the presidential pe presides aprime heir are just getting started, but pro president biden and donald trump are getting set for november a leaked audiotape sparked a firestorm over kari lake's

camp campaign our meteorologist is tracking the path of a dangerous system and the faa slams the brakes on the 737 max planes, but there is a glimmer of hope for those planes grounded. and in hot pursuit of a payday why sofia vergara and netflix are being sued by the family of an infamous drug lord. it is thursday, january 25th "early today" starts right now hi there, i'm glad to be with you i'm frances rivera we begin with the latest on the race for the white house we are less than a month away from the south carolina primary where nikki haley is fighting to get more support in her home state as she takes on donald trump. meanwhile, president biden plans to visit wisconsin the president just picked up a

major endorsement from a labor union. >> reporter: president biden officially has the backing of the united auto workers u.n. t union president biden zed to be moving right ahead to the general election and focussing on a rematch with donald trump. >> leaving too many americans behind in fact, when donald trump was in office, six auto factories closed around the country. tens of thousands of auto jobs were lost nationwide during trump's presidency during my president, we've opened 20 auto factories with more to come >> reporter: overnight, donald trump increased his attacks on his only republican rival left standing, nikki haley posting on social media, trump threatened to black list anywhone who donae to the haley campaign, that they

would be permanently barred from the maga camp. haley incited people to donate haley has vowed to stay in this race the next primary is in south carolina where she was governor. her campaign just spent a million dollars on two new ads there to try to make the case that she is the candidate better suited to take on joe biden in november >> let's see how far that money and those ads take her, drew, thank you. the republican frontrunner can testify in court today as donald trump's civil defamation case resumes the jury must decide how much mr. trump owes e. jean carroll in damages trump indicated he wanted to testify. then the trial was delayed because of covid-19 exposure it is unclear if he still plans to take the stand. a different legal battle for the gop, this time in arizona. the head of the state republican party resigned after the releas release of an audiotape. vaughn hilliard has the details.

>> reporter: the leader of arizona's republican party resigning after an audiotape appeared to show him trying to convince a close trump ally not to run for office. >> i can tell you what i can offer you. >> reporter: jeff dewitt heard in this audio urging kari lake to not run for the u.s. senate this year after she lost her race for governor there in 2022. >> there are very powerful people who want to keep you out. >> reporter: in e change, dewitt says he could hook her up with a lucrative job. >> this has to stay between us is there any companies out there or something that could just put her on the payroll to keep her out? >> reporter: dewitt says the audio was selectively edited >> is there a number at which -- >>ki i can be bought that's what this is about? >> because kari lake is not a public official she's asked to withdraw from politics, it doesn't fall under the language of the bribery statute

>> reporter: lake, who often wears a mic decided to run any-quay af anyway lake calling on dewitt to resign dewitt says lake's team threatened to release a new, more damaging recording if he didn't resign. reached by phone, dewitt told nbc news that he was blown away by her recording their private conversations. lake's campaign denies it blackmailed dewitt if lake were to win the republican primary she would be expected to face independent kyrsten sinema and gallego in a three-person race. turning now to the war in ukraine. a russian military transport plane crashed near the ukraine border on wednesday, killing everyone on board. according to the russian defense ministry, 65 ukrainian prisoners of war were on the flight. the cause remains a mystery, but russia is pointing the finger at

ukraine. let's go to claudio lavanga who joins us live. what's the latest on this? >> reporter: good morning, frances. russia has officially accused ukraine of shooting down a military plane with two missiles it said were fired from the kharkiv region in ukraine. now they also say that ukraine was very well aware of the fact that on that plane there were 65 ukrainian prisoners of war that were going to take part in this prisoners exchange on the border with, between russia and ukraine, and that proved that ukraine disregards the live of its citizens, they say ukraine was aware there would be a prisoner, change but they with n were were not told how that would be

