over a week of fighting an ever intensifying set of blazes, thousands of firefighters try to take a stand as hundreds of thousands fear for their lives and property. i did not date underaged women. i did not molest anyone. >> but members of roy moore's own party are breaking the ranks with the president as alabama voters prepare to choose their next senator. then an example of a marathoner doing one of the most honorable and selfless things we've seen in a very long time. that crazy cryptocurrency known as bitcoin got even crazier overnight after hitting the futures market. and you've got to love december football in buffalo! "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm philip mena.

>> and frances rivera. firefighters are gaining momentum on some wildfires raging across southern california, but the ever expanding thomas fire is still out of control, scorching 230,000 acres and just 10% contained. it's now the fifth largest wildfire in the state's modern history. >> the inferno leveled 790 structures while damaging nearly 200 others, and it's threatening 18,000 more. more than 5,700 firefighters are working around the clock to battle thomas, but extreme weather conditions are hampering their efforts. nbc's dan schenamen has more from the ground. >> reporter: the thomas fire, the biggest in southern california, is still on the move. >> over the last 12 to 14 hours, we've experienced some extreme fire behavior. >> reporter: a new flare-up in santa barbara county. more than 5,000 residents under a mandatory evacuation order. the conditions perfect for wildfires. >> we're in december. >> right. >> the vegetation is as dry as it's ever been. you know, we haven't had rain, what, since last february or

something, and it's just so ready to go. >> reporter: strong and changing winds have made this fire hard to predict. it has surprised veteran firefighters. >> flame and heat that's put off from grass that i would normally look at and assume it would do "x," and it's not doing that at all. it's doing so much more. >> reporter: the thomas fire began monday in ventura county, northwest of los angeles. firefighters from across the country are now working around the clock to fight the flames. >> it's tiring. you do 24-hour shifts, so we do get some rest in between, but depending on the conditions and the temperatures and such, it can be exhausting. >> reporter: exhausting with no end in sight. dan schenamen, nbc news. >> the thomas fire triggered new evacuations for the beach towns of carp trea and nearby montecito, homes to celebrities like talk show host ellen degeneres, who tweeted sunday that her house was under a threat of being burned and had to evacuate her pets. and oprah winfrey tweeted her

prayers, writing "peace, be still." classes are canceled today for most schools in santa barbara county, including carpenteria high school, which sits right in the fire's path. nbc's scott cohn is there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. this was not the way that the fire crews and the authorities planned it at all. they had hoped to have this thomas fire contained a great deal more through the weekend. they thought they had an opening to get it more under control. instead, it has just blown up. as you said, 230,000 acres, so that brings the containment down to 15%. and look at the hills above carpenteria, just burning, flames going up this morning. they're going up, meaning there is less wind. that's a good thing, but this fire is so persistent and it is impressing and surprising even experienced firefighters. >> this fire has intensified every single day. >> it's unreal. it's really a gut check on how

strong the fire is. we're just trying to get out of the way and save as many lives as possible. >> reporter: now, they will continue to try and get at this. we think that we're going to get a shift in the wind today for at least part of the day where we'll get some onshore wind that might bring some moisture on to the fire and a bit of relief from those santa ana winds, but they are expected to continue well into the week, the so-called red flag warning, hot, dry winds and dry conditions on the ground make this a very, very difficult fire to get a handle on. frances? >> we've certainly seen that with the eerie glows of the flames there behind you, scott. thank you. with just one day to go in alabama's senate race, candidates doug jones and roy moore are making their final pushes to court voters. the controversial moore once again denying allegations of sexual misconduct while getting his strongest endorsement yet from president trump. nbc's jennifer johnson has more. >> reporter: absent from the

campaign trail for weeks, now a new interview with republican senate candidate roy moore. >> these allegations are completely false. i did not date underaged women. i did not molest anyone. >> reporter: on the voice of alabama politics, moore denied allegations from at least nine women. and in a new robocall -- >> roy moore is the guy we need to pass our make america great again agenda. >> reporter: -- president trump encouraged voters to back moore. >> president trump's support is very, very important for the people of alabama and this nation. judge moore is going to win, and i highly doubt there is going to be a senate investigation. >> reporter: but many gop senators who have rejected moore disagree. >> if he wins, we have to seat him. then there will immediately be an ethics investigation. as far as i can tell, the allegations are significantly stronger than the denial. >> reporter: alabama's senior republican senator has already cast his ballot. >> i couldn't vote for roy moore. i didn't vote for roy moore, but

