> new reports of potentially damaging allegations about donald trump's dealings with russia ahead of his long-awaited press conference hours away. president obama's farewell address was filled with achievements, but also a warning against the challenges of democracy. >> the fifth man in line for the presidency, rex tillerson, faces tough senate questions on his dealings with russia. a relentless parade of storms blankets the west with flooding warnings. and the most under the radar story this year. "early today" starts right now. great being with you this morning, i am francis rivera. in just hours president-elect trump will hold his first press conference since being elected

and it's these headlines that will be dominating the day, and briefing materials were passed to russians. two u.s. officials with direct knowledge tell nbc news the briefing materials prepared for trump did include information that was initially circulated among trump's opponents and was passed on to intelligence agencies, including those damaging allegations. however, the officials did not say if the fbi was investigating the information which was not verified by the intel agencies, and while the sources would not take to the nature, and trump took to twitter, all caps, fake news, a total political witch hunt. in an exclusive interview with lester holt, president obama said this to say regarding the news.

>> mr. president before we sat down, there was a word from sources that the intel report on russian hacking had information that suggested there might have been an effort by the russians to compromise donald trump. could you confirm that and tell us what you know? >> i have not seen the reports. we were on the plane together and i have not read the news since then, and as -- as a matter of principle and national security i don't comment on classified information. i ordered a report about russia's involvement in the hacking of the dnc and passing on that information to wikileaks because i felt now that the election was over for everybody to understand exactly what happened in order to prevent it from happening again, in order to make sure that we are working effectively with our allies so that misinformation and cyber attacks don't end up undermining democratic structures around the world, and my expectation and my

hope is that this work will continue after i leave, that congress in possession of the classified and unclassified reports, that the president-elect and his administration in possession of the classified and unclassified reports will take it seriously and now get to work reinforcing those mechanisms that we can use to protect our democracy. >> regardless of the veracity of the allegations its no question trump's ties to russia and the stance on russia's interference will be topic number one in this morning's press conference. overnight, incoming white house counselor, kellyanne conway discussed that with seth meyers. >> they are all unnamed unspoken sources and it was based on a russian investigator to begin with. where are we? >> it was based on an mi6 russian investigators? >> yeah, and it also says

hillary clinton and groups that wanted hillary clinton to win may have been behind the investigations themselves and most importantly it said the fbi is trying to confirm it so nothing has been confirmed. >> this morning the kremlin has responded, and saying it has no such materials on trump or clinton and adding the allegations are an attempt to further interrupt u.s. and russia relations. president obama delivered a nostalgic and at times emotional speech in chicago. he bid the nation fair well as he sought to comfort an increasingly divided country. >> my fellow americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. i won't stop. in fact, i will be right there with you as a citizen for all my remaining days. >> while the speech was at times a laundry list of the

president's achievements it also served as a point by point rebuttal to the incoming administration, and one key moment came when the president spoke of the day when he passes the baton to trump. >> in ten days the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy. no, no, no. the peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected president to the next. >> perhaps the most personal moment of the night came when the president made this tearful tribute to the first lady. >> michelle lavonn robinson, girl of the south side. for the past 25 years you have not only been my wife and mother of my children, you have been my best friend. you took on a role you didn't ask for.

and you made it your own. [ applause ] you made the white house a place that belongs to everybody, and a new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model, so you have made me proud and you have made the country proud. >> tonight michelle obama will give her own farewell and it will be on late-night television making her final late-night appearance as first lady with tonight shows's, jimmy fallon. on capitol hill today trump's cabinet picks are expected to be heavily grilled as he faces the memorandum knees. four nominees have had their hearings delayed. the delays come as standard background checks and vetting has yet to be completed. rex tillerson faces a grilling

over his ties to russia and iran, and trump's choice for attorney general, jeff sessions faces his straight day of questioning. >> jeff sessions held his granddaughter in his lap and prepared to go before the very committee that he was a member of but voted against him in 1986 when he was nominated to be a federal judge, concerned then about his record on civil rights. >> the caricature was not accurate then and not now. >> in a hearing interrupted nine times by protesters, he said he would oppose any blanket ban on muslim immigrants, and he said he would step aside if investigations of the clinton e-mails or foundation came up.

>> with regard to secretary clinton and some of the comments i made, i do believe that that could place my objectivity in question. >> he was also asked about mr. trump's claim about women in the "access hollywood" video. >> is grabbing a woman by her gentles without her consent sexual assault? >> clearly it would be. >> sessions long opposed the supreme court decision on abortion rights but said if confirmed he would support it. >> he said he would support revoking president obama's executive order allowing 74,000 young people to stay who came here illegally underage 16. >> thanks to nbc's pete williams. the trump transition team is in the midst of more controversial with robert kennedy, jr., one of the most anti-vaccine activist said president-elect trump asked him to lead a committee on vaccine safety. the trump team now saying no decisions have been made.

