a rare winter tornado outbreak o outbreak president biden tries to set the record straight. a side of war you rarely see. the school still fighting to teach children in ukraine against all odds nearly a year

after russia invaded devastating news for bruce willis and taking fun to the next level. mario and friends make the jump to real life at super nintendo world. it's friday. "early today" starts right now >> severe weather is ripping across the south tornsd were spotted across multiple states, including this possible funnel cloud in tennessee. n and in mississippi, roofs were torn off several buildings >> in marion county, kentucky, a school bus got stuck and traffic backed up on roadways as cars tries to get through the water, some opting to turn around further north in iowa, snow made for dangerous driving

conditions, causing accidents that left cars stranded on the side of the road and now system is pushing east, bringing rain and snow to parts of new england let's bring in nbc meteorologist angie lassman, who's been tracking this for us >> the good news is that the severe threat has significantly diminished but we're not done with the impact we're still going to deal with the rain it works to the east as the system eventually works offshore but with it comes to the rain that will be up and down the i-95 corridor, and we'll also be dealing with snow, specifically in parts of the interior new england area namely maine that's where the warning is in effect the snowfall amounts not all that impressive for a lot of places unless you're in northern maine, six to eight inches as far as the rain, a quarter of an inch possible from raleigh to new york you'll deal with that mainly through the early morning hours,

guys new this morning the five former memphis officers involved in the fatal traffic stop of tyre nichols are due in court today facing a number of charms including kidnapping and second degree murder he died after a brutal beating during a traffic stop. it has garnered national attention, igniting protests against police brutality the fallout trickling down across agencies, a sixth memphis officer has been fired but not charged. three emts have been let go and two shelby county deputies dus spend. while we still don't know what the last three targets were, officials believe they did not pose a threat. our peter alexander spoke exclusively with the president after the speech >> reporter: facing growing bipartisan criticism for not telling americans more about those aerial objects that u.s.

fighter jets shot down, president biden is defending his response >> make no mistake if any object presents a threat to the safety, security of the american people, i will take it down >> reporter: the president says there's nothing to suggest the three objects shot down over lake huron, alaska and canada were connected to china's spy balloon program or were surveillance vehicles from any other country. instead, indicating fighter jets may have been scrambled to take out what could have been weather balloons >> the intelligence committee's current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institution, studying weather or conducting other scientific research. >> reporter: and regarding the chinese spy balloon, the president says he makes no apologies for taking it down, despite critics slamming him for not acting sooner, allowing it to fly across the country first. >> for a week, joe biden did nothing. he let that spy balloon conduct espionage all over the united states

>> we shot it down sending a clear message, clear message, the violation of our sovereignty is not acceptable. >> reporter: in an exclusive phone call, i asked president biden what consequences the chinese government should face he told me there's going to be hundreds of these things i don't mean balloons, but things of consequence that are going to happen individually that don't necessarily reflect any fundamental change this policy so the consequence for it is to shoot it down. learn as much as we can about it, and saying he expects to speak with china's president xi soon i think the last thing that xi wants is to fund amountly rip the relationship with the u.s. and with me. adding, there should be better means of direct communication. the president says he's directed his team to develop sharper rules to deal with the objects, determining between those that pose security risks and those that do not. late wednesday we learned new details about the president's annual physical. the physician saying president

biden is fit for duty. his cholesterol and blood pressure were g.oboth good. a lesion was found on his chest with it sent off for a biopsy. many are worried about the 80-year-old's ability to serve but according to his doctor he is vigorous and healthy. back to you. let's turn now to the new revelations from the special grand jury investigation into former president trump's attempts to overturn his election loss in georgia a new grand jury report says some witnesses may have lied nbc's blayne alexander has the latest >> reporter: in georgia, a special grand jury investigating former president trump and his allies regarding the 2020 election says one or more witnesses may have lied under oath, and the jury recommends indictments. the report only partially public, out of fairness to future defendants, the judge says all of it stemming from this

phone call to georgia's republican secretary of state. >> i just want to find 11,780 votes. >> reporter: that launched a sweeping criminal investigation into whether he or his allies broke the law while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in georgia jurors heard from 75 witnesses, though mr. trump's lawyers say he was never called to testify leading the investigation, fulton county's democratic d.a. bonnie willis who last year told us this. >> i don't care what status you've reached in life if you come into my community and you commit a crime, you deserve to be held responsible if he committed a crime in my jurisdiction then it includes him. >> reporter: the trump campaign calling the president's phone call perfect, saying the sections of the report do not even mention president trump's name, adding that the former president did absolutely nothing wrong. and the d.a. said her decision on potential charges is imminent back to you.

