dangerously low temperatures ahead with minus 12 in chicago and all the way to austin, texas, at just 25 degrees and over a dozen deaths blamed on the weather so far. electoral college monday. final ballots are cast amid a sharply divided nation. will the united nations step in to monitor evacuations from aleppo in order to prevent even more mass atrocities. before the kardashians there was zsa zsa gabor. remembering the 99-year-old excellent and sex symbol and her nine trips to the alter. >> star wars rog one rules the weekend. >> and an oval office prank goes viral. "early today" starts right now. great being with you.

i'm frances rivera. >> i'm ayman mohyeldin. >> what an intense weekend of snow. for millions across the country, they're waking up to frigid temperatures after a weekend of deadly and dangerous weather. poor conditions on icy roads led to over a dozen deathser but despite the brutal conditions, first responders were able to make multiple rescues and save lives. blake mccoy has the details. >> a fresh blast of cold air and snow overnight made travel treacherous. in chicago, this united airlines plane slid off the pavement while taxiing. in denver, nine inches of snow caught airlines off guards. leading to problems inside the terminal. >> if your flight has been canceled, bags will be at baggage claim. >> icy roads for blamed for more than a dozen deaths. in western pennsylvania, a harrowing rescue after this driver spent 12 hours stranded in freezing temperatures. firefighters were forced to battle the elements in st. louis, rescuing two homeless

people from a warehouse fire. in kentucky, lightning suspected of starting a barn fire that claimed the lives of 24 horses. the arctic chill could not keep fans away from chicago's soldier field. >> this is football weather at its finest. >> the seventh coldest ever. 11 degrees at kickoff against the packers. >> hopefully by now, they would have warmed up. today, electoral college members in 50 states vote to finalize the 2016 presidential election. that as senators chuck schumer and john mccain call for a bipartisan select committee to combat cyber intrusions and investigate reports russia tried to interfere in the u.s. election. >> we want to find out what the russians are doing to our political system, what other foreign governments might do to our political system. >> we need a select committee. we need to get to the bottom of this. we need toifi find out what was done. >> president-elect donald

trump's incoming chief of staff says russia's involvement would not have changed the election's outcome. >> let's assume it's true. there's no evidence that shows that the outcome of the election was changed because of a couple dozen john podesta e-mails that were out there. >> and trump aide kellyanne conway says until she sees any proof of russian hacking, she's remaining skeptical. >> if the cia, if director brennan and others at the top are serious about turning over evidence to we the american people, they should do that and show up when the house intelligence committee invites them to brief them. >> president obama says he expects an official report on the incident and proof of russia's involvement to be completed before inauguration day. >> we will provide evidence that we can safely provide that does not compromise sources and methods. >> and this morning, we have a

new nbc/wall street journal poll that looks at how americans are reacting to the scandal and trump's transition. 50% of those polled approve of the way donald trump is handling his transition, 41% disapprove, but trump trailed how both president obama and clinton were judged as president-elect. they were bothered by russia's influence. that reaction falls sharply on party lines. >> all eyes will be on the 538 members of the electoral college that will meet in state capitols to vote and certify the 2016 presidential election. the meeting of the electors has long been just a formality, but that all changed this year with the uproar over trump's victory and because hillary clinton won the popular vote by well over 2 million ballots. as disaffected voters like michael moore here look to the electoral members change their votes, at li one elector says he would oppose his state's tally

and vote against donald trump despite, but other still vow to formalize their state's final vote. the formal vote has gained so much attention, individual electors have been sought by politicians and groups alike to vote against trump. even "saturday night live" went after them, bringing back kate mckinnon's hillary clinton while she appeals to an electoral college voter while spoofing "love actually." ♪ >> glad to see kate mckinnon back. makes you want to watch love actually. >> michelle obama is giving her

final interview as first lady, and speaking to oprah, she commented on what she said is a lack of hope across the country following the election. >> your husband's administration, everything, the election, was all about hope. do you think that this administration achieved that? >> yes. i do. because we feel the difference now. see, now we're feeling what not having hope feels like, you know. hope is necessary. >> and speaking that last stop of the thank you tour, trump responded to the first lady's remark, defending her amid boos from the crowd. >> i assume she was talking about the past and not the future because i'm telling you we have tremendous hope and we have tremendous promise and tremendous potential. >> this morning the united nations security counsel will vote on a resolution to allow workers into the syrian city of aleppo.

