reversing course after threatening to veto president trump signs into law the latest covid economic relief bill we'll tell you what it means and when you'll get paid plus, this offers advice on saving the president's legacy. developing overnight, police are now naming a specific person who they believe is solely responsible for the nashville christmas day attack as millions are traveling over the holidays, dr. anthony fauci issues a new warning about a critical point in the

paemic 40 days behind bars including thanksgiving and christmas, actress lori loughlin is scheduled to be released from prison today and we would not recommend using the flame thrower method of snow removal, but we will tell you about one man who found it quite effective we are blasting into this last monday of 2020 "early today" starts right now good morning, everyone, i'm michelle fisher. >> and i'm phillip mena. a wave of relief this morning after president trump unexpectedly signed the pandemic aid package. after calling the measure a disgrace last week and sending the government to the brink of a shutdown, mr. trump reversed course signing off on the deal from his mar-a-lago estate and sending a life line to millions of americans he released a statement demanding that congress cut back on wasteful spending and renewing his call for those increased direct payments from $600 to $2,000 but the standoff could trigger a congressional showdown today

joining us now to discuss from the nation's capitol is chris pollone. could the president be setting up the ultimate loyalty test from his party >> it certainly looks that way it looks like the president was looking for a way to claim victory after essentially blowing up this deal that his own team negotiated and then signed off on. the president was under increasing pressure from both parties toct and in signing the spending bill he said that bothouses of congress have agreed to vote on raising stimulus payments from $600 while a vote is scheduled in the house today, it's unclear whether republican majority leader mitch mcconnell will hold a vote in the senate while many republicans oppos raising the payments, democrats agree with the president and are using it to pressure republicans. senate minority leader chuck schumer tweeting, the house will pass a bill to give americans $2,000 checks. no democrats will object will senate republicans? this bill signing comes as the president remains focused on trying to overturn this year's election results now allies like the "new york

post," which endorsed the president, are urging him to move on and enhance his legacy by focusing on the upcoming runoff elections in georgia for senate phillip? >> all right, let's see if he heeds that advice. chris, thank you so much >> sure. top health expts are warning americans to brace for the pandemic to get worse over the next month december has already beethn e deadliest month so far more than 19 million americans have contracted the virus. that is one out of every 17 people despite warnings from the cdc though not to travel, the tsa screened more than 1.1 million passengers on the day after christmas. for more on what this holiday rush may bring, we are joined by nbc's meagan fitzgerald. good morning, meghan >> reporter: michelle, good morning. with millions of americans traveling this holiday season, top doctors in our nation are warning of a second holiday surge that could be even more deadly with americans heading home from

holiday travel and family get-togethers, concerned those ghattings are contributing to the growing national covid catastrophe. >> i'm going to be as safe as i can, but i felt like it was important to see family. >> reporter: nearly 10 million americans flew in the past ten days despite pleas to stay home. a record during the pandemic that's daedler now than ever before >> as we get into the next few weeks it might actually get worse. >> dr. anthony fauci warning of a surge to come, in part, due to holiday travel >> when you're dealing with a base line of 200,000 cases, new cases a day, and about 2,000 deaths per day, with the hospitalizations over 120,000, we're really at a very critical point. >> reporter: and the holiday season isn't over yet. new york city installed its iconic crystal ball that draws millions to times square each year though this year's ball drop will be closed to the public the cdc urging americans to stay

home on new years even as the nation's hospitals buckle under the weight of covid patients flooding the system, in california now the epicenter of the pandemic, icu capacity is at 0% >> my concern is really resources. are we going to have the resources to take care of our community? >> reporter: throughout the state, some hospitals now postponing elective and nonurgent surgeries. it's a race against time to get front line workers vaccinated. so far nearly 2 million have received the first dose, including dr. hussein in boston. he appears to be the first to have had a severe reaction to the moderna vaccine, using his own epi pen on himself >> but i think that people need to get vaccinated. and at the same time, i really would like moderna and also pfizer to investigate this more to prevent things from happening. >> reporter: with a likely travel holiday surge, grim week as head. the cdc is now projecting that

the u.s. could surpass 400,000 deaths by mid-january. michelle >> meghan, thank you the european union has started its effort to vaccinate 450 million people across 27 countries. europe is following a similar strategy at the u.s. and giving the first round of doses to health care workers, the elderly, and some leading politicians. meanwhile, south africa has now confirmed more than 1 million infections the recent surge there is linked to a new strain similar to the one spreading in the uk that appears to be much more contagious nbc's molly hunter joins us now from london. molly, good morning. what precautions are in place to try to stop that mutated strain from crossing borders? [ no audio ] >> it looks like we're having

