coming up on "early today," a new week with a treacherous commute and a winter mix of snow, sleet and then rain. plus, historic snow measured in feet over the next 72 hours. president obama returns to the u.s. to find battles brewing on immigration, the keystone pipeline, and another american beheaded by isis. missouri is on edge as protests have begun ahead of the michael brown grand jury decision. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm milissa rehberger. get ready for round two. an arctic blast will leave millions shivering. the cold air will make its way south and east through wednesday.

100 record lows are possible in chicago it will feel like a freezer today with a windchill near zero. in kansas city, the temperature was only 27 degrees on sunday. that was the fifth day in a row of below freezing temperatures. in minneapolis, spin out after spinout on the roads, ice and drivers everywhere. six people reported dead there. four as well in texas after more than 50 accidents on sunday. snow is also going to be a probl problem. coming up, meteorologist bill karins tells us who gets hit and with how much. another american has been executed by isis militants. the terror group released a new video. it features a militant announcing the death of peter kassig, a humanitarian aid worker. he was kidnapped just over a year ago in syria. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the latest. >> reporter: unfortunately this graphic 16-minute video put out

by isis has been authenticated, making peter kassig the fifth western hostage murdered by isis since august and the third american. president obama called his murder an act of pure evil by a terrorist group that the world rightly associates with inhumanity. the 26-year-old former army ranger from indiana who served in iraq traveled to syria last year to volunteer as a medic. while delivering supplies, isis militants stopped him at a checkpoint and kidnapped him. kassig, who converted to islam, and changed his name to abdul rahman endured torture and the mental trauma as other western hostages at times his cell mates were taken, one by one, to be murdered. he knew his time would come. last month kassig's father, ed, read a letter written to the family by their son. >> don't worry, dad. if i go down, i won't go down thinking anything of what i know to be true, that you and mom love me more than the moon and

the stars. >> reporter: the kassig family remembered his humanitarian work, sharing an audio recording of kassig before he was taken captive. >> i was able to share a little bit of hope and comfort with some people. >> reporter: unlike other execution videos put out by isis, this one did not end with a specific threat to kill another western hostage. the group simply doesn't have that many western hostages left to kill. richard engel, nbc news, istanbul. tv icon bill cosby is breaking his silence after renewed accusations that he is a rapist. a lawyer for cosby says in part, quote, over the last several weeks decade old discredited allegations against bill cosby have resurfaced. the fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. mr. cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment. the statement comes on the heels of a canceled guest appearance on cbs late show with david letterman. he was never criminally charged in any case brought against him and in 2006 cosby publicly

denied raping anyone. he did, however, settle a civil suit in 2006 with one woman over an allegation of an incident two years before. last month, a comedian renewed a scandal after he did a stand-up bit about cosby's alleged behavior. that went viral. a former aspiring actress said she tried to get people to believe cosby raped her. president obama returns to the u.s. once again defending the affordable care act. he's responding to comments by the law's self-described architect, former adviser jonathan gruber says it only passed because of a lack of overall transparency and the, quote, stupidity of the american voter. president obama addressed it at the g-20 summit. >> the fact that the adviser who never worked on our staff

expressed an opinion that i completely disagree with, in terms of the voters, is no reflection on the actual process that was run. >> president owe boum bama's se adviser added in a tweet. as one who worked hard to make aca and its benefits clear, let me say if you looked up stupid in the dictionary you'd find gruber's picture. but bobby jindal was critical of the law on nbc's "meet the press." >> there are better ways to provide health care to the vulnerable, to the uninsured. the answer is not for the government to be running health care. the answer is not to expand a failed program, one size fits all approach like medicaid. >> in ferguson, missouri, police and protesters alike are anxiously gearing up for a decision by the grand jury in the michael brown shooting death. yesterday, to mark 100 days since the unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a police officer, activists and nearby university cities held a die-in. dozens of people mimicked brown's death by laying down on

the ground. any day now, a grand jury will decide if there is enough evidence to indict darren wilson, the white police officer involved in that shooting. drug enforcement officials surprised a handful of nfl teams on sunday with investigations into painkiller use. medical and training staffs were targeted. the investigation stems from a lawsuit filed earlier this year by several nfl players who claim they were given prescription pain meds in an illegal way to hide injury. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington this morning. tracie, what more can you tell us about the investigation? >> reporter: we can tell you that it did stem from that lawsuit, milissa, that essentially they're arguing that nfl teams were, as they put it, popping out these pills like halloween candy to make sure those players stayed on the field. now, a statement from the dea confirms in fact they were in locker rooms and at least one case at the airport saying they're currently, this was sunday, interviewing team doctors in several locations as part of an ongoing investigation

