hi, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm ellison barber in for kate snow. "nbc news daily" starts right now. > today is thursday, februar 23rd, 2023. breaking news, murdaugh on the stand. the disgraced former lawyer testifying in his own defense. how he's explaining why he lied about where he was the night his wife and son were shoto death. community in mourning. heartbreak in florida after a gunman's rampage leaves three dead among them a 9-year-old girl and a tv news reporter

covering the story. what we're now learning about the suspect and what led up to it. deadly storm. a massive winter blast leaving millions digging out and hundreds of thousands in the dark. the wild weather on the move from coast to coast. early to bed. a new study reveals how a good night's sleep can quite literally help you live longer. but we begin with breaking news, a dramatic day of testimony in a south carolina courtroom as alex murdaugh takes the stand in his own defense. murdaugh is standing trial in the shooting death of his wife and son in 2021. >> now he broke down in tears multiple times on the stand today. murdaugh said he did not kill his wife and son, but he did admit that for the first time he lied to investigators about where he had been on the night of the murders. joining us now nbc's lindsey reiser and senior legal correspondent laura jarrett. we'll start with you here. walk us through some of the testimony we heard from the defendant himself from alex murdaugh. >> so right out of the gate,

alex's attorneys ask did you take this gun or any like it and shoot your son paul in the chest on your property? no, i did not is what alex said. then he was asked again did you take this gun or any gun like it and blow your son's brains out on june 7th or any other day and he said, no, i did not. they started with a bang, right? this powerful emotional testimony. we've seen him crying throughout and unprovoked talking about his addition, frame of mind, how that impacted his thinking process, and maybe why also. he said he lied to investigators about where he was the night of the murder. the jury sort of getting a sense of who he is through some of this meandering testimony as well but the big bombshell that we heard at the beginning of the day, this snapchat video from the kennel in which alex said i lied to investigators. i was there i didn't last see maggie and paul at dinner. let's play some. >> on june the 7th.

i wasn't thinking clearly. i don't think i was capable of reason, and i lied about being down there. once i lied, i continued to lie. yes, sir. >> why? >> you know, oh, what a tangled web we weave. >> i'm sure you picked up on this as well. fascinating to watch this skilled lawyer with his own testimony. there are times when he's almost advising his defense team. if you play that video a little longer, you will see that i told investigators check my key ward to find out exactly what time. it's been fascinate tock watch someone who has a history of representing clients take the stand in otherwise own defense? and has a history of lying. >> how do you think your client is doing? where do you take things --

>> i think he's compelling. he laid out a pretty strong case that he was discombobulated that night. anybody ream just having their son and wife murdered would have some inconsistencies. the jury can understand that. the problem is he introduced this new alibi for the first time after months we hasn't heard a peep about it so the prosecution is going to try to poke holes in that, namely, them's zero in on this idea of him not being positive of what happened after he left their side. he said i think i fell asleep. they'll say exactly tell me everything about that. that's the area -- >> why are you so clear on some details and not others? >> the time lines are fuzzy for him. >> we will have to watch for sure. >> it continues. >> thank you both. >> thank you. millions of people are digging into -- digging out, rather, from a massive winter storm. >> yeah, it dumped sleet, ice and rain across a huge section of the country. some areas outside of minneapolis saw more than a foot of snow in michigan, a

firefighter is dead and more than 600,000 customers are now without power. after an ice storm, a separate storm is prompting a rare blizzard warning in the mountains outside of los angeles and in northern arizona, a nearly 300-mile stretch of road is closed because of whiteout conditions. >> at the same time there is a major heat wave, sort of, that's hitting the southern southeast and mid-atlantic coast. temperatures in washington, d.c. could top out near 80 degrees, not quite a heat wave but hot enough. nbc news correspondent niala charles is with us. >> i feel like we're becoming meteorologists and it's not going well. nyala, the storm wasn't quite as massive as where you are. tell us how things are looking. >> reporter: it passed in minneapolis and we got a lot of snow here.

