a health insurance ceo gunned down on the streets of new york. we have the latest details on the killing, and why police are calling it a targeted attack. gun violence in an elementary school. two kindergartners are critically injured after a shooting in california. more details on the attack and the motive of the slain gunman. pete hegseth stands his ground. donald trump's pick to lead the department of defense goes on the offensive after increasing concerns from the senate jeopardizing his appointment. we're live from d.c. with hegseth's latest comment. taylor swift is already dominating plenty of spotify raps. find out where she and other top artists fall on e year-end recap. and the rockettes around the christmas tree. we take a look at the journey of the women who dreamed of becoming the iconic dancers, and the bonds that sometimes go back a lifetime. it's december 5th.

"early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin with what police are calling the premeditated murder of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. some of what you see here may be disturbing. thompson can be seen walking to a conference at a midtown hotel early wednesday when an assailant opened fire. police now on the hunt for the gunman and a motive, as they continue to track, quote, several good leads, according to three senior law enforcement officials. nbc's stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: it was a brazen attack on the busy streets of midtown manhattan, just as the work day was beginning, the nypd says the gunman was laying in wait for unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. >> every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack. >> reporter: nbc news obtained this video from a law enforcement official briefed upon the investigation. according to police, thompson was shot in the back and in the

leg. >> at the scene, we recover three live .9-millimeter rounds and three dischaede discharged millimeter casings. >> reporter: he was in town for a conference at the hilton hotel. at 6:44 a.m. he was walking to the hilton from a different hotel where he was staying. the shooter wearing a black ski mask and hoodie was already there, according to the nypd, arriving minutes before. he stepped out from behind a car and started shooting. walking and firing multiple times. at one point, the gun appeared to jam. >> it does seem that he's proficient in the use of firearms, as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly. >> reporter: the nypd says at 6:48 officers arrived at the scene but the gunman had already fled. an eyewitness watched it happen.

>> i saw him after he shot him, he ran across the street this way. i tried to take a picture, but it was too far away. >> reporter: the shooter took off through an alley, grabbing an ebike and riding it into central park, which at that time was filled with morning walkers and runners, that's when the timeline police publicly sharing ends. >> the full investigative efforts of the new york city police department are well under way, and we will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case. >> reporter: a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation tells nbc news these photos were taken before the shooting. >> we are seeking information from the public to help identify the shooter. as the commissioner said, we have upped the reward up to $10,000 for information. >> reporter: in minnesota, thompson's wife and family in shock. >> brian was a wonderful person with a big heart. and who lived life to the fullest. he will be greatly missed by everybody. our hearts are broken, and we

are completely devastated by this news. >> reporter: in a separate phone conversation with nbc news, his wife expressed some concerns. there had been some threats, basically. i don't know. a lack of coverage, she said, adding, i don't know the details. i just know he said there were some people that had been threatening him. despite the threats, she says her husband did not change his travel habits. the head of pharmaceutical company eli lilly spoke out about the shooting. >> i mean, it's shocking, yeah. he was assassinated, essentially, in the street going to his investor conference. >> reporter: unitedhealthcare is the largest private insurer in the country. a spokesperson writes in part, we are deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague. the company says it is working closely with the nypd. the scheduled conference has been canceled. >> our thanks to stephanie gosk for that report. breaking news out of california. two kindergartners are

critically injured after a shooting happened there. the alleged gunman met with the school principal about enrolling a student. >> shortly after concluding that meeting, the principal heard shots being fired, heard screams. and that's when they determined or found that the two students been shot. we have received some information that he may have targeted this school because of its affiliation with the seventh day adventist church. >> police say the shooter was found dead of an apparent self-inflict gunshot wnd. they are invnvestigati his motives. pete hegseth, president-elect's pick for defense secretary spent wednesday meeting with republican senators whose votes he needs. the war veteran and former fox news host is facing a tough confirmation hearing if he even gets that far. increasing concerns about alleged sexual misconduct, bing drinking and financial

