states across the south are bracing for a post-christmas storm as the northwest gets

walloped by snow, wind and rain. denise isaacs brings us the latest forecast. breaking overnight, a shooting at phoenix's airport leading to temporary shelter in place. there are no threats, but they are investigating what happened we take to you an arizona high school that is preparing the next generation of students for medical careers. the texans take on the ravens at home, but it was beyonce who stole the show in front of her houston hometown crowd. we've got all the highlights from the nfl christmas games and the beyonce bowl. and we have a look back at an eventful year in space with some major advancements. and amazing feats of engineering including a giant leap for one of america's rivals. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm jessica layton, and we begin this morning with the dangerous weather conditions that are

affecting millions this week, especially in the northwest. snow, severe rain, dangerous waves and so much more. in utah, a snowmobiler was saved by his brother after being caught in an avalanche. nbc's dana griffin has more. >> reporter: snow blanketing northern california brought travel on interstate 80 to a crawl, as plow trucks worked to clear roads. massive waves plunging part of the santa cruz wharf into the ocean. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: daring rescues saving crew members thrust into the water. >> the whole end of the wharf just fell in, mom. that's insane. >> reporter: winter alerts now in effect in washington state, oregon and california with one to three feet of snow expected in the cascade mountains. and, farther south, 12 million at risk for severe storms across portions of texas, louisiana and arkansas. that region hit with plum-sized hail earlier this week. and, in utah. >> thank you for saving my hive.

>> reporter: two brothers out having fun while snowmobiling are lucky to be alive. brayden hanson saved his brother hunter, who was buried in an avalanche christmas eve. >> felt like you were in washing machine, just tumbled. >> reporter: beacons the brothers were carrying allowed them to find each other. >> i could see his hand, his glove poking out, waving. his head was about two feet under the snow. >> i toad him i was ld him i wa breath. >> reporter: hunter grateful he could make it home to his wife and young daughter for christmas. dana griffin, nbc news. we have breaking news this morning. late on christmas night, police responded to gunshots at a phoenix airport. policeonfirm they are investigating a shooting at sky harbor airport, but they say the incident has been resolved. they did not give details about any arrests or victims, one

witness told our phoenix affiliate that she saw somebody who looked badly injured. >> there with some people injured. and it was, maybe they said that there were four bangs. >> a shelter in place order has been lifted. the airport has returned to normal operations this morning. now to the christmas day tragedy in kazakhstan where dozens died in a fiery plane crash. 67 people were on board the flight from azerbaijan to russia. officials say 29 people did survive, including three children. russian authorities believe a bird strike may have caused the crash. nbc's kelly cobiella has more on that investigation. >> reporter: investigators will be combing the wreckage for clues as to why the azerbaijan flight went down. authorities have opened criminal investigations into the crash. dramatic video appears to show

the plane trying to make an emergency landing, then bursting into flames and breaking apart. a large part of the fuselage remained in tact. video posted by a russian state news agency appears to show some of the passengers seemingly able to walk away after the impact. the airline said 67 people were on board, including the five crew members. all are from central asia and russia, according to those sources. the plane was en route from the capital of azerbain to chechnya, in southern russia. the russian aviation authority says it appears the pilots tried to make an emergency landing after a bird strike. russian state media also said that flight had been diverted to kazakhstan due to fog. possibly hitting a flock of birds after that diversion. kelly cobiella, nbc news, london. russia darkened ukraine's christmas day with a new wave of attacks.

a barrage of missiles and drones targeted ukraine's power grid. it comes as the war is nearing the three-year mark. here's erin mclaughlin. >> reporter: as the war approaches its third devastating year, the fight intensifies. president putin claiming his troops are gaining ground every day. the ukrainians say those gains come at a high price for russia. >> i see how much troops russians lose and how small pieces of land they took. >> reporter: ukrainian soldier alexei asked we withhold his last name for security easons. he's been on the front lines in the country's battered east. it sounds like a living hell. >> we are soldiers, we understand that, it's war. but for civilians, it's very

hard. >> reporter: ukraine is also losing ground in the russian region of kursk, according to a senior u.s. military official, the kremlin has moved 12,000 north korean troops into the region, helping the russians reclaim 40% of their lost territory. >> clearly russia has massively accelerated its war effort against ukraine, but we can see that they are going through record losses. >> reporter: this is ukraine's former defense minister. he believes the latest russian onslaught is timed to the late january inauguration of president-elect trump. >> it's got to stop. >> reporter: who has said he can end the war in one day. is that possible? >> ukrainian people don't want war. if there is an end to war it needs to be genuine. it must not be where russia can get more troops. >> reporter: a possibility that