there are new developments in the defamation case filed against fox news by dominion voting systems a new court filing appears to show that fox news stars and staffers new claims of election fraud were bow gus. according to some filings, some host said in private that they knew sydney powell, who filed lawsuits to stop states from certifying theirex wills was lying. fox says it stands by its broadcasts and it is protected by the first amendment they are being sued for $1.6 billion now to a sign side of the war in ukraine that we really haven't seen the impact on schools. many ukrainian children have been forced underground to stay safe from the shelling our richard engel travelled to a top secret location to visit a school and spoke to the children there. >> reporter: russia launched more deadly rocket attacks

they're tearing eastern grukrai apart. and i wondered what it's like to be a child after a year of this. so we're on our way to a surprisingly rare place. a school education in ukraine is now online but out here by the frontline, there's no internet. so the children still left huddle together to learn so we were planning to take this road and this bridge this morning until we got here and realized there is no bridge anymore. this is one thing they do not show you on google maps. >> reporter: but they're not easy to find many villages look abandoned so this is the school. they've asked us not to film it from the outside so we don't expose their location they're that worried that if the russians knew where children are that they would be targeted and destroyed, and the russians have bombed many hospitals, many

places where vulnerable people are. oh all the children are coming to attention, like i'm the teacher. hello! hello, how are you ms. darena is the only teacher here, there's heat and friends. but the fighting is always on their minds. daria is 9 last night there was shelling very close to our house. i was in bed and very scared, she says when you hear the explosions, what do you do do you cover your ear as many as do you think about something else i close my ears and lay in the bed like this, she says. i close my eyes and go under the blanket to protect myself if there's any shrapnel sometimes i go under the bed do you have enough food? >> yes, yes. >> reporter: yes, when the humanitarian aid comes there's canned meat more rice, and it's enough for us, she says.

he is 10 what do you miss most about peace? i miss my cousin. he's in poland now, he says. is he your best friend he's my best brother 4.5 million ukrainian children have been displaced. half of them taken out of the country. those who stayed are being raised underground what's it like to be a child in ukraine right now? i feel so sorry for our kids, she says, kids run and play, our kids have to hide in the basement all the time. who here want this is war to end very quickly yeah thought so both hands up. everybody's got both hands up, yeah yeah all right, thank you very much for so many children in the most war-torn parts of ukraine, these

hidden schools are the only oasis. >> heartbreaking look into their lives. richard, thank you >> for some of the younger ones, that's all they know is the war. let's take a turn and check back in with angie lassman who's got your weekend forecast. >> we have bumpy weather for the early part of our friday but then a nice weekend in a lot of parts of the country still dealing with this system that brought severe weather to the south. we're seeing it track to the east, with rain into the gulf coast and northeast. eventually the snowshowers will taper off for the midwest, but the temperatures take a tumble we'll wake up this morning for moi most of the east coast warm. the cold air works in, and it will eventually turn colder as we go through the next day or so even in the south temperatures in the 50s look what happens, we rebound quickly, l 50sowoling

temperatures across much of the northeast. 64 for the high this morning in new york and guys, nice conditions on the way for the weekend, but of course those temperatures are the big story. we're going to talk about when spring gets back into the picture coming up in a bit >> we're already using that s word spring it's been feeling like it for us in the northeast >> only a couple weeks away from march. >> mm-hm we're back mr. one minute with a heartbreaking health update on bruce willis lth update on bruce willis that when touched, can quickly spread throughout your home. help stop the spread with microban24. with it's long lasting shield, it's the only leading brand proven to keep killing 99.99% of bacteria on surfaces for up to 24 hours.

