serial killer stopped. police in california believe they've arrested the person behind at least six murders. our maura barrett is in stockton with the latest. we're live in beijing where china's leader just laid out the superpower's plans for years to come, including taking full of control of taiwan by force if needed. better bundle up tens of millions of americans will be walking out the door to some frigid temperatures today our michelle grossman has the latest. and a new tool is out to

help those with student debt apply for relief details ahead. and we'll introduce you to two women who are friends off the field, but fierce competitors and trailblaze owners the field "early today" starts right now >> good to have you with us to start off the week i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. it's time to layer up. 53 million americans are under freeze alerts this morning record cold is sweepling across two-thirds of the country, starting today, with temperatures dropping from ohio to tennessee nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking the cold front for us good morning, michelle >> good morning, guys. and yeah, it is very chilly out there. it's going to be extremely chilly as we head tonight into tuesday. taking a look at alerts across the area we're talking the rockies to the midwest into the ohio valley, even as far south as the southeast. we have freeze warnings, freeze watches. that's where you see the purple. it's going to be a cold one for many to start our workweek we're looking at temperatures so

cold this morning, into the 30s right above freezing in minneapolis right now. 34 degrees and i'm going to tell you, it's not going to go very far throughout the day in the 40s in chicago, st. louis. the wind direction straight from canada it's that cold canadian air that's sweeping down, and that will continue to be in place over the next several days so tomorrow morning we're waking up temperatures 10 degrees in aberdeen we'll talk more about the cold temperatures and a little bit of snow in the forecast in just a bit. >> sounds good, michelle thank you. breaking overnight a man has been arrested in connection with a series of murders in stockton, california. police tracked down the suspect with tips from the community nbc's maura barrett has the details. >> reporter: neighbors breathing a sigh of relief after hearing the suspected stockton serial killer has been arrested does it make you feel a little more at ease >> i'm at ease, yes, i am. because i wasn't going out by myself. >> reporter: 43-year-old wesley brownlee is booked on suspicion of at least one murder and assorted weapons offenses in the

san joaquin county jail, held without bail when taken into custody, police said he was wearing dark clothing, a mask around his neck, and was carrying a gun law enforcement says the suspect's pattern of preying started in his car before he stalked his victims on foot. police followed this exact path. they arrested him right here at 2:00 a.m. on saturday. they said he was on a mission to kill, just blocks from where some of the attacks took place >> he was out hunting. we are sure we stopped another killing. >> reporter: according to public records, brownlee has a criminal history across california and arizona, connected to past drug and traffic violations and a dui. most of the victims were latino men. several of them homeless but officials say there is no evidence the killings were race-based or targeted >> i was here at work, and got a call from my nephew. he told me that paul had been shot multiple times and that he died in the hospital. >> reporter: greta bogrod is the

mother of paul who was killed in july does this bring any closure for you? >> yes, and no i'm just grateful that they were able to save it from happening to another person and another family having to go through what we've gone through it's just been horrific. >> reporter: police examining ballistic evidence from this 9 millimeter handgun found in the suspect's car. you don't come to our house and bring this kind of reign of terror. >> reporter: the district attorney promising to bring justice for victims' families who are aching for accountability any motive behind the attacks is still unclear. the d.a.'s office telling me that any official decision on charges are still yet to be made the ballistic evidence will factor into that they expect to get that report back before the suspect is arraigned in court on tuesday. back to you. >> okay, mature remarks thank you. on the cusp of securing his third term as china's leader, xi jinping is warning taiwan and the west speaking at the 20th chinese communist party congress, xi

said that taiwan belongs to china and did not rule out using military force well go now to janis mackey frayer who is in beijing you were there when he spoke what was reaction when he mentioned taiwan >> there was the loudest and most sustained applause of the entire address for his comments on taiwan. they came toward the end of the speech where he declared that taiwan will be unified with mainland china now that's not breaking any new ground this has been central to xi jinping's position before. what seemed different this time was that it seemed less aspirational and more a statement of fact. this is one of xi jinping's goals for the so-called rejuvenation of china. so it's possible that this is going to happen during his tenure, which will be at least another fife years and possibly

longer a party congress happens twice a decade, but this one is significant with xi jinping about to secure power for a third term this is precedent-breaking, and begins to move china toward a more uncovmfortable territory of having that degree of power lying with a single leader the speech was 104 minutes long. talked obsessively of security he mentioned security and safety at least 70 times. he talked about a stronger military for china and while he didn't name names, he did allude to dangerous