the world's busiest airport will try to get back to normal after a massive power outage during one of the most hectic travel days before the christmas rush. s shifting winds could help california firefighters beat back the two-week-old wildfires. a $250 million opener for "the last jedi." that's not all. >> the people of 2017. a fascinating look back. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you, i'm frances rivera. >> i'm phillip mena. power at the world's busiest airport has been fully restored. a complete power outage created a travel nightmare. the mayor said the electricity

went out around 1:00 sunday afternoon after a fire damaged the main substation powering the airport and its back up. the cause is under investigation. power slowly came on terminal by terminal over the course of 11 hours to the cheers of wary passengers. more than 1300 flights were canceled or delays with more back ups expected to ripple into today. dan has more. >> reporter: a massive power outage at the busiest airport. >> we are waiting to see what's going on and what to do next. >> reporter: all flights halted. arriving planes held at port of departure. arriving passengers were stuck on the tarmac. others said finding flight information was a struggle. >> we haven't gotten an e-mail or text. i am surprised at that. >> the airline get a different flight. the system is down. this is a mess. >> reporter: the power outage came at the start of a busy travel season.

u.s. air carriers are expected to fly 51 million passengers between december 15 and january 4th. sunday's canceled and delayed flights may have dampened travel flights, it didn't damper the holiday spirit. >> santa claus came around wishing us a merry christmas. lightened the mood a little bit. >> reporter: a lighter mood for passengers who can do little but wait. nbc news. this morning, after spending a week at a maryland medical center, senator john mccain is back home in arizona. he's said to under go therapy. he will not be back in washington until january. it couldn't have come at a worse time for president trump with a long awaited vote on the tax bill expected to take place tomorrow in the house. the thomas fire scorched 270,000 acres in california making it the third largest wildfire in the state's history.

it killed two people. 18,000 people are under threat and 10,000 or 100,000 people, i should say, were forced to evacuate. among them, actor rob lowe writing, pray for santa barbara. >> the blaze is 45% contained. the red flag warning is flaring. >> i referred to the fire as a beast. it is a monster. we all recognize that. we will kill it. the team behind me, the men and women out in the field, i have no doubt they will take care of business and we will put this fire out. >> nbc's scott cohen is at the main center in ventura. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, philip. 8500 fire personnel are here getting ready for a crucial couple of days. the winds have died down. those santa ana winds that have been whipping up the flames for

two weeks now, leading to tense moments over the weekend. for the next couple of days, we are expecting those winds to be basically gone, calm, higher humidity, a chance for firefighters to get more of a handle on this fire, which is about 45% contained. not before burning some 270,000 acres or 420 square miles. larger than most major cities. now, as the fire begins to subside in some areas, residents are beginning to reflect on all they have been through. >> the smile and it's all we can do right now. >> it has a huge effect on the local economy. it's tough. we are all in the same boat. we have to still keep plugging through. >> reporter: the firefighters and the residents will be dealing with this for weeks to come. cal fire, the fire fighting agency in the state is projecting now, at this pace,

the fire will be contained on january 7th, more than a month after it broke out. philip? >> scott, thank you. to get a sense of the lasting impact of the wildfires, joe friar traveled further up the california coast north of san francisco, a community left scarred by a devastating fire back in october. >> reporter: in california's wine country, the flames are in the past, but a return to normal is far in the future. jennifer's family wakes up earlier these days for the 35 minute drive to school. >> bye, see you later. >> reporter: a trip that once took three minutes. >> have a good day. >> reporter: they are attending their old school, even though their house burned to the ground. >> people have said, why don't you put your kids in school there? i said because the kids in school there aren't going through what my kids are going through. >> reporter: here, in santa rosa, a quarter of the students

lost their homes. in this kindergarten class, half are fire victims. most returned, including the school psychologist. >> it's about getting back to normalcy. >> the fires destroyed 6400 homes. fire ravaged debris litters many neighborhoods for many homeowners rebuilding, we'll take another 1-2 years. >> crazy. >> reporter: june and jaime clark lost their house of 38 years. unlike the neighbors, they lot has been cleared. the rebuilding process is now a full-time job. >> you know, this is like running a marathon. we are a mile in. >> reporter: as the holidays approach, they are slowly settling into a temporary home, a rental. >> christmas is going to be hard. normally, it's wrapped around our home. >> i tell people, i'm living a day at a time. that's really what it is. >> reporter: still, look closely around this town. you will find decorated trees

standing tall in the places homes once surrounded them. a sign of resilience. >> i think christmas this year is going to be about being together, being a family. >> reporter: embracing what the fires could not destroy. joe friar, nbc news, santa rosa, california. the carolina panthers will have a new boss. the owner says he will sell the team at the end of the season. the surprise announcement comes as they begin an internal investigation with allegations against richardson. he did not comment on the allegations or provide specifics. on twitter, sean p. diddy combs expressed interest in buying it. nba superstar steph curry weighed in saying i want in. >> santa claus is coming to town. a woman in colorado is getting into the spirit with over a thousand santas in the house.

