it's monday, february 17th, 2025. this is "cbs news mornings." death and destruction. flash flooding ravages the southeast as high winds bring down trees and power poles while snow and ice plaster the northeast. moving full speed ahead with

his agenda. president donald trump revs up for another week of layoffs in the federal government. pushing peace. america's new top diplomat and ukraine's president both in the middle east as concern grows the u.s. may leave allies out of direct talks to end russia's war in ukraine. good morning, i'm shanelle kaul in for michael george. we start with the powerful storms that's unleashed death and destruction across several states. kentucky taking the brunt of this where at least nine people have died. another person was killed in georgia, and in alabama at least one tornado touched down. take a look at this video. a car seen swept away by raging floodwater in west virginia. luckily no one was inside the vehicle at the time. meanwhile, snow and ice making travel treacherous from the midwest to the northeast, and now another polar vortex is moving in, plunging the northern rockies and plains in arctic

air. forecasters are warning of life-threatening cold with temperatures reaching as low as 45 below zero in parts of montana. cbs' skyler henry has more. >> reporter: ice cold floodwaters rose quickly across the south. >> i got you. i got you. >> reporter: rescue workers in kentucky have performed more than 1,000 water rescues. at least eight people died in the state including a mother and her 7-year-old child trapped by flash flooding. >> this is one of the most serious weather events we'll dealt with in at least a decade. >> reporter: the overnight storm delivered some of the most severe weather the south has seen all season. in alabama, sunday services were canceled after winds tore the steeple off this church. >> the power is out. there's power lines down. all the trees behind the church are gone. >> reporter: storms also swept through parts of florida and georgia where tornado watches were still in effect today.

in atlanta's grove park neighborhood, first responders said a man was sleeping in his bed when a tree crashed through his roof killing him. >> it was an extremely large tree and caught the corner of the structure. because of the large weight and size of the tree, it -- it made itan extended operation. >> reporter: thunderstorms also knocked out electricity in at least nine states. line workers will now have to contend with record low temperatures as they work to restore power to more than half a million customers. >> that was skyler henry reporting. today thousands of federal workers are without a job while thousands more are worried they could be next. the trump administration continues to push ahead with plans to shrink the federal work force, and now the nation's highest court is being asked to weigh in on the first of what may likely be a steady stream of appeals to his orders. cbs' jarred hill is following all of this from new york and joins me now with more on this. good morning. >> lawyers for the trump white house want the supreme court to

weigh in on how or whether the president can fire the head of a government ethics watchdog agency. you zoom out, and this will be the first time the high court dives into the scope of presidential power under this new administration. nearly a month back in office, president donald trump with a victory lap at sunday's daytona 500. >> our country is doing well again. >> reporter: praise from some as the president and elon musk continue full throttle. >> i think he's doing this. it's going to take time. >> reporter: steep cuts in the federal work force are leaving thousands of employees on edge. at least 1,300 have been laid off at the centers for disease control and prevention. more than 1,000 employees cut from the department of veterans affairs. and thousands of probationary workers across multiple departments received termination notices last week. among them chelsea milburn, a navy veteran based in nevada, fired from the department of education.

>> government reform can be a good thing. but it's not good to take broad sweeping actions that don't take into account people's lives, their performance, or, you know, their service to this country. >> reporter: california-based former irs worker jourdain solis was one of nearly 70,000 to take a voluntary buyout with the promise of full pay and benefits through september. >> treat employees like this and to say take this offer now or potentially get laid off later, that was very disrespectful to most of the federal work force. >> reporter: those job cuts being challenged in the courts, part of at least 70 lawsuits the trump administration is already facing. at least a dozen immigration judges who'd yet to be sworn in were also fired just in the past couple of days. to put the next into context, the national association of immigration judges said last year the average caseload for a single judge was about 5,000 cases. >> jarred hill in new york. thank you.