trouble getting molly hunter's mic working there. hopefully we can get back to her a little later in the show a suspect in the nashville christmas morning explosion has now been identified, but sadly police won't be able to face justice because officials say he died in the blast. authorities say 63-year-old anthony quinn warner is responsible for the bombing that left three people injured and damaged more than 40 buildings that includes the at&t building which the company says suffered significant damage we turn now to nbc's shaq brewster who has more on the investigation. shaq, good morning >> reporter: good morning, michelle this is definitely a major update in the culmination of several days of investigation. of course that started on that christmas day as a result of that downtown bombing. now, investigators explained that they were able to make this confirmation, make this match as a result of connecting pieces of evidence one was a physical evidence that they got from the rv they were able to match a vehicle identification number

with anthony warner. there was also the dna evidence that what we used to call human tissue, essentially the remains that they found at the blast site, they were able to match that dna with mr. warner and confirm it was that of anthony warner and then there was video evidence this happened in a downtown area with lots of cameras around. it was from that video evidence that they were able to confirm that he acted alone and that they are not looking for any additional suspects. michelle >> shaq, thank you for the update there we turn now to an update on another holiday weekend tragedy. police in rockford, illinois, say a member of the u.s. army special forces has been arrested after he allegedly shot and killed three people and injured three others at a bowling alley. 37-year-old duke webb has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. he tried to disguise himself and also attempted to hide his weapons when officers arrived on the scene. a motive was unknown, but the police chief says it is believed

to be random the victims included three men just in time to celebrate new years even, actress lori loughlin will be released from prison today the "full house" actress was serving her role in the college admission scandal. and her husband is still serving a five-month sentenced and is scheduled to be released in april of 2021. for all of you national lampoons christmas vacation fans, check out this cousin eddie moment that is going viral in kentucky. he is melting ice and snow from his driveway with a flame thrower. we should probably add as fun as that looks don't try it at home. >> yes, important warning there. time now to check in with nbc meteorologist janessa webb for more on our forecast these last few days of the year. janessa? >> good morning you two. good morning, everyone

we are dealing with a few snowflakes that are falling across the great lakes but it's transitioning into kind of a wintery mix due to temperatures being above that freezing mark. i think the bigger weather story throughout the week is this coast-to-coast system that's already sparking up across southern california all the way to the southwest where we're dealing with rain and snow and this is making winter weather alerts available across the central plains to the upper midwest. this will continue to expand into the east coast as we go into the rest of the week. look at our snow totals right now forecasting that potential from denver to madison, wisconsin, up to 6 to 8 inches this will be a dual weathermaker with heavy rain and severe weather threat across the central plains into the mississippi valley a high of 50

today. but fargo feeling like winter, 14 with a little bit of sunshine watching this storm system very closely, but we'll take a look at your week ahead coming up >> a lot to discuss, janessa, thanks "wonder woman 3" is officially a go. it will fast track development for the third film in the franchise after "wonder woman 1984" earned $16.7 million in theaters the movie also streamed on hbo max where over half of the subscribers watched on its first day. >> still got to check that one out. a major recall to warn you about involving popular pain relief products. plus, the fating traveling in 2021 is still up in the air we'll tell you what you need to know we tested our vitamin b3 formula and beat japan's top moisturizers.

south korea's most innovative. and even the $400 french cream. olay regenerist faced 131 premium products in 12 countries, over 10 years. olay's hydration was unbeaten every time. olay. face anything. less sick days! cold coming on? zicam® is clinically proven to shorten colds! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam zinc that cold! it shortens colds! (chilno-aughs) we're making breakfast! (ding) yes, chef. chef, behind. thank you, chef. breakfast service is a wrap. is your sous chef a busser too? get your wins where you can. (ding) l'eggo with eggo get their dishes as clean as possible.olks ask me how to i tell them, try cascade platinum plus the power of oxi. it breaks down food soils to clean up to 99% of visible and invisible food residue

for a hygienic clean you can see and feel. cascade + the power of oxi. only nature's bounty does. new immune twenty-four hour plus has longer lasting vitamin c. plus, herbal and other immune superstars. only from nature's bounty. plus, herbal and other immune superstars. when they're sick, they get comfortable anywhere and spread germs everywhere. nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. tonight, try pure zzzs all night. unlike other sleep aids, our extended release melatonin helps you sleep longer. and longer. zzzquil pure zzzs all night. fall asleep. stay asleep. we have a consumer alert to tell you about more than 400,000 bottles of

