a fiery landing. the moment a japan airlines plane collides wite collides wc

plane on the runway. five coast guard members did not make it out. killed as they rushed to help with earthquake relief now authorities are asking how they ended up on the same runway the senior hamas leader killed in a blast, not in gaza but in beirut. the widening fears of a war as leaders condemn the strike spievgieaking out on social media, gypsy roitz blanchard and the house of mouse kicked out of the castle disney is no longer the highest-groising studio. the studio now topping box offices. who's holding a ticket worth $842 million it's wednesday, january 3rd. "early today" starts right now thanks for being with us i'm frances rivera israel is being blamed after the apparent drone strike

assassination of a senior hamas leader in lebanon. he and six or hamas members were killed yesterday in a suburb of the capital beirut the organization confirms. the lebanese prime minister condemned it as an israeli crime and hezbollah said the krillings would not go unanswered. let's go live to claudio lavanga. what else did the israelis say >> reporter: good morning, frances. israel o faso far has neither confirmed nor doenied any involvement. yesterday april dndrea mitchelle to an aide of benjamin netanyahu. and this is what he had to say >> whoever did this strike was i have surgical and went for a hamas target, because israel is at war, whoever did this has a gripe with hamas

>> reporter: well, that sounds like a veiled reference to israel, of course, but other israeli lawmakers weren't so subtle, including danny danin. he thanked, openly congratulated the israeli defense forces for the assassination on his x account, but hezbollah doesn't need any claim or responsibility or confirmation by israel. it holds israel fully responsible, and its leader, nasrallah said that following that attack that they had retaliate against any israelis targeting officials in lebanon of course he was no ordinary official he was a deputy chairman of the group as group's political bureau he was a key figure between relations between hamas and iran

israel will have to brace for a reaction or retaliation from those three players. >> claudio, thank you. embattled harvard president claudine gay as stepped down after six months in the position she was the university's first black president. republican elysse steph stefanik pressed her over appnti-semitic policies pro vo pro provost will serve as interim president. university of pennsylvania president liz mcgill also resigned following backlash. there's now a congressional investigation into it all. officials in japan are investigating the tragic chain

of events that caused a passenger plane to crash crash ko kohl coast garth plane. >> reporter: this all happened on the runway of haneda airport. it appears the collision happened during the landing of the passenger aircraft officials say it was during the landing that the plane somehow collided with the coast guard aircraft that was on the same runway japanese airlines says their understanding is that their plane had been given permission to land, but the airline, along with the aviation officials are conducting their own investigation to try to get to the bottom of how this happened. meanwhile, the death toll has now risen to more than 50 on the western coast of japan, as first responders rush to try and rescue the people they know are trapped beneath the rubble in

collapsed homes and buildings. now officials on the ground say since the initial quake, the western part of japan has seen more than 170 aftershocks, and more are expected over the next week this still an i have dangerous situation. of course, as we are now also getting our first look at the scale of this tdestruction, as the sun came up in japan this morning, we're seeing homes and buildings that are flattened roads and roads s road and streets that buckled. this is a race against time to get people who are trapped beneath the rubble in london, megan fitzgerald, nbc news the biden administration asking the supreme court to let border patrol agents cut or remove razor wire that texas has installed in its border with mexico texas had sued the federal government for cutting so.

ra razor wire, meanwhile, the administration had wiwill rai o freopen four points of entry. the 2024 election year has begun. the first contest, the iowa caucuses are less than two weeks away and polls suggest donald trump has a more than 30-point advantage. ron sdanlts desantis and nikki h battling it out for second place. >> waterloo, thank you very much >> reporter: with the iowa caucuses less than two weeks away, donald trump towering over the gop field, inflicting the power of his die hard base >> the poll numbers are scary, because we're leading by so much the key you have to get out and vote >> reporter: the former president boasting a 30-point lead over his closest rivals in the hawkeye state, gaining

