good monday morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. a massive winter storm has slammed the southeast. some areas of virginia and north carolina have faced as much as 18 inches of snow and freezing rain, bringing travel to a standstill and causing thousands of homes and businesses to lose power. >> officials are now blaming at least four deaths on this storm system and urging people to stay indoors and off the roads. nbc's jay gray is live in charlotte, north carolina. and jay, it looks like a wintry mix there, and it looks freezing. >> reporter: yeah, phillip, frances, good to talk to you this morning. it is a mess right now. charlotte and much of the southeast right now covered in a blanket of snow and ice. millions dealing with the effects of this massive winter storm. water, ice, and snow wreaking havoc as a massive winter storm stretches from texas through virginia, delivering perhaps its most vicious blow in the carolinas.

>> already some areas have seen more than a foot of snow and sleet, and we still have hours and inches of snow and ice yet to come in many places. >> reporter: without a pair of skis, getting around is a struggle. in some areas next to impossible. >> well, we've got gas. god willing we get it out. >> reporter: air travelers aren't getting out. more than 10,000 flights have been canceled or delayed. ice has snapped tree limbs and power lines. hundreds of thousands have been left in the cold without electricity. >> well, you know, everything has really come to a standstill. >> reporter: in the hardest hit areas, schools and businesses start the week closed down as millions dig out and plow through the strongest winter storm of the season so far. you know, some will start to get a break from the precipitation today, but in many areas across

the strike zone right now, it's going to stay below freezing. it's going to be a rough go, phillip, because a lot of these cities aren't used to dealing with this much snow and ice. >> yeah, it's quite a shock there. thank you, jay gray live for us in north carolina this morning. the white house is on the hunt for a new chief of staff this morning. president trump announced over the weekend that john kelly is leaving at the end of the year and that he hoped to name a replacement in a few days. the search immediately hit a snag after the man tapped to replace the outgoing chief of staff turned down the job. the top aide to vice president mike pence, nick ayers, instead announcing that he, too, is leaving the administration at the end of the year. kelly o'donnell is in d.c. with the details. >> reporter: a year-end challenge for president trump. his vacancy rate. >> people leave. people leave. >> reporter: the hurdle ahead? senate confirmation for two high-profile picks. >> he deserves overwhelming bipartisan support. she's been a supporter for a

long time, and she's really excellent. >> reporter: but the path for heather nauert, state department spokeswoman and fox news alum, hit a snag when senator marco rubio could not say she is qualified to be u.n. ambassador. >> the things you're asking me is does she have detailed knowledge of foreign policy to a level that will allow her to be successful at the united nations? i don't know. >> reporter: a second act for william barr, who already served as attorney general 25 years ago under bush. his past legal positions and future oversight of the mueller russia investigation are his confirmation tests. >> protecting the integrity of special counsel mueller. i think that's going to be a kind of litmus test. >> i'm concerned that he's been a big supporter of the patriot act, which lowered the standard for spying on americans. >> reporter: no senate confirmation required to fill this weekend's sudden west wing opening. >> john kelly will be leaving. >> reporter: but the president's economic adviser could not

explain a critical fact about the chief of staff's exit. >> did kelly resign or was he forced out? >> i don't know, to be perfectly honest. i think it was very amicable. >> reporter: sources tell me the president is expected to name a new chief of staff by the end of the year, and that is a change, because this weekend mr. trump said he expected to have some kind of announcement within a couple of days. one top adviser who had been in discussions for that job, nick ayers, is not taking the position, and instead will leave the administration at the end of the year and will go to a political action committee. president trump, i'm told, is looking for a long-term commitment, and ayers wants to take his young family back to georgia. frances? >> all right, kelly. thank you. tensions are rising between beijing and the u.s. after the arrest of huawei's chief financial officer. yesterday, china summoned the u.s. ambassador, demanding the arrest warrant against meng

