watching "top story." i'm tom llamas in new york. stay right there. more news on the way.

a pivotal day for the war in ukraine. president trump and volodymyr zelenskyy set to sign a landmark deal to share revenue from ukraine's rare minerals. we're live with what kiev is looking for in return. the growing mystery surrounding the death of gene hackman. police now not ruling out foul play. doj's highly-touted release of jeffrey epstein files fizzles out. growing backlash in oklahoma over a new proposal to make parents prove their kids are u.s. citizens before they can go to school. and a lesson in selflessness. why a new york teacher decided to make a life-saving donation to her colleague at her school. it's the last day of the workweek and the final day of february. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera.

we begin with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy set to meet with president trump today to sign a preliminary deal that gives the u.s. a share of the country's rare earth minerals. zelenskyy emphasizing the need for security. this as president trump met with keir starmer yesterday, who agreed europe should take the lead on that front. >> in relation to ukraine, i do think that it's important that european countries play a leading part in any security guarantees, and that's why i've said that the uk would put boots on the ground. >> let's b bring in matt bodner. good morning, matt. >> reporter: frances, good morning. today will be a big day for president zelenskyy. it will also be a key indicator of whether the efforts this week by french president macron and uk prime minister starmer are working to dissuade president trump from his apparent turn

toward moscow. zelenskyy is set to meet in the today to sign that ump later much-discussed mineral agreement. this is a deal that has seen a lot of back and forth over the past month and turns out to be very different than what both parties had hoped for. the idea of a u.s.-ukrainian agreement on minerals, he pitched it to the white house es a means to give the united states financial stakes but only in return for security. ukraine agreed to reimburse the united states some $500 billion for minerals but notably without any security guarantee. zelenskyy is not getting clear security guarantees. in the end, this is a framework agreement, and it's a vague one at that. during this process, trump has repeatedly said falsely ukraine is paying europe back but not

america. the european leaders publicly corrected him. here's starmer doing that just yesterday. >> you know, they get their money back by giving money. we don't get the money back. biden made the deal. he put in $350 billion. and i thought it was a very jun fair situation. >> we're not getting all of ours. quite a bit of ours was gifted. it was given. mainly it was gifted, actually. >> for the moment it appears that the efforts by european leaders may be paying off. trump yesterday appeared to walk back previous false statements that zelenskyy was a dictator. and starmer says he sees value in trump's approach to the mineral deal, claiming that u.s. economic interests in ukraine act as some form of security guarantee. >> matt, thank you. now to the death of beloved actor gene hackman. he and his wife were dead for some time before being found.

the town's mayor reacting to the news. >> he's a legend. his wife was a real presence in the community as well. and we're proud that they chose to live here and sad that we lost them, especially this way. >> the santa fe sheriff initially said there was no foul play, but now investigators are treating the deaths as suspicious. adam kuperstein has the story. >> are they moving at all? >> no, dude, they're not moving. just send somebody up here really quick. >> reporter: a rattled security working calling 911 after discovering the bodies of 95-year-old actor gene hackman and his 64-year-old wife inside their home in new mexico. >> it's not normal to find two people deceased in a residence. that's concerning. d then there was also a dog that was in a kennel that was also found deceased. >> reporter: a search warrant affidavit determined their deaths are suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation, noting

the front door of the residence unsecured and opened, and a pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to hackman's wife who was found lying on her side in the floor of the bathroom, while hackman was located in a separate room of the residence and no obvious signs of a gas leak. the search warrant also says it appeared the two-time oscar-winning actor tell suddenly. the dog that died was in a crate. and two other dogs that roamed freely were alive. workers said they hadn't heard from hackman or his wife in about two weeks. >> there was no immediate sign of foul play. we are keeping everything on the table. i think the autopsy is going to tell us a lot. and any evidence we collect. >> remember what we worked on in practice. >> reporter: hackman largely stayed out of the spotlight after retiring from acting in 2004. but he was one of hollywood's

most-admired and versatile actors, going from tough as nails cop popeye doyle in the french connection, which earned him his first oscar to lex luther in superman. then after that, a remarkable run of iconic roles in dozens of films, including hoosiers, crimson tide and unforgiven. when hackman retired, he and his wife moved to santa fe where he worked as a novelist, publishing his fifth book in 2013. >> and our thanks to adam kuperstein for that report. we are now entering day 40 of the new trump administration, which is facing more legal challenges. a judge is ordering the office of personnel mananagement to rescind a memo directing the mass firing of federal employees. the ruling does not reinstate any fired workers but tells the opm they have no authority to hire or fire people at other agencies. massive cuts were just made at noaa which runs the national weather service. about 5% of the workforce was