strength despite growing legal challenges, 91 criminal counts against him and pushes in multiple states to take him off the ballot >> we're not going to allow them to rig the presidential election of 2024. we're not going to allow it. >> what's the next thing they take away once they've done that it's just a steppingstone onto the next thing >> reporter: trump saying he would act as a dictator on the first day of the second term and using inflammatory words to describe grabtss. >> they're poisoning the blood of our country >> reporter: the caucus now appears to be a race for second place. a recent emerson college poll finding ron desantis and nikki haley separated by just two points >> donald trump is running on his issues nikki haley is running on her donors' issues i'm the only one running on your

issues [cheers and applause >> reporter: iowa's shaping up to be the biggest test yet for the florida governor who has a major ground game in iowa, embark em embarking on a 99-county tour. >> if you like what we're doing in iowa, you'll like what ron desantis will do for this country. >> reporter: his massive momentum has all but vanished. >> i was a big fan of ron desantis, but as time has gone on, he hasn't really done a whole lot to impress me. >> reporter: instead, it's been former u.n. ambassador, nikki haley, who has pulled off a late surge, vaulting into second in multiple early voting states >> it's great to be be back in dubuque. >> reporter: but a notable omission from a town hall answer now threatening her support. asked about the cause of the civil war, he fshe failed to meo

slavery before saying later it was the cause. >> what do you want me to say about slavery? >> you've answered my question thank you. >> next question >> i wish she would have answered the question historically accurate. >> reporter: the iowa caucus has occasionally offered candidate as critical boost, helping catapult jimmy carter to the presidency back in 1976. but for republicans, the caucus is know torously unpredictive of the party's nominee as some have found out the hard way >> god bless the great state of iowa >> reporter: ted cruz won in 2016, then watched donald trump dominate in his first nomination and win. the question that has loomed over the whole race remains. can anyone catch donald trump in >> and we want to thank vaughn for that report. there is a system stirring up rain for the gulf coast this morning. let's check in with angie

lassman who is tracking how much to expect. hi, angie, good morning. >> hi, good morning, frances we have heavy rain working through the gulf coast it's a good soaking rain working out of portions of texas and into louisiana this system going to be on the move, skirting along the gulf coast, and leaving us with the potential for rain across portions of the southeast later today as well. there will be periods of heavy rain so a heads up about that the good news is the system exits quickly into the atlantic, and by tomorrow we're only looking at a couple of early showers for parts of the carolinas. meanwhile, we could pick up to an inch. wi we've got a system that will continue to push inland bringing the potential for good snow across portions of the west. these mountain ranges could peck up anywhere from 6 to 8 inches, and then this is going to turn into that next cross-country

system eventually bringing, maybe to folks in the mideast the potential for snowl with frm montgomery to new orleans. minneapolis taps out into the upper 30s by this afternoon. and that's a look at your forecast >> see you in a bit, angie, thank you. move over apple. a study shows a tomato a day might keep the doctor away but first we're back in a minute as gypsy rose blanchard breaks her silence for the first time after she was freed from prison. after she was freed from prison. bye, bye cough. later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours?! hmmm, ok. not coughing at yoga. antiquing not coughing?

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that has captivated the world. now she'she's spending tims e wh family >> hello, everyone >> reporter: she spent almost a decade behind bars for her role in the murder of her mother. but in less than a week since her release from prison, support for gypsy rose blanchard has only grown >> i'm finally free. i just want to send a quick video to thank everyone for the massive amount of support. >> reporter: the 32-year-old now on parole has wracked up 6 million followers on tiktok and instagram, appearing u appearinn phupbeat in photos with her husband. >> it will be awesome to have family time after so long. >> reporter: it's all a sharp contrast to how she spent much of her childhood and adolescence, confined to a wheelchair she didn't need >> things are not always as they

appear >> reporter: prosecutors say her mother dee dee pretended jigyps was sick for years, convincing doctors to insert a feeding tube and perform other unnis surgeries. >> there was a lot of emotional abuse. i started to feel it was her or me >> reporter: she started to hatch a murder plan with someone she met on a christian dating site the pair were charged with murder gypsy rose eventually taking a plea deal as authorities uncovered her chilling back story, while godejohn went to trial and was convicted now in a lifetime special >> i will share my story the way it should be shared.

