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impacts will be today. breaking overnight, an american teacher held in russia for more than three years is back home. marc fogel meeting with president trump at the white house after his return. what he's saying about his release this morning. elon musk defending his role in the federal government from the oval office. as democrats warn n of a hostil government takeover. a seattle hockey dad now charged with assault after shoving two teenaged of refs on the ice. the shocking incident caught on tape. how the league and other parents are reacting. and while most try to stay warm indoors in the winter, a unique festival is encouraging people to get on the ice. it's wednesday, february 12. "early today" starts right now. hi there, good morning. i'm frances rivera. millions remain under winter alerts from colorado to maine, as back-to-back winter storms march across the country.

some areas already walloped, including kentucky where snow made for blinding conditions on the highways. and in west virginia they've already gotten more than a foot. in arkansas, trees and power lines were buckling after an ice storm left slippery conditions. meanwhile, college students in maryland had fun with a huge snowmobile fight. and another storm is ramping up across the plains and expected to bring even more snow. let's bring in nbc meteorologist angie lassman who is tracking it all for us. so much to watch, angie, good morning. >> so much to talk about, frances. and the impactful weather across a big chunk of the country. more than 100 million people from colorado to maine, including philadelphia and washington, d.c. as we've got one storm shifting out of the picture. still dealing with lingering snow across the mideast. we'll see ice and rain across parts of the southeast and the potential for severe weather, too, for parts of the south. as we get into tomorrow, a lot of that shifts offshore.

we'll still see snow lingering across the great lakes. the greatest threat looks to be wind gusts, you about i wouldn't be surprised if we see a tornado through the day. there's a good amount of snow that's going to fall in some of these spots across the great lakes, 6 to 8 inches possible for folks there as we get through tomorrow, frances. >> we'll talk to you in a bit. breaking overnight, an american teacher who's been in prison in russia for three and a half years has been released. 63-year-old marc fogelel arrive stateside last night. he was taken from joint base andrews to the white house where he thanked president trump for securing his release. fogel was serving a 14-year sentence in russia for drug smuggling after he was found carrying medical marijuana. the white house did not disclose the terms of fogel's release. president trump said another american prisoner will be freed today but did not say who or where they were being held. russia still holds two u.s. citizens that the state department says are wrongfully

detained. a letter obtained by nbc news shows president trump ordered the firing of the inspector general at the u.s. agency for international development. it comes one day after his office released a report on the negative impact of cuts to the agency. congress is supposed to receive 30-days notice before an inspector general is fired. so there could be legal push back. president trump was joined in the oval office by billionaire elon musk. the two are growing frustrated that judges are pausing some efforts to slash government spending. gabe gutierrez has more from the white house. >> reporter: tech titan elon musk with his young son in the oval office. >> if we don't do something about this deficit, the country's going bankrupt. >> reporter: defending his aggressive push to down size the federal government. >> if the bureaucracy's in charge, what meaning does democracy actually have? >> reporter: but the leader of president trump's department of

government efficiency, or doge, the wealthiest man in the world whose businesses have massive federal contracts, was also pressed about potential conflicts of interest. >> all of our actions are fully public. i fully expect to be scrutinized and get a daily proctology exam. >> reporter: the department of homeland security firing several fema workers, accusing them of circumventing leadership to pay for new york city hotels for migrants. >> the public is saying why are we paying all this money? for years this has gone on. >> reporter: but musk was pressed about what democrats call a hostile takeover of government. >> you couldn't ask for a stronger mandate. the people voted for major government reform. and that's what people are going to get. >> reporter: democrats argue a constitutional showdown may be brewing as the trump administration faces mounting legal challenges over cost cutting moves. >> public employees who served

this country well. you should be respected, not rejected. >> reporter: over the past week, judges have temporarily hit the brakes on president trump's freezing of some federal spending, which was challenged by several blue states, and offering federal workers buyouts opposed by some unions. >> now a judge, who's an activist judge, wants to try and stop us from doing this. why? why would they want to do that? i campaigned on this. i campaigned on the fact that i said government is corrupt. and it is. >> reporter: vice president jd vance in paris after suggesting judges aren't allowed to control the president's legitimate power. setting up a new battle over presidential authority. >> the issue here isn't the courts trying to control the president. it's the president trying to control the law. >> i agree wholeheartedly with the vice president, jd vance. what doge is doing is making sure that your taxpayer dollars, all of us, are spent in the way that they're intended to be

