chuck will be back next week. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." . it's monday, december 28th. coming up on "early today," wicked weather leads to over 40 deaths. numerous tornadoes tear through texas. icy roads and flooding caused treacherous travel for millions returning home. iraqi forces claim key victories against isis in ramadi. is the islamic state in retreat? donald trump takes aim at bill clinton, while hillary says donald is sexist. the force awakens, $1 billion. it's not better to give than receive. peyton manning denies hgh allegations. "early today" starts right now. good morning. severe weather and massive tornadoes over the holiday

weekend left at least 23 people dead and a path of destruction along much of the south. texas was hard hit. at least 11 people were killed from tornadoes on saturday, including a monster category 4 in garland. and a category 3 in rowlett. hundreds of homes have been destroyed and tens of thousands remain without power. the governors of texas and missouri declared states of emergency for affected areas, which have to deal with the effects of heavy flooding and what the national weather service is calling a life threatening and crippling blizzard, which already dumped two feet of snow in areas of texas. brian moore brings us up to speed. >> reporter: across a huge swath of suburban dallas, residents are struggling to pick up the pieces. survivors, but still victims of a monster storm, and the massive tornadoes it unleashed. >> we built the house 28 years. i don't know. i'm sorry, i don't know what

else to say. i'm sorry. >> there's stuff flying in the air. >> reporter: at least 20 twisters tore across north texas, killing eight in the community of garland. the lone star state is still on edge, with more waves of severe weather on the way. some areas hunkered down for heavy rains and flooding. the panhandle areas of texas and oklahoma were paralyzed by treacherously icy roads and the threat of whiteout blizzards. in missouri, where at least eight lives were lost to widespread flooding, rapidly rising water overwhelmed residents. >> it came up very quickly. >> reporter: and kept rescue crews working overtime. >> the first time i told them is i know how to swim. i knew it was real. i knew it was real when the boat -- when the rescue team came. they put us on a life jacket and escorted us down the road. >> reporter: for many americans, a holiday weekend of hardship, with more foul weather on the horizon. brian moore, nbc news. meteorologist bonnie snyder

has your monday weather, and that's ahead. iraqi officials declared a victory over the islamic state. the military released a statement, saying its forces have now totally liberated ramadi from isis militants. this is video of iraqi soldiers celebrating in the streets after their victory. iraqi forces made a final push to seize a former government complex on sunday. earlier, a spokesman warned that pockets of resistance remain. iraqi military launched a campaign to retake ramadi last week after it fell to isis in may, seen as an embarrassing defeat for the army. more unrest in chicago after another chicapolice-involved shg leaves two residents dead. bettie jones, a mother of five, and quintonio legrier. legrier's father called the police after his son became agitated. >> the male caller said someone

is threatening his life. the 19-year-old son banging on his bedroom door with a baseball bat. >> according to police, they were confronted by a combative individual upon arrival, resulting in the shooting. police say jones, who was legrier's downstairs neighbor, was accidentally struck. multiple reports say she opened the door when police arrived. the medical examiner ruled both deaths homicides. legrier's mother told nbc news her son was home from break from college. he developed mental illness in september but was not violent. the officers involved have been placed on 30-day administrative duty. in a statement, mayor rahm emanuel says they are investigating and call for changes in how officers respond to mental health crisis. there have been calls for mayor rahm emanuel to resign following the release of laquan mcdonald's shooting death earlier this year. one of the nfl's most legend

dare qua ary quarterbacks is denies allegations that suggest he used performance-enhancing drugs. the player, peyton manning, now telling nbc, quote, he'll probably sue the news outlet that published the report. >> disgusting is how i feel. sickened by it. >> reporter: star quarterback and american football hero peyton manning, defending his legacy to espn against an al jah je --documentary, saying manning is one of many pro athletes who took performance-enhancing drugs. >> i worked hard in the nfl. i did it the long way, the hard way. to insinuate anything else is defamation and ticks me off. >> reporter: the documentary shows conversations with charlie sly, who worked temporarily.

he claims manning received drugs through his wife ashley. >> we'd be sending ashley manning drugs, growth hormone, all the time, everywhere. it'd always be under her name. >> reporter: hgh is banned in the nfl, but random testing didn't gbegin until 2014. manning received treatment after being injured in 2010 while playing for the colts. >> makes me sick it brings ashley into it. her medical history, her medical privacy being violated. >> go broncos! >> reporter: backlash against the documentary's claims has been swift. manning's current team, the denver broncos, say they support him 100%. the colts call the report utterly ridiculous. dr. dale guyer calls the claims extremely disturbing and simply not true. even charlie sly himself, the man the documentary hangs its claims on, is walking them back. >> i am recanting any such

statements and there is no truth to any statement of mine that al jazeera plans to air. >> reporter: for manning, the five-time mvp is sitting out with an injury, but says he's focused on practice and supporting his team. blake mccoy, nbc news, los angeles. the force was with "star wars" at the box office this holiday weekend. the force awakens soared past the global $1 billion mark, a new record. the last movie to reach the billion dollar mark that quickly was "jurassic world" back in june. there's a little more than a month to go, and guess who is on the attack? donald trump. fending off a feisty ted cruz, now going after clinton. perhaps, not the one you're thinking of. nbc's edward lawrence is in washington for us this morning. does the gop front runner have a new punching bag? >> the gop front runner is lashing out at a clinton, just not the one you're probably thinking of right now.

