after a deadly shootout claimed the lives of two police officers and a paramedic. that call that led to the tragic confrontation and the heart breaking tributes to the fallen first responders. the death of a chief

vladimir putin critic reverberating around the world and to the race for the white house, we're live with the renewed war of words over russia and its president. a west coast washout, storm battered california bracing for yet another round of flooding, landslides and heavy snow. our meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking the dangerous system. that presidents' day road trip is all about the benjamins this year, what's driving gas prices to a three-month high? and from "barbie" to "billy madison" we have the big winners at the people's choice awards. it's presidents' day, february 19th. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm richard lui. we're going to start this morning with the tragedy in minnesota where the community of burnsville gathered at a vigil to honor the three emergency workers who were killed in the line of duty responding to a domestic violence dispute. where a suspect was barricaded. state authorities explained the tragic chain of events at a

press conference. >> at one point during that barricaded situation the subject opened fire on the officers in the home and officers ulmstread, rugy and finseth were killed by the gunman during the response. one other officer was injured and was shot as well, where he's suffered nonlife-threatening injuries, but has been treated, is in the process of being treated. at approximately 8:00 a.m. the subject was reported to be deceased in the home and later that morning those other children and family members were able to escape from the home. >> tv crews getting these pictures of a s.w.a.t. vehicle riddled with bullet holes. the deceased are police officers paul ulmstread, matthew rugy and adam finseth. the youngest of the children they helped save was it years old, all seven survived.

also learning new details about another deadly shooting on a college campus on colorado springs. police have identified the victims as 24-year-old samuel noth who was a student at the university and 26-year-old sili montgomery who is not a student. they were found fatally shot inside a dorm room friday, authorities have not released details about a possible suspect but say the shooting appears to be an isolated incident between people that knew one another. the sudden death of russian opposition leader alexei navalny have sent shock waves around the world. he died in prison on friday after russian authorities say he collapsed after feeling unwell after a walk. while the details of his death remain murky, western countries have been unified in placing the blame on russian president vladimir putin. for the latest let's go to claudio lavanga. what do we know about what has happened here with navalny? >> reporter: good morning, richard.

according to an independent russian newspaper a paramedic who works at the morgue where navalny's body was taken said that he showed signs of bruising on his body that could have been caused by people holding him down while he was having a seizure. he also said he had bruises on his chest which would have been the result of cpr. so he thinks that he may have died of cardiac arrest even though he doesn't know what caused it of course. he also said that he heard that moscow was sending a special team and told the medics there to wait to perform an autopsy until those arrived. now nbc news did not independently confirm that information provided by the gazette yet. as for the official cause of death, officials at the last prison he was detained told his mother that he died of sudden death syndrome, which is a very vague and rare way of describing a whole bunch of syndromes that lead to a cardiac arrest but as you mentioned leaders around the world including president biden

put the blame squarely on vladimir putin. also navalny's death caused outrage around the world among people around the world including within russia where hundreds of people defied a ban on protests which is still ongoing to lay flowers and candles in front of monuments dedicated to victims of political oppression. according to human rights groups there within russia said that more than 300 people were arrested all across russia for mourning the death of alexei navalny. back to you, richard. >> thank you so much for your reporting. the death of navalny also highlighting divisions on the campaign trail. the south carolina primary less than one week away, nikki haley is increasing her attacks on donald trump over russia. nbc's brie jackson joins us from washington, d.c. and, brie, good morning to you. this week will be a test for haley's campaign and she's coming on strong with the message of russia. >> that's right. good morning. she certainly s nikki haley is using this moment to put foreign policy differences in the spotlight. she had already been criticizing

former president trump after he made comments last week that put the future of the nato alliance in jeopardy. now, the former president has not made any remarks publicly condemning the death of navalny. at a rally overnight haley warned that trump's actions will embolden putin. >> donald trump is siding with a thug who just killed his political opponent. he's going to side with him over the allies who stood with us after 9/11? all that does is embolden putin. >> and while trump has not condemned the death of navalny he did share a post on social media last night that compared himself to navalny and at a rally said he said that putin prefers joe biden as president. president biden was quick to condemn the death of navalny saying that putin is responsible. the biden campaign has also

launched new ads attacking trump's threats about nato. now all eyes are on south carolina ahead of saturday's republican primary. nikki haley is trailing in the polls in her home state where she served as governor. last night she said the polls show most americans don't want trump or biden as president so she asked her supporters, why would i give up? richard. >> thank you. expelled congressman george santos suing late night talk show host jimmykimmel for allegedly deceiving him by requesting fake cameo videos from the former congressman then misusing them on kimmel's show. santos is seeking $750,000 in damages. abc and the walt disney company are also named as defendants. nbc news has reached out to both companies and jimmy kimmel for comment. another round of extreme weather is bearing down on california as we start a new week. heavy snow already under way in the higher elevations, conditions quickly becoming dangerous in the sierra mountain

