new overnight, a$ap rocky found not guilty in his gun assault trial. the rapper's reaction to the verdict and his message to fans outside court. also breaking this morning,

the seven chileans facing charges relating to burglaries at star athletes' homes. tightening the beltway. president trump and elon musk proming to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in spending in a new interview. but, can they deliver? we are live with the key take aways, plus the plea from federal firefighters after a hiring freeze. wild new video from the toronto runway showing the moment that delta plane crash landed erupting in flames before it flipped over. the frantic evacuation to save everyone on board. and going gold for gaming. meet the next generation of olympians racing toward a new future for esports. it's wednesday, february 19th. and "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm jessica layton. and we begin this morning with a los angeles jury finding rapper

a$ap rocky not guilty of felony assault. he was accused of shooting at his former friend during an argument back in 2021. the hip-hop performer whose real name is rakeem mayors hugging his attorneys and then leaping into the arms of his long-time partner, rihanna upon hearing the verdict. rocky thanking the jurors for saving his life. >> i would have been really, really hurting if this didn't go the right way. but thank god that jury, we had a great jury. what's next is they're going to move on. they have lot of great things professionally to do. you know, rocky's really at the height of his career. he's got a lot of things going, rihanna is on top of the world. >> in fact, before the trial, rocky turned down a plea deal, maintaining that he was innocent. new this morning, federal prosecutors in florida unsealing charges against seven men whom they say are part of an international organized crime group that stole more than $2

million worth of property from professional athletes. these documents show that those athletes included kansas city chiefs stars travis kelce and patrick mahomes. federal prosecutors say the men all from chile are charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property. if convicted, they each face up to 10 years in prison. and another high-profile break-in to report. the l.a. home of actress nicole kidman and musician keith urban burglarized on valentine's day. that's according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case. it's not clear what if anything may have been taken. happening today, new york city mayor eric adams will be facing a federal judge. justice department lawyers will explain why the government wants to dismiss corruption charges against adams. and the judge will then decide whether to grant that request. adams pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted more than $100,000 in illegal

campaign contributions. will, president donald trump is once again causing controversy by seeming to blame ukraine for being invaded by russia. speaking at mar-a-lago, the president referred to ukrainian complaints that they're not included in peace talks in saudi arabia. >> i think i have the power to end this war. and i think it's going very well. but today i heard oh, well, we weren't invited. well, you've been there for three years. you should have ended it, three years, you should have never started it. could you have made a deal. >> you should have never started it. for more on this, let's go to matt bodner in london. i had to rewind and hear that again. what's next? >> reporter: the meeting was just as much about the optics, at least for the russian side, as it was any concrete results. that said, the u.s. and russia did agree in saudi to begin work on ending the war in ukraine. but they also appeared to separate the broader u.s.-russia

relationship from that issue of the war in ukraine, at least to a certain extent. secretary of state marco rubio did say, however, that this was just the beginning of the conversation, and more work needs to be done. this does come as intelligence and congressional sources in washington tell nbc news that they have, quote, zero intelligence that putin is interested in a real peace deal right now. they think putin thinks he is winning the war, and he's just stalling for time to take all of ukraine. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy has been publicly skeptical of america's engagement with russia. in an interview with "meet the press" this weekend, zelenskyy warned the united states not to trust vladimir putin. zelenskyy was planning on traveling to saudi arabia today, but following yesterday's u.s.-russia meeting there, the ukrainian president said he would be postponing his trip to saudi to avoid any surprises. zelenskyy is fighting to ensure that ukraine's interests are protected in negotiations, but he doesn't seem to be winning over donald trump. yesterday trump criticized zelenskyy, appearing to suggest

that ukraine was responsible for russia's decision to invade their country. trump's exact words were, quote, you should never have started it, could you have made a deal. the decision to start this war, of course, was made by president putin and his friends. no one, least of all, ukraine, wanted this war. jessica? >> matt, thank you for that update. elon musk's department of government efficiency clears an obstacle. a d.c. district court denied a request from 14 states to put a pause on some of that group's power, ruling that it was not enough to put a stop to their work. alice, good morning. we know elon musk was also by president trump's side last night for a tv interview. >> reporter: good morning, jessica. this is a newly-aired taped interview with fox news. it broke little new ground, but it did show that the two are still a united front, even as the administration is hit with

legal challenges. >> my tee shirt says tech support, because i'm here to provide the president with technology support. >> they're finding billions and will be hundreds of billions of dollars worth of fraud. i say waste anabuse. but fraud, waste and abuse. and he's doing an amazing job. and he attracts a young, very smart type of person. >> reporter: president trump says he thinks musk can find up to $1 trillion to cut. but the white house s not given any specifics about the alleged fraud they say is being uncovered. musk was asked about potential conflicts of interest between his work with doge and his private business interests. here's how he and the president responded. >> i mean, i haven't asked the president for anything ever. >> that's true. >> if it comes up, how will you handle it? >> he won't be involved. >> i'll recuse myself if it is. >> i wouldn't want that, and he won't want it.

