. a holiday headache on the roads. a massive 69-car pileup shuts down a major highway in virginia. the trouble for travelers at some of the nation's biggest airports preparing for a christmas crisis the u.s. braces for the worst after annous threat from north korea. impeachment bombshell shedding new light on the president's controversial call with ukraine's leader as the showdown over the senate trial enters the holiday week. the nfl playoff picture snaps into focus and where each team stands heading into the final week of the regular season. "star wars" rockets to the stop spot on opening weekend in the box office but was it enough

to live up to the galactic expectations "early today" starts right now good morning i'm dara brown. >> i'm philip mena winter weather has already snarled traffic for millions of travelers running into ice, freezing fog, and rain across the u.s. nearly 4,000 flights were delayed this weekend and frustrating situations at a couple of major 00.00. nbc morgan chesky joins us with more on the holiday rush. >> reporter: a few days to go unless christmas and weather not making it any easier for the tralv travelers. everybody needs to keep a close eye in the days ahead. the holiday travel rush brought to a scary halt on virginia roads. nearly 70-car chain reaction accident shutting down

interstate 64 in both directions near williamsburg. >> i got out of my car and assisted a woman whose leg was pinned inside her door. >> reporter: he kaurpcaptured t video after his car slid on black ice smashing into the pileup and he walked away and 51 others were taken to the hospital. >> we do not know the cause of the accident at this time but we do have causative factors which is heavy fog and icy road conditions that morning. >> reporter: despite potentially dangerous weather, more than 100 million americans opting to drive to their holiday destinations at least 4 million people are under flash flood watches across the southeast. a storm system is expected to dump heavy rain and bring with it gusty winds major travhubs miami and atlanta expecting delays mother nature is not the only problem. at l.a.x. this snarled and

delays planes. air travel nationwide expected to jump 5% with 7 million people planning to fly between now and new year's day in seattle, the issue was short staffing a lack of baggage handlers led to some missing flights, bags, and waiting hours for answers. and while it is now officially winter, the forecast here in atlanta not looking like a white christmas. that said, for those heading home on the day after christmas, which aaa says that be the busiest day, forecast nationwide calls for a warm-up so the drive home shouldn't be too bad. >> we will take it morgan, thank you. nbc meteorologist is here. >> gulf musk to atlanta, mississippi and alabama as well. the severe weather threat has diminished the last several hours and continue to make its way offshore the bands of moisture still a

problem for a major hub of atlanta. so today we are forecasting possible delays likely for charleston, south carolina, to atl, charlotte as well and could see minor delays for jacksonville, florida. this front will continue to make its way through. the problem is we are dealing with that freeze dog effect. if you're hitting the roadways, the roadways will freeze over overnight as temperatures fall below the freezing mark and then warm up. so don't be fooled by the warmer weather that is headed our way. >> we might have been fooled but now that you mentioned it, we won't. thank you so much. capitol hill is quiet amid the holiday break. the buzz around impeachment is still building there is new information about that infamous day last july when president trump called ukraine's leader asking for a favor. a trove of recently emails the president kept up his attacks on democrats ahead of

the senate impeachment trial in a flurry of tweets claiming their case is dead >> reporter: in a search for impeachment evidence, senate democrats seize upon newly released documents. >> this email is explosive a top administration official, one was requested stop the aid. >> reporter: that email discussed the suspension of military aid to ukraine part of 146 heavily redacted pages obtained by the center for public integrity written on that same july day when president trump raises the issue of a favor to ukraine's president zelensky seeking an investigation of the bidens. just 90 minutes after that call that prompted impeachment. >> it was not just a good call but a perfect call everybody said it was perfect. >> reporter: a white house budget official sent an email urging budget and pentagon aides to please hold off, sending to

ukraine nearly $400 million of u.s. aid by congress and michael duffey adds -- senator amy klobuchar requesting why the secrecy? >> what a great question that's a question i want to have answered. >> reporter: administration officials pushed back. >> there were a lot of emails back and forth about timing of this the aid was released. >> reporter: the white house budget office says the military hold was announced internally a week earlier, july 18th. a spokes western telling nbc news to pull a line out of one email and fail to address the context is misleading and inaccurate democrats argue this new email information should become part of a future senate trial because it shows there are other officials who had knowledge of the when and how behind