with evacuations picking up pace overnight, the aim is to insure civilians are transported safely and the dangers amid the dangers, rather, of some of these reports of atrocities. lucy cavnauv is live with details on the thousands looking to escape the war-torn area. >> some progress with the evacuations but there are still thousands trapped in aleppo. conditions are terrible. this is a city that has been almost flattened by syrian and russian air strikes. no food, no water, no access to medical facilities. it's been a long and disappointing weekend for them where there was no movement, no evacuations. finally we understand some 3,000 people have been taken out by buses, some by ambulance, out of east aleppo to the countryside. there is concern for the safety of those who make it out. there have been efforts to get monitors on the ground. that's the crux of a compromise struck last night between france and russia. we are expecting a vote at the

u.n. security council shortly that would allow u.n. monitors to monitor those evacuations. the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., samantha power, is suggesting unanimous passage. monitors could still be turned away on the ground. a very precarious situation, especially for those trapped civili civilians. >> lucy, thank you. the manhunt continued as arkansas police search for the man who fatally shot a 3-year-old boy during a road rage incident in little rock. a grandma waw driving with her grandson to a department store on saturday evening. while at a stop, a man got out of his car and shot at the grandmother, missing her and hitting and killing the 3-year-old. the shooter, who police describe a a tall african-american man, was apparently upset at the grandmother's delay at the stop sign. little rock police posted this flyer to facebook and announced a $20,000 reward for any information that leads to the shooter's arrest. >> let's switch gears.

this weekend, you had time off. were you able to go see rogue one? >> hardest ticket to get. >> i tried friday and saturday night. even to some of the later shows. a lot of people did. i wasn't one of them. the star wars film debuted in hyperspace mode, pulling up a whopping $150 million in ticket sales in the opening weekend. that's the second best december opening ever. the movie set before the original star wars film, a new hope, also brought in $290 million worldwide, and i would say that's not bad considering that the entire movie cost about $200 million to make, so it is well on its way to, you know, just shattering a lot of box office records. >> once we actually get our act together and get tickets, we can only add to that at the box office. >> just ahead, before the kardashians, there was zsa zsa gabor, a movie icon probably best known for being famous. details of her life, her 99-year

life straight ahead. >> first, china is on day three of a five-day national red alert for smog and fog. the pollution near beijing is so thick, it canceled flight cancellations, school closures and factory shut-downs. cities are limiting the number of cars on the roads as the visibility is exificated to worsen in the days ahead. at home, it's all about the deep freeze. bill karins is here. we had a tough end of last week. how are we looking now? >> just depends on where you are. still very cold across the country. the only storm on the board is one in the pacific northwest. but even this one will turn into more of a rain event throughout the next two days. the blue on the map is snow. a good deal in the cascades. the passes have snow. down i-5 has snow. this will move through and another one coming in behind it that will mostly be a rain event. series of storms this week. avalanche warnings up in the cascades for the additional snow, and heavier snow or rain on top of that, and we could end

up with one to two inches of rainfall i n n southern california. still chilly there, too. only spot in the 70s, ocean side and phoenix. this is a big travel week. i'll take a sneak peek into the upcoming weekend, and when we come back later. >> fingers crossed, no cancellations. just ahead, the biggest thing ever dropped under to the salvation army bucket. and she was hollywood's glamour queen. zsa zsa gabor, the intimate details of one of the most famous women in the world. that's next. ugh. my sinuses are killing me. yeah...just wait 'til we hit ten thousand feet. i'm gonna take mucinex sinus-max. too late, we're about to take off. these dissolve fast. they're liquid gels. and you're coming with me...

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marriages. she died of a heart attack on sunday, just two months shy of her 100th birthday. kristen welker takes a look back at her extraordinary life. >> hello, darlings. i'm zsa zsa. >> zsa zsa gabor, that unforgettable accent. >> hello. hello. >> her string of husbands and jewels. and a wit that would steal the show every time. >> you and the champagne. >> her career began with lovely to look at in 1952. followed that same year by perhaps her most famous movie "moulin rouge." >> i see them as i want them to be, not as they really are. >> she appeared in more than 40 films and television shows, in everything from horror movies to comedies. >> we have two cars. one limousine and one jeep. >> i take the limousine. >> her acting career was soon eclipsed by her glamorous image, which she happily played up.

>> i always said marriage should be 50/50 proposition. he should be at least 50 years old and have at least $50 million. >> born in budapest, hungary in 1917, zsa zsa was the middle of three beautiful sisters. her many lovers included some of her era's most famous and desirable men, and she headed to the alter nine times. hotel magnate conrad hilton was her second husband and the father of her only child, francesca. on her final marriage, she found her prince charming. >> a very simple person, got involved with all these crazy people in hollywood. >> zsa zsa had her share of legal headaches. in 1989, she was convicted of slapping a beverly hilled police officer in a traffic stop and spent three days in jail. in her later years, medical problems began to take their toll. in 2002, a car wreck left her partially paralyzed, and then a

broken hip kept her in and out of the hospital, and most recently, her right leg was amputated. but to the end, zsa zsa maintained a persona of flirtatious fun and a touch of old hollywood glamour. >> what an incredible life, that of celebrity icon zsa zsa gabor. dead at the age of 99. >> just ahead, holiday travelers could see a price jump at the pump. plus, the mastermind said his next investigation will be boring. we'll fill you in on what he's up to. roll more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty, the quicker picker upper

