on this dr. martin luther king, jr. national holiday, a major winter storm, including snow, ice, and powerful winds hitting millions overnight with flight cancellations and power outages. potential good news on the omicron front, with fewer new cas of covid reported and hospitalizations in some states going down we have new details surrounding the texas synagogue hostage taker, now identified as a british citizen. we'll look back at joe biden's first year in office, where he has succeeded and where he has failed.

and we will remember one of the last tuskegee airman who died at 102. a true american hero, as we kick off your martin luther king, jr. day. "early today" starts right now >> thanks for being up early with us. i'm frances rivera >> and i'm philip mena a winter storm is bearing down on the northeast right now this dangerous system has moved its way up the eastern part of the country, wreaking havoc for 100 million americans along the way. some areas in the north could see a foot oar more of snow, but ice and freezing rain has caused serious travel problems. officials in raleigh, north carolina say two people were killed when their car went off the road and this tractor trailer slid off an icy bridge and almost landed upright the driver in that crash is expected to be okay. about 3,000 flights have already been canceled for today at airports along the east

coast. nearly every flight was grounded at charlotte on sunday freezing rain in the south is causing major problems for powerlines more than 100,000 outages are being reported this morning. a reported ef-2 tornado left behind a path of destruction in southwest florida near ft. myers. >> janessa webb is track thing storm for us good morning >> hi, good morning. what we're seeing right now is a dual-sided system on the northern end of this storm, heavy snow that's currently falling. i want to focus on severe weather, severe thunderstorm warnings, making their way across new york city due to this heavy band of moisture in the form of rain so they're on the warmer side across coastal sections of the northeast. this is going to be causing a problem as high tide comes in. you can see the coastal flood watches still in place from

north carolina stretching into the maine area 21 million people going to be impacted we're talking about one to three feet, along with the high tide that will make its way in early this morning and then you have high winds, an e easterly flow. so that's one side of the storm system we'll get totals coming up >> okay, we'll check back with you in a few nursing homes were the covid epicenter in the early days of this pandemic. unfortunately, cases and deaths are on the rise again. according to cdc data, nursing homes reported a near record of about 32,000 new infections in the weekending january 9th the assisted living facilities also saw a total of 645 covid related deaths among residents during the same week the latest data comes as virginia's new governor has

signed an order ending the school mask mandate on his first day in office. >> reporter: omicron impacting millions of americans. hospitals across the country in dire mode, bracing for the demand of more patients. staffing shortages are a challenge, as health care workers fight the virus themselves in california, ambulances are facing delays, and some scheduled surgeries are being postponed. in oregon, hundreds of procedures are on hold >> it's not an elective surgery, because my life is not my life anymore. >> reporter: massachusetts general hospital system will postpone more than 2,000 surgeries each week, bracing for an influx of patients. >> we have patients being treated in hallways and in chairs in the waiting room last week, we had to shut down a part of our emergency department because we just didn't have the nursing staff to staff it. >> reporter: but there's some

light at the end of the tunnel cities like chicago, washington, d.c. and new york seeing hospitalizations plateau >> overall, the forecast for covid is much brighter than it had been before, and that is positive news. >> reporter: if you have insurance, you can purchase up to eight at-home covid tests a month, and your insurance provider will cover most or all of the cost. check that you're purchasing from an in network provider. if not, they will only reimburse up to $12 a test and save those receipts. this wednesday, a federal government website goes live families can order up to four tests per household and they will ship in 7 to 12 days. >> we have a billion tests that will become available to people. >> reporter: for many, it will be too little too late as the spread of omicron continues.

