a lifetime rate lock guarantees it. this protection can last a lifetime, too. some insurance policies end once you reach a certain age. not this one. pay your bill and it's yours to keep for as long as you'd like. ready to learn more? call for free information and your free gift. there's no obligation. breaking news. nearly a thousand pages of court documents unsealed in a case kefk connected to jeffrey epstein

what we learned overnight after combing through the files. a new legal front in the border battle this morning the justice department sues texas to blockity its nimmigrat policy flu season is starting the year off with a bang, prompting new warnings from health officials. and looking for a new job in the new year it might be tougher than you expect the signs that the red hot labor market is cooling off. and this is one lucky dog. the daring rescue to save a golden retriever after it felt hundreds of feet at a state park it's thursday, january 4th "early today" starts right now good morning, i'm frances rivera we begin with breaking news. the first batch of jeffrey epstein court documents has been unsealed 40 exhibits were released, all

from a settled lawsuit involving the late financier and convicted sex offender who killed himself in jail in august 2019 the defamation suit in question was against epstein's friend ghislaine maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking girls for and with epstein there is much interest around the disclosures because they're expected to name high-profile associates hough however many of the names released in this batch have been mentioned before like bill clinton and donald trump and prince andrew. other names include magician david copperfield, allan dershowitz and late governor bill richardson. none have been charged with a crime. and dershowitz has previously, strenuously denied any involvement with underage girls.

also breaking in iran, nearly a hundred people were killed by two explosions targeting a memorial ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the assassination of iranian general qassem soleimani a powerful commander in the islamic revolutionary guard corps. he was killed in a drone strike in iraq on the orders of then-president trump keir simmons has more. >> reporter: you can hear an explosion on this video. sending crowds screaming and scrambling for safety in iran, after deadly twin blasts, 20 minutes apart. the state news agency says they were caused by two remote-controlled explosive devices, placed in bags. it happened during the public ceremony for the anniversary of the death of iran's general qassem soleimani, who was assassinated by an american drone strike during the trump administration the u.s. had blamed suleimani for plotting terror attacks, including against americans. no one has claimed

responsibility for the blast in iran isis has carried out terror attacks there before crowds in iran chanting "death to israel", and "death to america. nbc's ali arouzi is in tehran. >> reporter: a senior member of iran's parliament is waiting for more information but that this attack bears all the hallmarks by israel's mossad intelligence agency >> reporter: the biden administration says neither the u.s. nor israel is behind the attack >> we have no indication that israel was in any way involved in this. >> reporter: current and former officials tell nbc news they believe a terror group like isis is most likely responsible the new attack comes as fears of war escalating in this region. nbc news has learned israel did not notify the u.s. in advance of the strike on the hamas leader but did inform the u.s.

as it was under way, according to two u.s. officials, a defense official and a person briefed on the operation. israel has publicly denied any involvement, but israel's military has vowed to hunt down all hamas leaders, following the hamas terror attack on october 7 israel says killed over 1200 people and the leader of the militant group hezbollah here in lebanon warning that the death of that hamas leader will not go unpunished, while many israelis do worry that an issassinations only lead to more bloodshed. >> keir, thank you new this morning, another battle over the border between texas and the biden administration the justice department is suing the lonestar state over a law, allowing police to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally. nbc's drew petramoix joins us now. what are prosecutors saying in this new lawsuit >> reporter: good morning, frances. the doj says the united states

must speak with one voice when it comes to immigration. federal prosecutors are arguing that the new texas law set to go into effect in march violates the supremacy clause of the constitution which says federal law take precedence over state law when it comes to penalties to entering the country illegally. texas governor greg abbott reacting to the new lawsuit last night on fox news. >> texas is the only government in the united states of america that's stepping up, trying to stop illegal immigration by 3wi8d 3w building our own border wall, by putting up razor wire, and by the way, joe biden is challenging me in the united states supreme court right now, sean, trying to tear down the razor wire that texas put up to stop illegal immigration >> reporter: this new lawsuit comes after dozens of house republicans traveled to the texas border on wednesday where they spoke about the record number of migrant crossings. border officials reported

