chloe melas, nbc news. >> stay right there, news is on the way.

breaking news. a supreme court win for president trump. justices allowing a freeze on foreign aid payments at least for now. the bombshell development coming just hours after the first cabinet meeting of the trump administration. new overnight, another step forward in the israel and hamas cease-fire, tel aviv releasing palestinian prisoners as the militant group turns over the bodies of israeli captives. we're live as the first phase of this truce winds down. the measles outbreak turns deadly. an unvaccinated child in west texas now the first u.s. measles death in decades. the reaction from robert f. kennedy jr. fans in shock after the death of actress michelle trachtenberg. the tributes pouring in for the star of hits like gossip girl and harriet the spy. and the celebrity designer who's wearing her new heart on her sleeve after her near-death

experience. on this thursday, february 27. "early today" starts right now. glad you're up early with me. i'm frances rivera. we begin with breaking news. the supreme court gives the trump administration a last-minute reprieve. hours before a midnight deadline, the court paused an order for the government to release more than $2 billion in frozen foreign aid. american businesses and non-profits say they were thrown into sudden financial turmoil. and in some cases not paid for work they already performed. the government argued it would take weeks for them to free up the funds. the supreme court set a deadline of tomorrow at noon for the groups challenging to respond. this comes after trump held his first cabinet meeting with the help of doge leader elon musk. >> reporter: president trump converting his first cabinet meeting into a rolling press conference, touting progress. >> we're cutting down the size of government. we have to.

we're bloated. we're sloppy. we have a lot of people that aren't doing their job. >> reporter: and immediately turning the spotlight, not on a cabinet member, but on elon musk, head of his department of government efficiency. to defend his directive that all workers e-mail a list of five accomplishments from last week or face termination. >> i think the e-mail was best interpreted as a performance review, but actually it was a pulse check review. if you have a pulse and neurons, you can reply to an e-mail. this is not a high bar. >> reporter: musk was surrounded by several cabinet members who had pushed back on his order and instructed employees not to respond. musk insisting that was fine. >> we're going to send another e-mail. our goal is not to be capricious or unfair. the e-mail could simply be what i'm working on is too classified to describe. just literally, that would be sufficient. >> reporter: the president publicly backing musk. >> elon, let the cabinet speak

just for a second. anybody unhappy with elon? if you are, we'll throw him out of here. >> reporter: and warning, federal workers who have not yet responded remain at risk of losing their jobs. >> they are on the bubble. maybe they don't exist. maybe we're paying people that don't exist. >> reporter: it comes as a new budget office memo instructs federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs, as the trump administration focuses on reducing federal spending. >> if we don't do this, america will go bankrupt. >> reporter: while musk acknowledging doge made mistakes, including cutting funding for ebola prevention. >> when we make a mistake, we'll restore it quite quickly. >> reporter: the president also making headlines on ukraine, revealing president zelenskyy will visit the white house friday for the signing of an agreement to jointly develop the country's rare earth minerals. the president suggesting the

deal would form its own kind of security guarantee for ukraine. >> there's sort of automatic security, because nobody's going to be messing around with our people when we're there. >> reporter: and saying for the first time, russian president putin will have to make concessions. >> he will. going to have to. >> reporter: vice president vance heading off a question about what those concessions would be. >> we're not going to do the negotiation in the public with american media. >> reporter: the president also speaking about the middle east, after posting this a.i.-generated video featuring his name and face in a revamped gaza. opposed by key arab allies. the president slamming hamas for how it's handled the release of dead hostages, as the cease-fire moves into a potential second phase. >> israel's going to have to decide what they're doing. >> reporter: the president signing a new executive order

aimed at cutting more spending, and that employee credit cards are frozen for 30 days. director of national intelligence, tulsi gabbard is firing more than 100 officers over chat messages. those terminated discussed topics like gender transition surgery and politics. gabbard on fox news calling the discussions an egregious violation of trust. >> they were brazen in using a nsa platform intended for professional use to conduct this kind of really, really horrific behavior. >> gabbard says the terminations are part of a wider effort to find bad actors in the spy agencies and restore the public's trust in the intelligence community. uk prime minister keir starmer is in washington, d.c. today with news of a large

increase in the british defense budget. he investment is part of european efforts to ensure ukraine gets a voice in negotiations and that the u.s. still backs europe over russia. this as ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is expected to sign the minerals agreement at the white house tomorrow. zelenskyy says both the u.s. and ukraine outlined the agreement to jointly fund ukraine's future security and reconstruction. using an investment fund powered by the country's rare earth minerals. scenes of jubilation in the occupied west bank in gaza as hundreds of palestinians return home from prison. the militant group for their part turned over the bodies of four dead israeli hostages. the exchanges are the last of their kind before phase one of the cease-fire expires on saturday. for the latest, let's go to matt bodner. how did these releases play out? >> reporter: frances, good morning. yesterday's handover looked very different from those we've seen

