an emotional day ahead as students, teacher, and faculty at marjory stoneman douglas high school return to class following the valentine's day shooting that left 17 dead. an nbc news exclusive. an investigation has found that seven u.s. states were compromised by the russians before the 20 election. was enough done to protect american voters? i believe that president putin has clearly come to the conclusion there is little price to pay here. nearly a dozen sickened at a base in arlington as the hazmat and the fbi are called in to investigate a letter containing a suspicious substance. a report that white house communications director hope hicks admits that she is required to tell white lies for president trump. and score one for the teachers.

"early today" starts right now. >> good morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. classes resumed today at marjory stoneman douglas high school two weeks after 17 people were killed when a gunman opened fire inside the parkland, florida school. stoneman douglas only holding a half day of classes today, with many expecting emotions to run high. >> some of my friends are having a harder time than others. i'm doing okay right now. the shock kind of wore off from it all, and i've started to accept it. >> now new details are emerging in the shooting investigation. kerry sanders has more. >> reporter: nbc news has learned shooting suspect nikolas cruz may have had plans to unleash even more carnage inside his former high school. law enforcement sources say at the time cruz dropped his ar-15 he still had five fully loaded magazines, more than 150 unspent rounds. one of the magazines marked with a swastika. inside the school, the windows

were shattered from the inside. investigators believe cruz tried to shoot out the windows at students running for their lives. but the hurricane-strength windows would not break. cruz was captured more than two miles away by coconut creek police officer michael leonard. honored as a hero. >> my heart is very heavy. obviously, i have a child, similar age. and when you -- when you come against evil like that and you have children at home that are about that age, it's very close to my heart. and it was difficult. >> reporter: the high school now patrolled by armed deputies, in place to protect students who 14 days after the massacre returned to school. like tara and zack. >> one word to describe your anticipation. >> i would say uncertain. >> emotional. >> that was kerry sanders reporting. federal authorities are investigating a hazmat incident that left 11 people sick at a

virginia military base. a pentagon official says an officer at joint base myer-henderson hall opened an envelope containing an unknown substance. when the officer showed it to a superior, both started to feel sick and the building was evacuated. a marine official says those affected suffered mostly from itchy hands and faces and some bloody noses. three people were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition. the fbi and military are jointly investigating the incident. now to an update in a shooting death captured on social media. a man suspected of gunning down a north carolina man who was streaming live on facebook is in custody. police say 65-year-old douglas cleland colson turned himself into police tuesday. he has been arrested before. robinson was gunned down as he was broadcasting himself live just outside wingate university's campus south of charlotte. he was walking home after reporting a stolen cell phone at local police headquarters. in the video, which has since been removed you hear robinson

repeatedly tell someone off camera "you on live" then four gunshots ring out and robinson tumbles to the ground. colson is being held without bond on a charge of first-degree murder. his motive remains unclear. now to an exclusive nbc news report that is sounding the alarm across the country when it comes to russia's influence on our elections after the united states intel community told nbc it developed substantial evidence that websites or voter registration systems in seven states were compromised by a russian-backed hackers prior to 2016. even more disturbing, these states had no idea it happened. well, those headlines are just the tip of the iceberg in the investigation report that is leading nbc's political coverage on nbcnews.com right now. head to the site to learn about just how deep russia's meddling went and what we can do to secure our voting systems as we inch closer to the elections eight month away. this morning there could be more trouble for the president's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner after "the washington post" reported

kushner may have been the target of manipulation by several foreign officials due to his vast multibillion business dealings. the post writing, quote, officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate jared kushner by taking advantage of his complex business arrangement, financial difficulties, and lack of foreign policy experience. >> it is a startling revelation that came the same day kushner was stripped of his access to some of the most highly classified information available following more than a year of operating with just an interim security clearance within the white house. for more we go to nbc's tracie potts. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: frances, good morning. it wasn't just jared kushner amid the fallout from the rob porter scandal at the white house. now it looks like kushner and others who had these interim security clearances as of last friday were stripped of that high level clearance, according to a memo that was issued that nbc news has now confirmed. this is significant for the president's son-in-law because, of course, he has been put in charge of managing the mid east

peace process. according to our experts, he can no longer get intelligence briefings, the president's daily briefing, conversations with others who have that clearance won't happen. according to a spokesman for kushner, there is nothing in his background in the clearance process that would have prompted this. president trump said he was leaving it up to the chief of staff. >> that will be up to general kelly. general kelly respects jared a lot. and general kelly will make that call. >> reporter: now, as you noted, the "washington post" says this was all about nations that may have been trying to influence kushner through his business ties. take a look. some of those nations, according to the post, clues the uae, china, israel, and mexico. they go on to say that white house officials were, quote, concerned that kushner was naive and being tricked in conversations with foreign

