breaking news. u.s. military air strikes in iraq target and kill iran's top general in a military operation ordered by president trump iran's supreme leader vows, quote, harsh retaliation a live report is straight ahead. mass evacuation. entire towns forced to flee from approaching wildfires as a state of emergency has been declared across australia a break in the case. a woman running up to a home crying for help. the man coming up from behind brutally attacking her and dragging her to a car. then as we all promise to eat healthier in the new year, we've got the lowe down on the most effective diets and one that might make you less

healthy. plus, a major recall to tell you about as we kick off a busy friday "early today" starts right now good morning i'm cori coffin. >> and i'm frances rivera. we begin with breaking news. the tensions between the united states and iran escalating dangerously overnight. the defense department confirming that a u.s. air strike in baghdad killed a top iranian general. growing fears this morning about how iran might retaliate to do things that they see as tit for tat. if you hit us in a certain way, we are going to ratchet up and hit you back in a harder way and we just killed the -- probably the second most important person in their government >> nbc's cal perry joins us now from london. so, cal, iran vowing harsh response here. the big question is what that response is going to be. >> yeah. and in what form will it come? we should mention, of course, the iranians have these proxies all across the region. it's likely to come in the form

of one of those proxies. the most powerful has to be hezbollan banon. we are keeping our on israel israel has gone to a heightened state of alert, as has the u.s the u.s. embassy in baghdad urging americans to leave as quickly as they can. we should talk about qassim soleimani. it's hard to overstate the state his fingerprints on the middle east for the u.s. he was a murderer, a man who killed hundreds of u.s. soldiers during the war in iraq through the use of these improvised explosive devices, specifically these shape charges that the u.s. military intelligence officers say came from iran. that is why the u.s. government is saying he was targeted, as well as a defensive action the pentagon saying they had word that he was organizing further attacks on u.s. personnel in iraq. the number two leader for hezbollah was also killed in this strike by u.s. forces

he was the deputy secretary-general of hezbollah which, of course, lends itself to wondering about these proxies and how they will respond. right now the priority it seems for tehran is a security meeting. that is being held in tehran right now. three days of mourning have been declared it is quite likely the priority will be, at least in the short tourism, to honor the life of soleimani and the work that he did across the region. as we sort of talked about and discussed, it is these proxies that are perhaps most important. it is that that the u.s. will keep an eye on as well as securing things like embassies around the world and taking the u.s. military to a heightened state of alert frances? >> on the side questions about what congress new and also the information leading up to it as well the classified information cal perry for us, thank you. meanwhile, wall street is bracing for the worst here dow futures pointing toward a triple digit loss at the open in the wake of soleimani's death. asian markets tumbled overnight

as the middle east tensions ramped up and oil prices are already surging. at least check the cost for a barrel of crude was up nearly 3%. the senate returns to session today, potentially lighting the fuse for more impeachment fireworks. all eyes are o lear mitch mcconnell to see if he'll end the stalemate. house speaker nancy pelosi has yet impeachment. nbc's tracie potts joins us with the latest from d.c. tracie, without these articles, the senate is stuck. >> reporter: exactly, frances. they can't get started they can't determine a date to begin this trial the question is will they or will they not host witnesses all eyes on mitch mcconnell as the senate returns to session today. he will be directing what this trial looks like and when it gets started and he says the house and house speaker nancy pelosi should be hands off >> we remain at an impasse because my friend, the democratic leader, continues to demand a new and different set

of rules for president trump a morning, there are emails that have been uncoveret they e between the pentagon and the white house budget office showing that there were tensions about the central issue here, pointing ate freeze on aid to president trump as directing the freeze on that aid frances? >>e material tracie potts for us. thank you,a man hurt in that horrifying stabbing attack during hanukkah is now speaking out. they have a plea for the public as anti-semitic attacks around new york have spiked gonza gabe gutierrez has this report and we want to warn you one of the images we're about to show you is disturbing. >> reporter: he turned 72 on monday but spent his birthday in the hospital, one of five jewish man badly wounded in the monsy

stabbing in new york his daughter says he may not wake up from his coma. >> i'm begging you, if you are watching this, please stand up and stop this hatred it cannot keep going on. >> do you feel any remorse. >> reporter: the accused attacker, 37-year-old grafton thomas, has pleaded not guilty to state charges of attempted murder and burglary. his attorney says thomas has a history of mental illness and found these medications in his apartment. >> there's been no history of anti-semitism with this man that anyone knows of. there's been no history of violence with this man. >> reporter: investigators are also looking into whether thomas may be involved in the unsolved stabbing of a jewish man walking >> i have no evidence at all at this time to indicate that none still a very active investigation. with a number of leads being pursued. >> reporter: the jewish community here is shaken >> it's possible that the person

