and start his own financial journey. that's because these moms all have chase. smart bankers. convenient tools. one bank with the power of both. chase. make more of what's yours. developing overnight, the biden administration is pledging $100 million worth of javelin anti-tank missiles to ukraine as outrage grows over the horrific civilian deaths in bucha deadly storms making their way acss different parts of the u.s. with at least 38 reported tornados as the severe risk continues into thursday mortgage rates soaring as the fed tries to get a handle on inflation. the 30-year fixed rate at about 5% for the first time since 2011 the latest on the biden

administration's most recent postponement and a wild red fox on capitol hill bites a member of congress and is finally captured after at least six people were reportedly bitten or nipped. "early today" starts right now a lot going on thanks for joining us. i'm steven romo. >> good to be with you i'm frances rivera wild weather is wreaking havoc now for a third week widespread damage seen across texas, mississippi and alabama stretching all the way to south carolina >> we just came across highway 231 here debris scattered everywhere. >> at least 38 tornados were reported, and this one was captured on camera >> what you're seeing is a tornado, allandale, south carolina we watched it around us. >> at least two people have died

according to the mayor of white house, texas a 70-year-old man was killed when a tree tropled on his home. winds measured 100 miles per hour during the height of the storm bringing down power lines and damaging buildings and overnight in georgia a woman was declared dead after a mobile home was destroyed there these dangerous storms expected to continue today and thursday putting millions possibly in harms way. meteorologist bill karins tracking the weather for us. it started in mississippi and then alabama, georgia, and south carolina we had numerous strong tornados also as we get the pictures in of daylight we'll get a better view how widespread the damage was and what towns were hit the worst. allandale, south carolina, had one of the biggest tornados that moved through the area

this is a separate storm from yesterday's storm and going to hit had the same exact areas especially in georgia and areas of alabama chattanooga, to macon enhanced risk tomorrow less area, smaller area for the severe weather but still dealing with isolated strong storms north carolina and florida, guys. two more days and a break friday >> glad to hear there's a break coming bill, thank you. let's turn now to day 42 of russia's invasion of ukraine overnight the state department revealed the u.s. will be sending more supplies to ukraine including an additional $100 million in javelin anti-tank missiles ukraine president zelenskyy asked for more support zelenskyy urged the council to hold russia accountable for the atrocities covered near kyiv we warn you again some of the images in this report may be tough to see

raff, president zelenskyy made a powerful case for punishing russia over war crimes >> reporter: that's right, frances. he compared russian troops to isis terrorists. he called for an international war crimes tribunal similar to what we saw after the second world war when senior nazi officials were prosecuted at nuremburg. the problem here russia has a veto on the u.n. security council so its able to block any measures like that the question is as forces advance further and further into the areas the russians left behind, what kind of new atrocities are they going to discover the mayor of a commuter town just outside kyiv says there may be as many as 200 people buried under the rubble of a single apartment building hit by a russian missile. frances? >> we've seen some reports of

ukrainians who fled the war choosing to go back home are you still seeing a flow of refugees in hungary? >> reporter: we are still seeing a flow of refugees into hungary. it's a much smaller flow than it was a couple weeks ago the first few weeks of the war we were seeing 20,000 ukrainians crossing into hungary every day. that number is down to 4,000 now. and that appears to be because as the russian add vance has stalled fewer and fewer people feel they need to flee into neighboring countries. we're seeing all across europe the flows of refugees going out are smaller and more people are actually heading back into ukraine. here in hungary the fiercely anti-immigrant prime minister victor orban is allowing ukrainian refugees in, but he's not at all eager for them to stay here. when the refugees arrive at a processing center here in budapest one of the first things they see is a stall that's offering them very cheap train tickets if they keep going and

they travel all the way through hungary and go out the other side further on into western europe frances? >> it's heartening to hear and regardless which direction they head the hope they stay safe the ba.2 subvariant of omicron is now the dominant strain in the u.s. accounts for 72% of infections according to cdc data. experts say there's no indication that ba.2 causes more severe illness republicans say they won't vote for the bill unless an immigration amendment is added to prevent president biden from lifting trump era restrictions on immigration this morning we are diving into covid fraud in our series the fleecing of america. billions of taxpayer dollars stolen to pay for luxury items

