speaking out, a woman who had a long-time relationship with herschel walker is talking exclusively to nbc news about allegations of violent behavior. this as a record number of georgians have already hit the polls ahead of tomorrow's senate runoff turning point. news of iran's mortality police potentially being disbanded after months of protests remembering one of the original cast members of "sesame street" as the legendary bob mcgrath passes away at 90. the president calls out four

members of the band u2, george clooney and more at the kennedy center honors. and changing the lives of those in foster care it's monday, december 5th. "early today" starts right now hope you had a good weekend. good morning i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. we begin this morning with a final spread in georgia's runoff race for u.s. senate with just one day to go, senator raphael warnock and his republican challenger herschel walker made their final appeals to voters in a campaign blitz this weekend the stakes are high as democrats speak to expand their majority in the senate. a warnock victory would give them 51 seats, breaking the eventually split chamber that has been a bitter race filled with troubling allegations brie jackson joins us now from d.c. good morning there are new allegations against walker with a woman now speaking out who says he cannot be senator >> good morning, frances sheryl parser who was in a

five-year relationship with walker spoke exclusively to nbc news, alleging the former football star physically attacked her in 2005 after she caught him with another woman. >> he just hovered over me and pinned me on the wall. and began, you know, continued to say you want to see a man, i'll show you a man. and he was pressing his forehead against mine my head was against the wall he was speaking such force that his saliva was all over my face. and he had his hand on my throat and my chest, and then he leaned back to throw a punch. and luckily i was able to avoid that, and the punch landed on the wall instead of me >> walker and his campaign have not responded to parser's allegation her story not the first

allegation of domestic abuse against the football star. his ex-wife cindy grossman accused him of domestic abuse, including threatening to shoot and kill her two months ago, walker's son tweeted that his father had previously, quote, threatened to kill us. and there have been multiple women who allege that walker paid them to have abortions, allegations he has denied. walker has previously acknowledged suffering from mental health issues during the period of these allegations. he even wrote a book about having disassociative identity disorder that's a condition in which a individual has various and distinct personalities >> a little over 24 hours. thank you. the tight senate race is casting a new light on a law that adds a hurdle for students at historically black colleges under the 2006 voter id law, students at public universities can use their student id to vote, but that legislation does not extend to private schools. that include seven out of ten

hbcus. voting rights experts say it confuses voters and leads to many of them not casting a ballot at all. the attorney general of iran has said the country's feared mortality police will be abolished. in remarks to local media, the ag went on the say that iran's parliament is reviewing the law that requires women to wear head coverings. nbc news cannot independently verify his comments, nor has iran's officially confirmed anything the islamic republic has seen widespread protests for months after the december of mahsa amini, the 22-year-old kurdish iranian woman who had been arrested by the brutality police the waukesha, wisconsin christmas parade is back one year after a karamling attack that left six dead and dozens injured. it was an emotional scene where tradition was preserved and victims remembered maura barrett was at the parade and spoke to one of the survivors of last year's senseless violates what does it mean to you that

you're back here dancing again after being injured? >> it means that i have lots of angels surrounding me. >> out of safety concerns, this year the city quadrupled the police presence at the parade and altered the route from past years. $800,000 were also spent on new vehicle barriers the driver darrell brooks was convicted of murder and received six consecutive life sentences with no possibility of early release. brooks, who defended himself during the trial plans to appeal former president donald trump is facing criticism from both parties today after he suggested the constitution be terminated in his effort to overturn the 2020 election results. the 2024 candidate again cited baseless claims of widespread election fraud the white house says the attack on the constitution should be universally condemned. on a t sunday shows, some republicans were asked to weigh in. >> i vehemently disagree with

the statement that trump has made trump has made a thousand statements in which i disagree >> first off, he has no ability to suspend the constitution. secondly -- >> he says he is for it. >> well, he says a lot of things but that doesn't mean that it's ever going to happen >> the top republicans in congress have not publicly commented on trump's post. nbc news reached out to spokespeople for senate minority leader mitch mcconnell and house minority leader kevin mccarthy, but as of this morning have not received a case. a missing girl case in take has now turned into a murder investigation, and at the center of it, a fed ex driver who dropped off the package the day the 7-year-old went missing. maggie vespa has details, including what fed ex is now saying about its delivery drivers. >> in a neighborhood near fort worth. >> it's one of the hardest

