good morning. new details surrounding the president's choice for attorney general and how he plans to handle robert mueller's investigation. as we are beginning to see signs of it wrapping up. >> day 25 of the shutdown, and a growing number of unpaid t.s.a. workers are calling out sick, increasing wait times at airports, but what about the latest compromise proposal? >> i did reject it, yes. i'm not interested. i want to get it solv shouldn't in britain. theresa may is working feverishly to sway lawmakers to vote for whathite supremacy remarks, his resignation next. >> plus, the mighty duke devils knocked off by unceded syracuse. "early today" starts right now.

>> good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. president trump's pick for the next attorney general is in the hot seat on capitol hill today. the confirmation hearing for william barr begins later this morning. for the next two days, senators will grill him on everything from his relationship with mr. trump to the russia investigation. barr has already said, if confirmed, he will let robert mueller finish his probe. nbc's susan mcennis joins us now from d.c. with what we can can expect to the. good morning. >> reporter: that's right, good morning. lawmakers very eager to hear from fired in lawmakers are sure to zero in on the russia investigation and whether barr can fairly oversee it. now, he has written testimony that nbc got hold of. it says he finds it vitally important that mueller his investigation, but it wasn't too long ago that barr sent a memo unsolicited, 20 pages long, to the justice department,

talking about being highly critical of the mueller probe and questioning its scope and saying in its memo the president should not be questioned about obstruction. so that has a lot of lawmakers here worried about his views on presidential power and among those who are concerned, senator dick durbin. >> i'm worried about it. i mean, clearly he's a good lawyer, no question. but when it comes to this delicate political situation, the power of the presidency, whether this investigation is worded, bill barr had better give us some rock ironclad rock bottom assurances in terms of his independence and his willingness to step back and let mueller finish his job. >> reporter: and barr will also likely face questions about things like immigration, voting rights, and also abortion. frances? >> big day ahead. susan, thank you. >> we are now in day 25 of the longest government shutdown in history and there is still no end in sight. president trump is digging his heel refin demands for border

wall funding. he's dismissed requests from his party to come to the table and compromise. nbc's tom costello has more. >> reporter: mondays often bring long lines at the world's busiest airport. with the t.s.a. checkpoint closed, the lines in atlanta reached all the way to baggage claim. frederick russell waited 80 minutes for precheck. >> this was just overwhelming this morning. this is far and above anything i've seen at the atlanta airport. >> reporter: with getng paid, the number calling outic rising fast. 7.6% more than doubled the sick rate a year ago. some officers taking second jobs that don hping me out dung closed the checkpoint. now the tsa is advising, geto your a without money coming in you are furloughed interior worker mallory rationing her insulin thinks she may have to find

other work. >> i don't want to leave, but if this continues, i've got to leave. >> reporter: and alaska, more than half the federal workers are furloughed. meteorologist rebecca anderson. >> the biggest impact is having -- is on my future planning. so we're not sure when we're going to get paid next. >> reporter: the fda is sending hundreds of food and medical inspectors back to work, but without pay. with more government workers prced to rely on food banks and the pushing back against allegations that he may have worked on behalf of russiander fbi scrutiny for his suspected ties to the country. but that didn't stop the 2016 campaign rivalfrom taking a swi. she tweeted, quote, like i said, a puppet. that a reference to the infamou the 2016 election. >> puppet. >> everything i see has no

respect for this person. >> well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president in the united states -- >> no puppet. you're the puppet. >> it's pretty clear, you won't admit the russian -- >> nbc's kristen welker has more from the white house. >> reporter: president trump gave his most direct denial yet. >> have you ever worked for russia? yes or no? >> i never worked for russia and you know that answer better than anybody. i never worked for russia. not only did i never work for russia, i think it's a disgrace that you even asked thatt's a w hoox news. >> are you now or have you ever worked for russ, mr. president? >> i think it's the most insulting thing i've ever been asked. >> reporter: the president also pushing back against a "washington post" report he went to extraordinary lengths to conceal his conversations with russian president now top democrats discussing whether they need to go so far as subpoenaing his interpreters' notes. >> subpoenas should be a last

