♪ desantis drops out. just days before the new hampshire primary, the florida

governor heads back to the sunshine state. what the move means for the final two contenders on the ballot. an nbc news exclusive, the man who survived six days trapped in his wrecked truck speaks out. how he says he managed to stay alive. a wild scene at ford field matched with heartbreak in buffalo. the lions one game closer to their first super bowl ever, while the kansas city chiefs send the bills packing as they tried to defend their title. we break down the full weekend of nfl playoffs. a once in a lifetime event you probably wish you didn't have to experience, more than a trillion cicadas set to emerge this year. a college athlete gets a life changing surprise. we've got your good news to wrap up. we kick off this monday. this is january 22nd. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you, i'm frances rivera. we begin this morning in the latest closely watched race for the super bowl on sunday.

chiefs quarterback patrick mahomes found himself in enemy territory in his third playoff duo between josh allen and the bills. the back and forth battle saw allen run for two touchdowns, while mahomes told travis kelce, you belong to me, and hit his favorite target for two scores of his own. kc took the lead in the fourth as buffalo struggled to move the ball down the field. with under two minutes left, the bills sent out kicker tyler pass for a 44 yarder to force overtime. >> he has to make one for us. the game on the line, he will. 44 yards, bass. no, he doesn't make it. >> buffalo's season ends in heartbreaking but familiar fashion, while the chiefs advance to their sixth straight afc title game. they will face the ravens for the conference crown next sunday. the top-seeded 49ers will take on a team that hasn't been this close to a title in over 30 years. and our own jesse kirsch has more on the history-defying

season for detroit. >> reporter: in detroit, the lions are roaring. >> for the second time, the lions are one win from making the super bowl. >> they deserve it. they deserve this. >> they deserve to enjoy this. >> reporter: motor city moving on to the nfc championship after host asking defeating the tampa bay buccaneers. plays like this helping seal the victory. >> touchdown, detroit. >> reporter: with lions fans loving it. >> the atmosphere is crazy. everybody is going wild. >> detroit's win a letdown for tampa bay. the lion favored and followed through. just the latest example of the city meeting the moment. >> it's a little different in detroit than other places. it is a run of joy right now. >> detroit leading dallas 38-6.

>> reporter: since detroit's last big playoff run ended in early 1992, the city has filed for bankruptcy and started fighting back. mayor mike duggan leading the rejuvenation. >> the lions have not won a championship in my lifetime. it means everything to us. gener generations of fans are waiting for this. >> reporter: fans who have never seen the lions in a super bowl. to get there, they'll need to beat the san francisco 49ers who came back against the green bay packers. >> mccaffrey scores, 49 eers in front. >> reporter: with millions watching nationwide. off and on the field, detroit is shining with pride. >> and our thanks to jesse for that report. now to the latest in the race for the white house, donald trump has one less challenger in the republican primary. >> i can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resource ifs we don't have

a clear path to victory. accordingly, i am today suspending my campaign. trump is superior to the current incumbent, joe biden, that is clear. i signed a pledge to support the republican nominee, and i will honor that pledge. >> desantis dropping out of the running before tuesday's new hampshire primary. nbc's dasha burns is there. >> reporter: a chaotic final day of the desantis campaign, a canceled appearance on "meet the press," pivot to events in south carolina, and here in new hampshire, an event that ultimately ended getting canceled when we learned that desantis was suspending his campaign. the governor is back home in florida in tallahassee and he has endorsed his biggest rival of the campaign, former president trump. that endorsement is especially striking considering these two were locked in a bitter battle over the last year. former president trump taking punch after punch after punch at

ron desantis, and desantis really only finding his footing and sharpening his message on former president trump in the final weeks. he did, in fact, sharpen that message. after months of saying that he was not going to, quote, kiss the ring of former president trump, he said that in multiple interviews, in press conferences, ultimately he did decide to fall in line and this paints a really stark picture of where we are at in this primary, where the gop is at in its politics, you come out of iowa with a resounding win for former president trump. desantis now dropping out. now giving haley her shot at a one-on-one race, and yet we've seen in the polling, his share does mostly go to former president trump. so that might actually help the former president.

