on this vote, the yays are 221, and the nays are 209. the joint resolution is passed without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> breaking overnight. the house votes to hold former trump chief of staff mark meadows in contempt of congress. this as fox news opinion hosts lash out at republican liz cheney for reading their personal text messages to meadows during the january 6 riots. tornado ravaged kentucky

will get a visit today from joe biden, as the blue grass state and surrounding areas try to recover from the deadly storms and then we take you inside a sting operation to show you how thieves are reselling billions in stolen goods is the fed getting ready to raise interest rates "early today" starts right now good wednesday morning i'm philip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. breaking overnight, mark meadows has been held in contempt of congress the house voting to approve criminal contempt referral for mark meadows the former chief of staff to president trump stopped cooperating with the committee investigating the january 6 attack on the capitol. he cited executive privilege for more on what's next, we're joined by garrett haake. >> reporter: good morning. last night's vote to hold mark meadows in

chapter a developing story about his conversations with the former president and with republican lawmakers in the days and even weeks leading up to the january 6 riots. and then while it was going on the committee still very much wants to talk to him, but now it looks more likely perhaps that we could see a prosecution of mark meadows instead of his testimony. it could take a few weeks for domg doj to decide what they're going to do. butprosecutor also decide if they will charge mark meadows with criminal contempt it's up to him to try to avoid that the committee revealed that fox news opinion hosts were texting mark meadows on january 6. laura ingram urged him to have president trump tell people in the capitol to go home and so did sean hannity, asking, can he make a statement? both reacted last night to the release of these messages.

>> some people were unfairly hounded but it was not an insurrection >> i said to mark meadows the same thing i was saying on radio on january 6 and well beyond january 6. and by the way, where is the outrage in the media over my private text messages being released publicly. do we believe in privacy in this country? apparently not >> senate minorly leader mitch mcconnell was asked about the unnamed rawlawmakers who texted meadows. he said he was not in contact with any officials on january 6. joe biden touring mayfield, kentucky today he will feet with officials on the impacts of the tornado he's expected to speak on the administration's response to the

natural disaster at least 74 people have died in the state, and more than 100 are still unaccounted for. experts are studying what caused the massive storm. unusual for this time of the year dasha burns has more from bowling green, kentucky. dasha, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. 15 people were killed here in warren county, including two infants and a 4-year-old boy all of this devastation has people wonder ing why this happened and whether these storms could become more free throw quenlt due to climate change. in bowling green, kentucky, no words can describe the devastation. >> you can see that these two houses are gone, and then the houses in front of them are gone so you can directly see the path moving right straight through there. >> reporter: as the community grieves, many are asking why >> this is the largest event ever in december in terms of severe weather and tornadoes >> reporter: experts are working to understand what fueled these monster storms

>> this is very unusual. >> reporter: josh is a meteorology professor at western kentucky university. what happened here >> there was is widespread area conducive to severe weather. there was warm air ushering in a lot of moisture in the lower levels of the atmosphere and the wind shear set up an environment for storms to tap into that environment and thrive >> reporter: the unusual nature of the storms had many wondering if this is the result of a climate change >> climate change is a very complex discussion >> reporter: while he can't say climate change is the cause of these storms, he says they may be a consequence one of the main causes, spring-like temperatures in december 20 degrees to 30 degrees above the average for this time of the year could we see more of these storms because of the warming temperatures >> there are changes in the spatial distributions of tornadoes, as well as the tornado frequency. we are seeing more and more of these types of events related to things like climate change >> reporter: there may be a change to what is deemed tornado alley.

experts say it's moving east could we see tornadoes impact new and different places >> absolutely. >> reporter: that means more people should get prepared >> i'm going to be working tirelessly to help people find ways to protect themselves, to get the warning, to have a plan, to get low and save your family's life. >> reporter: the folks here in bowling green never expected to see anything like this but experts say that as these storms become more frequent, more and more communities are going to need to have a plan to keep themselves safe >> dasha, thank you. the nba is in a full court press against coronavirus, with several big names out of action. giannis is sidelined after entering the league's health and safety protocols he's among three milwaukee bucks players who will miss today's game against the pacers due to covid protocols. this comes after the league postponed two chicago bulls games due to the virus teams from coast to coast have

