hi, everyone, i'm kate snow. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. "nbc news daily" starts right now. today, wednesday, december 21st, 2022, breaking news, visit to america. ukrainian president zelenskyy and president biden meeting in the oval office. the new round of aid coming from the u.s. bracing for coal, snow has already started falling in some parts of the country as states as far south as texas brace for extreme windchill temperatures. what you need to know as you prepare for your holiday travel. child's play. getting ready to hit the road or

fly with a toddler we have the tips and tricks to make your journey meltdown-free. musk go. elon musk announces he will step down as ceo of twitter eventually. why that announcement comes with one big caveat. we begin this hour with the breaking news from our nation's capital. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is with president biden at the white house right now. >> now, zelenskyy arrived at the white house this afternoon, saying it was a, quote, great honor to visit the united states. it is his first international trip since the war in ukraine began ten months ago. now, the two presidents will hold a joint news conference later today. zelenskyy will head to capitol hill for a meeting with house speaker nancy pelosi. he will then address a joint session of congress tonight. >> nbc news white house correspondent monica alba joins us now. we saw the two leaders together before they went behind closed doors. what did they say? >> reporter: this is an extended fireside chat, if you will, kate. you see both presidents there. they were last together in that

same room in the oval office last year in september, of course, a very different circumstance now given, we are going on about the 300th day of the war in ukraine after the russian invasion. so the president spoke about what a great honor they felt it was for each of them to be meeting together as you see there, president biden dressed in his suit as he normally is but president zelenskyy dressed more in wartime apparel in his boot, green sweater and cargo pants. here's a little of what each leader had to say to the other. to defend itself particularly air defense and that's why we're going to be providing ukraine with patriot missile battery. >> i really wanted to come, mr. president. i couldn't do it the situation was so difficult mr. president, i couldn't because the situation was so

difficult and now i came and we control the situation and because of support. >> reporter: that emergency aid including the patriot missile defense system, something ukraine has been asking for for a long time but also up for debate tonight whether ukraine is going to be getting that additional nearly 45 billion in emergency aid that lawmakers expect to vote on in the coming days, kate. >> all right, monica alba for us in washington, thank you. be sure to stay with nbc news tonight as we bring you president zelenskyy's address to congress expected around 7:30 eastern time. our team will bring you a special report on your local nbc station and here on nbc news now. the window to fly or drive to your christmas destination is getting smaller as nearly a third of the country is under winter alerts at this hour. >> snow is already coming down but the real danger of this system is strong wind and dangerously cold conditions. for some people power could be knocked out for days. texas is one of the states set to see negative windchill temperatures. people there are being asked to

start winterizing their homes and earlier today the governor of kentucky begged his citizens to take this seriously. >> it's going to be really dangerous. this is really, really cold after tornadoes and floods, pandemics, multiing ice storms. i don't want to lose one person due to this arctic front. >> bill karins is timing out the storm for us. kathy park following road conditions from tennessee. maggie vespa at chicago o'hare airport. it's not unusual to see that airport as busy as it has been around this time of year. what should travelers who haven't left yet know about their flights? >> reporter: sure, definitely a couple of things, again, the further we get obviously into this weekend and thursday and friday as the storm progresses these delays and cancellations will be stacking up.

that's already started. so for people thinking they'll fly out tomorrow or friday, again, they should keep in mind if they can move their flight up to today or tomorrow morning, that would be ideal. number two, they can do that because the airlines have already waived rebooking fees and are asking people to navigate their trip around this storm's path. that being said also the kind of the old standbys always hold true. sign up for alerts on your airline's app and monitor as your flight approaches. travel experts are stressing everybody just have a backup plan and if you see that your flight has been canceled contrary to popular belief it's not always the best thing to just show up at the airport. that kind of adds to the chaos here and asking people go through the app and call. we're seeing it out west permanent nating across the country already. >> thanks, maggie. to kathy to talk about the roads. what are drivers saying about current conditions? what is it like? >> reporter: yeah, kate, if you plan on driving, you certainly