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today will be the busiest of the year for the post office. but it's gas prices that have lots of people's attention. just a week before christmas. courtney is watching your money. good morning. >> good morning to you. gas prices are rising just as drivers start hitting the roads for the holidays. and industry survey shows the average price of regular unleaded is up 6 cents to $2.26 a gallon. 20 cents higher than a year ago. and the increase is mostly due to opec's recent deal to cut production. >> elon musk is frustrated by getting stuck in traffic so he plans to do something about it. the billionaire founder of tesla and spacex posted a series of tweets about digging or boring

underground to avoid traffic. he said, boring, it's what we do. >> get your stamps and drop your holiday cards in the mail. the u.s. postal service today says today is the busiest mail day of the year and expects to deliver 16 billion cards and packages with more than 6 million alone today. >> i know some of those million pieces are probably a few of ours, right? >> we'll be adding that. thank you very much. coming up, the white house staff plays a holiday prank on the president. plus, christmas came early on "saturday night live." we'll tell you all about that. you're watching "early today." un-stop right there! i'm about to pop a cap of "mmm fresh" in that washer with unstopables in-wash scent boosters by downy. and if you want, pour a little more, because this scent lasts for 12 weeks, which is longer than any relationship i've ever been in.

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it's fun. you just put it right here next to your internet router. and you keep it there all year. >> that's actually pretty funny, but listen to this. you're going to appreciate this, even though it's not prank season, you would think the white house staffers had fun with president obama before he and the thirst family headed off to hawaii for the holidays. aides pranking obama by moving the snowmen outside of his windows to see if he would notice. the white house photographer certainly noticed, posted the pics on instagram. the president enjoying the joke, but not really, telling "people" magazine, the snowmen are creepy. >> at least they're not creepy clowns. enjoying the last few weeks there at the oval office. this is "early today." why am i so devastatingly handsome, i'm in a fragrance... ...ad, and my sweethearts gone sayonara.

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good news to share. the "today" show family is growing larger by the day. it's got people seeing blue. the iconic myrtle beach, south carolina, sky litd up in color in honor of savannah guthrie and dylan dreyer who both gave birth to baby boys this month. dylan was on saturday, right after the snow had stopped. how fitting. congratulations. well, as far as the storm is going to go, the storm we're dealing with now will be gone by the weekend. this is friday's forecast. we'll still see a storm moving through the areas of the rockies. i think we're going to clear out in the northwest. san francisco could get stormy weather, too. thursday and friday is when we could deal with weather there. that storm will eventually be moving across the country and looks like the northern plains will be one of the worst locations. if we're going to get a snow

storm orn christmas eve or christmas day from colorado to the dakotas, maybe dealing with more than a white christmas, maybe like a blizzard. >> thanks. >> well, call it a penalty with a purpose. in the sunday night game against the tampa bay buccaneers, dallas cowboys star running back ezekiel elliott celebrated his franchise record breaking touchdown by hopping right into a salvation army kettle on the sidelines. he was flagged for excessive celebration, but he tried to make good news out of it. he said he will match whatever he is fined by the league with a donation to that organization. a good positive spin on the penalty. >> this is one holiday season lucky san antonio team jr gilbert will not forget because his classmates banded together to buy jr two new pairs of nike sneakers after realizing the shoes he was wearing were two and a half sizes too small. look at the reaction. he can barely contain his excitement, showing off the shoes and thanking his

classmates. more than 20 students contributed to the surprise. jr's mom said she's grateful he had an opportunity to see how many friends he has. when teenagers can be really tough and sometimes mean to you -- >> with all the news about bullying, it's nice to see classmates doing something nice. >> reddit's annual secret santa is the largest gift exchange in the world. this year is no exception with over 100,000 participants and two big names jumping into the game. first off, snoop dogg surprising one lucky reddit user with a pair of snoop slippers, a millionaire t-shirt and a family job of baby powder. bill gates joining with a gift, including a minecraft edition xbox one, controllers and zelda themed items. not bad to have two of those as your secret santas. >> i would pick snoop's. you knewhat he needs to throw in? behind the scenes shooting of his and martha's cooking show. >> that would be cool. thanks for joining us. i'm ayman mohyeldin.

>> i'm frances rivera. thank you for thank you for thank you for my name is danita seaton. i'm a gas service representative for pg&e here in oakland. when i work in oakland, i feel like i'm home, because i grew up here in oakland, my family still lives here. every time i go to the customer's house, i treat them like they're my family. if they smell gas, or they don't have hot water, i'm there to ensure that by the time that i leave, they feel safe and they can go back to their day to day life. to learn more about gas safety in your home, visit pge.com/safety together, we're building a better california.

temperatures this morning for many bay area residents... we'll take a look at freeze and frost warnings all waking up to bitter cold temperatures for many bay area residents. we'll look at freeze and frost warnings all over the region. a midnight homicide in san jose that has police hunting for information. pushes the homicide total to a number we haven't seen in years. anointing a new president. the electoral college is voting today with members nearly certain to stamp donald trump's ticket to the oval office. "today in the bay" starts right now. a good monday morning. thank you for joining us, i'm sam brock. >> i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia-cannon. we do have a warning in effect. >> we have freeze warnings in