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 early report is saying

about what may have caused that flight to go down. millions under a severe weather threat in the south as the pacific northwest is getting pummel the by rain and snow. our meteorologist is here with the post-christmas forecast. apple is on the cusp of a historic milestone, closing in on a $4 trillion stock valuation, the first for a publicly-traded company. could a.i. be the future of a medical diagnosis? and, from the hippo who became an international sensation to powerhouse pop stars and a wickedly popular film debut, we look back at the year of pop culture. it is thursday, december 26. and "early today" starts right now. ts right now. good morning. i'm jessica layton. we begin this early thursday morning with the devastating

christmas day plane crash that killed dozens in kazakhstan. 67 people were on board the flight from azerbaijan to russia. officials revealing that 29 people somehow did survive that fiery crash, including two small children. nbc's kelly cobiella has the latest on that investigation. >> reporter: a terrifying scene in the skies over the caspian sea. an azerbaijan airlines jet precariously flying across the sky, sharply losing altitude, then apparently trying to straighten out before crashing in a fiery explosion. a large section of the fuselage still in tact. a shocked survivor stumbling out, still on his feet. as others rush pasinto the wreckage to rescue more passengers. incredibly, at least 29 people survived the initial crash, including three children. families of some of the 67 on

board search for news of their loved ones at an airport in russia. this man who had a relative on the plane saying we just got photos and videos of him. he is safe and healthy and walking. the flight was bound for the chechen capitol in russia. the aircraft was diverted due to fog. the flight radar 24's tracking data showing the plane making a figure eight near the airport in kazakhstan, then sharply gaining and losing altitude in the final moments before impact. video from inside the plane as it was still in the air shows people calm, even after oxygen masks had been released. the russian aviation authority quickly blaming an apparent bird strike for the loss of control and devastating crash. a flock of birds brought down flight 1649 in 2009, the so-called miracle on the hudson. and earlier this month, a flight

had to turn back for emergency landing after a bird strike. the exact number of dead still unclear, as emergency workers recover bodies, and investigators begin their search for clues. >> our thanks to kelly for that report. now to ukraine where christmas day was darkened by a brutal wave of new attacks by russia. a barrage of russian missiles and drones targeted ukraine's power grid, leaving half a million people in the cold. russia's defense ministry confirmed the attacks and said the objective was achieved. president volodymyr zelenskyy called the timing of the attack inhumane. president biden says he told the pentagon to continue its surge of weapon deliveries to ukraine. a possibly historic milestone for computer giant apple, poised to become the first publicly-traded company worth $4 trillion. nbc's sam brock has the new details, plus new tech that apple is hoping to bring into your home. >> reporter: even for a brand as

iconic as apple. >> apple shares closing at a new high as its market cap closes in on $4 trillion. >> reporter: a new milestone smash expectations of what's possible. the cupertino company started in 1976 by two friends, both named steve, is now on the verge of the $4 trillion market cap threshold, a first for a publicly-traded company. >> today apple became the first u.s. public company valued at a trillion dollars. >> reporter: and a meteoric leap, considering it touched a trillion dollars just a little over six years ago. now sitting ahead of nvidia. though its epic product releases have been part of the cultural zeitgeist. it's been the splash into a.i. and apple intelligence which analysts believe will super cycle more iphone upgrades and a

second foray into the home appliance market. >> reports say apple's going to take another crack at the space. >> reporter: that could challenge amazon and nest on everything from doorbells to security cams. even though not every apple product has been a home run, its ability to adapt and grow continues to defy expectations, possibly creating the world's first $4 trilliocompany. sam brock, nbc news. now turning to this week's dangerous weather affecting those especially in the northwest. nbc's dana griffin has more from santa cruz, california, the site of a terrifying wharf collapse. >> reporter: snow blanketing northern california brought interstate 80 to a crawl. 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 a washing machine, just tumbled and compacted into what felt like concrete. >> reporter: beacons allowed them to find each other. >> by the time i got to him, he was about two feet, his head was about two feet under the snow. >> i told him i was on my last breath. i tried to hold it as much as i

could. and i was just stuck. >> reporter: hunter grateful he was able to make it home to his wife and young daughter for christmas. dana griffin, nbc news. the south is still bracing for some severe weather, but a winter warmup is on the way. denise isaac is tracking it all for us this morning. denise, good morning. >> good morning, jessica. morning showers will yield to afternoon storms around the deep south. texas, arkansas, louisiana could be in for it this afternoon with a possibility for some very strong wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. hail and also the possibility for a tornado or two. make sure you have your plan to keep you and your family safe. not only we dealing with severe weather buts are heavy rain, where in the next 24 hours we could be talking about up to two inches of rain in some locales. we are tracking temperatures in the 40s, nearly 50 degrees, cool and sunny in the northeast.

