nearly 90 million brace for brutal cold this morning after a weekend of winter storms. meteorologist michelle grossman

is here. in the midst of the blast, iowa gets ready to vote. the first votes of the 2024 election season set to be cast today. but will anyone come close to former president trump? the man released from prison after decades behind bars for a grisly crime he didn't commit. now he is fighting the junk science he says wrongly conflicted him, hoping to free others. wild card weekend ends with history made in detroit. the lions win their first nfl play-off game in 32 years. we break down the biggest plays of the weekend. a new chapter of life. the surprise gift 50 years in the making that had this grandmother crying tears of joy. it's january 15th, martin luther king day. "early today" starts right now. good morning and good to be with you. i'm frances rivera. we begin this morning with an arctic blast sending much of the country into a dangerous deep freeze. at least four people have been killed due to the winter storms.

tens of millions are under windchill and winter weather advisories, and there could be as many as 40 record lows the next three days. and today's high temperatures will range from 20 to 45 degrees below zero. more than 15,000 flights were delayed over the weekend. the nearly 5,000 were canceled. there has already been over 2,000 canceled so far today. on sunday, near blinding conditions causing the buffalo bills play-off game against the pittsburgh steelers to be postponed to today. fans helping dig out the stadium, some even daring to go shirtless. in iowa, a sheriff's deputy walked half a mile to get to a woman in labor after unrelenting snow made it impossible to get to her by car. saturday a storm in maine was blamed for washing away these fishing shacks that have been there since the 1800s. and the south isn't being spared from the bitter conditions. texans are being asked to conserve electricity this morning as below freezing temperatures are putting pressure on the state's grid.

let's bring in nbc meteorologist michelle grossman for the latest on this coast-to-coast cold. good morning, michelle. >> good morning, frances. great to see you. we're looking at dangerously cold weather throughout most of the workweek. we're also looking at life-threatening temperatures because we're looking at wind alerts stretching from the ohio valley down to the south central states. we're going see temperatures 40 degrees below what is normal for this time of year. you fact nor the wind, it's going to feel like negative 40 in some spots. the air temperatures are brutal. we're looking at minus 15 in des moines today. 2 in wichita. but notice you factor in the winds in minot, it's going to feel like minus 42. feeling like minus 31 in international falls. south to houston it's going to feel like 24 degrees there. we're also looking at winter alerts throughout the intermountain west. the rockies down through portions of the south central states into and also the great lakes looking at snow as well. 51 million people impacted. this is the next storm system. we have pink and purple. that's ice.

we have snow on the cold side and on the warm side we're looking at the chance for storms in portions of florida. we'll talk more about this. also look at the rest of the week in just a few minutes. >> okay. we'll see you with more on that. thanks, michelle. >> sure. now to iowa, presidential candidates are hoping their supporters will brave the extreme cold. the iowa caucuses today will mark the first contest in this election cycle, and a new poll shows former president trump holding on to a dominant lead. here is nbc's alice barr. >> reporter: hi there. from a snowy and frigidly cold des moines, iowa. and this arctic blast really is going to be a significant factor in terms of turnout for the iowa caucuses when forecasters are anticipating windchills potentially as low as negative 45. that is wild. it is also dangerous. the other numbers, of course, that we are following, a new poll from nbc news, the des moines register, and media com showing former president trump with a nearly 30-point lead over

his next closest rival. that lead even more commanding among first-time caucusgoers. and that points to the enthusiasm this poll shows for former president trump compared to other contenders. which could be decisive in terms of who actually goes out to caucus monday night. former u.n. ambassador nikki haley in second place in the new poll ahead of florida governor ron desantis. and entrepreneur vivek ramaswamy. i thought this was interesting. the poll shows nearly half of haley's iowa backers say they would vote for president biden over former president trump. that's a sharp break from most iowa republicans. i've been speaking to folks who are getting ready to caucus for different candidates and say they are not deterred by the polls. iowa certainly has been known to surprise on caucus day in the past. in des moines, iowa, alice barr, nbc news. new this morning, leaders in

the house and the senate have agreed to a short term spending deal that would postpone any government shutdown until march. that's what three sources familiar with the matter told nbc. the continuing resolution would need to be passed by midnight friday to avoid a crippling government shutdown. lawmakers would have time to craft a spending bill. it's been more than 100 days since hamas launched a large scale invasion of israel, slaughtering more than a thousand people in an attack that shocked the world in its brutality. the israeli retaliation, however, has been described by the u.n. as collective punishment. more than 31,000 palestinians are dead or missing, gaza health officials say. let's go live now to claudio lavanga. and claudio, good morning. a somber milestone in israel and gaza. how was it commemorated? >> that's right, frances. good morning. on sunday, thousands people gathered in central tel aviv alongside the relatives of the