>> also i'm getting a daily proctology exam here. it's not like i'll be getting away with something in the dead of night. >> reporter: some federal firings are facing new scrutiny. a judge halted the termination of 11 intelligence officers, they were temporarily assigned jobs on dei programs, but the government did not allege any misconduct or poor performance. the administration has until tomorrow to file a response. meanwhile, the leader of the fda's food division has resigned, saying the firing of 89 people effectively dismantled his group which is tasked with keeping the country's food supply safe. the u.s. department of agriculture is trying to rehire officials that were fired over the weekend. the agency saying it accidtly fired employees who were working on the bird flu outbreak. the administration has also been working to reinstate some nuclear safety employees who were fired last week. jessica? >> all right, alice, thank you.

meanwhile, president trump's hiring freeze is now stalling the onboarding process across federal firefighting agencies, raising new concerns for next season. nbc's jacob soboroff explains. >> reporter: the danger of wildfire couldn't have been any lower when we visited the columbia river gorge in the middle of a winter storm last week. but that's exactly why u.s. forest service captain wanted to bring us to washington where he fought a fire in the summer of 2023. this isn't a national forest, is it? >> no, it's not. >> reporter: why do you guys show up and fight fire here? >> we're part of the promise to the public to respond to wildfire emergencies. >> reporter: that promise might be getting harder to keep. as president trump's hiring freeze has thousands of federal seasonal firefighters in limbo at a time when onboarding for the next fire season should have already started. so, by the time you made it here

the house was already in flames. >> it was in the process of burning down. i have firefighters i should be bringing on and i can't. >> reporter: why are you thinking of hiring firefighters right now? >> this is the time of year we're training, preparing, getting the qualifications we need to answer the call to service when the summer does come. >> reporter: the u.s. forest service, and the national park service employ more than 15,000 career and temporary firefighters. crews from the forest service were credited with saving this neighborhood during the eaton fire. it was the federal crew where any delay in the lengthy onboarding process can affect the readiness of the team. is there a message, whether it's president trump or other people in the administration that you want to hear and understand what you see as the urgency of the moment? >> i'd like them to ask the firefighters what we think. we don't have any skin in this

game other than public service. >> reporter: some have called for firefighters to be exempted. >> it transcends politics, because wildfires transcend politics. and it's the right thing to do, to bring on firefighters and ensure that the public is getting the service they deserve and pay for. >> reporter: even as the snow falls, an alarm sounding about fires to come. jacob soboroff, nbc news, washington. up to a foot of snow expected in missouri, where an amazon truck jack knifed off the highway in kansas city. firefighters in minnesota meanwhile struggling with wind chills of 40 below. their equipment freezing as they tried to put out this fire. and wind chills in chicago hitting 23 degrees below zero. in kentucky, 6 inches of snow could create an even bigger mess as people there start cleaning

up from historic flooding. the death toll there rising to 14. with all of this, let's bring in angie lassman, who is tracking this next system for us. angie, good morning. >> good morning,g, jessi. we had plenty of snow yesterday. you mentioned nearly a foot in missouri. we've got rain, and we've got the potential for ice across this region, not to mention some very chilly conditions. 45 million people under winter alerts. you can see the heavy snow working across the tennessee valley and the heavy rain across the southeast and gulf coast. waking up to wet roads and snowy conditions elsewhere. notice the heavy snow mainly focussed across north carolina and virginia. the showers will work across the southeast and eventually offshore. tomorrow, still snow sticking around for parts of the great lakes and northeast as we generate chilly winds off the lake. we know that brings additional snow. notice virginia beach, 6 to 10 inches we could see. impressive snow still potentially to fall through the day today along with ice

accumulation, and not to mention the very chilly air in place ross tache and raleigh today. 29 and mostly sunny in dallas this afternoon. and that's a look at your forecast, jessica, back to you. coming up on "early today," an office reunion on the hollywood walk of fame. but we're back in a minute with shocking new video of the crash in toronto. we'll show you how the plane flipped upside down. ow the plan flipped upside down. r? let's go! i mix with coffee and boom! i have the energy to happy dance all day long. sorry to my barista. premier protein. sweeten the journey. aah, it's a good day to cough. oh, no! bye, bye cough.