i wrote in a distinguished republican name, and i think a lot of people could do that. >> thank you all! >> reporter: democrat opponent doug jones has been campaigning with senator cory booker, trying to court the african-american vote, and has released this mailer, saying, "think of a black man went after high school girls, anyone would try to make him a senator?" experts say jones needs a large african-american voter turnout to win. jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington. the united states, south korea, and japan are beginning missile tracking drills as tensions remain high with neighbor north korea. these latest drills come after the largest ever joint military exercises between the u.s. and south korea. they are in response to the north's late-november missile test. and since that test, all sides have been warned the growing escalation could lead closer to war. nbc's janice mackey fraher is live in beijing. janice, what more do we know about today's drills? >> reporter: well, these two-day drills will be among japan, the

u.s. and south korea, and they were triggered by concern that north korea is trying to advance its submarine missile program. we've already seen tremendous advances this year, in particular in its long-range missile and nuclear weapon capabilities, so there is this growing sense that they are going to try to move to a newer phase in their submarine-launched ballistic missiles. three destroyers from the three countries will be involved in the drills using computer simulation to track missiles that are hard to detect. they're doing this in waters between japan and the korean peninsula. and they come after these massive aerial drills that were conducted last week, and of course, a time of intensifying diplomacy in the region to try to find a solution. the united nations had deployed its highest level envoy in six years to pyongyang last week, though it was on the invitation of north korea. and he's been commenting in the last couple of days that he

believes that the situation is the most dangerous security issue in the world and that there need to be off-ramps established or channels opened for some sort of dialogue to reduce the risk of conflict. he says the greatest risk right now is miscalculation. so there is the sense that they will need to deepen the diplomacy, especially on the part of the u.n., if they hope to create any sort of solution to this. frances? >> janice, thank you. well, the dallas marathon wrapped up, and it wrapped up with a dramatic finish that was both joyful and heartbreaking to watch. chandal self struggled to stay on her feet for the last month mile and didn't think she could cross the finish line. that's when high school relay runner arianna luderman fell in step behind her. each time she faltered, she held her up and offered her words of encouragement. >> so i picked her up and i was like, let's do this. as soon as we got to the finish line, i pushed her across to

finish that tape before i did, and she did it. >> self says the encouragement pushed her through to finish the race. >> you got it! come on, girl! finish line's right there, you can see it! come on, you got it! just, she was so encouraging! and i knew she was right, and i wanted it so bad. >> self was immediately taken for medical attention, but she was back to accept her medal a short time later. and look at those big smiles on her face compared to how she looked when she crossed it. well deserved. >> that's how you do it. it was a football game that looked a lot more like a snowball fight. the buffalo bills hosted the indianapolis colts in whiteout conditions sunday, and as you can see, it made passing almost impossible. all the teams could really do was run the ball. the two offenses rushed to combine 97 times in the game that was eventually won by the bills, 13-7, in overtime. while it was snowing in the northeast, we are still monitoring all of the fires that are going on out west. meteorologist bill karins joining us now. >> yeah, talk about, you know, a total clash, right? you know, the east was dealing

with snow and cold and we're still very warm and even all the way up the west coast we're dry, and we just can't get rid of these red flag warnings, now continuing through the day today. 20 to 30-mile-per-hour winds, could even get gusts to 45 in some of the wind-prone areas. relative humidity's very low, too, so it makes it difficult for the firefighters. this is the fifth largest wild fire in california's recorded history and it's december! there's never even been one in the top 20 in december before and this has a chance of being the biggest ever. why? rain since october 1st, look at the drips in the bucket, 5% to 1% of normal and no sign of any rain whatsoever not just, rainy actually be the rainy season. i think i gave it away, but we'll take a look at the

week-ahead forecast coming up. >> we'll stick around for it. don't worry about that. all right, thanks. disney dominated december as pixar's "coco" was the top movie at the box office for the third weekend in a row. the film on mexico and dia de los muertos is set to fall to "star wars" on friday. and "justice league" was the action-packed hero flick's fourth week in the box office, hitting $224 million in 24 days, making it the tenth biggest hit of the year. rounding out the weekend in third place was the inspirational drama "wonder" starring julia roberts and owen wilson. are you taking the tissue test?

yep, and my teeth are yellow. time for whitestrips. crest glamorous white whitestrips are the only ada-accepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. and they whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. ♪ make the holidays a treat with kellogg's rice krispies.