total of 15 inches still causing for bad driving conditions although the know has stopped because the existing snow here is being blown by wind gusts as high as 45 miles per hour which is causing low visibility for drivers. over the last couple of days there have been hundreds of crashes and spinouts here in minnesota because some people have still chosen to drive as the storm went on so now although the snow has stopped officials still stressing that people need to stay out of these roads, if they don't the plowers can't plow. in the meantime, the national guard is on standby still just in case people get stuck in the snow. ellison, aaron. >> let's turn to gary grumbach. what are people saying about these unusually high temperatures in our nation's capital? is she wearing a tank top just walking behind you there? >> reporter: she is, yeah, aaron, with apologies to our friends in minneapolis talking sunscreen and sunglasses today and that's really the topic because it's going to be 81

degrees for a high in washington, d.c. and even if it reaches 80 it will be the fourth time that ever happened during a winter month in washington, d.c. and people are loving it here walking and running, riding bikes. here's some folks we talked to. >> it's crazy, isn't it? but i love it. i mean you can't complain. you know, i'm here playing hooky from work. i hope you're not watching, bob. >> it doesn't feel supernatural. we will enjoy one day. if we have more it will start to feel a bit weird. >> reporter: you know, he's right. he said it's really weird. a little bit unnatural. this is wreaking havoc on these guys, the cherry blouse sops we see all across washington, d.c. they're blooming two weeks earlier than normal. that's according to the national park service so really lots of weather, lots of different changes going on because in 48 hours here in washington, d.c., it might snow, aaron. >> so that 81 degrees you just hit in d.c. is going away very

quickly. enjoy it while you can. >> let's bring in a truex pert, one of our favorite meteorologists of all time. bill karins, what the heck is going on? when can things get back to normal? >> this would be normal if it was middle of march. we get this severe weather and warm but it's unusual for the last week of february. at 82 in nashville and there's that 81 that we just hit in washington, d.c. by the way, it was 68 last hour and it just jumped up 13 degrees in one hour. now let's focus on where winter still is. it is remaining. it'll probably be there for about another month. the windchill in bismarck, negative 23. so behind this snowstorm that we are done with is some bitterly cold arctic air then what's brutal. as far as records go, we just smashed the record in d.c., it was 78. nashville, we are very close to that. record of 83. even middle of alabama, montgomery, we could hit 85 degrees, tomorrow, not as many areas will break records but we'll still be very warm

throughout the southeast. then things kind of return to normal and i'll leave you with a little tease. it looks like a very snowy end to the month, first week of march from the great lakes through the northeast, especially new england, so i think we're going to talk a little bit of snow next week. >> all right, bill, gary, thank you so much. we appreciate it. transportation secretary pete buttigieg is making his first visit to east palestine, ohio, nearly three weeks after that toxic train derailment there. he toured the damage earlier and met with crews leading the cleanup effort. buttigieg is also addressing criticism that he should have come to ohio sooner. >> you talk about process and that's perfectly fair. but i don't want people pointing to process as a way to get away from the fundamental questions of rail safety regulation and accountability and whether we're going to make it tougher or whether we're going to allow it to continue to be watered down. >> nbc news correspondent jesse kirch and tom costello join us

now. what is the message buttigieg is trying to send by being in ohio today and how is it being received? >> yeah, so he's making a renewed push we've heard from him in recent days and from the biden administration, more broadly, making a call for increased reforms, another look at tightening the rules on rail safety in hopes of avoiding this kind of thing and the secretary making a point of saying that he thinks out of the gate even regulation aside, the railroads should be doing more. for its part norfolk southern has said it is working with officials specifically on the cleanup that has been talked about but made the commitment again last night, the ceo in a town hall to residents making a commitment to do right by this community so that is what the company is saying and obviously there's still skepticism from people in the community and heard it there from the second, though, he has been criticized about the timing of his visit and, of course, we had former president donald trump yesterday who took swipes at the biden administration, the biden

