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

one showdown between nikki haley and donald trump. how the seismic announcement is reshaping the race for the republican nomination on the eve of the first primary in new hampshire. tensions skyrocket in the middle east. the attack on an american base in iraq injuring multiple service members that is sparking new fears of a wind thing conflict in the region. microsoft hit hard by hackers, a russian-backed group targeting the top executives, why the company says the hackers were prowling for information about themselves. teaching tough lessons to third graders. this elementary schoolteacher going viral by proving you are never too young to learn about personal finance. and heart break at highmark, things go right for the bills in all the wrong ways as a missed kick seals the win for the chiefs. all the playoff action plus a glimpse of the future of how we watch football. it's monday, january 22nd. "early today" starts right now.

hi there. i'm frances rivera. new hampshire is just one day away from hosting the first in the nation primary. in the latest polling donald trump holds a significant lead against his republican rivals there, but there's been a shakeup in the race that could impact tomorrow. nbc's brie jackson joins us from new hampshire. brie, that republican field just got one candidate smaller. >> reporter: that's right. good morning, frances. it came as a surprise to hear that florida governor ron desantis was suspending his campaign. this comes just days after desantis said that he planned to stay in the race at least through south carolina, the south carolina primary, which is at the end of february. desantis had even been campaigning there in south carolina, now he's admitting defeat giving his endorsement to former president trump. now, desantis had lost to former president trump by 30 points in iowa where he had spent a lot of resources and trump says he's honored to get the support.

>> i can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if 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. >> i appreciate that and i also look forward to working with ron and everybody else to defeat crooked joe biden. we have to get him out. >> reporter: new hampshire is now essentially a one on one matchup between nikki haley and donald trump. haley is polling well with independent voters who are able to vote in the republican primary here, but polls also show many desantis h voters mayo to former president trump. meanwhile, the democratic primary will be held here tomorrow but president joe biden's name will not be on the ballot, that is because the democratic national committee

wanted south carolina to hold the first primary because that state better reflects the party's diverse voter base, but new hampshire state government, which is controlled by republicans, would not give up their first in the nation status, but biden, he could still win the primary here. there has been an organized effort to have his name as a write-in candidate on the ballot. frances? >> a whole new dynamic on the other side. thank you so much, brie. talks to release israeli hostages are being held in gaza are at an impasse after israel rejects hamas' demand for a permanent ceasefire according to a diplomat with knowledge of the talks. the islamist extremist group is demanding a full release. the gaza continues to spread beyond the borders of gaza. our raf sanchez has new details on a strike on a u.s. base in iraq.

>> reporter: the white house vowing to do whatever it takes to protect u.s. forces in the middle east after iranian-backed militants hit this air base in iraq with ballistic missiles. leaving an unknown number of service members with potential traumatic brain injuries. >> we're going to do what we have to do to protect them. these attacks have to stop and we've made that very clear. >> reporter: while in gaza a once unthinkable milestone reached, 25,000 people killed according to the hamas-controlled health ministry. the majority, women and children. the u.n. secretary general speaking out. >> israel's military operations have spread massively and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented. >> reporter: and in the occupied west bank, new details about the killing of a palestinian-american, born and raised in louisiana, he was shot dead friday a been israeli

settler his family says, killed at the wheel of his truck. >> he was driving? >> see the blood. you see the blood all over the seat. see the blood right here? >> reporter: israelipolice say they're investigating whether an off-duty officer fired the fatal shot, but israelis are rarely prosecuted for violence against palestinians human rights groups say. >> i carried my son out of the truck, shot, two bullets in the head, in the chest. my son was killed. i buried my son today. >> reporter: as mourners gather at the family home, his father, also an american citizen, says he holds the u.s. responsible for backing israel. >> he was killed in cold blood from weapons that is being sent from my country. from u.s. >> reporter: and an update on those two u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s who went missing earlier this month. u.s. central command saying that after an 11-day search by sea and air, they have now been

declared dead. they lost their lives off the coast of somalia on a mission to intercept iranian weapons. back to you. >> thank you. russia a blaming ukraine for the deadly shelling of a market in a russian-occupied town in the eastern donetsk region. at least 25 people were killed. local authorities say two children are among the dead. ukraine has not commented on the incident and nbc news has not verified the claim of ukrainian responsibility. russia annexed donetsk along with luhansk in late 2022 but it is regarded as ukraine occupied territory. to oklahoma where three people died in a helicopter crash. contact was lost with the chopper late saturday night while the team was returning to the base. there were no patients on board at the time. the three crew members have not been identified and the ntsb is investigating the crash. turning to utah where a man's heart-stopping rescue was caught on a gopro camera.