excedrin have been recalled due to a manufacturing issue holes were found in certain bottles of the migraine medication which include their migraine caplets, gel tabs, pm caplets and tension headache caplets. luckily no injuries have been reported with several new covid vaccines rolling out, many are cautiously optimistic that health officials will allow travel in the year ahead and with deals popping up left and right, kerry sanders has details on what you should know before booking >> reporter: ron adams at his desk, at home isolated with his kids, walking the dogs with little to no contact with anyone outside of the family. but now with vaccines, expectations, we will soon be able to travel safely near and far. >> i've always enjoyed kind of traveling everywhere so when i'm not able to do that, it's just not fun. it's not enjoyable at all. >> reporter: the week the first

vaccine was given, travel site trivago reported an increase in web traffic. >> every time we get favorable news, there's sort of a spike in people's online behavior we look and dream about options. but there is still so much uncertainty. >> reporter: and that's why airlines, hotels, and cruise lines are offering better deals now than ever. members in jet blue's mosaic club given unlimited free companion tickets until may 2021 some hotel rooms offered at half price. ron adams and his extended family already booked a cruise for august the expectation by then his family, the in-laws and everyone else on board will be vaccinated >> a big part of the reason why we agreed to put the deposit down thankfully the cruise lines made it fully refundable for us. it was frankly a great deal. >> reporter: if you're booking a cruise, experts say read the fine print the florida attorney general reports hundreds of

ticketholders to be refunded if you cancel and use a credit card over your debit card in case the travel company goes bankrupt and try to talk to someone phone negotiations often land you a better deal. a vacation away from covid on so many wish lists for 2021 kerry sanders, nbc news, miami >> good tips there after the break, a sculpture of the late breonna taylor was smashed to pieces. we'll have more on that investigation to come. and it was the second to last sunday of the nfl season. who's playoffbound and who's almost done, next. es to everyone. sure you do, tell you what. i'm not supposed to do this, but i'll letcha try the chunk honey. oh...i'm good.

but here's the deal, great rates are kinda our thing. you wanna meet the queen? ahhh i'm not dressed for that. when you want the real deal... like a good neighbor, state farm is there. struggling to clean tough messes with wipes? try mr. clean magic eraser sheets. just wet, squeeze and erase icky messes in microwaves and on stovetops for an amazing clean, get the power of mr. clean magic eraser in disposable sheets. want to sell the best burger add an employee.ode? or ten... then easily and automatically pay your team and file payroll taxes. that means... world domination! or just the west side. run payroll in less than five minutes with intuit quickbooks. everylet's skip the rinse. waste up to 20 gallons. finish quantum with activeblu technology, cleans without pre-rinsing. switch to finish and skip the rinse to save water.

after a night like this, crest has you covered. crest, the official toothpaste of santa. follow us @crest to celebrate the 12 days of crest smiles.

quick delivery ekeler is in for the touchdown >> justin herbert made history on a wild week 16 sunday in the nfl, breaking the rookie passing touchdown record with his 28th of the season. chargers won their third in a row with a 19-16 victory over the broncos. chargers and broncos are out of contention, but plenty of teams fighting for playoff position on the second to last sunday of the nfl season let's take a look. the packers and titans battling under the bright lights and white snow on sunday night football despite the conditions aaron rodgers churning up the heat on

offense. he threw for four touchdowns including this 21-yard bullet to brown. green bay would run away with it in the second. the packers plow past the titans 40-14. the new york jets used some trickery to get ahead of the browns in east rutherford. jamison crowder throwing this touchdown to take the lead later in the game crowder would catch a touchdown from sam darnold. don't look now, but the new york jets are on a two-game winning streak they upset cleveland 23-16 the jacksonville jaguars will now get the first pick in the spring's nfl draft and the cowboys kept themselves alive in the race for nfc east not only pulling dallas out of a first half deficit but blowing by the eagles en route to a 37-17 victory. cowboys win eliminates philly from playoff contention.

so if washington beats the eagles next sunday, then they clinch the division. but if they lose, then the winner of the cowboys/giants game will be headed to the postseason there's a pooch on a pitch during a soccer game in bolivia. take a look. it was a dog that interrupted the match multiple times by runni running onto the field the pup held up the action for about three minutes with some athletes even taking some time to play with the dog and pet him. eventually one player carried the dog off the field to keep the game going >> that's a dog though something to watch there coming up, janessa webb has your forecast for the last week of 2020. and one of the newly relaunched37ax j 7 mets had to be diverted mid-flight we'll tell you why andrew: we had to stay in the hospital for 10 weeks, 1000s of miles from family.