ever since then, people have given her santas to add to her impressive collection. she's only had to buy one of her own. she waits until after thanksgiving to take out the santas and takes two weeks to put up all the decorations. at this point, keep them all up. make it christmas in july, february -- >> it should be known, the woman with a thousand santas. weigh in on this one. >> i only have nice things to say. >> all right, bill. don't say anything. let's take a look at the northwest where the rain is moving in. thankfully, it's warming up. the snow is at the very high elevations. a wet morning through the olympics and some will fall to the valleys. some snow will fall eventually for the cascades and the rockies. it's higher elevations we have to worry about this. as far as the snowfall map, we are getting toward christmas. talk about a white christmas, you have to go to the mountains. draws the mountains, the lauer

elevations boise included, you are fine. not looking at problems. the winds are lower to help then southern california anytime soon. at least the winds are more favorable. this daring austrian race isn't for the faint of heart. over 2,000 fans watched the sixth annual rise and fall. tag, you're it. this is all done in the austrian alps. 80 teams from all over europe had to compete. imagine trying to go up that? they had to climb up the mountain, paraglide and mountain climb. that's the fun part, going down. going up is difficult. >> then, in the off season, they are -- i can imagine.

thank you. still ahead, as 2017 comes to a close, we look at the incredible people and moments that captured headlines and captivated conversations. ♪ cleaning floors with a mop and bucket is a hassle, meaning you probably don't clean as often as you'd like. for a quick and convenient clean, try swiffer wetjet.

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than three standard fish oil pills. megared advanced triple absorption. to call 2017 a roller coaster of a year is an understatement from the ravaging firing in california to the hurricanes that battered the south and caribbean islands, the trump phenomenon, russia investigation, me too movement and more. >> who and what stood out the most? brian williams and nicolle wallace tracked down the most intriguing people and moments. >> bob corker, republican departing senator from tennessee. >> the president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the confidence that he needs to

demonstrate to be successful. >> he's someone that said out loud what a lot of people say behind closed doors with a couple cocktails. >> nine, the mayor of san juan, carmen cruz. >> move people, move. >> hurricane maria, one of the strongest storms ever to hit puerto rico. >> we are dying and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the beaurocracy. >> what she did probably saved lives. mike flynn. >> former national security adviser. >> former national security adviser to the president of the united states. and the question that we sort of leave with, after this dramatic news of his guilty plea, is not just what does he know and what has he told mueller because the answer is everything and whatever mueller wants, according to every prosecutor involved in a case like this.

>> colin kaepernick and what he has stood for or more appropriately, knelt for, has attracted the attention and criticism of donald trump. >> wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners, when someone disrespects our flag to say get that son of a [ bleep ] off the field right now? out. he's fired. he's fired! >> kaepernick was doing apit mized peaceful protest and the right to do so. >> vladimir putin. number six. >> at the end of the day, he messed with us. the only part of the story that doesn't satisfy a majority of americans is that trump isn't mad about it. >> he was a prisoner of war, so, not for the first time in his life is he in the fight of his life right now. john mccain. >> this year, you could argue, has been really extraordinary. one in the fight against cancer

and two, the thumbs down vote against repealing health care. >> this brings us to number four on the list. >> the reporters. >> this is something we agreed on when we first sat down to talk about this list. basically, an old-fashioned print newspaper war without print. >> they have also become our story tellers of this presidency. >> number three, the twitter feed of the president of the united states. it's hard to believe the time of day, the frequency, the day of a terrorist attack, he is likely to attack the media or the country already under attack. all of which brings us to number two on our ten list. something we are calling, after some deliberation, the reckoning. the wave of sexual harassment and assault, accusations and s

dismissals in certainly more than one industry. >> a lot of people believe it's long overdue. >> now, the time has come for number one. robert mueller. >> he defines discipline and focus in a way that makes him, as you end 2017 and head into 2018, he is the looming threat over donald trump's presidency. >> what a perspective of an entire year in three minutes. >> we can be sure mueller and others will be on the list in 2018 as well. >> thanks to brian and nicole for that. gop tax cuts fueling gains in the stock market. >> how has disney's movie affected the company's stock? much more on that, next. ♪ so probably take it at night. and if you have any questions, the instructions are here in spanish as you requested. gracias. ♪