he's grabbing headlines and trying to get his voters in iowa to go out to caucus. >> reporter: his rallies are huge, his support loud. >> man, what -- this is amazing. wow. >> reporter: donald trump's base seems to crave his no filter rhetoric. over the weekend, trump went after hillary clinton then. this time on twitter about her husband. on fox and friends, trump reiterated his charge that former president bill clinton demonstrated a pension for sexism. >> it was exactly her words, and i just turned them. i thought it was fine. yeah, i think that bill clinton was, you know, turned out to be a liability against obama. >> reporter: bernie sanders turned his attention to attack trump. >> he is vulgar. it is the fact that donald trump thinks we shouldn't be raising the minimum wage. he believes that wages in america are too high. >> reporter: sanders is trying

to mend relations with the democratic party after a data breach that his campaign accessed. meanwhile, donald trump pulled back within striking distance of cruz for the iowa caucus. polls last week show the race a tie for first place. political experts say trump's challenge now will be to get his base to show up to caucus. >> donald trump will be campaigning tomorrow in iowa again. we had a break from these headlines on christmas eve and christmas day. now, that break seems to be over. >> thanks so much for that report. meteorologist bonnie snyder is here with an update on the weather. >> we are tracking the threat for tornadoes, as well as heavy snow. jackson, mississippi, we have a tornado watch. new orleans, as well. record rainfall so far this season and now snow is falling. we also have rain coming into the bay area, just to the south of san francisco. batch of rain coming through. you will see snow accumulate in

the foot jhills of the sierra. we're also getting rain and snow into further areas north, as well as into the reno area, we could see a light dusting of snow. let's talk about snow elsewhere. we have snow and rain working through areas of des moines and davenport. if you're traveling to chicago today, they are facing sleet and snow early but it should taper off early. high in chicago, 33. really cold in boise, 22 degrees. 27 in billings. 59 in los angeles. 40 in seattle. that's it for your high. does it get warmer for tuesday? not really. we're looking at temperatures in the 50s and 60s in southern in fornia. san diego. temperatures in the upper 50s. so much of the west looking pretty good, with the exception

of that snow in the higher elevations. >> bonnie, thank you so much for that. if you got a gift card over the holidays, we have news for you. plus, unprecedented flooding causing epic damage. details up next. you're watching "early today." i'm like, huh? aren't they all the same? you know, i had to see for myself. so i went pro. with crest pro-health advanced. advance to a healthier, stronger, cleaner mouth from day 1. this toothpaste... ...and mouthwash make my whole mouth feel amazing. and my teeth stronger. crest pro-health advanced is superior in these 5 areas dentists check. this is gonna go well, for sure. advance to a healthier stronger, cleaner mouth from day 1. great check up. my sister was right.

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welcome back. great britain has also been hit hard by huge storms, issuing over 30 severe flood warnings yesterday. british troops evacuated hundreds of people in northern england, where streets looked like rivers. one 200-year-old pub near manchester was rah vivished by flood waters. its roof and walls destroyed with the force of the river flowing underneath it. in northern australia, 26-carriage freight train derailed, spilling 200 liters of sulfuric acid and diesel fuel. the area is an emergency site. three men were taken to the hospital for minor injuries. in southern california, a 33-year-old, joshua burwell,

fell 60 feet to his death on christmas day, when he slipped off sunset cliff. he was believed to have been taking pictures of sunset. three good samaritans tried to save him. his body was lifted by emergency crews. miami police are investigating a drive-by shooting that killed a 7-year-old boy visiting a relative's home yesterday. police said four men pulled up in a white dodge ram and opened fire at the house. authorities are still searching for the suspects. check out this surveillance video showing a man in china trying to catch a woman who fell from an 11-story building. she'd be crying for help. unfortunately, she died from the fall. the man is recovering in the hospital from fractured bones and torn ligaments. let's get down to business now with landon douwdy. >> good morning. china's economic slowdown is this year's top business story. fears over the slowdown hit u.s.

markets in august, with the dow plunging 11%. volkswag volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal. disneyland is making room for "star wars." they're closing older attractions to make way for new features based on the force awakens. there's no opening date, but it's expected to be at least a year off. and the gift cards were the most popular holiday item for the ninth year in a row, but it doesn't mean that people cashed them in. americans racked up $43 billion in unredeemed cards since 2008. experts say you can exchange cards for cash, cards you really want or donate them to charity. >> thanks so much. undefeated no more. the panthers perfect season spoiled. the bizarre game-si deciding mistake, or was it?