so far with hamas foregoing the propaganda ceremony that they've arranged for each of the previous exchanges. israel released dozens of palestinian prisoners to the red cross which transported them to the west bank. hundreds more headed back into the gaza strip. medical officials who received these prisoners in gaza said that some of them arrived in a, quote, severe state of emaciation. that some of them could not walk from severity of beating and torture. these prisoners were originally slated for release last saturday. but israel postponed it, citing what they call cruel treatment of israeli hostages at those propaganda ceremonies but also citing other cease-fire violations. yesterday's exchange was the final trade under first phase of the cease-fire deal. phase one does expire this coming saturday. at the moment, it isn't clear what will happen next. negotitiationsor a second phase were slated to begin several weeks ago. but those negotiations still have not begun. 59 israeli hostages remain in hamas captivity.

32 are believed to be dead. trump envoy steve witkoff has indicated that efforts are under way to extend phase one, giving more time for negotiations on phase two. there are, however, major obstacles to phase two, which will force israel to choose between two very different objectives moving forward. that would be securing the release of those remaining hostages or destroying hamas. the current provision for phase two does end in a complete withdrawal of israeli forces from gaza. but the trump administration has said hamas cannot remain in power. >> matt bodner, thank you. new this morning, the fbi says north korea stole around $1$1.5 blion from the crypto currency exchange buy bit. last week, a hacker broke into the so-called cold wallet, which is an offline storage system designed for security. it's estimated to be the largest crypto heist in history. the fed says the assets will likely be laundered and converted into real-world money. buy bit is based in dubai and is

the second-largest crypto exchange. the measles outbreak in texas turning deadly after an unvaccinated school-aged child has died. it is the first u.s. measles death in a decade. so far at least 124 people have been infected. most of them children in rural west texas. health and human services secretary robert f. kennedy jr., a vaccine skeptic, down-played the outbreak when asked about it. >> we put out a post on it yesterday. and we're going to continue to follow it. so it's not unusual. we have measles outbreaks every year. >> this year eight states have reported cases of measles, including nine cases in neighboring new mexico. officials have not said they are connected. the u.s. secretary of agriculture unveiling a new strategy to combat bird flu and bring down the price of eggs. the plan published in a "wall street journal" op ed includes enhancing biosecurity, exploring the use of vaccinations and

therapeutic along with temporary importations to reduce egg cost. brooke rollins says don't cuts will at least pay for part of the plan. it comes the same week as a usda report predicts egg prices could leap more than 40% this year. while much of the country enjoys spring temperatures, the northeast is bracing for another round of rain and snow. meteorologist angie lassman is tracking it all for us. for now, we'll focus on the milder temperatures before that comes, right? >> indeed, frances. we have just a little bit of rein and snow we'll have to deal with, a quick-moving system. we have rain across parts of the appalachians, and a few of those showers for the great lakes. this system is going to work through this area through the day today. it will be a brief period of rain along the i-95 corridor and later snow for new england. by tomorrow we watch for the next clipper system to work into parts of the great lakes. and that's where we'll see snow accumulation stretching from miesota to basically western new york. most of this focussed across the

great lakes before w we get int saturday. this will be focussed across adirondacks and white mountains. mostly new england will deal with the cold wind. snowfall totals up to a foot in some spots. specifically the higher elevations and down wind of the lakes. then we have the warm temperatures, it's feeling quite nice across most of the country. 60s for the plains. upper 60s in little rock. 70 degrees mostly sunny skies expected in dallas today. full sunshine from memphis to oklahoma city. upper 70s in jacksonville this afternoon. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. a new robotic lander it traveling to the moon right now. the lunar lander known as the

athena is the second mission for the intuitive machine. it's made history a year ago by becoming the first private company to successfully land on the moon's surface. but that lander broke a leg and tipped over. it's expected to make it to the moon in about a ek. why we could soon see elon musk drop in on "the daily show." musk drop in on "the dail show." it's time for bed! ( ♪♪ ) good morning, mr. snuggles. make breakfast special with the cocoa and hazelnutty goodness of nutella. ( ♪♪ ) ( ♪♪ ) 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. ( ♪♪ ) depend guards can't help you clear that pond on 18... but they'll make sure that's the only water hazard

you have to worry about. ♪♪ keep it dry, guys. downy does more to make clothes softer, fresher, and better. because your jacket does more thanan keep yowarm. like when it smells like home... ...even far away from home. downy is more than just a fabric softener. it breathes life into your laundry. "early today" is back now with the shocking news of actress michelle trachtenberg's death. reaction is pouring in from her fans and former cast mates. here's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: michelle trachtenberg landed roles on the shows that all the kids were watching. buffy the vampire shaylayer.

