a deadly bomb cyclone blasts the west coast, packing

hurricane-force winds and torrential rain. our team is tracking the powerful storm system, along with a much-needed rain along the east coast. convicted of murdering laken riley, an undocumented immigrant found guilty of killing the 22-year-old nursing student near the campus in georgia. in defense of the defense secretary. donald trump's top surrogate hits capitol hill to garner support for the president-elect's pick. it comes a day after his campaign to help matt gaetz. we're live in d.c. with reaction from senators. breaking overnight, the doj's new proposal to fix the search monopoly. around chris stapleton riding high after a huge night at the country music awards. the other big winners as we kick off this thursday, november 21st.

"early today" starts right now. hi there, good morning. i'm frances rivera. a bomb cyclone is battering the northwest. the storm claiming at least two lives in washington state, as large trees crashed on homes, cars and buses. the system bringing heavy rain, snow and hurricane-force winds in some areas, with gusts up to 80 miles per hour. more than 300,000 are still without power in washington, and over 15,000 are in the dark in california. and more dangerous weather may be on the way. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking another storm that could threaten the region friday, but much needed with these drought conditions, michelle. >> hi there, frances. in the northwest, we are looking at a lot of moisture. we saw scenes where cars were stranded, and we're going to see that over the next couple days, because we are looking at a back-to-back system moving through, also an atmospheric river. that's just a river of moisture moving onshore. intense bands of moisture targeting the northwest. heavy coastal rain leading to

flooding, mudslides and landslides. could see over three feet of snow in some spots. as we go throughout tomorrow, we could see heavy rain spreading into central california, especially where you see brighter colors, the reds, oranges, yellows. also looking at an elevated flood risk in the sierra foothills. saturday, still talking about this system. still unsettled, as we're looking at more rain, more snow continuing, and that difficult travel will continue as well. this is what we're looking at in terms of rainfall. we'll be measuring rainfall in feet as well as snow in feet. redding, fort bragg looking at the most amount of rain. we'll talk more about this, also talk about the northeast rain in just a few minutes. >> that's where it's much needed. a florida man is under arrest for an alleged plot to bomb the new york stock exchange and reboot the government. the fbi began investigating the suspect harune yenner earlier this year. he told undercover agents he

wanted to bomb the stock exchange the week before thanksgiving. he allegedly made a series of recordings to send to nbc news around the time of the bombing. he has been charged with attempt to use an explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate or foreign commerce. he will be detained while awaiting trial. a man accused in the murder of georgia nursing student laken riley has now been convicted. priya sridhar has more on the case that became a focal point in the presidential race. >> i'll now announce the verdict. >> reporter: after a trial that lasted four days, 26-year-old jose antonio ibarra sentenced to life without parole for the brutal killing of 22-year-old laken riley. >> there is no end to the pain, suffering and loss that we have experienced or will continue to endure. >> reporter: her family and loved ones emotional. seeing the police camera video

showing the moment her mother first learned she died. the student was out for a morning jog in february when ibarra, who was lurking in the woods nearby, attempted to rape her and then killed her. >> not only does the physical evidence identify him, the video evidence identifies him. >> reporter: despite numerous studies that indicate undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes, the case has become a flash point in the national debate over immigration during the presidential election cycle, ibarra, an undocumented immigrant from venezuela. >> right here in georgia, our nation was robbed of a brilliant, 22-year-old nursing student, laken riley. >> reporter: during the trial, the state presenting surveillance video showing laken riley's final moments. her last text message to her mother and her attempt to call 911 before ibarra attacked her. >> she did fight. and it is a direct result of that fight that gives you all the physical evidence you need to convict him. >> reporter: prosecutors say

ibarra's dna was found underneath riley's fingernails, his thumbprint on her phone and riley's dna on the jacket he wore when he committed the crime. prosecutors say this surveillance video shows ibarra discarding the jacket. the defense claims the evidence was circumstantial and points the finger at his brother. riley's family remembering her as a kind, selfless, loving friend and daughter. >> the best daughter, sister, granddaughter, friend, and overall person that you could ever hope to meet. >> reporter: and after he delivered the sentencing, the judge told ibarra that he has 30 days to appeal this decision or ask for a new trial in this case. back to you. >> priya, thank you. vice president-elect jd vance is expected to be back on capitol hill today trying to rally support for cabinet nominees. he is expected to introduce republican senators to pete hegseth. he is up for the role of defense secretary. the former fox news host is expected to face a difficult confirmation process, with many senators saying they aren't

