breaking overnight russian spies hacked the ukrainian energy company at the center of president trump's impeachment. >> that plus we may be hours from the speaker of the house handing over impeachment articles to the senate for trial. >> with a major debate tonight in iowa, new uproar over a comment bernie sanders made to elizabeth warren he didn't think a woman could win the 2020 race for president. >> lsu smothers clemson in college football's national championship in record fashion >> independence day for prince harry and meghan markle. plus, the rare personal message from the queen "early today" starts right now

>> good morning. i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. on a pivotal day for the impeachment trial against president trump, a new report suggests that russian hackers are striking at the heart of the case according to cyber security experts, russian spies began targeting the ukrainian gas company burisma as early as november that's the firm where former vice-president joe biden's son hunter served as a board member. the president was impeached in part because he urged ukraine's president to investigate his political rival and his son. claims of any wrongdoing by the former vice-president have been debunked according to this new report, the same russian military intelligence agency connected to hacking hillary clinton's campaign in 2016 are behind this latest effort. >> this is indeed exactly what bob mueller warned about in his testimony that the russians would be at this again director wray has said the same thing and they appear this reporting is correct to be in

the midst of another hacking and potentially another dumping operation to influence another election in donald trump's favor. >> meanwhile, speaker nancy pelosi will meet with house democrats this morning to decide how to proceed on sending the articles of impeachment to the senate nbc's alice barr has the details. >> reporter: after a three-week impasse, the impeachment of president trump is moving forward this week with house speaker nancy pelosi expected to release the articles of impeachment to the senate, triggering the start of a trial. that's even as president trump is pushing to dismiss the articles outright, tweeting, a trial gives the partisan democrat witch-hunt credibility that it otherwise does not have. >> dismissing is a cover up. dismissing is a cover up >> reporter: republicans slamming speaker pelosi for delaying the process after moving quickly to impeach. >> what pelosi has done is a circus, it's a sham. >> reporter: the speaker had hoped to pressure republicans into allowing new evidence and witnesses. and while there is still no

agreement? >> we should be completely open to calling witnesses >> the senate should end this trial as quickly as possible >> reporter: former national security advisor john bolton has since come forward to say he would testify. >> they will have to be accountable for not having a fair trial >> reporter: pelosi meets with fellow democrats to talk strategy they are expected to vote this week on who to name as managers. effectively, the prosecutors pelosi will then send the articles to the senate, and chief justice john roberts will preside over the trial, though with limited power >> the chief justice does not have the last word the senators will act adds both conventional trial jurors and judges they decide what the evidence will be. >> reporter: and who the american public will hear from as senators decide whether president trump abused his power and obstructed congress in his dealings with ukraine. alice barr, nbc news, washington >> meanwhile, the democrats are preparing to take the stage in

des moines just 20 days away from the iowa caucuses six candidates are preparing to debate and now a rift is widening among the two more progressive front runners. senator elizabeth warren said she met with senator bernie sanders in december of 2018 to discuss the election and in a statement she says, quote, i thought a woman could win. he disagreed nbc's shaquille brucer joins us from iowa. shaq, they were talking about the agreement in the past to play nice. this may be the most heated debate yet >> reporter: that's right, the most heated debate, but the lowest temperatures of any debate as the debate is here in iowa it really starts with a surprise back and forth between elizabeth warren and senator bernie sanders. senator sanders saying it was ludicrous to think that he believes a woman could not win in this election his campaign manager going as far as to say it's a lie, a smear, total fabrication then we saw the statement from

senator elizabeth warren she said in the private 2018 meeting, she said she believed a woman could win and he disagreed. it's really the latest escalation between these two candidates who have been friends on the campaign trail. policy allies on the debate stage. i'll tell you, that's one thing we could expect to see on the debate stage, the other is this is the first debate since the attacks with iran. that back and forth, the military escalation with iran. both senator sanders and mayor pete buttigieg are signalling they are planning to take on vice-president biden listen to what senator sanders told my colleague vaughn hillyard just this weekend >> we are going to be talking about the record people are talking about my record i was asked a question about my record that's kind of what a campaign is about we will contrast records, nothing wrong with that. that is what the campaign is about, that's it >> reporter: there will be six candidates on tonight's debate stage. it will be the smallest debate

stage, but also the least diverse stage that we've seen. one thing to note, this is for three of the candidates on this stage, they may be having to go back to -- and leave the trail, going to d.c. with this impeachment battle that we have coming up and the impeachment trial we're going to see in the senate the stakes are high as the caucus is just next month. >> a lot of issues to tackle and a lot of targets as well for each of those candidates thank you, shaq. >> right let's turn now to iran where outrage is growing over the accidental downing of a passenger jet. it came just hours after iran's missile strike against american targets in iraq. nbc's richard engel has this report >> reporter: new demonstrations in iran, outrage over the government's admission that it accidentally shot down a ukrainian plane after days of denials. some protesters saying they were fired upon by security forces,

which teheran's police chief denies this as we were granted access to the western base in iraq struck by more than a dozen iranian ballistic missiles some with direct hits where u.s. troops were living and working officials say this shows how close the u.s. came to war with iran this was one of the main housing units for this part of the base, but it's so badly burned and damaged, it 's hard to tell what it was there is a burned out bed, somebody's bicycle had soldiers still been inside when the missile impacted, there would have been many casualties. the soldiers did have about two hours of advance warning from u.s. intelligence that some kind of attack was coming but fearing the base might be overrun, many stayed out of bunkers to guard the base. captain jeffrey hanson had the wind knocked out of him by one of the first missiles, then rallied.