resort, not a first resort. but it should be a resort if it's there, and the american people can find out what really happened. >> reporter: the latest flash point in the bitter back and forth. kristen welker, nbc news, the white house. >> now to a report by "the new york times" giving us a closer look at some of the lavish spending for president trump's inauguration. his inaugural fund raised a record $107 million from private donors. the report revealing about 1.5 million was spent on the trump international hotel, $10,000 was spent on for 20 aides and another 30,000 in per diem p members. and just 72 days, about $100 million was spent. more than twice as much raised by a former presidents barack obama or george w. bush. this report comes as feds investigate whether the end is silent sam confederate monument at the university of north carolina. tensions over the monument reached a boiling point last august when protesters knocked

the statue over contributing to a nationwide debate over the display of confederate monuments. the university's chancellor carol fault is stepping down and authorized the removal of silent sam's pedestal and commemorative plaques. she announced her resignation in a tweet monday. >> changes are in the works for drone regulations in the u.s. federal officials plan to make adjustments that are seen as pro business, easing restrictions on flying small dros that would give a boost to commercial use of unmanned aircraft. for example, operators who have been through traing devices would no longer need waivers for nighttime flights. it it is unnope r known how long it will be. >> jayme closs spent 88 days in captivity. the man accused o jfe patterson ed her at the school bus stop and he had no idea who she was. but he knew she was the girl he was going to take. and now we are learning the grim

details from his alleged confession of how he murdered her parents and snatched her from her home. our ron mott takes us through it. >> it was so good to just hug her, you know. felt wonderful that she was back. i could hug her again. >> reporter: back home with her extended family. 13-year-old jayme closs surviving a horrifying ordeal, missing for nearly three months after she was abducted from her family home, her parents found murdered inside. >> class 8 felony -- >> reporter: more is being learned about the suspect 21-year-old jake thomas patterson who made his first court appearance by video. he is charged with two counts of homicide, kidnapping, and burglary. >> the prosecution team that you see assembled here today wants justice for james and denise closs, and for jayme closs. >> reporter: patterson allegedly targeted closs after spotting her getting on a school bus.

according to court documents, jayme closs told authorities patterson broke into her home, shot and killed her parents. he then bound her hands and ankles, dragged her to the trunk of his car, and drove away. according to the criminal complaint, patterson told arresting officers, quote, i did it. >> i've seen criminal complaints that were more damning than that that ended up being dismissed. >> reporter: back home, a community is celebrating jayme's safe return. her family focused on providing the love and support she needs to recover. dan scheneman, nbc news. >> british prime minister theresa may faces a major test today. tensions are high in the u.k. where lawmakers are wrapping up debates and preparing to vote on whether or not to back may's brexit plan for leaving the european union. we go now to nbc's kelly cobiella who is in london for us following it all. kelly, good morning. does the prime minister have any glimmer of hope this morning? >> reporter: it doesn't look good for the prime minister, phillip, to be frank. just 12 hours to go before that

crucial vote she's been trying to win over lawmakers over the past few weeks, and it is coming down to the wire today. she postponed this crucial vote back in december, knowing that her brexit plan would be defeated then, and only a handful of lawmakers have since switched to yes votes. it simply won't be enough. the country is deeply divided over this divorce from the european union. the prime minister's plan would keep britain in a closer relationship that many who voted for brexit would like. so the question is if, in fact, this vote happens as we expect, that the prime minister loses the vote, what happens next? and the short answer is, nobody knows. the prime minister will have three days to come up with a plan b, to get concessions from the european union and put yet another plan in front of lawmakers. phillip? >> big day there. kelly, thank you. >> authors of the new climate