officials. so kushner is out of top secret conversations at this point while here on capitol hill the house oversight committee wants information on everyone in the white house who had an interim security clearance in the first year. frances? >> tracie, thank you. to washington where house intel committee members are poring over the latest closed door testimony from white house communications director hope hicks in their russia probe, the long-time trump confidante spent over nine hours being cross-examined. and while hicks did answer some questions about her time on the trump campaign and during the transition, she refused to talk about anything that happened after trump took office. here is one revelation, though, said to be from testimony that hicks gave courtesy of "the new york times." the paper writing, quote, hope hicks told house investigators on tuesday that her work for president trump, who has a reputation for exaggerations and outright falsehoods had occasionally required her to tell white lies. however, the paper continues she insisted that she had not lied

about matters material to the investigations into russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible links to trump associates. still, despite the nine hours behind closed doors, it's clear hicks' testimony wasn't enough to satisfy several on the committee, with the panel's lead democrat, adam schiff saying, quote, we ought to treat this witness like steve bannon, and she should be subpoenaed. a record-breaking heatwave is hitting the north pole leaving scientists stunned. the arctic saw temperatures stay above freezing for almost 24 straight during what would normally be the coldest time of the year. the red seen in this map shows the unusual will warm temperatures in the arctic while most of northern eurasia is covered in blue representing frigid temperatures. according to the university of colorado's national snow and ice data center, this is the third year in a row where we have seen a heatwave during wintertime. >> yeah, management bill karins joining us now. i know a lot of times on twitter you post things. >> a lot of the cold air is in

the wrong place. have you seen the pictures out of europe? the snow in england and ireland and the vatican. it's a little upside down up there. we have our own problems here with the heavy rain moving through memphis into nashville this morning. flash flood watches are up for 12 million people. obviously the flash flooding is going to be life threatening later on today. but we're also dealing with storms in the same spots. about two million people from tyler to shreveport to texarkana and greenville, large hail, damaging winds are possible with that storm system as we go throughout this evening. it looks ber one?

and score one for the teachers in west virginia who battled for better wages. that story next. any object. any surface.

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million. all told, the ten richest members of congress have a cumulative net worth of $1.2 billion with more than half of the collected net worth of congress held by just 12 lawmakers. at the other end of the spectrum are nearly a quarter of the lawmakers, 123, who hold a negative net worth with many citing mortgages as their key reason. >> fascinating there. leading the news this morning, classes in west virginia are expected back in session tomorrow after an agreement to end the massive teacher strike that's kept all public schools closed and hundreds of thousands of students out of the classroom for four days. nbc's gamesmanship gabe gutierrez has the latest. >> reporter: a dramatic finish. >> teachers will go back to work on thursday. tomorrow we'll use tomorrow as like a cooling off day. >> we are united! >> reporter: for four days across west virginia's 55 counties, more than 30,000 school employees went on strike third grade teacher tabitha

richardson was fighting for better pay to take care of her son with special needs. >> we're just fighting for our rights. if that's illegal, here we are. >> reporter: west virginia's teacher pay ranks 48th in the country. an average salary of about $45,000 compared to 58,000 nationwide. >> what's at stake here is public education and the future of west virginia. >> reporter: last week, the governor signed off on a 4% pay raise over three years. but these teachers say that's not enough and won't keep up with rising health insurance costs. >> we need our kids back in school, and we need our teachers back in school. >> reporter: more than 270,000 students can now get back to class. the governor announced that teachers would get a 5% pay raise next year. hundreds gathered here in front of the state capitol, though. not all were satisfied that the state did not take on the longer term issue of rising health insurance costs. still, the first major teacher strike in almost three decade series now over. fellowship? >> gabe gutierrez for news west

virginia. gabe, thank you . just ahead, bill clinton paying his respects to the reverend billy graham. plus, counterfeit items being sold online. how can you be sure you're getting the real deal? you're watching "early today." you're a life of unpredictable symptoms. crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop any new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion, and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. we're fed up with your unpredictability.

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former president bill clinton joined thousands of mourners in charlotte, north carolina to pay his respects to the late reverend billy graham. the famed evangelist died last week at 99 years of age.

