tens of millions as we close out 2019 white-out conditions shut down highways across parts of the midwest. and travel delays expected at airports. >> two vicious attacks first, in texas where a gunman opened fire inside a chuh, killing two, before a churchgoer guns him down. and then the home of a rabbi celebrating hanukkah, where five were stabbed we'll have t we'll latest. >> why prescription drugs that combine two cheap existing medications are suddenly 100 times more expensive. >> to australia where anger is

growing as new year's fireworks are still planned, even as wildfires that have claimed at least nine lives caused tens of thousands to flee and decimated the koala population. >> can new year's resolutions do more harm than good? it's december 30th "early today" starts right now good to be back with you i'm frances rivera. >> i'm corey coffin. we continue to monitor that massive winter storm that continues to churn across the country as another holiday travel week begins, the roads are being blasted by snow, ice, and freezing rain. it has sent hundreds of drivers sliding on these travel nightmares, we are joined by nbc's morgan chesky. morgan, good morning. >> corey, good morning we may be in the final few days of that dreaded holiday travel season but mother nature not making it any easier for millions of people to try and get back home. as new year travel heats up, a winter max keeping thousands stuck in 2019.

parts of the midwest blasted by snow in north dakota, blizzard-like conditions forced officials to shut down parts of i-94. these pictures taken less than ten minutes after plows tried to clear roads. to the south, drivers faced a different dilemma. dangerous winds blowing cars right off the roads in arkansas. all part of a massive winter storm churning across the country since christmas eve. the system starting in california and slowly heading east winter weather alert stretched from the dakotas to maine, impacting more than 24 million people down south, at least 27 million more are bracing for severe weather that can bring damaging wind gusts and even tornados delays are piling up caused by snow and ice at debit nations in colorado and idaho where temperatures didn't drop, some took advantage. the weather in columbus, ohio, so warm and rainy, dedicated kayakers ran indian run falls,

cruising the swollen winter currents despite having the heaviest days of holiday travel behind us, the road to 2020 is looking anything but smooth and here in miami, flights have been on schedule for the most part but airports all across the country are taking extra precautions to keep those runways clear. the problem not that planes can't fly in the snow. but making sure it stays off the ground corey. >> no doubt there, morgan, thank you. >> police in new york are stepping up patrols in orthodox jewish communities after a 37-year-old man was arrested for allegedly stabbing five people the attack happened during a hanukkah celebration at a rabbi's home in new york police say graphton thomas walked into the home and started randomly stabbing people new york's governor calling it an act of domestic terrorism thomas was taked inn into custoy just hours after the attack. he has pleaded not guilty. we've seen a rash of attacks in new york over the past week. >> yeah. at least ten in the last week,

frances, in the new york/new jersey area. officials are looking into the suspect's mental health and online history, as members of the community and politicians call for action. >> this morning, an orthodox jewish community in shock as law enforcement looks for a motive for a horrifying attack saturday the seventh night of hanukkah. >> go ahead and head in. they're reporting serious injuries. >> officials say 37-year-old graphton thomas burst into the home of a rabbi and began attacking people stabbing five before running into the nearby synagogue. >> swinging a sword, knife, i don't know what it was back and forth hitting people. >> this is an act of terrorism. >> it's the latest in a spate of anti-semitic attacks in the new york/new jersey area at least the tenth accident in the past week. earlier this month, three bystanders and a police officer were killed in a gun battle in a kosher grocery store. >> calling upon democrats and

republicans alike to recognize there is an anti-semitism crisis. >> the president tweeting, we must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-semitism house speaker nancy pelosi calling the attack deeply disturbing as officials in at least two major u.s. cities increase patrols and police presence at jewish houses of worship sarah dolloff, nbc news washington. >> breaking news out of texas. that deadly church shooting. two parishioners and a gunman are now dead after a terrifying attack that erupted during sunday's service one of the victims has been identified by his daughter he is a deacon of the church his daughter says she ran to him after he was shot. >> the last thing i remember was like he was asking for oxygen. i was just holding him telling him i love him. >> let's get more details now from reporter jack highburger. and a warning, some of this video is disturbing.