administration taking swipes at the former president, the secretary for his part saying that he did not want to be getting in the way of the early work of investigators and he wanted to balance that with showing his support for this community. >> so, tom, you're at the ntsb headquarters in washington. we got that preliminary, that initial report about the derailment and a news conference a little while ago from the ntsb, what did we learn today? >> reporter: yeah, so the ntsb says it now believes that one of the axles on the train car that essentially came apart from the train, that that axle overheated as it was coming into east palestine, it went over an infrared sensor of the tracks and it indicated it was far too hot and, in fact, immediately because of that sensor, the train's automatic brakes were applied. then the engineers applied the brakes and then the train started coming apart. the engineers came off and realized what happened, they had fire and already had a serious situation. separately from that, you heard

jesse talk about how this has become a little political. president trump in east palestine accusing the biden administration, accusing the entire government of failing to respond to this emergency. well, the ntsb chairwoman was asked about this. keep in mind, this is an apolitical government organization, all about investigating crashes. she was appointed to the ntsb by president trump. listen to what she said. >> enough with the politics. i don't understand why this has gotten so political. this is a community that is suffering. what i care about is figuring out how this happened and what i care about and the ntsb cares about is getting to what would prevent this from reoccurring. >> the ntsb for 50 plus years has all been about just getting to the facts, by the way, she says all evidence is that this crew on board the train did nothing wrong, guys, back to

you. >> tom and jesse, thank you both. coming up why the founder of the now bankrupt cryptocurrency the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange ftx is facing n eever leave your clothes in the dryer and find a wrinkled mess? try downy wrinkle guard fabric softener! wrinkle guard penetrates deep into fibers, leaving clothes so soft, wrinkles don't want to stick around. make mornings smoother with downy wrinkle guard fabric softener. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year. ♪ get fast relief of your worst allergy symptoms, including nasal congestion, with powerful claritin d, so you can breathe better. feel the clarity—and make today the most wonderful time of the year. claritin d. you've evolved. you've changed. so have we. that's why new dove body wash now has 24-hour renewing micro moisture for continuous care. new dove body wash. change is beautiful. good news! a new clinical study showed that centrum silver

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ask your rheumatologist for rinvoq. rinvoq. make it your mission. learn how abbvie could help you save. new legal trouble for the founder of ftx. prosecutors unsealed four new charges against sam bankman-fried, the new charges could add another 40 years of

prison time if bankman-fried is convicted. nbc news investigative correspondent tom winter joins us now. tom, walk us through what we've learned in these new charges, what do we know about these charges? >> reporter: sure, as you said it's those four new counts and that additional jail time that could be the most immediate concern for sam bankman-fried. what we learned today, an additional 25 pages worth of charging documents with more specifics and more details specifically tied to the campaign donation scheme that federal prosecutors allege bankman-fried engaged in, so according to their indictment, he funneled money through straw donors, that would be if i had maxed out all my donations in a given political cycle and wanted to continue, if i gave money to you, ellison and then you made those donations in your name, that straw donorship and that is against the law. so that's what they charged here today. we knew that he engaged in some of these activities in the past according to prosecutors, what's new today is how they structured

it and how they put it together according to the indictment and specifically the totals of this are starting to really come into focus. tens of millions of dollars of donations to republicans as well as to democrats, the most -- the majority i should say to democrats, it's a case that obviously will be closely followed. bankman-fried has pleaded not guilty. security being stepped up on broadway after neo-nazis protested outside a new musical about a jewish man who was lynched in the 1900s. here's nbc reporter maya eaglin. >> paid 300 bucks to go watch a pedophile. >> reporter: tonight ben platt speaking out after a group of neo-nazis gathered outside the opening of the broadway revival of idea parade." a story of high anti-semitic tensions. >> to look up the story and most encourage you to see the show.

