good monday morning. coming up on "early today," ukraine in crisis. new leaders take over after a weekend of turmoil and triumph for protesters and now that the olympics are over, expect to hear more from russia's president. gas pains. prices at the pumps are up because of crisis in places like ukraine and venezuela. and good luck, alec baldwin leaving the public life. saying, quote, i'm done with it. >> dale earnhardt jr. wins a late-night win at the daytona 500. and the nets' 7-foot jason collins makes pro sports history. it's monday, february 24th, "early today" starts right now.

for good morning to you. i'm richard lui. after days of deadly violence, ukraine is ready to move on to its new chapter. ousted president victor uniktor yanukovych is on the run. >> reporter: sunday's mass at st. kiev cathedral was dedicated to the nearly 100 protesters who died to ukraine's ousted president. the cath they had dral maim a fieldhouse when they opened fire on demonstrators. and just as fast as the government twist overturn for that massacre. a new government now being formed. in a series of rapid fire votes, parliament made its speaker interim president. security camera footage appear

those the moment yanukovych fled two nights ago with suitcases realizing, perhaps, it might be a one-way trip. in eye the night, one filled with bon fires and molotov cocktails glowed with candles. >> they are heroes for me. >> reporter: by the memorial's soft light, ukrainians sang their national anthem. protesters built to stop police bullets. >> i have so much pain in my heart. >> reporter: peace is holding, but the protesters aren't convinced the revolution is over. by staying here at any price, these protesters managed to change the political balance of power. in europe, and central asia. but they're not ready to disperse yet. they want to keep the pressure on and oversee this country's transition of power. the challenges ahead may already be emerging. to the east by the russian

border there were marches in support of yanukovych and moscow. >> richard engel reporting for us there. and with the disappearance of yanukovych. protesters took over his estate. chuck hague is expected to propose deep cuts to the u.s. military. "the new york times" reports the plan includes shrinking the farmer to its smallest size since before world war ii. and eliminate all the thunderbolt 2 attack jets because of their capability. and according to "the wall street journal" also includes limits on military pay raises, higher fees on military housing allowances. officials tell the journal that the cuts will save billions of dollars needed to protect other areas of defense spending. a call for a year of action at the governor's dinner but

that's not all. president obama making another call to the white house. and a nod to those possibly looking to replace him come 2016. >> tonight, we want to make sure all of you make yourself at home. to which i'm sure some of you are thinking that's been the plan all along. [ laughter ] >> may be. seating arrangement of note, vice president joe biden flanked by massachusetts governor democrat deval patrick and republican scott walker of wisconsin. first lady michelle obama between nikki haley and mike peninsula of inall cited as potential candidates for 2016. earlier suggested that obamacare is here to say. they say a full repeal of the law would be complicated if not impossible. is so after a decade of frustration, dale earnhardt jr. finally winning his second daytona 500. it was a 6 hour and 22-minute rain delay on sunday. the race did resume at around

8:00 p.m. eastern. and earnhardt took the lead and got his second victory in the great american race. he radioed his crew saying, hey, this is better than. first one. he finished second in three of the last four races at daytona where his father was killed back in 2001. it was also earnhardt's first win in 57 races. congratulations. jason collins has become the first openly gay player to play in any of america's four professional sports. collins signed a ten-day contract with the nets. he was applauded when he checked in against the lakers. the 7-footer did not score. the nets beat l.a. 101-93. collins saying he was too busy trying to make plays than making history. you know, alec baldwin, he's saying he's leaving public life for good. the 55-year-old actor's thoughts appearing in a 5,000 words ska for a new york magazine online

saying in part that he, quote, loathes and deprices the media in a way he never thought possible. baldwin says he's ready to move out of new york city and back to los angeles. he says in l.a., he can live behind a gate, drive a car and interact minimally with the public. and baldwin denies ever using a homophobic slur in a confrontation with a photographer. nbc's meteorologist bill karins is here with us. at least for now. >> he's going to isolationism. we've got weather to talk about. good stuff in the west? >> yeah, we need the rain coming into california and the snow. that's about the only good thing to say. the rest is winter's here stay with a nice break for a week or at least a couple days. with the cold blast returning from canada. the windchills this morning at fargo down to negative 19. and this is just a hint of things to come. as the cold air will sweep into the east during the day today. society white on the map shows

you where the really true arctic air is. there will be a lot of reference to the polar vortex as we go through the next week or two. but the bottom line there's a lot of cold air by the hudson bay. and it spills down tuesday, through thursday, and for the north half of this country, ohio valley to the northeast, you have to be prepared for a very cold week, almost like january. these are the high temperatures in chicago this week. 11 on wednesday. thursday, 13. this doesn't even factor in the windchill factor. at least we don't have any big snowstorms heading this way. it will be pretty much cold air. no big snowstorms will accompany it at least for the next five days. here's the highs today, 13 in minneapolis. for get melting the snow in new england as the cold air has swept back in. that's your national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. so, today, this is just kind of the beginnings of our cold period. all indications are this is

going to last at least through the first week of march. usual list, it's only short-lived this time of year. not this time. i don't know about you, but i think i'm more apt at this point in the winter to deal with the cold. >> yeah. >> as long as we don't add to the snow. >> yeah. some of it's melted away, so it won't be as much of an irritant. i was so hoping to hang up my overcoat. what's happening in ukraine is directly affecting your wallet right here in the u.s. i'll explain that. plus, faster speeds and better quality ahead for some netflix users. and he was once on four billionaire's list. and this morning, the capture of one of the notorious drug kingpins. you're watching "early today." what you wear to bed is your business.