she was buffy's sister dawn. nypd officers discovered the 39-year-old actor unresponsive in a manhattan apartment. according to police, she was pronounced dead at the scene. and criminality is not suspected. trachtenberg got her start very young. but it was her role as harriet the spy at just 10 years old that created a generation of fans. >> what are you writing? >> notes. >> did we read them? >> reporter: she starred alongside rosie o'donnell. >> did you enjoy making the movie? >> reporter: o'donnell called her death heartbreaking, adding, i loved her very much. she struggled the last several years, i wish i could have helped. a medical examiner is determining the cause of death. while recent photos on social media had some fans concerned for her health. at one point, trachtenberg responding, fun fact, this is my face, not malnutrition, no

problems. the creators of gossip girl said she was funny and kind, a delight to have on set. >> cute. you think this was about you. >> reporter: trachtenberg was a child actor whose fans grew up with her and are left stunned by letter sudden death. stephanie gosk, nbc news. still to come, the top dog at doge barks back at jon stewart. how elon musk responded to the daily show's take down of him, and if they might be meeting in the future. might be meeting in the future. 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. ahh, yellow! didn't pass the tissue test? buckle up! whoa! there's toothpaste white, and there's crest 3dwhitestrips white. whitens like a 400 dollar professional treatment. pilot: prepare for non-stop smiles. crest.

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so, how are you feeling? are you excited to host? >> yeah, i'm just worried everybody's going to be hungover still from the 50th. >> what makes you say that? >> that, for one thing, also mikey's wearing sara's clothes. >> i always dress like this. >> you're hungover too? >> what? >> you guys know a good tattoo

removal guy? i think i made a mistake. >> he's going to fire you. >> that's great. shane gillis is baback to kick f the post-50th anniversary run. the comedian makes his second appearance as host this weekend alongside tate mcrae. you remember in 2019 he was set to go on the show. and a few days later, nope. they canceled that because of some stuff that was not appropriate, let's say, that surfaced. but then he was able to eventually host. >> i'm sure it will be quite funny. it's going to be hard to follow the 50th. but it won't disappoint. could there be a stewart-musk grudge match? the billionaire and top dog of doge will appear with stewart. and there was the viral moment of stewart cutting his hand on a

coffee mug. musk said he would appear if the show remained unedited to which the show said we'd be delighted. they told deadline they don't know if or when such an interview will happen. but i know jon stewart is an incredible interviewer. of course i think we would all like to see what happens if they are sitting in front of each other with a camera. >> especially with elon musk. we know how unpredictable he can be. definitely compelling tv either way. when we come back, details on amazon's new alexa makeover. and details on the duolingo mascot. d details on the duoling mascot. with your dishwasher and cascade complete. your dishwasher does the work for you, with temperatures up to 140 degrees - too hot for hands. some dishwashers even have a sanitizing cycle. load pots, pans and tableware at the bottom, with plastic and glassware on top. cascade complete removes visible and invisible residue,

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and heart health month winds down. one woman's journey has just begun. coming back from the brink of death only to find new purpose, saving lives by wearing her new heart, not just on her sleeve but on the clothing she designs herself. >> reporter: it's a relaunch of this designer's new fashion line life. launch of her new lease on >> i want to be happy and do my best at the moment. >> reporter: she has dressed some of the most famous women. her fast-paced life came to an abrupt halt. >> i was really excited. >> reporter: little did you know. >> that i just had a heart attack. yeah. i didn't know that.

>> reporter: but she ignored symptoms and kept working. then ended up in the er, suffering from congestive heart failure from a childhood infection that was never treated. dr. patel says it was life or death. >> it pools up in the lungs. you cannot breathe. and you start choking. and she got to us in the nick of time. >> after heart surgery, she spent three weeks in the icu, connected to a maze of tubes and machinery, but miraculously got better each day. >> oh, god dn't want me to die yet. >> she creates her designs with a new purpose with what she calls a new heart, same beat. >> god didn't want me to die for a major reason. i think i could inspire admire

change people lives. and i wanted to be able to do something like that in my career wise, but now i feel i can make a difference. >> and it has been three months since her surgery, and cici says there's not much she can't do these days, as you saw righter that. even more reason for her to advocate for women's heart health. coming up on "today", how one life-changing heart donation kicked off an incredible chain of events, helping to save three little girls. kate snow has the inspiring story and how it could help patients around the world. that is ahead on "today", and what better way to wind down heart health month and awareness out there. thanks so much for starting your morning with "early today." see you back here early tomorrow morning. morrow morning.

with five. hollywood legend gene hackman has