withholding ukraine aid who could be called to testify as witnesses. but republicans counter that it is not the senate's job to do more investigating after the house already voted to impeach, so the kind of trial that will happen is still a stalemate. >> no agreement in sight thank you, kelly. overseas to north korea where there is new evidence the country could be getting ready to test more nuclear weapons satellite photos show increased activity at a missile factor there and that has u.s. officials on edge. nbc molly hunter has the latest. >> reporter: the reclusive strong man kim jong-un meeting with his top military officials as the u.s. braces for the christmas gift threat by north korea. u.s. officials tracking north korea's actions hour-by-hour ready for taea test of a long-re missile capable of reaching the u.s. new evidence that test is

eminent. >> commercial satellite photos are showing improvements to a facility associated in the past with ballistic missiles including a temporary structure that could accommodate a launcher arm. >> reporter: reason diplomatic talks have faltered and earlier this month, kim jong-un mounted a white horse climbing the country's tallest mountain signaling he was making an important decision. >> a war with north korea could cause hundred of thousand of casualties and the options of sanctions on the north korean regime has been all but exhausted. >> reporter: president trump has hailed this as his signature foreign policy achest and a test now could cause a breakdown of diplomatic talks. a chicago man arrested in connection with a shooting that left 13 people wounded police say it happened after an argument broke out during a house party. the victims range in age from 16 to 48. authorities say 37-year-old

marciano white has been taken under custody. the party was held as a memorial for a guy killed earlier this year the shooting marks another grim milestone. more people were wounded in this incident than any other single incident in the city since 2013. boeing star line capsule has safely returned to earth after a test mission but flight ended early after an internal clock error which prevented the unmanned capsule from connecting with the international space according to nasa, an official say they are investigating the cause of the failure but, overall, considered the test flight a success boeing and nasa plan to execute a space mission with astronauts sometime in 2020. we are one week left in the regular season, the nfl playoff picture is nearly complete the chiefs are a lock after cruising to an easy win over the bears. reigning mvp patrick mahomes a

fire rushing for that touchdown there and put up two more in the air and kansas city's defense stifled chicago allowing only a single kick through the upright. chiefs win 26-3! cowboys on the ouletside lookin in after a crushing loss to the eagles head coach jason gartrett was i the hot seat and praeblctically this one if carson wentz and company beat the giants next week, they are heading to the playoffs. the ravens are perched atop the afc locking up home field advantage with a win over the browns cleveland got on the board first. but then lamar jackson got to work baltimore's quarterback made yet another case for mvp, throwing three touchdowns and running for over 100 yards ravens win it 31-15. a stunner up in seattle where the cardinals beat the playoff-bound seahawks kenyon drake with a huge 80-yard

touchdown run in the first quarter. cards never let off the gas. they won it by two touchdowns. another record for the saints receiver michael thomas broke the single season record for most receptions with 145 catches this year. he finished against the titans in this one with 136 yards and a touchdown. saints win it 38-28. >> great games there. >> i love to watch it all day long. what is going on with the weather, jan essa? >> i'm not in a good mood because my cowboys lost. focus on the weather tough conditions for the southeast and portions of the mid-atlantic we will see 1 to 2 inches per hour with this storm system. it will pull offshore by tomorrow afternoon if you're traveling today, you will see major delays from new orleans all the way to atlanta now the good news. now we are seeing a warm-up for today. look akansas city. t

i see you san antonio. you're at 69 it's so important we look at that christmas forecast and it's coming up. >> we look forward to that. this canadian couple showcasho showcasing the magic of the holiday season they brought "harry potter" to life here with this christmas display and reportedly took them 500 hours and 11 months to put up these decorations meant to replicate decorations from the beloved series visitors came all the way from london to check it out. ahead the aftermath from the cruise ship collision in mexico. a sad milestone for the christmas season in paris after

that devastating notre dame fire you're watching "early today." what'd we decide on the flyers again? uh, "fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance." i think we're gonna swap over to "over seventy-five years of savings and service." what, we're just gonna swap over? yep. pump the breaks on this, swap it over to that. pump the breaks, and, uh, swap over? that's right. instead of all this that i've already-? yeah. what are we gonna do with these? keep it at your desk, and save it for next time. geico. over 75 years of savings and service. ordinary tissues burn when theo blows. so dad bought puffs plus lotion, and rescued his nose. new puffs have more lotion... and soothing softness to relieve. a nose in need, deserves puffs, indeed. whether you were borne for more dance-offs... more travels... or more touchdowns. get the immune support that gives you more. airborne gummies have 50% more vitamin-c than emergen-c... plus our crafted blend of vitamins, minerals and herbs.