has mental and medical conditions, but he is certainly normal enough to be obsessed with jews and then execute a planned attack. >> reporter: the stabbing is just one of about a dozen recent hate-fueled incidents authorities are investigating in and around new york. in jewish neighborhoods there's now stepped up security. >> wherever i walk, i walk with the pepper spray i'm afraid. >> our thanks to gabe gutierrez for that report. this morning, a weeks-long state of emergency has been declared in parts of australia as deadly wildfires continue to ravage the country thousands of residents have evacuated from their homes there are thousands of firefighters continuing to battle over 100 fires that have killed at least 17 people. here's nbc's janis mackey frayer >> reporter: authorities in australia declaring a state of emergency with wildfires ravaging the southeastern coast. forcing a mass evacuation. entire towns and tourists with only hours to get out. firefighters, many of them volunteers, trying to fight back the flames

we made it to this town where firefighters are overwhelmed. >> we're not looking forward to tomorrow that's all i can say >> why is that >> it gets scary ometimes. >> reporter: thousands can't leave, trapped on beaches waiting to escape. the military deployed to help communities that are utterly destroyed. >> the block that we're on has been burned from one side to the other. there's not a blade of grass on it. >> reporter: at least 17 people have killed. at a firefighter's funeral, a young boy accepting a medal for his father's bravery millions of acres have burned here, countless animals affected, too. koalas desperate for water, kangaroos on the run, while from the air and on the ground it's a race to contain the flames >> the threat level is high because conditions are just so dry here authorities say if they need to they will force people to get out. >> our thanks to janis for that report. the fda is pulling certain

flavored vaping products off the market the move comes after the trump administration announced a partial ban on fruit and mint e-cigarette cartridges it's an effort to combat teen use while some health earthquxps are praising the move, others say the targeted flavor ban doesn't go far enough. here is nbc's tom costello >> reporter: trying to stem the national epidemic of teenage vaping a targeted ban on the fruit flavored e-cigarette cartridges, including mint, most popular with teens the only exceptions tobacco and men thol flavors and sold in shops for adults to mix their own flavors. >> the data makes clear that kids use tobacco flavored and menthol cartridges much less than the other products. >> reporter: nationwide, 5 million middle and high schoolers admit to vaping. 1 million say they vape every day. that ban falls short of the near

total ban the president promised in september. >> we can't allow people to get sick and we can't have our youth be so affected >> reporter: that pledge angered the vaping industry and led adult vapors to warn the president could lose votes this week mr. trump backed off. >> we're going to protect our children and we're going to protect the industry. >> reporter:ics warned teenagers will simply switch to the flavored e-giss still allowed. >> i would have preferred to see all flavors banned i don't like to see any gateways open for kids to become addicted to nicotine. >> reporter: the active ingredient in marijuana -- the researchers believe may be connected to the exploding number of illnesses and deaths our thanks to tom costello for that report. all right. heavy rain in the northeast today. let's get to nbc meteorologist bill karins. going to affect a lot of people coming home. >> travel at the airports. people driving, too. at least it's not an ice and

snowstorm. good morning, everyone a lot of heavy rain in louisiana with thunderstorms and continues to pour into areas of mississippi and tennessee, too 9 million people that are under flash flood watches. we only have one flash flood warning there -- today's forecast, watching rain pushing through the southeast into the mid-atlantic just a little biof light rain around areas of new york city. not going to pour all day. a damp day actually pretty mild cold air moving on the back side of this. northern new england is going to get some precip. by the time we get to sunday we clear that storm out just a little bit of light snow in the areas of the eat lakes.gr in richmond. not a lot of rain in new england, just kind of cloudy with light rain, especially this morning.

we'll talk about the travel implications of this storm and the airport implications coming up. >> can't wait to hear. all right. bill, thank you. in today's news by the numbers, female movie makers gained major ground in 2019. that's according to a ne 12% of grossing films including "little women" and "hustlers." that's up 8% from last year. disney had a record year "house of the mouse" took home 1/3 of all top grossing movies in 2019. high times in illinois the state's marijuana dispensaries raked in over $3 million on the first day of legal pot sales. "early today" we'll be right back stuffy? that's because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. so try febreze fabric refresher. febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. use febreze every time you tidy up, to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day.