spent. >> reporter: president trump. >> we have to look at the judges. i think it's a very serious violation. >> reporter: saying he'll follow court rulings. >> i always abide by the courts, and then i'll have to appeal it. >> reporter: there are also new developments regarding two of president trump's key cabinet picks. the president's choice for director of national intelligence tulsi gabbard just picked up support from two key republicans. her confirmation vote was expected overnight, but this snowstorm is delaying it. robert f. kennedy jr.'s confirmation vote could also come later this week. >> gabe, thank you. the white house is apparently withholding access to reporters from "the associated press" over the outlet's decision to not use the name gulf of america in their coverage. two reporters were turned away from separate events tuesday. they say it's because they are not going along with mr. trump's renaming of the gulf of mexico. and it must ensure that geography is recognizable for

all audiences. julie pace slammed the decision, saying it not only severely impedes the public's access to independent news, it also plainly violates the first amendment. the white house correspondents association called the move unacceptable. the king of jordan reiterating his steadfast opposition to trump's gaza plan in an oval office meeting with the president yesterday. trump, on the other hand, says he is expecting progress toward his plan to resettle millions of palestinians out of gaza. he's also doubling down on a warning to hamas, saying all bets are off if all hostages are not released by saturday. nbc's daniele hamamdjian joins us with the latest. hi, danielle. >> reporter: good morning, frances. and the israeli prime minister echoing donald trump as comments, warning that intense fighting will resume if the hostages are not back by noon on saturday. but, unlike the u.s. president, he didn't say all the hostages,

which might mean he's only referring to the three who were already scheduled to be released on saturday. as for trump's plan to resettle palestinians, in case it wasn't already abundantly clear, the jordanian king said he reiterated his position to the idea that this would be not just that this was unacceptable, but this was a unified arab position. simply put, no arab country will go along with this. king abdullah did say his country would take in the most vulnerable for medical treatment. take a listen. >> i think one of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children that are either cancer children or in very ill state to jordan as quickly as possible. >> that's really a beautiful gesture. >> reporter: now, a reminder that the reason the cease-fire is currently on hold is because hamas says israel violated the

terms of the deal. hamas accusing israel of not sending hundreds of thousands of tents as was promised. the "new york times" quoting three israeli officials and two mediators on condition of anonymity said the claims made by hamas were indeed accurate. in response to the times reporting, the israeli military claims the accusation is false. frances? >> danielle, thank you. the faa is reopening two runways at reagan national airport, as the investigation winds down for the tragic mid-air collision near washington, d.c. the american airlines jet and army helicopter crash killed 67 people two weeks ago today. the agency is also increasing flight arrival rates to 28 planes per hour. after dialing back in the wake of the accident. now let's check back in with meteorologist angie lassman who's tracking a flood threat. >> we've got heavy rain on the way for our friends in california specifically. 29 million people under flood alerts.

they extend up and down parts of that state. here's what's going to happen. we're going to see a big push of moisture through the day today and an even bigger push of the moisture leaving us with heavy rain, the potential for some of that snow. we'll see elevated flash flood risk across the burn scar areas for southern california. then that snow finally as we get into friday will start to expand from the sierras to the rockies. when it's all said and done we could have multiple inches of rain across these regions, specific degrees. snowshowers in the forecast for chicago today. green bay heads to 20 degrees. and that's a look at your

forecast, frances. it was a giant night for one giant schnauzer. >> for best in show at the westminster kennel club dog show, i choose the giant schnauzer. >> monty took home the coveted best in show title at the dog show. he is the first dog from the working group to win the top prize since 2004, ending the longest drought of any breed. coming up, netflix sinks its teeth into a new market. and the hockey dad facing serious time in the penalty box after picking a fight with two teen referees. a fight with two teen referees. okay, y'all. i heard mielle's kalahari melon and aloe vera line is changing the game. up to five days of moisture and no wash days in between? let's see about that. day two, headed to work, but i feel like i'm about to drop a hit single. all the cuties are at the run club. good thing these curls are curling. can you believe this is day five?