had players ruled out of games this week, including seven on the brooklyn nets and three on the lakers pfizer says its anti-viral covid pill can reduce hospitalizations and deaths by about 89% when taken within three days of the onset of symptoms the company applied for emergency use authorization for the oral anti-viral in november. no word on when the fda will take up a vote faith and community leaders in mississippi are working together to combat vaccine confusion and hesitancy among african american communities right now, only 46% of black people in mississippi are fully vaccinated here's courtney ann jackson from our affiliate wlbt >> reporter: information overload and covid fatigue combined, african american leaders say it was a perfect storm for confusion as the vaccines became available. pastors participated in events to show their congregations and

communities that they believed getting the shot was a matter of following the commandment to love thy neighbor. >> it's because people literally respond to people. people don't necessarily respond to projects and causes they respond to people that is people they trust, people they believe in, people they have a relationship with, and that's why it was so important. it was so important for us to be involved in that, because you are in a position of trust >> reporter: african american doctors doing the same, hosting vaccination events and meeting people where they were >> the amount of disinformation where people were getting information from social media opposed to getting it from their primary care doctor. a lot of people don't have one, which was another problem. >> reporter: time at the barbershop changed, even when they were cleared to be back in the building >> to where the communication was more quality so it wasn't just typical

barbershop banter, but people were talking from a real place >> reporter: and often times about covid. it sometimes opened the door of sharing facts. there's still work to be done as the new variant spreads. >> it's all over the place sometimes. but with some people, they feel good enough and they're like, look, i don't know if i can go back through that. other ones are letting you know, i got one more week and i get my booster. i can't wait -- i want to get my booster early, because i like feeling a sense of normalcy. >> our thanks to courtney ann jackson for that report. a powerful storm is drenching parts of southern california in sill vaverado canyon, firefighters issued a mandatory evacuation order and soda springs was pummelled with snow. i-80 was shut down in both directions the storm wreaking havoc on the

mountain passes. let's find out what's ahead today. janessa webb joins us now with a look good morning, janessa. >> good morning. you know, this continues to be the year of extremes if you remember this area of the country is under a mega drought, and this is really going to help that area. but unfortunately, it is coming in too fast and quickly, causing winter weather advisories and storm warnings across the plains, into northern california that continues for today, because there's another storm system right behind it so really no relief in that area right now, though, for overnight hours, we are seeing the rain and snow dying down across california it has shifted into the plains but as i said, we have another storm system that will reenter this afternoon so some of these totals, these a quarter of an inch to two inches of rain, additional foing like

across the rockies into the plains major wind concerns across much of the country. we'll talk about that coming up. >> that is important thank you, janessa o.j. simpson, remember him he is no longer on parole. the juice is on the loose. we'll tell you why and our vickie wen takes us inside a sting opeti traono show us how thieves are reselling billions in stolen goods and is designed to last for up to 48 hours. with secret, keep it fresh. available in over 10 amazing scents and aluminum free. secret hi sabrina! hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. i just have to ask. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen.

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casino the 74-year-old was freed from parole a few months earlier than scheduled. simpson was also famously acquitted for the 199 murders of ex-wife and her friend retail crime is on the rise. stores across the country getting ransacked by organized smash and grab thieves nbc's vicky nguyen gives us a look at an undercover sting. >> reporter: stores hit by organized retail crime theft rings that scout, plan, and execute high value heists from drugstores to brand name merchandise. theft cost the retail industry more than $70 billion a year to show you what is at stake, i'm here in ohio in a small suburb of need and i'm surrounded by stolen gooded recovered by police tell us why this small town is such a hot spot for organized retail crime >> first, we're hoe kated in the area we call the crossroads of

america. thieves can jump off the interstate, hit the stores, steal the product and be back on the interstate >> reporter: he leads a team of three detectives who respond almost daily to retail crime and track stolen goods online. they often end up on facebook marketplace. that's where officers found this power tool set for $350, $200 less than retail our cameras were there for the undercover buy >> what's up this is unopened >> yes, sir. >> reporter: the police arrest him, saying he's a fugitive wanted for robbery in columbus and for buying these tools with a stolen credit card >> 90% of our investigations involve an online marketplace. >> reporter: kyle is senior management of investigations for home depot they're testing new technology >> bluetooth activation. the tool is useless until it's paid for >> reporter: online resale makes it easy for criminals to hide and profit can the online marketplaces do

more to thwart these crimes, should they do more? >> i think so. we would like to see that go back to the online marketplaces to do a better job of vetting the people that are selling. >> reporter: a spokesperson for facebook says -- >> reporter: curtis says these crimes cost all of us. >> we're all paying more it's affecting all of us all of the consumers who are honest >> reporter: new legislation similar to a law on the books in arkansas passed the statehouse in ohio. it's meant to help limit the sale of stolen merchandise it would require online markets, like facebook, to confirm the identity of sellers. about a dozen states have similar legislation that is pending. back to you guys >> vicky, thank you. still to come, one major ccat ofat warns employees ge vainedr ce potential termination. t in the history

