from coast-to-coast. a massive snowstorm and bitter cold wreaking havoc on the roads and forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights. angie's watching that system for us a florida shooting spree leaves three dead, including a child. one of those killed, a tv journalist, shot while reporting at the scene of the earlier homicide police making an arrest overnight, saying the same gunman is suspected in both cases. all eyes on alex murdaugh. his defense team telling nbc

news we would see murdaugh himself take the stand in his murder trial today a jaw-dropping escape caught on camera. a woman races into a new jersey gas station after being held in captivity for nearly a year. what we've learned about her kidnapper and a possible second victim a miracle for a woman with a rare diagnosis the chance encounter that led to her life-saving treatment. it's thursday, february 23, 2023 "early today" starts right now good morning i'm cori coffin. >> i'm phillip mena. the massive winter storm that's marching east this morning is creating dangerous conditions for millions and travel both on the ground and in the air is being impacted yesterday more than 2700 flights were canceled, and another 6500 were delayed and this morning another 1300 already canceled our gabe gutierrez starts us off. >> reporter: that massive winter storm is engulfing much of the

country, across minnesota hundreds of crashes, cars sliding off freeways, travel snarled coast-to-coast >> looked like 90% of the flights were going to cancel and it's just really eerie >> reporter: in arizona, nearly 300 miles of i-40 closed stranded semis in wyoming, montana and the dakotas. >> unless you legitimately have a reason to be out traveling to stay home and bunker there if you can. >> reporter: state police in wyoming warning of dangerous conditions like this newly released video showing a trooper narrowly escaping an out of control 18 wheeler. in california, high winds knocked out power to more than 100,000 people, a 1-year-old critically injured in santa cruz when a tree fell on its home >> it was a big team effort and everyone did the best they could. >> reporter: remarkably, a rare bl blizzard warning issued for the mountains around l.a

still 29 states are under winter weather alerts >> we are preparing for what will likely be a historic snow event. >> reporter: even in the twin cities, a region used to wicked weather, this snowfall could be among the top ten largest ever >> i wasn't expecting this i mean it's been snowing all winter, but not this crazy >> reporter: volunteers with meals on wheels delivered extra food to those in need, because they expect traveling will be too dangerous. >> some people wouldn't have, be able to eat unless we brought them food. >> reporter: recipient linda brozak grateful. >> they're very important. because they're the main meals of the day >> reporter: a rare lifeline at second weigh ave of this storm s under way. >> let's bring in angie lassman who's tracking this storm for us >> you heard gabe say that second wave. we're still dealing with some of the impacts from it today, stretching from the great lakes to the northeast and of course we have a secondary storm system that we're going to watch working

onshore for the west coast 62 million people still under winter weather alerts the here's what's left of the same system we were tracking yesterday plenty of snow working through the northern tier of the plains. can you see into the great lakes, places like alpena, green bay. buff ro buffalo seeing some of the icing. this is going to be something we'll see through the day today. can you see where the highest totals are the u.p. of michigan and maine, that's where we'll see four, six inches, isolated spots up to 8 inches of snow and here's what i want you to watch for if you're going to be out and about on the roadways, rochester, buffalo, out car, manchester even boston, we'll see isolate accumulation a string of shootings has left three people dead, including a journalist in orlando. police have arrested 19-year-old keith melvin moses who they believe is behind the rampage.

it started yesterday morning when a woman in her 20s was shot and killed in pine hills hours later, a spectrum reporter covering this story was shot along with his colleague the journalists are always one of the first in the scene in the face of tragedy. and last night this news hit especially hard. >> reporter: i apologize this is really difficult to cover. um, it is very emotional here. at ormc. i'm not even going to turn the camera, because there are people here who knew that reporter. this is every reporter's absolutely worst nightmare we, we go home at night afraid that something like this will occur. and that, that is what happened here >> the spree of violence did not end there. the suspect then entered a home and shot a mother and a

