former president trump on a collision course with the iowa caucus and courts. the new legal battle in his 2020 election meddling case, while the race for 2024 heats up more turbulence for boeing another airline making a troubling discovery on some of the same plane as inspections get under way around the world the midwest braces for a

winter blast from heavy snow to the threat of overnight tornados we're tracking the wicked weather wreaking havoc this morning. big blue on cloud nine, after the wolverines clawed through the huskies for the first championship title in nearly 30 years. teadearly beloved, we could soon be gathered on broadway for "purple rain". "early today" starts right now good morning, i'm frances rivera we begin with the latest in the trials of donald trump the former president is expected to be back in a courtroom today. this time in washington, d.c., to attend a hearing in a federal election interference case brought by special counsel jack smith. brie jackson joins us now from d.c. hi, brie, good morning what's happening in this case today? >> reporter: today's hearing is all about former president trump's claim that he is

protected by presidential immunity mr. trump is arguing that former presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for any official acts that were taken while in office. and these federal charges are related to his role mt. in the events in the january 6 attack when he was still president. a panel of judges will hear evidence in that case. tanya chutkan was the target of a swatting attack. attack. police confirm they responded to reports of a shooting. and it was chutkan's home. no one was injured two law enforcement sources also tell nb tell nbc news that jack smith

was the target of a swatting attack on christmas day. now this is all happening with less than a week to go until the iowa caucuses. nikki haley and ron desantis have started to increase interest attacks on donald trump, trying to cut into his 30-point lead in the polls trump will be back for a town hall, while haley and desantis will participate in another debate without the former president. donald trump is facing a separate election interference case in georgia, and one of his co-defendants is trying to get the case thrown out. the fulton county d.a.'s office should be disqualified, they say, because of a romantic relationship between fani willis and nathan wade.

it only cites unnamed sources. nbc news has not been able to independently verify the claims. roman's lawyer says there is evidence they cannot share until wade's divorce records are unsealed a response will be made in a court filing president biden was in dallas, texas last night a wake was being held for former congresswoman eddie bernice johnson who passed away on new year's eve at the age of 89. she served in the u.s. house for three decades before retiring last year. president biden remembered her as an icon and mentor to generations. earlier, president biden was in south carolina, where he spoke at a charleston church where a brutal act of racial violence took place here's gabe gutierrez. >> four more years >> reporter: at charleston, mother emmanuel ame church, he

honored those murdered by a white supremacist. >> it's ripped this nation apart. this has no place in america >> reporter: the president forcefully trying to link racial violence to the nation's current division but his speech briefly interrupted by protesters, calling for a cease-fire in the israel-hamas war >> cease-fire now! >> reporter: another sign of deep division among some democrats. the president's visit comes as his support among black voters is slipping. in 2020, he carried 92% of that group. but a recent nbc news poll shows just 61% would choose him over a republican do you think the biden administration is taking the black vote for granted >> yes >> reporter: fletcher smith worked with the biden campaign in 2020. now he says he's very concerned about black voters staying home this november. >> the administration looks like

they don't want the black voters you got to speak to the black people >> reporter: maurice washington is a conservative who thinks the president is focussing on threats to democracy won't work. >> it has nothing to do with bringing the country together. >> reporter: we spoke with a group of voters who want the president to do more on student debt relief and police reform. >> i feel like it's been a lot of broken promises >> i think the main issue for me right now is feeling like i am a priority for the people that are in charge. >> reporter: it's clear, based on what the people are asking for, that he's not here to serve us the biden campaign insists the president has taken action on those issues the question now, will voters give him credit for it >> our thanks to gabe for that report as the threat of an all-out war with hezbollah in lebanon looms large, antony blinken is in israel this morning he came straight from saudi arabia where he melt with crown