weighs heavily on this aid worker. >> what was stolen from a lot of ukrainians, this is the feeling, the roots, the roots, the connection with your hometown, with the small villages where a lot of people was born. >> reporter: how long can the ukrainian people endure this? >> all of us will be answering you, we will stand by the victory. this is our homeland. we need to be strong. >> reporter: what happens next is seen as a test, not just of ukrainian strength but also of how the new trump administration will respond. erin mclaughlin, nbc news. six people were hit by a taxi in new york city on christmas day after it hopped a curb. police say the cab veered onto the sidewalk at herald square, a popular area for tourists. three people, including a mother

and son visiting from australia were taken to the hospital and are expected to survive. we still don't know what caused the taxi to hop the curb, but the driver may have experienced a medical episode. no charges have been filed. millions are u under severe storm alerts in south. meteorologist denise isaac is tracking all of that and more. good morning. >> good morning, jessica, yes. we are tracking an area of low pressure that will bring the round of severe weather across the deep south. so, from arkansas down into texas, we could have the possibility of some very strong winds, up to 60 miles per hour, hail is also a possibility and a tornado or two can't be ruled out. so make sure you do have a plan for you and your family to stay safe. regardless of the severe weather, we also have the potential for some minor flooding, because up to three inches of ain is possible in some locations. if you're traveling today in the northeast, it will be cold and sunny. down in florida, temperatures

near 80 degrees oright around, at least chicago around 50 degrees after morning fog. we will end up with mostly cloudy skies. and then towards the pacific northwest we continue to track another area of low pressure that will bring rain and snow up to three feet of snow possible toward the cascades and up to three inches york, sunny, scrant pennsylvania, 36. while louisville, kentucky in the mid-50s. that was the big weather picture and what you could expect out the door. jessica, back to you. >> all right, denise, thank you. coming up, all the highlights from the nfl christmas games, including beyonce's big performance.

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we're back with news that new estimates show there may be a 100,000 deficit in healthcare workers by the year 2028, but one school in arizona is trying to changthat by immersing high school students into the healthcare world. nbc's dr. style has more. >> i'll have you do blood pressure like you do a normal patient. >> reporter: parker summons is one of nearly a thousand students enrolled at one of the most unique schools in the country. >> which do you want to do? >> reporter: it's part of a network of programs in tucson, arizona. immersing high school students into the world of healthcare. the goal? to help solve the healthcare worker shortage, with some estimates predicting a deficit of 100,000 workers by 2028. >> i'm curious. why do you think we're seeing

such a shortage of healthcare workers? >> i hate to say this, but i think part of it is we're aging out. >> reporter: beth frances, a former nurse, helped bring it all to life. >> i have had the pleasure of working here for almost 16 years. >> reporter: here's how it works. when the bell rings at the end of the school day, students across southern arizona head t j-ted to master real-world skills. >> today we are just going to be talking about pulse. >> reporter: it's like an afterschool program but for healthcare where think can leave with a certification in hand. she is a board member and associate professor at the university of arizona. she says it's all about the exposure. >> most kids now doctor, nurse and pharmacist. and they don't know about the whole group that make up the team. >> reporter: in this building, students trade sticky notes for stethoscopes and learn about topics not usually taught in high school. >> what if you could not only learn how to do math but learn what it's like to give medication to a patient, learn

how to do a dosage or how to do a drip rate and have some type of application for that student? >> reporter: they learn real-world skills, like how to draw blood. i'm here with alex gone all saul ez o /- gonzales who's going to be drawing my blood for me. they have access to incredible state-of-the-art technology. >> so we have our mannequin here. and it's really cool, because you can see, i can adjust, so let's say we're having kidney problems or jaundice. you see yellow discoloration. can you also have bloodshot eyes. let's say i'm over there in the observation room and our patient starts coughing, or let's say that our maybe's kind of having a hard time. >> reporter: oh, my god. what's your favorite thing you've learned so far? >> i honestly like taking all the vital signs. it's a lot easier than people think. >> reporter: parker's father, a

travel nurse tragically lost his life in a helicopter accident when parker was just 3 years old. >> he was a flight nurse, and he would, of course, help people who needed situational help. it was an inspection that had gone wrong on the helicopter. and it crashed shortly after they'd taken off. >> reporter: for him, getting certified in the medical field is not just a unique opportunity, it's a personal one. >> i'm definitely most excited about the influence i have on people and what they want to do with their lives. so of course what pie dad was to me, i can maybe be that to someone else. >> reporter: nbc news. still to come, what's christmas without a little cowboy carter? beyonce brings the house down with her halftime show and sends fans nto a frenzy with a cryptic announcement for the new year. and their families with life-changing programs and services. i faced my ptsd, and i'm a better husband and father because of it.