>> reporter: a jewish man lynched in georgia and he called out the groups promoting hate, self-proclaimed as america's nazi party. >> there were nazi protesters from a really disgusting group outside the theater bothering patrons on the way in and saying anti-semitic things and spreading rhetoric that led to this whole story in the first place. >> row month advertising pedophiles, wow. >> reporter: gathering largely to protest frank, the protagonist of the show. >> i know they have to write the protests but i can still be bothered. >> reporter: frank was wrongly accused of raping and killing a 13-year-old and later convicted for her murder. ♪ doesn't have to walk the plank ♪ >> reporter: "parade" focuses on the trial and eventually limping of frank. >> leo frank was the first recorded lynching of a jewish

person in america and happened a few miles from where i'm speaking to you today. >> reporter: he was pardoned in 1986 by the georgia state board of pardons and paroles. >> i think of the story that signifies that if we don't catch hate in this moment, if we don't address the kind of climate of anti-semitism and the hatred and discriminate in addition, hate crimes happen. >> reporter: more than a century after his death anti-semitism has resurged. the most the anti-defamation found since they began tracking in 1979. plat says he's grateful to carry on the legacy of leo frank. >> it was ugly and scary but a wonderful reminder of why we're telling this particular story and how special and powerful theater can be and art. >> reporter: the producers of the show also put out a statement this week saying that they hope the incident brings proof to the public why this story is so important and needed right now.

they also commended the entire cast and crew for continuing to put the production in a way that honors leo frank, aaron. >> maya, thank you. still ahead, what we're learning about a mass shooting in florida that left three people dead including a 9-year-old girl and a tv news reporter. you're i'm managing my high blood pressure, but i'm still a target for chronic kidney disease. and my type 2 diabetes means i'm also a target. we are targets too. millions have chronic kidney disease and 90% don't know they have it. so ask for your kidney numbers and farxiga. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ if you have chronic kidney disease, farxiga reduces the risk of kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis. farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections in women and men, and low blood sugar. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may lead to death. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection,

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depending where you live, that can mean rain, snow, even hail. here is kari hall. >> the winter storm warning continues for the bay area hills. this will be in effect through 11:00 friday morning as we can see accumulating snow in elevations above 1,500 feet, causing dangerous travel as well as downed trees and more impacts to power. we expect the activity to really start to ramp up this evening with a possibility of snow for the santa cruz summit as well as around mount diablo. valleys will see on and off rain. the possibility of hail. more rain in the forecast. we will look at that in the seven-day forecast in 30 minutes. the snow has been coming down in the santa cruz mountains. people are reacting accordingly. kris sanchez is by highway 17 giving us a look at the scene.

>> reporter: it's cold but dry right now. we have seen all different kinds of weather here at the summit on highway 17. the best weather was the snow. look here. this was enough on the ground to make a snowman, a small one. we saw people showing up to take pictures and enjoy it with the kids and dogs. they were ready even if it was more snow than a lot of people were expecting. >> i knew it was going to snow. i didn't know it was going to snow a lot. i started with my morning run. i'm enjoying it. >> reporter: check out the view from fremont looking up at mission peak. saw snow there. a viewer sent us this video of his pool looking ready for a polar plunge. of all the video we saw today, this was the best. kids of all ages making

memories. this is not the first time i covered here at 17. it's the most snow that i have seen. i confirmed that with our meteorologist kari hall. kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> thank you. we are watching those power outages due to the wind storm two days ago. this is the map of the areas still affected. the latest outage numbers as of 11:00 this morning, 21,000 customers still without power. most of them, 19,000, they are on the peninsula. here are other stories you need to know about. a bay area religious leader is stepping down. more time before you have to deal with another closure on interstate 680. san francisco gets ready for heavy rainfall. they have been putting up barricades. they are targeting areas prone to flooding in the mission district. the barriers will be in place for as long as necessary. cal tran is planning a full closure of northbound 680.

the incoming rain has forced them to push that date back. it will be closed the weekend after starting on the evening of march 3rd. reverent williams, one of the most beloved religious figures in the area is leaving his post. he co-founded a church more than 60 years ago. he is 93. he wants to focus on his family and health. a community is rallying around a senior injured in a road rage incident. a 70-year-old man dragged by a car. neighbors say that as a result he suffered broken legs, ribs and a fractured collarbone and punctured lung. >> he was pleading for his life. help, please, stop. it was agonizing to hear.

