winter's first bite. the massive snowstorm that paralyzed parts of california sparks blifrnld warnings across the plains congress races to prevent a government shutdown ahead of the holidays the former billionaire face of crypto now facing prison time the founder of ftx is arrested in the bahamas and the technological breakthrough that could usher in a new era of green energy. >> if we have fusion, we can

drop fossil fuels immediately and forever. >> inside the game-changing discovery in nuclear fusion. a photographer overcoming the challenge of a lifetime to achieve his vision it's tuesday, december 13th. "early today" starts right now good to be with you, i'm frances rivera >> i'm vinita nair a massive winter threat is charging east after slamming the west in california some 48 inches of snow fell in 48 hours some areas saw as much as five feet of snow drivers faced whiteout conditions, many left stranded on the interstate for hours p the storm also packed hurricane-force winds at 169 miles per hour in utah, 18 were hospitalized with two in critical condition after a bus rolled over. millions are facing severe threats of weather heavy snow is expected to the plains and midwest

and the south could see tornados, strong winds and hail. for more on all of this, let's bring in our new nbc meteorologist, angie lassman a quiet day for you, maybe. >> i don't know who say it's quiet. almost everybody across the central plains and stretching into the south and gulf coast and as far north at dakotas are dealing with wintry impacts and severe weather the system that we are tracking into the west coast over the weekend and yesterday has now shifted, and you can see it's bringing whipping winds to the northern plains. it will continue its trek off to the east and bring the severe impacts to places like louisiana, mississippi, alabama. but those winter alerts are widespread 15 million impacted. this does include a blizzard warning, stretching into cheyenne, north platte

they will see whipping winds as we look at the peak wind gusts, cheyenne, 50 miles per hour this means travel is going to be difficult. staying off the roads is really a must not just today but into tomorrow, ladies >> thank you, angie. it is a historic day for marriage equality in america president biden is expected to sign the respect for marriage act into law this afternoon. the legislation gives federal protection to same-sex and interracial couples. the president is expected to sign the bill at a ceremony at the white house today. president biden thanked congress for passing the bill with support from both parties. brie jackson joins us from d.c the question now can congress work together again to avoid a government shutdown. >> reporter: lawmakers only have until friday to reach a deal to have the government funded democrats want to pass a massive full-year spending bill, but top

republicans want to set their own long-term plans when the gop takes over the house on january 3rd. it is seeming more likely that we will see a one-week stopgap solution, as the negotiations continue >> later this week, members should be prepared to take quick action on a cr a one-week cr. so we can give appropriators more time to finish a full funding bill before the holidays >> we would be stronger in every negotiation. so any republican that's out there trying to work with them is wrong why wouldn't you wait -- >> does that include mcconnell in. >> yes why would you want to wait on anything if we have thf we hvee inside congress. wait until we're in charge >> reporter: the parties are about $26 billion apart on the top line numbers republicans are pushing for military funding to be higher. senate leaders also want to attach a bipartisan election overhaul measure to the funding

bill that includes several steps aimed at preventing another january 6. now if a one-week resolution passes, that means the next deadline to avoid a government shutdown will be just two days before christmas frances? >> brie, thank you very much for the update there are new signs of a new surge at the border. mostly in el paso, texas in the last year, a record 2.4 million crossings have been reported title 42, a trump-era measure is set to expire. the family of a missing student abroad is desperate for a sign of life ken deland was last seen ten days ago. he had left his host family's house and traveled

further south in the country and then vanished. >> reporter: this is the last known image of ken deland, an image in this photo wearing a red jacket and carrying a backpack ken, a senior at st. john fisher university in new york was planning to return home for christmas. his family last heard from him on november 27 and according to his family, his phone last pinged on november 30 the surveillance video was taken december 3, and after that he vanished his family says he was traveling a lot, posting pictures from many different places and keeping in contact with his family his family and friends now clinging to hope that he's still alive. a prayer service for him, hoping that he's okay, yellow ribbons on the tree outside the church >> i believe wherever he is,

whatever is holy and sacred is with him and brings him comfort and peace. >> reporter: the family has set up a website hoping to alert the public about their missing son and get any information. he was studying at the university of grenoble alps. his family was first alerted to his disappearance when he was missing for 24 hours today marks one month since the brutal slayings of four students in idaho. authorities admit they have a lot of information they're not releasing to the public. but days ago a stock image of a white hyundai elantra was released that they believe was near the house at the time of the murders. it's unclear how close they are to solving the case, police are making it clear their priority is not only to catch the killer but make sure the killer is convicted. researchers have a