so patients will still have to go through this process to get the reimbursements the biden administration is working to try to make these tests free at the time of purchase, but no timeline yet on when this would happen or if it will happen. >> all right thank you. the fbi has walked back earlier comments about this weekend's siege at a texas synagogue, clarifying that it was, indeed, a terrorism related attack targeting the jewish community. a british man took four people hostage in a dallas area synagogue saturday after a police raid, he was dead all the hostages were rescued. morgan chessky has the story >> reporter: the fbi combing the scene where authorities say a gunman held four people hostage. and the president making his stance clear >> this was an act of terror this was an act of terror. >> reporter: investigators

i.d.'d the suspect as 44-year-old malik akram, who took hostages. his voice even heard on a facebook live stream police say his primary demand, the release of a federal prisoner 20 miles away at one time known as lady al qaeda. she was convicted in 2010 of attempted murder of u.s. soldiers >> he was focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the jewish community. >> reporter: negotiators made contact with him early, and he released one hostage unharmed. the rabbi, still trapped inside, said the gunman became increasingly threatening as time went by. within an hour, this pivotal moment akram's brother alleging the remaining hostages were released, not rescued. this video shows three people

leaving what appears to be a side door. confirming his death minutes later. in a statement, he added -- >> reporter: authorities credit the rabbi with keeping the situation calm no surprise to fellow rabbi andrew paily when you got the word everyone made it out okay >> yeah. it's like a release of tears and anxiety, and stress, and thankfulness and praise and worry and all of those all at once >> reporter: the rabbi, now back with his family, posting in part, i am grateful we made it out. i am grateful to be alive. >> our thanks to morgan for that

report joe biden's voting rights reform legislation has hit a dead end in the senate the bill is set to be brought to a vote but not expected to pass the threshold. congressman clyburn was on "meet the press" and this is what he had to say >> people tell me they are for this legislation, but they are against the processes that we have in order to get the leblgle legislation, then i don't think you're oob the right side of history. we need to know who is with us and who is not >> and joe biden gets ready to mark one year in the oval office later this week, the contradictions of the labor market have driven a wave of what's being called the great resignation. some leaving the workforce gor food -- for good

>> reporter: we've seen it >> we need to hire a lot of people >> reporter: we've heard it. >> everybody knows it's very challenging to get staff >> reporter: yet joe biden tells us -- >> the biden economic plan is working. and it's getting america back to work >> reporter: after his first year in office, what is happening in the labor market? in fact, it's been historic. a record 6.4 million new jobs. unemployment down to less than 4% but that doesn't include those out of work, who have given up looking for jox. >> on the one hand, there is a tremendous recovery. on the other, a long way to go >> reporter: 3 million people are no longer working. half retired, many earlier than planned. some laid off, unable to find a new job. others worried about their health another group exiting the workforce, women, staying home to care for their families like naomi pena. >> i had to make a hard decision

between supporting my family and/or getting a paycheck. >> reporter: in august, the mother of four left her job to focus on her kids after months of remote learning was that a hard decision for you? >> for sure. it's your purpose, right it's what you wake up in the morning to do for eight hours a day. >> reporter: while some were forced out of the workplace, others saw an opportunity. danielle left a job teaching second grade to start her own company. >> did the pandemic change the way you thought you could be an entrepreneur >> dech finitely i've always known of your 9:00 to 5:00 looks like this, i have to drive and commute and now i'm learning that you can really reach people across the globe while staying local. >> reporter: all this turnover has employers fighting for workers, offering bonuses and benefits but it's still not enough. why are there so many help

wanted sciewant ed signs you look? >> there is a disconnect in terms of the jobs that people want and the jobs being provide. a lot of employees who are on the sidelining are saying we want to work but if we go there for eight or ten hours a day, we feel like that was a good use of our time or that we were compensated well >> reporter: many workers will have the upper hand in deciding where and when to work >> let's check back in with janessa with more on today's winter storm good morning, janessa. >> good morning. let's now talk about the northern side of this storm system we have winter weather alerts that stretch from south carolina to maine, getting reports from the national service in buffalo. seeing snowfall rates of four inches plus per hour that's going to continue throughout your morning for northeast ohio, all the way into northern new england

some of these spots we are talking at least 8 to 12 inches of snow throughout your afternoon. and that's why those winter storm warnings will continue to be put in place. another element to this large storm system is the wind flow that will continue to pick up from d.c. to maine this afternoon. we're talking about wind gusts e great lakes, chicago today, midwest, low 30s we i want to look at the rest of the week coming up >> all right, janessa, thank you. an american hero who made black history has died charles mcgee passed away on

sunday he was 102 in a statement, his family said he died peacefully in his sleep. mcgee, who enlisted in 1942, flu more than 400 missions, spanning world war ii to vietnam. >> we all salute you we're back in 60 seconds with new details on the value of prince's estate. stay with us my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching... the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is the only medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to.