familiar with him. nbc's brie jackson joins me now. brie, another cabinet pick whom lawmakers do know well was on capitol hill yesterday. >> reporter: that's right. jd vance spent the day meeting with republicans trying to grow support for matt gaetz. president-elect trump has chosen gaetz for the role of attorney general, but he is expected to face a difficult confirmation process. what we have been hearing from republican senators is even if they have their concerns, they do think he deserves a fair and transparent process. >> i was shocked by the nomination, given the many allegations. >> every nominee, whether they are biden's in the last administration or whether they are president trump's deserve a process. every member should meet with them. >> the senators have been giving me a lot of good advice. i'm looking forward to a hearing. folks have been very supportive. they've been saying we're going to get a fair process, so it's a

great day of momentum for the trump-vance administration. >> reporter: and many senators have said they want to see the house ethics committee's report about gaetz, surrounding allegation of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, allegations that he denies. the committee met to discuss whether to release that report, now that gaetz has resigned from congress, and they were unable to agree on releasing it. but they did agree to complete the report. now some senators are also asking the fbi for evidence from their investigation into gaetz, which ended without any charges. frances? >> brie, thank you. when pete hegseth meets with senators today, he may get asked about his views on women serving in the military. the defense secretary pick has repeatedly said he doesn't think women should be allowed to fight on the front lines. but the current defense secretary lloyd austin spoke with nbc news, and he disagrees. >> they do impact readiness. they make us better. they make us stronger.

and, again, what i've seen from our women is quite incredible. and i'm not, i'm not, this is not hyperbole. this is, i'm just telling you what i've seen. >> that sentiment was echoed last night by retired general mark milley. he served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under trump. >> what's your take on women in combat in the military? yay or nay? >> women have been in combat, and it doesn't matter if that 762 hits you in the chest. no one gives a [ bleep ] if it's a woman or a guy who pulled that trigger. you're still dead. so, if you meet the standards, our military must be and always should be a standards-based, merit-based military. period. full stop. >> he was at this event in washington, d.c. last night, and stephanie ruhle asked about the trump team's promise to make government more efficient. milley said the military could use reforms, but they have to be done carefully. >> if all you're going to do is come in with a wrecking ball and

just blow things apart, then you're, what you're going to get is rubble. and if that's what you want, that's awesome if you want rubble, but that's not going to defend the united states. >> milley says he thinks the pentagon needs reforms to adapt to the modern digital age. the u.s. expects its embassy in kiev to return to normal operations after specific information about a significant air attack forced the embassy to close yesterday. it comes as ukraine launched its first strike on russian territory with u.s.-supplied long-range weapons and after vladimir putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike. let's go to matt bodner for the latest. >> reporter: the ukrainian military has said that the missile threat was part of a russian psychological operation aimed at scaring the public. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy said yesterday that panic about a russian strike

only helps the russians. though he did urge ukrainians to continue to heed warn ings. russia has already conducted some of its largest missile and drone attacks on ukrainian cities since the start of the war. and with that in mind, yesterday's concerns were amplified by the context. in the past few days, there have been a number of significant developments in the war, with the biden administration lifting some restrictions on the use of american long-range weapons on russian territory. since then, we have similar restrictions lifted by european allies. the kremlin has responded with sometimes outright threats of nuclear war. vladimir putin announced changes

to the threshold for use. the u.s. is not surprised by the kremlin's moves. moscow has a history of trying to scare the west with nuclear threats when things don't go its way. frances? >> okay. we'll see where this goes with this incoming administration, matt, thank you. now let's get a look at the storms out i.c.e. with meteorologist michelle grossman. >> we're looking at an impactful storm over the next couple days in the northeast. beneficial rain. it will not knock out the drought but will help. could see a couple inches in some spots, and heavy snow. we're looking at impactful snow. 15 to 20 inches for some spots. we'll see this retro grade back and keep the showers and snowshowers in place. look at the appalachians, the poconos, catskills. we could see locally 15 to 20 inches of snow, especially where

tates, looking at a ton of sunshine. temperatures nice, in the 60s and 70s. all right, that's your thursday forecast. >> all right, thanks so much, michelle. for the national league, it is chris sale. the first cy young for the 35-year-old veteran. he is a triple crown winner, leading in wins, strikeouts and e.r.a.s. and tarik skubal won the league triple crown. it's the first time since 2011 that both cy young winners also earned the triple crown. we're back in a minute with why google may have to say good-bye to the chrome browser. and country stars celebrate a legend.