as ken dilanian reports many of the thieves may never see justice. >> reporter: authorities call it an astonishing haul. luxury homes, private jet flights, $100,000 ferrari all bought they say by people who scammed taxpayermoney set asid for covid relief a trillion dollars in government programs designed to keep struggling businesses afloat during the pandemic. >> the money being stolen, yes it's being converted into lamborghinis, ferraris and aston martins. and to support high-flying lifestyles authorities claim she spent more than $5,000 at this hotel and brazenly brag about it on social media. court records say she intends to plead guilty despite billions las the justice department says just over 178 people have been convicted so

far. the ceo of risk solutions tracks fraud for state agencies he says even the most brazen lies went unchecked with the government not required banks to independently verify loans >> they were told not to they were told to get those loans out and suspend processes. >> how long do you think it does to do a check on a business or a person it takes about three milliseconds to do a check on a person and one to run a check on a business >> reporter: that was enough to get him $150,000, he got caught but law enforcement officials tell us most people who stole corid relief money will probably get away with it juan antonio gonzalez is the prosecutor in miami that prosecuted that case to figure it out what did investigators have to do >> once you look at the paperwork all it took was a drive to the farm and see there

was no farm. >> just a single family home in the middle of miami. >> exactly >> weren't there due diligence checks made? >> well, there were supposed to be and obviously not all of them were done. >> reporter: the program which ended last may saved millions of real jobs, but prosecutors say alleged criminals kept it from helping even more. well, back in the white house if only for a day. former president obama returned to 1600 pennsylvania avenue for the first time since leaving office to give his former right-hand man a leg up. nbc's brie jackson in d.c. with the details. and brie, president biden said it was like the good old days. >> reporter: good morning, steven yeah, president biden is hoping to rekindle some of that magic heading into the mid-terms this fall he teamed up with his former boss to celebrate the success of the affordable care act and to tell an expansion of their landmark legislation it wasn't as much a reunion on

policy as for friendship he even had a call back to mr. obama's infamous hot mic years ago. >> first 20 million and now 30 million people have gotten covered thanks to the aca. it is to quote a famous american, a pretty big deal. >> during the event president biden announced a fix for the so-called family glitch. the rule change would cap coverage cost for families and allow millions more americans to get affordable coverage and could signal a reboot for the white house heading into the mid-terms. president biden's approval rating has dropped to 40% in the latest nbc news poll amid

challenges like rising crime and record inflation when asked about the mid-terms, former president obama said, quote, we've got a story to tell we've just got to tell it. back to you, steven. >> all right, brie, thank you. new this morning the older brother of a sacramento shooting suspect has also been arrested smily martin was one of 12 people wounded in a massacre that killed ixis but authorities have arrested him in connection with the shooting a third person was also arrested charged with illegal possession of a firearm investigators continue to search for suspects all right, let's get you back to nbc meteorologist bill karins tracking all that dangerous weather. >> there's also going to be a chance of heavy rain and flooding the ground is soaked from yesterday's storms it won't take much in today's

storms to get some flash flooding in areas of central georgia. other areas of concern will be savannah to charleston definitely isolated totals upwards of 3 to 5 inches and a soaking rain early today in the northeast and clears out in the afternoon and then another caro. a soaking rain in the northeast and also some rainy weather moving into the ohio valley. and it's snowing this morning in minnesota once again, guys, too, so we've got a little bit of everything >> it's crazy. all right, bill, thank you still to come early this morning as we mentioned those

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la la la la la. breaking overnight two people are wounded after a shooting at an industrial plant in south carolina. the anderson county sheriff's office tells nbc news that the suspected shooter is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. deputies responded to the scene at the plant late last night law enforcement said the victims both worked at the plant while the shooter is believed to be a former employee. one of the victims is in critical condition well, a different kind of trouble going on at the nation's capitol. a series of animal attacks have people on edge d.c. animal control got several reports of an aggressive red fox tormting people on capitol grounds. at least six people reported incidents including bites and that included a congressman who out of precaution went to walter

reed for a series of rabys shots. authorities were able to capture the fox but they weren't sure it's the only one. the wild animals become protective of their dens so police warn people if you see them stay out of their way shine bright like a diamond. rihanna's new financial milestone. and elonus mk's twitter takeover the big changes he wants to make after buying his way onto the board. b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. [ drums playing ] ♪ my love for you, baby ♪ ♪ is like a merry go round ♪ ♪ it goes up down ♪