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a lot of galaxies. they're all counting on usn us >> mario. >> no pressure >> the house of mouse has been dethroned. d you /* universal took in $4.9 billion at the box office other the past year powered by blockbusters including oppenheimer, the super mario brothers movie that you're seeing right there, also megan

there have been a lot of disappointments. and you're thinking about barbie, that was warner bros >> i was surprise d by that. barbie was a phenomenon. after failing to conquer the mushroom kingdom, jack black was anunsed no announced to have joined the cast of a mine craft movie he joins jason momoa in the adaptation set for release next year i've never played minecraft, but anything they are in, i'm going to watch >> and jack black is doing everything when it comes to voiceovers and now this it's the best way to work, right? behind a mic in your jammies and

sweats topping a year when you want an oscar win is no easy feat but michelle yeoh is off to a good start she and her husband welcomed their first grandchild, a baby girl named maxine. she does not have children of her own but married after a two-decade engagement. she can't say how happy she is for this very, very special bundle of joy. it's so great to see, you know, in hollywood years, she's a little bit older, but her career has completely taken off, and nice to see that her personal life is matching it. i couldn't agree more. a good start to 2024 when we come back, relief is finally here for many diabetes patients, and how reproductive rights laws have impacted requests for abortion pills. act requests for abortion pills.

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we are back with what you

need to know "early today. more americans with diabetes can now get cheaper insulin. three major manufacturers instituted new pricing, capping a cost at $35. according to a new study, the number of women who with not pregnant requesting abortion pills to have on hand jumped from around 25 per day to 250. eating tomatoes could help with high blood pressure that's according to a new study. apples for certain people. w stu. apples for certain people. cough? all in one and done with new mucinex kickstart. aaaaah! ah! hated that. headache? better. ah! fever? body pain? better now. aaaaah! new mucinex kickstart gives all in one and done relief with a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. it's not cold and flu season. it's comeback season. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? it's not cold and flu season. downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh waaaay longer

than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. it ain't my dad's razor, dad. ay watch it! it's from gillettelabs. this green bar releases trapped hairs from my face... gamechanga! ...while the flexdisc contours to it. so the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke. for the ultimate gillette shaving experience. the best a man can get is gillettelabs. one lucky winner is beginning the year $842 million richer maggie vespa is in a small city where the big powerball ticket was sold >> reporter: for millions of

americans, the kickoff to 2024 called for the classics. but, in this small michigan city, it's safe to say one lucky person managed to top the ball drop millions of times over someone bought a ticket here that's now worth more than $800 million. >> i know. isn't that insane in. >> reporter: $842.4 million, to be exact, for a lump sum of $425.2 million for the still-anonymous powerball player who picked these six lucky numbers drawn monday night >> i was talking to my priest, and he said, did you win that? and i said no, he said ah, man, we looking for a big cru contribution >> reporter: your prepriest hit. >> yes >> reporter: and the first drawn on new year's day. the mystery winner made the life-changing purchase at this

family-owned food castle in michigan this is like an hour north of detroit. >> the best feeling, because it's like the community deserves it, good way to start off the year for a big win >> reporter: now the big question, hadwill the lucky win come forward to ring in the new year rich. >> probably going to stay private. there is> there is a dindin. a specimen known as "chom per" was unearthed in montana some paleontologists say it is a juvenile t-rex, while others say it is a nano tie ran saurus. the skepticism continues a run away pig went flying

through an mcdonald's parking lot. video shows the moment o' momen state troopers tried to catch the pig before it went hog wild. coming> coming on "todayon best diet for 2024 good luck with that. meant meantime, have a great wednesday. we'll see you right back here tomorrow ck here tomorrow.

we need to get our act together to make sure we have the personnel and the leadership present to bring back a safe and clean community. >> right now at