ordered to stay behind bars. the new mexico gop candidate face as judge for the first time plus, why he served several years in prison in the past the a search warrant unsealed in the idaho college murder investigation. what police say they found inside bryan kohberger's apartment. the nation is barrelling toward the debt ceiling. the consequences if congress doesn't strike a deal and the government runs out of money to pay its bills. did george santos take money

from a dying dog the navy veteran alleging that he set up a fundraiser for his pet and took off with the money. police track down a tractor in an hours-long, low-speed chase. "early today" starts right now glad you're with us. i'm frances rivera >> i'm phillip mena. we begin with the fallout on the shocking gun attacks on state democrats in new mexico. solomon pena had his first court hearing. he stands accused of orchestrating the plot vaughn hilliard reports from albuquerque. >> reporter: solomon pena, yet to enter a plea, appearing virtually before a judge who ordered him to stay behind bars. >> you will be held without bond >> reporter: just two months after losing his election for the new mexico state house, the republican candidate is being accused of orchestrating a plan to shoot at the homes of four

democratic officials pena lost his race decisively by nearly 50 percentage points but still falsely claims it was rigged this ring video shows him approaching what he appears to have believed was the home of debbie o'malley, one of the commissioners responsible for certifying local elections o'malley says she used to live in that home according to her, he then drove to her new residence with what he claimed was evidence showing he hadn't actually lost. >> there are several here. as a matter of fact, one came very close to the porch. >> reporter: one month later, o'malley says her home was shot in the middle of the night >> it saddens me that this is happening in our country this narrative of, you know, we're cheated. we were, everything was rigged there's fraud, come on you know i mean, i grew up with the value set that if you lost, you know, you accepted that with grace >> reporter: arrest documents detail text messages between several alleged paid shooters,

and pena sent after the election exchanging the lawmakers addresses. an unnamed informant said pena joined for the fourth incident he wanted them to aim lower and shoot-around 8:00 p.m. because occupants would more likely not be laying down, which would increase the chance of obtain being the desired effect of the shootings. this is not pena's first arrest. he served nearly seven years in state prison in connection with a series of smash and grab burglaries last fall a judge ruled he was able to run for office despite his status as a convicted felon. nbc news spoke with several neighbors of solomon pena who say that he would often squabble with other neighbors whose political opinions did not align with his and that he became particularly riled up during this last election season. his homeowners association says they forced him to remove an anti-biden flag that include add

profanity. his next hearing is scheduled for february 1st now to a dangerous showdown over the economy the u.s. is expected to hit the debt ceiling, forcing the treasury department to take special measures so the country can keep paying its obligations, putting the nation at risk of defaulting on its debt in early june if that were to happen, the country's credit rating could be downgraded and benefits like social security could stop house speaker kevin mccarthy is backing a push by his far-right republican members to demand spending cuts as part of any debt ceiling deal. the white house is demanding they raise the limit without strings attached president biden is heading to california today to survey the flooding devastation there but he's sure is run into more questions about the handling of classified documents so far he has not commented since a special counsel was

paipt appointed a week ago now the public is weighing in, too. >> reporter: that's right. as the biden documents probe continues to unravel, americans say they want answers too. in a yahoo poll, two-thirds of u.s. adults are in favor of congress investigating the classified documents found at his delaware home and the penn center in washington, d.c. now broken down by party, that's 52% of democrats and 84% of republicans. there are also new questions about why the fbi did not get involved in the search this time according to a report in the wall street journal, the call was made not to have fbi agents present. both to avoid complicating the investigation and because the president's lawyers were cooperating. nbc news has not independently confirmed the report, and the doj is not commenting. republicans are slamming the justice department's decision saying they just took the

president's lawyers' word for what they found. the white house says this special counsel investigation will not play a role in whether or not he decides to run again two sources familiar with the discussion say an announcement is not going to come until after the state of the union address, which is on february 7th phillip? >> brie jackson reporting from washington this morning. thank you. now to idaho, where the search warrant for the home of bryan kohberger, the suspect charged with killing four university of idaho students has now been unsealed. according to the warrant, item seized included a black nitrite glove and strains of hair, one from an animal and the other not specified. a preliminary hearing is set for late june where some of the evidence found inside could play a major role he has not entered a plea, but the public defender says his