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breaking overnight, the department of justice may have found its answer in google's anti-trust case. the agency is pushing google to give up its chrome browse ir. cnbc's karen gilchrist is here with how that could work. good morning. >> good morning, frances. yes, the department of justice is calling for the partial breakup of google, in what would be the most significant penalties against the tech giant in more than a generation. now the doj said on wednesday that it was urging a federal judge to force the sale of google's chrome browser as part of wider anti-monopoly measures against the tech giant. now google controls about 90% of the search market. and the argument here is that chrome provides it with extra data on users that it can sell to advertisers. so the doj said that the sale would improve competitiveness in the market and allow other

entrants. this was part of a 23-page filing against google which also said it should be blocked from entering exclusionary agreements with partners like apple and samsung and that it should also be prevented from giving such service preferences to its own products. it also said the tech giant should be stopped from eliminating emerging competitive threats through acquisitioning, minority investments or partnerships. these proposed remedies are to end so-called unlawful practices from google. the request marks the doj's largest attempt to break up a tech company since the anti-trust case against microsoft in 2001. google has said itself the proposals would be anti-competitive for consumers and businesses and that it will appeal the charges and put forward the same proposals next month. still to many come, chris

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the cma award for song of the year goes to -- >> ready? >> ready? >> white ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> chris stapleton dominated the country music awards last night with three big wins, including the single and song of the year for "white horse". the fans also loving this honor of the night. stapleton getting to perform with the one and only george strait. the country music legend won the willie nelson lifetime achievement award. huge moments at the cmas, including carrie underwood showing up, not expected. >> i missed it. >> did you see it? >> no. bedtime. >> i'm going to catch up on

that. more music news, the coachella lineup is out earlier than ever and is jam-packed. lady gaga, green day and post malone officially headline the festival, and other notable acts like travis scott, missy elliott, and charli xcx will perform. presale tickets are out tomorrow. we'll see all the stars, all the pictures, all the dancing and the outfits. >> it's a huge musical event, but a huge influencer event. they have their festival fits and fringe. when we come back, oreo is getting into the holiday spirit. and americans are getting some relief on the grocery bills for relief on the grocery bills for a thanksgiving spread this year. ...that stayed clear, even at 5 years. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur.

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athletes are connected to a trans national crime ring such as one from south america. the houses of patrick mahomes and travis kelce were burglarized hours apart last month. the boston celtics are visiting the white house to celebrate their championship win. according to the american farm bureau federation, the cost for thanksgiving for ten will run about $58, about 5% less than last year. oreos have released a red and green cookie for the holidays. holidays. we'll be right back. i can turn it up... that smells good! or turn it down... hmm. nice and light. enjoy 40 days of freshness, your way. ♪ lalalalala ♪ looking for a reason to try the new $5 meal deal at mcdonalds? here's one, two, three, four and the price makes 5. that's everything you get with the new $5 meal deal

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tree that survived hurricane helene and is now getting a big holiday honor at the white house. here's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: the frazier fir grows best in the mountains of north carolina. millions will decorate homes this old season. this family business started in the '50s has a special honor. after beating out the competition, one of their firs is going to the blue room in the white house. the trees are planted when they're saplings, about a foot or so tall. then they grow a foot every year. this tree has been in this spot for 25 years. now it's time to head to the show. friends and family gathered to cut down the tree. why was it chosen? >> the taper's number one. it's got absolutely per taper on it. >> reporter: what makes perfect taper? >> it's not too this way. it's not too slim. it's just right. >> reporter: co-owner, sam cartner even has a name for the

perfectly-shaped 20 footer. tremendous. >> tree-mend, m-e-n-d, us. this tree's going to mend us. >> reporter: many of the tree farms, including cartner's suffered damage from mudslides. today was a moment to take pride in their resilience. >> all those good things in life. faith, hope and love, that's what we want this tree to represent. >> reporter: have you felt that spirit in this area after the storm? >> absolutely. absolutely we have. >> reporter: and, like every year during the holidays, north carolina is sharing that spirit with the rest of us. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new land, north carolina. >> amazing. the banana uct taped to the wall sold at sotheby's for $6 million. it was named "comedian" and debuted in 2019. the hotly-contested price drew record crowds and a lot of debate and criticism.

it was originally estimated to sell for $1.5 million. so i guess you can go by, how much bananas are, what, 50 cents in some cases? 25 cents at trader joe's? you could do it yourself. a first look at dorothy's red slippers before they hit the auction block. how much they're expected to sell for. and here's sheinelle jones with a look at what else is ahead. >> this morning on the third hour of "today", everything you need to know about payment apps ahead of the holidays. plus from the new series, cruel intentions, actress sara kathryn hook. all this morning on the third hour of "today". >> thanks for starting your morning with "ea

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