>> it happened in the middle of church service this live stream showing the gunman approach someone standing at the side. he then pulls out what appears to be a long gun and fires shooting two people. another churchgoer pulls out his own gun and fires back taking down the gunman terrified parishioners dive for cover. some fleeing the church. others, moving toward the downed gunman, their own guns drawn the shooting happened at west freeway church of christ in the town in texas just outside of ft. worth. 911 calls about gunshots started to come in just before 10:00 a.m. governor greg abbott issued this statement in response our hearts go out to the victims and families of those killed in the evil act of violence that occurred i am grateful for the church members who acted quickly to take down the shooter. and help prevent further loss of life >> places of worship,

historically, have always been under attack they're easy targets >>multiple law enforcement agencies are now assisting the investigation, as police work to figure out a motive for the deadly attack. >> beginning of the year end of the year. holiday. it's all very tragic anytime that we suffer loss in our community, it's -- it not only affects the people that were here today. but it affects the first responders as well. >> our thanks to jack for that update from ft. worth texas. >> overseas to australia they've been burning for months killing at least nine people and officials now fear thousands of koalas, as well. there is new outrage that the fireworks show will go on. nbc's matt bradley joins us with the latest from london matt, good morning. >> yeah. corey, frances, good morning those bush fires in australia are hot and getting hotter

they have ignited a political controversy just in time for new year's eve desperation down under as thousands of australians, human and animals being seek relief from fast-moving forest fires. australian authorities have told tens of thousands to leave their homes. >> because it's been so dry, it's just gone out of control. so i'm going. >> evacuating the entire region and engulfing the country's heavily-populated southeast. fanned by drought, high winds, soaring temperatures, and thunderstorms. as over 100 fires burn, scorching nearly 20,000 square miles and killing nine people. animals taking the brunt of the blaze. this koala seeking out water from a cyclist thousands of koalas feared dead. authorities worry 30% of their population killed in new south wales alone. the latest flashpoint? sydney's famous fireworks. more than a quarter million people want them cancelled the money spent given instead to

firefighters and farmers australia's prime minister says the show must go on. >> i can think of no better time to express to the world just how optimistic and positive we are. >> come new year's eve, experts expecting already-scorching temperatures to hit a new peak fireworks are not. and this whole crisis is having australians rethink how they fight these bush fires many australian forest firefighters are volunteers. and now, we're hearing this week that under pressure, the government will be paying them corey. frances. >> matt bradley for us matt, thank you. >> all right let's check with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> we've had some wild weather ourselves here blizzard conditions in the plains yesterday continuing early this morning. all the travel issues with the northern great lakes and in areas of northern new england. we also have a little tiny storm system that's been just off shore of southern california there has been a little bit of snow reported in some of the

peaks outside los angeles. it's not too bad out there not going to see too much in the way of accumulation. but you can see the rainfall is pretty limited right along the coastal areas there just to the north and northwest of downtown l.a. for today's forecast, travel delays in the northeast. 64 in l.a. we will see some rain moving into the pacific northwest actually, going to get pretty stormy with rainfall totals especially alt higher elevations getting maybe 1 or 2 inches. that will be the next stortunat of the heavier precipitation is off the coast. there's our cloudy conditions and our wet weather moving in later today in the northwest new year's eve forecast and new year's day forecast coming up. even the mid night forecast too. that's the important one, right? >> thank you, bill

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all-time list. pats dropped to the third seat and will not get a first round for the first time since 2009. >> means the cowboys are out of the playoffs it could cost head coach jason garrett his job as well. the team is widely expected to let his contract expire at the end. dallas ends the season with a blowout against redskins playoffs kick off saturday afternoon with bills and texans. then it's titans and patriots. and the seahawks and eagles. >> still ahead, nasa astronaut blasts into the history books. nbc news investigates. simply adding prescription drugs together can multiply the cost by hundreds wrinkles just won't. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair's derm-proven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin.

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as the decade comes to a close, we want to know what you think was the biggest story in the 2010s. go to nbc news.com/decade stories and share. >> for millions of americans, the high cost of prescription drugs is a major concern in particular, so-called combination drugs. some relying on ingredients that, individually, cost just cents. but when combined, are sold at shockingly high prices here's anne thompson with our nbc news investigation >> perfect love it. love the art so let's focus on the art. >> suzanne ludig is a free-lance

photographer in omaha. >> nicely done love it. woo-hoo! >> but she works a second job as a teller because it comes with insurance to avoid her acid reflux medicine, a generic version. that insurance has saved her a whopping $14,000 for a 90-day supply, according to her farm pharmacy receipt she is taking what's called a combination drug it is one pill that combines two over the counter medications generic prilosec and sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda. >> i don't understand why when you have prilosec and baking soda and you put those two together, why does it all of a sudden become $14,000? i don't get it >> they get away with it because they can they can set drug prices based on what the market will bear. >> dr. hanna sacks, an internist and medical researcher at mass general hospital says combining two medications into one should

