rare december tornados becoming all too normal. more than 50 ripping across seven states across the south as the storm pushes into the northeast. is covid coming home for christmas? the white house bringing back free testing as cases surge, the same day congress tosses out a vaccine mandate. sparking a new tweet storm, why elon musk says he has banned a group of journalists from twitter. and scienc signs of e sign

the santa making christmas extra special for those children hard-of-hearing. "early today" starts right now i'm phillip mena >> i'm cori coffin a chaotic week for the u.s. as a winter storm tore through the majority of the country. the midwest facing heavy snow and high winds multiple crashes plaguing roadways with at least one dead. the northeast could face up to 18 inches of snow and parts of the south are still reeling from tornados that tore through seven states >> reporter: the deadly storm system that decimated parts of the south is on the move severe thunderstorms and one tornado in florida hours after tornados tore through louisiana where they killed at least three people >> they're going to certify somewhere between ten and 15

tornados >> reporter: this massive twister slamming new orleans neighborhoods, and the city's outlying suburbs >> i'm watching my roof come up. boom >> reporter: homes flattened cars flipped the trail of destruction isolated but devastating families losing everything just days before the holidays >> this was my great grandfather's house. >> reporter: in kelowna, marvin brown is salvaging what he can of the home that's been in his family for more than 100 years it made it through hurricanes. >> yeah, but one tornado unexpectedly >> reporter: do you rebuild? >> yes, yes, i guess we have to. >> reporter: since monday, more than 50 tornados have been reported across the south. the outbreak scientists say is driven in part by increasingly warmer temperatures. the same massive storm system bringing blizzard conditions to parts of the northern plains, the dakotas, nebraska and wyo

wyoming pummeled with ice and snow >> you have to be ready to handle the worst case scenario >> reporter: much of the northeast bracing for its bout with the deadly december storm system morgan chesky, kelowna, louisiana. >> as the storm churns east, millions are still in its past angie lassman is here with what we need to know. >> we round out the workweek still dealing with the storm system that as we started the week was on the west coast now it's tracked across entire united states and impacting folks in the northeast with rain and snow you can kind of see the transition line from boston, hartford and philadelphia. it's rain we're dealing with as we look to the interior parts of the northeast, it's the snow. let's talk about those things we will see the e whether w winter alerts

u as up as far as the rainfall amounts, near boston, we could see near two inches of rain we'll be dealing with maybe two feet of snow in the infeterior areas. new thisthis. >>morning. congress has passed a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. it buys time for a full year funding measure. they have reached agreement on a framework for that bill. the senate has also sent a military policy bill to president biden to lift the covid vaccine mandate for troops there is a new push by the

white house for more americans to to get vaccinated. officials urging people to get protected against the flu and covid as both viruses surge before the holidays. >> reporter: as americans head into the holidays, fears that t ththe flu is h hitting stronger earlier than before. flu hospitalizations doubling in the last two weeks what does the trajectory look like right now as it relates to the flu in your community and across the country >> we're seeing it pabout a mont earlier than we have in previous years. >> reporter: the most recent cdc data shows 44 states reporting high or very high flu activity part of a dangerous trio of viruses this winter including covid and rsv, a respiratory illness that impacts children but now showing signs of easing. are we still facing a triple dem eck where rsv, flu and covid are

surging at once? >> rsv looks like it has peaked and is on its way down probably the worst flu outbreak in a decade, and then covid is on an upswing with increasing number of cases. >> reporter: the white house is restarting its program to make available for free tests at home the government also increasing access to vaccines with mobile and pop-up vaccination sites major cities like l.a. and new york are recommending people once again wear masks indoors. >> all of it comes after president biden declared three months ago that the pandemic was over how has that complicated the messaging to keep american vigilant >> we continue to see people getting sick, needlessly dying of covid >> reporter: dr. jha is urging people to get the vaccines

he says talk to your doctor about treatments like paxlovid, especially if you're over 60 a husbandu.s. district judgs stopping the biden administration from lifting the remain in mexico policy. now this is separate from another trump-era policy known as title 42 set to expire next week it is a public health rule invoked during the pandemic allowing migrants to be quickly expelled from the country. a scary moment caught on camera in texas. an f-35b fighter jet bouncing on a runway the jet spun out of control, losing its nose wheel. the pilot thankfully successfully ejected, parachuting to the ground.

