biden's cabinet, critics calling for action after a secret hospital stay for the secretary of defense. we're live with why it took days before anyone was alerted in the white house. the northeast still digging out from the massive winter storm, some spots hit with up to

a foot and a half of snow, wreaking havoc on highways. our michelle grossman is tracking a potential round two for the region. breaking news, in the nightmare at 16,000 feet crews find the missing piece that fell from a plane mid flight over oregon. the mid flight disaster leaving passengers exposed to whipping winds. the incident raising new questions about boeing's troubled max 9 jets. the nfl playoff picture snaps into focus as the regular season wraps up. who you will made it into the big dance? op "oppenheimer" wins big at the golden globes. good morning, glad you are with us, i'm frances rivera. we begin with growing questions about a health scare suffered by our nation's defense secretary. a senior defense official tells nbc news the deputy for secretary lloyd austin learned austin was in the hospital two

days after she had taken over his duties. nbc's drew petrimouix joins us from d.c. what do we know about secretary austin's condition? >> reporter: as of last night austin was still in the hospital, a pentagon spokesperson said he is recovering well and in good spirits, but said there is no date for his release at this time. when austin is released, many lawmakers are calling for consequences and a briefing over the lack of transparency. the pentagon says austin was hospitalized the evening of january 1st for complications following a recent elective procedure, his responsibilities were transferred to deputy defense secretary kathleen hicks on january 2nd. an official tells nbc news it was not until january 4th that austin's deputy was notified about the hospitalization and that's the same day that the pentagon informed white house national security adviser jake sullivan who then told president biden. in a statement secretary austin says he is very glad to be on the mend and says he recognizes

he could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. it's still unclear what elective procedure the secretary had or what complications it caused. >> and, drew, while the defense secretary focuses on his recovery, congress has taken a step towards approving defense spending. what can you tell us about this new funding deal? >> reporter: that's right. so house speaker mike johnson and senate majority leader chuck schumer announced a $1.5 trillion spending deal, it includes $886 billion for defense programs and $704 billion for nondefense programs. the plan also cuts an additional $10 billion in irs funding and about $6 billion from covid-era spending. members of congress return to work on the hill today and they have 12 days to avoid a government shutdown. congress needs to allocate this money, write bills and pass them. the clock is ticking for leaders in both parties to convince their members to finalize this deal. >> trdrew, thank you.

as journalists increasingly find themselves under fire from the israeli military a prominent reporter who has already suffered so much just lost his son in an israeli air strike. the nonprofit committee to protect journalists has urged a full investigation. our matt bradley has the heart wrenching story. >> reporter: it's only one loss among so many, but israel's killing of this man's son echos across the airwaves of the arab world and beyond. as al jazeera's gaza bureau chief he has long been a witness to gaza's struggles. lately he's become a symbol of its sorrows. he was chivalrous, he was tender, but he hasn't just endured this one loss, his wife, his grandson, his younger son and his daughter were all killed in an israeli air strike in

october. how can someone accept the death of a son after losing other family members, he said? hamza was killed in an israeli air strike in southern gaza along with two other reporters. even after his latest tragedy he was back on the air just hours later. we will continue, he says, as long as we're alive. israel says they don't target journalists but according to the committee to protect journalists more than 70 reporters have been killed in gaza so far. journalists are facing a massacre, a blood bath in gaza, he said. this is a horrific number and even the worst war. the sounds of israel's assault on gaza have been deafening. but when a journalist dies, the only sound left is silence. matt bradley, nbc news, tel aviv. the first contest of the 2024 presidential election is only a week away. all eyes are on iowa ahead of

the caucuses. former president trump campaigned there on the third anniversary of the january 6 attack on the capitol. this week he will be in d.c. federal court for a key hearing related to charges that he tried to overturn the last presidential election. meanwhile, the biden campaign has been focused on fighting hate and extremism. today president biden will travel to charleston, south carolina, he will deliver a speech at the mother emanuel church where nine black churchgoers were killed by a white supremacist in 2015. three years to the day after the january 6th riot at the capitol the fbi captured three fugitives at a ranch in lake county, florida. jonathan daniels pollock, olivia michelle pollock and joseph daniel hutchinson iii were all taken into custody. they were accused of assaulting police officers that dachlt the federal d.c. prosecutor last week promised, quote, scores of new january 6 cases. a new body camera video has been released in mississippi, it

shows moments an officer shot an 11-year-old boy who had called 911 for help. priscilla thompson has this story, but first a warning, the video in this report is disturbing. >> reporter: chilling new video shows the chaotic moment when police shot 11-year-old adarian murray in the chest. he called the indianola, mississippi, police for help with a domestic disturbance last may. body cam video edited and released by mississippi's department of public safety first shows the boy's mom emerging from the home. >> you better come on out. >> reporter: an attorney for the family maintains the mom told police the assailant was gone and that there were three children inside the home, which does not appear to have been captured on this video. the sergeant greg capers repeatedly calls for a man to come out. >> come out, sir. don't make us come in. >> reporter: shortly after adarian appears and capers fires one shot. >> oh, my god.