won't be alone. according to aaa you will join roughly 100 million americans who will hit the roadways and that window will be december 23rd through january 2nd. when you add in this major winter storm it could lead to treacherous travel and crews are mobilizing across the country, even here in tennessee. they plan on suspending construction-related lane closures on interstates and state highways and earlier today we had a chance to speak with travelers who decided to get out and beat the storm. take a listen. how do the gas prices look? >> better than they have been looking, hopefully he get better the further west we head. >> i do snow removal in st. louis, missouri and we had to cut our week-long vacation a little early so i can go back to work. >> yeah s that a good thing or bad thing? >> it's a bad thing. i would rather vacation than work. >> reporter: so, kate and aaron, if you do plan on driving,

experts say do basic maintenance on your car, make sure the washer fluid is full. also not a bad idea to have an emergency kit in your car as well in case you get stranded. throw in blanket, water, snacks and cell phone chargers as well and according to aa, they're saying they anticipate rescuing 900,000 stranded motorists this holiday season, guys. >> taking notes over here. >> we appreciate the guys who will do the work with the storms, they come through for us every time. bill karins now has been tracking this system as it starts to build up. bill, what do you see as the most dangerous part of the storm and who will it impact? >> it's how quickly things will change. it is now on the move snow breaking out in rapid city. light snow in minneapolis, and now the temperatures will begin to drop and plunge, especially in areas of the southern portions of wyoming. we're seeing temperatures right now in denver at 50 degrees. this temperature in denver is going to drop to zero by

midnight so it's that rapid change of temperatures that is going to be a problem for so many people out there and eventually all this snow will head towards areas like kansas city in the morning. you will wake up and be driving in snow. tomorrow afternoon and evening and chicago you'll have snowy weather to deal with as we go throughout tomorrow evening. we're not under a blizzard warning in the chicago area. we're under a winter storm warnings but there are warnings in des moines and indiana and this storm system as we've been mentioning will make it to the east coast by the time we get to friday. >> all right, bill karins, maggie vespa, kathy park, thank you all. the back and forth battle over a trump era health policy meant to deter migrants from seeking asylum during the pandemic could be decided after christmas. in the meantime, migrants are waiting in rows of tents to enter the u.s. take a look at this new drone video we have from the mexican side of the border. still a lot of questions over how the biden administration plans to manage immigration policy if the pandemic era

policy known as title 42 gets lifted. nbc news correspondent guad venegas is there. i've seen you on both sides. what are you seeing now? >> reporter: kate, here on the mexican site in juarez we sensually have two different types of migrants, we have crowds of migrants that say they don't want to try crossing now. they want to wait to see if title 42 is lifted although they don't understand immigration policy they say they've been told something will change that will make it easier for them to ask for asylum. most of these migrants not trying to cross now are venezuelan. then you have the other group, the ones crossing the river right now, now, yesterday there was a different point here along the fence that the national guard and texas state troopers blocked off. they installed concertina wire and told migrants they could no longer access that point and just less than a mile east of there, this line has formed. we've been here all day.

the line has only gotten bigger, a couple hundred migrants, i counted earlier about 400 to 500 and border patrol is allowing them to enter the country and request asylum in groups of 15. that is what's happening right now in ciudad juarez with asylum seekers lining up at the moment. >> the biden administration, as i understand it, has asked the supreme court to keep title 42 in place at least until december 27th. they don't want it but they want it until the 27th. how are officials in texas preparing for what happens if it does expire? >> reporter: so, kate, when we've spoken to officials on the american side in el paso county and city officials, they tell us that regardless of what happens in the courts, they are preparing for a new surge. they are preparing for an increase in the number of migrants that are arriving at the u.s./mexico border here in el paso and essentially everywhere along the border making the necessary preparations because most of the migrants arriving don't even

understand what's going to happen in the court. they know something is changing so cities like el paso is raking the necessary preparations to have this influx and that means perhaps more shelters, more clothing when it gets cold and ways to help them go to cities that they want to go to and all these necessary things when that many asylum seekers are released into the country to continue that process if that were to happen, kate. >> guad venegas, thank you. the phoenix suns could soon have a new owner and another big departure from the d.c. comic movie universe. >> kristina partsinevelos is here. >> matt ishbia has agreed. at 42ishbia would become the younger owner in the nba. core scientific is filing for