more than 100 hostages who are still being held in gaza. they held posters with their pictures and delivered emotional speeches. and they describe what it feels like, not to have seen or heard from them for 100 days now. at the same time, still on sunday, hundreds of thousands of people also took to the streets in major cities around the world, but this time to protest against israel's assault on gaza and to call for a ceasefire. while all that was happening, hamas allegedly issued or released videos of three hostages now warn that nbc news has not been able to immediately verify those videos, but they allegedly show three hostages named as yoshi, and noah. noawh was filmed by her kidnappers put on the motorcycle taken away while her boyfriend was forced to march behind her. 100 days after that fatal day, of course, the war on gaza

continues. but the tension is also rising in the north. israel's northern border with lebanon now just on sunday. an israeli man and his mother were killed after an anti-tank missile fired from lebanon slammed into their homes in close to the border in israel, close to the border with lebanon while the attack was claimed by hezbollah and came as the cross border missile and rocket attacks having intensified, raising fears that that part of the region may be spiraling out of control too. frances? >> claudio, thank you. also new this morning, north korea says it has tested a new more powerful missile that's harder to detect than other projectiles. you can see the launch here. it's described as a solid fuel missile tipped with a hypersonic weapon designed to avoid radar detection. north korean state media describe the tests as a success, but didn't provide any flight details. but japan and south korea say

they detected the launch. the ntsb and faa are investigating a hot air balloon crash that killed four people in arizona. a fifth person was also seriously injured when the balloon slammed into the ground yesterday morning in eloy, about 50 miles northwest of tucson. eight skydivers had jumped from the gondola before the accident. police say the cause of the crash is still unknown. all right. looking ahead at what you can expect from the weather this week, let's bring back nbc meteorologist michelle grossman with more. we've been following this dangerously low temps. how cold will things get? >> they're going to get cold. temperatures 40 below zero. at least a windchill in some spots. temperatures are going to be 25 to 40 degrees below normal for that time of year. it's not just the northern part of the nation that's taking the dangerous cold weather. it's stretching down to the south central state. that's a big story over the next several days. here is our next storm from the south central states into portions of the midatlantic. we're looking at snow. looking at ice as well. and storms in florida. there is our next round of snow emerging out of the west by

wednesday. you see rain along the coast there, but lots of snow into the intermountain west. this will make its way east thursday towards friday. record lows continue to the south central states and states. just 24 in dallas. you factor the winds, it's going to feel colder than that. all right. that's your cold monday forecast. >> all right, michelle, thank you. >> sure. president biden will travel to philadelphia today where he will spend martin luther king day volunteering at the abundance food bank. it's become a tradition by spending this holiday by giving back through service. a special service will take place today at ebenezer baptist church in atlanta. dr. king served as a copastor at the church along with his father. coming up, the lions fend

off the rams for their first play-off win in over three decades. but first, we're back in 60 seconds with a man dedicing s life to battling the junk science he says wrongfully convicted him. [clanking] [gasping] nooo... aya... quick, the quicker picker upper! only bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and bounty is 2x more absorbent so you can use less and get the job done with one. you've got a bit of your face on your face. bounty, the quicker picker upper. and get four rolls in one with the bounty mega roll. our longest lastng roll. life doesn't stop for a cold. honey... honey... dayquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu symptom relief with a honey-licious taste. dayquil honey, the honey-licious, daytime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, power through your day, medicine. alice loves the scent of gain so much, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice

and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! now to a story sparking outrage inside the justice system. a type of forensic science used to convict people for decades now deemed unreliable by multiple government bodies. so why are prosecutors still using it to put people behind bars? nbc's ken dilanian reports. >> reporter: after spending 33 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, keith harwood finally walked into the sunlight a free man. >> did you ever think you'd see this day? >> no, i didn't. >> reporter: more than seven years later, harward now lives a quiet life in rural alabama. >> it's always a great day to be out of prison. >> reporter: but not entirely quiet. he is trying to get the word out about the junk science he says wrongly pushed him and many

others behind bars, bogus bite mark comparisons. what do you want the public to know about bite marks specifically? >> that it's garbage. it's crap. you can't believe it. it doesn't mean anything. >> reporter: harward was convicted in 1983 of raping a woman and murdering her husband. a so-called forensic dentist, who had helped convict a notorious serial killer told the jury his teeth matched bite marks found on the woman's leg. >> he got up there with his 4 by 6 photographs of my mouth and i was past president and i helped bundy go to prison, i was done. that was it. >> reporter: three decades later, the innocence project took his case, and newly analyzed dna show someone else committed the crime. did you ever think you were going to get out? >> no. i was going die in prison. >> reporter: for separate governmental bodies have concluded that bite mark comparisons aren't valid. the national institute for standards and technology, the gold standard for measurement

science said in 2022 that bite mark analysis lacks a sufficient scientific foundation because human dental patterns have not been shown to but unique at the individual level. one 2016 study found that self-described experts couldn't distinguish between animal bite marks and human ones. >> people that were board certified did not agree about what a bite mark was. if a science isn't a science, it's not reproducible, and it's not reliable, courts of law should not allow it in, period. >> reporter: yet bite mark analysis has been used in thousands of cases, and no u.s. court has ruled it inadmissible. >> there are still many people still in jails because of bite mark testimony. >> reporter: charles mccrory has been incarcerated for 38 years, convicted of murdering his wife based on bite mark evidence. he spoke to us from a prison facility. >> mr. mccrory, did you kill your wife?