while miami's hitting 80 degrees. so not bad at all. but the rain and snow will continue around the pacific northwest where a storm will be hitting and another one expected tomorrow witith the snow in the cascades and also the rockies. so holiday travel today looking good mostly in the midwest and the southeast. now,et's take l on, d.c., 42 de philly, 41. grand rapids, 41 as well with showers over green bay. so, yes, it's looking good around the northeast. but the same thing can't be said for texas, louisiana and arkansas later today. jessica? >> all right, we know you'll keep an eye on for us, thank

you. northwest naturals is issuing a volunteery recall after bird flu was found in their cat food. the contaminated food has been linked to the death of a domestic cat. if you have that food, throw it away. "early today" will be right back after this. ay" will be right bak after this. [♪♪] looking for a moisturizer that does more than just moisturize? try olay regenerist for 10 benefits in every jar.

olay visibly firms, lifts, and smooths wrinkles, by penetrating the skin, to boost regeneration at the surface cellular level. try olay hank used to suffer from what felt like a cold & flu medicine hangover in the morning. ha ha. haha! then he switched to mucinex nightshift. mucinex is uniquely formulated to leave your system faster, so you wake up readyo go. uhh, hank! try mucinex nightshift feel the difference. "early today" is back now at the intersection of healthcare and technology. some clinics are turning to artificial intelligence for extra support. nbc's maura barrett takes a look at how these new tools can help patients. >> reporter: what if artificial intelligence could serve as a second set of eyes with your doctor? operating as kind of a second opinion? >> to give you an idea -- >> reporter: we visited this research lab to see it in

action. >> there are more than 400 mri slices. >> reporter: she's a researcher of the epilepsy center at the cleveland clinic where a.i. is already making a difference. dr. wong can team up with an a.i. system that has learned from a network of past epilepsy cases. the a.i. can zoom in on an mri scan to highlight a probability map for doctors to investigate further. >> the more yellow or whitish it is, the hotter it is. it pinpoints you to the area of the brain that calls for your attention. and that is the lesion that causes seizures. >> reporter: this technological edge improving lives of patients, like 34-year-old ryan millinger who was diagnosed with epilepsy at 4 years old. >> it was never fully controlled. and the medication was kind of an ongoing adjustment. >> reporter: doctors thought the lesion causing his epilepsy was too close to a part of his brain that processes his ability to speak. they decided not to take the risk of surgery.

eight years later, though, when a.i. tech came on the scene, it found there was actually a safe way for doctors to perform the surgery. >> that was such a life-changing experience for me. if they didn't have that, i'd probably, you know, we wouldn't be having this conversation as long as, you know, people kind of advance in a statement, i don't see why it couldn't be an advantage. >> reporter: 75% of healthcare providers expect widespread a.i. adoption in the industry in the next three years, even as only 40% plan to review regulatory guidance. that's why medical systems like the cleveland clinic are hiring up new a.i. executives like ben. >> it is my first job in healthcare. >> reporter: with a ph.d. and experience with machine learning at google and sirius xm, he hopes his background in tech can help assist tech's invasion into medicine. >> we want to be in the

forefront of applications of artificial intelligence and technology in healthcare. >> reporter: it's not just in cleveland. hospitals in washington, d.c., phoenix, san diego and san francisco are hiring a.i. executives, all with the goal to merge new technology into personal health to create a better patient and doctor experience. >> the doctors are always in the loop. so the a.i. can process all this information. it can come back almost like a second opinion, like you have your co-pilot sitting next to you, listening to the patient. >> reporter: while artificial intelligence continues to take on new roles in the doctor's office, analyzing data and transcribing doctor-patient interactions, his job is to make sure that implementation improves healthcare without compromising personal data, ethics or safety. >> machine learning and a.i. systems are trained on data, all right, and whatever the bias is in data is going to actually turn into bias of that system,

right. so it's super important for us to make sure that the bias is not harming the patient and it's not having unfair and unethical impact. >> reporter: if the a.i., the machine learning is wrong, who's then liable? is that on the doctor? >> think that's an area that is yet to be decided. it shows you that, you know, the technology, the pace of improvement is much faster than the speed that our policies have moved. there is potential for harm. >> reporter: a fine line the healthcare system continues to walk for the sake of medical innovation. >> and our thanks to mara for that report. if you're steelers or texans fan, you probably wanted netflix to have buffering issues yesterday. we look at the historic performances by the top teams in the nfl. mances by the top teamsn the nfl. and their families