no word yet on their condition this morning people across north dakota and minnesota are digging out after getting hit with another round of snow from the same storm system we've been talking about. reporter bailey hurley of our fargo affiliate rode along with one driver >> this is not the fun snow to work with. it's great for snowballs and forts but not good for cleaning up >> reporter: it felt like a losing game for daniel jle john. >> i'd go on the west side and come back on the east side and it didn't even look like i touched the west side, i'm like, no >> reporter: while it's better, it's still not great, the slushy snow making cleanup efforts that much harder. >> the heavier it is, the harder it is to push. you knock down mailboxes just with throwing the snow, because it's like a brick. >> reporter: it's a job sometimes made a bit more

difficult with cars parked on the street >> we try not to bury both sides so it's easier for them to get out. but, we have to, obviously, we have to clean the roads. >> reporter: and john says if you feel like your block is always the last one to get dug out, just know, plow operators try not to do that >> there are reasons why we clear things the way we clear them, but we do try to switch it up >> reporter: through the 12-hour shifts that will likely last the rest of the week, john makes the most of the job, finding joy and satisfaction in watching that dirty slush get kicked to the curb >> you got to find joy when you are out pushing snow for 12 hours. you got to find what makes you happy. yes, it does >> thanks for bailey for bringing us informed perspective . >> we need perspective like that the plains just getting hammered by thaulall this snow. is there any relief in sight

>> yes, there is, especially for the plains we're going to start to see it let up as we get to the later parts of today but some locations like minnesota and north dakota are seeing 20, 40 inches of snow that will eventually move out of the snow and move out for places like the midwest and northern plains the system that we're watching for the northeast that's impacting us for today, the snow and rain will eventually move out. here's how we track that into saturday you can siee some major improvements bus bismarck is feeling like one below. really dangerously cold conditions the next couple days

mark and 23 in fargo the cold will eventually spread to the east, guys, and we'll be dealing with a nicer weekend faas far as no snow or rain, but the chill will definitely feel like winter the first of 82 college football teams are going bowling today, and bowl season in the bahamas. a matchup between uab and miami of ohio, plus a pair of champions playing in the cure bowl six games are on the saturday slate, including the fenway bowl in boston. oregon state playing in the las vegas bowl against florida shifting fields to soccer, france and argentina are looking to add to their nations' legacies on the pitch in the world cup final. history is on the line at 10:00 a.m. eastern on sunday we back with details on officers facing charges after a deadly arrest.

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new this morning, five louisiana officers were charged in the deadly 2019 arrest of ronald green authorities originally blamed his death on a car crash, but long-suppressed body camera footage showed white officers beating, stunning and dragging green, who is black, as he yelled "i'm scared." it lacked attention until an investigation by "the associated press" exposed a cover up. cory york is facing the most serious of these charges a negligent homicide and ten counts of malfeasance in office. others were charged with patho malfeasance and obstruction of justice. a mrs. claus is hailed a hero we want to warn you.

some of you may find this footage disturbing >> get down. i'm trying to help you we're trying to help you >> reporter: body camera catching the dramatic moment fredericksburg lieutenant raced to therescue in the video, you can hear the woman sobbing as she's pulled to safety those in law enforcement wear many hats. but she was wearing a mrs. claus costume, heading home from the public safety santa run, decked out with her wig and grasses and boots. >> she had one leg and her whole upper body over. so i activated my emergency equipment, got on the radio and notified dispatch that i was still in costume and i needed uniformed officers to assist us u. >> reporter: that woman bent over the railing of the bridge and lieutenant merrill didn't

miss a beat, calling for backup before approaching the woman that's " that's the voice of a. lynch >> i was trying to give her a reassuring voice and calm voice letting her know that she was okay and we were there for her >> reporter: within seconds, the young woman safe on the side of the road, and a day later, the sheriff calling it a christmas miracle, while these two just say they're grateful they were able to help >> be a good human to everybody and anybody, regardless if you know them or not >> i know if that were my daughter or my sister or my mother, i would want, i would want someone to stop so i'm just, i'm very grateful that we were there at that time. that's not my normal way home. >> our thanks to walter for that report we always knew mrs. claus had super powers

>> she saved a family a lot of heartache during the holidays. from commander in chief to caped crusader. elon musk bans some journalists from the platform. steve sedgwick will join us. tfo. steve sedgwick will join us. -hi. -...a little something of their own will get them in the spirit. they don't know why you'd ever leave the house like this... but they'll happily hold down the fort while you're gone. -smiles! -and let's be honest, they'll never understand this whole situation... but they do get this. thank goodness. great prices. happy pets. chewy. dishshes still c coming out t ? it may be e your detererg. only cascacade uses dadaw. asas a built-in pre-rinse e system. itit rehydratetes dried onon f. ...lififts it off.f... ...and b breaks it d down. dodoing the prpre-rinse fofor. ...and b breaks it d down. cascade plplatinum. ...and b breaks it d down. scscrape, loadad, done. ...and b breaks it d down.

