arraigned on new york state

charges of murder and terrorism. how he plans to plead. a high-speed chase in texas ending with a suspect crashing into a shopping mall. an officer shooting him dead, all during this busy holiday shopping weekend. we'll tell you what police say happened as we hear from suffers. president-elect donald trump making one of his most high profile appearances since the election, talking to conservative conference turning point usa, hinting at a meeting with russian president vladimir putin. his former pick for attorney general also making an appearance with the house set to release the ethics report on matt gaetz as soon as today. our richard engel is looking back on the war in the middle east since last october's terror attack. and a heartwarming homecoming for thousands of sailors reuniting with their families just in time for christmas. it is monday, december 23rd. an "early today" starts right now.

good morning. it's great to have you with us. i'm jessica layton. we begin with luigi mangione expected to be arraigned today in new york. the 26-year-old is facing an 11-count indictment that include state charges of first-degree murder and terrorism in the killing of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. his lawyer saying late last week mangione will plead not guilty to all state charges. the manhattan d.a.'s office said it is coordinating with federal authorities who are holding mangione in a brooklyn detention center. mangione was flown to new york city last week after waiving extradition. he will be detained until his next hearing, which is expected in mid-january. now to a terrifying turn during the holiday shopping in texas. a man pursued in a high-speed chase by police crashing his truck into a jcpenney store, hitting several people. nbc's jesse kirsch has those details. >> oh my god!

>> reporter: the harrowing moment of impact caught on camera in killeen, texas. a pickup truck crashing through the doors of a mall there on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. >> oh my god. they shot him. >> reporter: just moments later, you can hear what sounds like gunshots. >> oh my god, they shot him. my god. >> reporter: people running for their lives. according to the texas department of public safety, a state trooper tried pulling over a driver for possibly driving while intoxicated. that's when he took off, veering off the road andnd into the jcpenney's. >> they shot him. oh any gosh. oh, my gosh, they shot him. >> reporter: a authoriti opened fire, killing the suspect, 53-year-old john darrel schultz. >> it was a handful of gunshots. so i go and i hold the door open to help people out, because people are panicking. >> reporter: officials say five

people were hurt as the truck barreled through. jcpenney saying they have been in close contact with the individuals impacted by the accident and are working to support them in the aftermath. a community now shaken days before the holidays. jesse kirsch, nbc knew. president-elect donald trump speaking at his biggest public event since winning the election, rallying his supporters at a turning point usa conference. mr. trump addressed recent criticism about the influence elon musk may have over his decisions. here's nbc's aaron gilchrist. >> the golden age of america is upon us. >> reporter: president-elect trump in phoenix for his largest public event since winning the white house, taking a victory lap. >> january 20th will truly be liberation day. is that okay? >> reporter: in his conference, trump addressed his cabinet pick, tax cuts, and ending the

war in ukraine. >> president putin said he wants to meet with me as soon as possible. >> reporter: the president-elect never spoke directly about last week's narrowly averted government shutdown. democrats blamed trump and tech billionaire elon musk for tanking the original deal. >> we're going to have elon musk also injecting instability into how we tackle very complicated and important issues for our country. >> reporter: trump tempting to put to bed rumors that musk was actually pulling the strings behind the scenes. >> the new one is president trump has ceded the presidency to elon musk. no, no. that's not happening. >> reporter: republicans defending the role musk has in the party. >> we're going bring in elon musk and allow him to help us see what we aren't being able to see. >> our thanks to aaron for that report. meanwhile, donald trump's former pick for attorney general also spoke at that event in phoenix. former congressman matt gaetz told the crowd that he might run

for marco rubio's florida senate seat, if rubio is confirmed as secretary of state. any potential campaign could be complicated by the house ethics committee report into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use, allegations that gaetz denies. that report could be released as soon as today. a source tells nbc news that the committee is expected back at the capitol in the next few hours. and now on to colorado, where massive rescue is caught on camera as more than 100 skiers and snowboarders had to be evacuated by rope from their gondolas. our adrienne broaddus has more. >> reporter: an emergency high above colorado's winter park resort. 174 skiers stranded in gondolas over the slopes. >> ski patrol has started evacuations. >> reporter: each gondola sul