an additional obstacle for nikki haley. from the beginning, thcis was a campaign that really had a hard time getting off the ground. the guy that initially everyone looked to as the potential next standard bearer for the republican party, the person who was most likely to take on former president trump, but from the start, the campaign sputtered from that initial twitter launch that was full of glitches to a campaign that ran out of money last summer to a candidate that had a hard time on the trail forming a message and forming connections with voters and ultimately ran out of resources and ran out of steam. wanted to go on to south carolina to try to make it a one-on-one race there, but had to call it here in new hampshire before the new hampshire primary. >> thank you, dasha. donald trump's civil defamation trial continues in new york city. the former president was found liable for sexually abusing and

defaming writer e. jean carol. according to a source close to mr. trump, he wants to testify, and that could happen as soon as today. now to oklahoma where three people have died in a helicopter crash. air evaclife team says they lost contact with the chopper late saturday night while the team was returning to their base. there were no patients on board at the time. the three crew members have not been identified. the ntsb is investigating the crash. this morning, yet another winter wallop is bringing rain and snow to the midwest and plains. millions are under alerts, this comes after a week of frigid temperatures brought deadly ice, heavy snow and high winds across the country. there have been over 60 weather-related deaths since january 12th and officials warn this number will likely increase as the week goes on. warmer weather is on the way, after weeks of snow we're looking at rain moving toward the middle of the country. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is here tracking it all. we're going to trade in the layers for the umbrellas and rain gear, right?

>> that's right. we're going to see the pattern change, warmer air coming in, not exactly today, but wednesday we're going to notice a big difference in the eastern half of the nation. temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees above normal. we're really active. you can see in the west some snow, some ice, some rain. that's also happening in the middle of the country. really really busy this morning. in the southern plains, parts of texas, you see some thunderstorms this morning, sandwiched in between is the cold layer where we're seeing the ice fall, freezing rain. power outages really slick travel in parts of oklahoma, missouri, also arkansas. then on the colder side, we're seeing snow extending to portions of the great lakes into the upper midwest as well. 36 million americans wake ing u to winter alerts, the northern plains, into the ohio valley. that includes kansas city, st. louis, indianapolis, also little rock. this is what it looks like as we go throughout the day. you notice on railddar, heavy r

with the gulf moisture moving in. that's where the warm air is. we're going to see this not only today but also tuesday, wednesday. there's that freezing rain and on the northern side we're going to see that snow falling, and we're looking at a lot of rain over the next th look toward th south central states, it's about the stormy weather. we're looking at the chance for pretty strong storms and some heavy rain. frances, that's your monday forecast. >> thank you so much, michelle. see you in a bit. >> sure. a rescued sea turtle is back swimming in the florida keys after being released this weekend. dozens gathered to watch the lagger head sea turtle ida returned to the ocean. she was found tangled in a buoy line. the u.s. coast guard stepped in to save the animal. ida recovered quickly and spent

a few days at a florida keys based hospital. why a snowy treat was met with a chilly reception from fans. first, an nbc news exclusive. hear from the man who survived for nearly a week pinned in his crashed truck. how itrafoedisut tnsrm h olook on life. enges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world. when your gut is out of balance, your body gives you signs. so if you're frustrated with occasional bloating... ♪♪ [stomach noises] gas... or abdominal discomfort... help stop the frustration and start taking align every day.

align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional digestive upsets. so you can enjoy life. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. now to an nbc news exclusive. you might remember this incredible story of survival. a man who survived six days in a crumpled pickup truck that just careened right off the highway. two fishermen stumbled on the accident and saved his life. now he's on the mend and speaking to our dana griffin. >> hang on, buddy, you stay there. we got medics coming, okay. >> this emergency rescue underneath a portage, indiana, overpass, took hours. for matthew reim, the will to survive took even longer, six days. >> what did you eat? what did you drink?