>> reporter: the officer immediately calls for help. >> med stat. we need it now. >> reporter: he was hospitalized for days his attorney says with a collapsed lung, lacerated liver and fractured ribs. >> looking at the video, a little boy comes out with his hands up and gets shot. that's unacceptable in america. >> reporter: the video's release comes less than a month after a mississippi grand jury declined to indict capers, finding he did not engage in criminal conduct. an attorney for capers told nbc news the release of the video was unexpected and that he cannot comment on his actions due to pending litigation, but capers previously told abc news the incident has been devastating. >> definitely wasn't intentional. i hate that it happened. i've shed many tears. >> reporter: capers who had been suspended without pay since june was reinstated in december. the family has filed a federal civil lawsuit and vows to keep up their fight.

>> justice looks like holding the city of indianola fully accountable as well as greg capers fully accountable for his reckless actions in almost killing my client. >> reporter: priscilla thompson. california may no longer enforce a ban on guns in public places after an appeals court ruled that a lower court order should remain in effect. senate bill 2 is on hold after gun rights activists sued the state for a bridging their second amendment rights. the bill had been signed into law by governor gavin newsom in september. at the time the democrat hailed it as a common sense measure. now to the winter wallop that's left much of the northeast digging out this morning. some towns in massachusetts saw over a foot of snow. over 6,000 people are still without power there this morning. snowy roads led to dangerous driving conditions causing multiple tractor-trailers to jackknife. the same storm dumping at least 15 inches in parts of pennsylvania and upstate new york. residents across the region had mixed reactions to the weather.

>> i was expecting maybe like a few inches but this was a lot. >> this is my son arthur and this is his first time ever seeing snow since it didn't snow last year. >> another winter storm system from the rookies is now marching east and could bring up to a foot of snow across the central u.s. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking all of it and so much more. you've been busy, michelle. >> we have. hi there, frances. busy over the weekend. we are looking at two cross-country storms this week, the first one over the next few days, the other wednesday through friday. heavy snow, blizzard-like conditions in the plains, severe weather into the gulf coast tonight, the southeast tomorrow. satellite radar showing us we're seeing the snow falling in portions of the plains, that's where you see the blue, green is where the rain is falling. we have see sleefr storms throughout thelater part of today into the overnight hours. millions under storm alerts, 82 million under wind alerts, 25 million under winter alerts and 33 under flood alerts.

we are looking at the chance for flooding throughout the northeast because the ground is already saturated and we will add, 1, 2, 3 even 4 inches of rain on top of that. the multithreat system bringing blizzard like conditions in the plains, severe weather along the gulf coast. we are looking at heavy snow in portions of the great lakes, then rain develops in the mid-atlantic, the northeast tuesday into wednesday, bringing the chance for flooding and some flash flding. that's aoo central states, although we will see the storms along the gulf coast tonight. frances, that's a look at your monday forecast. >> okay. thank you, michelle. after a mistake-filled first half versus the dolphins on sunday night football the bills came alive after a 96 yard punt return touchdown by hardy.

buffalo took the lead in the fourth after josh allen found dawson knox in the end zone but still had to fend off one last drive from tua and the dolphins. tyler rapp ticked off tua with two minutes to go. the bills clinched their fourth straight nfc east title and the two seed. miami secures the sixth seed. the bills will host the steelers on sunday. the same day the packers will go to dallas to take on the cowboys. the lions will host their first playoff game in over 30 years against the rams and their former quarterback matthew stafford. the big winners and history-making moments at the golden globes. first, we are back in a minute with the investigation into the midair scare. passengers are rattled after a piece tirofhe plane fell off. the growing trouble for boeing this morning.