bankruptcy. but despite the filing the company is still generating revenue and continues to mine while paying debt holder and dwayne "the rock" johnson says his character black adam will no longer be part of the d.c. universe as warner brothers continues to restructure its film and tv units. "black adam" had mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office. it was on my bucket list to watch over the holidays, guys. >> we got one fan, kristina, thank you. >> thanks. coming up how disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein dodged a longer prison sentence dodged a longer prison sentence after being convicted ofra pever l leave your r clothes in t the dryer and fifind a wrinknkled me? try downwny wrinkle e guad fabric sofoftener! and fifind a wrinknkled me? wrininkle guard d penetrates deep i into fibersrs, leaving g clothes soso soft, wrininkle guard d penetrates deep i into fibersrs, wrwrinkles donon't want to stickck around. wrininkle guard d penetrates deep i into fibersrs, make m mornings smsmoother wrininkle guard d penetrates deep i into fibersrs, with dowowny wrinklele d fabricic softener.r.

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so elon musk now says he will step down as ceo of twitter. the social media company's new owner said he would follow the results of a twitter poll he asked for where a majority of users voted to have him step down. musk says he will resign, quote, as soon as he finds someone foolish enough to take the job. after that he says he will run the software and server team. the founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange ftx is on his way to the united states today from the bahamas. sam bankman-fried appeared before a judge and agreed not to fight extradition. bankman-fried is facing charges of fraud after he allegedly misused customers' money to prop

up a separate crypto company he started. jake ward is joining us. there's been a lot of legal drama to get bankman-fried to the u.s. where are we now with this whole process. how did we get to this point? >> well, i mean, aaron, as you'll recall, sam bankman-fried said this has been a bad month and that is absolutely correct. right? the gentleman not only was, you know, fell from grace as the head of what was supposed to be the great sort of legitimizing force in cryptocurrency, you know, he's now under federal charges and has been grabbed by bahamian authorities under the request, at the request of american officials. we thought that he was going to just sort of slide right through this process even against the advice of his lawyers but then when he turned up in court on monday, of course, he fought against it a little bit and demanded to see federal charging documents setting off speculation he might fight it in

the bahamas for awhile but he is on his way to the united states. all of this just a rapid, rapid turn of events for a man who was a multibillionaire, the face of legitimizing crypto and will be in the u.s. in court. >> jake, when he gets back into the u.s. what do we know about what happens next leading up to an eventually trial? >> reporter: well, the really interesting part this morning is new reporting from "the new york times" that suggests that both prosecutors and his legal team are now negotiating over whether or not he's going to get bail. what kind of conditions might be set there, of course, if they are meeting him on that they must be talking about the chances he might flee. with his prior wealth he could be in power to fly around the country or world but now he's supposedly according to himself has only about $100,000 to his name so presumably his lawyers are arguing he is not a flight risk. we'll see how that shakes out. >> jake, thank you. moving now to disgraced

movie mogul and convicted rapist harvey weinstein. he has avoided an enhanced prison sentence in los angeles. weinstein faces 18 years in prison on top of the crimes he was convicted of in new york and the sentence in new york. on tuesday a jury was deadlocked on two aggravating factors that would have potentially made his sentence longer. all related to his rape and sexual assault charges. legal analyst danny cevallos joins us now. what happened yesterday? the aggravating factors and how that works? >> reporter: in sentencing aggravating and mitigating factors either aggravate, make the sentence worse or mitigate, make it less than it ordinarily would be. in this case in california a jury has defined those aggravating factors. they're additional factors that have to be found. the idea being when you get the sentencing it can't just be something the judge says, well, i find that you did this to a particularly vulnerable person. so in california under the law