the trump administration is pushing ahead with efforts to end the war between russia and ukraine. secretary of state marco rubio arrived in saudi arabia overnight where u.s. government officials tell cbs news he will lead an american delegation to meet with russian officials to begin peace negotiations. it comes as ukrainian president volodymer zelenskyy traveled to the united arab emirates to meet with officials there. the uae could be a possible site for future peace talks. european leaders are holding an emergency meeting in paris today amid concern they're being left out of the discussion if the u.s. moves ahead with direct talks with russia to end the war. before heading to saudi arabia, marco rubio stopped in israel as president trump tries to reshape post war gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is signaling he is pushing ahead with trump's controversial proposal to move palestinians out of the war-torn

territory. cbs' chris livesay has more from tel aviv. >> reporter: both the optics and the words made it clear where the u.s.-israel relationship stands on gaza. >> president trump and i are working in full cooperation and coordination between us. >> reporter: on his first visit to israel as secretary of state, marco rubio championed president trump's once-unspeakable proposal -- to move all of gaza's two million people somewhere else, to turn it into the riviera of the middle east. >> the president's been very bold about his view of what the future for gaza should be. not the same tired ideas of the past, but something that's bold and something that, frankly, took courage and vision. >> reporter: prime minister benjamin netanyahu echoed president trump who last week threatened all hell is going to break out if hamas failed to release the hostages. >> we have a common strategy,

and we can't always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one of them. >> reporter: despite nearly collapsing, the fragile cease-fire holds after hamas released three more hostages. one of them an american citizen, sagui dekel-chen, kidnapped on october 7th, 2023, from the town of nur oz. also kidnapped 84-year-old oded lifshitz who remains in hamas captivity says his daughter sharon. president trump has taken a much more vocal role in the cease-fire. does that help, or does that hurt? >> you know, with putin i do not know. i think we have to wait and see. >> reporter: chris livesay, cbs news, tel aviv. coming up this morning, beyond depraved. the crime police are now calling

one of the most horrific they've ever seen. and on a wing and a prayer. how the archbishop of new york ended up presiding over mass in canada. asthma. does it have you missing out on what you love with who you love? it's time to get back out there with fasenra. fasenra is an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma that is taken once every 8 weeks and can also be taken conveniently at home. fasenra helps prevent asthma attacks. most patients did not have an attack in the first year. fasenra is proven to help you breathe better so you can get back to doing day-to-day activities. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems. serious allergic reactions may occur. get help for swelling of your face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens or you have a parasitic infection. headache and sore throat may occur. get back to better breathing. get back to what you've missed.

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with plastic and glassware on top. cascade complete removes visible and invisible residue, for virtually spot-free and shiny dishes. switch to your dishwasher, and cascade complete. welcome back. police in peru used an initial disguise to capture a drug suspect. police video here shows an officer in a capybara costume holding a valentine's day gift outside a home on friday before charging in when the door opens. once inside he pinned the suspect down and arrested him. authorities say they found 1,700 packages of cocaine and marijuana. a place full of passengers stranded for days, and a disturbing murder case. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." "the new york times" reports a transgender man killed in new york state was tortured for more than a month according to police. the body of sam nordqvist was

found in a field in finger lakes region last week, four days after his family requested a welfare check. he had traveled from minnesota to new york last september and was staying in a motel. on friday five people were arrested and charged with murder. a prosecutor called the circumstances surrounding the death, quote, beyond depraved. the "associated press" says a measles outbreak in texas has risen to 48 cases, the worst in almost 30 years. health officials there say most of the cases are in children and teens, and those who are infected are either unvaccinated or their status is unknown. 13 people have been hospitalized, and authorities say the cases so far have been concentrated in a close-knit, undervaccinated rural mennonite community in west texas. and cbs new york says new york archbishop cardinal timothy dolan delivered his homily in a canadian parish after his flight to ireland was grounded for