prince mohammed bin salman the tour ends in egypt on thursday let's go live to chapman bell. what's on blinken's agenda for today? >> reporter: good morning frances, and happy new year to you. meeting with president herzog of israel as well as israel's foreign minister and also planning to meet with prime minister netanyahu today and the opposition leader tomorrow one of the main objectives of this trip is to stop this war from becoming a wider conflict in the region. now this following the assassination of a hamas leader in the lebanese capital of beirut as well as the killing of a hezbollah commander in southern lebanon benjamin netanyahu meeting with troops along the northern border with lebanon saying we will do whatever it takes. of course we prefer this be done without a wide war, but that not stop us. blinken's trip to israel following a trip to saudi arabia, where he was meeting

with the saudis as well as other middle east leaders, and he's been told that anti-u.s. opinion in arab countries has been growing amid support for israel. now one of the plmain issues ha been the mounting civilian death toll inside gaza there will be no doubt more calls for restraint for israel's attacks on hamas but also balancing that with israel's right to defend themselves following that attack by hamas four months ago, now also while continuing to push to try to bring home the hostages being held, safely back to israel and other countries, so a big diplomatic effort on the way. >> high-stakes diplomatic efforts. thank you, chapman united airlines says it has

found loose bolts in door plugs. they are conducting inspection on all max-9s in the u.s it comes after the midden-air disaster when a door flew out. on three previous flights, pressurization warns lit up in the same plane, raising questions about why it was not grounded >> it should have been a warning sign to them just on safety overall but i think in this case, what alaska will say is that they took measures to ensure safety we have to see whether those actions were responsive enough >> the agency says they have recovered the 63-pound door plug from the alaska aircraft it will undergo close inspection to find out why the plane suffered a decompression explosion at 16,000 feet fire officials are investigating an explosion in

north texas that left 21 injured. the blast rocked the signature hotel in downtown ft. worth, blowing out window frames and walls on the second and first floor. investigators believe the explosion was sparked by some type of gas leak, but that is still not confirmed. one person suffered critical injuries, and four others were seriously hurt the rest were considered minor injuries there's nearly a 50/50 chance you are under a weather alert this morning, as powerful winter storms march across the country. powerful winds and blizzard conditions in texas knocked out power for tens of thousands in the houston area amid freezing temperatures heavy snow stretched from new mexico to the plains and iowa, making travel extremely dangerous. and now the northeast is bracing for widespread flooding as they clean up from the weekend storm. for more on where that system is headed now, angie lassman is joining us hi, angie. >> a lot of people need to be

weather aware with these alerts up across the country. wind alerts, winter alerts and the potential for severe weather and flooding here's the deal with the severe weather. you can see the tornado watch in effect along the gulf coast as we watch lines of thunderstorms working through that area the potential to see the southeast picking up strong winds from these storms, upe st 75 miles pe hour panama city, charleston, they need to be on alert. we've got some spots with over a foot of snow on the ground right now we've got heavy rain on tap for folks across the northeast. that means we're going to see rapid snow melt, rising rivers, the flooding concern is there across this region not to mention we'll also pick up some snow and on top of that, some really strong winds are going to make travel difficult across the northeast and the midwest where we're dealing with that snow

a day difficultof the state of florida, showers and thunderstorms from central to northern florida charleston will hit 73 degrees with showers and thunderstorms in the picture and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you >> thanks so much, angie at monday's national football championship, the wolverines took control ever the huskies and never look back. >> donovan edwards, racing, to the end zone michigan, flexing immediately. >> and that run from donovan edwards was just one of four rushing touchdowns that michigan punched in over washington

huskies gb mqb michael penix struggled. jim harbaugh and michigan rbauge h take home their first national title since 1997 coming up, there may be "purple rain" in the forecast. and the major shakeup for golf legend tiger woods p for golf legend tiger woods. en i switch k to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. tiny troy: he's right, you know. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head and shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... little rascals... but good news, there's no itchiness, dryness or flakes down here! i love tiny troy. and his tiny gorgeous hair. he's the best. - make every wash count! - little help please. (vo) feeding a high-quality dog food doesn't have to cost a whole lot. he's the best. for about a dollar a day, you can give your dog the blue buffalo food they deserve. real meat first. healthy ingredients. natural nutrition.

