiating table goes up. >> reporter: of course, the service isn't free homework charge as 1% premium to take on that added risk. for kyle, that meant $2,600, but after a year of rejected bids, the next one he made was accepted. >> i will absolutely say it was worth it because i'm standing here now or sitting here now and i'm absolutely happy. >> reporter: there's no place like home, especially when it's yours. sam brock, nbc news, atlanta. >> it is an interesting idea. still to come, new details on the shocking death of the foo fighters iconic drummer taylor hawkins. er.

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♪ colombian officials say taylor hay kins had ten different substances in his body at the time of his death tributes are pouring in for the legendary musician cyrus said she would have done anything to hang out with him one more time. gene simmons remembered him as a kind soul and monster musician ringo starr, smashing pumpkins and others shared condolences to his family and bandmates. you might remember the red pickup truck that was tossed around in austin, texas. well, the 16-year-old who drove away from that storm was just surprised by a dealership with a

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be good for your health. researchers studied half a million people over a span of ten years. they found that drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with a longer life and lower risk of heart disease. we know we cover all these stories so much because clearly we need it, but, wow, good t abe cups between us. i don't know where you are in your morning toward health. >> you don't caffeinate, right >> i do not. no, i do not it's all or nothing for me i would go with 20 cups , so i g with none. this storm will be the story of the week. tomorrow into the rockies. tomorrow night, severe weather breaks out from oklahoma all the way to kansas city including areas of dallas. then wednesday's our big possible dangerous day, guys i think we'll be covering tornadoes in the south once again. still ahead, nearly 50

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in today's top stories, china is locking down as its largest city battles the omicron surge. shanghai is being locked down in two phases testing is being done in the financial district people are ordered to stay at home over the next two weeks 26 million people will be impacted. shanghai reported 3,500 cases sunday only 50 of those cases were sympt symptomatic. nearly 50 grocery stores in california have voted to authorize a strike

it involves supermarket chance contract negotiations are set to resume on wednesday. they previously dismissed the company's proposed raise as, quote, shockingly low. the workers want an extra $5 per hour but the chain only offered 60 cents. a man missing from montana since wednesday was found dead authorities say he was killed by a grizzly bear he was hiking with a friend in the mountains north of yellowstone national park. the two split up at some point and the friend called the police when he never came back to their car. search-and-rescue teams found him on friday dead from what the local sheriff said was an encounter with a grizzly bear. the u.s. is one game away from a trip back to the world cup. powered by a hat trick, the men's national team cruised by fan ma to win it 5-1 that leasts just costa rica standing in the way of qatar

the u.s. would have to lose on wednesday to miss out on the world cup again. now to the most anticipated movie convenient of the year we're talking about the 2022 golden raz berry awards. while the princess diana picks were all about it, the musical is being dubbed as worst picture after leading with five razzies. oscar winner jared leto was awarded worst performing acker in "house of gucci" and bruce willis got called out with the worst bruce willis movie of 2021 the fresh prince took home a razzie of his own earning a redeemer award for his work in "king richard. one high skier has a lot to celebrate this morning after raining in over a million. what's impressive is her 49 college acceptances.

she hopes one day to become a veterinarian she decided to study animal science at tuskegee. >> dhoiss and great options. her parents and family has got to be so, so proud she's going to go far. thanks for watching. i'm frances rivera. >> i'm

in downtown san jose. police respond to two separate shootings just blocks from each other. the investigation is still under way and the revelations being made about the moments leading up to the incident. >> and chinatown businesses outraged. the all-new calls for action. >> plus, rain returns. we're tracking wet weather for parts of the bay area. this is a look at the radar. it's lighting up this morning. meteorologist kari hall will show us how long you're going to need to hold on to that umbrella. this is "today in the bay."