>> so i didn't eat anything, although water and stuff from the road above me would wash down skp land right in my sunroof, and i would take my sweat pants to where it would collect that water, and then i would basically suck the water out of my sweat pants. >> reporter: last month, matthew says he was heading to a friend's funeral when he swerved to avoid a deer. >> the guardrail basically just showed up on the left-hand side of my truck, and you know, after that it was all downhill. >> reporter: he was pinned inside his mangled truck, hidden underneath an overpass. >> i can't feel the lower part of my leg. there's something wrong. >> reporter: his phone wedged on the other side of the dash board. >> i was just yelling, you know, please, somebody help me and i could hear sirens and i could hear voices out in the distance and i would yell and nothing. >> reporter: as the days went on, matthew lost his will to live. he even considered ending his

life. >> there was just that voice in my head of my best friend just saying "stop." >> reporter: finally, on day six, a father and son-in-law, mario garcia and nivardo de la torre went out for a walk when they noticed matthew's wrecked truck underneath the bridge. >> what did you think when you saw him laying there? >> i didn't know if he was out or not. because he was out at that moment. his first thing was are you real? yeah, i'm real. >> reporter: matthew was air lifted to a hospital in critical condition. later having his leg amputated, but gaining a new lease on life. who was matt before the accident and who is matt now? >> so matt before the accident suffered with anxiety and depression. so my mission going forward, i want to make people happier. >> reporter: as matthew regained his strength -- >> there he is. >> reporter: he also gained a family. two weeks ago, the men reunited

for the first time at the hospital, and today, they reunited once again. >> it's amazing to see all three of you here. how does it feel to be reunited? >> it changed my life meeting matt. you know, that's something positive. >> he's like my son now. >> it's always amazing to see them. i don't think that even in 20 years my thoughts on that will change. >> reporter: dana griffin, nbc news. incredible, and that new perspective, too. still to come, some familiar faces at the box office, and she went viral for eating snow with a spoon, but now reese witherspoon is tinakg on the chilly reaction to her frozen creation. that's coming up. ♪ ♪ rich, indulgent chocolate with a luscious caramel filling. discover ghirardelli caramel squares.

in a bag and a bar. makes life a bite better. 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. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand. and wakes up feeling like himself. get the rest to be your best with non-habit forming zzzquil. ♪ ♪ [♪♪] there's a way to cut your dishwashing time by 50%. try dawn powerwash dish spray. it removes 99% of grease and grime in half the time. it cleans so well, you can replace multiple cleaning products. try dawn powerwash. this new charmin ultra soft smooth tear is soooo soft and soo smooth. new charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy perforations that tear so much better

for a smooth more enjoyable go. charmin, enjoy the go. oh... stuffed up again? so congested! you need sinex saline from vicks. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! ♪♪ my doctor recommends all free clear for my laundry. it's free of dyes and perfumes. and doesn't leave behind irritating residue. for a clean that's gentle on skin, all you need is all free clear.

play like no one's watching, but everyone's watching because

you're gorgeous. >> it was a repeat weekend at the box office. "mean girls" notched its second week at number one, taking in $11.7 million, the beekeeper and wonka at 2 and 3. the sci fi filler, launched to a disappointing $3 million. you have a 14-year-old, 13-year-old. loves the "mean girls" thing, she doesn't want to see it because there's so much on tiktok saying it's kind of meh. >> i want to see wonka too, there's a list we want to see. >> i think we'll wait for the tiktok mean girls criticism to pass so we can watch it objectively. the highly anticipated michael jackson biopic is set to begin shooting today. the film stars jackson's own nephew, jafar jackson in the star role, he looks so much like him, by the way. he posted a picture of himself,

staring at the man in the mirror supporting a fedora and striking a pose made famous by his late uncle. the film is set for release next april. i mean, he's, i want to say 22, 25, i just read it. how cool, and he does resemble his uncle. >> jermaine jackson is his father, if you can imagine the training, everything to turn into his uncle for this role. it's going to be fascinating. it was just like heaven for reese witherspoon after a rare snowfall in her hometown of nashville. her posting a video on tiktok describing her recipe for fresh snow. like what she did, she made what she called a snow, topped with chocolate and caramel syrup, and cold brew coffee. for some tiktok users, this meant war for them, okay, they were really upset. witherspoon posted three follow up videos, addressing the criticism of her frozen confection, including all the

warnings that said she could get sick from eating the snow. witherspoon responded with a yolo and making sure to point out it was in fact really delicious and great. she got it from the top. it looks like her vehicle, right? >> or like a hot tub. even better. >> you don't know what's in that. granted it's not yellow snow. what if a bird flew above and you don't see it because it's covered in snow. >> we used to always do that when we were little. does look good. when we come back dunkin' donuts is in hot water over the dairy eefr fee. and this spring, getting ready for broods buzzing by the billions. but this is a not flash. ♪ i got a good feeling ♪ there's big news for women going through menopause. veozah - a prescription treatment for moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms - the medical name