mismanagement are giving many lawmakers pause. let's turn to brie jackson in washington. what's hegseth saying? >> reporter: hegseth is striking a defiant tone. he's still denying all the accusations against him. and yesterday he published an op ed in the "wall street journal" headlined, i've faced fire before, i won't back down, deriding what he calls a press show trial based on anonymous accusations. he also did a wide ranging interview on megyn kelly's podcast. when asked about supposed alcohol abuse, hegseth told her he intended to be completely drink-free during his tenure as defense secretary. >> when you call me 24/7, you're getting fully dialed-in pete like you did in iraq and afghanistan. this is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips while i'm doing it. >> reporter: and hegseth insisted he still has donald

trump's support and says the president-elect told him this on the phone yesterday. >> pete, i've got your back. it's a fight. they're coming after you. get after it. >> reporter: but amid the controversy, mr. trump is said to be looking around for other candidates, according to sources familiar with the decision making. he's considering names such as senator joni ernst, florida governor ron desantis and florida coressman mike waltz, the uncertainty led republican senator josh hawley to tell reporters, it's not 100% clear to me who he wants as secretary of defense right now. now, amid all of this, mr. trump has rolled out new names for top jobs. among them is peter navarro who will return to the white house as a trade advisor. navarro spent four months in prison for contempt of congress for defying a spina related to the january 6 investigation. mr. trump has picked kelly loeffler to head up the small business administration. she is a trump ally who has

supported his false claims of election fraud. >> brie jackson, thanks. the supreme court taking up a landmark case concerning transgender rights and tennessee's law involving puberty ockers. the justices seem skeptical to changes to the law, raising concerns they'd be second guessing states if it steps in. >> the constitution leaves that qution to the people's representatives rather than to nine people, none of whom is a doctor. >> but the three liberal justices raised concerns over the impact of these types of bans on those who need the treatment. the challengers also noted the ban only applies to transgender care and not other types of care which they argue amounts to sex discrimination. a ruling is expected this summer. millions of people are under winter alerts in the midwest and

northeast, for a blast of more snow. >> reporter: from michigan to north dakota, snow misery strikes the midwest. part of a fast-moving clipper system also taking aim at hard-hit erie, pennsylvania. where there's a state of emergency and all hands on deck. the national guard knocking on doors, digging residents out and delivering critical supplies. >> merry christmas to you. >> reporter: making sure folks are okay ahead of the next big storm expected in a matter of hours. >> it's definitely a race against time. >> reporter: how many folks out here need help >> um, i'm going to say everybody. if you don't have your own snowplow, i'm pretty sure everybody need as little bit of assistance one way or another. >> reporter: erie comes together? >> oh, definitely, erie comes together. >> we're going to keep working on mobilizing them. >> reporter: not far away, the county storm command center, dealing with the five feet of snow already on the ground, and now more than a foot in the

forecast. can this region handle that additional snowfall? >> we don't have a choice, right? we have to handle that. >> reporter: with the region reeling from last weekend's whiteout, 21 million remain on alert. across the northeast, they're getting ready for another round against mother nature. >> they say it's going to snow some more, and i'm afraid of that. >> reporter: you're bracing big time? >> yeah. >> reporter: erin mclaughlin, eerie, pennsylvania. >> wow, they need that break. so, for more on the latest winter alerts, let's turn to angie lassman. >> good morning, frances. unfortunately for our friends in erie and other places, those alerts are up. erie dealing with a blizzard warning at this hour, but 19 million people across this region under those winter alerts as we gear up for more difficulty when it comes to travel throughout the day today and on the roads and in the air. we have this clipper system that's going to move pretty quickly. it's still going to leave behind intense snow bands.

we'll see gusty winds quite impactful the next day or so. and downwind on the lakes, that's where the highest amounts of snow totals are. as we get to friday, up to at least a foot in these spots. additional snowfall in places that have already received a whole lot just last weekend. there's the wind alert, 62 million people under this. downed trees and with cloudy conditions. mostly sunny conditions for new york and philadelphia today in the high 30s. and that's a look at your forecast, back to you. coming up, why chipotle says they're raising their prices. plus execs from the major