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we need to be ready for my name's scott strenfel and r i'm a meteorologist at pg&e. we make sure that our crews as well as our customers are prepared to how weather may impact their energy. so every single day we're monitoring the weather, and when storm events arise our forecast get crews out ahead of the storm to minimize any outages. during storm season we want our customers to be ready and stay safe. learn how you can be prepared at pge.com/beprepared. together, we're building a better california. this morning on "today," not sure what to do with christmas gifts you just don't want or need? find out the best way to return or exchange them and what to do with unwanted gift cards. let's get you caught up on your nfl highlights with my friend, shannon mulaire. >> perfect no more. third quarter, falcons third and

long. >> rolling, looking, just going to throw it deep for jones. coverage and, oh, what a catch! touchdown! >> julio jones just snatching the ball from the air for a 70 yarder to put the falcons ahead for good. handed carolina their first loss of the season, 20-13. in sunday night football, the jivikings clinch their firs playoff berth since 2012 in a victory over the giants. minnesota's win eliminates the falcon's wild card hopes. the cardinals just man handled the green bay packers and aaron rodgers, who was sacked eight times and had two fumbles returned for touchdowns. the cards also get a first week bye in the playoffs. >> heads is the call. it is heads. you want to kick? where do you want to receive at? that way?

new england wins the loss. they elected to kick. >> new england patriots insist they intended to kickoff in overtime instead of putting the ball into tom brady's hands. the jets ryan pitts pfitzpatric decker capitalized with a touchdown pass. 26-20. st. louis was supposed to be an easy one for the seahawks, but the rams came to town with something to prove. they hadn't won in seattle in 11 years, but the rams 23-17 victory leaves a lot of question marks for the seahawks. that is sports. back to you. >> thank you. just ahead, can you guess the topi r pirated movies of 20? sacha baron cohen and wife isla fisher did something big. details next.

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buff, and shine for effortless, shiny wow nails! so you can step out with that amopé confidence and shine on! the new electronic nail care system from amopé. save now at coupons.com it was a busy weekend at the box office. "star wars: the force awakens" brought in $153 million. daddy's home starring will ferrell was second, opening with 39 million. "joy" took in $17.5 million. "interstellar" is the most pirated movie of 2015. the 2014 film has been downloaded 47 million times. "furious 7" was number two. followed by avengers age of

ultr ultron. jurassic world and fury road. kylie jenner is starting rumors after posting a picture with a diamond ring on her finger. she's dating tyga but denies rumors of engagement. sacha baron cohen and wife isla fisher will be donating 1 million to aid syrian refugees. it'll go to vaccinations, education, shelter and sanitation for the refugees. that's wonderful for them to be doing. >> setting a good example. >> great thing to do over the holidays. this is "early today." fact. when emergency room doctors choose an otc pain reliever for their patients muscle, back and joint pain. the medicine in advil is their #1 choice.

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leading the news. in usa today, a deadly fierce december for tornadoes. this month is the second deadliest december on record, according to the storm prediction center. at least 20 deaths occurred so far, with at least 60 twisters reported. this is the first time december will be the deadliest month of the year. from nbc news.com, kentucky's mall st. matthews shuts down after brawls involving up to 2,000. the chaos started saturday night around 7:00 p.m. officers on duty responded to disturbances as more and more reports of disorder came in. the entire mall was affected by the series of brawls, with restaurants and shops surrounding the mall also closing their doors early. a boat chase in florida lasted 20 hours and more than

300 miles. three men had authorities on the chase. the men were apprehended 70 miles from the coast of cuba. it remains unclear why the boat was stolen and where it was being taken. painter and sculpter ellsworth kelly died on sunday. according to a gallery spokesperson, kelly died of natural causes at his new york home. he was 92. just four days away from the start of 2016, workers installed 288 new crystals on the famous time square new year's eve ball. made by waterford crystal, organizers expect at least one billion people worldwide to watch the 6 ton ball drop to mark the start of 2016. and fists were flying this holiday weekend in peru. participants in an annual slugfest battled it out as part of a fighting festival. the festival is aimed at

settling scores and starting the new year with a clean slate. the fights are over issues ranging from affairs of the heart to financial and legal disputes. >> i don't think it's a good way to start the new year. >> it's not productive. some were old disputes. imagine you get a call from a couple years ago. >> you air your disputes and then come home with a broken home, bruises. it's not a great way to kick off the new year. >> no. now, a look ahead. boston's chief health inspector has a lunch date at chipotle. it's a show of confidence. nearly 140 boston college students contracted norovirus after eating at the restaurant. a sick employee was the source of the outbreak. happy birthday to seth meyers, 42. denzel washington is 61. oscar winning actress maggie smith turns 82. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early

today." we hope you have a great mon flames break out overnight at an

oakland apartment complex. the result? at least two flames break out overnight at an oakland apartment complex, the result two people killed. thousands of people in discovery bay still trying to keep warm without gas, power, heat. pg&e still trying. waking up to wet roads, once again. a live look at san jose as most of the bay is sprinkled with more showers. "today in the bay" starts right now. good monday morning to you, thank you for joining us. i'm kira klapper in for laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm sam brock. good morning, kari. >> good morning, sam and