and it's a relatively new law, the jury had to find two aggravating factors or did not and deadlocked that the victim was vulnerable and the defendant planned the crime. because they deadlocked those factors will not apply at sentencing but that does not mean that weinstein will get off easy when it comes to sentencing? >> so what happens now in the l.a. case? could he be retried on some things and i'm wondering how it relates to the new york case because i know he appealed in new york. >> in theory he could -- the government or excuse me, the state could retry all deadlocked charges but it becomes a political or a business decision, so to speak. do you want to spend the money to try this case again knowing that the outcome is anything but certain. in some cases that's a resounding yes. in other cases sometimes for the state at least in this case they've gotten a couple big wins, they may decide that they've done enough here, they

don't need to reprosecute. how it affects his sentencing in california is very interesting because in his new york case, he was not a prior felon. now he is and that makes a huge difference at sentencing. >> danny, thanks so much. >> danny, thanks so much. still ahead why police are

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(police radio call) (sirens) (news report) (sirens) (news report) when you're through with powering through, it's time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold. e this is "the fast forward" on nbc news daily. i'm here in the nbc bay area

newsroom. police are responding to an armed important in the library in downtown san jose. a live look at the scene. police have just told us that a woman reported seeing a person inside the path room with a handgun. that's when officers evacuated the building. of this not found the suspected armed important yet. so far no injuries have opinion reported. people are asked to avoid the area, and the library is closed. well bring you updates on this story as they come in. our other top story, maybe you felt the shaking this morning, a small earthquake rattled parts of the east bay. a 3.1 quake struck around 8:30 centered around san leandro. some people felt the shaking, but there are no reports of damage >> the building shook, and everybody in here kind of moved, and we thought a truck came off the freeway. it was so loud and so abrupt. it just shook the whole building. >> second quake in two days. yesterday a 6.4 quake struck ferndale in northern california. 7,000 homeowners still without power up there.

meanwhile, emergency services are cleaning up the damage. in baseball, a steal is exciting, unless you're talking about players not bases. the san francisco giants will not welcome carlos correa to the team. it looks like the superstar free agent is headed to the mets inside of the giants. at 11:00 yesterday morning the giants were going to announce a 13-year $350 million deal, but that didn't happen. sounds like there was an issue with the physical according to the associated press. not passing a physical can void the deal. the mets took that opportunity to snag correa at a discount and the mets signed him for $35 million less than the giants offered. all right. here's the catch. correa must pass the mets' physical evaluation now. giants radio hosts tell us the giant didn't do their homework before make the deal. >> i think the giants really had to do it for a pr reason as much as a baseball reason, and now all of a sudden our confidence is being shaken by will he play

or won't he play in a situation that never should have been before the public? this is something that should have been handled behind closed doors. >> all right. so what happens now in the giants might have to resort to trading to find their final players. most of the big-name free agents have already signed. looks like temperatures are warming up heading into the holiday weekend, but there might be some showers. meteorologist kari hall is watching the temperatures. temperatures slightly warmer on the first day of winter heading up to 62 defreeze in fremont as well as mountianview and san jose. 57 in fairfield and 60 today in santa rosa. and as we go through the forecast into the day tomorrow, just slightly cooler coming down a couple of degrees, and we'll see a nice boost in temperatures for the south bay heading into friday, and that is what we'll see for the weekend. but that's also when we'll be watching out for some spotty showers. mainly late thursday night into early friday morning. a lot of this rain is going to be about a tenth of an inch of

rain or less and clearing on friday. we'll take a look at our christmas and extended forecast coming up in about 30 minutes. >> car irk, thanks very much. here are three other stories we want to tell you about. a welcome drop for gas prices, especially as people gear up to head home for the holidays, and in the east bay, they are asking people to stop calling 911 for certain reasons. first we're going to start though with a noe valley fire that we first told you about this morning. seven people now without a home for the holidays of the fire started early this morning at castro and elizabeth in noe valley. this shows smoke billowing into the air. the fire department says the cause is under investigation. the surge in the flu, covid and rsv cases having an impact on east bay emergency response teams. contra costa county health leaders say calls about viral infections are making up about 20% of all 911 calls is and that's five times higher than a year ago. in some cases people are asking

for a transport to get tested. first responders say calls involving non-emergency situations can take away critical personnel during other emergencies. and finally some welcome news at the pump right now before the holidays. gas prices are at a low not seen in about 18 months. that's according to aaa. bay-area gas prices averaging a little under $4.50 a gallon for regular. nearly a month ago prices were a dollar higher. prices in san francisco could fall below $4 in the next few weeks, but they probably won't dip below that. bay-area gas prices peaked in march at a record 5.50 a gallon. that does it for this edition of "the fast forward." "the fast forward." we'r