into potential violation of the controlled substances act. that is a federal act. reaction from the league, the nfl spokesman, says they were cooperating with the dea and have no information to indicate irregularities were found. no arrests we have been told of. and also the players who were involved in that lawsuit, we heard from their attorney as well, saying that the complaint they filed back in may contained numerous allegations of illegal actions by the nfl regarding the distribution of controlled substances and prescription drugs. they went on to say the attorney was pleased to learn that the dea has taken the statement of our players seriously. they targeted three teams in this particular round, san francisco 49ers, the tampa bay buccaneers, seattle seahawks. all on a way games, all traveling this weekend. we understand there could be more in the future. milissa. >> tracie potts, thank you. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with some severe

weather in the forecast for the south. good morning. should i say brrrr. >> it is a whole bunch of stuff we're talking about. cold, snow, ice, and severe weather. overnight the breaking news about six preliminary reports of tornadoes down in the florida panhandle, southern alabama, southern portions now of georgia. the one we know confirmed that did do damage was in blunt town and the calhoun state prison, perimeter fence of the prison got taken down by the tornado. we're going to watch that and the tornado watch is continuing from macon, georgia, southward to north florida until 2:00 east coast time today. another couple of hours of watching those dangerous storms. the other story, of course, the continuation of the cold, and it settled right now over the top of the northern rockies. it is spilled into the pacific northwest. chilly morning in medford. the windchill that was in the 20s in the big cities, single digits this morning in boise. cold, negative numbers from colorado, wyoming. only warm spot out there, once again, the fire danger will be high again. weak santa ana wind events.

winds gusty, relative low humidity, fire danger high today in southern california. that's the only weather story out there. we have until wednesday when the storms will be allowed to head to the west moderating a little bit, especially along the coast. so as i mentioned, the next chance of rain on wednesday for the west coast. i'll let you know who will get that rain. >> thank you, bill. would you know if a tv personality wore the same suit every day for a year? plus, wages are on the rise for low and middle earners. and oscar winner jennifer lawrence reveals the high cost of fame.

welcome back. it is an hour by hour situation. that is how a spokesperson at the nebraska hospital treating a doctor infected with ebola describes the outlook. dr. martin salia is an extremely critical condition. he arrived in nebraska on saturday after being diagnosed in sierra leone last monday. meanwhile, the u.s. says passengers traveling from maui will undergo the same screening and monitoring as those arriving from other ebola place countries. the new measures come amid a new cluster of seven illnesses. >> almost every staff member had a bucket full of sanitizer and a wipe and were wiping down handrails and walls and bathrooms, tables, chairs, everything you could think of, they kept -- were continually wiping it down. >> that was how one woman described efforts to keep a neurovirus from spreading on a month long cruise. nearly 200 passengers came down with the virus but none required hospitalization. once the ship docked in los angeles yesterday, more than

3,000 people were on board that ship. princess cruises has apologized for the incident. the ship has been disinfected and set sail for another trip. u2 front man bono escaped unscathed when a hatch fell off his plane he was traveling on a few days ago. now he's undergoing surgery after hurting his arm in a bicycling accident in new york's central park. the band canceled appearances this week on the tonight show. this australian anchor wore the same suit for a whole year and not one viewer noticed. he did it to show solidarity with a female colleague who had shared stories of the sexism they had experienced. his co-anchor did have one burning question for him. >> possibly the reason people didn't notice is you've been changing your tie every day. how often do you change your shirt? >> don't go there, girlfriend. let's get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy.

>> gm is extending the deadline for victims of crashes involving faulty ignition switches to file claims until january 31st. notices have been sent to more than 4 million current and former owners of the affected vehicles. facebook is developing secretly a new site to let users keep their personal and work profile separate. reports say the site called facebook at work is similar to linked in and google docs, letting people chat with co-workers, connect with professional contacts and collaborate on documents. futures lower on wall street as investors react to japan's economy reports that it is falling into recession. look for earnings from home depot, lowe's and target. chocolate lovers listen up. two of the biggest manufacturers in the world are warning of a possible cocoa shortage. a new report shows people across the world are eating chocolate faster than cocoa farmers can grow their crops. just ahead, a sunday night football thriller.

plus, when fans just get downright nasty. and the rest of your sunday highlights coming up next.