so you were knocked on the ground >> i was >> reporter: then slid under a truck. >> i went back to the shelter, whatever was coming was much worse than we thought. >> reporter: iran said it did not want to kill u.s. troops do you think this was lethal >> yes i mean, a lot of people were to die if we hadn't moved >> reporter: 39 soldiers were living this these quarters dozens more were posted nearby >> i think we were darn lucky. >> reporter: the u.s. took extraordinary precautions, but there was also a degree of luck. those soldiers who were out of bunkers guarding this base's perimeter faced an enormous amount of risk in fact, american commanders told us after the attack they fully expected there would be american fatalities. richard engel, nbc news, the al-assad air base, iraq. >> now to disturbing new details about a terror attack in new jersey last month. authorities say two shooters in jersey city had a bomb in their van powerful enough to kill or injure people up to five

football fields away and enough material to build a second bomb. the two were found dead at a kosher market after killing three people inside and a police detective. >> the justice department is releasing new information in their investigation into last december's deadly shooting at the pensacola naval air station. attorney general william barr called the shooting an act of terrorism. barr also revealed that the shooter who was a saudi national acted alone. here's nbc's pete williams >> reporter: the justice department says it was an act of terrorism when muhammad al shamrani, a saudi officer here in the u.s. for military training opened fire in a classroom at pensacola naval air station december 6, killing three u.s. servicemen. on september 11th, the fbi says, he posted this message on social media. the count down has started investigators say he also posted a string of anti-american, anti-israeli and jihadist messages the last one just two hours before the attack.

but the fbi says he apparently acted alone. >> we have not identified any coconspirators, any evidence that the shooter acted with anyone else, or that he was inspired by any one specific group. >> reporter: out of 852 saudis in the u.s. for military training, 21 have now been sent home after it was found they had either child pornography or jihadist material. fbi agents also found two phones belonging to alshamrani one that he put on the floor and shot during the attack that the government wants to unlock and search >> it is very important for us to know whom and about what the shooter was communicating before he died. >> reporter: apple says it has turned over all the data it has. barr says it hasn't provided any substantive help this may be headed to court. >> our thanks to pete williams for that report. >> evacuation orders are still in effect for parts of the philippines as the taal volcano continues to erupt this morning. officials say the volcano is

still producing weak and sporadic lava and steam into the air. the government volcano monitoring agency has raised the danger level around taal to level 4, indicating an imminent hazardous eruption flight operations have partially resumed. officials say there have been no reports of casualties or major damage >> all right let's check the weather here at home with janessa webb good morning >> hey, good morning good morning, everyone pretty quiet weather conditions, though we do still have this stalled out front to the south and southeast. and we're seeing a few bands of moisture make their way from shreveport to nashville, some isolated storms throughout your morning. this does creep up to the mid-atlantic to the northeast. as you are leaving home this morning for new york city, boston as well, do want you to have that umbrella handy could see about half an inch to an inch of rain acss theroh tod.

daytime highs, they're hovering in the mid 70s man, i feel like i need to get to florida did you see that 84 degrees across tampa today. >> we could use a little bit of that or a lot of it. janessa, thank you in today's quick hits, dunkin' is teaming up with the rap legend snoop dogg to roll out the double g sandwich. it is a twist on the beyond sandwich sausage sandwich served on a glazed donut available now through january 19 >> the chevy corvette added another trophy to its collect prestigious award for american car of the year. it beat out the toyota supra and hyundai sonata >> a 250 pound fish in southwest orida. they identified it as a grouper. estimated to be 50 years old joint pain, swelling, tenderness... ...much better. my psoriasis, clearer...