♪...from far away. but they ♪honly see his wrinkles.♪..♪ ♪he's gotta play it cool to seal the deal.♪ ♪better find a way to smooth things over.♪ ♪if only harry used some... ♪...bounce, to dry. ♪yeah! ♪he would be a less wrinkly, and winning at life.♪ leading the news, a south carolina man convicted of killing seven people says he has several more undiscovered victims. according to "the herald journal of spartanburg." they received an eight-page letter from convicted serial killer todd kohlhepp, claiming

there are more victims undiscovered. he was convicted of killing seven people and was given seven life sentences, plus 60 years in prison. they are investigating. nikki haley says the women who have accused president trump of sexual misconduct have a right to be heard. the white house has said that the women who have accused the president of sexual misconduct were lying and that voters dismissed the accusations. however, ambassador haley had this to say while speaking on cbs' "face the nation." >> women who accuse anyone should be heard. they should be heard and they should be dealt with. and i think we heard from them prior to the election. and i think any woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up. >> the former south carolina governor added that she was proud of all women in numerous industries across the country who have come forward with their stories of sexual misconduct. this morning, a "megyn kelly today" exclusive, sitting down with three women who have publicly accused president trump of sexual misconduct.

that's at 9:00 a.m. here on nbc. a wounded warrior and his family finally have a place to call home. a retired army staff sergeant named matthew andrews, along with his wife and children, walked into a home they can call their own. andrews suffers from ptsd and a brain injury and other injuries after saving com cadiz in 2007 in iraq. they worked with a homebuilder to give them a home. notes of love are beneath the drywall in the home where andrews can put down some roots. >> they'll have a great holiday together under that roof. >> will make for a great christmas. how many parents are helping out financially to pay the bills of your adult-age children? to have more color. and ... i used to have cancer. i beat it. i did. not alone. i used to have no idea what the american cancer society did. research? yeah. but also free rides to chemo and free lodging near hospitals.

i used to maybe give a little. then i got so much back. ... i used to have cancer. please give at cancer.org. when food is good and clean and real, it's ok to crave. and with panera catering, there's more to go around. panera. food as it should be.

anif you've got a lifee. you gotta swiffer

kicking off a new week on wall street, and once again, bitcoin is leading the headlines as the cryptocurrency begins trading on the futures markets. cnbc's steve sedgwick has got you covered this monday morning. hi, steve. >> very good morning to you, frances, and philip as well. very interesting. the whole point of putting on major exchanges was that it legitimized it, makes it more liquid, you can tell what's going on a little bit more. let's question that, because the cboe futures exchange in chicago started trading last night and straight away it exploded in volatility as well. in fact, they had to halt trading a couple of times because it was moving so aggressively. so, the steadying of the ship

hasn't happened yet. but i heard one in japan saying you could leverage this 15 times, as if it wasn't volatile enough. #casino, perhaps. delta air lines jacking up the baggage fee for its basic economy passengers 60 bucks for some flights to europe and north africa from u.s. that's for flights on or after the tenth of april 201837 i'm one of the 74%. i don't know about you two, but 74% of parents help their adult children with finances. yeah. and they're normally paying for things like phone bills, such as rent, such as utilities as well. in fact, 84% of those say they are helping their growing child with living expenses. very interesting. 70%, frances and philip, say they're helping them relieve their children's debt. back to you two. >> some nice parents out there, including you, steve. >> good to be steve sedgwick's kid. have a good one, steve. thanks. coming up, a horse race like no other, plus a celebrity outpouring for a boy whose heartbreaking bullying video went viral. leave

packing to the last minute. time to break these bad boys out no i have a couple of things to wash we got this- come on. even on quick cycle, tide pods cleans great 6x the cleaning power, even in the quick cycle let's go did you just get up uh-huh it's got to be tide when a achoo!alls... ...answer it. with zicam cold remedy. it shortens colds, so you get better, faster. colds are gonna call. answer them with zicam! zicam. get your better back. now in delicious fruit drops.

♪ make the holidays a treat with kellogg's rice krispies. aswitch to new pantene light as air foam conditioner, full of rich pro-v nutrients. for 100% conditioning, 0% weight new pantene foam conditioner. ♪ psoriatic arthritis tries to get in my way? watch me. ♪ i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me. ♪ think i'd give up showing these guys how it's done? please. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are changing the way they fight it... they're moving forward with cosentyx®. it's a different kind of targeted biologic. it's proven to help people find less joint pain

and clearer skin. don't use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms of an infection. or if you have received a vaccine, or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. with less joint pain, watch me. for less joint pain and clearer skin, ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. senator al franken announced his resignation this week in the wake of sexual harassment allegations, and yet, uncle bad touch is up four points in alabama. you see, the democrats hold themselves to a higher standard than anyone else, which is why they always lose. it's the same reason the harvard football team sucks, because you also have got to be a rocket scientist to play there, but to play for alabama, you've just got to be able to spell bama.

