>> yes, yes, we do. we build pipelines all the time. and as we await the first substantial veto of the obama presidency, we've got ourselves a little scoop about how that's going. and that will be here tomorrow little scoop about how that's going and that will be here tomorrow night. "first look" supp next is up next. good thursday morning. right now on "first look," breaking details unfolding at this hour of a possible ukraine cease-fire just announced by russia's vladimir putin. more breaking news bob simon tragically killed in a new york city crime crash. the president's aggressive plan to step up in the fight against isis the fifth largest lottery in american history worth well over a half billion dollars and three big winners. plus new details surrounding the murder of three north carolina students. an civilians take down a driver involved in a high-speed police chase. thanks for waking up and joining us that day.

i'm betty nguyen. just moments ago russian president vladimir putin announce add cease-fire in the ukrainian conflict. lit begin this saturday. ukrainian president poroshenko says both sides will start sending out heavy artillery. the cease-fire comes after nearly 16 hours of talks. we will have more details on this ahead in the show. also breaking this morning, legendary 60 minutes correspondent bob simon has died. simon was killed in a car accident in new york city on wednesday. he was the passenger in a car sitting in the back seat. police say the driver lost control, slammed into another car and the median of the west side highway. by the time officers arrived, the 73-year-old was unconscious and unresponsive. he later died at a hospital. his career with cbs spanned over 47 years and won him 27 emmys and four peabody awards. he started as a reporter in 1967. it was his war reporting that

put him on the map. his book "40 days" chronicled the time he spent in an iraqi prison. in 1996 he joined "60 minutes," a feature on the oscar nominated film "selma" appeared this weekend. >> selma, alabama and hollywood, california are many years apart, one the dream factory of america, the other, a south southern town where 50 years ago history was written in blood. anchor scott pelle said one of the great writers of a generation has passed. bob simon was a journalist of extraordinary krarnlg. cnn's anderson cooper said bob simon was the best writer in my opinion working in broadcast news. i have admired him from the time i was a kid watching. he's survived by his wife francois and daughter tanya who is a "60 minutes" producer.

the senate will vote on the nomination of ashton carter to be the next secretary of defense. carter would be the man expected to carry out the president's plan against the terror group. nbc's tracie potts is in washington with more. >> reporter: this afternoon congress votes on ashton carter as definance secretary. he'd take over a war president obama wants to expand up to three years in iraq syria and perhaps beyond. >> the president should have all the tools necessary to win the fight that we're in. >> there is no appetite for any boots on the ground except in limited circumstances. >> reporter: that is the key issue, will congress authorize what the president calls limited enduring offensive combat. >> very broad, very ambiguous. no one knows what enduring offensive combat operations means. >> reporter: president obama

explains. >> i will only send our troops into harm's way when it's absolutely necessary for our national security. >> i'm not going to vote for anything that has the interpretation that we can have combat ground forces on the fight line fighting someone else's war. >> reporter: military leaders insist this war cannot be won by air alone. >> we know we need competent partners on the ground but they don't necessarily need to be u.s. boots on the ground. >> reporter: democrats want more detail. >> so you don't have an open-ended check, we don't end up in in another iraq and afghanistan. >> reporter: republicans want more leeway. >> we may not advocate that for now, but why take that option off the table. >> reporter: a vote may not happen until march. >> that was nbc's tracie potts reporting. the bhous is helping the family of deceased american hostage kayla mueller set the record straight on what she experienced during her time in isis captivity. a spokesperson for the national security council release add statement that said, quote, reports published by certain

news outlets regarding her time in captivity are speculative and unproven. for a firsthand account of her time in captivity, we encourage people to read the letter written by kayla in captivity. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell spoke with rachel maddow behind the white house's statement. >> they have been on other networks that kayla was somehow under the pro decks of an isis commander, all sorts of implications. normally they would not deny these things because it would involve intelligence. they're saying this is too important, the family has suffered enough and these reports are simply not true. >> mean while white house officials are trying tofigure out how the 26-year-old died. a candlelight vigil was held at the university of ka ka chapel pell. 46-year-old craig stephen hicks

is charged with three counts of first degree murder. the question what was the motive? police say the shooting was likely the tragic end of a feud over a parking space. the sus spengt's wife backs up that claim. but others were say the three were targeted because of their religion including one of the victim's fathers. >> this was a hate crime from a neighbor. our children spoke about, they were uncomfortable with. >> still trending on twitter this morning. #muslimlivesmatter. to a high-speed chags in texas you have to see. after a 911 call reporting a carjacking, police changed down this car and through residential streets. this ended when the driver tried to split two cars at a red light then slammed between them. a man, a mother and her child were inside. after asking her son if she was okay, the woman got out and went after the suspect. that led to a fight and a takedown. that's when police arrived. the mother later explained she

had an added level of emotion. >> i just lost my 4-year-old child on the second day of school, and to think of something else happening to another one of my kids i just can't imagine. >> this tweet from dallas police major max gerrand, thankful they were not vird. i would never advise you to do that. adrenaline and anger. moving on to this. there are three winning tickets in that gigantic powerball jackpot. the tickets were sold in north carolina puerto rico and texas. in texas the ticket was sold at the apple tree food mart in princeton. here are the winning numbers, check your tickets. 11 13 25 39 54 with the powerball number being 19. the lucky winners were split $564 million, the fifth largest lottery prize in u.s. history.