not be so expensive. she studied the price difference between brand name combination drugs and their generic components take zegerid $86 per pill versus 47 cents for the two generic ingredients. vimovo, arthritis pain reliever, $30 per pill versus 35 cents for the generics duexis, another pain reliever, $20 per pill versus 28 cents. >> these are small tweaks on existing medications that have been around for decades, in some cases. and that doctors have known and been using for these purposes for years. >> her study found that brand name combination drugs cost medicare close to $1 billion. >> is there any kind of magic to these new combination drugs? >> magic no no, there's no magic way i think about is it in a lot of ways, we are paying for the repackaging here. >> what's more, list prices for some of these combination drugs have skyrocketed

duexis, $139 for a month supply eight years ago. topping $2,400 today most patients, and even doctors, have no idea. >> how do these costs remain hidden >> the costs remain hidden because a physician, when they're prescribing, may not know how much a drug ost when the patient goes and picks it up at the pharmacy, they only know what the co-pay is. >> suzanne's co-pay, for example, is just $24. >> so if the patient doesn't realize it and the doctor doesn't realize it and yet, behind the scenes all these price hikes are unfolding. >> another example, vimovo's price has gone up ten times over the years. a jump of 2,000%. >> in the first three months, we also had about 34 million in revenues. >> ceo of horizon therapeutics declined our request for an interview. the company told us patients don't pay the full list price. out of pocket cost for 98% of insured patients is $10 or less.

and that the company nets less than $300 for each prescription. but it adds up the two drugs have brought in more than $1.3 billion in eight years. over that time, wallburt's total compensation by the company which makes several drugs, more than $50 million horizon also says providing pain relief and stomach protectant in a single pill is better for patients. >> i could see the convenience in taking one pill instead of two, for some people the question here is at what cost >> if patients are paying so little out of pocket, why should they care? >> because this is a cost that we all have to pay this is part of the reason for the rising cost of prescription drugs and the rising cost of healthcare in this country that we all have to care about. >> the maker of brand name zegerid declined to comment. and if you're wondering whether you should take two cheaper

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in today's top stories, the u.s. unleashes a major show of force against an iranian-backed militia in iraq and syria. the pentagon says f-15 es hit five locations sunday, targeting weapons and ammunitions depots linked to iran the strikes coming in retaliation to a deadly rocket barrage that killed an american last week. >> civil rights leader and long-time democratic congressman john lewis has announced he has stage four pancreatic cancer the 79-year-old from georgia says he will fight the disease and while he may miss a few votes while undergoing treatment, he hopes to be back on the frontlines soon.

>> u.s. astronaut christina koch has made space history again now holds the record for the longest space flight by a woman. koch broke the old mark of 288 days over the weekend. according to nasa, she will remain at the international space station until february for a total of 328 days, before returning to earth koch recently set another milestone as part of the first all-female space walking team. >> have you ever made your new year's resolution and kept it? if you haven't made it this year, there is still time. some experts are warning people need to set realistic goals this year if you don't want to give 'em up too soon. >> even before the confetti falls, some new year's resolutions will, likewise, have fallen unless they're easy. >> to be kinder. listen more. and be a little bit more tolerant. >> most resolutions, though, are meant to be tough and a

challenge to keep. >> i make 'em and break them in a very short amount of time. >> and usually, those are the most common resolutions. >> losing weight exercise more. travel more. >> however, some experts now wonder if some resolutions do more harm than good. especially, if they're not reasonable and especially if they're not given enough time to succeed. >> when people can't stick to resolutions, they may be dispirited a little bit. >> or maybe more than a little bit. enough to make people give up too quickly, which is why psychologists like the cleveland clinic's scott b. suggests realistic resolutions. that might stand a better chance if started long after the holidays >> around the new year, around the holidays, maybe it's not the ideal time for change. we don't quit smoking the day the dog dies. >> and he says the first resolution should be sticking to it for at least 63 to 66 days

because that's about how long it takes for a resolution to become a habit. chris, nbc news. >> lower the bar guess. >> i i

murder in a texas church the gunman opened fires in the middle of sunday services. two innocent people are dead and armed church goer fires back killing the assailant. this morning police are providing details. terror in the midst of a hanukkah celebration as five people are stabbed inside the home of a rabbi. the suspect arrested now the jewish community grapples with how to deal with the growth of anti-semitic violence. a blockbuster and shocking announcement from congressman and civil rights icon john lewis now facing the toughest battle of his life. striking back. the u.s. launches drone strikes agains