♪ you don't know you don't know you're beautiful ♪ this morning on "today," they shut down midtown manhattan with record-breaking crowds of screaming fans and now going even bigger. one direction is hitting the concert stage live from

universal orlando for a full half hour, performing new songs and their biggest hits as well. now for the latest in sports, i turn it over to my colleague betty nguyen. >> we begin with nbc sunday night football, patriots and colts, big matchup between earthqua quarterback tom brady and andrew luck. jonas gray rushed for 199 yards and a franchise record four touchdowns. he led the patriots to a 42-20 victory over the colts. the cardinals continue to win. quarterback drew stanton threw touchdown passes to michael floyd in their first two possessions. the team has won six in a row and have an nfl best 9-1 record. check out this poor sportsmanship in new orleans after scoring bengals jermaine gresham tosses the ball to a fan in the stands. a saints fan makes the pick and keeps it, even after some begging on national television. that saints fan was no saint but

this did have a happy ending. the saints organization gave the bengals fan another ball, even though they lost at home 27-10. the chase for the sprint cup wrapped up yesterday in miami. kevin harvick won to capture his first sprint cup championship. chaos in the lawn. a european championship qualifier between croatia and italy was delayed because of a fan throwing flares on to the pitch. the game resumed about ten minutes later. it ended in a 1-1 draw. to the ap college poll. florida state is back at number one after their 36-26 win over miami. they remain the only unbeaten team from the big five conferences. alabama moved up two spots to number two. mississippi state dropped to fourth. people are getting a kick out of this unique sport. check it out. it is called foot golf. it is basically golf meets soccer where instead of hitting a golf ball, you kick a soccer ball into an oversized hole. it was created as a way to get

more people out on the course. looks like a lot of fun. milissa, back to you. just ahead, a woody harrelson "snl" to remember. harry and lloyd ruled the box office again. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. hopefully you had a wonderful weekend, weather cooperated in almost all cases. the rain will be back in the forecast starting wednesday. pacific northwest, more wednesday evening.

the concentration of rain, could get some here into central california. it is not a lot of rain with the next system, stronger front looks to come in on friday. wednesday is the next shot. for today's forecast, it is a cold crisp clear day in the northwest. we will jump up to 51 in seattle this afternoon. l.a., could top out at 80 with gusty winds. >> all right. at the box office this weekend, nbc's universal dumb and dumber to won $30 million. the animated feature big hero 6 is behind it, they earned $36 million. jennifer lawrence discussed her recent troubles with privacy this weekend. here is what she said. i knew the paparazzi were going to be a reality in my life, but i didn't know i would feel anxiety every time i opened my front door or being chased by ten men who you don't know or being surrounded feels invasive and makes me feel scared and gets my adrenaline going every day. she went on to say they are sympathetic to celebrities complaining because they feel

like, you know, shut up, millionaires. >> i can understand her point. a new band aid redo of a classic holiday song to raise worldwide awareness. this time for ebola. among the stars, one direction, ellie goulding and bono. lifetime premieres their aaliyah biopick movie on saturday produced by wendy williams, but it was met with outrage by some people, music producer timberland saying the network will feel his wrath. what some call the worst video game ever sold for more than $1500, they get the last laugh. it was found in a land fill with more than 800 games. the total collection went for $37,000. nice find. i'm milissa rehberger. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in u.s. news and world report, study finds millions of people with heart stents may need an anti-clotting drug longer than a year. researchers say patients taking the medication for 30 months after surgery significantly lowered their risk of heart attack clots and other problems. from the finnish broadcasting company, helsinki police tell naked model to cover up. an 83-year-old performance artist sat naked in a glass case in seven countries. but in helsinki, she's in order to wear underwear. some other stories we're following, flames have torn through a nearly 100-year-old church in san jose, california. the fire brought down the cross atop of the church. officials say that because the church was built in 1919, there

were no fire sprinklers. next time you pucker up, beware, scientists say. with every extended kiss we may be sharing as many as 80 million bacteria. most of the germs aren't the kind that would actually make you sick, though. in fact, one scientist says exposure to somebody else's bacteria could help your immune system. kiss away, right? >> just one scientist said that. look at this, a bike that cannot be stolen. we'll see about that. this video shows their prototype, the lower frame opens up, can be attached to the seat, which then can be locked to -- >> you can try to steal it. but you have to cut the seat in half. you can't ride on the seat. >> or the post. waiting for patent approval. on "snl" this weekend, host woody harrelson got surprised by his hunger games co-stars and gave him a little history lesson. >> no, we never -- you told us

about 1989, the berlin wall was torn down by the kool-aid man. >> the guy invented wi-fi. >> in 1989, i told you i invented wi-fi? that is crazy. >> those are his hunger game co-stars. are you going to see mocking jay? >> i didn't catch up with the second one. >> you got to catch up. they're good. i can't wait. >> you read the books? >> oh, yeah, definitely. now ahead and a look back, the u.s. postal service begins delivering packages seven days a week until christmas. the extended service will only be in major cities and high volume areas. can you believe this, 25 years ago today, disney's little mermaid opened in wide release. happy birthday to actress rachel mcadams, 36. actor danny devito is 70. legendary director martin scorsese turns 72. i'm milissa rehberger. thanks for watching "early today." have a great one.