client expects to be exonerated. a new mexico district attorney will announce whether any charges will be filed in the shooting that happened in the "rust" film set. alec baldwin has insisted he did nothing wrong. sources have told the los angeles times that prosecutors have concentrated on individuals who handled the gun that day the crew members involved have also denied any wrongdoing the wrestling world mourns the loss of jay briscoe. he died in a head-on collision tuesday. his two daughters were injured in the crash he and his brother won over 30 tag team titles. he won titles on his own his signature move was performed last night and several wwe wrestlers

remembered his love and passion in and out of ring jay briscoe was 38 years old there are new allegations against george santos, and they may be the most startling claims yet. a disabled navy veteran says santos stiffed him out of gofundme money that he needed for cancer treatment for his therapy dog. >> reporter: a tdisabled navy veteran calling out george santos >> he doesn't have shame he's a psychopath. >> reporter: richard ossoff claims santos helped raise thousands of dollars for treatment for his therapy dog and never came through with the cash in this guy is now a serving congressman? he doesn't deserve that job. >> reporter: the dog, sapphire, never received the treatment and later died santos did not respond to nbc news but told semafor the story

is not true. this comes as a new revelation contradicts a major claim by santos that his mother was quote, in her office in the south tower on september 11. ba but a genealogist acquired records from fatima devoelder. right now he faces five possible investigations >> the voters of this district have elected him he is seated >> reporter: he is freshly seated both on the house small business committee and the science space and technology economy and will continue to serve in congress despite calls from fellow new york members to step down. >> i don't think there's any way he could possibly perform his duty >> reporter: and despite this new round of allegations, santos still refusing to engage on basic questions about the inconsistencies on his background and financial disclosures, only saying that he

did embellish parts of his resume but claims that he is not a fraud. >> all right, brian, thank you the new hampshire police officer made the most out of a snowy day. he decided a new k-9 officer needed a break from training so the two went sledding. the department shared this video and said "don't tell the chief." >> it's out there now. a cute video let's get to michelle grossmann with the latest on the winter storm marching across the country today. >> great to see you. we will continue to see it march across the country today and tomorrow, today bringing snow to the upper great lakes. 29 million americans under winter alerts this morning including winter alerts in the west as well winter storm warning in the pink and that's where we're going to see the heaviest amounts of snow heavy snow falling in portions of new england that could bring down power lines this is what it looks like on

radar. the cold sidortheast, also snow in the interior parts of northeast as well. all right, we've almost made it to the weekend we're going to take a look at that weekend forecast in just a bit. >> we can see it from here coming up, the sports world is mourning the loss of a nba legend and update on the shocking video of an armed toddler. new details about the father's arrest and charges the father's arrest and charges d fermentatio. fermentation? yes. formulated to help you body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness, well done. ♪♪

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today after his toddler was seen waving a gun around. sho shocking video shows his son holding that gun outside the apartment. the gun did not have a round in the chamber but did have 15 rounds in the magazine the affidavit says osborne told authorities the gun belongs to his cousin, and he did not know the weapon was in the apartment. the basketball world is remembering nba great chris ford he is credited as the first nba player to make a three pointer in a game, and ford won championships as a player and coach for the celtics in the 1980s. he later became the hid coach of the celtics before coaching in milwaukee, los angeles and philadelphia boston legend larry bird offered his condolences and said ford was an important part of the team's success and jay wright called ford his idol, a great family man and creative basketball player chris ford was 74 years old. now to an unusual scene out

of boone, north carolina where a man driving a stolen tractor led police on a long chase throughout town. it was slow, though. the boone police department said they receive add call about a driver trying to hit pidsedestrs in the parking lot and they were only able to stop him after shooting the tractor's tires spidey couldn't sense being passed this quickly. avatar the way of the water soared past 2021's "spiderman no way home", raking in over $1.92 billion globally if it reaches the $2 billion mark it will be james cameron's third film to hit that milestone. still to come, is time running out for tiktok and inflation was a grinch this holiday season. the disappointing retail numbers dragging down markets. il numbers dragging down markets. and an excellent source of vitamins and a whole lot of flavor all before lunch time.