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in today's news by the numbers general motors and honda are teaming up to create a new range of affordable electric vehicles the cars cost less than $30,000. officials say production should begin in 2027. congratulations are in order for pop star rihanna for the first time the singer is among the list of forbes new billon-airs becoming the first to represent her home country of barbados bridgerten has set a record

for the most viewed english language tv series the season was 251.7 million hours over the last seven days. >> the world's richest man is already making a mark on twitter as its largest shareholder and home buyer also better beware. hey, steve, good morning >> good morning, frances good morning, steven as if elon musk hasn't got enough on his plate with spacex and the mere matter of tesla as well, turns out he's been buying aggressively twitter shares ever since january. it basically says he spent $2.64 billion u.s. buying a big and active stake in twitter. the company has pretty much turned around straightaway and said we're going to put you on the board of director. but very interesting elon musk just tweeting out yesterday a yes or no poll over whether twitter should add an edit

button a lot of people want that button and even misspelled the word yes, yse and you mentioned the cost of living crisis goes on i'm afraid the 30-year mortgage has now crossed a 5% level for the first time since 2011. 5.02 a year ago it was 3.38 and basically because the federal reserve is getting more hawkish, more aggressive potentially on pairing down its assets but also increasing rates. the latest fed numbers to speak about is the vice chair who said they could significantly cut their balance sheet a little quicker than many people had expected the ten-year yield which goes in the opposite direction to bonds is now at about 2.61 in the middle of the covid crisis it was about 0.53 >> thank you, steve, covering a lot as always for us appreciate it.

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welcome back tens of millions of americans who have student loan debt can breathe a sigh of relief for the next few months. that's because the white house extended the student loan moratorium for the sixth time since the start of the coronavirus pandemicch the pause will last through the end of august according to the ap the extension would bring some relief to the more than 43 million americans who owe a total of $1.6 trillion in student debt according to the u.s. department of education be prepared to pay a little more for easter eggs this year egg prices usually see a spike ahead of easter and pasover, but

this year he's also a bird flu outbreak standard practice is to destroy all the infected and exposed birds. according to the usda the average weekly price for large eggs is up 44% compared today last year. just more than a year after a horrific car crash tiger wads woods is back on the pga tour. the masters set to tee off just after 10:30 a.m. eastern tomorrow nbc's kerry sanders has more >> reporter: tiger woods teeing up what could be another incredible comeback. >> as of right now i feel like i am going to play >> reporter: the masters in augusta is where the world's begs come to play. tiger has won here a remarkable five time. but a horrific car crash last year nearly led to the amputation of his right leg. >> it's been a tough, tough year >> reporter: tiger was bedridden for three months then began rehab. he was back out on the course

here >> i don't have any qualms about what i can do physically from a golf standpoint. it's now walking is the hard part >> reporter: walking an especially difficult challenge here the course is an undulating 4-mile walk. >> the elevation changes, the hills, the pitch of all of it. it takes a toll after 18 hole. >> it's going to be a tough challenge and a challenge i'm up for. >> reporter: repeated surgeries to alleviate back pain and knee injuries crippled his game but only temporarily >> the return to glory >> reporter: in a comeback of the ages he won the masters in 2019, and now he will try again. >> feel like i can still do it i don't show up unless i think i can win it >> reporter: just returning to play is an achievement winning, that's the tough legends are made of. but then again tiger's already a legend >> a legend indeed our thanks to kerry sanders for

that report. >> for him to actually say he thinks he can win it, we're going to be watching history right there. and regardless of how he plays every step he takes during those 18 holes is going to have a whole different perspective from what he's been through safe to say. >> just an

against gun violence. the call for action in san francisco after a rash of shootings. also the promise city leaders are making. >> and cracking down on price gouging. one of the state's largest grocery chains is paying thousands after they overcharge youed you for your groceries. >> plus, bracing for record heat. meteorologist kari hall is tracking temperatures in your neighborhood as you start your day. this is "today in the bay." happy hump day. here we are. a good wednesday morning to you. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. don't