carried out. military planes approaching the belgorod region are considered legitimate targets because usually they carry weapons used in the war against ukraine in the meantime, the president of ukraine, volodymyr zelenskyy, accused russia of playing with the lives of ukrainian prisoners of war and called for an international investigation, while sergey lavrov, the russian foreign minister called for an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council which is expected it take place today at 5:00 p.m. eastern. frances? >> claudio, thank you. an alabama death row inmate is set to die tonight after the supreme court reject ted a last-minute appeal kenneth eugene smith will be the first execution in the u.s. to use nitrogen gas a federal appeals court said while the method is new and novel, they were not convinced it violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual

punishment smith was convicted for murdering a preacher's wife in 1988 and in arkansas, a massive manhunt is under way for two inmates who escaped from a detention facility in pine bluff. it was 48 hours before anyone realize they had were gone police have warned local residents about the fugitives. millions of people across the south continue to face serious flooding threats this morning. a disaster declaration was issued in southeastern texas and more than a month's worth of rain has fallen in days in some cities some schools have been forced to close as drivers are left stranded in montgomery county, firefighters rescued 17 people and 15 pets. and life-threatening flash flooding has also been reported in the new orleans area, as the storm pushes to the east

let's get an update now on the forecast for today nbc meteorologist michelle grossmann is here with the latest a lot of us drying out, warming up at all? >> we are warming up we're not drying out quite yet we're going to see similar scenes to yesterday. 36 million people impacted by flood alerts throughout the south central states into the gulf states, even portions of west virginia, where we could see heavy rain this extends all the way to the northeast. this is what it looks like on radar. that will be the theme through thursday stronger storms with gusty winds and the chance for a tornado or two. really heavy rainfall. that's where you see brighter colors that extend into portions of new england where we're seeing a little freezing rain there. as we go throughout the day, torrential rainfall, storms in the central gulf coast and periods of rain in the northeast, not only today but tomorrow you'll have to hold onto the umbrella for a bit

this is where we're expecting the likeliest chance for flash flooding, chattanooga, jackson, mobile, new orleans, and panama city rainfall rates of over one inch an hour. that's going to cause the chance for flash flooding i mentioned the severe threat. still can see winds up t to n umbr umbrellas. that's your thursday forecast. >> thank you, michelle we are back in a minute with why the modern family of a former colombian drug lord is suing sofia vergara. we'll have that after the break. we'll have that after the break.

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what's your message to passengers concerned about flying on your planes? >> we fly safe planes. we don't put airplanes in the air that we don't have 100% confidence in. >> that was boeing ceo dave calhoun on capitol hill. lawmakers grilling him behind closed door about the safety of his company's planes it all comes after that mid-air emergency after a door plug blew off an alaska airlines jet the faa halting production of 737 max planes until they are sure problems are resolved let's get a look with steve sedgwick >> good morning to you, frances. it was a mixed statement from the faa, from the regulators there as well. mike whittaker said we're not going to agree to any request for boeing expansion and production until we are satisfied quality control issues

are resolved that was the bad news. the good news is they have approved inspection instructions for max 9 aircraft that's what they have been waiting for to get these planes back into service. a very mixed statement from the faa. tesla under a lot of pressure. 6% lower in shares overnight what they do in session will be very interesting they face slower growth. the numbers were underwhelming elon musk talking about a lower-cost car in the second half of flexnext year. we know timelines sometimes get elongated. but the lower cost model, he thinks that's going to be a growth wave next year. >> may be more attainable for others to get one. amazon's ring will no longer allow police to request footage

from users ring did not provide a reason for the change, but it comes amid criticism from privacy advocates. police can still obtain videos with a warrant, a search warrant. netflix and actress sofia vergara are facing legal action from the family of a drug lord it comes from the family of griselda blanco whom vergara is portraying in "griselda", the estate accused netflix of unauthorized use of the image, likeness or identity of family members and are seeking to halt the release of the series. at a hearing wednesday, the judge did not address the preliminary injunction request are we going to have to call it the weekly show jon stewart is returning to the show that made him famous, but just for one night a week. ous, just for one night a week. ive d.