encountering about 300,000 migrants last month alone. house republicans say they plan to begin impeachment proceedings against the homeland security secretary over his handling of the southern border. the white house has pushed back, blaming republicans for blocking new funding for border security, republicans say the administration's immigration policies are making the situation worse. frances? >> drew, thank you now to the latest in the race for the white house former president trump has asked the supreme court to step in and keep his name on the colorado primary ballot colorado's highest court decided to ban the republican frontrunner because of his actions related to january 6 this eligibility question has also been raised in the state of maine. donald trump will remain on both ballots while his appeals play out in court a las vegas man is facing new felony battery charges this morning after sparking a courtroom brawl. the tense moments were caught on camera here. you can see the video. shows a man lunging at the budge

over the bench and knocking her over it took several officer to remove him from the court. a judge and courtroom marshal were examined at the hospital and expected to be okay. the first winter storm of 2024 brings snow to california in big bear. if you're heading north to the sierras, be prepared all the drivers must be using chains or all-wheel drive and keep speeds slow and safe. let's bring in angie lassman now who's tracking this storm and snow headed to the northeast >> we have winter alerts from california to kansas and you can see they range from winter storm watches and warnings to winter weather advisories this is something we watch through the day today as this system that yes, impacted the sierras, continues to move a little farther to the east notice we'll deal with the snow falling in parts of the central to southern rockies. rain across portions of the

southern plains. the system moves a little further to the east. intensifies near the gulf of mexico and moves to the north. and bit time we get to saturday snow for the interior parts of the mid atlantic and northeast end ago s ending a snow drought in some of these spaces some of these spots haven't seen an inch of snow or more in two years. the potential for snow and difficult travel remains for parts of new england meanwhile, the heaviest of the snow looks right now, this could change, looks right now, though, to be centered for boston, portland, extending into portions of western new york as well a skies

temperatures in dallas end up at 57 degrees, and we'll deal with snowshowers for those higher elevations across new mexico and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you >> thank you, angie. "early today" is back in a minute with new legal trouble brewing for snapchat, and the u.s. now hiring not so many people, why the jobs market is starting to cool off bs market i starting to cool off. y downy fre downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle. febreze! your bathroom... needs febreze small spaces... the always-on, odor-fighting air freshener you set and forget. no outlets used, no batteries needed, no effort required. so your bathroom stays continuously fresh for 45 days. that's the power of febreze small spaces. new features in the weightwatchers app just dropped! i've lost 60 pounds and i can still enjoy all of the foods i love. small changes lead to big results. weightwatcher's new app features can make your weight loss journey easier,

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points, while the s&p ended the day in the red arabile joins us with a look at what's driving down markets. >> good morning. what a weak start to the year. you mentioned the nasdaq dropping down for four days in a row. let's remember that barclay's downgraded the stock apple yesterday. and really gave a clear sense of how they see that price dropping off, $160 a share at some point. that was really the spur of the movement it fell off quite significantly. apple's down 4% for the week it is all going to be about the economic data as well. we saw the fed come out with their minutes, kind of give a sense that they're still worried about inflation, no clear signs of when they'll begin to cut interest rates, however, all of that still at play in this market picture there's also the jobs numbers. the unemployment data will come out on friday, but we've also

just seen in general that the number of employers or employers finished off 2023 with pretty much less positions than they had at the start of the year fewer open positions at the start of the year. in fact, they declined by 15% from a year earlier. the lope is that the comply still will stay strong despite that there is now growing concern this morning about theflu, especially in the south where states are seeing a surge in cases of kids. >> reporter: with respiratory illness on the rise after the winter holidays, pockets of the u.s. are also seeing troubling trends for flunsz. >> the cases are not only going up but increasing exponentially. >> reporter: the head of critical care after university medical center new orleans says louisiana went from seeing a few dozen hospitalized patients with the flu each week to about 300 are you surprised by the prevalence of influenza

specifically >> it is a lot more influenza than we've seen in a look time, and perhaps even rates as high as we saw back during the 2009 h1n1 influenza pandemic. >> reporter: the stretch of states from louisiana to the carolinas in the high category of infection though the national picture is normal for now >> week over year, i don't see this being a worse season than we had last year >> reporter: the cdc says this year's flu vaccine is effective against the prevalent strain but warns vaccinations are down. nationally, it's around 50%. >> you sigh aee a lot of kids approaching the 30% to 40% of er visits in children are for that reason which is a big number. >> reporter: a trifecta of illnesses, covid, flu and rsv, weighing on parents like this

mother whose son has been in the er for almost two months >> i almost lost my child. he was intubated three times he to have a trach and tube put in because he could no longer breathe. >> reporter: physicianswarn of wheezing and prolonged fever, see a doctor still to come, don't worry if you missed out on the wheelies craze right after this wheelies craze. right after this. symptoms define me... emerge as you. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 4 months... ...and the majority stayed clearer, at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge as you. emerge tremfyant®. ask you doctor about tremfya®. ok, someone just did laundry... no, i add downy light so the freshness really lasts. yeah, most scented stuff gives me a headache,

