dueling terrorist attacks. 12 dead in germany, where police say a driver intentionally ran a truck into a crowded christmas market filled with tourists and locals. then a brazen assassination. an ambassador shot in the back. vladmir putin is vowing to find out who ordered the killing. new nbc polling on where americans stand following the electoral college's vote for president-elect trump. >> why americans are skipping over 650 million vacation days each year. >> and a notre dame homecoming of a very different sort. "early today" starts right now.

thank you for being with me. i'm frances rivera. >> terror reigned across europe and the middle east after a lone gunman assassinated russia's ambassador to turkey in what appears to be a cold, calculated murder. turkish police neutralized another man hours later as he attempted to walk into the u.s. embassy in ankara. but we begin with the tragedy in berlin that has left at least 12 dead and 50 injures after a man rammed a truck into a crowded christmas market. angela merkel is vowing retribution against the person or persons responsible saying the country cannot live in fear. a man is in custody as police call this an intentional attack and they're working tharnd clock to piece together what they could have missed. we go to foreign correspondent lucy kafanov in london. do we know more about the driver who carried out the attack?

>> reporter: german authorities this morning saying there is no doubt it was an intentional act. suspected as a terror attack. germany's interior minister said the suspect arrested after the truck attack about a mile and a half away from the christmas market comes from pakistan and had apparently applied for asylum in germany. there was also a passenger in the cab, a man who died on the scene. authorities this morning raiding a refugee center in berlin where the suspect is believed to have been staying. no details as to whether there's been any arrests or any information gathered in that raid. there has, of course, been fear of an incident like this for quite some time now. germany has seen a series of both lone wolf and terror attacks over the past year. nothing as large as this. it does, of course, bring to mind the attack in nice in july where more than 80 people were killed by a similar truck plowing through the crowd there. and of course, isis has repeatedly urged followers to

carry out attacked by driving cars and truckinize to crowds. a big concern because it's so difficult to prevent. german authorities are saying there's no evidence at this point of any links to isis. but obviously, that investigation is going to be continuing throughout the days. >> even with that warning from the state department even before we saw the attacks. lucy, thank you. this morning, investigators search for answers in the disturbing political assassination that rocked turkey yesterday, and it was all caught on camera. andrei karlov, russia's ambassador to turkey was at a photography exhibit, and then there was a gunman standing right behind the ambassador moments before he shot him in the back. that moment was captured on tape. we want to warn you, this video is graphic. with the ambassador down, the killer shouted in arabic and then turkish. he was killed by security

forces. richard engle jones us now from istanbul with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning. moscow has dispatched a team to investigate this incident. that team is already on its way here. and there is a small mourning service taking place at the airport in this country, as the body of the ambassador is expected to leave and be repatriated to moscow. this is being described by russia as a terrorist attack. vladimir putin has already spoken out. said the bandits responsible will be punished. what we know about the attacker is that he was an off-duty police officer. that he was part of the riot police unit, a young man, 22 years old. that he used his police credentials, dressed in the uniform of a private security officer, went to this photography exhibit, was apparently not noticed. was thought to be part of the security detail that was supposed to be there.

and then he pulled out his pistol, gunned down the ambassador, and then gave a statement saying that this was revenge for russia's involvement in the war in syria. the u.s. embassy in ankara not far away is closed today, as is the u.s. consulate here in istanbul due to heightened security concerns. >> thank you so much for the update. this morning, a u.s. drone snatched by the chinese navy has been returned. the chinese defense military says that after friendly negotiations, the drone was handed over near where it had been seized last week. the pentagon says the underwater glider you see like the one here was conducting research in international waters near the philippines before being taken and it was not surveying chinese military as may have been suspected, but beijing said the incident was hyped up by washington when they were simply checking on whether the device posed a threat to passing ships. this after president-elect trump

tweeted about the issue, encouraging china to keep it. he tweaked chinese nerves after taining a phone call with the leader of taiwan. this morning, donald trump wakes up as the official 45th president of the united states after getting enough electoral college votes to finalize the 2016 race. that as more than half of registered voters in a new marist poll says the electoral college should be abandoned. despite trump's win, a majority of americans, 54%, say they're pessimistic and worried about how trump will do or they're uncertain and wondering. according to our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. a combined 45% say they're optimistic and confident. that's more than 20 points below president obama around the same time in his transition and 14 points lower than george w. bush in his transition as well. a majority claim to be more optimistic about trump when it comes to change and jobs. 44% say they are negative and worried about his temperament. but that didn't stop trump from

cruising to an electoral college victory despite defections and protests, as members met in all 50 states and the district of columbia to certify november's election. among the electoral college members voting yesterday, this man, president bill clinton who tearfully vote for his wife, calling it his proudest vote. >> this morning we're hearing more from michelle obama while she reveeals her feelings about her time in the white house and preparing to step down as first lady. she called it a caustic and painful election outcome and batted away chatter about her possibly running for office and talk td about the difficulty of living at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> would you ever run for office? >> no, no. >> no kind of office? >> no. look, that's one thing i don't do. i don't make stuff up. i'm not coy. i have proven that. i'm pretty direct. but it also speaks to the fact that people don't really understand how hard this is. and it's not something that you