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condition has progressed in the last year. he was originally diagnosed with aphasia last march, leading him to step away from acting ftd is the most common form of dementia for people under of age of 60, and there's no known cure real housewives star jen shah will start her prison sentence today she was sentenced for orchestrating a telemarketing scheme that defrauded elderly people out of thousands of dollars. she got tattoos spelling out her husband and son's names. the sports world is mourning the loss of two-time world series champion and broadcast great tim mccarver he died at the age of 81 hairy harry smith take as look back. >> reporter: tim mccarver was a very good baseball player, not hall of fame great but essential, smart he was a catcher for two hall of

fame pitchers, bob gibson and steve carlton. mccarver loved the game. >> the culmination of everything that you've ever dreamed of, as far as baseball's concerned. that's what it's all about people say they're nervous there's no reason to be nervous. it's more fun. you'd like to capture those moments forever. >> reporter: it was as a broadcaster, though, that earned mccarver his place in the baseball hall of fame. he teamed with joe buck on fox for 18 memorable seasons the emmy-winning analyst was too inside baseball for some, but his diligent dissection of data and player habits made him seem down right prescient >> here we are after 18 wonderful years together >> reporter: tim mccarver was 81 harry smith, new york. tiger woods thrills the crowds at the genesis invitational

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tiger woods pounced back onto the golf course for the first time in seven months he made his first start since july's open championship, competing in the opening round of the genesis invitational in los angeles. he sank three straight birdies to end his day finishing two under par and five strokes below the leaders, homa and mitchell he will tee off just before 10:30 a.m. eastern the best of the nba return to utah for all-star weekend the festivities tip off tonight with albert pujols in the celebrity game and tomorrow's three-point shootout and slam dunk contest on sunday, giannis and lebron james will choose their teams

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there's something new coming down the pipeline at universal studios in los angeles super nintendo world opens today. the latest attraction from our sister company brings mario and his friends to life. our gadi schwartz got a sneak peek >> reporter: super mario the video games beloved by millions over four decades now brought to life in vivid reality. when you guys came through the castle and saw this, what did you think? >> amazing

>> reporter: this is super nintendo world at universal studios hollywood, opening to the general public on friday, it immerses fans in a real-life mushroom kingdom and 360 degree world as they take on the evil bowser, compete withf fellow players for victory. more is this for >> it's for everybody. i've seen kids at 6 years old come out and scream and 50-year-olds come out and scream >> reporter: and here we are, the bowser challenge, with tech so advanced it has never been seen before at a u.s. theme park until now! oh, my god if they could see me right now inside of bowser's castle, let's go we got an exclusive peek of the mario cart ride, goggles and characters from the game right into my path

taking me underwater and through the clouds as i try to win the golden cup let's go again universal studios says the ride is designed for people of all sizes. you can sample a test seat beforehand and if you want enhanced access can you buy a power up band that keeps score like in the game and gives you elevated conversations with life-sized characters luigi time >> luigi time, ho, ho! you look super cool. >> you look super cool, luigi! i forgot my overalls >> reporter: a treat for fans of all ages >> like my mind is blown, like i recognize so much. >> reporter: so it's almost like you've been here before, but you've never been here before. >> yes >> reporter: imagine a world where players literally become

part of the game bye-bye, mario, bye-bye, luigi >> it looks like fun. >> it looks like fun. >> i should be super fluent, and now please welcome ana montoya. ♪ hello there, fellow students...

after my car accident, ♪ i wondered what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. i'm rich barnes. is your accident case worth more than insurance offered? call the barnes firm now to find out. you might be surprised. safe. a 2-year-old girl kidnapped by her own mother has been found. the search still under way for that mom. >> plus -- >> we need the city's help to mediate and not do whatever they're trying to do. >> from complaints to city citations, the reasons merchants in chinatown say they're being targeted over awnings and why it's costing them cash nine times over. >> also, her decision the final. in an exclusive one-on-one interview, mayor sheng thao tells ushy