9-year-old girl. police charging moses with murder >> he is being formally charged in the murder from this morning, and we expect additional charges for the shootings of the four people this afternoon. i want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners >> police say moses was an acquaintance of the woman killed earlier in the day a motive is unclear. new this morning, alex murdaugh could take the stand in his own murder trial later today. his defense team tells nbc news they're considering having murdaugh testify this, after a day where his defense called murdaugh's former law partner to the stand and his attorneys asked the judge for an order preventing the prosecution from cross examining murdaugh on his alleged financial crimes if he testifies. >> he's not charged with financial crimes

he's charged with murder >> for the court to issue some blanket order limiting the scope of cross examination, that's unheard of to me >> the judge refused to issue an order ahead of the testimony the defense plans to rest by tomorrow the man who shot and killed rapper and activist nipsey hussle in 2019 will face decades of prison time eric holder jr. was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison for the shooting of the beloved artist many the sentencing had been delayed multiple times since holder was convicted last july as his lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to reduce the charges against him prosecutors argue that holder, who was a member of the same gang as hussle was upset over allegations that he was a snitch, leading him to shoot the rapper at least ten times in front of his clothing store. the national transportation safety board is set to issue their preliminary report on this month's train derailment and

chemical spill in east palestine, ohio as transportation secretary pete buttigieg is expected to visit the site of the crash later today. both buttigieg and the biden administration have faced calls to do more for those affected by the disaster one of those voices is former president trump. during a trip to east palestine, he took a swipe at how how the white house has handled the crisis saying that they were intending to do absolutely nothing for you. democrats, meanwhile, have blasted the trump administration for rolling back a requirement that trains carrying flammable liquids be outfitted with faster brakes president biden has arrived back on u.s. soil after an eventful trip to ukraine and poland during his last day overseas, the president shored up support for nato allies, and he condemned russia for suspending a key arms control agreement, saying putin made a big mistake. the show of solidarity with ukraine comes as the war is about to enter its second year tomorrow jay gray joins us now from the

poland-ukraine border. jay, good morning. many refugees have crossed that very border. what are you learning about their journeys one year later? >> reporter: yeah, phillip, good morning to u and you, this is te train from ukraine and to enkra. it was packed at the beginning of the war, filled to capacity people standing and trying to get to safety. including a woman named o-lena, whose journey began and then ended for now at least in northern california. >> this here was very difficult for us >> reporter: with russian troops moving in, o-lena and her daughter and husband gather what they can and rush to get out >> we just grab all of it and just go away and we didn't know where to go >> reporter: spending their first night in a subway station

in kyiv before escaping to western ukraine. then, as the fighting intensified. like millions, they pack onto a train to poland. next traveling to france, and ultimately, with help from a sponsor, the u.s >> it's very hard, because you don't know what, what will, waiting for you there, out there. i don't know >> i want a better life. i want to be able to do this on my own >> reporter: help is waiting at jewish family services of silicon valley >> when ukrainian refugees were just getting out of tau rauma, e they were just fighting that storm and leaving that war zone that we were wrapping our arms around them. and as an agency, that's our biggest thing and biggest push >> reporter: but they can only push so far. families that make it to the u.s. are designated as humanitarian parolees, limiting

the amount of time they can stay and the support they can receive. >> we are not allowed to put them through the typical resettlement process >> reporter: but then nothing about this is normal, easy or certain. >> i don't know what to plan here what to plan there you know, i'm not there, and i'm not here >> reporter: her journey to safety, like so many who escaped ukraine spanning 12 months, thousands of miles and still with no end in sight yeah, and i want to make it clear, olena and other ukrainian refugees i talked with in the u.s. are so thankful to be there and so grateful for the support. they just continue to struggle with the ongoing uncertainty phillip? >> grateful for you, jay, for bringing that story. thank you. she certainly was one of the lucky once, too. we are getting our closest look yet at that chinese spy balloon shot down earlier this month this photo here taken from au2

spy plane. the spy balloon flew across the country before it was shot down off the east coast and later recovered by the military. >> for more on the massive winter storm we've been talking about, let's bring back angie lassman many where are you watching this morning? >> we're going to switch coasts and move to the west coast where the next system will work onshore. here's winter alerts that are already up a pretty rare bright purple is what you see there it's the blizzard warning that has been put in effect outside los angeles. haven't seen something like that in about 30 years. here' here's why. lower snow levels, about 2,000 feet are expected just outside r

atlanta, we'll see if we can break records in places like orlando with a high of 90 degrees the and we've got those two storm systems we're watching we also have bitter cold and record-breaking heat so lots to deal with we're going to talk more about those temperatures coming up >> 2023 has been all about breaking records when it comes to weather >> polarization, too a new distraction coming to drivers everywhere, for at least people who have mercedes benzes. they have unveiled the touch screen that comes loaded with p as like tickkktok and angry birs and selfies. >> do he would want a car that can take selfies we are back in 60 seconds with a cross-country kidnapping.