several days due to high winds. dolan was on a united airlines flight from new jersey last thursday when it was diverted to newfoundland after a passenger suffered a medical emergency. more than 250 people on board and crew were taken off the plane, but they couldn't get back on after high winds grounded the flight. dolan, who presided over mass in newfoundland yesterday, thanked the parish for taking him in. >> we are sure very grateful for the hospitality that you all have shown to us. i've learned that you're kind of used to it here in st. un's, newfoundland, that this happens often since this is the last stop before a plan goes over the atlantic. >> united says weather conditions eventually improved, and the flight to ireland left yesterday. ahead on this hour -- icy relations. the gloves come off multiple times during a hockey tournament between the u.s. and canada.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ the golden state warriors' steph curry captured it mvp honors in front. -- front of his home fans at last night's nba all-star game. curry scored 12 points to help shaq's o-gs "beat" chuck's global stars 41-25 in the final of the first-ever all-star mini tournament. among curry's highlights was a shot from half-court. shaquille o'neal drafted curry for his squad in the team three-game tournament. tariff tensions between the u.s. and canada found their way to a hockey match between the two countries. three fights broke out saturday in the first nine seconds of the four nations faceoff tournament. that was after fans in montreal booed the american national anthem before the game.

the u.s. won 3-1. the two teams could meet again in boston in thursday's championship game. amazon workers vote no, and a cbs blackout averted. here's cbs' carissa lawson with the cbs "moneywatch" report. >> repoter: the markets are closed on this presidents' day after ending last week on a mixed note. the dow lost 165 points. the nasdaq gained 81, and the s&p 500 slid by less than one point. weaker than expected reports on retail sales. sales dropped by .9% after two months of gains. apparently the cold weather put the worst dent in car sales and specialty stores since it kept more americans indoors. and a big win for retail giant amazon. a worker is at the warehouse near raleigh voted against joining a union. the group which launched the

uniization drive blamed the loss on what they called amazon's efforts to intimidate workers. amazon is glad workers chose to maintain a depth relationship with the company instead. paramount and google's youtube tv strike a deal to avert a blackout. it keeps nearly two dozen paramount channels including cbs comedy central, and nickelodeon available on the streaming platform. the dispute centered on carriage fees. both companies said they were happy to come to terms on a new deal. and that's your cbs "moneywatch" report for this monday morning. i'm carissa lawson, cbs news, new york. up next this morning, live from new york. a-list stars turn out to celebrate a landmark sketch comedy show. ch comedy show. ith my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms... ...with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after trying a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq works differently. rinvoq is a once-daily pill

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and take back what's yours. here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ i sang this song with george harrison on "saturday night live" in 1976. >> i was not born then. and neither were my parents. [ laughter ] >> what a night it was. the legendary paul simon and sabrina carpenter opened up last night's 50th anniversary tribute to "saturday night live." citement afternoon has hosted -- simon has hosted four times and been a

musical guest 13 times. steve martin who also has been a staple on the show since it began in 1975 gave the opening monologue. it was a who's who was casts and hosts and guests from the past half century. they were all there to celebrate the special milestone. ♪ you're gonna carry that weigh carry that way ♪ ♪ for a long time ♪ >> sir paul mccartney closing the night there with a rarely performed beatles medley. the british academy film awards the baftas were given out in london last night. >> the bafta goes to "conclave." [ cheers ] >> the papal thriller "conclave" won four prizes including the biggest of the night, best picture. adrien brody took home his award as best actor beating out timothee chalamet, colman domingo, ralph fiennes

hugh grant, and sebastian stan. and mikey madison won for lead actress in the hit "anora." the oscars will be given out next month. and "captain america brave new world" had the biggest box office opening weekend of 2025. >> captain america. ask yourself who's playing who. >> marvel's release brought in -- get this -- $88.5 million in ticket sales. it is expected to hit $100 million domestically by the end of this presidents' day weekend. "cbs mornings," actor brandon skelnar will be live in studio. you get vaccinated ed that against pneumococcal pneumonia... ...even if you're healthy. why? if you're 50 or older, you're at 6.4 times greater risk of getting pneumococcal pneumonia. so schedule at vaxassist.com today. mopping is hard work, but then i tried the swiffer powermop. it has a built-in solution

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♪ trumpets on this presidents' day holiday as we welcome you to "cbs mornings." i'm gayle king. >> i'm tony dokoupil. >> i'm vlad duthiers. >> nate is off, but we're still here. let's go to today's "eye opener." it's your world in 90 seconds. deadly winter storms carve a