airborne. guess who's early? good thing walgreens is right around the corner with last minute holiday supplies. get in. get out. get jolly. with last mi♪ute holiday supplies. introducing a razor that works differently. the gillette skinguard. designed with a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. it guards against razor burn on the neck and irritation on the face. get the shave you've been waiting for. gillette skinguard.

leading the news two carnival cruise ships are back in port after colliding with each other in mexico. carnival gory was moving to dock when it crashed into carnival legend six people were injured and an investigation is on way into what happened. the cruise line told passengers it may have been caused by wind gusts and strong currents. for the first time in over 200 years, there will be no christmas mass at notre dame cathedral. the landsmark is still undergoing restoration after a fire destroyed hits roof and spire earlier this year. they celebrated midnight mass during would this world wars the mass will instead be held at a nearby church. ahead, where have you been

mr. robinson eddie murphy makes his triumphant return to "snl." "star wars" goes to the top of the box office. that is next on "early today." dead skin cells! gross! so now, i grab my swiffer sweeper and heavy-duty dusters. duster extends to three feet to get all that gross stuff gotcha! and for that nasty dust on my floors, my sweeper's on it. the textured cloths grab and hold dirt and hair no matter where dust bunnies hide. no more heebie jeebies. phew. glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. fthe prilosec otc two-weekymore. challenge is helping people love what they love again. just one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. because life starts when heartburn stops. take the challenge at prilosecotc dot com. does scrubbing grease feel like a workout? scrub less with dawn ultra. it's superior grease-cleaning formula gets to work faster. making easy work of tough messes.

dawn is a go-to grease-cleaner throughout the kitchen, too. keep a bottle in the laundry room to pre-treat greasy stains. and keep dawn in the garage to lift grease off car rims. it's even gentle enough to clean wildlife affected by oil. dawn's grease cleaning power takes care of tough grease wherever it shows up. scrub less and save more... with dawn. ♪ work so hard ♪ give it everything you got ♪ strength of a lioness ♪ tough as a knot ♪ rocking the stage ♪ and we never gonna stop ♪ all strength, no sweat. ♪ just in case you forgot ♪ all strength. ♪ no sweat secret. all strength. no sweat.

we are not alone good people will fight if we lead them. >> "star wars" the rise of skywalker failed to match its recent predecessors but still

topped the box office bringing in $175.5 million in its opening weekend. here is a look at the rest in the weekend box office cats had a disappointing debut opening below its projections with only 6.5 million. it was a big night to close out the year on "saturday night live" with "snl" legend eddie murphy hosting the show his first time in 35 years nbc morgan radford has the highlights from much of eddie's anticipated return to studio ah. >> reporter: eddie murphy back in the studio where he rocketed to stardom the crowd cheering him op. >> this is the last episode of 2019 but if you're black, this is the first episode since i left back in 1984. >> reporter: murphy saying in the decades since then, he has

mellowed out to the surprise of many. >> if you had told me 30 years ago that i would be this boring stay at home house dad and bill cosby would be in jail, even i would have took that bet! >> reporter: just 19 when he joined the cast in 1980, murphy was credited for saving the show. >> beautiful day in the neighborhood >> reporter: he brought back classic sketches like mr. robinson's neighborhood. >> my neighbor has gone through so much. something called gentrifiification. can you say that, boys and girls? it's like a magic trick! white people pay a lot of money and then, poof the black people are gone! ♪ >> reporter: the iconic gumby.

they know who the hell >> howl the hell are people not knowing who i am i am gumby i saved this show from the gutter an thanks to me >> that is a likely room. >> face it, kid the both of you together couldn't velcro my sneakers. >> reporter: murphy celebrating at the end of the show. >> thanks for making this night a great night. memphis! >> our thanks to morgan radford for that report. we were looking forward for it all year long as soon as they announced eddie murphy was coming back. i love mr. robinson but gumby was my favorite skit of it all we are glad he came back. janessa's christmas forecast is just ahead. andbringing christmas chee to our troops far from home.