>> i did not kill my wife. >> reporter: after the original dental expert recanted his testimony, prosecutors offered him a deal. admit to killing his wife and go free. you refused to take it. why? >> i refused to take it because i didn't kill her. >> reporter: the innocence project is still helping mccrory fight to clear his name. >> my faith is strong. i believe god is in control. >> reporter: charles mccrory has appeals pending in federal court. the innocence project says more than 30 people convicted on false bite mark comparisons have been exonerated. >> our thanks to ken for that report. still to come, a date with destiny. in detroit, the lions face their path and attempt to end cas dede of play-off heartbreak on nfl wild card weekend. that's coming up after this. eli. cough? congestion? all in one and done with new mucinex kickstart. aaaaah! ah! hated that. headache? better. ah! fever? body pain?

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lined up to the backfield, and they switch it out here. fourth, and a long yard.

two for the touchdown. g touchdown detroit again! >> history was made on nfl wild card week. the lions pounced early in their first home play-off game in over three decades, spending the first half trading scores with the l.a. rams. l.a. managed to creep back up as the offense stalled in the first half cutting the lead to one. but a crucial first down pass to receiver st. brown. detroit wins their first play-off game this century and just their second since 1957. so you have so many of the fans there in the stands who have no idea what it's like to feel this victory, which makes sense. but tears were streaming so many of these fans' faces. >> this happened with the eagles in our house a couple of years ago. i saw my husband cry. soy get the emotions. all right. it wasn't all close thrillers of the wild card weekend. this is tough. on saturday, the resrj generals of joe flacco came to an end at

the hands of houston texans. cj stroud and propelled the young squad to a win over the browns. cold temperatures in kansas city. the dolphins manage only one touchdown in their loss against the chiefs. miami's play-off reputation has never been worse as they suffered their 23rd straight season without a postseason win. and it was the texas-sized upset on sunday as the packers became the first seventh seeded team to win a play-off game. green bay dropped a whopping 48 points. it was crazy in their unlikely victory over dak prescott and the 2 seed dallas cowboys. i wanted to be asleep, but i couldn't turn away. it was a blowout. >> you know who doesn't want to hear that, two members of our team. bobby and cody. >> oh, cody too! >> are mourning just devastated. >> the texans is good. >> nope, not the same. not the same when it comes to the cowboys.

one of the biggest vacancies in college football history has been filled in less than a week. on friday, the university of alabama hired washington head coach kalen devord. just a week ago, deboer was coaching the huskies in the college national championship game when the team fell to the wolverines. he arrived in tuscaloosa over the weekend where he told crimson tide fans that he, quote, cannot wait for the journey ahead. >> huge shoes to fill. >> sure does. all right. we know that having an apple a day will keep the doctor away. but what type of apple should you be eating? in> and jt is heading home to brg sexy back to tennessee for one night ol' only. details on how to get tickets, next. aging... try olay regenerist micro-sculpting cream. it delivers 10 benefits in every jar for younger-looking skin, visibly firming, lifting, and smoothing wrinkles. olay regenerist penetrates the skin's surface,

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and her grandson chad cooper, this new year is beyond belief. we're just barely into 2024. you guys have had quite a year already. >> it's been insane. total insanity. >> hello! i have a gift for you. >> okay. >> reporter: that's because last month chad surprised barbara with a gift more than 50 years in the making and posted her reaction on social media. >> that's a present for me. what is it? what's in here? >> reporter: in that bag, a children's book based on an unpublished manuscript barbara wrote way back in 1972. barbara couldn't believe her eyes. >> oh, god, this is probably the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me in my entire life. in my entire life. this is the nicest thing. >> reporter: can you explain what those tears were? >> i couldn't believe that

somebody would be that wonderful to me to do it, and he did. >> i adore him. i love him to death. >> when you make-believe, you can be anything. >> reporter: the book called "more more more" is based on a little girl barbara once knew who teaches others about gratitude. for decades she couldn't find a publisher. one day he spotted the book file on her computer. >> i had never published a book before or knew anything about the process or anything, but i learned it pretty quickly. and within two weeks, got it on amazon. >> reporter: and new more more more has become a number one best-seller. comments filled with love are now pouring in online from across the country. omg, yes, you made it, grandma! to be seen and acknowledged for what we're passionate about it is all anyone ever wants. i'm a kindergarten teacher. this book will now be in my classroom library. >> it's coming from their heart. >> reporter: barbara says it's all been a blessing. >> i feel like i done something

important in my life. now and all i want to do is give everyone a hug. and i mean this from the bill of my heart. >> maybe there will be more a part two. our thanks to kate snow for that. a new queen has been crowned right here in america. >> you're miss america 2024 is -- miss colorado! >> miss colorado is now miss america. the 22-year-old is pursuing her masters in public policy at harvard. she is also the first active du air force officerty

breaking right now at 5:00, a search and rescue unfolding after a plane crashes into water in half moon bay. revelations about where that plane took off. plus, the race for the presidency kicks off in