wanzhou be dropped. she's facing extradition to the u.s. >> this is part of an ongoing u.s. investigation over whether huawei violated u.s. sanctions on iran. janice macks mackey frayer is lh the latest. this is pretty much kaesionz a dark cloud over the markets now. >> reporter: it certainly is. the markets reacting very badly to this uncertainty, and beijing is making this dispute rather political. the u.s. ambassador was summoned to answer to chinese officials here in beijing where they demanded the release of meng wanzhou, saying that the u.s. should drop the warrant against her. now, prosecutors are looking to extradite meng to the united states so she can stand trial on charges of fraud for allegedly covering up business dealings through a subsidiary to evade u.s. sanctions against iran. lawyers are arguing against bail. they say that meng is a flight risk, that she has substantial wealth, has had seven passports in the past 11 years, but she

denies all of the claims against her. here in china, there is a lot of anger because a lot of people look at it and think that it's the u.s. taking a competitive swipe at huawei. this is a company that's a source of national pride here. but this also is the issue of timing that needs to be considered. awkward for china's president xi jinping, having just brokered that trade truce with president trump. so, this could threaten to implode that cease-fire, which would derail trade talks, which, of course, are meant to avert an all-out trade war. so, all eyes now are on that canadian courtroom today where the bail hearing will resume. meng's fate will be decided. if she is extradited, it could take months, and she faces 30 years in prison. frances? >> all right, thank you. it was a wild day of football capped off with a possible preview of the nfc championship game. the bears versus the rams, who

have been unstoppable until sunday night. chicago's defense absolutely smothered the high-octane offense led by jared goff. they went into halftime tied at 6, but early in the second, eddie block beats the block for safety to give the bears the lead. chicago not give up a touchdown and picked off goff four times. bears win it, 15-6. now to jerry's spaceship in arlington. an afc east showdown, eagles/cowboys. philly picked off dak prescott twice. the second set up an easy touchdown for philly in the third. but the big story was amari cooper, recently acquired receiver. he caught three touchdowns and 217 yards receiving as well. but the biggest catch was the last one he made in overtime. the ball gets tipped here, cooper grabs it and runs it right in. cowboys take it, 29-23. win streak now up to five games. now to the miracle in miami. the dolphins stunning the patriots with an unbelievable final play. they had to have a touchdown on this final play of the game.

ryan tannehill finds kenny stills, who then pitch takes to devante parker, who then laterals it to running back kenyan drake, and now he is weaving through the defense. this is all he's got, this play right here. the last person to beat a stumbling rob gronkowski. touchdown dolphins, stunning the patriots. finally, the kansas city chiefs punched their ticket to the playoffs. it was an overtime thriller against the ravens. kc quarterback patrick mahomes continued his mvp season with maybe the highlight of the season. look at that, across the body, across the field. there is tyreek hill, 48 yards on fourth down. the chiefs, that drive would tie it and then win it in overtime. all right, let's see how we're doing weatherwise with nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> we talked earlier about the huge snowstorm. here are some of the numbers in the big cities, like richmond and raleigh. almost half a foot to a foot of snow, but roanoke was one of the highest at 15 inches. and the highest totals in the mountains of the appalachians where a few spots were over 20 inches of snow, and that's just about over with. and we're watching just light

precipitation now. roads will improve during the day today, but they'll deal with that refreeze thing later tonight into tomorrow morning. we also saw a pretty strong cold front through the pacific northwest where we had some rain and mountain snows and temperatures today will be okay. 48 in seattle, but we have another batch of rain that will come in late tonight and then another one as we go into thursday morning. so there's going to be a couple periods of active weather in areas of the northwest. all the travel in the middle of the country looks just fine, l.a. to san francisco, san diego and phoenix, no problems. partly cloudy skies. and a sneak peek at tomorrow's forecast does show you that wet weather in the pacific northwest as that storm system moves on through, but notice that temperatures are actually kind of mild in many places. we're not really seeing that real cold air that we have been holding on to for looks just fine, temperatures coolish in many areas with highs in the 50s.

and some of the most active weather in the country this week will be in the pacific northwest. we'll talk about that coming up. >> their turn. all right, bill. thank you. during a promotion at a ucla women's basketball game over the weekend, nicole cornett, there she is there -- she was picked to do a layup, shoot a free throw, a three-pointer, and then a half-court shot. and you guessed it, she nails this half-court shot. anybody who does that usually wins a brand-new car, but nicole not your usually contestant. turns out, she's a former bruins basketball player and therefore ineligible to win the car. she later admitted she knew she couldn't win a prize. they told her that ahead of time. they only let her try because it was her birthday. >> so she gets the bragging rights right after that. >> totally. ahead, a sonic assault on the senses. the growing concerns for america's diplomats overseas. plaque psoriasis can be relentless. tremfya® is for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks.