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the moment an alleged kidnapping victim escaped was caught on camera investigators are now looking across the country for other possible victims steve patterson has more >> reporter: this security camera video capturing the moment a woman breaks free from her alleged kidnapper. investigators searching for other potential victims of this suspect. >> fact that she was able to escape and make it to safety, her actions are really the reason why mr. parrillo has been apprehended as well as being charged. >> reporter: you can see parrillo chasing the woman, running barefoot into a gas station, ending the cross-country kidnapping case. >> i heard people screaming. so i looked over, and then the lady came running over like barefoot, and she was like, he kidnapped me so we ran inside, and she locked the door >> reporter: the new jersey attorney general's office says

the alleged victim met parrillo in february of last year when she picked him up at a new mexico gas station and gave him a ride to arizona. they entered a voluntary relationship for about a month until she told them the suspect physically assaulted her, confiscated her phone and isolated her from family almost a year later, and across the country, she desperately ran for help from a home in south jersey to that gas station >> he was like, you don't want to do this, you don't want to do this she came in and slammed the door >> reporter: he now faces kidnapping and aggravated assault charms, nbc philadelphia found other people who say they have crossed paths with parrillo in a facebook group, a 2018 flyer for ais mimissing hiker s she was last with a man looking like parrillo. >> we're asking for those

individual whose may have had contact with him in other states to come forward. >> reporter: police believe there are other people who have had encounters with parrillo, but importantly, the victim in this case says he went by a different name throughout this whole ordeal, so the attorney general believes he may have been operating under different identities of the unfortunately, we were unable to reach the suspect, members of his family or his attorney for comment. >> our thanks to steve patterson for that report. still to come. one for the poster a slam dunk shot of the day coming straight out of south florida. plus, the highest-scoring mom in team usa history. mom in team usa history. keep... coming... back... inflammation in the eye might be to blame. feel the ache and burn! one man learns the truth... over-the-counter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes. they may provide temporary relief... but probably won't touch me! mwahaha! tell me there's another way... there's hope for lasting relief with xiidra! xiidra works differently targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease.

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i'm not even sure it's just about confidence, brian, no way that just happened no way >> sure did. today's shot of the day coming to a poster near you south florida's keyshawn bryant going the length of the court and then flying high for that

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we're back now with the story of a young mother who receive add devastating daigneaul diagnosis. but then a twist of fate gave her help and hope. >> reporter: two years ago, nicole was working full time painting houses and raising four kids in rural illinois, when symptoms struck. >> i started having headaches, like quite a bit and then i started having a whooshing sound in my ear. just gave me migraine, i'd be vomiting all day

>> reporter: an mri revealed a rare, dire daigneauk diagnosis she's a ticking time bomb for possible stroke. she saw doctor after doctor, several deeming it inoperable. >> they asked me if i would be with grandpa shawn >> reporter: she wrote notes to those she feared leaving behind. >> if you are reading this now, i have gone to heaven with grandpa shawn. feel your heart and i am there but of. >> reporter: then a promise. >> mommy's going to get the help she needs. >> reporter: one day at work a conversation overheard by a customer who against all odds could help >> her son was learning under patel in boston. i mean, it just gives me chills. >> reporter: patel is

neurosurgeon niriv patel at brigham and women's hospital, one of few worldwide capable of operating on case this severe. nicole would have her surgery. >> she was very forward, very courageous, very brave >> reporter: knowing flying could be fatal, she and mom drove 16 hours to boston after a 12-hour surgery, her avm was gone for good. a year later, cured and engaged, she's revelling in holidays and vacations she once feared she'd miss >> people just take so much for granted. we're going to have some real experiences now, because i'm ready. >> reporter: to like live life >> mm-hm yep. >> reporter: maggie vespa, nbc news, stockton, illinois >> isn't that amazing? >> yeah, gives me chills another thing that might give us chills in a whole different way is the scope in the way we look at the universe. incredible new images from the

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right now at 4:30, wintry weather slamming the bay area. we're issuing a microclimate weather alert. the way many cities are prepping. plus, vianey times the weather out for us. a good thursday morning to you. i am marcus washington. >> i am laura garcia. let's get right over to kari. we are talking about the cold, cold