scientific break through in nuclear fusion the process emits no greenhouse gases, hinting at limitless clean energy as early as the next decade. here's tom costello. >> reporter: nuclear scientists call it the holy grail of clean energy they've been chasing for decades. nbc news confirming the department of energy is expected to announce that researchers at the lawrence livermore national lac lab in california have used lasers to create a nuclear fusion action that creates energy, a huge breakthrough in producing an endless plsupply o clean, cheap fuel. >> it will drive the entire ecosystem of electrified things. >> reporter: they have spent billions trying to replicate how

the sun produces energy. once fully developed, it could power entire cities and the batteries inside our cars. but that could take a decade or more >> if we had fusion, we could drop fossil fuels immediately and forever. right? it would be game over. we would have all the energy we needed more than all the energy we needed >> reporter: news that researchers in a national laboratory made the breakthrough a boost to president biden's efforts to go green. scientists say it will take time to develop the massive fusion power plants that would power an entire city. but that's an engineering challenge. they've already made the break through discovery to start the process. back to you. >> we are on our way, okay, tom, thank you. let's head back to our new meteorologist, angie lassman could the winter storm pack more than just snow >> the short answer, ladies, is yes. there's a lot going on the severe threat is unfolding in portions of the south

and that's what we're going to keep an eye on in the afternoon hours and overnight tonight. can you see the bull's eye for the impacts for strong storms is going to be stretching from arkansas to texas out towards all of louisiana, really and into portions of mississippi but the bull's eye for tornados, this red area, that's where you want to keep a close eye and stay connected through the afternoon hours and into the evening hours as well for impacts from thosen m miss oula the blizzard conditions are continuing to unfold in the central plains president biden kicked off

this week by honoring toys for tots he and the first lady visited a marine corps base. the group collected 22 million toys last year for 8 million children in need, giving santa a run for his money. a popular suv is recalled over a fire risk and a nbc news exclusive the homelaland securitity secre gegets personanal as he talks a iraq a and hate crcrimes about iraq a and hate crimes afteter vacuumining, because frfresh means s c. i spray y every chanance i . starts wororking instatanty to f freshen anyny room. i spray y every chanance i . febreze aiair.

a dedental tooll isis round foror a reason.. so is an o oral-b. a dedental tooll isis round foror a reason.. round d cleans betetter by sururrounding e each toot. so clean, you'll feel like you just lefeft the dentntist. oral-b-b. brush lilike a pro. ♪♪♪ . we have a consumer alert to tell but subaru is is recalling 270,000 of its 2019 to 2022 ascent suvs due a fire risk. owners are warned to park away from garages, carports and other structures until repairs can be

made the needed repairs will be made at no cost and they plan to contact owners can you find more under subaru's website under recalls. president biden announced he is forming an interagency group to develop a national strategy to combat anti-semitism. alejandra mayorkas spoke about the growing concern. >> what does your intelligence tell you about the severity of the threat jews face in the united states today? >> regrettably, jacob, the threat is only increasing. >> tracking hate is part of the job. and the work is personal you're jewish. your mother fled the holocaust, and you lost nine family members in the holocaust how personal is this to you? >> it's extraordinarily personal my mother is experienced, very much shaped our understanding of the vulnerability and fragility

of life. and it helps drive the imperative to eradicate hate and make people safe >> nearly two years ago at your confirmation hearing, you said hundred you had wanted to tackle the issue once and for all, but what i hear you say today is that it's only become worse >> that's right, but our fight has become more fervent, to addressing targeted violence against any group has become more and more intense. >> jewish people are among the top targets of hate crimes in america. 63% of hate crimes are motivated by anti-semitism preliminary numbers this year tell a similar story do you think the dhs needs to be doing more >> the difficulty here is the following. that there is a fundamental right, of course, of free speech and it is not for us to tackle

that speech itself however odious, however offensive it might be. we get involved when there's a connectivity between hate and violence >> nbc news, new york. >> you can see more of jacob's special "epidemic of hate" this wednesday y on nbc n news now. u.s. stocks rally as we gear up for a new inflation report. and the founder of f ftx behind b bars. steve e sedgwick d dives foot t dramamatic fall.l. sedgwickck di drdramatic falall. toto gabby. to grarandma.. then, gertrudede found someththing for itit. delsym. anand now whatat's going a ard is 12-hourur cough relelief. anand the giggggles. and ththe great dadane pup. anand the giggggles. and grgrandma's glgluten-free goosebeberry pie.. whwhich is actctually prettyty great. the e family that t takes delsysym togethe,