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according to chipotle's chief corporate affairs officer, the burrito chain is raising its prices by 2% to offset inflation. it comes in response to an analyst report showing the increase. now to junk fees tacked onto your plane ticket can be frustrating for many travelers. but execs from many airline also to answer for them. >> reporter: as some scrambled for the holidays, some giving no thanks to the airlines. a record 3 million passengers traveled through tsa checkpoints the sunday of thanksgiving weekend. some turning to creative ways to avoid those bag fees. on capitol hill, senators took

the airlines to task, fuming over things like seat fees, which generated more than $12 billion in revenue over a six-year period. >> nobody enjoys flying on the airlines, it's a disaster. >> reporter: executives from five different airlines testified to sub committee, accusing low-cost airlines of paying gate incentives in 2022 and 2023 for stopping customers violating bag policies. $5 to $10 for each catch. >> that seems like a bounty. >> reporter: spirit airlines says it ended that policy in september. but frontier? >> would you commit to ending it? >> i wouldn't characterize it as a bounty program, it's something i can't commit to. >> we routinely do not look at it that way. >> you don't look at the number? >> we look at our profitability very carefully by flight, by market and by region, but we do

not look at profitability by baggage. >> it defies imagination. >> reporter: a turbulent ride for the airlines ahead of what could be another record-breaking holiday later this month. brian cheung, nbc news. still to come, stify users had no problem streaming with a broken heart this year. we one wrap spotify wraps. . we one wrap spotify wraps. moderatcolitis symptomsrative can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. healing is possible with tremfya.

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he kicks off the final shows of 2024 alongside musical guest shaboozey. i'm so excited when it comes to all the december snls, the christmas ones are usually the funniest of the year. >> it's the 50th anniversary, so you know they are going to deliver. and you don't need a complex algorithm to figure out who spotify's top artist of the year was. they dropped the roundup, and taylor swift claimed the title of most-played artist, with 26 billion streams. her record, the tortured poet's department was the most-streamed album of the year. and like last year, bad bunny and the weeknd claimed the top three spots. and bill eilish rounded out the top three. what has been so fascinating abouspotify, their analytics

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four! three! two! one! ♪ joy to the world ♪ >> festive flurries were in the air as the iconic christmas tree at rockefeller center was officially lit. some 50,000 colorful lights cover every inch of this 74-foot norway spruce. it will be lit from 5:00 a.m. to midnight every night until january. and on christmas eve, the tree will be lit for 24 hours. among the ceremony's many performances were the radio city rockettes, becoming a dancer in the famed troupe is the dream of many young girls. checky beckford talked to a few of those who are now living their dream. >> reporter: as one of the most well-known dance troupes in the world, it's no surprise the women of the legendary radio city music hall rockettes share a special bond. >> aside from my parents, she was the first person i called. >> reporter: some of those bonds more personal than others, like the one between kayla sue and

miranda labar. you see, labar was sue's dance teacher when she was growing up. >> it's just honestly such a magical experience, going from teacher-student to now dancers across the line. >> during all our dances we try to find each other and smile, give each other a little moment. >> reporter: but the road to the stage has been anything but straight. >> i auditioned 13 times. >> reporter: both latarika and jaclyn say they have to keep believing in their dream of making it to the stage. this, salerno's first year performing in the christmas spectacular. >> i think what changed it for me this year is i just made it all about me. i remembered that 5-year-old who saw the show for the first time and said i'm doing it for her. >> reporter: from the new by to the veteran. morgan is celebrating her 19th season. the dance captain one of the few

black rock black rockettes when she started. >> i say, i can do this. >> great always to have the holiday staple. our thanks to checky beckford for that story. before we go, here's al roker with a look at what's ahead. >> this morning, ways to reduce stress during the holiday season. plus, if you've still t gifts to buy, our shop today team has a one-stop shop for everybody on the list. and we're cooking with coffee, making an espresso cake. all that and more coming up this morning on the third hour of today. >> wow, i love coffee cake. that's got to be so good. i'm frances rivera. have a great thursday. hope you join "early today" again tomorrow morning. n tomorr. - hi, i'm steve. - i'm lea. and we live in north pole, alaska. - i was noticing my hearing was not so good so i got hearing aids. my vision was not as good as it used to be, got a change in prescription.

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