bob tillisson was riding in his snowmobile when buried by an avalanche. another group raced to his rescue using avalanche beacons to pinpoint bob's location. as they dug to remove the snow from his face dustin realized that he was rescuing his friend of 35 years. >> anybody know him? >> it's bob tillisson. >> dustin says both were unaware that either were on the mountain that day, an incredible story of survival thanks to a friend who was at the right place at the right time. severe weather concerns are not letting up as we start this week. icing concerns sweep across the plains while the gulf coast is on alert for potential flash flooding. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking the wild weather impacting the country. michelle, good morning. >> it's going to be another busy week. looking at radar active already this morning. we have a big storm system in the middle of the country, heavy rain in portions of the southern

plains. you can see lightning already early this morning in the middle here we have some freezing rain and we're going to see the potential for power outages, slick travel there. then on the colder side the blue is snow falling throughout portions of the midwest into the northern plains, the upper midwest and the west coast we're really wet, too, a series of storms moving on shore, we will see that again today. heavy rain leading to the chance of localized flash flooding, some ice falling and also heavy mountain snow. 50 million people impacted by winter alerts. the pink and purple, we are looking at ice storm warnings, that's going to be a big problem today and tomorrow. this is a setup, an area of low pressure pulling that gulf moisture in, heavy rain where you see darker colors, the pinks and purples where we see that freezing rain. we are going to see snow into the northern parts of this storm system. locally up to 10 inche

falling along the gulf coast and also parts of texas. 66 in houston. and that's your monday forecast. >> okay. we will see you in a bit. thank you. coming up, the pride of detroit, the lions roar to his first conference championship in over 30 years. who else made the cut? first, steve cedric is here with a hacking headache for microsoft plus the buyout bid to buy out macy's. ♪ 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. macy's is fighting back against a nearly $6 billion takeover bid and microsoft says some of its top executives were targeted by a russia-backed hacking group but they weren't going for your data. receive cedric joins us with the full details. good morning. >> good morning, frances. microsoft as you say the network was breached by password

spraying. i didn't know what password spraying was. this is a malicious act by russian backed hackers using the same password on multiple accounts and then another password before they gain access. they used a weak password to compromise microsoft's corporate network and access emails and documents that belong to senior executives and employees. it took them a long while to sort this one out. microsoft didn't detect the breach until january 12th, exactly a week before the friday disclosure, but it started in november 2023. meanwhile, a bit of a standoff between macy's and potential bidders, they have rejected a $5.8 billion takeover offer, they won't even let them have a look at the books, they said it does not have compelling. they say if you show up the books we might be able to make a meaningful increase in the original proposal but at the moment macy's is having none of it. back to you. >> steve cedric, thank you.

now to a teacher who is proving it is never too early to learn a lesson in personal finance. she is going viral on tiktok by passing her own life lessons down to her third grade students. here is maya. >> if you have $384 say oh yeah. >> beloved teacher shelby lattimore is always on got. >> i'm tutoring, i'm a science coordinator, i'm, you know -- >> coaching basketball. >> i'm coaching basketball. >> reporter: and she's making sure kids in her charlotte, north carolina, class are having candid conversations about money. >> a lot of my students of color they see their parents living check to check. they see the money management of not thinking long term. >> ms. lattimore is inflating your rent. >> no. come on. >> i sure am. >> reporter: her lessons, real world tough love combined with fun. >> you're charging third graders rent. >> i am. i sure am.

>> using fake money and a budget students pay to use desks and chairs. they even earn salaries for helping out. >> it gives you a life lesson how money is. >> reporter: their financial exercises drawn from ms. lattimore's own life as an educator, struggling to make ends meet. >> i am going to take your money. >> no. >> you now inspired by her students, she's posting her wildly popular lessons on tiktok, earning up to six figures a year. >> what keeps you waking up every day and excited to go to work. >> wow. i'm sorry. >> no, don't apologize. take a beat. take a beat. you got it. >> yeah. it's going to sound so corny, but it's them. >> reporter: one teacher's empowering strategies for helping students succeed. maya eaglin, nbc news, charlotte, north carolina. >> she needs to offer those lessons to some adults, too. still to come the nfl championship matchups are set with one team coming as close in