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♪ ♪ hello, girls. >> hello, beyonce. >> hello, fellas. >> dressed in sparkly white, beyonce brought the hits from cowboy carter for the first time. she was joined by shaboozey for the beyonce bowl. and after they teased something, it's coming january 14th. that performance broke out a blowout. lamar jackson broke the record for running yards by a qb in a dominant 31-2 victory over the struggling texans. earlier, the chiefs got out of the woods and into the number one seed. the defending champs securing home field advantage in the playoffs, delivering one of

their most decisive victories of the season over the steelers, 29-10. if christmas day action on the gridiron wasn't your thing, you could always jump over to the hardwood. the holiday basketball action got started with the knicks and spurs. despite wembanyama, new york hung on for the win. but nothing could compare to old rivals. lebron and steph dominating as the lakers faced the warriors with both dropping 30 points each. but it was austin reaves who called game for l.a. in the final seconds, sinking the tie-breaking bucket to give the lakers the win, 115-113. and even though netflix was focussed on football yesterday, they still left a little present under the tree for fans of golf and adam sandler. >> it's great to see you back, mr. gilmore.

>> yeah, baby! >> we've only just begun. >> the streamer dropped the first footage from happy gilmore 2. it feature orange stars sandler, julie bowen and christopher mcdonald as shooter mcgavin. when we come back, did you want a hippopotamus for christmas? a virginia zoo has just the gift for you. and looking for a post-christmas treat? burger king is serving up some free eats. ing is serving up som free eats. [sniff] ooo imma be feelin it at work today. she smells so good i'm actually paying attention! smell unstopable. hank used to suffer from what felt like a cold & flu medicine hangover in the morning. ha ha. haha! then he switched to mucinex nightshift. mucinex is uniquely formulated to leave your system faster, so you wake up ready to go. uhh, hank! try mucinex nightshift and feel the difference.

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we're back with what's making headlines this morning. washington, d.c. marking 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 the only the first time since the year 1900 that the first day of the holiday has landed on christmaday. president biden spent the day calling troops around the world.

a baby pygmy hippo was born at the metro richmond zoo. it doesn't have a name yet and is spending time with her mom before the big public debut. and burger king, tomorrow, you can get a free chicken sandwich with a purchase. we'll be right back after this. . - bye, bye cough. - later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief.

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that could steal hearts. savannah sellers covers it all as we look back at the top pop culture moments of 2024. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: 2024, where to begin? to arena tours to a zoo in thailand. pop culture was popping. ♪ ♪ just when it seemed the box office was in free fall, wicked's popularity proved to be -- ♪ you're going to be ♪ >> reporter: the musical defied gravity, smashing box office records and turning green and pink into the color combo of the year. >> you're green. >> i am. >> reporter: ariana grande and cynthia erivo, co-stars turned friends for good seem to be dancing through life with every press appearance. >> we were strangers. >> that's no lie. >> but now we're besties. >> ride or die. >> it's an extraordinary privilege to be trusted with

these roles and to have earned them. ♪ ♪ >> i'm very, very grateful that we were able to breathe ourselves into these roles, this piece and not to take away from but to grow it and to expand it, yeah. >> reporter: and many fans turned it into a double feature with gladiator two, aka, glicked. it gave us zendaya in this galactic outfit. timothy chalamet knows how to make his own appearance at a look alike contest. it was a brat summer, thanks to charli xcx and a year of female powerhouses keeping us entertained. if you're losing sleep over the end of an era, we've got some

mia-espressos. and a round of texas hold'em. a new era began for superstar celine dion, making a comeback after stepping away to battle a rare disease. but the real star of the year? the baby hippo who stole our hearts. hope you enjoyed the hippo hour, and our thanks to savannah for that look back. thanks for watching "early today." i'm jessica layton, have a great thursday, a great week. we'll see you tomorrow. l see yo.

a bomb went off and i was pretty freaked out right now at five. a violent explosion shakes a beachside neighborhood awake on christmas morning. the