let go. the agency's website says they have about 12,000 workers. fired workers at the u.s. . agey for international development cleared out their desks. 26 current and former employees are suing elon musk and doge for efforts to dismantle the agency. there will be a hearing on that case this afternoon. garrett haake has more from the capitol. >> reporter: an emotional exodus from usaid. >> i dedicated 13 years of my life. >> reporter: where recently-fired workers were given 15 minutes to clear out their desks. the trump administration recently fired 1600 staff and placed thousands more on leave at the agency that doles out foreign aid. >> they're treating us like the enemy. >> reporter: he criticized elon musk. >> he's not going through with a fine-toothed comb. he's tearing down our institutions for fun. it's a game. it's not public service. >> reporter: musk on wednesday

defending federal worker layoffs, saying it's critical to reduce government spending. >> if we don't do this, america will go bankrupt. >> reporter: president trump praising the cost cutting. >> we are having great success in slimming down the government. >> reporter: the agency provides food eight to 28 million children worldwide suffering from malnutrition and treats more than 5.5 million children. >> we owe the american people the assurances that every dollar we are spending abroad is being spent on something that furthers our national interests. >> thanks to garrett for that report. new this morning, the justice department had previewed

a potentially explosive release of new documents in the notorious jeffrey epstein case. but, when right wing media figures got hold of the files, they expressed disappointment at the lack of new revelations. even attorney general bondi wrote the fbi for the full and complete files by 8:00 a.m. eastern this morning. epstein was already a convicted child sex offender in 2019 when he was charged with running a sex trafficking ring for minors. he hanged himself in jail. accused rapist and sex trafficker andrew tate has returned to the united states. he came with his brother tristan, who is also facing the same charges in romania. prosecutors there lifted a travel ban on the brothers, provided they return if summoned. the pair deny the accusations. they landed in ft. lauderdale where florida governor ron desantis quickly said they are not welcome in the state. andrew tate gained notoriety nor

aggressive self-help misogynist posts. we have a little snow to talk about in some spots. you can see some of the snow working into parts of northern minnesota. wisconsin, michigan under winter alerts as well as parts of new york. these are going to likely expand as the morning goes on, as the system slides across region we will see accumulating snow for the adirondacks, gusty wind in the northern plains and midwest. and then tomorrow the system works out, but we'll still see snow across northern new england and cold winds continuing for the lakes. here's the wind alerts right now. 38 million people from the plains to the midwest. this with really gusty conditions. 50 mile-per-hour winds in

minneapolis. so a breezy kind of gusty day for folks there. otherwise, it's quite warm. 59 for des moines. low 70s for the central plains. memphis at 69 degrees. we 59 in roanoke and richmond today. high of 50 degrees in new york city. sheriffs deputies rescued two women they say drunkenly drove into a creek. the car was flipped upside down, submerged in icy water. a good samaritan flagged the deputies down leading them to where he thought the crash happened. they say they never would have found the car if he hadn't helped them.

both women were taken to the hospital for minor injuries. life after dunder mifflin. signing up for a job in the new spinoff. and the new battle over immigration. in oklahoma public schools. atio. in oklahoma public schools. ersu. it traps, locks and... removes 99% of grease. so it doesn't get passed from dish... to dish. cleaned and stacked. like ducks in a row. new dawn powersuds. [♪♪] are you one of the millions of americans who suffer from an upset stomach after a big meal? try pepto bismol. unlike some products, pepto coats and soothes your digestive system, to provide fast 5-symptom relief. stock up on pepto today. ♪ it's native ♪ aluminum-free, 72-hour odor protection with just 6 ingredients. have you seen what's in your old stuff? there's more than double the amount of ingredients in this deodorant! clean, effective deodorant isn't a myt—- it's native! a mystery! jessie loves playing detective.