sudly stopped. >> you having a medical emergency? >> no. >> reporter: amy and her twins rescued after almost two hours. >> it was pretty scary. your adrenaline is going. >> so many what ifs going through your mind, i imagine. >> and pretty nervous about how are they going to get you down. >> reporter: but the ski patrol was ready. >> we're slowly going lower each one of you out. >> reporter: one by one. you're going use the rope right here. >> lowering each person with rope. >> hang on. >> oh, my gosh. >> reporter: a spokesperson for winter park confirms there were no injuries, but says this crack is what caused the lift to malfunction. it remains closed. the carr family shaken but back on the slopes. >> there is probably no way i'm going take a gondola for a long time. >> reporter: adrienne broaddus, nbc news, chicago. two u.s. navy pilots were forced to eject over the red sea because of an apparent case of friendly fire. central command says the american jet was shot down early sunday morning by the uss gettysburg. the missile cruiser appears to

have mistaken the jet for enemy aircraft. the two pilots were able to eject safely and were rescued by u.s. forces. the f-18 was part of a strike group carrying out operations against the iranian-backed houthi rebels in yemen. officials say a full investigation is under way this morning. well, leave it to the cowboys to play some of their best football with absolutely nothing at stake. >> 39, hi got a peek. rush, hangs in. fires and touchdown! hold on to the ball. >> despite being eliminated from play-off contention hours before that sunday night football game, dallas delivered what could be a major blow to a red hot buccaneers team. tampa's hopes of a comeback were dashed by two crucial turnovers in the fourth quarter including a wild fumble recovery by darren bland. the cowboys crush bucs'

four-game win between 26-24. more snow and rain is headed from the plains to the northeast this week. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking it all. michelle, good morning. it could be white. it could be wet. we're not sure yet. >> great to see you. we're looking at millions of people under some winter alerts this morning from the northern plains to the great lakes, and eventually into the northeast. we'll see that snow tomorrow. you could see where we see the white here. those are winter weather advisories including fargo, greek, madison, green rapids over to burleson and bangor, maine. also today the snow impacting the great lakes. and then that rain targeting the ohio and also the central plains. tomorrow it moves into the northeast. again, it's going to be a quick shot. and we're looking at a chance for more rain. some could be heavy where you're seeing the darker colors, especially in the southern plns into the mississippi valley. that will last into the holiday as well. how will that affect travel? the great lakes, the northern plains. look to the west, a series of systems moving onshore. that's going bring some tough travel into the west, especially the intermountain west where

we're going see the higher mountain snow. record warmth in the southwest. nice and dry in the southeast. 54 in huntsville. it's going to be cool and chilly in the northeast. as far as the airlines go, looking good in boston, new york city, philadelphia, d.c. today. but detroit we could certainly see some slo spots. otherwise looking a at warm day in texas. 75 in san antonio. 73 in houston. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> allight, michelle, thank you. this weekend the sports world said goodbye to an all-time great. rickey henderson died friday at the age of 65. henderson spent 25 years in the major, notably with the a's winning al mvp and world series during his time in oakland.

he won a second title with the blue blue jays. he holds the record for most stolen base, earning the nickname "man of steel." coming up, a look at who dominated that weekend box office. but first, in 60 second, richard engel looks back at year in the mideast crisis. stay with us. k shirt. just wear it again! i added the unstopables now with odor blocker and it keeps our clothes fresh all day! [sniff] ooo imma be feelin it at work today. she smells so good i'm actually paying attention! smell unstopable.

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israel's war on hamas payback for the october 7th massacre. has left gaza in ruins. everywhere you look, there is just nothing left standing. lawless and teetering on the brink of famine. israeli forces killed hamas' top leader, along with more than 45,000 palestinians, according to local officials. for the first time, the clerical regime in tehran abandoned its caution and launched two direct attacks against israel, firing hundreds of missiles and drones. while there is a lot of activity in the sky here as well, i think you can see some of these flashes of light. the only person killed was a gazan crushed by a missile shot down by air defenses. wrong time, wrong place. israel responded with restraint

so far witith complex long-rang air attacks that targeted iranian defenses. it was a clear message that israel can launch a devastating air campaign at will. lebanon felt that firsthand as well when israel launched a war against hezbollah to stop the group from firing rockets into northern israel. you get a sense of how powerful this blast must have been. just by how much debris there is. israel shattered hezbollah. >> hezbollah blaming israel for an unprecedented attack that involved blowing up its members' pagers. >> reporter: and assassinated its leader too and his chosen successor. by early december, a shaky ceasefire was in place. >> fighting across the elect niece-israeli border will end, will end. this is designed to be a permanent cessation of

hostilities. >> reporter: weakening hezbollah changed the balance of power across the region. in neighboring syria, it created an opportunity for islamist rebels who have been fighting against the government for a decade. rebel forces marched into the capital of damascus and overthrow the regime of dictator bashar al assad whose family had ruled the country with an iron fist for over half a century. assad's government had been propped up by three seemingly reliable backers, russia, hezbollah, and iran. but none of them would or could step in to save his government. the rebels saw an opportunity and took it. there is one word i'm hearing over and over again. it is arab freedom. and a lot of celebratory gunfire. syrians were in a state of shock, delighted the dictator was gone, but not sure if they could trust the rebels' promises that they'd be more moderate.