i ran outside to the front of my house. that's when things unfolded. >> according to the victim, this started with a driver near the community gate. police are trying to figure out how this escalated. no charges have been filed. outrage over an incident. a student at a middle school handed out cotton balls. community leaders joined parents last night to share their concern. the district says one student was suspended and others were disciplined as soon as that incident was reported. for the latest news, go to our website. that does it for "the fast forward." i will be back in 30fe mom. can we get a puppy, mom? please? girls, pets are a big expense. aww. [ audience cheers ] maybe try switching your car insurance to progressive. you could save hundreds. [ audience laughter ]

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bottom of the hour. here are some stories making headlines on "nbc news daily." >> israeli fighter jets launched air strikes in gaza this morning. military officials say those strikes targeted a weapons manufacturing site and a hamas military compound. the israeli defense force says the strikes were in response to six rockets fired by palestinian militants. tensions have been escalating after a deadly israeli raid in the west bank where at least 11 people died. a lawyer that represented former trump adviser steve bannon is suing him for nearly $500,000 in unpaid legal bills. the law firm represented bannon

from november 2020 to november of 2022 including in bannon's high-profile fight against the subpoena from the january 6th committee and the resulting contempt of congress case that saw bannon sentenced to four months in prison. nbc news reached out to bannon but has not heard back. a new photo of an air force pilot flying above the chinese spy balloon that was shot down earlier this month. in that photo dated february 3rd the pilot can be seen looking down at the balloon from the cockpit of a u2 spy plane. that pilot has not been identified. people in a florida community are mourning the deaths of three people. they were killed in two separate shootings at the same location. one was dylan lyons, the local tv news reporter. he and a cameraman were at the scene covering the story. dylan was just 24 years old. the suspect faced the judge for the first time a few hours ago

and one of the other victims was a 9-year-old girl. nbc news correspondent sam brock is in florida following the latest. sam, how did this unfold and what's next for the suspected shooter? >> reporter: ellison, three deaths and three different shooting scenes. it's horrifying. in terms of what's happening right now for the shooter, he is absolutely facing a first degree murder charge for the death of a 38-year-old woman. that is natacha augustin. as far as other possible homicide charges, the sheriff of orange county said almost certainly there will be charges filed forthcoming with respect to the death of a 9-year-old child and dylan lyons from news 13. as far as the sequence this started about 11:00 yesterday. there is a woman natacha augustin driving with an unnamed driver and according to the police affidavit they picked up the shooter. said he was, quote, seemed down and took him into their car when

they were doing cannabis and within 30 seconds he heard a gunshot and looked across from him and saw blood coming out of his friend's head and immediately called police at which point the shooter was running away from the car. that was crime scene number one. he gets away and crime scene number two five hours later in the 4:00 hour he comes back according to police, fires at that photographer dylan lyons and his photographer jesse. lyons succumbed to his injury and shoots a 20-year-old woman in a nearby house and her 9-year-old daughter. that photographer posted on facebook saying he's doing better. he was shot but lost his good friend and he just wanted to thank all those in the community. there you go. i haven't had my phone till now. sorry i haven't been able to respond. i'm lucky to be alive but horror, pain and trauma right now in central florida. >> sam brock, we appreciate it.

we're also following -- >> breaking news in the "rust" movie set shooting. alec baldwin is pleading not guilty to all charges against him. baldwin fired the gun that killed cinematographer halyna hutchins. in a document filed by his lawyer he waived his first appearance in court which had been scheduled for friday. no word on when baldwin will face a judge in person. other breaking news out of los angeles, disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein has been sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison. weinstein is already serving 23 years for his conviction this a new york rape case. he pled not guilty in both trials. steve patterson tracking this for us from our l.a. bureau today. steve, remind us what these los angeles charges were about, what this case was about and what happened in court today? >> reporter: yeah, essentially what happened is harvey weinstein, 70-year-old man in very poor health just found out that he'll be spending the rest

