is message. breaking news overnight. three american firefighters have been killed in australia fighting bushfires after their plane crashed. new details ahead. >> the deadly coronavirus has more fatalities in sections being reported in an ever growing list of countries around the globe. >> day two of the impeachment trial. house democrats work to paint president trump as an election cheat while they layout the time line of events during nine hours of opening arguments >> the hacking of amazon billionaire jeff bezos's phone being linked to saudi arabia's crown princef bezos l affair >> and the puppy rescue you have to see to believe. it is thursday, january 23rd "early today" starts right now >> good to be with you

i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. we begin with breaking news and a tragic update on the australian bushfire emergency. officials confirming that three firefighters from the united states have been killed in a plane crash. the u.s. sent more than 150 firefighters and specialists to help with the crisis earlier this month many of them arriving to applause in sydney the three u.s. residents involved in the crash have not been identified. what we do know is they were on board a c-130 aircraft used for water drops. the plane went down in new south wales 70 miles south of canberra the airport there had already been shutdown because of the fire threat. temperatures soaring to over 100 degrees today. >> back home a constitutional clash for the ages underway on capitol hill as house democrats make their case before the senate to remove president trump from office. day two of arguments will get underway this afternoon. the first round ended with impeachment managers asking senators to follow in the footsteps of diplomats who

risked their careers to speak out on the ukraine scandal like former ambassador marie yovanovitch. >> i think this is some form of cosmic justice that this ambassador that was so ruthlessly smeared is now a hero for her courage. there is justice in that but what will really vindicate that leap of faith that she took is if we show the same courage >> for his part, president trump presented his case on twitter breaking his own single-day record with 142 tweets total nbc's alice barr has more. >> reporter: house impeachment managers wrapping up their first day of opening arguments, a chance to layout their entire case against president trump from start to finish >> constitution demands the removal of donald j. trump from his office as president of the united states. >> reporter: it's the first of

three days where democrats hold the stage, each one expected to be a marathon. >> the longer they talk, at this point, the weaker the case is getting. >> reporter: the president's team is up next. for now democrats are aiming to convince a small number of moderates in the republican-controlled senate that president trump obstructed congress and abused his power by urging ukraine to announce investigations of his political rivals the president has repeatedly said his july 25th call with ukraine's leader was perfect >> in a perfect call, the president would not solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election >> reporter: democrats equipped with videos. >> everyone was in the loop. >> reporter: and quotes from the house investigation to back up their case >> these words will live in infamy >> reporter: senators silent jurors inside the chamber, but still politicians outside those doors, republicans defending president trump. >> they're on a crusade to

destroy this casting doubt ton whether he'd let members of his administration testify, but in the e'd like to be there front row and stare at their corrupt faces. >> reporter: the president returning from switzerland, leaving an historically neutral country for one that is deeply divided. alice barr, nbc news, washington >> the first day of arguments ended in yet another surprise twist. nbc's trace i spoie potts joini from d.c is there new evidence? >> reporter: in the first major ruling so far in this trial, which has been essentially going for one day, the chief justice said that one page of evidence from an aide to vice president pence, a classified page of testimony, could be admitted now lawmakers are going to view this in a secure setting there have been two requests to

the vice president's office to declassify this. both of them have been ignored this coming after a day of arguments by house managers, democrats, that president trump abused power and obstructed justice in his dealings with ukraine, withholding money for a political favor. they brought up evidence and a lot of witness testimony from the house side to try to prove their case >> the truth is going to come out. we can and will prove president trump guilty of this conduct and of obstructing the investigation into his misconduct. but you and the american people should know who else was involved in this scheme. you should want to know about every player in this sordid business >>ly tell you this we will be putting on both an affirmative case in defense of the president, but also pointing out some of the errors in the case that they presented >> reporter: jay sekulow, one of the president's lawyers, saying that they are eager to start

their portion of the case this weekend. back to you. >> all right, tracie, thank you. >> the death toll from the coronavirus continues to rise. the mysterious pneumonia-like illness has now claimed the lives of 17 and sickened at least nearly 600 people. now china has closed off the entire city of wuhan, ground zero for the virus the move comes as the coronavirus spreads where one american has bee nbc's miguel almaguer has the latest >> reporter: a drastic measure, china ordering a quarantine for the entire city of wuhan, 11 million people, no travel in or out where the contagious coronavirus was first detected and is spreading fast. our janice mackie frayer left the city before the lockdown >> it's about 4:00 in the morning. we received word that there is going to be effectively a full quarantine of the city so we're packing up and we're heading out. >> reporter: with many on the move just hours before the