investigations i've been involved in because it's a child. >> reporter: confirming 7-year-old athena strand has been found dead, her body found less than ten miles from her driver where fed ex driver tanner len horner was making a delivery when he kidnapped the girl athena's stepmother was reportedly inside. >> i spent quite a bit of time with the family. they're devastated they're angry. >> reporter: the nightmare started wednesday. authorities say athena got home from school around 4:30. two hours later, her stepmother, realizing she is gone calls 911, prompting an amber alert and a search led by 200 volunteers then a tip someone remembers seeing a delivery driver. investigators working with the texas rangers and the fbi id horner they believe he killed athena within an hour of taking her . >> we'll say that we have a confession. >> reporter: a search by nbc news revealed no criminal record for horner, who authorities note is a contract driver with fed

ex the company writing words cannot express our shock and sorrow, adding that fed ex contracts with independent businesses. and those employees are subject to criminal history background checks >> stranger abduction and homicide is every parent's worst nightmare. >> reporter: former fbi special agent fox notes while stranger abductions are rare, close encounters with strangers have become more common with them headlines about crimes about unsuspecting customers fox hopes parents seeing athena's story talk to their kid. >> making sure they understand that they can be polite, but they also have the right to yell and scream no if somebody tries taking them. >> we've reached out to athena's family so far no response horner is charged with aggravated kidnapping and capital murder he is being held on $1.5 million bond >> our thanks to maggie for that report a beloved resident of "sesame street" has passed away.

sesame workshop is mourning the loss of bob mcgrath, one of the original cast members. they say he embodied the melodies of "sesame street" like no one else. ♪ and if i didn't love you, how could i miss you ♪ ♪ and feel sad, happy, happy sad ♪ >> bob played a friendly neighbor for the first 47 seasons, and continued to make appearances after that he once said the impact the show has on millions of kids was the most gratifying thing anyone could hope for his family says he died peacefully at home bob mcgrath was 90 years old they say everything is bigger in texas, and one team sunday night certainly stood all thor in dallas >> complete, ceedee lamb, was he down

no, he is into the end zone. >> the cowboys scored early on the colts, but indianapolis kept battling back until the fourth quarter. dallas scored 33 points in the final period, taking the win, 54-19. eagles qb jalen hurts was flying high with four total touchdowns and 3 o yards passing as philly moves to 11-1. they flew by the titans, 35-10 phillies still hold a two-game lead in the division over the cowboys soaring above the giants and the commanders who tied on sunday. everyone in that division, the nfc east, except for washington currently holds a play-off spot. patrick mahomes in the chiefs, they led heading into the fourth quarter but the bengals scored ten unanswered and a missed kansas city field goal would seal the victory for the third time in 2022 the bengals get the best of the chiefs cinci wins it 27-24. justin fields tried to rewrite this chapter of the

nfl's oldest rivalry, but aaron rodgers wasn't having it the packers beat the bears once again, the eighth straight time in fact. this was 28-19 with that victory, the packers surpass the bears for the most regular season wins in nfl history. the record standing at 787 it's the first time since 1921 the chicago is not the league's winningest franchise one of the nfl's most controversial players returned to the field sunday. desean jackson made his browns debut after dozens of women accused him of sexual sexual misconduct while he played for the texans he was booed while he entered the stadium. >> i can't imagine you've ever been booed every time you've taken a snap for an entire half of football. what does that feel like >> i definitely have, south carolina in college. >> you got a think it's not about rivalry this time.

>> like i said, i can't control that >> at least ten of his accusers watched watson's return in person, but declined an interview according to their attorney now to weather and some potential flash flooding in some areas. let's bring in nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. good morning, michelle >> good morning, guys. we're going to be watching the threat for flash flooding over the next several days. it's a warm front that is moving very slowly. we're seeing showers the tennessee valley into the south. and that's where we're going to see the risk for the flash flooding the warm front is going to move slowsly, pulling in the gulf moisture showers will expand during the afternoon. we'll see the brighter color, the reds, the yellows, the oranges. the system will slowly move across the mid south tomorrow. we'll see rain into the northeast as well. scattered showers before we see that rain moving in. it's going to continue on wednesday. looking for the chance forouth

temperatures above normal for this time of year. in the 70s and 80s in texas. all right, guys. we're going to take a look at that week ahead forecast, and there is still more rain in the forecast. >> thank you so much, michelle see you in a bit in today's legal quick hits, dominion's $1.6 billion lawsuit against fox news heats up today as lachlan murdoch faces questioning. he is scheduled to appear in the defamation suit that fox news made false claims about its voting machines in the 2020 elections. the jury could deliver a verdict today in the harvey weinstein los angeles trial. he faces up to life in prison for multiple sex crimes. he was already convicted in a separate new york case the jury will begin deliberatiting today in the tru trial. the company y accused of giving