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a key inflation report due out this morning could set the tone for the economy in 2023 stocks were mostly flat right now. but the dow jumped 3500 points

the dow and s&p were up more than 1%. the man once dubbed the king of crypto is now in handcuffs. steve sedgwick is here to break it all down for us hi, steve, good morning. >> really good morning, frances. g good morning, vanita we have the start of the two-day fomc meeting, which is the central bank deciding on how much they're going to raise rates. the market thinks moanother 50 basis points and it could set the tone for the next few months of where the market thinks, the fed thinks the market is going. the cpi, the inflation data now, if it comes in a little less hot than the 7.7% figure we saw last time the market kos s could reay rally. people continue to worry about the state of the economy and the

state of inflation right now sam bankman fro-frieds been arrested in the bahamas we don't know what charges yet, but it is expected to be sealed until this morning so we'll get more details on what the u.s. prosecutors are looking for from this indictment as well. the "new york times" reports the charges against bankman-fried could include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud as well as stand alone charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, and the sec is also initiating a separate set of charges against bankman-fried as well, relating to violations of our security laws so suddenly, all of a sudden, the slow-moving story has got very, very quick and it will be very interesting to see how that extradition from the bahamas to the u.s. transpires but worrying times for sam bankman-fried. >> no doubt an intriguing free fall from where he once stood.

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i'veve got this.s. ♪♪♪ i'veve got this.s. let's take a look at the severe threat unfolding in parts of the south see this bright green area in that's where we have a flood watch already in effect. we've seen flood warnings go into effect as well. as that system tracks further to the east, the rainfall rates will be impressive an inch per hour that's what we will see today but as it shifts to the east, we see accumulations stretching into the east coast, the carolinas, parts of virginia but as we get in today, the flooding threat will continue for louisiana, mississippi and alabama. guys, it's going to be a busy day today and tomorrow g >> but you've got us covered 'ved

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now to a milestone nearly seven decades in the making. joyce started northern illinois university in 1951 with when she was 19 years old and at 90 years old she finally graduated this weekend she was the first in her family to attend college. she met her husband and dropped out. 17 children and 24 grandchildren later, she finally met her goal. she was ten courses shy and completed them all online. she is the embodiment of never

giving up on your dream. now to the photographer inspiring america despite facing the challenge of a lifetime. rahaima ellis has his story. >> reporter: russell frederick always has a camera in his hand. that' that's because he's a photographer, focussed on capturing images of his beloved brooklyn that most never see >> brooklyn is riced peas. brooklyn is soul food. >> reporter: beautiful images that frame the social and cultural diversity of the borough he calls home. >> these are images that will shift perspectives >> reporter: look at this. >> yes >> reporter: a man teaching his son how to tie a tie for the first time there's a tenderness here. >> absolutely. >> reporter: frederick picked up a camera 25 years ago. >> i didn't know the difference between an f stop and a bus stop >> reporter: he basically taught himself how to use it. >> the camera is such a powerful

tool >> reporter: he's trained his lens on his neighbors and beyond his work featured in "ebony" and the "washington post." but he faced a setback you got devastating health news, how did it strike you? >> you can't make me cry on camera now, oh, man. i thought my life was over >> reporter: advanced glaucoma left him blind in one eye and vision fading in the other first despair, then it was back to work. >> lost my sight but not my vision >> reporter: now, using digital technology to sharpen his images, as he continues work on his book about brooklyn and turns to directing and produce >> you mind if i take your photograph >> reporter: moving a little slower >> hold that right there >> reporter: but still with a sensitive eye to tell stories of the world as he sees it. rahaima ellis, nbc news, new york >> wow, a new way of seeing what he loves in new york city.

we are rooting for him >> and really, two back-to-back inspiring people, a grandmother and this guy >> thanks for kicking off your tuesday with "early today" from. we're 12 days from christmas we're 12 days from christmas ho ♪mumusic playining♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ nonothing brinings the pacak togegether like a t trip to great t wolf lodgege. now openen in northehern californiaia.

i think i'm past the masks right now, and i think it just has to do with being careful. >> right now at 4:30, masking hesitancy. covid is surging. so is it time to bring back the mask? doctors weigh in on the latest surge and the reason some believe we can do without. plus, no indication nor warning. the new details coming to light about the vta rail yard shooting in san jose. also, the questions that still remain unanswered. and a live look outside. you'll want to bundle up as you head outdoors today. a cold front is here. meteorologist kari hall is tracking a freeze warning and the cold temperatures expected this