curfew goes into effect, the chinese government has deployed screening stations to catch the sick the airport and train stations will all be shutdown >> it's not just travel in and out of the city that's affected. it's everything within wuhan as well ferries, public transport. as we were leaving we saw all of the buses just parked on the side of the street >> reporter: this meat market, ground zero for the outbreak, has also closed down and has been quarantined off by police with chinese officials confirming nearly 20 deaths and well over 500 infections, the coronavirus has now been detected or suspected in at least 11 countries across the globe. iso pods show the he can stream measures being taken to treat the ill and protect medical staff. the sick had cleared international airports where new health screening measures are now in place even flight attendants are wearing masks in the air

>> [ inaudible ] >> reporter: one american is still hospitalized near seattle after travel from china. dr. george diaz is treating him. >> on a plane you can easily spread it. >> it's possible to spread on the plane if someone is coughing right next to you. >> reporter: the world watching. a new deadly virus spreads as many flee wuhan. those who are hospitalized are suffering from flu-like conditions the man who is being treated here just outside of seattle could go home soon but ultimately it will be up to the cdc to decide that frances? >> all right, miguel, thank you. >> stunning new allegationsthi morning. an investigation tying the saudi crown prince to a phone hack on amazon billionaire jeff bezos. here's nbc's andrea mitchell >> reporter: the shocking new report linking the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman to the 2018 hack of the richest man in the world, jeff bezos, head of amazon and the "washington post." u.n. experts saying they believe the crown prince was trying to

influence, if not silence "the washington post" reporting on saudi arabia all starting with the post publishing harsh criticism by saudi born columnist jamal khashoggi in 2017. two months later they bought a spy wear company in march the crown prince meets with president trump at the white house. the next day the saudi leader invites bezos to a private dinner in los angeles. at that dinner they exchanged phone numbers to correspond on what's app on may 1st, an encrypted video file from the crown prince's account is sent to bezos through what's app which technical advisors say infected bezos's phone. khashoggi was killed, with high confidence the crown prince was behind the plot. the next month a photo was texted to baezos' account of a woman with whom he was having an affair, then exposed by the

national enquirer. he confirmed the affair accusing them of beaming data including embarrassing pn minister denyin. >> the idea the crown prince would hack jeff bezos's phone is silly. >> reporter: the spy ware company denies involvement >> it means the saudi regime had no fear of attacking a u.s. citizen, not just any citizen, the head of a u.s. company >> reporter: bezos tweeted ray picture of himself at khashoggi's funeral. he rejected mounting intelligence about the crown prince's role in his death >> our thanks to andrea for that report >> it was a serious but strange but serious report from south florida. iguanas falling from trees not dying, but frozen from the scold snap nbc's kerry sanders explains >> reporter: new york has pigeons. florida, iguanas

when temperatures drop below 40, we have the cold blooded reptiles in shock, unable to grip their perch in trees. >> you can see they are frozen >> reporter: the national weather service even issuing a falling iguana forecast. they're from near the equator, but multiplied years ago when someone released a pet >> they do nothing to help the environment. >> reporter: and they don't belong here. >> they do not belong here >> reporter: iguana wrangling now a full-time job. the sun is out, he's beginning to warm up now >> yes, he is certain to regain consciousness. >> reporter: animal lovers trying to warm the lethargic lizards. it was forecast in the '70s, when will it rain like this again? kerry sanders, nbc news, miami beach. >> so bizarre. >> blowing my mind they don't die they're essentially zombie iguanas. >> yeah, like frozen when they warm up like it's going to today, they're back in business >> nature is amazing

>> fascinating >> not going to be that cold any time soon in miami 40 was the low temperature, the coldest they've been in nine years. as we go throughout the day today we're all concerned about the midwest and the travel concerns, freezing rain overnight in st. louis we have light snow breaking out in areas of northern illinois, wisconsin. temperatures are borderline in many areas so the roads are going to be, some untreated roads will be slick. treated roads will be just fine. today a slow moving storm, on and off snow and rain. tomorrow the storm actually is a little bit stronger on the backside it will be a more significant snow especially friday afternoon to friday evening into wisconsin and illinois more accumulatinat will be pushh alabama and mississippi as we go throughout the day today snow lovers in the

northeast, you're not going to want to listen to what i have to say about saturday >> oh, no. >> better be prepared, i guess thank you, bill. >> in today's quick hits, prince charles met with greta thunberg. she represents one of the main reasons his royal attention has turned to the climate crisis >> he donated over $13,000 to a 5-year-old girl battling cancer. the family says they were shocked and grateful when a generous gift under his name showed up on their gofundme page >> after 16 seasons and two superbowl rings eli manning is retiring they announced on the bse.weit playing qb one of the best players ever we'll be right back. ure. so, we met in the middle. ohhhhh! look who just woke up! you are so cute! but one thing we could both yeah, it was really easy and we saved a bunch of money.