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a new report from the human rights campaign says the number of americans who identify as lbgtq has passed 20 million. that's double previous estimates and makes up nearly 8% of the country's adult population hobby lobby is raising minimum wage to $18.50 an hour starting january 1 the move is $1.50 more than the last minimum wage increase for full-time workers which took effect last october. joining instagram, shattering a pair of world records for his follower count it took him 43 minutes to rack up a million followers two big stories on wall street rising interest rates and one of the nation's biggest tech firms

signal willing thatle employees could get fired for not being vaccinated good morning, karen. >> good morning to you we are setting up for a big day from the fed today the end of a two-day policy meeting and expecting market moving news. most likely is fast taper of their asset purchase plan, setting the scene for the first interest hike on the back of this pandemic. market expectations are moving, shaping up for two to three rate hikes next year, and three to four in 2023 also, how the fed anticipates inflation. we have had some red hot numbers on the cpi meantime, over at google, the company is taking a strict line on vaccines. it's distributed a memo saying employees must comply with vaccine policies or force losing their pay and their jobs a lot of the industry is pushing

back to return to work, but they want workers back in the office three days a week at some point next year. and with vaccines in their arms. >> karen, thank you so much. >> janessa is tracking a fire danger in the southwest. that's next. and when senator elizabeth warren goes teel mk afr onuson twitter, things get ugly in 280 characters or less they're back. yes, i hear them. uh-oh. why are these birds so angry?! at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. we save a lot. i'm going...i'm going. aaaahh! hurry, hurry! i know, i know! for bundling made easy, go to geico.com. when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil.

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♪ ♪ hi, everyone fire season has become almost a year around thing now. southern mains, it's december 14th and we're still talking about very dry conditions in this section of the country. we could see rapid fire spread across this area due to also the wind gusts they'll be picking up to 70, 80 miles per hour we'll continue to watch this, but i expect this to mix in some areas of the plains going into this afternoon guys >> janessa, thanks next on "early today," the slithering surprise that nobody wants to find under or even in their christmas tree

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la la la la la. and today's top stories, a federal judge is tossing out former president trump's lawsuit, which was seeking to block congress from seeing his tax returns. the judge, who was appointed by mr. trump, said the former president's efforts war wrong on the law. he put the ruling on hold for two weeks to give mr. trump's legal team time to appeal. the head of the house ways and means committee requested that in 2019 was blocked. mr. biden's treasury department says the former president's tax returns should be handed over.

mr. president trump is expected to appeal. elizabeth warren is locked in a twitter war with elon musk, targeting him over his taxes in a tweet. and then the tesla ceo unloaded on her senator warren said, let's change the rigged tax code so the person of the year will pay taxes. and stop free loading off everyone else. musk fired back, telling her to stop projecting and then tweeting, please don't call the manager on me, senator karen, referring to the name given to entitled white women he ended with a claim that he's paying more taxes than anyone american in history this year. white the total amount is unclear, he's off loaded billions in stock to, in part, pay a tax obligation the search for a missing woman in her 20s continues after she fell overboard on a carnival cruise ship this past weekend and reported missing it happened around 3:30 in the morning about 35 miles off the coast of mexico.

after a 31-hour search effort, coast guard officials told crews to stand down. the carnival ship docked in long beach on sunday morning and this incident remains under investigation. prince andrew's lawyers are asking a judge to dismiss his sex abuse lawsuit after a woman alleges he raped and assaulted her when she was 17. his lawyers argue under new york law, she was old enough to consent. they plan to argue their motion at a hearing on january 4. her lawyers have not commented the prince has denied the allegations and has said he has no recollection of meeting her a family in south africa were in for a big surprise when they found a venomous snake in their christmas tree look at that thing they just finished decorating the tree when they noticed their cat staring at it. as they took a closer look, they

were stunned to see that snake hiding between the branches. they called animal services and discovered it was a venomous snake called a boom slang, very common in south africa after two hours, it was captured and released bac

right now at 4:30, santa clara county sheriff tangled in controversy. the impact that could have in the future. a big reversal. the last-minute changes to the mask mandate. we will explain where you will and will not need one. this is "today in the bay." good wednesday morning. of course we are traditionally broadcasting to your television but we also stream live at nbcbayarea.com and on the app as