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nothing ends it's just a continuation it's a pause in the conversation so rather than saying good-bye or goodnight, i'm just going it say, i'm going to go get a drink, and i'm sure i'll see you guys before i leave. >> okay, so "the daily show" is picking up that conversation after a near-decade pause. eight years after leaving the desk, jon stewart is returning to comedy central's late-night staple in addition to his role of executive producer he will host the show only on monday nights through the election the rest of the roster will take over hosting duties the remainder of the week. there's going to be a whole lot for him to cover to make up for the lost time he's been away but it's election year, i'm sure he'll figure something out >> the rating the hawill be through the roof

ahead of her second go around hosting snl, dakota johnson is making studio 8-h her own. >> 8-h actually stands for 800, which is how much lorne bought the studio for in 1812 and this is where they write the cue cards, which is so cute, because i'm going to say whatever i want. >> of course no tour of a dakota johnson property is complete without a bowl of limes. she hosts with justin timberlake whom we haven't seen in a while. while jennifer lopez has been tapped for next weekend's show i want her hair color, her bangs. >> everything. she is just spectacular. and just skyrocketing career with so many full-on a-listers most people would be flattered to be mistaken for an a-lister, like those who play superman, but not if it cost ah

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million explorer suvs to fix trim pieces that could fly off and pose a danger to other drivers. owners will be notified starting on march 13th. the maker of robitussin has issued a recall for eight of its cough syrup lots over microbial contamination. it includes 4o ounce and 8 ounce sizes. health insurance signups on the affordable care market places reached a record 23 million this year. red states saw the highest enrollment increases according to the centers for medicare and medicaid services. and oreo's new space dunk cookies are out of this world as they feature cutouts and the best part, you could win a trip to the edge of space. you like our theme music here

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and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! it is an emotional rebound for one college basketball team shr sidelined by injury. they're bouncing back thanks to a student who never thought they'd get a chance to play college ball kathy park has their story >> showtime on three, one, two, three! >> showtime! >> reporter: halfway through the season, tcu was on a roll. the horned frogs started off 14

and 0, a school record ranked by the ap as one of the top 25 teams in the country. but all that momentum quickly grounding to a halt. coach mark campbell says injuries hit hard. >> i've never had an injury situation like this over a, you know, rough two week stretch and it just shows how quickly a season can turn. >> reporter: among the injured, star center and tiktok sensation, sedona prince, out during a key matchup begins pay lower. >> i kid you not, seven seconds into the game i didn't see a pass coming towards me it hit my finger and shattered my ring finger on my right hand, seven seconds into the game, boom, just like that, starting center is out for seven weeks. >> reporter: the injuries got so bad the frogs were forced to forfeit two games last week. >> we ended up only having six players ready to play and suit up against k state so they said no. that's dangerous

canceled forfeit. >> reporter: in desperate need of healthy athletes, tcu took the unprecedented move of holding open tryouts in the middle of the season >> the turn out was incredible they came from class and put on their sneakers there was one young lady who got letter hoop shoes delivered overnight. >> reporter: the players selected never thought they'd play college hoops >> the last time i played was two years ago in high school >> reporter: 6'3" sara sylvester now playing in the tuesday night matchup against conference opponent ucf >> it's kind of an unrieal feeling, something to holiday onthold onto. >> reporter: they went to the post season with a winning record for the first time in

four zines seasons tcu's rollercoaster ride now a teachable moment >> you're going to have adversity and curveballs that you didn't see coming in life. this is great for young people to see you still show up. you roll your sleeves up, and you get to work. >> what a great example for all of us. great iniration,sp you want to see who we are as americans? i'm peter dixon and in kenya... we built a hospital that provides maternal care. as a marine... we fought against the taliban and their crimes against women. and in hillary clinton's state department... we took on gender-based violence in the congo. now extremists are banning abortion and contraception right here at home. so, i'm running for congress to help stop them. for your family... and mine. i approved this message because this is who we are.

a major flooding event hits the south with more rain on the way. even as that system moves east, michelle michelle grossman is tracking the one-two punch. a military transport plane crashes in russia with the fiery explosion caught on camera moscow pointing the finger at ukraine, saying 65 prisoners of war were on board. we're live with a lingering question the faa gives boeing a path back to th