a indy darling steals the

show. the all-around best moments from the 97th academy awards. defense secretary pete hegseth ordering a stop to cyber operations against russia. we're live with the decision coming days after president trump's contentious meeting with volodymyr zelenskyy. max security for mardi gras. the historic precautions in place in new orleans after the tragic new year's day terror attack on bourbon street. a state of emergency in south carolina where over 150 wildfires are raging this morning. the largest scorching over a thousand acres near myrtle beach. and how debbie allen is helping her community rise from the ashes after the devastating wildfires in los angeles. it's monday, march 3rd, "early today" starts right now. good monday morning toyou,

i'm frances rivera. many considered this year's oscar field wide open, it was a small indy that ended up having its greatest day. >> and the oscar goes to -- [ gong sound ] >> are they playing us off? >> no. well, maybe. oh, anora. >> enora emerged as the big winner, taking home five awards. there was a rousing call to preserve the movie-going experience. >> watching a film in a theater with an audience is an experience. we can laugh together, scream in fright together. for all f us, when we can, please watch movies in the

theater, and let's keep the great tradition of the movie-going experience alive and well. >> anora's award for title character went to mikey madison. "the brutalist" played runner-up. adrien brodie won best actor for playing hungarian architect, years after winning in the same category for the pianist. zoe saldana became the first american of dominican origin to win for a supporting role in emilia perez. we'll have highlights from hollywood's biggest night later in the show. firefighters in south carolina race to get a handle on dozens of wildfires that burned thousands of acres and forced some people out of their homes, while flames surrounded a neighborhood north of myrtle beach, burning at least 1600 acres and 30% contained. the flames fueled by dry

conditions and strong winds. according to the latest update by the local fire rescue, no injuries have been reported, and no structures have been destroyed. further north, smoke filled the sky in parts of north carolina. officials issued a burn ban in parts of that state, and all of south carolina. growing outrage in florida after a black man was shot and killed there. his death now sparking new calls to investigate what happened as a hate crime. nbc's george solis has the story. >> we need justice! we need accountability! >> reporter: anger growing over the death of jakeem williams, who was shot and killed at a central florida apartment complex late last month. winter garden police arresting 57-year-old ralph hinsle who faces first degree murder charges. he's pd not guilty. according to an arrest affidavit, surveillance video from the complex shows the suspect walked from the leasing office with his firearm, walked around a nearby building, lying in wait as the 32-year-old father rode past on an atv.

witnesses telling police they observed two loud shots and overheard hinsle saying "i killed him." hinsle self-surrendered when please arrived on scene. >> reporter: local police say they've responded to complaints prior. >> he must be convicted of first degree murder. >> reporter: ben crump is representing the family. >> this white man took the law into his own hands and killed this young black father. >> reporter: hinsle remains in custody. >> our baby took his first steps the day after his dad's passing. and he never got to witness that moment. >> reporter: there are growing calls for the case to be investigated as a hate crime, as the family mourns. george solis, nbc news.

new this morning, secretary of state pete hegseth has ordered the pentagon to cease offensive cyber operations against russia. president trump is trying to restore diplomatic channels with russia as his administration seeks a quick end to the war in ukraine. it's not clear how long the order will last. a senior u.s. defense official declined to comment on the decision due to operational security concerns. it comes as president zelenskyy gets a warm welcome in london two days after that disastrous meeting with president trump in the oval office. >> reporter: frances, good morning. it is difficult to overstate how shocking the scenes from the oval office were for allies in europe. yesterday's summit here in london was a testament to that. while russia celebrated the apparent alignment of washington's foreign policy goals with moscow's preferences, european officials called for

urgent re-armament and the fortification of ukraine. ursula von der leyen said europe must help turn ukraine into a steel porcupine that would be indigestible. european leadership is not yet ready to fully give up on the united states. uk prime minister kier starmer, who embraced zelenskyy this weekend had this to say. >> europe must do the heavy lifting. but, to support peace in our continent, and to succeed, this effort must have strong u.s. backing. nobody wanted to see what happened last friday, but i do not accept that the u.s. is an unreliable ally. >> reporter: it is important to keep in mind that starmer, for the moment, has no real choice other than to say this. not only has he been the most successful leader to engage with trump so far.