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black women from all walks of life. the series "she thrives: black women making history today" will highlight ten amazing women from across generations, occupations, and regions. if you would like to nominate a leader from your community, just go to nbcnews.com/shethrives. entries are due by december 13th. leading the news, new revelations expected this week in the case of american diplomats who fell seriously ill on the job. some believe they had been targeted with a mysterious weapon. the team of doctors who treated the first victims in havana are promising new details in the coming days. in an exclusive interview, nbc's andrea mitchell spoke with a mother of one of the americans. >> your head is splitting. you're dizzy. it's a horrible feeling. >> reporter: those are the symptoms laura hughes says her daughter, katherine werner, a 31-year-old diplomat stationed in china, began to feel after hearing strange sounds in her apartment, alarmingly similar to what 26 u.s. diplomats and spies reported half a world away in

havana, beginning in 2016. >> the united states government is still not sure who or what is responsible for those health attacks. >> reporter: when katherine told her mother she had been sick after hearing the strange sounds, flora, an air force veteran, jumped on a plane to china. >> i saw a shell of our daughter. >> reporter: what do you mean? what was she like? >> she didn't look the same. she lost a lot of weight. there was no brightness in her eyes. >> reporter: soon, laura began coming down with similar symptoms. >> you're in a fog. it's as if everything is moving in slow motion. and when it leaves, you are completely exhausted. >> reporter: laura says the dogs also began acting strangely. >> they would be shivering under the bed when we would return to the apartment. they would vomit blood. >> reporter: three months after arriving, laura couldn't take it anymore and headed home to the u.s. katherine was medevaced out of china three weeks later. >> just like with the havana diplomats, doctors have diagnosed katherine with traumatic brain injury, similar

to concussion but with no blow to the head. >> reporter: the state department says it took quick and decisive action, evacuating 15 others from china who reported similar symptoms and remains vigilant. but as cases mount, laura is sounding an alarm. >> i do not believe that our military, our diplomats around the world or here at home are safe because this weapons system is creating havoc. >> reporter: laura, who has also been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, is calling on the state department to do more. >> our whole lives are uprooted. and instead of being helped, it's an atrocity. >> reporter: what would you like them to do? >> find out what this thing is and hold those accountable. >> reporter: andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. just ahead, aquaman makes a splash with its international debut. we'll tell you the staggering amount it reeled in at china's box office. be playing outside

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with no new film releases, disney's "ralph breaks the internet" topped the domestic box office for a third straight weekend after bringing in a solid $16 million. universal's "the grinch" came in second with $15 million, followed by "creed ii" and "fantastic beasts." but the big story was overseas where "aquaman" debuted big in

china with over $93 million in ticket sales. investors overseas and here at home remain on edge over concerns of an intensifying trade war between the u.s. and china. cnbc's frank holland joining us now with more on this. hey, frank, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. the sell-off on wall street looks to continue amid growing fears of an economic slowdown and escalating trade tensions between the u.s. and china. the dow jones industrial average is pointing to about a 71-point decline at the opening bell, but futures are well off their lows of the overnight session. this after all three major u.s. stock indexes posted their worst weekly declines since late march last week. investors will also be keeping an eye out for ongoing developments surrounding the arrest of the cfo of chinese tech giant huawei. over the weekend, beijing raised the stakes, summoning the u.s. and canadian ambassadors and threatening both countries with serious consequences if the arrest warrant is not revoked. and elon musk once again making headlines over the weekend. the tesla ceo saying the company would consider buying the

factories that general motors says it intends to idle. in a wide-ranging interview with "60 minutes," musk made no apologies for his erratic behavior over the summer and repeated his lack of respect for the securities and exchange commission. they sued him in september for allegedly defrauding investors after tweeting he wanted to take tesla private at $420 per share and had, quote, funding secured." those are your cnbc headlines. frances and phillip, back to you. >> the infamous $20 million tweet. frank, thank you. ahead, how a high school basketball team is overcoming unimaginable loss and inspiring a whole town. you're watching "early today." ♪