♪ all my favorite colors we come from every walk of life. we're proud of who we are and what we believe. we are among the 200,000 people who work for bank of america. ♪ a good day to see ♪ my favorite colors, colors what would you like the power to do? ♪ sisters and my brothers what would you like the power to do? a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesn't get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent... that's why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum... ...with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. for sparkling-clean dishes, the first time. cascade platinum. whether you were borne for more dance-offs... more travels... or more touchdowns. get the immune support that gives you more. airborne gummies have 50% more vitamin-c than emergen-c... plus our crafted blend of vitamins, minerals and herbs. airborne. ♪

introducing a razor that works differently. the gillette skinguard. designed with a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. it guards against razor burn on the neck and irritation on the face. get the shave you've been waiting for. gillette skinguard. the first fda-approved medication of its kind, tremfya® can help adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis uncover clearer skin that can last. most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. in another study, the majority of tremfya® patients saw 90% clearer skin at 3 years. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya®. uncover clearer skin that can last.

janssen can help you explore cost support options. ♪upbeat musieverything was so fresh in the beginning. [sniff] ♪ dramatic music♪ but that plug quickly faded. ♪upbeat music luckily there's febreze plug. it cleans away odors and freshens for 1200 hours. [deep inhale] breathe happy with febreze plug. good morning, everyone big holiday week we have this winter warmth that is bubbling up across the plains and making its way to the northeast. unfortunately, blustery winds for your christmas eve across mid-atlantic from south to north carolina as well, but christmas day looking merry and beaming. i spent a lot of time on that. >> merry and beaming >> it looks great. that. coming up, how families are spreading holiday cheer to u.s. service members. anything! at the end of a long day,

it's the last thing i want to do. well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. it's an all-in-one so it's ready to go when i am. the cleaning solution actually breaks down dirt and grime. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. so, it prevents streaks and haze better than my old mop. plus, it's safe to use on all my floors, even wood. glad i got that off my chest and the day off my floor. try wet jet with a moneyback guarantee to take care of yourself. but nature's bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and well-rested. because hey, tomorrow's coming up fast. nature's bounty. because you're better off healthy. nature's bounty. ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion,♪ ♪upset stomach, diarrhea. try pepto liquicaps for fast relief and ultra-coating. ♪nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea.♪ get powerful relief with pepto bismol liquicaps.

we are back with a story about helping our troops around the world feel loved and remember during the holiday season they are getting christmas trees from strangers a small, but important, sivenl of the season bringing a bit of home to those serving far away prosecut prosecut >> reporter: from the mighty and majestic to the humble and hopeful. >> it's not bad at all, really >> reporter: there are holiday traditions. >> timber. >> reporter: a symbol of the season >> is this the one >> yea >> reporter: but some are buying more than just one >> this one. >> you want a tree for the troops >> absolutely. >> reporter: families donating

christmas trees to our troops along with notes of love and support. >> thank you for protecting us we hope you enjoy the tree merry christmas from our family. >> reporter: loaded up and shipped by truck and fedex'd by flights to bases all over the world. since 2005, trees for troops have partnered with tree farms across the country sending nearly 250,000 christmas trees to military families who can't be home for the holidays good tidings coast-to-coast, even as far away as afghanistan. and at anderson air force base in guam, this season, extra special for the crisp family from virginia, spending their first stationed on the island. >> wow >> literally the first thing we got to put in our home is a christmas tree and to have something that is familiar really makes it feel like a home. >> can he get a merry christmas? >> 24er78s.

>> merry christmas krech. >> sergeant lucas has been employed to the living room. sadie and bennett helping dad decorate. >> there you go. good job. >> reporter: for them and our other u.s. armed forces, these trees are much more than just a gift thanks to the kindness of strangers, they are also an inspiration. >> it says thank you for all you do for your country. we love our many heroes such as you. love from memphis, tennessee. >> trees for troops is a massive effort trees were delivered to more than 78 military bases. >> we take for advantage a christmas tree something we go grab and it does make you feel like home and make you feel like it's the holidays and the best part of the season. >> it's wonderful that they can have that. >> yeah. they are able to do it makes us feel a little bit like

home. >> thank you for watching "early today" on this monday. i'm dara brown. >> i'm phillip mena. before go, check out the gold monk

a painful start to the busy christmas travel week. a massive 69 car pileup leaves dozens injured in virginia what to expect if you're hitting the road today. lawmakers are home for the holidays, but the impeachment drama is dominating the hill the newly uncovered evidence raising the stakes even higher ahead of the senate trial. sunday night football, hard to bare for chicago fans, from the chiefs blowout to heartbreak for the cowboys. all the nfl action as the playoff picture comes into focus. plus, the legend is back in studio 8h. >> y'all wondering how