there were 33 tickets that matched all the numbers except for the powerball. those tickets are each worth 1 million bucks. speaking of money, let's get down to business with cnbc's layne nah dowdy. a new survey by fi dealt finds women don't like to talk about money. about 80% say they've held back discussing finances with friends and family because they consider it too personal or it makes them uncomfortable. while three-quarters of women say they're saving for the future 60% worry they won't have enough for retirement. kisses may not come cheap for valentine's day especially the chocolate ones. cocoa prices have soared due to rising prices in asia. that's forced chocolate producers to raise prices and shrink packages. netflix accidentally released new episodes from

"house of cards" two weeks early. the dhra ma was taken down shortly before it was posted. netflix blames it on a technical glitz. >> i wish i would have known about that before they took it down. i love that show. to sports and my friend francis rivera. >> good morning to you. not really a good outcome here. they used players living outside their district to defeat nevada for the u.s. little league world series championship. reaction to the jackie robinson west team being stripped. first from one of the players dads and from one of the players. >> they worked hard to win that title and for them to be stripped away -- >> i wanted this since the beginning of the year. i was so happy -- i was so happy when we got the title. i was sad for jackie robinson little league, but i made a lot of friends on that team.

i was heartbroken for them. >> no word yet if the team from nevada will get a vision to it the white house. to tiger woods and his unacceptable golf game after shooting an 82 in phoenix and pulling out of torrey pines with back injuries he plans to continue physical therapy and is hoping to return in a few weeks for the honda classic. anthony davis officially pulled out of this week's nba all-star game. the pelican's star forward was injured when he takes this nasty fall in the game against the bulls. anthony mason is reportedly in critical condition after suffering a massive heart attack several days ago. the 48-year-old mason is said to have multiple surgeries in a new york city hospital. a lot of people wishing him well. in college hoops number two virginia survives a close one against the wolfpack of nc state, 51-47. it was their first game without injured starter justin anderson. in the world of college

hoops, they say good-bye to one-of-a-kind, hall of fame coach jerry tarkanian who died in a las vegas hospital. he took his running rebels to the final four four times and winning it all in 1990 mark the shark was 84 years old. >> definitely had an impact. thank you. a way for you to control your facebook page for eternity. plus the american sniper murder trial got under way with emotional details from chris kyle's wife they yeah. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. an incredibly active winter weather pattern is setting up. we'll get hit again in boston as we go throughout this weekend. first with today, snowshowers out there, numerous errors a little coating out there. maybe a little slick but not that bad. only putting down an inch or less in areas from the

appalachians northward. the new storm will be located over western new york. not much of a storm at this point. it will dip down over water and blow up into a very large storm, a strong nor'easter type storm. this is the weather pattern on sunday. huge storm passing south of nova scotia. our computers are pinpointing as much as six to 12 inches maybe a foot or more. what we're looking at is also a really strong area of high pressure at the same time. it's going to be out to the west. this is going to set up very windy conditions in the middle. we're looking at blizzard conditions. maybe another blizzard possible in the boston area starting late saturday night and definitely all day sunday. that's on top of this bitterly cold air that's now coming down in the central plains. pick your poison. record cold coming down through the eastern half of the country, now we have another blizzard in boston as we go through sunday. >> it just doesn't stop. when is spring getting here?

let's take you to the trial of the american sniper murderer. former marine accused of killing navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle and his friend chad littlefield. kyle's widow was the first witness called to the stand. she recounted her final conversation with her husband. >> chris kyle was sitting in the driver's seat on his telephone and he texts chad littlefield sitting right next to him. he texted to him, this dude is straight up nuts. he says ralph suffers from mental ill conditionses including psychosis and p tfrmthssd. prosecutors say there were other factors in the deadly 2013 incident. >> not only did he not know his conduct was wrong, he thought he

had to take their lives because he was in danger. >> he admits these two men abused drug and alcohol that morning and what he knew what he was doing was wrong. a new facebook policy lets you designate a friend or family member to handle your account when you dichlt they'll be able to do the very things you're doing now, accept new friend requests and even update your cover picture. take a look at this. notice anything odd in this picture? police did too. they became suspicious when they saw snow had only melted on this part of a row of houses so they raided it and found a substantial pot-growing operation. they figured out the lamps used to cultivate the plants multi-ed the snow. good detective work there. winks from mom and governor punts on evolution, and a

candidate's baby picture that both sides of the aisle will find cute. scrambled politics is next. with ink plus from chase. like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. buying a used car can be a scary proposition. you walk onto that lot and immediately you are surrounded like a guppy in a shark tank. it just feels like car salesmen want to sell whatever car is best for them, not best for me. there's gotta be a better way. ♪ ♪ as long as people drive cars carmax will be the best way to buy them.

[ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. [ m'm... ] [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® push your enterprise and you can move the world. ♪ ♪ but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure. from a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. and stay ready for everything that is still to come. shopping online is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today.

♪ (playful growl) vo: because every moment matters, so does your network. verizon. this valentine's day get $100 off a swarovski crystal battery cover or the samsung gear s. perfect with a new samsung galaxy note 4 for $0 down with edge. plus, get a $100 bill credit for each smartphone you switch. get our best deals (dog barks) for the ones you love (dog barks) this valentine's day. (dog barks) verizon. 20 minutes past the hour. here is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." the house passed a bill approving the keystone x line pipeline. president obama is promising to veto the measure. wisconsin governor and possible gop president hopeful scott walker decides to punt on

the issue of whether he believes in evolution. he says quote, that's a question a politician shouldn't be involved in one way or another. so i'm going to leave that up to you. after getting quite a bit of attention for that response walker later tweeted both science and my faith dictate my belief that we are created by god. i believe faith and science are compatible and go hand in hand. on msnbc.com, gop lawmaker wants to bear yoga pants. david moore's bill is part of an effort to strengthen the state's indecent exposure laws. turns out the white house is a bit emotional about john daly stepping down from "the daily show." white house press secretary josh ernest was asked about it yesterday. >> i would certainly describe myself as a fan and occasional victim of jon stewart. we will certainly be sad to see

him go. former florida governor jeb bush celebrated his birthday yesterday. his presidential dad george h.w. sent him love over social media. he tweeted this picture saying happy b day jeb. his table manners have improved. jeb's retweet, thanks dad. one republican congressman andy harris did something interesting on camera this week. take a look. c-span video caught him sitting down right behind his colleague and winking directly at the camera. he winks at least one more time before standing up and walking off. what is that all about? well, the hill reached out to a spokesperson for harris who says his mother watches him on c-span and gets a kick out of seeing him on tv. that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." got to love mom. i'm joined by syndicated columnist bob franken. if i wink during this i'm just saying hello to mom.

>> i was going to ask you, have you ever winked. >> no i haven't, until now. we'll talk about something serious. overnight russian president vladimir putin announced a cease-fire to the fighting in eastern ukraine. this is going to kick in on sunday. but do you think this is going to last? >> well that's a real good question. the answer is we can't tell. cease-fire haves had a bad habit of not lasting, particularly in that region. at best this is a teeny tiny step forward which i suppose is in the right direction. at the same time the principals involved, the various eu figures, a meeting with putin in minsk were saying they were unable after 15 hours of negotiation to really get substantial progress to try and resolve the ukraine crisis. as i said it's a step in the right direction, but only a small one. >> it's a step in the right direction, and you talked a little bit about it. but could there possibly be some kind of agreement on the table, something that they're working

with? >> well, there are certainly proposals on the tashlgs but there are all kinds of complications. for instance, one of them is will this region get autonomy. there's pretty much agreement that there will be autonomy. to use the cliche the devil is in the details. that's what they have not been able to figure out which is what form will that autonomy take. >> meanwhile president obama faces a lot of pressure to send military aid to ukraine. isn't there fear that that would really only aggravate the situation? >> well there is that fear particularly among those from the european union who are saying at the moment that could be disruptive, but there is also a suspicion that he's acting as the bad cop while they're the good cop which, of course is a common negotiating tactic. >> bob franken, thank you very much. just ahead, how a florida couple woke up inside a garbage truck. prison time for the former executive behind the korean air nut rage incident. those details next.

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former korean air executive gets one-year sentence in the nut rage episode. the daughter of the korean air chairman forced a plane to return to the gate. the reason she wanted the chief flight attendant removed for serving the nuts on a package instead of a plate. a man and woman fell asleep in a dumpster. the next morning a garbage truck driver dumbed the container and just before compacting the track, he saw them jumping

around in the truck. both were intoxicated. i'm betty nguyen this is "first look" on msnbc. thomas roberts is next with "way too early." make no mistake, this is a difficult mission, but our coalition is on the offensive. isil is on the defense and isil is going to lose. the president making his case forward power authority but with an in point and out point. can he get congress to back him in a potential three-year fight against isis. shocking loss remembering cbs newsman bob simon who was killed in a fatal car crash in new york city wednesday night. and then not so fast "house of cards" season three making this brief appearance on netflix two weeks ahead of its release date. hollywood mistake or evil genius

marketing move? this is "way too early." ♪ ♪ hey, everybody, good morning. i'm thomas roberts, this is thursday, february 12th, welcome to wait wait. we're going to brief you on what netflix was up to, what they're saying about that early release. we want to begin with breaking news from europe where russian president vladimir putin announcing a cease-fire set to begin on saturday in eastern ukraine. talks ran for nearly 15 hours in minsk with leaders of france and germany taking part with ukraine and russia. more than 5,000 people have died in the conflict since last april. we're going to keep you updated on the developments throughout the morning. we turn our attention to washington where democratic and republican lawmakers appear to be in agreement about having