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right now on display at the pennsylvania farm show in harrisburg bring your own bread. >> or popcorn, too >> or popcorn. if your new year's resolution is to lose weight in 2020 and staying away from the bread and the popcorn, we got you covered. nbc's stephanie gosk has some of the top ranked diets that could help out >> reporter: the season of joy and excess is over time now for that other beloved annual tradition, shopping for the right diet the guy next door lost 20 on keto the work colleague swears by south beach, but which one is actually good for you? "u.s. news & world report" ranked 35 of the most popular diets looking at weight loss and health, consulting experts and medical journals topping the list of the best overall was the mediterranean diet, fruits, vegetables, olive oil, no gimmicks and even the occasional bowl of spaghetti tying at number two with the

flexeterian diet, the dash developed to fight high blood pressure praised for its nutritional completeness according to the article. way down the list, keto, high fat, no carbs, low sugar think bacon, eggs and steaks weight comes off but it's not great for the heart. >> it is possible to go on diets that make you less healthy, so you have to be careful, number one if you have diabetes or any other health conditions talk to >> is there one key thing to help make a diet stick >> the main thing to help make a diet stick is something you can do day after day, week after week and month after month. >> reporter: in other words, that occasional bowl of spaghetti may just be the key to success. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. just ahead, a new reason to believe in 2020. justin bieber's first single since 2020. a doorll cerbeama helps nab a kidnapping suspect that shocking video that led to his arrest next. tee-time savers.

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now to our top stories reaction continues to pour in this morning to the pentagon confirming that a u.s. air strike ordered by president trump has killed top iranian general qassim soleimani house speaker nancy pelosi warning of the dangerous escalation in violence and saying the full congress must immediately be briefed house republican leader kevin mccarthy says soleimani was a terrorist and that the u.s. will not let attacks on americans go unpunished and iran's foreign minister warns that the u.s. bears all responsibility for what he calls, quote, rogue adventurism. all right. subaru owners listen up, the company has issued a recall on newer models cross treks, foresters and accents. over 250,000 subarus reportedly have a faulty involve which could cause the vehicles to lose power and stall while driving. subaru says it will notify owned of affects cars and dealers will

replace those valvesn couch who was booked in fort worth after testing positive for thc, the active ingredient in marijuana he used affluenza, the term referred to being too affluent after killing two people while driving drunk. it is the end of an era for the dallas cowboys accordi according to espn, the team is moving on without head coach jason garrett after nine seasons. his contract is set to expire next week. the shake-upup com comes in thee of a disappointing 8-8 season. he's second in behind tom landry no word yet on who will replace

him. >> you definitely don't want this big blocking your drain we're talking about a 96-pound great pryenees who wandered into an open storm drain and got stuck. this is how it ended dug underground, cut a hole in the drain pipe and removed the material trapping big ruby so after 18 hours she was free and reunited with her owner. look at all the work involved. ruby took a quick trip to the vet. they had cuts and bruises they had to check out, but hopefully she will be resting at home soon got to be so scared after that ordeal. all right. forget teen spirit, we spill nirvana reunion -- you get what a mean the legendary group's surviving members will play together this saturday at a charity dinner called heaven 2020 it will raise money for los angelinos in need and get the group ckba trump: obamacare is a complete and total disaster.

let obamacare implode. nurse: these wild attacks on healthcare hurt the patients i care for. i've been a nurse in new york for thirty years. i know the difference leadership can make because i saw what mike bloomberg did as mayor. uninsured by 40%, covering 700,000 more new yorkers, life expectancy increased. he helped expand health coverage to 200,000 more kids and upgraded pediatric care--- infant mortality rates dropped to record lows. and as mayor, mike bloomberg always championed reproductive health for women. so when you hear mike bloomberg on health care... mrb: this is america. we can certainly afford to make sure that everybody that needs to see a doctor can see a doctor, everybody that needs medicines to stay healthy can get those medicines. nurse: you should know, he did it as mayor, he'll get it done as president. mrb: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

and it is friday, the 3rd of january, and there is san francisco. >> wow. >> in all of its glory, look at that. good cameras, good weather, beautiful light. going in to the first weekend of the new year. >> all right, we could use the break. >> we this week. good morning, everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm scott mcgrew. >> and i'm kris sanchez in for laura. scott is in for kari hall and not a bad week to be in. >> not a bad week. we are tracking the chance of seeing some showers. here is a look at what you can expect as you head out the door. 43 degrees in san jose. 36 degrees in napa. santa rosa 39. it is a little bit colder this morning to start. a live look over downtown san