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learn all you can to help protect yourself from a stroke. talk to your doctor about xarelto®. look at this. who's that plowing? maybe they're actually putting the snow back. that's the grinch in boone, north carolina. you've got to have some fun when you've got a foot of snow to get rid of. that's a lot of plowing. all right, let's look at the week-ahead forecast. areas of mountain snow in idaho, a little in the cascades, but lower elevations are just fine. then another system comes in tonight. we get a little bit of a break on wednesday. then on thursday, a more significant storm system. this could actually have heavier rain with it. that will move in and won't just be for the northwest. even northern california will get into that new winter storm by the end of the week. >> their turn. all right, bill. thank you. just ahead, a dog is reunited with his owner after surviving the camp fire and spending weeks watching over the ruins of their home. i was on the fence about changing from a manual to an electric toothbrush.

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this is the fight of our lives. >> this is going to work, steve. >> i know it is. because i don't know what i'm going to do if it doesn't. >> the new "avengers: end game" is breaking records even before hitting theaters. the trailer broke the record for most views with 289 million views. the film's predecessor "avengers: infinity" war held the previous record. the new movie hits theaters april 26th. the camp fire in northern california took 85 lives and destroyed 14,000 homes. it almost wiped out the small town of paradise off the map, but the devastation has not stopped the high school basketball team, which despite

personal losses, is giving the community some much-needed wins. here's nbc's steve patterson. >> reporter: the flames were roaring when joe saw the text from his firefighter father. >> we get a lot of fires up here, but this is the first time he's actually been scared and he said get out. >> reporter: the town of paradise lost. the family forced to flee. >> and the one thing he grabbed out of his car was his basketball bag. >> basketball means everything to me. >> reporter: so many dreams destroyed. coach jerry cleek feared paradise high's season might be over before it started. >> no team's ever gone through anything like this. let's get ready for a game. >> reporter: their first team meeting after the fire a victory in itself. >> it was just one of the neatest feelings i had, to see them smile and hug each other and see that everybody was still alive. >> reporter: with 16 teammates needing places to live, there would be no home-court advantage

this year, but that hasn't stopped the bobcats. with joe at point guard, the team won its first five games. >> basketball has given a sense of hope for me and my teammates. >> reporter: each triumph making the troubles just a little more bearable. >> everything we're doing is just for paradise and its honor. >> reporter: a team leading their town to a new beginning. this time paradise won. >> good game. >> reporter: steve patterson, nbc news. >> what a wonderful distraction. >> mm-hmm. way to do it right there. we have a heart-warming reunion to tell you about. after the devastating wildfires last month, as we said, in northern california, this one's about a dog. this dog survived the catastrophic camp fire, then guarded the ruins of his home until this special moment. andrea gaylord returned to check on her burned property, and with the help of an animal rescuer, found madison waiting. gaylord says she had no choice in leaving her two beloved dogs behind before escaping the camp fire. miguel, her other dog, was taken to a shelter in the aftermath.

dogs loyal to the very end. >> right there, after all they've been through. these stories so heart-warming to hear. thanks for starting your morning with us. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip men

>> i'm a little nervous. i ain't going to lie. >> a winter storm smacks the southeast burying the carolinas and being noing out power to thousands. where is it going next? >> why the man to replace chief of staff john kelly is turning down the job. the trade truths in tunnel. china's stern warning to the u.s. after the shocking arrest of a top tech executive. an answer to the age-old holiday question. what happens to christmas trees that don't make the cut? "early today" starts right now.