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bottom of the hour now. here are some of the stories making headlines on "nbc news daily." >> a one-two punch for former president trump. the january 6th committee will release its final report today. this comes two days after the panel referred trump to the justice department for criminal charges. the house ways and means committee is also preparing to release trump's tax returns. that's after voting to make them public last night. the committee says the irs delayed mandatory audits while trump was in office. florida prosecutors have determined that no charges will be filed against former nfl wide receiver antonio brown after the alleged victim recanted her previous allegations. investigators also reviewed body

camera footage from the incident in tampa last month. a warrant for brown's arrest has been canceled. nasa's insight lander rover which has been exploring mars for the last four years has reached the end of its mission. this is the final image taken from the lander. nasa announced that the battery had finally exhausted due to dust buildup on the red planet. the lander was able to help scientists conduct experiments and learn about what's below the surface. the families of the four college students murdered in moscow are growing more frustrated by the day. six weeks later and investigators have very few answers and police are ruling out a connection between a white hyundai found abandoned in oregon and their search for a suspect. here's nbc's steve patterson. >> what i want people to know this is a moscow police department investigation. >> reporter: moscow's police chief taking full ownership of a case with few clues and no named suspects so far.

>> my command team oversees this, we have 94 years of experience between us and we are going to continue to work this case. >> reporter: vowing not to give up after the lawyer for one of the victims' families criticized law enforcement on "today." >> i am not sure they are capable of handling a quadruple murder, and maybe they should be getting more help, and maybe there should be some different lead investigators on the case. >> reporter: police also say they know about a surveillance video that appears to be from the night of the murders. >> adam. >> reporter: police say they've identified the adam named in the video and he is cooperating with detectives. investigators have been searching for information about a white hyundai elantra they say was close to the scene of the murders of the four college students last month. hopes lifted yesterday when police took a closer look at a car matching the description that crashed in eugene, oregon, some 500 miles from moscow, but

they later said the owner is not believed to be related to the murders. some more background emerging. an apparent police body cam video posted to social media by a news nation correspondent reportedly showing moscow police called to the same house for a noise complaint months earlier on september 1. police later making contact with a woman who identifies herself as maddie mogen, who confirmed she lives there. >> none of the occupants that live here are here now. now you have a house full of random people. >> reporter: nbc news has not verified the video. a community still hoping they are one step closer to the truth. steve patterson, nbc news. we have an update on the search for a missing 11-year-old girl in north carolina. police have released video footage from the last known time that madalina cojocari was seen. it shows the sixth grader getting off the bus at her stop on november 21st at 4:59 in the afternoon. her mom and stepfather didn't report her missing until

december 15th. they are both in jail charged with failure to report maddelena missing. tens of thousands in northern california are cleaning up after the earthquake that rattled that region. it killed at least two people. the 6.4 magnitude quake damaged roads and homes too. the state of emergency in effect for humboldt county roughly 200 miles north of san francisco. niala charles is joining us. it's been about 24 hours since that earthquake. you've been looking into the damage today. where is the worst of it? >> reporter: aaron, the worst of it is a couple miles off the northern california coast near the california/oregon border. this shows some damage inside a home. cabinets and shelves on the floor. broken glass everywhere. dozens of homeses havee so mumu damamage peoplee have beenen or out o of them. roads s are c cracked and b buss destroyed. in humboldldt c county more tha

