breaking overnight tensions soar in the middle east after the u.s. strikes iranian-backed groups in iraq. what prompted the airstrikes, as the war in gaza raged on through christmas day.

a major winter storm blanketing the northern plains the travel nightmare for hundreds of thousands under a blizzard warning this morning. our michelle grossman is here track to track the system why consumer confidence is soaring as we head into the new year cracking the code for the better tomorrow. the young women with a tech future for themselves and others luka doncic shooting past a milestone faster than any player since michael jordan "early today" starts right now good tuesday morning to you, i'm jessica layton >> i'm brie jackson. we begin with another treacherous morning on the roads across the northern plains a massive blizzard made for a dangerous white christmas

sparking a pileup on i-80 in nebraska over 1 million people are under a blizzard warning from kansas to colorado and parts of soud. south dakota >> michelle grossman is tracking it all >> we are looking at another dangerous day out there, especially in the plains, because we are looking at blizzard conditions and white pwhiteout conditions we're looking at freezing rain falling. and widespread rain on the warmer side of this system, even seeing heavy rain. that's going to be throughout the day. we could see flash flooding throughout the appalachians. we have winter alerts. we have winter weather advisories and storm warnings, ice storm warnings and blizzard warnings where you sigh tee the dark pur

we're leer we're looking chance for tough conditions we're going to see possible delays into denver, cleveland, and charlotte. then as we head towards tomorrow, this system going to the east boston, philadelphia, d.c., aum alall along the i-95 corridor. breaking news this morning, the u.s. military has conducted airstrikes against hezbollah in iraq according to the pentagon, the iranian-backed group attacked the northern erbil air base with a drone. three american service members were injured one is in critical condition >> defense secretary of state lloyd austin said in a statement that president biden ordered the necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities to degrade the group's capabilities there are no details of any injuries or deaths it is unclear if this drone attack, one of many this year,

was directly related to the war in gaza, which is showing no sign of winding down here's jay gray with more. >> reporter: christmas day, no break as far as the war in gaza is concerned prime minister benjamin netanyahu meeting with israeli troops in the northern part of the gaza strip while fighting has intensified dramatically on the southern end airstrikes really pounding that area searching for command and control centers in that web of tunnels that winds beneath the ground in gaza they say that they are making progress, this is the idf, and that they have hit targets, including a senior hamas official, though they haven't released the name of who that might be all of that while the hamas-run palestinian health ministry says a strike on a refugee camp killed as many as 70 the idf says it's reviewing reports of an incident there christmas day in the holy land

here in jerusalem and bethlehem, very subdued the no the joyous celebrations that you would normally see in both of these places in fact, in bethlehem, the christmas tree that is usually in manger square replaced with a nativity scene wrapped in barbed wire and rubble. the wiseman carrying not gifts but a burial shroud. i'm jay gray, nbc news ukraine says it has destroyed a russian landing ship and an attack on the port town in russian-occupied crimea in a message posted to telegram, the air force says it also destroyed more than a dozen russian drones, thwarting a larger attack in the south as ukrainians spend another christmas under siege. and for the first time in the

country the country celebrated christmas in december rare t rather than january. >> reporter: ukrainians are spending the holiday hunkered down russian strikes are raining down across the country this man said i woke up my daughter, and we went to the corridor. the window flew right over there, the house burnt down completely the first winter conditions already entrenched as russia hits critical infrastructure like last christmas. millions across the country struggle to meet basic needs, and troops on the icy battlefield remain stalled the attention in western capitals, president volodymyr zelenskyy commanded in 2022, has geffen way to budget concerns and political infighting in 2023 zelenskyy swept into washington earlier this month in a bid to secure a pledge for more aid but returned home empty handed

despite president biden's support, congress has kicked any vote on an estimated $64 billion in aid into the new year, and republicans have tied it to domestic immigration policies. >> puthin is banking on the united states failing to deliver for ukraine. we must prove him wrong. >> reporter: ukraine is running low on western weapons and soldiers in ythe new year, analysts expec ukraine will likely ramp up its drone strikes and sabotage mission. as russian troops hold positions in the south and east [speaking in a global languagela but zelenskyy remains defiant. [speaking in a global language