communities, while traffic there coming to a standstill. millions along the coastline are under wind and flooding alerts today. monterey county has issued evacuation warnings for low-lying areas. the heavy rain is moving in just two weeks after a deadly atmospheric river also hit the state. mean while, another storm on the east coast derailing nascar's biggest day, the daytona 500 postponed because of rain. the drivers are expected to get to the green flag, though, today on presidents' day. let's get an update on the forecast from nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. it's a busy monday for you. it's a busy monday. yeah, we are looking at a really wet west coast once again, not only today but tuesday, wednesday, another atmospheric river moving on shore. we're seeing rain falling already. it will be heavy at times, 2 to 4 inches and could see an inch per hour as the system moves on shore. looking at the rain falling, also really heavy mountain snow. the highest elevations of the sierras could see 4 or 5 feet of snow, looking at the chance for thunderstorms and also windy

conditions, that's going to create for impossible travel in the mountains with the wind and also the snow. millions under alerts this morning, 15 million under wind alerts, 35 million under flood alerts and 1 million under winter alerts. we are also concerned about the chance for some strong thunderstorms that could produce some tornadoes, especially in the sacramento valleys so from chico to sacramento, stockton could see strong storms that would include hail, heavy rain and damaging winds. speaking of rain, we could see 2 to 4 inches of rain but could see locall also the 70s, but lo sunshine, too. 75 degrees in san angelo. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> all right. michelle, thank you. "early today" back in a minute with what's fueling higher gas prices, which you've probably noticed.

and is it time to review america's guardrails? the necoerw ncns about heavier cars and trucks on the road. the gordon home. good thing gertrude found delsym. now what's going around is 12-hour cough relief. and the giggles. the family that takes delsym together, feels better together. want the power of 5 serum benefits in 1? olay super serum activates on skin to hydrate, smooth, visibly firm, brighten, and improve texture. it's my best skin yet. olay that grimy film on your teeth? dr. g? it's actually the buildup of plaque bacteria which can cause cavities. most toothpastes quit working in minutes. but crest pro-health's antibacterial fluoride protects all day. it stops cavities before they start. crest. when you smell the amazing scent of gain flings... time stops. ) and you realize you're in love... steve?

with a laundry detergent. (♪♪) gain flings. seriously good scent. warming temperatures driving up gas price djoos but first the biden administration is reportedly pumping the brakes on new limits for tail pipe emissions. arabile gumede is here with the details. good morning to you, arabile. >> good morning, richard. look, i mean, president joe biden might be following on from the eu here with regards to this and in particular the uk that decided to pull back a little bit with regards to the amount of vehicles that need to be sold that are electric vehicles. ultimately pulling back and relaxing limits on tail pipe emissions to be exact. those are all designed, then, to get americans to move from gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles. that pull back will ultimately just mean that it makes it a little bit easier, takes a little bit more time to get to those 2030 goals for gas

emissions and reduces the pressure on car manufacturers as well as households to buy up all of that. there has been some economic strain across for consumers. speaking of the economic strain, in particular when it comes to vehicles, you are notimagining it, richard, fuel prices have gone a little bit higher. in fact, the national average has climbed 11 cents in the past week alone now. it's $3.28 a gallon for fuel. again, it does mean as you hit the roads in this presidents' day weekend, it will cost you the most it has in three months to actually fill up your tank of gas. some of the jumps are abnormal, though. refinery outages, including a weeks' long shutdown of the largest refinery in the midwest causing that spike in prices unfortunately. >> all right. cnbc's arabile gumede, thank you, my friend. america's cars, let's stay on cars, have changed dramatically over the years. getting bigger and heavier. but our nation's guardrails, as you see here, may not be keeping

up. a new crash test research suggests that could put drivers at risk. here is kathy park. >> reporter: charging ahead at about 60 miles per hour, this 2022 rivian all electric truck tears right through this guardrail. watch again. it barely slows down before flying over the concrete barriers. in another crash test, this tesla model 3 lifts a guardrail, passing underneath it. the alarming results of a recent university of nebraska lincoln study highlight a growing risk on roadways with more heavier evs and gas-powered vehicles. in the '90s lightweight pickups and suvs made up about 10 to 15% of vehicles on the roads, now the number has jumped to 50%. so are guardrails across the country keeping up with this trend and ultimately keeping us safe? >> as more vehicles become heavier and their centers of