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leader juaquin el chapo guzman. he had a 5,000 bounty on his head. afters passing of controversy balance bill last week, all eyes turned to jan brewer. gay rights activists ripped arizona legislators for passing the bill wright on his blog, he will call for a boycott of the state if brewer sign the bill into the law. investigators have learned a faulty water heater pipe is to blame for a deadly carbon monoxide leak at a restaurant. the leak caused the death of a legal seafoods manager and sent more than two dozen to the hospital. the pentagon is testing a new way to keep soldiers attentive on the job especially those who work those long hours monitoring drones. he said instead of coffee and energy drinks small electric shocks are being sent to the brain. and apparently, they're testing well. and russia poked some fun at

itself during the closing ceremony. it re-created the olympic malfunction at the beginning of the game to have the dancers delay the formation of that fifth ring. from prescriptional narcotics and unintentional overdoses a study from harvard medical school found 1 in 3 prescribed painkillers from more than one doctor unaware their patients are already prescribed drugs. the study also found patients receiving painkillers from multi tinl doctors were three times more likely to end upn the helicopter. >> announcer: early today health is brought to you by vagisil. the experts in intimate health. our time to get down to business for you. netflix cutting a deal with comcast to stream videos and tv shows more quickly into customers' homes. the deal assures customers, quote, a high-quality experience for years to come.

gasoline prizes, those have risen about two cents per gallon. the reason here, violent slashes in sudan, ukraine and venezuela. 700,000 penn state students during the annual dance marathon. the money will provide support for ped yattic cancer patients as well as research. united states is the world's largest exporter of military equipment selling over $25 billion' worth in 2013. india is our biggest customer spending almost $2 billion dollar. final, looking for love on line, hackinging we can site causing data breaches and finding users' actual locations. sports is just head, plus highlight from the nfl combine. and in minneapolis, the end of

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this morning, the "today" show kicks off a special series called "love your selfie." to prochlt positive body image. today is no makeup monday with the anchors stripping off their makeup. let's get the latest in sports

with frances rivera. >> good morning. with sochi olympics, they are history. the russians won the final medal count with 33. united states second with 28. norway, canada and the netherlands round out the top five. now, let's head to the nba, miami is playing without lebron because he broke his nose on thursday. >> in college basketball, number 20, michigan against number 13, michigan state, the wolverines phased a comeback in the second half and knocked off the spartans 79-70. and number 11 creighton with a face-off with unranked seton hall. trailing with a point. time is running out. seton hall, they missed the three-pointer and creighton hung on to her 72-71 victory. south methodist played number 21 connecticut and smu coach larry brown pulled off a win over uconn. and at the nfl combine

running back brie archer from kent state with the 40-yard adash. 0.0.4s of a second set by chris johnson of the tennessee titans. in minnesota, 84 charges in dynamite. that's what it took to do this. yeah, that was sunday, they were bringing down parts of the concrete roof of the vikings met grow dome stadium. they will finish what's left by april. and a new stadium for the vikings will be built by 2016. new home for them there. >> i've got to tell you, frances, i've been watching the destruction of that stadium, it seems like it's taking a month but now it's ton. just ahead, "anchorman 2" re-release with very dirty jokes that gets an rachlt rating. >> plus, seth meyers. details next.

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well, for race fans it was a long afternoon of watching the radar. and waiting for the rain to move out. incredible. tornado warning possible. right near the racetrack. they had to evacuate about 125,000 people. it's say small city they jam in there. those storms cleared out. they did get the race in. and the other rain died out before it hit the track. for today, we may see showers in south florida so a severe threat like yesterday is over.