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they may have already made history but the detroit lions are not quite finished in their journey to quash years of playoff heart break. after a stalemate in the half of sunday's divisional matchup the lions ran up the score, the buccaneers scoring three touchdowns in the last two quarts but a late touchdown pass baker mayfield had one last chance to play savior for tampa. >> here comes that pressure. mayfield in the middle, it's intercepted! it's derek barnes. >> that game-sealing interception the lions advance to their first nfc championship since 1991. here they go. what a glory moment for them. >> so fun. >> and they got their eye on the

prize for the even bigger glory moment making it all the way to the super bowl. >> they have to face the 49ers. that's going to be the tough part. all right. later that night patrick mahomes found himself in enemy territory in his third playoff dual between the bills. the back and forth battle saw allen run for two touch homes, mahomes told travis kelce you belong to me and hit his favorite target for two scores. kc took the lead in the fourth. with under two minutes left the bills sent out their kicker for a 44 yard tore 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! >> oh, and buffalo season ends in heartbreaking but familiar fashion while the chiefs advance to their sixth straight afc title game. they will travel to baltimore sunday to take on lamar jackson and the ravens while the lions will face the 49ers in santa

clara. my favorite part of that 49ers game, jason kelce, my favorite kelce, his shirt off. >> shirt off. with the face. >> upstaged tailer. >> he needed to root on his brother because travis hasn't scored in these games since november. well-deserved. >> november 20th. turning to a record breaker in college basketball with sunday's win by the stanford kartd nl over oregon state the coach became the winningest coach in college basketball history. she has been in the cardinal for 38 seasons and passed mike krzyzewski with her 1,203rd victory. after sunday's game the 70-year-old vanderveer was met with cheers from her fans as well as a congratulatory message from coach k himself. she's won three championships with stanford. she coached the women's olympic game and brought home the gold for that. >> coach k giving the props.

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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 today." the duchess of york sarah ferguson has been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. the skin cancer was discovered while undergoing reconstructive surgery. a crew arrived at the international space station after an orbital journey that lasted 36 hours. it featured the first european crew which included turkey's first ever astronaut. they will spend 14 days at the space station. japan's space agency landed its moon sniper spacecraft on the moon. solar panels threaten to cut the mission short. japan is the fifth country in

history to land on the moon. burt's bees latest co lab with hidden valley ranch sold out in less than 24 hours. food flavored lip balms include ranch, buffalo sauce, maybe eat wings with the lip balm. crunchy celery and fresh carrot. "early today" will be right back. there's challenges, 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. we are getting a closer look at the future of football and how people watch it at home. sam brock reports viewers can expect games to be more immersive and entertaining.

>> reporter: the future of football isn't just a virtuoso quarterback like patrick mahomes, it's also virtual reality. realtime betting with odds and money lines mid game. >> he might be gone. >> reporter: buzz light year on the gridiron. >> you're really only limited by your imagination. >> reporter: fred is shaping that future right now, last week he oversaw the first streaming only nfl playoff game. >> caught by kelce. >> reporter: which 23 million people watched on peacock owned by nbc's parent company nbc universal. but it's not just where you see the game, it's how. >> are there bells and whistles you can do on the streaming side of things that are not available on traditional broadcast? >> one of the things you can do is have as many alternative feeds or alternate feeds as you want. so if you want the high quality sunday night football broadcast,

you can have that. but, you know, former players or celebrities or taylor swift commenting on the game. you can have that. you know, you are not limited to channel space. >> reporter: he also oversees amazon's thursday night football where you can watch a standard broadcast but also a jazzed up version that shows realtime stats like the speed of a receiver on a touchdown run. >> going up tempo. >> reporter: or ai fueled projections telling which players are expected to get open. espn offers multiple feeds of nfl football. >> obviously you played against the '85 bears. >> reporter: including the super popular manning kase with peyton and eli give you your take and that may be just the beginning. visual breakthroughs include the nfl using ai to place "toy story" characters over real game action this fall. that's the real play on the left

and the "toy story" version on the right. >> all the way to the end zone. >> reporter: and immersive augmented and virtual reality like this not yet debuted platform transforming homes into virtual stadiums. with meta's quest promising courtside views. >> you're going to have probably 3-d viewer ship. you will be able to watch a game and feel like you are in the first row of that game. >> reporter: as for now the biggest slam dunk we know is a sports world fast break into streaming. sam brock, nbc news. it is so cool what's to come. thanks so much for watching "early today" on a monday morning. pe your weekho s

♪ desantis drops out. there is one less republican in the race for the white house. governor d