the fact is europe is not prepared to lose america as an ally. but friday's disaster in the oval office fundamentally changed the tone of the conversation over here. frances? >> matt, thank you. israel stopping the entry of food and humanitarian goods into gaza after hamas refused a u.s. proposal extending the first phase of the cease-fire. under the new proposal, hamas would release half of the hostages at the start of the extension and release the remaining when an agreement is reached for a permanent cease-fire. hamas is accusing israel of blackmail and attempt to avoid the original framework of the cease-fire. benjamin netanyahu says israel will not allow a cease-fire without the release of hostages, but israel is facing some backlash with egypt and qatar, accusing israel of violating humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon. let's turn now to the white house and the effort to slash government spending. there are new concerns over the

future of social security after elon musk went on a podcast and called the benefit as ponzi scheme. alice barr is following the reaction from washington, d.c. what are we hearing from lawmakers? >> reporter: good morning, frances. we saw new reaction on nbc's "meet the press" over the weekend, with senator bernie sanders calling musk's comments outrageous, while house speaker mike johnson defended doge. >> what he's finding with his algorithms crawling through the data of social security system is enormous amounts of fraud, waste and abuse. >> it's worth noting the social security's internal watchdog found less than 1% of benefit payments were improper. >> don't believe it. hey, don't believe it. >> half of elderly people are trying to get by on $30,000 a year. 22% on $15,000 a year. we've got to raise social security benefits, not go after these programs which are so important. >> reporter: and this comes as the social security the social security administration just announced

7,000 workers and close some regional offices. some democratic lawmakers plan to invite fired federal workers as a guest as president trump gives his speech to congress. some remaining federal workers got a new e-mail asking them what they did last week. the new message does not come with any explicit threat of termination, but it does say that they should expect to complete this task every monday by midnight. frances? >> alice, thank you. texas and oklahoma are bracing for another round of strong storms. let's turn to michelle grossman who's tracking it all for us. >> we're looking at the storm chance later on today into the overnight hours, and then once again tomorrow. we could see winds up to 60 miles per hour, so damaging winds, the chance for a few tornados as well. it's a busy week weather wise. we're looking at a system in the

west, the rockies, the high plains for blizzard-like conditions. could see 5 to 10 inches of snow, even up to 18 in some spots this. will move off to the east as we head to the restf the week. plenty of sunshine along the east coast from new england to the mid atlantic into the southeast. we're looking at the chance for snow by wednesday into parts of the midwest. the storm system will move off to the east. now we're looking at the east coast. heavy rain where you see the darker colors. on the backside of the system, the colder air works in. that's why we're looking at the chance for snow in parts of the midwest. then another system moves into the west on wednesday. friday we clear it out in the east. nice and dry from new england to parts of the southeast. sunny skies. more rain and snow in the midwest, also into the central plains and parts of the so id atlantic as

well. 41 in philadelphia. 29 in albany. 33 in boston. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> appreciate that, michelle, thank you. >> sure. pope francis remains in the hospital in stable condition. the pontiff rested well overnight after a breathing scare on friday. he did not need breathing assistance sunday though he was still getting extra oxygen. he was able to participate n sunday mass and offered thanks to well-wishers for their prayers and support. coming up, we roll out the best looks from the red carpet at the oscars. and new orleans steps up serity for mardi gras. when "early today" comes right back.

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away, and new orleans is ramping up security to an unprecedented level after that deadly terror attack on new year's day. nbc's jesse kirsch has the latest. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: in new orleans, the beads are flying. ♪ ♪ bands are blasting. because mardi gras is back in the big easy. security beefed up like never before. the big concern? parade routes that stretch for miles. is this a harder challenge compared to the super bowl to protect? >> yeah, i would, i would say so. several blocks, lots of open spaces. so we strategically put teams at certain areas. we can rapidly hit those situations. >> reporter: after a deadly terror attack here new year's day, mardi gras has more federal resources than ever. unlike last month's super bowl,

officials are again patrolling on the water and in the skies. and bourbon street, the site of the new year's day attack is heavily barricaded and patrolled. ♪ ♪ meanwhile, back on the parade routes? what advantage does a vehicle like this give you in case of an emergency? >> well, it's a lot smaller, a lot more maneuverable. it can hit curbs, get on sidewalks, it's a lot more versatile and faster than a normal patrol car. >> and our thahanks to jesse fo that report. still to come, he put the success in succession, and now there's one thing kieran culkin .ight be a real pain about we have the oscar winner's viral moment. plus the best red carpet looks. ? (jack) nah, we got purina one. it's all the same stuff. (mom) not really. blue life protection formula's got deboned chicken, chicken meal, brown rice, oatmeal, barley... (mia) well purina one has chicken, rice flour, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal...