today's forecast, the big story is just the cold air and the rain and snow head for the west coast. but the cold air is what's really going to get your attention since we've been mild lately. get ready. minneapolis, you're freezing along with billings. and the temperatures just plummet. denver goes from 58 today to 32 tomorrow. all over the eastern seaboard that saw temperatures in the 50s and 60s are only going to have highs in the 30s and 20s. the overnight lows will be chilly, too. we will keep it damp and wet in the southeast. we're okay with that, as long as it's not the frozen stuff. >> and that rain delay for the daytona 500. i had a tough choice, the olympics or daytona 500. >> that's tough, especially with dale earnhardt jr. newcomers were no match for the "lego" movie. pulled in $31 million at the box office making it the top movie three weeks in a row. meanwhile disaster film pompeii was obliterated with various

puns that bill karins is going to have me say here. ron burgundy is headed back to the theaters in the second helping of anchorman 2 reducks. 353 new jokes and a raisie rais rating. the plug has been pulled on the piers morgan cnn talk show. the brit's prime time program was a replacement for larry king live. it will be no more. miley cyrus kissing a girl at her saturday concert and she liked it. katy perry enjoyed the smooch too, as thousands of fans tweeted go on man ♪ i kissed a girl and i liked it ♪ . >> everyone is wondering what song was that. was that singing or screeching? he premieres tonight. seth is not all that nervous since his first guest is "snl"

pal amy poehler. >> that will be a comfort level for me. she's like one of my oldest friends in show business, that will be nice. if that's a bad interview, i would just tune out because i'm not good at the job. >> remember the billboard that proclaimed the user of the usa versus canada hockey game had to keep justin bieber will apparently hurt the pop star's feelingses and he tweeted about it friday. and people of an upscale neighborhood want to make sure bieber stays off their lawn and community. the biebs is plans to buy in the area and planning a protest for the morning. it is an upscale area, but property prices in atlanta, hey, if he buys -- >> he needs to just laugh at himself. >> chuckle a little. >> i don't think he's hurting anyone. >> i'm richard lui, this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day right here on nbc. [ male announcer ] new gain flings! smell so amazing, they're like music to your nose. ♪ your love ♪

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[ technical difficulties ] >> meteorologist tom kierein is

here with what to expect as you get ready to head out the door. 40 isn't so bad to start, tom. >> yeah, what a drop from yesterday. in the mid 60s. came through with a cold front that triggered rain overnight. the rain, though, ended around washington and points west. right now, storm team 4 radar showing lingering, light rain on the eastern shoere that's movin away, and the sky is clearing northwest to the east as a gusty wind blows in. it is bringing in much colder temperatures. in fact, we're down into the mid 30s north and west of the metro area, hagerstown, 33. winchester, 34. temperatures out in the mountains are dropping to at or below freezing in far western maryland, around the metro area. right near 40 degrees. it's going to continue to drop as we get into the morning. pavement's wet from some of the overnight rain. is that causing any problems, danella? good morning. >> good morning. possibly, but it's hard to say because the accidents i'm

reporting were overnight. in the district, new york avenue at florida avenue. at one point, outbound lanes were blocked. we spoke to d.c. police. they say that accident's out of the roadway. i did notice cars were getting by. i'll keep watching for you guys. the other thing i'm tracking, i-270 northbound. accident here north of i-370 is blocking the right side of the roadway. but there is little to no delay because i'm not seeing any volume. it's easy to work around the accident. 270 southbound, though, nice and clear. i'm back at 4:31. >> see you then. 4:28. today a hearing is aimed at getting to the bottom of high-profile communication blunders by emergency responders. d.c. councilman tommy wells will live the oversight hearing at 2:00 this afternoon. it will primarily focus on the recent death of a man outside of a firehouse. five firefighters failed to help 77-year-old medrick mills while he was having a heart attack. mills' son will testified.

a woman who died -- the family of a woman who died four years ago will also testify. and another ambulance response mishap. a story you saw only on news4 at 11:00. sources tell us a fire truck was forced to take a toddler having a seizure to a hospital because an ambulance wasn't close enough. this happened about 5:00 friday night. paramedics decided to take the toddler on the truck after learning the closest ambulance was seven miles away. chief kenneth ellerbee is praising that decision. >> a good idea. it was a -- the rate decision to make. and it was a good decision for the patient. >> now ellerbee says he's looking at increasing the number of ambulances on the street every day from 39 to 45. new this morning, we learn one man died in a double shooting near a metro station in the district. the shooting happened around 10:00 last night near alabama avenue and 13th street in southeast. that's near the congress heights metro station. the second victim is expected to be okay. investigators are trying to determine what led to

shooting. alexandria police are also trying to determine who shot a man in old town. the shooting happened around 6:30 last night near north pain and wythe street. the man had a gunshot wound to the chest. he was rushed to the hospital in stable condition. the shooting comes just a funk following the shooting death of a popular music teacher in alexandria. police say ruthanne lodato was shot when she answered a knock at her door. police do not believe the shootings are connected. today a former juror will be back in court facing contempt for not disclosing her religious beliefs in the case surrounding a -- a police officer's death. kavon neil was on trial for motor vehicle manslaughter in the death of police officer adrian morris. in the middle of deliberations, the juror e-mailed the judge saying she was a jehovah's witness, and it was against her religion to judge others. the judge ruled it a mistrial. about 4:31. time for weather & traffic on the 1s. i wish we could ve