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recorders for analysis. nbc's stephanie gosk has the stunning new video. >> reporter: new, terrifying video of delta flight 4819's crash landing in toronto. >> oh, no, no, no, no. >> reporter: the plane hitting the runway and bursting into flames just before flipping over. >> you're seeing this airplane that just crashed. >> reporter: the video apparently shot from the cockpit of another plain could be a key piece of evidence according to john cox. >> you see that the right wing departs the airplane, and the lack of that wing is what caused the airplane to roll over. >> reporter: remarkably, no lives were lost in the crash. of the 80 people on board, delta airlines says 21 were treated in the hospital. 19 have been released. the fuselage of the plane still sits on the runway, where it will likely remain for the next two days, according to officials. >> we are currently without use of our longest east-west and

north-south runways. >> reporter: canadian investigators with help from the ntsb and faa will be looking closely at the weather. monday the fire chief said wind was not an issue when the plane crashed. but meteorologists reported gusts as high as 40 miles per hour in the area. >> the conditions were challenging but nothing more than professional pilots can handle. >> reporter: passenger peter kukoff says the descent felt normal until the plane hit the ground. did you have a moment where you thought this is it? >> yeah. i was like, okay, the plane is crashing. if the plane is crashing, you're not going to live. >> drop it! come on! >> reporter: the documentary producer shooting this video of people scrambling to get off the plane after being stuck upside down in their seats. >> i felt like everybody handled it pretty well considering we were in a plane crash. >> reporter: there were backlogs at this airport in toronto

before the crash. now officials are warning travelers that there could be delays and cancellations here for days. still to come, a whirlwind romance that started in scranton. it makes another stop in los angeles. mindy kaling is honored by her beloved office co-star. d by her beloved office co-star. 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? i think i could go even longer. up to five days of lasting moisture. endless possibilities. imagine what you could do in five days. always dry scoop before you run. listen to me, the hot dog diet got me shredded. it's time we listen to science. one a day is formulated with key nutrients to support whole body health. one a day. science that matters.

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in addition to being a brilliant and wildly-successful show runner, incredible mother of three, a deep and caring daughter and friend and mentor to so many, mindy is also in her spare time, i asre you, i have superficial. >> it's a friendship that started in the offices of dunder mifflin and ended up on hollywood boulevard. paying tribute to mindy kaling at the walk of fame ceremony. he mixed roasting in that would make michael scott proud. i loved her when she was kelly kapur, and loved her book.

clearly not everyone is hanging with her. >> a well-deserved honor for mindy. now to the show showing no signing of slowing down. snl announced shane gillis will kick offer march, returning for his second stint as host with musical guest tate mcrae. and lady gaga is coming to studio 8h and will pull double duty on march 8. we've seen shane host before. we've seen lady gaga do double duty before and as a musical gist a number of times. this just promises to be so fun. >> i can't wait for the new album, too. up knicks, the latest on the health of the pope. and how esports are going for the gold in the next generation of the olympics. e next generati of the olympics. - anyone else? fine... jake....from state farm.... - ok.... alright! it's the personal price plan theorem. if you bundle your home and auto,

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world's largest underwater cable to connect the u.s., south africa, brazil and other regions. apple releasing a new product according to a new post by tim cook. some predict it could be an updated iphone se. and paul simon returning to the stage after a seven-year hiatus, emerging from retirement to announce the quiet tour starting in april. the quiet tou starting in april. hout the lact. delicious too. just ask my old friend, kevin. nothing like enjoying a cold one while watching the game. who's winning? we are, my friend. we are. ♪♪ 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?

i think i could go even longer. up to five days of l lasting msture. endless possibilities. imagine what you could do in five days. ♪ [tambourine by eve] ♪ imagine what♪you could do ♪ we're less than a year away from the winter olympic mes in italy, but a new class of olympians are already looking ahead.

a look at how the ioc is getting into gaming to win over a younger generation of fans. >> rorter: video games are giving allenvila a second chance at his dreams. >> i never thought i would be here from just a simple video game. >> reporter: he tore his acl three times in college. he started playing ea sports fifa, a soccer video game and streaming it online, becoming one of the top players in the country. he achieved his dream of playing soccer professionally, but virtually getting picked up by two esports teams. >> i will definitely try to be a part of the olympic esports. >> reporter: now the committee is partnering with the riyadh-based foundation to host the first-ever esports olympics in saudi arabia in 2027. >> esports is still a new sport. >> reporter: the ceo of ewcf

says the goal is to set up the tournament like the olympics. >> in esports, nation-based competitions and national pride hasn't been a primary source of entertainment. and the olympics are a unique position to bring that to the industry. >> reporter: this isn't the first time the olympics has taken a stab at esports. in 2023, the ioc hosted an esports week in singapore, but fans on social media were not impressed, since popular games like call of duty, counter strike, league of legends weren't included. >> they have zero idea what esports are. >> reporter: the ioc hasn't released the games for the 2027 event yet. and for those of us sticking to the traditional definition of a sport, avila has a different definition. >> esports requires a lot of high-level skill and training, just like real sport does. it demands discipline, teamwork, peak performance under pressure. so how can you argue with that? >> our thanks to dana for that

report. coming up on "today", a philly special. saquon barkley is live in studio 1a. the nfl's offensive player of the year will talk about his history-making season with the eagles, and here's al roker with a look at what else is coming up. >> this morning on the third hour of "today", let's get ready for tax season. and we're catching up with actor matthew modine. all that and more coming up this morning on the third hour of "today." thanks, al, and thank you for waking up with "early today." i'm jessica layton. we hope you have a great wednesday. we'll see you tomorrow. s is on . .

we the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant not guilty. [cheers and applause] >> rappe