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new this morning, president biden hosted the kennedy center honorees at the white house. >> you embody the very spirit of we the people of this year kennedy center honorees, they're an incredible group of people. and we the people see case we see amal clooney's husband. >> this year's honorees also included singers amy grant and gladys knight, composer tania leon and the members of u2 mr. biden thanked the honorees for their volunteerism and contributions to music and the arts the group was celebrated at the john f. kennedy center for the performing arts in its 45th annual event president biden and vice president harris as well as their respected spouses were in attendance and house speaker nancy pelosi's husband paul made his first public appearance since being assaulted in their san francisco home in october. a 62-year-old american woman is confirmed dead after a

massive wave crashed into a cruise ship traveling in antarctica it happened on tuesday it is known as a rogue wave incident video taken on board the viking polaris shows the choppy waters before the ship was hit. viking cruise confirms the passenger death saying an investigation as been launched the u.s. state department did not say if there were any americans among the four injured. now to some unruly behavior at the airport a woman claim tock a relative of former new jersey governor chris christie injured six deputies as she was kicked off a flight leaving new orleans. the jefferson parish sheriff's office says shannon epstein was asked to leave the plane after asking a family who she believed were latino if they were smuggling cocaine. she isis accused of biting one deputy andnd kickiking another the groin.n. she allegedly told the deputies they were going to lose their jobs because she is related to christie christie did not immediately respond to a request for

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call it the keys to a better future jose diaz-balart tells us about the life-changing holiday surprise for one resilient group of people. >> go ahead and open your little memory box >> reporter: it was a life-changing surprise last month. that gave this group new hope ahead of the holidays. >> you are all getting a car and a year worth of insurance and a year worth of gas. >> reporter: for nine guests at this new york city celebration, a gift promising a new car, insurance, and free gas for a year

the emotions overwhelming after lives marked by tough times. most here are former foster kids like 23-year-old brielle she had been in 12 different homes, all before age 7. what does this mean to you >> getting a car was just a blessing and it was just -- my kids will be warm. that's the first thing i thought of my kids will be warm we won't have to be cold waiting on the bus >> reporter: the cars a lifeline from the nonprofit one simple wish its mission, to spread love, hope, and joy to children and young adults impacted by foster care, abuse and neglect. >> i'm so committed to doing anything i can to make life better for you. >> reporter: the group's founder. what inspired you to do the giveaways? >> one of the greatest hurdles for individuals who age out of the foster system is transportation so when we were thinking about the holidays are coming up, what is the way we can surprise them

with something really epic. >> reporter: he won a car that night too. the orphan from war-torn liberia nominated for his dedication to helping other foster kids. it means a safe ride for his daughter and reliable transportation to his job as founder of a peer mentorship group in georgia. >> it's been a rough journey, trying to figure out how to survive on the outside and building these relationships that i want to be able to reach back and help other young kids to do that. >> reporter: the car a symbol of empowering support for a better road ahead why do you do what you do? >> i do what i do believe i really truly believe in the power of love toe make a difference in anybody's love. >> our thanks to jose for sharing that story wow, what a ride they're all going to be on when it comes to a ride of support, the ride of independence and community and love too >> fantastic gesture and we underestimate how important it is times.

you take it for granted, you know, getting from point a to point b that easily. >> it means so much to them. thank you so much for starting our week with "early today." i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. today, an exclusive first look at the welcome to monday.

the runoff in georgia is a day away this morning an nbc news exclusive. hear from a woman to speak out publicly alleging domestic violence against herschel walker since the campaign began. . > and from idaho, two roommates who were in the house when the roommates were killed the pair speaking out. people are struggling with a record amount of credit card debt our brian cheung helping you to avoid a holiday headacheover. week 1