5,000 people still don't have power. more than 4 hours later. water is also a major concern now too. many don't have running water, aaron. there's a boiling water advisory out now and even port-a-potties have been brought in. the two who died, a 72-year-old and 83-year-old had medical emergencies when the quake hit and because of the earthquake first responders couldn't get to them in time. the governor has declared a state of emergency and officials are still assessing the damage, aaron. >> and how much of a concern is the possibility for more strong aftershocks at this point? >> so far the region has had about 100 aftershocks and officials warn there could be more as they continue to assess the damage done already. in case of aftershocks officials are telling people in the area to tie down furniture that can easily tip over in their homes and also saying to heed this earthquake as a warning before

the next time a big one hits by storing their homes with actual water, perishable foods, water and medicine. aaron. >> all right, niala charles, thank you. now to a story from the southern border. this one about two brothers from afghanistan. both worked alongside american troops in that country. but now their stories couldn't be more different. one is in america living freely with a visa. the other is in detention. nbc's julia ainsley has more. >> reporter: these two afghan brothers put their lives at risk to help americans in the fight against the taliban. from 2010 to 2019, sammy as a translator and watsi as a member of afghan special forces. >> my brother, we lived through struggle and stress. we lived every moment of our life together. >> reporter: today sammy is living freely in houston. thanks to a visa he earned for his service to the u.s.

but wasi is in federal prison facing charges for crossing the u.s. border illegally. we spoke to him by phone from his prison in eden, texas. >> you've illegal poe posed -- >> reporter: he said he was running from taliban soldiers who wanted him dead. he tried to get a special immigrant visa like his brother but was told he did not qualify because he wasn't paid directly by the u.s. for his service. after the fall he was one of the thousands of afghans attempting to flee on one of the last flights out of the airport in kabul. having no such luck, he escaped to pakistan and got a humanitarian visa to brazil. from there he traveled as so many migrants do, thousands of miles through the dangerous gap into panama and finally up

through mexico to the u.s. border. sammy, who earned his visa to the u.s. in 2015 waited to hear from his brother on each leg of the trip. sammy said his brother was beaten and tortured along the way. >> it was the hardest reality and him finding himself in most difficult moments of his life where he has been called terrorist everywhere he was going being tortured in different types of torture he received from different countries. he thought that if he comes to america, he will be treated as a hero. >> reporter: instead he was apprehended by the border patrol and prosecuted for crossing the border illegally. the charge is a misdemeanor under u.s. law. and many thousands of migrants are released daily without prosecution for committing the same crime. other migrants who crossed with him were also released. the justice department said they could not comment on his case

beyond what has been filed in court. court papers show he is being detained without bond, not because he poses a threat to national security, but because the judge considers him a flight risk. >> help me. i come here by myself. now they send me -- >> reporter: sammy has trouble sleeping and is distressed he cannot help his little brother. being held in prison in the same state he now calls home. >> i am coming from a family that we have done nothing but sacrifice for this country. >> reporter: he said his brother is paying the price of a failed u.s. evacuation. >> so what's my brother's fault in this whole situation? when the collapse happened, he deserved to be evacuated. >> reporter: julia ainsley. >> what is sammy doing to try to help his brother? >> reporter: he's doing everything he can. he's writing letters to the

president, to members of congress and trying to get the word out. you can learn more about those efforts and what he's trying to do for his brother at justice for wasi.com. >> there's been that surge of migrants trying to come in. you spoke with residents and migrants. what are they telling you. >> reporter: we're talking to a number of people who have been sleeping on the streets, a lot of the shelters here are full. we met a mother and her young child yesterday. here's what they had to say. >> oh, my god. this is so -- this is a shock. very shocking to see this. never seen this. yes, we always help. we always took clothing to juarez and food to juarez and here and there but, you know, on the street you give a little here, a little there. never like this and it breaks my heart to know this. >> reporter: so that is a woman

who's actually taking people into their home now. they are over here as volunteers because they saw so many people, even young children end up sleeping on the streets and have never seen anything like this, they said. >> julia ainsley, thank you for both stories. coming up avoiding turbulence, an expert shares his tips for making traveling with kids a little easier. more nbc news daily right after this.