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former president trump says america need as super hero, so he launched a nft featuring himself as that super hero it's part after line of digital trading cards on sale for just a mere $99 according to the website, the limited edition nfts are all sold out now that is a claim that is not verified by nbc news >> ah,'s he's got in such good shape. elon musk is facing backlash after journalists were banned.

markets plunged. the dow dropping 750 points and the nasdaq was down 3% let's get a look at what we might expect today steve sedgwick is with us. good morning >> good morning to you it was a bad cocktail for the markets the last couple days interest rates up higher for longer, and as you mentioned, retail sales yesterday, the dow fell to its lowest level since november, 764 points let's get back to the elon musk story. seems a long while ago he tweeted free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy. he has now suspended several high-profile journalists, thursday evening, journalists that had been covering limb and the company. this comes from journalists like the "new york times" and "the

post". new platform rules regarding tracking and talking about tracking his private jet has been very, very much problematic. he said my exact location is basically assassination coordinates in violation of twitter terms of services, but he did lead to say those suspensions would last for seven days back to you both >> that's a lot harder to champion free speech when they're talking about you, i guess. that's when the moment comes coming up, angie lassman is back with your weekend forecast. and a new sasanta is cominio town and briringing jojoy to de commmmunities. we'll l be right b back. commmmu. we'll l be right b back. by tememporarily delalaying ovulalation—and yoyou can resusume your reregr birth h control riright away. i'veve got this.s. ♪♪♪ i'veve got this.s. how did d kellogg's s come crununchy oat clclusters wiwith a touchch of honey.y. plplump, juicycy raisins and taststy fiber wiwith a touchch of honey.y. into o one delicioious cerea? itit took a lolot of bran-ststorming. into o one delicioious cerea? get itit?

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santa claus is coming to town in just nine days, and this year, santa is using american sign language to spread good cheer. >> reporter: it's beginning to look a lot like christmas at the gaylord resort in maryland the presents are under the tree, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, but these children hope that santa charles soon will be there you see, santa charles, as he's known, is a fully-authorized of santa claus' team. he's got the beard, the hat, and even the key to santa's

workshop he's also a member of the deaf community. >> when they come here and this child sees a deaf santa claus, there's so much happiness. >> reporter: santa charles is spending this season lighting up the faces of fellow deaf and hard-of-hearing people around the country. >> on christmas eve. when santa comes to your house is it okay for to you be awake to have one eye open or do you have to be asleep? that's right that's right you have to be fully asleep. >> reporter: kids like kevon have big requests. >> i asked santa claus if coy get a birth dike and i want a black one and santa claus said i had to be a good boy i had to listen to my mom. and hopefully i get my wish. >> reporter: a wish that his mother april couldn't share when she met with santa as a child. >> my mom said it was just important for me to say hi and give him a hug and he would just give me a thumbs up, and that was it

>> reporter: but their is santa making room for everyone on the nice list. >> it's about representation, because now days representation matters in every area and every experience because there are so many santa claus out there, and kids are loving the experience, but deaf children don't have that so to be able to connect is really important and amazing >> reporter: you're really making a difference in so many kids' lives. >> people deserve to have access anywhere, not just with deaf santa claus. >> this is exactly what it's supposed to be to see him laugh and make those expressions that santa claus was the best, right? >> reporter: the christmas spirit, alive in every language. gary rumbach, maryland >> and those kids will never forget that day. >> when you're a kid, all you really want to know is did santa get my message does he know what's on my list and for these kids there was a real connection, and you could

see it there >> thanks for kicking off your friday with "early today." i'm cori coffin. >> i'm phillip mena. let's leave you with this incredible winter lights display at a tokyo amusement park.

right now at 4:30, taking a stand against the city. local businesses in san francisco's tenderloin neighborhood are fed up with the city's response to growing crime. the demands they are now making. plus, super saturday. we speak with a financial expert about the optimistic outlook and what you need to know before gift giving. and accounts suspended. late-night decisions at twitter lead to multiple accounts shut down. the reason ahead. this is "today in the bay" streaming live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. friday morning here w