breaking overnight. house republicans pass their trump-backed budget blueprint, including cuts to medicaid, even as some gop lawmakers raise concerns over the white house's approach to slash government

spending. the u.s. and ukraine reportedly strike a deal on ukraine's rare minerals, with russia proposing an offer of its own. we're live with the details. and when the deal might be signed. an airways issuing an apology after people were forced to sit next to a dead body for hours. cases of measles in texas in the triple digits. and new concerns that tens of thousands may have been exposed. and healing through hip-hop. how a group of teens is harnessing the power of music to help their peers address mental health. it's wednesday, february 26. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin with breaking news. president trump's agenda clearing a major hurdle in congress. speaker mike johnson's budget blueprinnarrowly passed in the house with only one republican voting no.

the budget will now go to the senate where reconciliation will begin. the house resolution includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. republicans acknowledge that some of those cuts will come from medicaid. >> medicaid is hugely problematic, because it has a lot of fraud, waste and abuse. everybody knows that. the estimate is, i think it's $50 billion a year in fraud alone in medicaid. >> meanwhile, some republicans are starting to raise concerns about the methods used to slash spending. garrett haake has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: president trump doubling down on his efforts to slash the size of the federal workforce. after facing new backlash over moves by elon musk and his department of government efficiency, all of it centering over confusion over musk's new postst that deral workers will get a quote second chance to e-mail a list of five accomplishments from last week or face termination, while the

administration's office of personnel management has also told agency heads that sending the e-mail is voluntary. >> mr. president, can you clarify what your expectations are? what are you going to use the information for? is it voluntary? >> it's somewhat voluntary. but if you don't answer, i guess you get fired. what it is, is do people exist? we have this massive government with millions of people. and nobody knows who's working for the government, who's not. i could tell you five things i did last week. i could tell you five things i did six weeks ago. >> is he speaking for you? >> everybody speaks for me. i'm the one, i'll take responsibility. you know the old statement, the buck stops here, right? >> reporter: meanwhile, 21 members of the u.s. digital service, the agency that musk turned into the department of government efficiency, resigned. posting online that they won't use their technical expertise to, quote, compromise core

government systems, jeopardize americans' sensitive data or dismantle critical services. a person familiar with the matter confirmed it with nbc news, but the staffers themselves did not identify themselves. musk responding these were dem political holdovers who refused to return to the office. they would have been fired had they not resigned. it follows this protest over musk's moves at a town hall meeting at a republican district in missouri. mark alford supporting the president's efforts to down size the federal government but criticizing musk's approach. >> i do think there are some valid concerns about the speed this is happening. >> reporter: democrats blasting the cost-cutting efforts. >> under elon musk and his so-called department of government efficiency, federal health agencies have suffered mass layoffs. here's our message to speaker

johnson and president musk. enough is enough. >> reporter: republicans pointing that the new gao report showing since 2003 the federal government incorrectly sent out $2.8 trillion in taxpayer money in improper payments. >> i think the vast majority of the american people understand and applaud and appreciate the doge effort, to scale down the size and scope of government. >> and our thanks to garrett for that report. the u.s. and ukraine have reportedly agreed on a minerals deal. multiple news outlets citing u.s. and ukrainian officials with knowledge of the matter. the terms of the deal are unknown, but it comes after president trump and volodymyr zelenskyy exchanged hostile words just last week. and now trump says zelenskyy may come to washington on friday to sign a, quote, very big deal. nbc's matt bodner joins me now. good morning, matt. >> reporter: frances, good morning. the specifics of this final draft of the deal have not yet been publicly released. but according to the financial times, which said it had seen the latest draft, the ukrainians finally agreed to the deal after

the u.s. dropped some of the more controversial elements, namely that demand that ukraine compensate the united states to the tune of $500 billion. the trump administration may not be getting everything it wanted from this agreement, but neither are the ukrainians. according to the financial times, this version of the deal does not include any mention of security guarantees. the deal does reportedly lay out a framework for joint u.s.-ukrainian investment in future rare earth mining in which 50% of the revenue from those ventures will be funneled into a shared fund. for reference, ukraine has most of the critical rare earth minerals required for advanced electronics and materials, and these are as important as oil. many issues are unresolved by the draft, namely security guarantees for ukraine. this was something discussed on monday by trump and french president macron. macron is pushing for a european peacekeeping force to deploy to ukraine with the united states not committing forces but