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well, we're tackling a very topical conversation, the dos and don'ts of traveling with a toddler as we gear up for the holiday weekend. a lot will be forced with long lines, traffic, unpredictable schedules and all of it can be kind of overwhelming for both parents and young children but it doesn't have to be. joining us now is pediatrician and child development expert dr. harvey carp. it's nice to meet you. nice to see you virtually. so let's start with tips for parents to ease the stress of traveling with a younger child. what are your best tips. >> well, it's more the don'ts than the dos. if you can avoid it, avoid it. of course, we're actually in new york visiting our granddaughter because we didn't want them to have to travel. when they're in a new environment there are accidents that occur. pulling on cords and pulling over christmas trees, one of the

good things to do get on your hands and knees when you're in a new environment and crawl around and see where the fuzz balls and the staples and the pieces of plastic that kids are going to choke on -- of course, when traveling to the place, you really especially if you're on an airplane everyone wants to wear a mask because there are a lot of infections out there right now like influenza and rsv and washing hands is a good idea as well but for little kids drinking on takeoff and landing can help to equalize the pressure in the ears so they don't have ear pain and it's not right when you take off, it's really about 10, 15 minutes into it when you're climbing and it's not right when you land but 30 minutes before. >> for really small infants i've heard -- i remember nursing during takeoff and landing can actually help too, right? >> yes. >> or bottles. >> right at the moment -- not right at the moment of takeoff and landing. it's ten minutes in and about 30 minutes before you land. >> right. exactly.

>> also wherever you're going, to be prepared for illness, right, so know where the emergency room is or the best hospital, you know, ask around to try to get that information and bring a first aid kit with, you know, maybe some cold type medicine like saline nose drops or benadryl type medicine and ibuprofen type medicine for fever just in case just to be prepared. >> plane rides can be really hard. i'm thinking back to a horror story that we had where my child -- i don't even want to get into it -- but made a huge scene on an airplane. any tips for younger kids? >> you know, you want to entertain them, of course, first thing is keep them from having pain. that's where that swallowing on takeoff and landing can be helpful. and then entertainment and, listen, we all know kids are too exposed to digital entertainment but, man, oh, man, it can be a

big help on a long flight so sometimes you have to bend the rules, also, other little books they have been seeing, stickers and toy, simple things you can just pack and don't show them ahead of time so it's a surprise along the way. that sometimes can help get you through a long plane ride. >> that is a great pro tip. dr. harvey karp, appreciate it. a warning about water beads after one mom says the toy nearly killed her baby girl. she says her daughter accidentally swallowed a single bead and that led to an emergency surgery. nbc's valerie castro has the story. ♪♪ >> reporter: baby kennedy now eating and smiling but last month her mom said she had a near-death experience undergoing several emergency surgeries to clear a blockage in her small intestine all because she accidentally swallowed a small toy. >> it was really scary. it was the hardest time in my life to be there for my child, but not be able to like

physically help her. >> reporter: her mom saying it was a water bead, part of an activity kit given to an older sibling. >> she's on a ventilator and a lot of different medicines. >> reporter: mitchell documenting the ordeal on social media updating her daughter's milestones and setbacks. >> today is three weeks that we've been here and i'm just very discouraged because i don't even have the privilege of doing the most basic things for her which is feeding her. >> what were they telling you about her chance of survival? >> there were a couple of times that her chance of survival was like 50/50. they couldn't tell me she was going to be okay or that she would make it. >> reporter: after five surgeries and countless long nights kennedy and her mom are back home. >> she has three older brothers and all missed her a lot. it's been great to just have us together as a family again. >> reporter: according to the national poison control center

swallowing a water bead can cause life-threatening intestinal damage since it can expand up to 200 times its initial size when it absorbs water. after kennedy's story went viral in november, target pulled the toy that included water beads from their shelves. target telling nbc news the item was removed while they addressed concerns with the vendor and we are treating this situation very seriously and send our heartfelt sympathy to this family. the parent company buffalo games did not return nbc news' request for comment. there is a warning that there is a choking hazard and is meant for ages 4 and up. she doesn't think that goes far enough. for now mitchell is just happy to have her baby back in her arms. >> it's a long recovery still for her but i'm always going to be here for her and i just feel incredibly lucky to have her. >> the mother of four says her