speaking at the billy graham library, clinton reminisced about hearing graham preach for the first time. >> every time i think about him, i'd be 11 again, having no idea how my life would turn out. >> graham will lie in honor in the u.s. capitol rotunda today and tomorrow. now to a consumer alert. a new investigation finds some of the biggest names in online shopping are selling products that aren't what they seem. nbc business correspondent jo ling kent explains how to avoid the trap, and what you can do if you just bought the item and it turns out to be a fake. >> reporter: some of the popular products sold on america's top online retailers amazon, walmart, ebay, sears, are really counterfeit products, according to a new report from the government accountability office. of the 47 products tested, 20 were fake, including urban decay makeup, yeti travel mugs, and phone chargers supposedly certified. some of the fake chargers posed

a risk of lethal electrocution. the counterfeit mugs may have high concentrations of lead. and the fake cosmetics con sane cyanide, arsenic, mercury, lead and rat droppings. they look identical. >> we selected items that are available generally on a variety of different websites. we also looked for the prices that were not that far off of retail. >> reporter: l'oreal which owns urban decay and yeti say they have robust programs to protect consumer safety. the company selling the products all tell nbc news they strictly forbid the sale of counterfeit goods, taking swift action to address complaints from customers. >> look for missing safety certification labels. and if you have any concerns that the item is not authentic, contact the retailer and get a refund. >> reporter: another precaution, buy directly from the brand's website. there are so many interest points in this gao report. in fact, the gao tolls us that they couldn't even spot the difference between the real and

fake urban decay cosmetics. they ended up having to send it back to the company to figure out exactly which was real and which was not. frances, back to you. >> all right, jo ling, thank you. just ahead, which hollywood legend had her dog cloned not once but twice? plus, why even oprah has to spell her name at starbucks. you're watching "early today." thou hast the patchy beard of a pre-pubescent squire! thy armor was forged by a feeble-fingered peasant woman... your mom! as long as hecklers love to heckle, you can count on geico saving folks money. boring! fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ayep, and my teeth are yellow.? time for whitestrips. crest glamorous white whitestrips are the only ada-accepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. and they whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste.

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check out here. a year after her beloved dog samantha passed away, the singer revealed that she had the pooch cloned. not once, but twice so the copy dog, miss scarlett who often models a red sweater and miss violet in purple lives with streisand and a third pup. they regularly appear on social media, living the celebrity life. and as you can imagine, it all came at a very lavish price. if you are barbra streisand, you can afford to have the science behind to clone your dogs. >> yeah, more than $100,000 to do that. i'm sure a lot of people would. "a wrinkle in time" hits theaters the 9th. it stars reese witherspoon. they sat down to talk about the roles as well as their everyday lives. >> who pumps their own gas? >> i do. >> i don't. >> i don't. i got to just say i wouldn't know what to do. [ laughter ] >> you can believe that, right?

the queen of television does not remember how to pump her own gas. winfrey did share that she does get her own coffee while at starbucks, recalling a time when a barrista didn't know who she was or even,000 how to spell her name. but i can imagine going to starbucks as oprah, what do you mean you don't know who i am? >> that classic line, don't you know who i am? that's not something oprah would do. tennis champion and new mom serena williams is returning to play her first tournament since giving birth. her husband and possibly biggest cheerleader alexis decided to surprise her as she travels to indian wells next week with these billboards. he set up the four billboard was their daughter along the palm springs highway that say greatest momma of all time. >> wow, much better than a hallmark card. >> that's way to do it. >> you're watching "early today." ke. for a quick and convenient clean, try swiffer wetjet. there's no heavy bucket, or mop to wring out,

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bringing folks out, we have seen it in community after community.

overnight standoff. breaking right now a person is dead after barricading himself inside a home. the impact it's having on a local neighborhood. returning after tragedy. florida students go back to class today for had fist time since a massacre unfolded in their high school. why a plane full with passengers is forced to make an emergency landing at an airport. >> coming up on 4:00 a.m. good morning. this is nbc 10 news today first look at 4:00. i'm tracy davidson. >> and let's get right to our meteorologist bill henley. >> the temperatures would normally be belefreezing but look at this, close to 40

degrees and actually at 40 degrees in new jersey and now up to 41 degrees in the lehigh valley. the temperatures warming even before sunrise this morning. no sign of fog. we will see some scattered high clouds, a partly sunny day. but look at this warmup much 6:00 up 10:00, 10 degrees. new jersey, philadelphia, near 60 in the suburbs and right at 60 for the lehigh valley and delaware, too. i'll break down the day hour by hour and show you how quickly the temperatures climb when i'm back in ten minutes but first jessica boyington has your first alert traffic. here's our cameras just around the ben franklin parkway the westbound side dealing a construction project. they myth just be here to get rid of some of these cones and blockages. but it's supposed to be a lane lost from the westbound side about this point headed up 24th

street. also watching the schuylkill expressway the westbound side here to south street to about 30th we're seeing a lane lost but not affecting the drive times at all. the westbound side starts after where that construction is. not seeing delays where we typically see delays there. septa, new jersey transit, patco, and amtrak all running on schedule so far. a standoff in a burlington county neighborhood has just ended just in the past couple of minutes. it began with a shooting at a home. we know there's one fatality from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. we still don't have word of any person injured in this at cooper medical center right now. there's no threat to the public right now and units rem