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a french athlete in china broke the world record for longest slack line walk while blindfolded. the images, unbelievable. the athlete completed it as the international high line challenge. he previously set the world record in southern france. wow! >> my goodness. >> after a whirlwind couple days, disney and bitcoin, where are people headed for the week.

steve, good morning. >> good morning to you, philip. i know absolutely everything, it is true. in terms of bitcoin, it's quite a start for trading of bitcoin on the world's largest. cma down to $19,300 on bitcoin. the cbo started futures a week or so ago, up 6% on the session. elsewhere, "star wars," no spoilers, i haven't seen it yet. the second best weekend start for "the last jedi" only behind "the force awakens," 248.8 million was the latter ahead of jurass jurassic world and 2018 debut of avengers. president donald trump predicting the economy is going

to rock on the back of the 503 page bill. the markets are running in advance of it. 69 year-to-date records on the dow, closed up 34% since the election. back to you. >> thank you for knowing all, steve. thank you very much. still ahead, which "snl" star has a tattoo of hillary clinton? we'll tell you. 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. ah, it's so fresh. and it's going to last from wash to... ...wear for up to 12 weeks. right, freshness for weeks! unstopables by downy. for a fresh too feisty to quit. fast like stop staring atcaps help youthe clock fast,st, like stop worrying about your boss fast, like wow, you're already asleep fast.

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you have always been my favorite child. >> what about us? >> my name is don jr., after all. >> i'm derek. >> it's eric. are you getting worse? >> oh, boy, i always forget, are they yours? >> no. >> father -- >> oh, man, tiffany and baron were spared. >> this time around. >> one "snl" actor took his political support to a new level with pete davidson unveiling that tattoo of a certain candidate, it's hillary clinton, of course. he wanted to give her a christmas gift, so i got a tattoo of my hero. clinton couldn't be more thrilled. i'm honored. he couldn't contain his excitement. this is "early today." i love you, basement guest bathroom. your privacy makes you my number 1 place to go number 2.

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welcome back. let's take a look at the week ahead forecast. we are watching fog and showers. here is the storm we are dealing with today in areas of the north. then we see the storm system moving inland. a big storm system and a decent snowstorm for areas of montana and the rockies. great for the ski areas. we are going get snow in the cascades. by the time we get to thursday and friday, we push it into the great lakes, cooler air behind it. it is going to be from the rockies to the central u.s. it will avoid the west coast. >> bill, thank you. this weekend, the force was strong with movie goers as the last jedi scored the highest of 2017. the latest "star wars" film

dominated with 220 million dlarls. it's the second best opening, ever, falling behind the predecessor, "the force awakens." a new interview that has more than a few swooning. >> do i have to speak faster? i'm a slow speaker. >> no, no. >> do i need the british accent? >> if you use long pauses -- it's the face. >> i see. oh, okay. >> there you have it. the former president with the newly engaged prince. prince harry fielded questions to president obama and his time in the white house. the interview is set to air this week and was recorded in toronto this past september. >> fascinating pair there. the re-enactment of crossing the delaware river may be too low to cross. it will take a significant amount of precipitation to raise

the water enough for the event. the national weather service says there are no storms on the horizon. it usually draws thousands to both sides of the river in new jersey and pennsylvania. revelers in france kick off the holiday season with a chilling good time. brave bathers plunged into the frigid waters to mark the beginning of the holiday season. luckily, the swim lasted no more than ten minutes, but the beach remained fun. the holiday tradition began 50 years ago. it's part of many we see this time of year. we have santa plunges, new years polar plunges. nothing like the frigid air. >> looks sunny. don't let it fool you. freezing out there. it will never cease to amaze me and bewilder me how they do that. thanks for waking up with us, i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. we leave you with the newest

arrivals. the first modern tiger cubs to be born at the park. your news continues right here.

this morning tens of thousands of travelers impacted by a power outage at the world's busiest airport will get another shot at getting to their destinations. >> donald trump returns from camp david to face a mountain of controversy surrounding the latest mueller e-mail bombshell. ahead of what might be the biggest moment of his presidency. >> and ailing senator john mccain is whisked to his home state of arizona. we'll have the latest on his condition. >> when harry met barak, what happened when these two sat down for a candid conversation. >> inside this nondescript brick building, the magic and wonder of christmas with one of santa's busiest helpers. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning, i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. power at the world's busiest airport has been fully restored