providing a backstop to further deter russia. trump did say that he had spoken with putin about this point specifically, and that the russian president was okay with it. the kremlin reiterated its position that any western troops of any kind in ukraine is a red line for moscow. meanwhile, u.s. officials have told nbc news that the russians have offered the united states a similar deal to the ukrainian one, offering access to ukrainian resources in russian-occupied territory. frances? >> matt, thank you. another day, another scare in the skies. this time in chicago, where a southwest airlines plane narrowly avoided a runway collision with a private jet. and here you'll see it. the airliner just about to touch down when the smaller plane from flex jet, you see it there, starts crossing the runway. the pilot immediately, right there, pulls up, avoiding disaster. our erin mclaughlin spoke to two passengers and got their reaction to the footage. >> shocked. >> yeah. >> because we were so oblivious

to what was happening. because the pilot was so calm. and he acted like it was an every day, you know, thing. >> the faa says the private jet entered the runway without authorization. flex jet released a statement saying it is investigating and adheres to the highest safety standards. staying in the air, this time with the disturbing story from on board a qatar airways flight. a married couple says they were forced to sit next to a dead woman's body for four hours on a flight from australia to qatar. the woman collapsed and died mid flight. the couple says the crew then placed the body in an empty seat next to them for the rest of the flight. in a statement, qatar airways offered condolences to the family of the deceased and an apology to passengers. a death row inmate now getting the rare chance to go before a new jury. the supreme court tossing out richard glossup's murder conviction and ruling he is entitled to new trial.

laura jarrett has the details. >> reporter: he's been on death row for more than 20 years. but the supreme court granted richard glossup a new trial. >> we struggled through nine execution dates and three last miles. >> reporter: convicted by a jury in oklahoma for organizing the 1997 killing of his boss, barry van treece, he has always maintained his innocence. >> did you have anything to do with the murder of barry van treece? >> i did not. >> reporter: independent reviews of the case commissioned by state officials finding the prosecution destroyed key evidence before the trial and failed to correct false testimony from a key witness, prompting a rare concession from oklahoma's attorney general that glossup's conviction should be overturned. lester sitting down in 2023 with

two conservative lawmakers fighting on glossup's behalf. just as news broke that the supreme court had agreed to hear the case and stop glossup's execution. >> yes! >> awesome, awesome! >> reporter: the justices, included in a divided d opinion that think violated. >> it will clearly show that gloss up is guilty. >> reporter: they've formed a committee to review any evidence. back to you. another round of snow and rain moving across the midwest this morning. let's turn to angie lassman who is tracking the systems for us. for others, it's nice and mild still. >> we have mild air in place for moist of the country. we have the little system across the midwest. but we also have dense fog

advisories i want to tell but across parts of the gulf coast, lake charles, conroy. you can sigh some of those visibilities. places like lake charles, down to about a quarter of a mile. the low beams and taking it a little extra slow this morning is going to go a long way. a bit of snow across parts of wisconsin and michigan. and then extending into parts of the interior northeast. we'll also see rain stretched from pennsylvaninia to missouri through the day today. this is a quick mover. it moves farther east up into parts of t the northeast and leaves us with lake-effect snow on the backside of it for tomorrow. then here comes our next clipper system that's going to work across the great lakes. there's just going to be a couple oquick in

jacksonville. 78 degrees for houston with mostly sunny skies. >> thanks, angie. breakfast fans are loving it. and we're back in a minute with the explosion of measles ses in texas. how the state is fighting the outbreak. state is fighting the outbreak. 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. jordan's sore nose let out a fiery sneeze, so dad grabbed puffs plus lotion to soothe her with ease. puffs plus lotion is gentle on sensitive skin and locks in moisture to provide soothing relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. 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.