the map of the middle east is being redrawn by the hour. richard engel, nbc news. still to come, the financial legacy of one holiday classic and one speedy hedgehog leading the king of the jungle with an ug slycar at the box office. more on who came out on top this weekend. 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. ask your doctor

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"the americas " premieres february 23rd on nbc and peacock. all right, boys, try and keep up. >> come on, granddaddy-o. we've got dirt to do. >> with shuttle's power, we can lose humanity. >> it's not hard to top the box office when you're rolling around at the speed of sound. "sonic the hedgehog 3" debuting at number one this week, taking in $62 million. meanwhile, "mufasa" going have to wait a little longer to be

king. disney's lion king prequel came in at number two with a disappointing $35 million. "wicked" rounded out the top three with 13.5 million. i just want to know who had time to go to the movies this weekend. we're just talking about how we have so much to do for this week still. teach me your way. >> wouldn't that be nice to sit back, popcorn, snacks. >> i definitely want to see that. >> maybe this week. well, mariah carey say she may not want a lot for christmas, but she has 30 years of royalties lined up for one firm. a law firm has taken it upon themselves to find out how much "all i want for christmas" has made since its debut in 1994. the holiday staple generates $3.4 million a year, or 103 million in total. while there is no figuring how much carey will find under the christmas tree, industry experts all agree it's a lot.

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welcome back. here's what's making headlines this morning. the fda has approved the weight loss drug zepbound to treat obstructive sleep apnea, a common condition that makes it difficult for some people to breathe properly while they sleep. it is for people with obesity and severe sleep apnea. party city is closing all of its stores after nearly 40 years in business. the city filed for bankruptcy a second time after mounting financial struggles. going out of business sales are already under way with discounts of up to 50%. all 700 stores will close by

february. 12,000 people will lose their jobs. netflix says it has secured exclusive rights to stream the fifa women's world cup in the u.s. for 2027 and 2031. it will include commentary and documentaries. it's the first time the tournament will appear on a streaming service. and mega million's now $994 million. it's the seventh largest ever. next drawing tomorrow at 11:00 p.m. eastern. ws) citrusy. ahhhhhhhh! (crash) show-off! (♪♪) mountaaaain dew! dad i got a huge barbeque wing stain. this bottle says i need to pretreat. that stuff has way more water. a little bit of tide goes a long way, so you can save your shirt and maybe even a little money. moat the... library.s right... for a better clean with less... it's got to be tide. long after guests leave, viruses and bacteria linger. air fresheners add a scent.

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were reunited with their families. here is nbc's hallie jackson. ♪ >> reporter: after five long months at sea, one final concert on board the uss abraham lincoln. >> y'all are going home tomorrow [ cheering ] >> reporter: a holiday classic that's not just a song, but promise. ♪ i'll be home for christmas ♪ ♪ you can count on me ♪ >> being home for the holidays means being home with my family. >> being home for the holidays means spending time with family. >> for me to be home for the holidays is all about family. ♪ if only in my dreams ♪ [ applause ] >> reporter: the aircraft carrier's mission in the middle east, defending america's interests and allies is over.

now they're on course for a holiday homecoming. >> really, what i miss is just the simple things with my family. >> reporter: lieutenant commander alexis travis has two young kids at home. she hasn't been able to kiss them good night these past five months. so she left them hershey's kisses instead for each of those 160-plus night. >> i am most looking forward to that very first hug. >> reporter: at the port in san diego, her husband taren waiting with her son and daughter. >> it's going to be a great christmas. this is the best gift. >> reporter: some 3500 crewmembers on board means 3500 families waiting for their return. >> we're really grateful he gets to come home, spend the holidays with us. >> the children are really excited about having her come home. >> pretty excited to have him home. >> we're excited to have the hubby could to be home. >> reporter: the ship secured, the gangway opens and these

sailors can finally step home. >> permission to go ashore. >> granted. ♪ for the land of the free ♪ >> this is the moment lieutenant commander travis, who left behind those chocolate kisses has dreamed of. ♪ and the home of brave ♪ >> hello! >> the best. our thanks to hallie jackson for that. and r thanks to you for watching "early today." i'm jessica layton. have a great monday. i'll see you tomorrow.

and my administration's focus is going to be on delivering for san francisco. rigight now at five, ready to take over the city by the bay. from the drug cr