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another sign that inflation is weighing on the economy shoppers held back over the holidays, retail sales came in weaker than expected in december, dropping just over 1% last month the news dragged down markets. the dow plunging 600 points, while the s&p had its worst day in over a month. now to growing backlash against tiktok more universities are moving to ban the app that's been exploding in popularity, this as concerns grow over protecting user data from the chinese government our morgan chesky explains >> reporter: more more than 100 million americans. it's become the go-to social media app. for the latest viral dance, fashion or recipe trends but amid growing fears user data could find its way into the hands of the chinese government. >> not allowed to post tiktoks

any more >> reporter: the university of texas in austin joining the growing number of schools banning it it's intended to eliminate risks to day in in the university's network. in as a creator, i'm a little bit annoyed. >> reporter: with 12,000 tiktok follower, she calls herself a micro influencer >> my hair determines what my makeup's going to look like. >> a lot of the influencers that i grew up watching didn't look like me. >> reporter: now she fears her push for representation could be cut short, with her student audience no longer able to communicate as freely. >> reporter: how concerned are you about a foreign entity essentially spying >> it's something in the back of my head, like, what are they doing with this data if they do have it? >> reporter: and it's not just college, at least 31 states,

including texas have enacted some sort of tiktok ban mainly on phones and computers. last month the head of the fbi citing safety concerns for tiktok users, including the potential manipulation of algorithms >> it's a lot more worrisome in the hands of the chinese communist party than whether or not you're steering someone as an influencer to one product or another. >> reporter: but tiktok says it doesn't store u.s. user data in china or share information with the chinese government, writing, we're disappointed that some states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to enhance cyber security in their states based on falsehoods about tiktok >> if your professional phone is your only device, otherwise you're going to have to juggle back and forth and get on tiktok

and get your tutorials >> i understand why they're doing that but they could turn off the wi-fi and just use their cellular data i imagine. and i'm sure if you love it that much, you'll find it >> you'll find a way coming up, the groundbreaking choice to lead columbia university. michael jackson is getting the silver screen treatment. ♪ ...without letting ag keep you apart. walgreens pharmacists are here to help you stay well. and stay...together. ♪ do you like... ...chocolate bars? ♪♪ ♪♪

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made right on the farm. in today's quick hits, "ted lasso" is wrangling in fans. the new season kick office on apple tv plus this spring. a new group of apple home pods will retail for $299. and columbia university named the school's new president. she will become the first woman to head up the ivy league university she served in the london school

of economics in 2017 and will assume her new role at columbia in july. the michael jackson movie has found its director it will be helmed by antoine p puck wah production is set to begin on "michael" later this year. a high school is reimaging what a school library can look like the learning collaboratory we are taken on a tour it may not look like it, but baldwin high school believe this is is the library of the future. they call it their learning colla collaboratory. >> it encourages communication

and students to take initiative. >> we can actually have conversation, converse and like think. >> reporter: there are offices where students can conduct zoom interviews or hold meetings. if it looks more like a tech company office than library, that's intentional >> we wanted to give our students a space that looked like the world of work >> reporter: dr. sherry cami says they kept most of the books that were being used but moved out the rest, those still available in digital format. rows of bobs replaced by desks, comfortable and movable chairs, and computers. >> we wanted to give our students a space where that could happen >> reporter: jasmine has already conducted zoom interviews with leaders in business and publishing she believes she's learned a lot. >> i feel prepared i feel like i could walk into a business room right now and i'd be ready to go especially the zoom meetings

>> thanks for that report and introducing us to that it's such a cool space and so, you know, just, it's great for them to be able to learn from that w >> it's useful and the best preparation is to be around what mimics as close be around what mimics as close when tashat car hit my motorcyc, be around what mimics as close insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm, it was the best call i could've made. call the barnes firm now, and find out what your case could be worth. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪

right now at 4:30, president biden heading to california. air force one expected to land here in the bay area. plus, will all of the recent rain help lower your water bill? the reservoir is filled to the capacity, and many customers are hopeful bills will start going down. the reason utility officials say it's too soon to answer that question. good thursday morning to you. i am marcus washington. >> i am