for hot flashes and night sweats. with hormone-free veozah, you can have fewer hot flashes, and more not flashes. veozah is proven to reduce the number and severity of hot flashes, day and night. for some women, it can start working in as early as one week. don't use veozah if you have cirrhosis, severe kidney problems, kidney failure, or take cyp1a2 inhibitors. increased liver blood test values may occur. your doctor will check them before and during treatment. most common side effects include stomach pain, diarrhea, difficulty sleeping, back pain, and hot flashes. ♪ i got a good feeling ♪ ask your doctor about hormone-free veozah and enjoy more not flashes. 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. i'll be honest. by the end of the day, my floors...yeesh. but who has the time to clean?

that's why i love my swiffer wetjet. it's a quick and easy way to get my floors clean. wetjet absorbs and locks grime deep inside. look at that! swiffer wetjet. do you like... ...chocolate bars? ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ on your period, sudden gushes happen. say goodbye gush fears! thanks to always ultra thins... with rapiddry technology... that absorbs two times faster. hellooo clean and comfortable. always. fear no gush.

i love that my daughter still needs me. but sometimes i can't help due to burning and stabbing pain in my hands, so i use nervive. nervive's clinical dose of ala reduces nerve discomfort in as little as 14 days. now i can help again. feel the difference with nervive. having triplets is... -amazing -expensive. so, we switched to the bargain detergent, but we ended up using three times as much and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back with tide, and the clothes are clean again. do 3x the laundry and get a tide clean. it's got to be tide. we are back with what you need to know early told. the postal service just hiked post taj rates for letters and some packages. stamps will cost two more fennys at $0.68 apiece. a class action lawsuit is,

to substitute dairy milk. the coffee chain acknowledged the suit has until march 4th to respond. billions of cicadas from two broods, one on a 13-year cycle and another on a 17-year cycle will emerge from underground at the same time. the rare event last happened in the year 1803. their summers are going to be nice and loud with that cicada sound. we'll rhtacbeig bk. and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world.

when your gut is out of balance, your body gives you signs. so if you're frustrated with occasional bloating... ♪♪ [stomach noises] gas... or abdominal discomfort... help stop the frustration and start taking align every day. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional digestive upsets. so you can enjoy life. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. a pup who has patrolled super bowls and presidential nominations is retiring, and first a life changing scholarship for an auburn

student. nbc's jose diaz-balart has a look back at some of our favorite stories from the past week. >> thought about it, and gets the dribble. >> if auburn university's win last week wasn't enough for guard carter sovara. >> this has to do with commitment. this has to do with dedication. >> this moment that followed, a scholarship announcement from his coach was life changing. >> earning a scholarship to play basketball at auburn university. [ cheering ] >> who's a good girl? that's buffalo, new york, police k-9, lucas retirement party. the officers giving her all the tennis balls she can handle. she's been by their side for

seven years, patrolling super bowls, presidential inauguration, and countless ch community events. now lucas's partner is taking her home to enjoy a well deserved rest with plenty of treats, and of course all the tennis balls she could chase. and in nevada, mom tessa trueman and their family are starting the new year with a new perspective on the meaning of community. look at this doorbell cam, that's tessa, rushed out of her house on a stretcher for a medical emergency related to losing a pregnancy. but then this happened. in the days that followed, you can see on the camera, neighbor after neighbor after neighbor bringing food, flowers, and well wishes. an overwhelming outpoweriuring love tessa never expected. >> how did you feel about that is this. >> i was extremely grateful.

people showed up that i never thought would show up for me. >> do you think it changed you? >> i think it has changed me. i have been new to tears multiple times, just like the outpouring of love i have received makes me in turn want to be a better person. >> tessa now committed to paying it forward. how do you plan to make a difference? >> i plan to make a difference by being the person that those people were to me by showing up for others, by reaching out to people when they're having a hard time. i hope other people will do the same. >> we will all try. thanks to jose diaz-balart for sharing those stories, and thank you for watching "early today" and being up early with us. i'

ron desantis pulls the plug on his presidential campaign, clearing the way for a one o