study from the university of california irvine say antarctica's ice -- ice, excuse me, in the arctic, is melting six times faster than it did 40 years ago in 1979. parts of the continent are losing up to 56 billion tons of ice a year and it is because of human caused climate change. faced with this alarming data, scientists aim to promote global warming solution ands stabilize the problem. >> things changing not for the better. send it over to bill karins. good morning, bill. >> good morning. the number of stories you guys are going to read like that over the years will increase, too. sooner or later have to deal with it. let's take a look at this coast to coast storm we're going to be dealing with. this is going to be the biggest issue as we go through thursday in the west coast, friday in the rockies, friday into the central plains. by the time we get to saturday and southern, great lakes, ohio valley, sunday into areas of the northeast. what has changed a little bit is we're talking about a little

warmer solutions so maybe i-95 is looking at more rain than snow. but northern new england and central new england could have a lot of ice and snow to deal with this upcome digits. today in the northeast, not too bad. temperatures in the 30s. yeah, i'll show you some projected snowfall amounts from some of our computers coming up for that big snowstorm. >> want to know. >> we do. >> bill, thank you. do not call it a comeback for serena williams. she made her first appearance at the australian open since winning the title while pregnant. it was a battle of the moms, but williams came out on top as she flew past maria of germany in 49 minutes. in other sports news, syracuse upset number one ranked duke. the orange took full advantage of the blue devils' shorthanded team with a 95-91 overtime

victory. >> up next, why hulu's fire festival documentary is stoking the flames with rival netflix. and a controversial congressman stripped from his committee. the latest for steve king. new nivea... essentially enriched body lotion... with 2 x the almond oil it deeply nourishes skin for 48 hours

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added one handed pumps and beat the top safety standards the new johnson's® choose gentle >> fire festival. >> could be amazing. could be a disaster. >> they made a surprise decision to drop their documentary on the failed fire festival yesterday. you may remember in 2017 when event organize nightly newsers promised a once in a lifetime bahama get away that spectacularly fell through. this release comes from hulu just days before rival project was set to debut on netflix. >> leading the news this morning, republicans in the house are condemning racist remarks from an iowa representative. they voted to remove congressman steve king from all of his committee assignments. following his comments supporting white supremacy and white nationalism. king was ousted from the judiciary, agriculture, and small business committees.

house minority leader kevin mccarthy said the decision was unanimous. nbc's kasie hunt has more. >> reporter: the top senate republican mitch mcconnell saying, if steve king doesn't understand why white supremacy is offensive, he should find another line of work. and senator mitt romney going further. >> i think steve king's comments are his own, and his exclusively. and what he said was reprehensible and put ought to lead to his resignation from congress. >> reporter: king has insisted he rejects white supremacy. >> under any fair -- i am an american nationalist. >> -- >> i haven't been following it. >> reporter: with democrats in control of the house, several filing resolutions against king, including james, the number 3 democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement. >> i think that this body should express its disapproval. >> reporter: planning to vote to

rebuke him on the house floor. kasie hunt, nbc news, the capital. >> just ahead, clemson's unexpected white house reward for trouncing alabama. and a duo of justin trudeaus. some see double of the canadian prime minister. you be the judge, next. but we also know how tough it is to keep up with your medication. that's why we're introducing a new and easy way... ...to refill, prepay and skip the line... ...or have your prescriptions delivered. so you never miss a day. walgreens. trusted since 1901. that's an aggressive yellow. pretty great, huh? if you're a banana. i find it very... appealing. kellogg's raisin bran with bananas. two scoops meet real banana slices. i've done a good job of raisin ya. two scoops meet real banana slices.

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salads. so actually we bought a thousand burger king -- all america companies. we have big maces, quarter pounders, everything i like you like. >> that's president trump welcoming the clemson tigers to the white house in honor of their national championship victory. trump laid out a smorgasbord of fast food he paid for himself because of the government shutdown. the players loaded up their plates with burgers and fries. this is the tigers' second visit to the white house in less than two years. their first visit was back in the summer of 2017. >> we know the president likes rolling back obama ideas, right? now he's going after michelle's ideas. too bad. there goes that healthy lunch program. >> it certainly does, at least for this visit. >> that was kind of cool of them i have to say. the internet has fallen in love with canadian prime minister justin trudeau all over again. this time with his dopple ganger. what do you think? an after began wedding singer is a current contestant on afghanistan's version of "american idol." he's now a viral sensation.