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did it. >> reporter: the father you see here facing assault charges for walking onto the ice in the middle of a youth hockey game and shoving 13 and 14-year-old referees to the ground in a violent outburst. >> in my 40-plus years of hockey, i've never seen anything as disgusting and repulsive as what this parent did on the ice. >> reporter: seattle police say they're also looking at this angle of the incident, which shows the father walking onto the ice while play was stopped. 12-year-old players looking on, as he shoves the refs. the crowd gasping as the man walks away, while one ref holds his hip in pain. reves typically do wear less padding than the players. >> it's hard. it hurts. for someone to drop on the concrete. >> reporter: one of the teen refs complaining of pain to his rear right hip and neck which he said felt stiff. according to a police report. the other experiencing pain in his right elbow. the father, whose name was

redacted in the report, was arrested shortly after leaving the venue. police say he told them he acted in defense of his son who he says was punched and kickeby an opposing player while the referees did not intervene. >> adversity teaches a lot of great life lessons. when you interject as a parent and try and assist your kid through adversity, you're not helping. you're hurting you. >> reporter: for parents, jennifer kyle, who frequent the ice plex, the incident leaving both in shock. >> terrified and appalled. like, so disgusting. and it feels extremely disappointing that that happened. >> reporter: that father has since been banned from league facilities and events until an investigation is completed. the ice plex where this occurred also the official practice facility and headquarters for the city's nhl team, the kraken. the ice plex saying in a statement, in part, there is absolutely no place in hockey or any sport for the behavior that occurred on sunday.

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we're gonna get your medicare prescriptions delivered. geget help wh your medicare prescription, right in your neighborhood. here's what's making headlines this morning. a canned tuna recall over the risk of a potentially fatal type of food poisoning. the products made by tri food union seafood were sold in dozens of states at costco, walmart and trader joe's. they were sold under names like genova, van camps and heb. looks like higher prices are here to stay. the consumer price report due out this morning is projected to show a nearly 3% inflation rate. year-over-year, which would be below december's bump but well above the fed's 2% target. 2024 marks the first year spirit's revenue has fallen in more than two decades. according to new data, tequila

and mezcal were the only two categories showing sales growth. but tariffs could be a catastrophic blow. duo lingo has announced the death of duo the owl. it was joked on social media that he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson. we'll be right back. o your less. we'll be right back. mielle's kalahari melon and aloe vera line is changing the game. up to five days of moisture and no wash days in between? let's see about that. day two, headed to work, but i feel like i'm about to drop a hit single. all the cuties are at the run club. good thing these curls are curling. can you believe this is day five? i think i could go even longer. up to five days of lasting moisture. endless possibilities. imagine what you could do in five days. mom's gonna love this! alright kids come on. it's time for bed! ( ♪♪ ) good morning, mr. snuggles. make breakfast special with the cocoa and hazelnutty goodness of nutella.

( ♪♪ ) can neuriva support your brain health? mary, janet, hey! eddie, no. frasier, frank. frank? —fred, how are you? —fred! support up to 7 brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva. we are back with a winter wonderland in minneapolis where a band of artists transformed a frozen lake into an art gallery. >> reporter: every winter, when the land of 10,000 lakes freezes

over. >> make art happen! >> reporter: stubborn minneapolis artists turn one into the ultimate stage. welcome to the art shanty project. 20 interactive exhibits, the trippier the better. on ice for those who dare. >> it's very wild. i keep asking her, are we okay? >> we do get a lot of frozen lake first timers. >> reporter: frozen lake first timers. the festival began 20 years ago when a pair of artists learned frozen lakes lacked building codes. organizers measure the ice daily, topping the minimum, 10 inches, not always a guarantee. last year warm weather started melting the ice, and the festival closed early. this year they came back in full force. on display? a play on the plight of pigeons. dumpster fire disco. >> a nod to wild stuff happening in the world happening right now.

>> reporter: even froga, frozen yoga. like the opposite of hot yoga. all drawing people together. you never walked on ice before. in a season that normally drives us indoors. >> hello. [ laughter ] >> that was so minnesota. >> reporter: on a stage where, while it lasts, anything goes. maggie vespa, nbc news, minneapolis. >> they're going to be so sad when that ice melts. all right, on any given day in the city of san francisco, you'll find plenty of runners out on the streets. but few are doing what lenny does, turning his runs into art. he uses gps tracking to map out intricate designs before running them. >> when i'm actually doing this, i'm running down the street, looking at my iphone. to other people, it looks like i'm just, you know, checking social media or something. but i'm following a map. >> all right, his latest piece right there, a 40-mile-long

snake for the lunar new year. it took ten hours to finish with elevation from the famous hills. he hopes to inspire others to express themselves. he needs to get those, you know, framed and mounted, those works of art. coming up on "today", newly-crowned super bowl champion and mvp jalen hurts is live in studio 1a talking redemption after missing out on the title three years ago. and also the eagles' dominance in the most-watched super bowl of

returns to the bay area this morning. we have live team coverage on the wet weather, including an updated timeline on when you can expect the arrival in your neighborhood. plus, tense moments during last night's city council meeting in fremont as leaders heard from community members on their controversial plan to curb homelessness in that