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of course had held different vice president positions as well and led jetblue's litigation he'll be serving on the board of directors. that is the former ceo there, robin hayes on the board of directors until that date. very interestingly, in other news, though, tiger woods and nike have separated of the they've parted ways. there is an end to that 27- yearlong relationship. he did join them after turning professional at the age of 20 in 1996 he has heearned 5-mi$500 millio that deal. still to come. jo koy evaluates his golden globe performance, and will his purple highness be hitting the

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well, i mean, i had fun, you know it was a moment that i'll always remember, and, you know, that's a tough room it was a hard job. i'd be lying if it doesn't hurt, you know >> after taking a drubbing from viewers and hollywood's finest, jo koy is reflecting on his performance at the golden globes he had just two weeks to prepare for the show and admitted that some of his jokes fell flat but he still loved having the opportunity to hake take on the hosting gig. other changes made bit show look to be paying off the globes saw a 50% jump in viewership in the first year airing on cbs. that means more people saw him bomb so many jokes, he mentioned the barbie joke, but the taylor swift joke, you do not cross

taylor nation when it comes to, you know, trying to win over some people. >> and her face after, i mean, it said it all the barbie joke is where it fell flat for me. you missed the whole point of the movie. anyway it will be eight years since we lost prince, but his legacy continues to live on through new projects, there is a stage adaptation of prince's beloved 1984 film "debut purple rain." they won't have to dig deep for musical numbers, songs likely from the platinum album of the same name, including "when doves cry. it has to come to broadway, it must and if it does, i think more prince the better. it would be an iconic show to see. >> i'm there with you. and the person who is writing it is the same person who is writing a show on broadway now that's getting a lot of acclaim. so a lot of backing here from

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and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! the first lunar lander in 50 years could not bounce back from its shaky smart itart in space. it's not supposed to be that dented early issues with solar panels and a leak means they have a little less than 30 hours of operation left they arewill get as close to the moon as possible but will not be able to complete the landing now to a miraculous

helicopter rescue in southern california a woman surviving five days while trapped in her car amid freezing temperatures. the moment authorities come to her aid and rehema ellis shares it with us >> reporter: a miracle rescue. >> they have one confirmed patient over the side. conscious. the patient has been over the side side since wednesday >> personnel making access to the patient. >> reporter: a woman trapped in her car for five days in frigid temperatures with no cell phone service. >> it's been extremely cold and wet as we're all aware with the rain and colder temperatures in the month of january >> reporter: it happened in a remote section of angeles national forest near mt. baldy the woman told firefighters she swerved to avoid a deer in the road, her car plummeting a hiker spotted the wreck and

flagged down firefighters who were on a separate rescue call in the area. >> she's lucky someone was on a hike and found her >> reporter: and lucky to have survived and appears to have escaped the ordeal only slightly injured. >> based on elverything, elements, hypo thermic, possibly, dehydrated, malnourished and possible leg injury >> reporter: officials offering a warning about driving during treacherous winter months. >> driving too fast for conditions and not being familiar with the rod way is a broadway. the elements is a new year's miracle. >> just amazing. coming up on the "today" show the past calling why more people are ditching smartphones and switching back to the early flip phone. and here's sheinelle jones with

a preview of the third hour of "today". >> this morning in today's checklist, how to take care of those nagging aches and pains. then later we're helping you tidy up your space if our series clean sweep. and we're whipping up a winter mock tail, that's all on the third hour of "today." >> thank you for watchinhere, mn

the way. staefkkes are high for secretary blinken. more than half the country waking up to some kind of weather alert. a second, more powerful winter storm slams through the middle of the country, as it surges east