youngest was hospitalized for several weeks and is still dealing with health problems. she's now hoping to warn other parents. there's much more news ahead. >> you're watching "nbc news daily." when you're through with powering through, it's time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold. shshe is fearlrless heart's on thehe line shshe is fearlrless depend sililhouette shshe is fearlrless keepeping leaks s off her mim. comfortatable in shahapeware fabricic shshe moves wiwith ease. comfortatable in shahapeware fabricic confidident on nigights like thehese. depend sililhouette. confidident on nigights like thehese. the only t thing strononger ththan us, is s you.

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bay area newsroom. san jose police responding to a the row of an armed person inside mlk library downtown. a look at what the situation looked like from skyranger an hour ago. a person was spotted with a handgun in the bathroom. police have not found the armed person. the library is closed. police are asking people to avoid it area for now. earthquake cleanup continues in humbolt county. teams are still trying to get an handle on the damage. the 6.3 quake struck at 2:30 yesterday, and it's still causing major problems. first aftershocks, dozens so far, at least two more this thrng off the coast of ferndale 200 miles north of san francisco. at least two people died because of the quake. a dozen other people got home. 4,000 homes and businesses still don't have power. the quake also damaged roads and bridges so governor newsom declared a state of emergency. we're talking to people who are cleaning up that damage after the quake. stay tuned for our 4:30

newscast. felina jones has spent the past 24 hours there and will have a live report a couple hours. our holiday weather is looking clear. maybe rain next week. here's kari. >> today we're headed up to 60 degrees with a mostly sunny sky. more clouds on thursday with rain possible late thursday night. it should gradually clear out on friday. the weekend is looking real nice for your christmas outdoor plans. we're headed up to 65 degrees, and there will be a few more clouds in the mix. but we'll also continue to see more clouds moving in early next week out ahead of our rain chances that will most likely arrive on tuesday. looking at san francisco, first day of winter, 57 and partly cloudy. going through the forecast some low 60s for the weekend. staying mainly dry except for some spotty rain thursday night with more significant rain on the way on tuesday. >> kari, tnks. >> kari, tnks. weha'l - life is uncertain.

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each pay day millions of workers widely put tax-free money into flexible health spending accounts, but the employee benefit research institute found that almost half of workers later forfeit a sizable chunk of that money. >> somewhere in the neighborhood of $370. >> each. that's real money. ebri estimates nationally families give up $3 billion a year in their fsas. fsa rules vary by company. some say use it or lose it by december 31st, period. others offer a little latitude. >> some people have an fsa where there's a grace period where you have, you know, until march or so to spend down your balance. there's some fsas that have a rollover feature. >> that flexibility is nice but it might not protect your full balance so check your account now and take action now. look for your account's deadline, and if you have to ask hr what happens on december 31st?

spending fsa money is easy. lots of everyday items like bandages, pain relievers and even covid-19 test kits are fsa-eligible. in stores look at the shelf tag. a lot of prices actually print fsa-eligible right there on the sticker. online many stores have a filter that shows only fsa-eligible items. easy. good luck spending every penny. >> now an update on our top story. there is actually a woman with a gun in the mlk library in downtown san jose. police say please do avoid that area. that does it for this edition of "the fast forward." we'll see you with morenous we'll see you with morenous including an update on the mlk (♪♪♪) this s season, youou can sped leless and makake holiday y ds (♪♪♪) cocome true atat t.j. maxx, , marshalls s and homego.

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today on "access daily," look who's here -- "access daily" starts right now. ♪♪ >> r. welcome to "access daily" from universal studios, hollywood. it's somebody's birthday, let's wish scott a very happy 36th birthday. >> hello. >> and one quick joke which i have to laugh. i'm 52. you're very young, you're 36. >> very young. >> what happened to your back? >> i blew my back out.