cavalierly just sort of ask a family to do again. let me just tell america, this is hard. it's a hard job. i said it on the campaign trail. it requires a lot of sacrifice. it is a weighty thing. and it's not something that you even look to one family to take on at that level. >> the often somber interview is expected to be michelle obama's final one as first lady. >> we all know traveling for the holiday season is stressful. worried about the weather, delays, packing everything, especially christmas gifts for the family. just imagine finally landing at your destination to find out your airline didn't even load your valuable luggage. that's what happened to these unhappy passengers flying from los angeles to detroit. spirit airlines says baggage crews were unable to load much of the luggage onto the plane because of a power outage at l.a.x. frustrated passengers were not told about the issue until they arrived. they tried to head to baggage claim and they find absolutely

nothing. just ahead, the reward is raised as officials turn up the heat on the manhunt for the road rage suspect who shot and killed that 3-year-old passenger. but first, much of the country is facing a polar plunge. in chicago, officials even used fire to warm commuter rail tracks to keep trains running. and the midsection of the nation has endured temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below normal. and roads are still treacherous, including this scene from kansas. a traffic camera caught an suv losing control before it smashed into a police suv. the officer sitting inside the fec when it happened, rirt okay, but pretty shaken up and pretty sore too after something like that. >> nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with the details of the storm being felt in high elevations of the pacific northwest and northern rockies. >> that's the only storm on the map. ee have polar air that covers from the rockies to the east coast. a lot of single digits and very cold temperatures. the actual storm is in the

northwest. actually, we have seen one. this is two. now on thursday is storm three of this week. we picked up significant rainfall around portland overnight, almost about an inch of rainfall there. going to be moving out quickly during the day. that's the good thing about this storm. a fast moving system, and by 8:00 p.m. this evening, everything is cleared out. then we have to deal with the next storm system thursday. doesn't look as big, but we have to deal with wet going, ending there in the afternoon. still looks like we're going to deal with a pretty decent sized storm on friday coming on to the west coast and that could cause problems over the haul die weekend. >> these storms seem to be coming back to back to back. let's see if there's a stop in the future. thank you. just ahead, a new holiday

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and try olay luminous evens tone for radiant, glowing skin. for us, home is wherever we're together. i look forward tobeing home with you soon, really, really soon. >> that's army lieutenant recording a message for his brother matt who got quite a surprise on monday because he wasn't still in afghanistan, but look where he showed up. rather right there in south bend, indiana, at the notre dame basketball game, where matt who is a point guard for the fighting irish saw his brother, look at this reunion. also, the crowd, thousands of fans onhand. so great to see over and over again. now to this disturbing story leading the news in usa tood. please say uber driver stabs passenger during snow storm. the 23-year-old is accused of stabbing a 49-year-old man five times. police say the man was upset

because he felt the passenger disrespected his vehicle when he tapped on the window. he was arrested and charged with assault. the victim was treated at a hospital and then released. some startling numbers from the charleston gazette mail. drug firms poured 780 million pain killers into west virginia amid the rise of overdozes. the shipments amount to 475 pain kills for every man, woman, and child in that state. during that period, overdose desh increased 67% in the state. the once confidential sales records were obtained from the dea by the gazelle mail. drug wholesalers had fought to keep those numbers secret. >> reward grows to $40,000 in hunt for road rage gunman who killed 3-year-old. this is the toddler who was shot and killed in little rock, arkansas, when he was just sitting in the back seat of a car driven by his grandma.

she was at a stop sign and the suspect was annoyed she took so long to cross. he got out of his vehicle to shoot at her and shot and killed him inself. they're looking for a tall african american man. >> just ahead, the first $7 billion moviemaker, and then a shocking number of vacation days that americans don't take. what's happening there? we'll bring it to you next. ♪ i said i really can't stay ♪ baby it's cold outside ♪ i have to go away ♪ baby it's cold outside ♪ i really can't stay ♪ baby it's cold outside! you never know who you'll meet at barnes & noble. when are they leaving?

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fast forwarding today. the man charged with setting off bombs in new jersey and new york in september will appear in a new jersey croom. 28-year-old ahmad khan rahimy is scheduled to be arraigned on charges he wanted to murder police officers. >> that law limiting access for transgender people could be repealed this week. pat mccorrory called the state legislature tomorrow to reconsider the law. >> and they allowed the fbi to dig through a trove of e-mails found on anthony weiner's laptop, the estranged husband of top clinton aide houma abateen. >> stocks are trading on the up side, but it's what's happening next month that has people keeping a close eye on the auto

industry. >> it's hard to believe, it's just around the corner, and general motors will lay off 1300 workers at a detroit plant and temporarily cut production at five other u.s. factories next month to help reduce inventory. it could signal trouble for the auto industry after three years of record sales, demand has been slowing for mch of this yoor. some fangters, a rise in gas prices and interest rates. meanwhile, rogue one helps to put disney in rarefied air. the first studio to take in more than $7 billion at the box office with $2.7 in the u.s. and $3.4 billion internationally, and among this year's hits, captain america, civil war, finding dory, and zootopia. more than a third of the box office was made this year. >> this is hard to believe, but if you're leaving vacation days on the table, you're not alone. more than half of americans who get paid time off won't use all of their days this year.