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from the home mortgage disclosure act, back applicants are more likely than white borrowers to be denied a mortgage in fact, the data found the denial rate was 84% higher for black applicants than white an captains, an increase of 10% over the previous year it found that 19.8% of black applicants are denied a mortgage that's compared to the 10.7% of white applicants were denied a six-year battle over the escape of prince has been settled. the singer, who died in 2016, did not have a will. in the end, the irs and the administrator of his estate, agreed that his wealth totalling $156.4 million, will be split between a new york music company, and three oldest of his heirs. still to come, america's funniest home videos honors its

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the fbi says it's clear, martin luther king, jr. is the most dangerous negro in america, and we have to use every resource at our disposal >> the film that chronicled the last two years of dr. king's life and today, as we observe his legacy, you can deepen your understanding of his work with these six films. they all honor his life, legacy, and crusade for justice. tributes continue to pour in for actor bob saget. "america's funniest home videos" honored him with a tribute during last night's show >> take a look back at bob being bob. ♪ ♪

>> saget hosted the show for eight years from 1989 to 1997. and saget's widow posted a tribute to her late husband, saying --- >> all right will there be more snow this week up next, janessa has a look ahead. and a reotbo scares spiderman out of the top office box. we'll be right back. h jardiance for type 2 diabetes. his underhand sky serve? on fire. his grilling game? on point. and his a1c? ron is on it. with the once-daily pill, jardiance. jardiance not only lowers a1c... it goes beyond to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease. and jardiance may help you lose some weight. jardiance may cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal,

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enjoy the go with charmin. this is your life now, which means whoever this is is going to keep coming for you >> you ready >> for this? never. >> "scream" earned almost $31 million at the box office oerve the weekend. it's the fifth film of the horror franchise and a reboot with a younger cast. the movie is currently number one with "spiderman, no way home" right behind it. bad news for celine dion fans she's canceled the remaining leg of her north american tour they were set to kick off in

march. she has been suffering from severe muscle spasms she said she will focus on getting better to the nfl playoffs now. the chiefs and steelers set their sights on the super bowl, clashing on wild card weekend in kansas city. >> pleaded his case to no avail. williams is now the back he drops it. and it gets -- the second time, and it's picked up by t.j. watt, into the end zone he goes! >> t.j. watt put pittsburgh on the board first, only for patrick mahomes to start scoring at will. this could be ben roeth roethlisberger's last game kc advances, and a showdown with the bills. and after their first playoff victory in over 30 years, the

cincinnati bengals head up to nashville for a matchup with the top-seeded titans. and in dallas, achaotic finish dak prescott runs straight up the middle the clock keeps ticking. dallas cannot get another play off. the 49ers win 23-17. and tom brady's quest for a super bowl title got started in tampa. the bucs to the 31-0 lead over the eagles tampa bay wins it 31-15. >> all right on this holiday monday, time to celebrate birthdays today, starting with jameser jones, who is 91 years old. maury povich is 83 host steve harvey turns 65 years old. and jim carrey is 60 >> it's also michelle obama's

birthday she turns 58 today rapper kid rock is 51. actress zoe dachanel is 42 and calvin harris is 38. thanks for waking up with us on this monday. i'm philip mena. >> and i'm frances rivera. have a

this morning, the fbi revealing more about the man who held a rabbi hostage and others omicron cases appear to be leveling off in some areas and the number one tennis player was deported and now is in dubai nfl highlights today would have been betty

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