western states are reeling from extreme weather, and now a new storm for soaked northern california, which was already saturated from the weekend's rain. river levels are being monitored closely as residents fear broken levees and additional flooding, and forecasters are predicting up to 10 more feet of snow in tahoe. >> it has been almost 12 years since i have seen anything like this. it's incredible. >> further north, much of oregon was covered with a layer of ice and snow making any type of travel dangerous. in washington state, one mother and her three kids had to be rescued after their car slid off an icy road. in colorado, a massive avalanche buried route state 70 yesterday, and another large avalanche crashed down and it's captured in this amazing video and photo. an avalanche warning remains in effect today to the regions west of denver. is there any relief in sight? let's check in with meteorologist, bill karins, who

is here with the latest. >> still dealing with snow up i-5, and we have snow-covered haoez and some people stranded outside of portland. here's a picture. that's portland, oregon. it's not a scene you see often. as we go throughout the day today, the affects will lesson. and it looks like the heavy rain is over in san francisco, and we kick the storm out today and a little weaker storm will be moving in during the day tomorrow and that's with especially the southern half of the state, and nothing like the a foot or

two in the nevada and sierra range. francis, no big storm behind us. looks like we will get a nice reprieve friday through the weekend. >> thank you very much. just ahead police are turning up the heat on increasing the reward for this alleged cop killer, and then why the fear factor here is greater than it seems. you are watching "early today." ...it keeps your underwear cleaner. (secretly) so clean... you could wear them a second day. tell me i did not just hear that! (sheepishly) i said you could... not that you would! ...charmin ultra strong with its washcloth-like texture, helps clean better than the leading flat-textured bargain brand. it's 4 times stronger, and you can use less. it cleans better. you should try it, "skidz." we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin? achoo! snap achoo! snap achoo! achoo! snap snap achoo! achoo! feel a cold coming on? zicam cold remedy nasal swabs

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hearing will take place for convicted killer, dylann roof. yesterday it took three hours for the jury to sentence the white supremecist to death. the 22-year-old who chose to represent himself in the penalty phase showed no remorse. he becomes the 63rd person on federal tkpet death row and the 13th to be sentenced to death for federal hate crimes. in atlanta an accused cop killer is widening, and the reward has increased to $100,000. lloyd is suspected of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and then fatally shooting a sergeant when she confronted him in a walmart parking lot. police are calling loyal armed and extremely dangerous. over to australia now where the successful rescue of people trapped on a roller coaster comes months after a deadly theme park accident next door. nobody was hurt at warner brothers movie world on wednesday, and riders were

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in today's quick hits in only her second public appearance since the november election, hillary clinton helped inauguration a new state department, and she made reference to her e-mail controversy. >> i am thrilled to be here at the new hillary clinton pavilion. i am sure you will notice it's

the most transparent part of the entire project. the force is with l.a. beating out san francisco as the future george lucas museum, and it will be filled with his collection including memorabilia from "star wars." lucas will pay for the museum at a cost of about a billion. could we see a honey shortage soon. u.s. fish and wildlife says the bee wildlife plummeted since the 1990s. and then what exactly does trump plan to focus on first. julie has a few ideas of that and more. good morning. >> good morning, francis. wall street is awaiting trump's speech but the markets are unlikely to get what they are

looking for from the president-elect elect, and they want more concrete on his policies, and some through enthusiasms has faded. meanwhile walmart plans to cut 1,000 corporate jobs from its hr technology and e-commerce decisions by the end of the month, and it's one of the retailers largest rounds of white collar jobs as it looks to lower costs and shift to online sales. and then a smartphone and emoji symbol on the board, and fans are asked to vote online, and in 2013 monopoly replaced the old-fashioned iron with a cat, and you can vote at votemonopoly.com. i just hope you can still

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i think we are all done looking at this map. the snowfall prediction map, and if it's not feet of snow, it's one or two additional feet, and still difficult traveling in all mountain passes as we go through this afternoon. the storm system spreads throughout the rest of the west, too, and also in l.a. today, a little rain and that always causes problems in the morning rush hour. >> thank you. and donald trump offers new insight into his plan for american health care and while he long advocated for the immediate repeal of the affordable care act and he said he wants replacements within

weeks. a scary situation forces the man to turn the tables on two robbers. the owner of the gun shop has seconds to act when two men storm the building and you see them holding the store workers at gunpoint. the owner said he had no choice but to open fire killing one of the suspects. police say it's unlikely he will be charged. it was an act of self defense and the second suspect still on the run. former new york senator kicked off a jetblue flight on monday evening, and it had been delayed for six hours, and some passengers refused to move seats and he lost his patience and started complaining to the captain, and law enforcement then escorted him off the plane and some passengers did not think it was right. >> that's not right. >> how is that right in any way?

>> while walking down the aisle he spoke to the fellow passengers saying this -- >> we can still speak in this country, and what you are doing to me -- i am going to tell you this, i want to appeal to all of you people. you know what? >> yes. >> stand up for what is right and walk out with me, and that's the only thing they will know. >> one other passenger did appear to follow him down the i will and a spokesman said that jetblue has apologized to him for overreacting. >> it's one thing to support somebody and then another to get off your flight and miss your destination. >> it's one thing to write the letter to the editor and it's another thing -- >> he got all the way up to the captain to talk to the captain, and everything on planes, you know, it's recorded, everybody.

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stage".. and the north bay gets ready for even more water. scott/vo "highways closed" all over - from 17 to niles canyon. and trains.. idle in their stations. they're not moving.. but we had the russian river hits flood stage. highways closed all over. and trains idle in their stations this morning. not moving, but we are. today in the bay starts right now. all right. good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm scott mcgrew in for sam brock. we have so much to tell you. communities remain under water. things could get worse with rain headed our way. >> let's check in with meteorologist kari hall right away. she has another system for us. kari. >> w