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developments in the harvey weinstein trial. the jury has now heard the opening statements in the sexual misconduct case. the former movie mogul's lawyers began laying out his defense here's nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: harvey weinstein walked gingerly into court without the walker he has relied on for weeks >> how are you feeling today >> reporter: in his opening statement, the prosecution laid out a time line of graphic sexual assault and misconduct allegations involving six women spanning two decades telling the jury, the man seated right there is not just a tycoon in hollywood, he was a rapist. weinstein pleaded not guilty to five charges of sexual assault, including rap. and has always denied having ar allegations of two women, details of one of the rap charges were revealed for the first time according to prosecutors, jane doe 1 was a 27-year-old aspiring actress from a dairy farm in washington when weinstein assaulted her in a new york city hotel room in

2013 the woman who has chosen not to identify herself publicly went on to have a relationship with weinstein, including additional sexual contact after he promised her a movie role the prosecution says she was raped again in november of the same year. according to the defense, there are hundreds of emails and texts that establish a loving relationship between the two weinstein's attorneys say jane doe 1 gave the movie producer her new cell phone number after the first alleged assault, writing in a message, call me any time always good to hear your voice she also thanks weinstein for his unfailing support and kindness and asked him if he will meet her mother an do. but i hate feeling like a booty call the defense told the jury that all six women will face tough questions for the first time, calling the precn'osutios entire case a mirage no.

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you might remember the tide pod challenge. now there is oots dangerous soci now there is ooanother dangerou social media caused one fire. one of the worst things about social media right there >> youstuck a key in to see what happens. >> same thing happened >> now to the growing scandal from the grammys just days before the ceremony, the ousted head of the academy claims the awards are rigged and big name artists have been cheated out of nominations here's nbc's gabe gutierrez with the story. >> i'm so excited to be here with you this morning. >> reporter: just two months after announcing the grammy award nominations, the ousted c.e.o. of the recording academy

deb debra dougin claims there is widespread corruption due to boys club mentality. committees added 30 of this year's possible nominees, even though they had not made the cut in voting. she also claims one of this year's nominees for "song of the year" was voted 18th in that category, but got a nomination anyway because he or she served on the nominating committee. dougan did not identify the song, but other artists like ed sheeran and ariana grande missed out on nomination even though they had enough votes. what is most shocking to you about this complaint >> i think what's most shocking to me about this complaint is that it's gone on for so long and that there is no oversight over the voting committee that you can actually vote for yourself >> reporter: the academy has not specifically addressed the corruption allegations, but says it's investigating

it is deeply disturbing to us and quite frankly heart breaking to witness the firestorm against our organization that has been unleashed. we stand ready to address all concerns, allegations and accusations with facts in hand just days before the grammys, the former chief executive claiming the awards are rigged while the academy now accuses her of trying to steal the show gabe gutierrez, nbc news, new york >> a puppy took the turn for the worst in coachella, california, after getting her head stuck in the spare tire rim authorities tried using oil to slip her out when that didn't work, firefighters cut pieces of the wheel for an easier rescue luckily the pup was freed in a few moments and crews gave her the nickname wheelie >> we looked it up -- look into the story a little more. it's a bunch of examples of dogs getting stuck in a wheel like that >> puppies and wheelnot a goods tom steyer: no child should have to worry about finding good food in school.

so, when my wife kat and i learned california public school children couldn't get fresh produce in the cafeteria, we took action. we partnered with local farmers, school kitchens, a non-profit. that program now serves over 300 million healthy meals every year. the difference between words and actions matters. that's a lesson washington dc could use, right now. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message.

right now at 4:30, growing concern over a rash of crimes in the east bay. the search for a suspect who robbed a woman at gunpoint and the shocking video that has a community calling for change. the latest in president trump's impeachment trial as democrats present their case for removal. and a good morning to you. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm kris sanchez in this morning for laura garcia. more clouds moving through and we've also seen those temperatures not as cold as weo francisco. if you're about to step out the door and on your way out to the fruitvale b.a.r.t. station expect