and remarkably, ukrainian resilience still shines through at christmas, for people here. there's no other option but to keep fighting. molly hunter, nbc news in russia, imprisoned opposition leader aleksej navalny has been found he is a kremlin critic and most prominent foe of vladimir putin. he is extremely isolated, more than a thousand miles away from moscow and thousands of migrants spent christmas day continuing a long march through mexico. a caravan of people from central and south america are making the journey to the southern u.s. border the group is estimated around 6 thundersh thousand people and includes small children an investigation is happening this morning in

phoenix after three people died in a christmas eve shooting there. investigators believe the incident was a murder-suicide. two adult women were killed. the suspect, whom authorities believe died of a self-inflicted wound is the widower of a former county attorney who died last year from health complications and now an update to a story we brought you last week the fbi confirms they are working with police in denver to investigate ongoing threats against colorado supreme court justices the court last week ruled that former president trump is ineligible to appear on colorado's presidential primary ballot the unprecedented move unleashed a torrent of threats axios reports that there are increased patrols around the justices' homes. officials say a couple, a man and woman, went into the eagle river near anchorage after one of their dogs went into the water. the woman did not resurface, and

she is believed to be under the ice this happened on saturday afternoon. helicopters and dive teams helped search over the weekend, but the efforts were paused on monday and those storms we told but are on the move. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is back with a look at where the rain is heading next good morning >> it's a busy day weather wise. we are seeing the snow on the backside, freezing rain, whiteout conditions, blizzard conditions on the warm side, we're looking at the steady rain from the mid atlantic to the southeast. some of this will be heavy also looking at wintry weather in the inner mountain west then we see another system moving onshore south central states looking bright temperatures mainly in the 50s in the state of texas and wet weather in the southeast as we go throughout the day, snow and wind continuing in the plains, the northern plains and

central high plains and rain moving off to the east now we're talking about the ohio valley. interior partsf th o in phoenix. lots of sunshine, temperatures near 62 in texas that's your tuesday forecast >> all right, michelle, lots happening, thank you "early today" is back in one minute with why consumer confidence is closing out the year on a high note. the nfl on notice. highlights from a huge win over the 4ers m a huge win over the 4ers. 9ers 9ers. for your most brilliant smile, crest has you covered.

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away, a lot is still uncertain kristine romans explains >> reporter: instead of the lump of coal many americans expected, some christmas cheer prices actually fell in november from october that hasn't happened in though three years. and the persistent groom about the economy that gripped many americans may have broken just a bit. consumer confidence the highest in months. >> we asked consumers what they thought about interest rates next year. they believe they will be lower. and the interest rate is falling and for those looking to buy a home, that's grade eat news >> reporter: consumers' expectation for a recession in the next 12 months, the lowest it's been all year what's your letter grade >> it's a solid b. i would give it a b plus >> reporter: on main street, mortgage rates have been falling

after topping 8% in october, now well below seven, prices have been falling airfare, rentals and sporting goods. president biden touting that wages are growing faster than inflation. on wall street, all three major indeces are up dramatically for the year still the nag tional mood has bn fragile. inflation, though improving has left a deep scar on americans' psyche >> people don't have short memories they remember losing their jobs in 2020. they remember how hard it was to find new ground. >> reporter: the challenges for many will be student loan payments and holiday credit card bills coming due and the unexpected that could affect the economy in ways we don't foresee. still to come, a magical night for the mavs as luka