after people noticed his uncanny resemblance to prime minister trudeau. the singer $5 mitsuko that admiw who he was until he saw pictures on social media. he said he hopes it will help him win the competition. what do you think? >> i see it. i see it. this one from the side, the other one a moment ago full on, that's a little better. >> the profile there. >> still to come, the t.s.a. under fire after a scary breach. how did a passenger get a gun on a plane? r but there's one... that blows them all out of the water. hydro boost water gel from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid it goes beneath the surface to plump skin cells from within and lock in hydration leaving skin so supple, it actually bounces back. the results will blow you away! hydro boost and our gentle exfoliating cleanser from neutrogena®

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welcome back. so, we're storm free from the rockies to the atlantic today. already that storm in california, number one, which is 3,000 miles from the east coast, storm number two, the big one that could cause problems in the upcoming weekend is about 4,500 miles away. in all our computer of long range says significant snow, great plains, northern new england in the next couple days. >> thank you, bill. ten years later we look back at the heroic moment that captured the country's imagination. why 1 packs more omega-3 power into just one small softgel. it supports four vital areas of your body. your heart... your brain... your eyes... and your joints. give your body the omega-3s it's missing. megared advanced 4in1.

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are celebrated on mlk day the third monday in january as a day of service. and on this day in 1967, the green bay packers defeated the kansas city chiefs 35-10 in l.a. in what's known as the first superbowl. and believe it or not, it's been ten years since the miracle on the hudson. that's when u.s. airways captain chessly sully sullen burger landed an airbus 320 right on the hudson river after a 155 pe. >> remember that day covering it so vividly. and now we are learning about another airline scare. while we're all forced to throw away our water at security, someone got a gun all the way on a plane. nbc's gadi schwartz has details on the investigation. >> reporter: an alarming security breach at the busiest airport in america. t.s.a. firing two officers in atlanta after a passenger on a delta flight to japan was able to get a hand gun on board. t.s.a. saying the breach on january 2nd wasn't caused by the

partial government shutdown, but happened because standard procedures were not followed. and on the day of the breach, the atlanta international airport checkpoint lane was fully staffed. the passenger later alerting the flight crew about the weapon. the t.s.a. says the number of guns seized at checkpoints is growing. in one week in december, t.s.a. discovering 78 firearms, 63 of them loaded and 28 of them had a round in the chamber.t.s.a. off counter that threat with staffing levels dropping amid the shutdown. >> th all of this plays out. if they detect weaknesses in the system due to distraction, they're going to try to exploit those weaknesses. >> reporter: gadi schwartz, nbc news. >> jersey star of the situation is headed to the slammer today. mike sorentino will be checking himself in at a jersey prison to complete an eight-month sentence. sorentino was sentenced after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges in october. this is after he and his brother had a scheme to dodge taxes on

$9 million of income. his brother received a two-year sentence on a similar charge. >> the tappan zee bridge is about to get blown to bits. the old tappan zee is stet et t take place this morning between. it was postponed because of bad weather. traffic blocks will be in place for everyone's safety. >> out with the old, in with the new. >> in the cool est way possible. we'll have that video for you tomorrow. thank you for watching. i'm fut on instagram. we have news updates all throughout the morning. more news is straight ahead. that was, surprisingly, not terrible. even without scrubbing, lysol power toilet bowl cleaner attacks tough limescale and rust stains to clean 10 times better than clorox liquid bleach. lysol. what it takes to protect.®

and wind. a live look at our doppler radar -- with stormranger tracking the movement of the storm system. . >> we are tracking wind and rain. tracking the movement of that storm system. it is january 15th.

i'm marcus washington. >> let's get to kari with that right now. >> i'm tracking some isolated lightning just off the coast. we'll see if it makes it into parts of northern sonoma in the next several hours. storm ranger showing mostly light rain. slick roads as you get ready to head out. light rain around