but the real mystery was her irritated skin. 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. we are back with states now considering proposals to ask about immigration status when enrolling students in school. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more from oklahoma city. >> reporter: after weeks of protest. >> suspend all activity related to immigration. >> reporter: a contentious school board meeting. >> why is this board to say that people or children are trash. >> so glad you're standing with president trump. >> reporter: last month state board members approved the proposal that would require

public school districts in oklahoma to ask parents for proof of citizenship before enrolling their kids. this is the state superintendent and a staunch supporter of president trump. do you believe that local and state officials should help enforce federal immigration law? >> absolutely. they should be following every order, every directive from the trump administration. >> reporter: a landmark 1982 supreme court decision held that children are entitled to public education regardless of immigration status. but in addition to oklahoma, at least four other states have seen measures introduced in their legislatures trying to restrict undocumented children from attending public school or requiring proof of citizenship. this woman in oklahoma city is undocumented and asked us to conceal her face. she says every child should have the opportunity to go to class, but she's now terrified of her son being rounded up. walters, the superintendent, is now facing backlash from within his own party. do you support him?

>> no, i don't. >> reporter: governor kevin stitt, who supports trump's immigration policies argues walters is going too far. >> i've heard him talk about criminal elements. >> reporter: it heads to the republican-controlled legislature. but even if lawmakers were to sign off, the governor says he'll veto it. >> thank you. still to come, shrek is love, shrek is life. and he's finally coming back to life. find out what huge star and which one is going to join him in the swamp in the first look at shrek 5. mp in the first look at shrek 5. 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. before you go to extremes to fix sagging and wrinkles with expensive injections. try this. olay regenerist. olay boosts skin cell regeneration to firm, lift, and reshape volume without painful prices.

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hey, magic mirror, who's the fairest of them all? >> why shrek, of course. >> ew, dad. >> woo-hoo. mama like. >> who's making this stuff? >> not me. >> whoa! >> just when you thought it was

ogre, shrek, donkey and fiona making an all-star comeback. dreamworks dropping a teaser for shrek 5. it confirms the return of the lead trio as well as zendaya who's joining the cast as shrek and fiona's daughter. it hits theaters in december of 2026. i know you're asking, is e banderas coming back? we don't know. >> when those three get together and add in so many others it's going to be so fun to watch. one of dunder mifflin's finest is taking it beyond the paper industry. >> i am super cool. i am an accountant at a failing paper supply company, scranton,

much like mckellen. >> he is reprising his role as oscar in the followup to the office. it follows another documentary crew filming the exploits of a struggling midwestern newspaper. >> anything related to the office. any spinoff. >> anything. people are going to be die hard about it, and it's going to be funny. when we come back, how blue origin is making space history. and the crunch wrap supreme with a new mini version. p supre with a new mini version. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and

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selflessness. a teacher giving a colleague she barely knew, the gift of a new lease on life. >> reporter: maggie goodman only knew thomas in passing. they both teach in queens. but when maggie saw the facebook post about thomas needing a kidney she acted. >> she came up to me with a bag of kidney beans and said, will you take my kidney? i said are you shocked? >> reporter: he barely knew maggie. he was overwhelmed by her selflessness. doctors say it is a rare thing. of the 25,000 transplants last year, 6,000 were from living dononors. humans have two kidneys and can survive with one. >> it is done with one little

cut, less than an inch hole in the bellybutton and the kidney removed from the same incision. >> reporter: the generosity allowed thomas to avoid dialysis. it took about two and a half hours. maggie was in the hospital for two nights and three days. maggie wants others to know how easy the process was for her. he's thankful for maggie's selfless act. >> i've been walking almost every day since the surgery, and i'm back to work. i went this past monday, which was the two-week mark. i am back to normal and feeling really good. >> it was a real surprise. and i just think that she's like an angel. so she saved my life. >> reporter: and those at north well health hope others will see their story and be inspired to be living donors themselves. just ask maggie how good it feels to give the gift of life. >> he deserves to be here and

have a life with his 7-year-old daughter and his wife. >> giving a bag of kidney beans and a new life. our thanks for that report. now to florida and a game of golfer versus gator.s gator. the golfer used his wedge to nudge the gator back into the water. >> that's the move of a man who's lived in florida. >> i said they're more afraid of you, the majority of time. >> horschel grew up watching his dad grab alligators by the tail. he has never done that before. but he is not afraid to use his club. thanks for kicking off friday with "early today." i'm frances

right now at five, a pivotal