many people fear the mountain of work when they return to the office, and others worry about their job being at risk. frances, you work hard for the days. you have to take them. >> hopefully they can roll over to the next year because you work hard for that. >> throw them my way. >> you got it. thank you. coming up in "early today," amy schumer's heartwarming holiday surprise for her family. >> plus, new details on the leap that caused a jump for charity. how a cowboy's celebration is going above and beyond. hey! hey! ♪ this is for you. did you really? didn't have too! ♪ getting the gift you almost kept for yourself? now that's a holiday mini miracle. and it's easy to create your own at walgreens... with 50 percent off the gifts of the week, just around the corner. walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy. i'm about to pop a cap of "mmm fresh" in that washer

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>> of course, the big story is about the u.s. drone that china captured from the south china sea. donald trump sent a tweet where he meant to call the incidents unprecedented. but he misspelled it and take a look, unpresidented. ironically, unpresidented is what half the country wishes would happen to trump. >> that's what happens on twitter because you can't edlt and correct stuff. >> there's a spell check, but they need another button where it says, did you mean to say this? >> here's a heartwarming christmas story for you. amy schumer posted a screen shot of her surprising her dad with news that she bought back their old family farm. they lost the farm to bankruptcy when schumer was 12, shortly before dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

that's home video her dad shot of her as a young girl playing in the corn fields. after all these years, how awesome is that? >> would you want to go back and buy your childhood home? >> i think i'm okay. i think we're good, but this is sentimental for the family. >> a good deed, this is one of the stories of the day. we saw this yesterday all over the place. this was the kettle jump that ezekiel elliott did on nbc's football night in america. in addition, 61% spike in donations to salvation army following the kettle leap. he tweets he's adding $21,000 donation to the mix on top of everything else. the majority of donations were in $21 increments, his jersey number. some people thought he would be fined. the nfl said no, we're going to let it go. >> spirit of the holidays. got to love seeing that. >> just ahead, who wins the battle of the sexes when it comes to who's the better doctor? you're watching "early today." per roll

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the kids are dreaming of a white christmas. maybe you too. here's the forecasted snow totals from now until christmas night. and you'll notice that the biggest areas that really jump out are the mountainous yare yeas of colorado, idaho mountains through montana, cascades look to get significant snow. as far as many other areas that don't typically have white christmases, doesn't look like a chance. for the big friday getaway day, we watch a storm moving to the west coast. could be difficult travel through california with rain. >> those going skiing for christmas have to love that. >> this morning, some eye popping new stats that you may have never thought about when it comes to medical care. researchers looked at more than 1 million medicare patients and

they found those treated by female physicians are less likely to die and less likely to be readmitted. the same researchers suggested if male doctors had the same result, it would save about 32,000 lives a yer. women may be better at communicating, providing preventative care and sticking to clinical guidelines. relatives of the orlando shooting victims are suing facebook, twitter, and google, saying the explosive growth of isis over the last few years would not have been possible without them. families of three of the victims believe the tech giants provided the terrorist group the material support needed to radicalize gunman omar mateen who killed 49 people in june. they also say little has been done to stop isis from spreading propaganda and attracting new recruits. >> travelers are getting for their holiday flights and the tsa has a strange reminder of what not to bring. they're releasing a list of the top ten things they found in 2016. you have a golden hand grenade,

a bat from the show walking dead, a hello kitty firearm, and in the top five, dead seahorses in a brandy bottle, a dragging claw, a post apocalyptic gas mask, and a movie prop course. >> did it have a ticket? that's the way to get -- >> maybe that's the problem. you know, unless you're working in the film industry -- >> why. >> if you're dreading instead of dreaming of a white christmas, how about a dabs to heat things up? a canada based group shared this video of themselves dancing while shoveling show. it now has about 2 million views between facebook and youtube accounts. they're asking viewers to donate to a.l.s. you did this before your weather forecast, you know -- >> i would be sweating and red. >> that may be the way to do it, before you shovel snow, right before you forecast. a little dance to warm you up. >> do it well. >> thanks for watching "early

today." >> with good music. >> we'll see you tomorrow. a stinging attack in berlin---

with police in the german capital now investigating a 23-year-old migrant from pakistan... a stinging attack in berlin with police in the german capital investigating a 23-year-old migrant from pakistan who could be at the center of yet another attack on a western european city. the reason firefighters were taken aback by not just who but what they found inside the school. "today in the bay" starts right now. very good tuesday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm sam brock. you've got to figure we had freeze warnings yesterday. anything has to be warmer than yesterday. >> it's just a little bit, not much. it's still cold, but yes, we'll take it as improvement. it will be much warmer this afternoon. you'll notice