gravity change and their g geometry change we have to change infrastructure to capture these vehicles as well. >> if something isn't done now what do you fear will happen down the road? >> we will continue to lose people. >> reporter: in 2016 steven's daughter hannah died in a different kind of guardrail collision in tennessee. >> i knew my daughter was dead at 17 years old. that same trauma that i've experienced is experienced by families on an almost daily basis across the united states. >> i'm out here on u.s. 321 -- >> reporter: steven has turned his tragedy into a life-long mission to improve guardrail safety. >> that's my goal now is to rob america's streets of future victims of traffic violence caused by guardrails. >> reporter: according to the federal highway administration, guardrails can lesson the severity of crashes, but they cannot completely protect drivers in every situation.

>> the goal of the guardrails, it deflects the vehicle back on to the roadway and keeps it from going to a place where it would be in much bigger trouble. >> in this case it's the dropoff. >> reporter: transportation expert kevin says guardrail safety has improved over the years but the infrastructure updates do take time and vary from state to state. >> if the standard changed that doesn't mean all of the infrastructure changes right away. >> reporter: these roadside staples are now being put to a new test, with cars of the future exposing potential hazards. kathy park, nbc news, knoxville, tennessee. still to come, comedy, drama, music, it's all there. we know adam sandler can do it all, but have we all been overlooking his stunning good looks? more on the sandmann making his case at the people's choice awards right after this.

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for the most iconic pop culture moment of the year who could forget that one little movie about a blond american icon that had the entire country dressing up, dancing the night away and making huge waves at the box office? i'm talking of course about taylor swift "the eras tour" movie. i'm sorry, did you think i was going to say the other? no. no. no. look, i was a swiftie long before i was ken, okay? >> we did think you were talking about "barbie" simu liu who was emcee ken of the 49th people's choice awards sunday. it wasn't long before the biggest movie of 2023 began to clean up at the ceremony. "barbie" nabbing five awards including movie of the year. on the smaller green g"grey's anatomy" celebrated the start of its 20th season. 20. as the people's choice for show of the year or two decades. while billie eilish took home tv performance of the year for "swarm."

towering entertainment legacies were honored after performing a medley of his biggest hits lenny kravitz presented the music icon award. >> look how good he looks. why does he not age ever? >> he doesn't. >> i saw him at lollapalooza, that will age me. >> last year? >> decades ago. he looks exactly the same. >> he is definitely ageless. talking about "barbie," simu liu who was from "barbie" was talking about taylor swift, she actually won four awards last night. >> but she's busy, she's in australia. she's across the country -- or across the ocean. also on sunday jennifer aniston presented her three-time co-star adam sandler with the people's icon award. during his speech he revealed that he first thought he was receiving a different just as prestigious award. >> i thought he said congratulations, adam, you won the "people" magazine sexiest man alive.

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debbie freeman and members of the phoenix fire department. last november she collapsed in a local restaurant, going into cardiac arrest. now stronger, she credits this team's quick response with saving her life. debbie and her life partner michael berry forever grateful. >> those seconds is what saved her life. >> don't make me cry. but it doesn't seem like enough, but it was really important that we come and let them know. >> reporter: and there was this high-flying retirement surprise for long time school resource officer troy enserra near st. louis. that's troy waving good-bye from a ride donated by local pilot matt lumbar. after 27 years in law enforcement and 12 years at the school, troy is leaving to pursue his dream of getting a commercial airline pilot's license. >> i'm signing off for the final

time. in california 3-year-old jayla has a condition that makes walking really hard without help. but look at this breakthrough moment. she's with her brother joseph when she gets up the stairs up by herself. those small steps a proud moment for both jayla and her big brother. and this moment is about going above and beyond, that's travis goldman and the team from the greenville, south carolina, public works department after they pulled off the impossible, finding melanie harper's lost anniversary ring among mountains of recycling. the guys didn't even think twice about sorting through it all to help a neighbor in need. >> just thrilled to have it back on my finger where i think it belongs. >> did you ever think about what you were looking for, what it is that it meant for someone that you didn't know? >> if it was somebody, you know,

i loved that had a ring i'd want somebody to find their ring, too. >> unbelievable. these are things that just never happen. essentially kind of figured that you would never see that again. >> i was shocked. >> reporter: their help is a lesson melanie says she will never forget. >> it also makes me think to maybe go above and beyond in my daily interactions. what can i do to move forward and spread that kindness that was done to me

a community in mourning. two minnesota pofrsers officersd a paramedic killed in the line of duty. the suspect no