of his natural life behind bars. this was a two-month trial, the one in l.a., it wrapped up in december, ten days is what the jury took to deliberate and what they came back with was what the sentence that was delivered today. but this, you know, started with four women accusers, four jane does, two of four, two through four essentially had mistrials because of hung juries or weinstein was acquitted of accusations from one but it only took the accusations of one woman, so-called jane doe number one. we won't name them obviously due to the crimes, but she was alleging one rape in two counts of sexual assault. weinstein found guilty on all three of those counts and the counts came out to the sentence that was delivered today. weinstein did speak in court today, again, sort of defending his position, saying that he did not rape a woman. that he did not sexually assault this woman and that these accusations were false but the woman who was being named in

this case was sobbing as he gave that testimony. she then testified to say that no amount of sentence, no amount of accusations, no amount of charges will give h.e.r. life back. aaron. >> steve, thank you. the suspect accused of opening fire inside an lgbtq nightclub in colorado springs will stand trial. a judge made that ruling earlier today. anderson lee aldrich faces more than 300 counts tied to the shooting inside club q. five people were killed and more than a dozen others were hurt. aldrich will remain behind bars until the trial. russian president vladimir putin is making new nuclear threats just before the one-year anniversary. >> in a speech earlier today putin said, russia, quote, will pay increased attention to strengthening nuclear capabilities on land, sea and in the air. now, this comes days after russia said it would suspend its last nuclear arms pact with the

u.s. president biden calling that move, quote, a big mistake. >> nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin is in dnipro, ukraine. russia appears to be strengthening its alliance with china. is that making the people of ukraine worried about possibly seeing an increase in assaults from russian forces? >> reporter: well, ellison, in terms of those nuclear threats coming from russia, president zelenskyy saying that he stopped listening to those threats sometime ago. worth noting that ukrainians view this war as an existential threat to their very existence. they have no choice but to continue on fighting regardless of the threats many coming from russia, regardless of russia's actions in terms of potential, potentially russia growing closer with china or china as u.s. officials have been warning considering supplying lethal aid

to ukraine to use -- to russia rather to use in its war in ukraine. i put that to a senior zelenskyy adviser earlier this week and he seemed unfazed and that china has a bigger and broader agenda than to get involved in this war. the ukrainians are very much focused right now on the battlefield, battlefield in which they believe they have the upper hand. just earlier this week we heard from the ukrainian intelligence chief say that he believes that much vaunted russian forecast has begun and said he believes that russia is currently running out of ammunition. >> all right, erin mclaughlin in kyiv. thank you very much. let's bring in keir simmons in moscow. we know they were hit with severe sanctions right after invading ukraine last year. here we are a year later now. what impact really have those sanctions had on russia?

>> reporter: well, aaron, the last year has many predicts wrong, by president putin in moscow that he would easily have his forces move into ukraine, that kyiv would be fall and he would be standing in kyiv like president biden was this week but with a different leader without president zelenskyy. he was wrong about that, but then on the other hand, western predictions that sanctions would really cause this economy to collapse, that hasn't turned out to be the case either. you can see behind me how busy the roads are here in moscow. the imf now predicting the russian economy will expand this year albeit by 0.3% so there are lots of questions about those sanctions, russia still able to sell its oil and energy to china and to india and we've seen a lot of the trade across the borders here that is helping the russian economy. so it is a real question, i

think, in western capitals they'll be asking themselves in the year ahead. >> all right, keir simmons for us in russia today, thank you. now to an nbc news exclusive. we are learning new details about the company, the labor department says hired children to clean slaughterhouses in several states. an internal company report found packers sanitation services incorporated knowingly hired the same child twice under different names. nbc news homeland security correspondent julia ainsley joins us now. julia, you have been staying on top of this story from the very beginning. how on earth does something like this happen to begin with? >> reporter: that's a good question, ellison. the company, pssi, said at first these were rogue individual, people who goofed the company by using fake i.d.s to come in and pretend to be 18. but we traveled to the very city grand island, nebraska, where this first started and we spoke to people who have met these