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>> hello, girls. >> hello, beyonce. >> hello, fellas. i'm a clever girl. >> it was so good. dressed in dazzling white in front of her hometown houston crowd, beyonce brought the hits from cowboy carter to a live audience for the first time. she was joined by shaboozey and post malone during the so-called beyonce bowl and cryptically teased something for fans coming january 14th. and the ravens quarterback lamar jackson broke the record for rushing yards by a qb in a dominant 31-2 victory over the texans. the chiefs secured home field advantage in the playoffs, delivering one of their most decisive victories ever the season over the steelers, that

score 29-10. and if christmas day action on the gridiron wasn't your thing you may have jumped over to the hardwood. action got started with a close match between the knicks and spurs, despite a whopping 42 points from victor wembanyama, new york held on for the huge 117-114 victory, but nothing could compare to the grudge match between lebron and steph. they both dropped more than 30 points. but it was austin reaves sinking the tie-breaking bucket to give the lakers the win, 115-113. and even though netflix was focussed on football, they left a little gift under the tree for fans of golf and adam sandler. >> it's great to see you back, mr. gilmore. >> yeah, baby! >> e've only just begun. >> the streamer dropped the

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welcome back to what's making headlines this morning. washington, d.c. marks the first night of hanukkah by lighting the national menorah. hundreds gathered to watch the first candle on the 30-foot menorah light up in front of the white house. it's only the fifth time since 1900 that the first night of the jewish holiday has fallen on christmas day. president biden and jill biden spent part of their christmas calling troops around the world thanking them for their sacrifice. a baby hippo was born at richmond's zoo. she will grow up to 600 pounds.

she doesn't have a name yet and is spending time with her mom. soon she will be ready for visitors to celebrate her arrival. burger king is serving up some post christmas deals. that all looks delicious right now. we'll be right back after this. - bye, bye cough. - later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief.

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exploration to the ten-day mission. we look back at the adventures in the final frontier. >> touchdown. starliner is back on earth. >> reporter: america's 2024 space odyssey had drama. >> the troubled boeing starliner capsule back on solid ground, but the two astronauts it took to space didn't make the return trip. >> reporter: breakthrough technologies and international intrigue. but, above all, it was yet another year of trmph for spacex, that one day will carry astronauts to the moon and maybe mars, with stunning new capture technology for the booster rocket. spacex will soon provide the ride home for astronauts suni williams and butch wilmore, whose ten-day mission last year

to the space station will last nine months until at least late march until the boeing starliner was brought home empty, with concern it wasn't safe for astronauts. 2024 was also another big year for the chinese space program. landing a second robotic mission on the far side of the moon, then returning home with soil samples that suggest ancient volcanic activity. china is moving at full throttle to land its own astronauts on the moon by 2030. that's also nasa's goal for its artemis program. >> it is vital for us to land on the south pole so that we do not cede portions of that south lunar south pole to the chinese. >> reporter: but nasa is now delaying an artemis loop around the moon until 2026 to improve the heat shields needed for re-entry. the goal now, a moon landing in

2027. dr. chris williams. have you dreamed among being the first to return to the moon? >> i actually hope it's me and i get a chance to do that. >> reporter: jared isaacman became the first commercial astronaut to perform a spacewalk in 2024. he's now president-elect trump's choice to lead nasa. 2025 will be a year of private business and china pushing to go farther, faster. >> our thanks to tom costello for that look back. and our thanks to you for getting up early today and watching "early today." i'm jessica layton. lleeha a trsy. i' s you tomorre rohi, i'm greg. i live in bloomington, illinois. i'm not an actor. i'm just a regular person. after working 25 years in the automotive industry, i retired. eight years ago, i just didn't feel like i was on my game. i started taking prevagen and i want people to know that prevagen has worked for me.

give it a try. i want it to help you just like it has helped me. i've been taking prevagen for eight years now and it is still helping me tremendously. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. officials this morning investigating a deadly christmas day plane crash in kazakhstan. nearly 40 people are dead. what an