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fire burger, huh >> yeah, nice. >> it's got that habanero sauce on it. it's hey, man, i'm a sandwich. >> and i got some of that going on, you know >> i see >> i got this. >> i get it, i get it. >> that's one way to describe it that might be what it feels like to chow down on these new nutty creations from sonic starting monday, the fast food

drive-in chain is rolling out the new peanut butter and bacon cheeseburger shake both items will be available until february 4 i get we're talking about the savory, kind of salty, spicy all in one >> would you try it? >> i would in the burger, not feeling the shakes with the peanut butter and whipped cream. >> i'll try anything once, honestly they also have a pickle juice slushy that is right up my alley, i love pickles looks like we're going to sonic after this wednesday was the first day that starbucks allowed all customers, including drive through and mobile orders to as you a personal cup for their beverages. participating customers will get a 10 cent discount on interest order and starbucks rewards members can get a reward and it will help them reach their goal of cutting waste.

i'm all for anything that makes more sustainable, less single-use plastic i know what people are thinking, though, is this going to add on time to my order and i guess they tested it earlier, last year, in colorado, and it worked out and said it was fine >> we got to start to remember to bring the cup i forgot my cup! >> put a reminder in your phone now. now imagine rolling up in a pair of these. the company is expected to unveil roller skate shoes. the moonwalkers x are strapped on to a pair of existing shoes, but the company promises better maneuvering with this new version. they're lighter and feature six wheels instead of ten. no price has been announced for the shoes which are set to launch in the first half of the year it looks like you're walking you're rolling along >> it's really smooth. they say it's good for people

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we're back with what you need to know "early today. ford is recalling nearly 113,000 f-150 trucks over a rear axle hub bolt that can cause the pickup to roll away if damaged impacted vehicles include the '21 through '23 model years that have the trailer max duty package. california is increasing its health insurance to all undocumented immigrants. some 750,000 adults are eligible a new study suggests having disresulted sleep in your 30s

and 40s could lead to cognitive decline later in life. quality of sleep matters more than quantity. scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics it is being tested but was effective in mice. "early today" will be right back be right back. [♪♪] there's a way to cut your dishwashing time by 50%. try dawn powerwash dish spray.

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reports. >> reporter: it's 9:00 a.m., time for work, and here you don't use a car. this is shift change at the mt. washington observatory >> have you all had trey -- >> reporter: this team of weather observers takes a bumpy, flo fl noisy, 90-minute ride to watch weather 6,288 feet up at the top of the northeast they arrive each week with a chance to capture history. >> welcome back, everyone. we've got cool weather to talk about. >> reporter: in 1934, they measured a wind speed of 231 miles per hour, a record that stood for 62 years in the winter, they told us there's a 50% chance of hurricane winds and often cloud cover. working 12-hour shifts, the observers monitor data, educate the public and go outside every hour to take measurements. often the old-fashioned way.

>> what we do is measure the current air temperature. and then we also measure the air temperature as if we removed all the water. >> reporter: it might look like a different planet but this place tells us a lot about our planet in our corner of it. >> we are collecting a very unique data set, crucial to understanding climate change at a unique environment like this what happens up here is going to trickle down to the valley >> reporter: in addition to doing research many people rely on, this is of course their home a week at a time they take turns buying groceries and feeding the observatory's cat nimbus >> kind of has weird moody moments. but overall he's friendly and cuddly. >> reporter: he's believed to be the station's 18th cat >> he was sleeping in my bid, he snuck in >> reporter: a long tradition and likely a necessary one along with the baked goods it can be lonely up here >> you really become aware of your crew members and like where

everyone's at. so i think just you want to help cheer each other up. >> reporter: a crucial team, and they believe a meteorologist's dream. even as a crew comes back down to earth, they look forward to returning. >> it really quickly becomes, i don't know, like a home in the clouds, i guess. >> every day is a beautiful day at the office for them our thanks for that report we want to leave you with a daring rescue in oregon, where coast guard members used a helicopter to rescue a dog that had fallen down a cliff. the whol

breaking news overnight, a trove of court document oos unsealed in a case involving convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein. what we've learned so far, including the high-profile names