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prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. set by the great jerry rice in the house tonight here's another pick. that's patrick queen and queen will not go down until he gets inside the ten >> brock purdy playing his best impression of santa claus delivering gift after gift to the ravens on christmas night. the 49ers' star quarterback threw four picks in what might just be a super bowl preview baltimore capitalized on those mistakes lamar jackson throwing for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns ravens won it 33-19. tough night for brock purdy. >> yeah, this's fat's for sure,t that will be a decent super bowl

matchup if that ends up being the two teams. despite a pick six by adoree jackson, philly managed to hang on after nearly let ting a 17-point 17-point halftime lead slip away and not even the combined night of santa claus and taylor swift could save christmas for the chiefs the loss means kc cannot get the number one seed in the afc west. it's still up for grabs. mahomes clearly not happy during the game but said in the post game interview we just have to pick ourselves up we can beat any team and they're still very much alive for the post season. >> you can't ever count the chiefs out what's christmas day without a little basketball? the mavericks delivering a

late-night stocking stuffer for fans dallas super star luka doncic scorched the suns. luca also passed the 10,000-point milestone last night in his 358th game. that's the fewest games of any player since michael jordan. and miami and philly facing off without twoft league's biggest stars. both jimmy butler and joel embiid sidelined by injuries the heat still managed to turn on the burners without butler, thanks to a huge game by a rookie who put up a career high 31 points. miami toppling the 76ers, 119-113. and two of the league's most storied franchises went toe to toe for this first holiday matchup since 2008 the celtics and lakers, it wasn't quite the classic fans had hoped for.

boston ran over l.a. with all five starters putting up at least 18 points, winning it 126-115. that is a 40holiday classic. >> that's for sure when we come back, x could be on hook for millions of dollars. why employees may see a heft y payday e a heft y payday. herbal essences is packed with naturally derived plant ingredients you love, and none of the stuff you don't.

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and we're back with what you need to know "early today. elon musk's x may have to shell out millions after a federal judge ruled the social media giant violated a contract between the company and its employees. the court refused to dismiss a lawsuit that claims employees were promised half of their targeted bonuses but were never paid so far no comment from x humane a.i. pins will ship out in march the wearable bot created a ton of buzz in november.

if you want to get on the shipping list, it had cost you around $700. there were no winning lottery tickets under the tree the jackpot growing to $685 million. a pennsylvania animal shelter was empty for the first time in 47 years now the staff plans to welcome animals from nearby shelters we'll be right back after this 'lbeig bk teth. rs (smelling) ew. gotta get rid of this. ♪tell me why♪ because it stinks. ♪have you tried downy rinse and refresh♪ it helps remove odors 3x better than detergent alone. it worked guys! ♪yeahhhh♪ downy rinse and refresh. ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop, and powerful vicks vapors to vaporize sore throat pain. vicks vapocool drops. vaporize sore throat pain. how white do you think your teeth really are? vicks vapocool drops. let's try the tissue test. ooof, still yellow.

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computer scientists. >> reporter: for these high school and middle school students in austin, texas. >> ready, set, go! >> reporter: the gears are turning. >> so these are robots that you all built. >> yes >> yes >> reporter: all thanks to a nonprofit that teaches tech sk skills like coding, hoping to change the ethnic and gender gap in technology. do you all see a lot of latinas in tech? do you think people expect to see latinas in tech in ch in >> no. >> reporter: why not > >> because they see more guys. >> reporter: only 3% of those in stem fields are hispanic women >> we hear from those who dat ay

ti who didn't flow know these were possible somebody has told me coy make it in this field. >> reporter: you wanted to do kmurt science? >> yes >> reporter: and someone told you -- >> that i wasn't pageable to do. >> reporter: because >> who i was as a person and a woman. seeing women like me, it was so inspiring. it made me just want to keep doing computer science >> reporter: and keep cracking the code to create a tech future for everyone morgan radford, nbc news, austin >>q yeah, news flash. don't ever tell a woman she can't do something we had prove you wrong >> well said, well said.

>> reporter: here's al roque wher. [audience reacts [audience reacts] . >> brad pacely performs in studio 1 a >> that's exciting day >> i cannot wait to see brad paisley. he and his wife donated gifts to 400 families wow. have a great tuesday

news breaking overnight of a u.s. strike in iraq. we have the latest updates on why the american airstrikes were targeting an iranian-backed group. missing fo