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are in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. 18 people have been hospitalized. >> and i expect the number of cases that are unfortunately hospitalizations will continue to accelerate. >> reporter: local health officials say tens of thousands of people in central texas may have been exposed to an infected person visiting from gaines county, the epicenter of the outbreak. texas' health department says over valentine's day weekend, the person, while contagious, visited the texas state university campus and a restaurant in san marcos. the university of texas san antonio and a nearby ripley's believe it or not museum and a buccees convenience store. droplets carrying the measles virus can remain in the air up to two hours after infected persons leave. it can cause fever, cough,

congestion, skin rash and white spots in the mouth. the cdc reporting isolated measles cases in alaska, california, georgia, new jersey, new york and rhode island and nine cases in new mexico. >> just being in the same room with someone who's sick, if you're not protected, could put you at risk. >> reporter: the measles vaccine is 97% effective at preventing illness. but, in gaines county, which accounts for more than 60% of cases in texas, nearly 18% of people have vaccine exemptions, according to health department data. >> we have a high number of unvaccinated. they just don't believe in it. it's just not something that they choose to do. >> reporter:r: doctors across texas are urging patients who might be sick to stay out of hospitals for fear of infecting others, pointing them instead to

mobile clinics in gaines county. >> what i want you to do is call me first. but do not come into our building, and don't come into our waiting room. we want to help you. but please don't come in and infect everybody else that may be immunocompromised. >> and our thanks to erica for that report. still to come, she's already conquered the bear, and now she's set to take on the dinosaur? bringing a beloved icon to life. ? bringing a beloved icon to life. . so we switched to tide free & gentle. it cleans better and doesn't leave behind irritating residues. and it's gentle on her skin. tide free & gentle liquid is epa safer choice certified. it's got to be tide. ( ♪♪ ) feel the power of osteo bi-flex®. taken every day, it's clinically shown to improve joint comfort in 7 days, with significant improvement over time. ( ♪♪ ) are my 5 morning alarms a metaphor for everything else i'm putting off ? like my laundry? or my 768 unread texts?

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multiple sources say ayo edebiri is set to be in the film. it's also produced by an oscar winner and described as a surreal, adult take on the children's tv icon. they describe it as a kind of angsty barney style, tribulations, all of it. >> i was die hard about barney as a kid. so i mean, what do i have to lose by seeing this? give me, give me a little something with the big purple dinosaur. >> he can relate to us? now to the one thing that tested colin jost's marriage more than that week update joke swap. on a recent episode of jeopardy, the host with the jost responded to the anecdote about a missing

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approach mental health. here's maya brown. >> reporter: whether it's recording in the sound booth or brain storming rhymes. these students are using hip-hop to turn their feelings into flow. all out of cleveland, ohio. >> we're dealing coping skills. we're dealing actual healing techniques. >> reporter: they help teenagers make music to deal with daily stressors. >> you have to make mental health fun and creative. this is the best way to do it. >> reporter: a way that is culturally competent, a reason only one in three african-americans receive mental health care who need it. they say hip-hop therapy can help change that. >> mental health and hip-hop bridges the gap. >> reporter: this group of young

black men were a part of the 2022 cohort. >> i never thought it was something that could help me out when i really needed it. >> reporter: the program helped them manage their emotions through tools like journaling and breath management. trayvon tried traditional therapy but says it wasn't a good fit. >> i learned, like, some of the coping methods i was using first s not as healthy as i thought it was. >> reporter: it's a form of therapy gaining traction in other parts of the country. this hip-hop therapy studio in the bronx has become a lifeline for many students. >> a lot of the kids we were working with have been in foster care, others have been in abuse, locked up at a young age. >> reporter: he's seen how the program allows many to open up in a short amount of time. >> it allows them to get to a point where they can speak about it and really accept what

occurred and what happened and moveorward from it, right, and rewrite their narrative. >> you kind forget what's really going on with their music. i feel like i can put my situations part by part and really understand what it is. >> reporter: some of the young men we spoke to say after picking apart their problems, they learned how to put themselves back to the. >> meeting them where they're at, going to them, going to their environments where they feel safe, and they're already in helping them to open up and be vulnerable. >> reporter: maya brown, nbc news. >> a wayay to tell their story. thanks so much for starting your morning with

at the white house for the first time since taking office, president trump will meet with his entire cabinet and elon musk. this as fired federal workers continue to voice their anger at lawmakers, all as