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of the plane. moisture and fluid, almost like a cloud, rushing from the front of the plane to the back of the plane. blew my hat back, folks in front of me, their hair was blown back. that was a passenger describing the terrifying moments a piece of a passenger jet fell off midair at 16,000 feet. aviation agencies around the world are grounding boeing 737s after the midair nightmare. on board that alaska airlines flight on friday. thankfully the plane was able to safely land back in portland and no one was seriously injured. overnight investigators found the door plug that blew off in a portland teacher's backyard and the ntsb will begin analyzing it today. the latest trouble for boeing is having a major ripple effect forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights with those planes grounded. cnbc's arabile gumede joins us with more of those details. good morning. >> yeah, good morning, frances. it's around a quarter of united airlines' flight planes that had

to be rejigged -- or alaska airlines, 25%, 7% or so for united airlines, the two airlines that carry the max 9 version of this 737. after this blowout this weekend things could have been a lot worse for wear. luckily the plane was in ascension still, 16,000 feet, however, and feeling that turbulence, that is the last thing you certainly want to feel. the key questions will be asked of boeing, whether this was a situation that could have been prevented in any which way. let's remember that turkish airlines, pan muhammad ali's copa airlines, airline mexico also use the max 9 jets and they grounded theirs for inspection. it's the newest much version of the 737 and aimed at trying to fight airbus, the french plane manufacturer who this week is set to put out the numbers on how many planes it has sold last year and for the fifth year in a row looks to have been winning that race. this is going to hurt. it's been a long string of

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need to know "early today." children who consumed lead contaminated wanabana applesauce pouches may have been exposed to chromium 6, a carcinogen. as of december 29th. cdc has received 287 confirmed probable and suspected reports of elevated blood lead levels linked to the pouches. two nonfiction authors are suing openai and microsoft alleging that the defendants, quote, simply stole their copyrighted works to help build the artificial intelligence. this comes on the heels of a similar suit by "the new york times." and also the united launch alliance's vulcan rocket completed its first successful launch from cape canaveral, florida. the american-made rocket is taking a robotic spacecraft to the moon to perform experiments for nasa. and "wonka" continued the sweet lead at the box office

bringing in another $14.4 million. "night swim" at second place with $12 million and "aquaman" took third with $10.6 million at the box office. "early today" will be right back after this break. can an oven roasted turkey breast pack so much succulent flavor, that the mere glimpse of it induces turkey sandwich daydreams? if it's hillshire farm, oh, hill yeah.™ sometimes your work shirt needs to be for more than just work. like when it needs to be a big soft shoulder to cry on. which is why downy does more to make clothes softer, fresher, and better. downy. breathe life into your laundry. wowwww... this new charmin ultra soft smooth tear is soooo soft and soo smooth, i'm starting to get tearied away!

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arizona. >> from three-point range his 18th point of the night, everyone crowds around him. a moment he will never forget. >> reporter: that electrifying shot made by junior tanatu ramirez who goes by t. he is part of coach jesse wilks' unified sports program for students with special needs. at the end that have segment i said this -- >> t. says he was inspired by his favorite nb star, steph curry, if you are out there and watching give t. a shout out. >> reporter: turns out the golden state warrior was watching and invited t. to a game. >> there's somebody who wants to meet you there. do you know who that is? his name is steph curry. >> reporter: for t. it was the moment of a lifetime. >> hello, t. nice to meet you.

>> reporter: the pair meeting, even doing drills together. >> you were smiling the whole time, t.? >> yeah, the whole time. >> t.'s coach jesse was also there watching. >> what was it like to go to a game and then to get court side? >> steph shot and gave him this little side high-five. oh, my gosh, it was just the best. >> reporter: curry took the time to give t. some advice. >> my dream to be a professional basketball player and be like you. yeah. >> work hard. work hard and lean on your family and your friends. keep having confidence in yourself like you did in that video, whatever you want to do, man. >> reporter: and left him with some autographed swag. >> are those the shoes he gave you? >> yeah. >> and what else? >> a jersey. >> he gave you a jersey.

>> keep working hard. >> reporter: the powerof sports to unite, making one team's dream come true. >> i appreciate, you know, the passion of, you know, him as a basketball fan, a basketball player, his goals that he set for himself and that's what basketball can do. bring so many people together, provides inspiration. >> our thanks to kate snow for sharing that update. hopefully they can stay in touch, maybe down the road, but what an amazing experience. we thank you for watching "early today" and being up early with us. i'm frances rivera

it was whiteout weekend for the northeast with some areas now digging out of a foot and a half of snow. meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking a new weather system making its way across the country. hundreds of planes grounded across the country as investigators search for answers. how the side