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now i know in the past this show has gone long, okay? that's not going to happen. ♪ ♪ >> guys? i thought we were all doing

this? >> now, for no good reason. chopsticks on the piano. >> here -- are -- the nominees -- for production design. >> it's great to be back with conan. usually when he calls, he's stuck in a tree. >> all right, one more thing! >> i love that moment. and it wasn't just conan o'brien bringing in the laughs at the oscars. the night s chock-full of clever bits from even some of the winners. kieran culkin told a story about a promise made by his wife about the future of their family. >> oh, god, i did say that. i guess i owe you a third kid. and i turned to her, and i said really, i want four. and she turned me, i swear to god this happened. she turned to me and said i will give you four when you win an

oscar. >> we'll be baby bump watching. anora won so many categories. i was really rooting for demi moore. but i need to watch anora again just to see things differently. >> i need to watch it for the first time. i'm with you on demi moore. i am like, just give it to her. she still has a chance. now to the really fun part on the oscars red carpet. it delivered. zoe saldana was pure elegance. like if old hollywood glam had a reboot, she was the lead. cynthia erivo defied gravity in this louis vuitton. and halle berry wore jewels, she does not know how to miss. she looks good. and demi moore may not have won an oscar but shined on the red carpet in a custom georgio

armani gown. and the men, andrew garfield in a full brown gucci moment, looking good there. and then there's coleman domingo in a custom valentino red and black suit. if there's an award for best-dressed dare devil, give it to him. >> there's timothee chalamet. we saw him when, right? with yellow. kind of surprising, but completely shut out this award season. when we come back, spacex is set to lt ofiff today. and we have a recall alert you'll want to hear before shifting gears on your morning commute. uh, it's a little early for jokes, but here it goes. this muffin goes on vacation— what's happening? you said “joking” three times, that's why i'm here. uh, anyway, so this muffin— well i was just excited about my new car. -new car? oh, you don't need a joke, you need a jake. [singing] like a good neighbor, state farm is there. your state farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. alright, i've got a show, so— you forgot your toothbrush, jimmy fallon!

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and etron sport backs. a nasal spray could reduce brain damage caused by concussions and other raumatic injuries. the spray appeared to induce healing. captain america raked in another $15 million domestically. and spacex is set to launch its eighth flight from star base in texas. it comes as the faa continues an investigation into a mishap that led to an explosion. but the tru? it can't support those claims. choose neuriva plus — which supports six brain health indicators, including memory, with clinically tested ingredients. it's time to switch to neuriva. travel can make you smell kinda funky. but aluminum-free secret whole body deodorant gives me 72 hour whole body freshness. for long layovers. surprise gate changes. and heavy luggage. and it's totally middle-seat approved.

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hollywood star using her fame in solid dance moves to help her community move forward after january's catastrophic fires. hallie jackson has the story. >> you want to become a dancer? you're going to have to work. >> reporter: debbie allen's fame has inspired generations of fans. >> congratulations, sweetheart. >> rorter: and the award-winning star of the big and small screen? >> nice to see you, today. >> reporter: now spreading joy. >> go and have a good class. >> reporter: in a new way, by bringing free dance class through her dance academy to communities devastated by january's deadly california wildfires. >> i said i have to create something for the people that are suffering. and, if we could bring so many different communities together to commune, to dance, we could make a difference. >> reporter: for debbie, helping here is not just a privilege. it's personal. when california's palisades wildfire roared near her home, she, like so many others, had to

evacuate. >> you know, we're used to fires. but this one was different. my mom is 101 years old. and there was no taking pause to be safe with her. i could see from the back yard the red sky and the fires. and i said, baby, we got to get out of here. we got to go. >> reporter: but now debbie and the others here slowly bouncing back. with music, love and laughter. these classes a blessing for trish bryant and her sister in law lanell. >> oh, my gosh. whoa. >> reporter: after fire took their long-time family home. >> for an opportunity to take a dance class with such renowned choreographer just offers healing. >> we are -- gone. >> it's very sad. >> but we know that we will rebuild.

and we will go back. ♪ ♪ for high school sophomore emma stevens and her friend, this is a chance to try something new. they haven't been back to their school since parts of it burned down. >> the dancing itself is very grounding. so many people have been going through such a hard time, and i think that coming to a class like this will just lift your spirits up. >> reporter: like los angeles itself, resilience and resolve. >> buildings can burn. they can destroy physical things. but you can never destroy the spirit. and so it is keeping that spirit alive is what's important. that's what we're doing. >> those dances are both healthy and healing. thanks to hallie jackson for that report. and

hollywood's biggest night, packing plenty