[ laughter ] >> puts it in perspective that way, right? >> that's right. all right, now we want to introduce you to a middle schooler named keeton jones. on friday, he asked his mother to record him after a day of being bullied at school. that's him there. the heartbreaking video has now been viewed over 21 million times. the tennessee titans tight end, delanie walker, he was one of those who saw this video and he sent him this encouraging message. >> our life is shaped by our mind. we become what we think. joy follows a period thought like a shadow that never leaves. always remember that. you can be whoever you want to be. >> some encouraging words there. stranger things actors also tweeted in support saying she wanted to be his friend. all this support has led to a gofundme page for jones, when he eventually heads on to college. the page has already had $46,000 donated to it, so a lot of people really backing him up. >> and some big names, katy perry, hailee steinfeld saying come to the "pitch perfect 3"

premiere, mark ruffalo inviting him to the "avengers" premiere next year. >> snoop dogg, too. he's the guy i would want to hang on with. he's now the guy to hang out with at his school. crowds in britain took to the streets to witness the eighth annual london pan mime horse race. 20 pairs of runners dressed in costumes from cows to horses, both front to back to run the quarter mile. the weather was wet and couldn't hold them down because of what they're holding, the beer! they celebrate in the pubs afterwards. with that incentive, why not? >> looks like a good time. >> or maybe they should have done the beer before to get dressed up -- >> i'm sure it was before, during and after. you could tell, they were doing it, life right, right there. an insider look at the tv-watching and soda-drinking habits of our commander in chief. you're watching "early today" on a monday morning. see ya. -take care. ♪

so probably take it at night. and if you have any questions, the instructions are here in spanish as you requested. gracias. ♪ at walgreens, how we care will change over time, but why we care remains the same treating everyone with the care and attention they deserve. walgreens. trusted since 1901. (vo) more "dper rollres for mom" 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.

well, welcome back. let's take a look at the week-ahead forecast. blustery through the great lakes. this is where all the active weather is, in the great lakes and also through the northeast over the next couple days. today we're warm and dry, and throughout much of the west, we're actually pretty warm throughout much of the intermountain west, too, well above average. as we go into wednesday, bitter windchills in the east. that's where winter remains and that's where it's going to stay throughout much of this week. 80 in los angeles and even up towards seattle. looks like by the end of the week, at least the pacific northwest will get a little bit of stormy weather. it's even been a while for them. >> all right, bill, thank you. gop lawmakers from both the house and senate are continuing to hammer out the details in their proposed tax bill in search of a legislative victory for president trump in his first year in office. the president appearing optimistic about the negotiations, tweeting "getting closer and closer on a tax cut bill, shaping up even better

than projected." but there are still major sticking points. nbc's hallie jackson has the details. good morning. >> reporter: hey, frances. good morning to you. you've goth president trump with that tweet that he sent yesterday, republicans also hoping for a major victory with this $1.5 trillion tax cut bill. right now you've got lawmakers trying to figure out how to square the house version with the senate version. both bills double the standard deduction, both cut corporate tax rates, and both benefit the wealthy more than the middle class, but there are some sticking points, as you have folks trying to figure out. one big one surrounds capping deductions for state and local taxes. that is something that affects people in high-taxed states the most, places like, for example, california and new york. so, republicans in the house, in particular, who represent those areas, have some concerns. lawmakers are also deciding on just how big that corporate tax rate cut will be. will it be 20%, 22%? and then critically, whether to make those individual tax cuts permanent or temporary.

multiple sources close to the process say they expect negotiations to continue today, tomorrow, wednesday, with the goal of getting a final bill to the floor before christmas. frances, back to you. >> all right, hallie, thank you. do you know anybody who watches up to eight hours of television and drinks 12 diet cokes a day? well, that is a typical day what it looks like for our president. president trump. according to "the new york times'" in-depth look at the president's first year in office, those are his habits. aides and others close to the president tell the "times" that the president watches anywhere from four to eight hours of cable tv news per day, starting when he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. and they say the news is usually what provides fodder for his frequent tweets. insiders also say the president has had to adjust his expectations of the office, learning it's better to woo, not whack gop leaders to get things done. it is a season to break out your speedo? yeah, it is in boston. some very confident runners took to the streets there in santa hats and bathing suits, dashing through falling snow in the 18th annual santa speedo run, all for a good cause. it benefits the play ball

foundation, which promotes team sports for middle school students. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm philip mena. re news is straight ahmoea sfx: tinny headphone music sfx: feet shuffling life can change in an instant. be covered when it does... ...with a health plan through covered california. we offer free expert help choosing the best plan for you. and all of our plans include free preventive care. financial help is available, so check for yourself to see what savings you qualify for. for health insurance starting january 1st, enroll by december 15th. because you never know when life... ...will change. get covered today.

hi, this is president donald trump, and i need alabama to go vote for roy moore. it is so important. >> the president pushing hard for alabama's roy moore, urging voters to come out in favor of the embattled republican over democratic opponent doug jones. >> a full assault from thir as fire fighters drop countless loads of water to battle the ferocious flames as evacuations continue to grow in the region. >> a pivotal week ahead as the fcc will decide how you'll be able to surf the web, which companies can speed up or slow down your searches, possibly costing you a fortune. >> no slacker here. a mantra verses over 200 feet in the air between the eyeful tower on nothing but a slackline. "early today" starts right now.