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they kicked off an historic season in style winning clemson in the national championship game at the super dome the name of the night, joe burrow, the lsu quarterback took home offensive mvp honors. he threw for 463 yards and five touchdowns he also ran one in, too. president trump and the first lady had a front row seat to all the action early on, clemson took a ten-point lead in the second on this big run by t. higgins but lsu would come roaring back. the bayou bengals were up 28-17 by half and they never let off the gas. burrow broke the record for most touchdown passes in a single season with number 59 to thaddeus mark. and before the night ended he made it an even 60 lsu wins it 42-25. >> now to the major league bombshell in a scathing new report a report says the houston astros illegally stole signs from their opponent mlb announced it was suspending

managers a.j. hinch and jeff luhnow for a year over the scandal. just an hour later the team's owner went a step farther firing them both. nbc's miguel almaguer has the story. >> the houston astros are world champions! >> reporter: after winning the world series in 2017, major league baseball said the champs are cheats, suspending houston astros manager a.j. hinch and general manager jack luhnow after the league says their team stole pitching signs during the historic season. the astros taking it a step further, firing both >> neither one of them started this, but neither one of them did anything about it, and that's how we came to the conclusion >> reporter: the former manager apologized saying while he didn't participate in the sign stealing, he failed to stop it the former gm says he didn't know the rules were being broken but the league's investigation reveals virtually all of the astros players had some involvement or knowledge of the scheme, using a camera in center

field, the team decoded pitching signs. the information relayed to the dugout, sometimes via text message on a smartphone which was passed along to the hitter by banging on a trash can as noticed by one sports writer here with houston also fined a league maximum $5 million and loss of top draft picks, the investigation specifically notes then astros bench coach alex cora as a middleman. cora went on to coach the boston red sox, who won the world series the very next year. and who are now also under investigation for stealing pitching signs during the regular season the los angeles dodgers lost both world series to champions now accused of cheating. miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> just ahead, can the queen heal the royal rift between them and prince harry and meghan markle >> and the oscar upsets have y e ady begun. whthnominations are sparking controversy next cheaper aerosols can cover up odors in a flowery fog.

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re-ignited questions about the award. gender inclusivity, j-lo and aq aqua fina were ignored, sparking criticisms of racial diversity the block buster that nabbed 11 nominations, that's more than any other film, once upon a time in hollywood, the irishman and "1917" weren't far behind. they got nine nominations each they scored more nods than any other studio >> up next, janessa with new details on coast to coast storms >> plus we will go to london for yaonhetest developments t rol family drama you're watching "early today" on a tuesday.

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vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops and try new vapocool spray. hi, everyone it's time we start talking about our next coast to coast storm system that's going to enter the pacific northwest late thursday. it will continue to travel coast to coast into the midwest, all the way into the northeast by saturday afternoon this will be a double-sided system it is too early to talk about snow accumulation, but look, it could be heavy at times for the upper midwest into interior new york also still watching i-95 corridor from new york to the boston area. so watching this closely for the weekend. >> like a quarter of the country there basically. >> big chunks. >> janessa, thank you. up next, a giant panda learns a very hard lesson about the law of gravity stay with us [coughs] kim is now demonstrating her congestion.

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next month the grammys will have a tribute special for prince that marks the first -- [ cheers and applause that marks the first time in a few days that a prince has gotten any love from grammy. >> that sets up quite nicely >> it is very real with the struggle in the royal family and the historic move to let prince harry and meghan markle create a new life as the queen herself put it, after an unprecedented family meeting nbc's kelly cobiella has the details. >> reporter: prince harry and meghan markle had the queen's blessing to strike out on their own. the agreement announced after an unprecedented royal meeting.

prince's charles, william and harry, gathering at the queen's secluded country home with the media camped outside reports meghan may have dialed in from canada, too. the queen releasing a rare personal statement, calling the talks very constructive, saying the family is entirely supportive of harry and meghan, and, although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the royal family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life. the couple's bombshell announcement last week sparking endless headlines and speculation about why they wanted to leave royal life, and whether a rumored brotherly rift between william and harry was the cause. that rumor was fuelled by an unsubstantiated report in a british newspaper, allege prince william's behavior drove the sussexes away. a public sign of unity from the brothers who issued a joint statement calling the report false, offensive, and potentially harmful.

there are still no details on what harry and meghan's new roles will look like, but the queen wants final decisions in the coming days. >> people are looking at the monar monarchy, but not just the u.k., but in canada. why can't they sort it out, why do they look so dysfunctional? >> reporter: there will be a transition period as they workout things like taxes, citizenship, residency, finances but the couple has cleared the first big hurdle, winning the queen's approval frances? >> really surprising to sound there isn't too much resistance. kelly. >> i thought that was the smartest thing the queen could have done, move it over, get it out of the headlines and move on a playful panda had the time of her life playing at the moscow zoo ding-ding is her name. she was trying to climb a tree, but thin it broke under her weight she fell onto the powdery snow she decided to fight with the branches for awhile. she became part of the zoo when she was handed over by chinese

president xi jinping at a ceremony attended by russian president vladimir putin >> i think that made it more fun that that branch broke >> thanks for watching "early today. i'm phillip mena >> i'm frances rivera. keep it right here more news istraight ahead. s> r

to crack down on illegal dumping. the new program one east bay city is launching today to crack down on the growing piles of trash. plus an all new look at the destruction and damage done from the kincade fire. and the new lawsuit sonoma county is considering as it deals with the aftermath. and good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. rain right now moving through the bay area. taking a live look at the radar tracking the wet weather this morning. >> we're live in fremont and san francisco and you could see rain crops and wet roads out there.