our driver kristin came along in our most desperate hour. suzanne: bringing us home-cooked meals and gifts. andrew: day after day. we wanted to show you something. kristin: oh my god! andrew: kristin is the most uncommonly kind person that we've met. suzanne: thank you so much. relief from your worst cold and flu symptoms.le so when you need to show your cold who's boss, grab mucinex all-in-one... and get back to your rhythm. feel the power. beat the symptoms fast. to fight wrinkles? it's what i use! neutrogena®. the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists. rapid wrinkle repair® visibly smooths fine lines in 1 week. deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles... and other wrinkle creams goodbye! rapid wrinkle repair®. pair with our most concentrated retinol

ever for 2x the power. neutrogena®. try nature's bounty hair, skin and nails gummies. the number one brand to support beautiful hair, glowing skin, and healthy nails. and try advanced, now with two times more biotin. broken windshield... take 1... hey guys, my windshield just got broken, and try advanced, i feel like i need to blow off some steam. let's go... 1, 2, 3, 4... mr. blanks? there's no need to be stressed. geico makes it easy to file a claim online, on the app, or over the phone. yeah, but what if i never hear back? that's gonna make me want to go jab...jab! nope! your geico claims team is always there for you. that makes me want to celebrate with some fireworks. 5,6,7 go... boom, boom, boom, boom boom boom boom boom boom, yeah! geico. great service without all the drama. the best dressed assistant locker room manager in the league. frankie thompson. i'm here to help you protect your clothes from getting damaged in the wash.

nah! that's why i use new downy defy. it helps stop stretching, fading, and fuzzing. that's what's up! we have an assistant locker room manager? help protect your clothes with new downy defy damage. hi, everyone let's get your week started with a little bit of lingering snow for the great lakes. that'll push out by this afternoon. the larger storm you're going to hear me talking about all week long is making its way right now across los angeles it expands into a larger system as we go into your mid-week. if you are across the east coast, mid-atlantic, new years even to new years day, it's looking really dicey with a severe weather outbreak potential across the carolinas snow for the northeast >> it is a week-long storm coming up, baseball fans

urng the loss of a legend. easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. trusted soothing vapors, from vicks unlike ordinary memory want supplements-ter? neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference. (chilno-aughs) we're making breakfast! (ding) yes, chef. chef, behind. thank you, chef. breakfast service is a wrap. is your sous chef a busser too? get your wins where you can. (ding) l'eggo with eggo we like clockwork.ht. do it! run your dishwasher with cascade platinum. and save water. did you know certified dishwashers... ...use less than four gallons per cycle, while a running sink uses that, every two minutes. so, do it with cascade.

the surprising way to save water. in today's top stories, president trump hands a life line to millions of americans, signing the covid relief bill, mr. trump unexpectedly signed the bill after calling it a disgrace last week he has renewed his call for increased direct payments. the house is expected to vote today to boost the amount from $600 to $2,000 police in oakland have launched an investigation after a statue of breonna taylor was smashed into pieces. it was installed just two weeks ago in memory of the emt worker who was fatally shot during a botched raid back in march the artist who created the bust

has raised over $3,000 on gofundme to have it replaced one of the recently ungrounded boeing 737 max planes suffered some engine trouble on december 22nd an air canada flight from arizona to montreal had to shut down one engine shortly after takeoff and divert to tucson. a spokesperson says modern aircraft are designed to operate with one engine, and their crews are trained for these operations the baseball community is mourning the loss of one of its most prolific pitchers >> that's it holy cow, what a way to end it a strikeout gets his 3 hundredth career win this is really an exciting moment phil niekro is really something. >> he sure was hall of famer phil niekro died over the weekend he won 318 games that is the most ever for a knuckleballer in his 24 seasons

in the major leagues the five-time all-star was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in 1997. he was called one of the most distinctive and memorable pitchers of his generation phil niekro was 81 years old anybody who played baseball would always try to emulate the way he threw the ball. he didn't have to throw it 90 some-odd miles an hour he was the reason why players like tim wakefield and others were able to find success that way. amazing. >> rest in peace to him. sad that he passed two-time olympic skater johnny weir has been elected to the u.s. skater hall of fame he is currently an olympic analyst and host >> oh, thanks, mama. >> congratulations >> thanks, dad i didn't know this was happening. >> look at that look on his face

there. he says that his parents gave everything so that their son could achieve something in this world. >> congratulations to him. that's awesome >> thanks for waking up with us. i'm michelle fisher. >> and i'm phillip mena. be sure to follow ous

it's the final monday of 2020, and late last night president trump reversed course on the coronavirus relief bill, but when will millions of americans in desperate need see that money we're live in washington new details surrounding the e. christmas day explosion that rocked downtown nashville. in the wake of a shopping season like no other, the wave of returns is about to begin we've got the tips that will save you time and money. the playoff picture becomes more clear after a big week 16 in the nfl.