children, a lot of these children too afraid to talk to the media much less investigators but they say there's no way these children could have been mistaken for 18. in fact, we have a blurred picture of the labor department provided us of one of those children found working in that grand island, nebraska, plant and on top of that nbc news was able to obtain an internal company report that showed the same manager hiring manager who hired people across multiple plants actually rehired a minor that was fired before. so this is starting to counter some of the claims by the company who is now entered a consent decree where they say they will abide by child labor law. >> this company was cited by the labor department and also fined over a million dollars 1.5 million, if i'm not mistaken. what happens next here? >> reporter: that's right, $1.5 million is a fine for hiring over 100 children to clean slaughterhouses in the

middle of the night. some would say that's not team enough. this does not preclub the justice department from doing a criminal investigation. that could still happen and also we know from our sources at dhs that dhs officials are investigating this same incident to see if there might be a issue of human trafficking at hand. in that case the company is not a target of that investigation. >> julia, thank you so much. coming up, the urgent new warning about a potentially deadly drug that is resistant to narcan. more "

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a new drug is showing up in cities across california. it's resistant to narcan, which helps with an overdose. it saved a lot of people's lives. this drug is called tranq. it is being mixed with other recreational drugs. calvin henry with our station in san diego takes a closer look's growing threat. >> reporter: between the months of december and january four people died in san francisco with trace levels of the drug in their system and los angeles, the drug was responsible for one person passing away. now right here on the streets of san diego there are many people worried that the drug will show up right here at home. >> in two weeks my leg looked like it got eaten by a zombie.

>> reporter: it shows the aftermath this drug. >> i've been turned into a -- it just deteriorated with time. it's definitely a totally different drug. >> reporter: it's known as tranq is a horse tranquilizers mixed with heroin or fentanyl for a longer high. >> what we hear is that it gives fentanyl legs which is -- means it would extend the sort of duration of each time the person would use that they would feel something. >> reporter: the dea and doj put out a joint intelligence report in october 2022 warning about the danger of the drug. here at home san diego county has been on alert for first responders on how to respond if treating someone overdosing on the drug. as nbc 7 reported in our poison pill documentary, fentanyl overdose deaths in the region increased by 2,375% since 2016. but tranq isn't an opioid so

it's resistant to narcan. the drug may be hard for users to put down but experts and users urge people not to pick up the habit to begin with. scientists are working a test strip for the drug that test similar to fentanyl. new research suggests getting good sleep may add years to your life. a new study revealing regularly getting a good night's sleep could increase life expectancy in men by almost five years. women could add more than two years. joining us now is board certified behavioral sleep specialist dr. jade wu. i want to talk about what exactly qualifies as good sleep. >> well, good sleep involves first of all sleeping enough so for most young and middle-aged adults that's about seven to nine hours and it's not just the

amount, though, it's also the timing. we want to be sleeping at the time in our 24-hour cycle that our crone know type calls for and really important to sleep at about consistently the same times every day and want to sleep to not be frequently interrupted by environmental or, you know, internal factors and we also want sleep that just feels good. >> i'm with you on that. this study also estimates that 8% of all deaths could actually be attributed to poor sleep patterns. what are some of the tips to improve our quality of sleep? >> so there are many tips but i think i want to focus on the ones that are least mentioned which is what you do during the day to feed your body and mind so what i'm talking about, you know, nutrition, good nutrition, exposure to light during the day, moving your body and having time to mindfully rest. because having these foundations during the day will actually make your sleep better. >> makes a lot of sense when you sort of lay it out like that but

other than the potential impact on life expectancy what are some other ways that sleep actually affects our health? >> sleep affects every aspect of our health, mental and physical so, for example, sleeping well allows our immune systems to function especially important nowadays and allows us to have good even moods, to emotion regulate when something is stressful. good sleep allows us to regulate our heart health and our metabolism. so having poor sleep health, for example, can lead to heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that has a huge burden on the heart and so, you know, every aspect of health is impacted. >> you know we have these sleep aids out there, melatonin, i'll pop a tylenol p.m. every now and then if i need to, they're becoming more popular. what effect do they have on our quality of sleep? >> there's a huge range in how effective these either supplements or medications are.

many of these medications that people commonly use for sleep are not even meant to treat insomnia or to improve sleep so it's hard to say but i would say definitely talk to your doctor and see if there are behavioral options to try first. >> all right, dr. jade wu, we appreciate your time. appreciate your time. thank you. [coughing] hi, susan. honey. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. time for downy mcbride to go to work. ya'll gotta sniff this stuff! woop woop! - whoo - smells great, downy! ugh, cul-de-sacs. downy unstopables. you gotta sniff it to believe it. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year. ♪ get fast relief of your worst allergy symptoms, including nasal congestion, with powerful claritin d, so you can breathe better. feel the clarity—and make today the most wonderful time of the year.

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nicorette knows quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like... just stop. go for a run. go for ten runs. run a marathon. instead, start small with nicorette, which will lead to something big. it. this is "the fast forward." the bay area is in a winter

storm that's set to intensify. kari hall has more on how long it's going to last. >> we continue to see very active weather along with cold temperatures around the bay area. we are looking at more of this rain and low elevation snow going into this evening as well as off and on throughout the day on friday. there will be a slight chance of showers and a break before we do get more rain coming in on sunday. another storm arriving on monday. that's also going to bring in some heavier rain. with the cold temperatures continuing, we will see in some spots a wintry mix, especially for the higher elevations around the bay area. possibly a longer break from the rain next wednesday. in the near-term forecast, rain, snow and hail, that will continue at least into the start of the weekend. >> thank you. we are getting videos and pictures from viewers who want to show off the weather near them. here are flurries in the oakland hills. look at those pretty flakes. if you want your pictures or

video to show up in our broadcast, tag us. you can tag our meteorologist koer ry kari hall herself.

san jose right now is honoring one great shark. we are talking about a legend on the ice. >> on saturday, at 5:30 before the sharks take on the black hawks here in the shark tank, the team will do something they have never done before, they will be retiring a player's jersey. number 12, it belongs to patrick marlow. drew, good to see you. we have been talking about his legacy. what do you think it will be? >> that's a great question. one of the greatest hockey players if not the greatest of sharks drafted.

developed by the sharks. grew up in the sharks organization, literally grew up in the sharks organization. 17 yearsn he came to the sharks. turned 18 in his first training camp. grew to be the best player the sharks have had, most goals, most games played in the national hockey league. playoff goals, overtime wins, you name it. off the ice is where patrick really was amazing. lovely family. patrick was front and center all the time. great teammate. you came in early, you saw patrick working out. that's what he did. that's how -- he was always the guy that would be ready so he didn't have to get ready. he was a guy who was out in the community. at christmas with families. ronald mcdonald house. any community event, patrick was front and center. he is a san jose favorite son.

>> the community will pay him back. >> yes. >> later today, the mayor will proclaim saturday is patrick marleau day. you think it's going to be quite a ceremony? >> it's going to be emotional. one thing that they have is a bet who will start crying first. i think patrick will lose that. >> these are the posters that fans will receive. that starts -- the ceremony starts at 5:30. there will be a teal carpet out front. >> thank you, bob. that's it for "the fast forward." have a great afternoon. if you still have symptoms of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. stand up to your symptoms with rinvoq.

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today on "access daily," "grey's anatomy" is saying good-bye to meredith. >> that's a lot. "access daily" starts now. welcome to "access daily" to universal studios hollywood, everybody. i'm kit hoover with mario lopez. ""grey's anatomy"" is back tonight. after 19 seasons, ellen pompeo is finally saying good-bye to meredith grey. check it out. >> this is where i learned to be a doctor. this is the place where i found my family, the place where i fell in love. >> there's no one like her.