parts of southern california under a state of emergency as a

massive wildfire in los angeles forces tens of thousands to evacuate. and more fires breaking out overnight, all fueled by powerful winds with the strongest gusts yet to come. our angie lassman is tracking it all. president-elect donald trump gives a free wheeling news conference, suggesting he could use military force to seize greenland and the panama canal and suggesting renaming the gulf of mexico along with other provocative remarks. major changes at meta. the social media giant saying it is dropping fact checkers in favor of community notes similar to those on x. what it means for facebook and instagram. car maker tesla now under federal investigation over a self-driving feature blamed for several crashes. and how a eloved pet missing for a week was found by a drone. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera.

we begin this morning out west where high winds are fueling explosive wildfires across southern california. governor gavin newsom declared a state of emergency after a brush fire broke out in the pacific palisades tuesday morning. it's exploded in size to so 3,000 acres. it is 0% contained. according to the los angeles fire department a 25-year-old firefighter suffered a serious head injury while fighting the fire. there are results of multiple burn victims, but the severity is unknown. many abandoned cars after being stuck in gridlocked traffic. fire crews headed to fight the flames had to move the cars out of the street with a bulldozer. >> people are panicking, and it's a parking lot. there's about an hour wait at the bottom of palisades drive. >> i rushed over here to pack my belongings and got the

evacuation orders. >> over 200,000 customers are currently without power in and around l.a. county. meanwhile, another wildfire has been sparked near pasadena. the eaton fire has torched around 400 acres so far, prompting evacuations there. multiple school districts are closed today, including in malibu, pasadena and arcadia. and a brush fire in the sylmar area has ignited already devouring 50 acres. fema support has been approved to help fight the fires. now let's turn to nbc meteorologist angie lassman who is tracking the red flag warnings for us. so important this morning. >> good morning, frances. unfortunately, the conditions don't look to improve that much for folks across this region. you can sigh the red flag warnings up and down portions of southern california, including 19 million people.

here's the current situation of the fires that you mentioned. notice the smoke plumes that you see showing up on radar. that's how impressive these fires have already been. and what we're looking at now, winds 45-95 miles per hour. those wind speeds will be close to 100 miles per hour throughout the day. this means that continued explosive fire growth is likely through the day today. and this is across much of the region where we see the extreme risk of course, santa clarita, glendale but stretching to extreme southern portions of southern california, critical risk as well. those wind alerts are going to stay up through the day today. >> so much to watch. okay, angie. thank you. new this morning, the republican-led house has passed the laken riley act, the first bill of the new congress. the strict border measure putting pressure on senate democrats to support the legislation when republicans in the upper chamber bring it to the floor for an initial vote

this friday. which would have been riley's 23rd birthday. riley, a nursing student in georgia was killed by a venezuelan man who was in the u.s. illegally. he was found guilty of riley's murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. the bill would change federal law to require i.c.e. to issue detainers and take custody of people in the country illegally who commit theft-related crimes including shop living. president-elect trump held a wide-ranging press conference from mar-a-lago. he outlined a dramatic agenda for his new term, threatening to take control of greenland and the panama canal. mr. trump also floated the idea of renaming the gulf of mexico and annexing canada. here's nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: in a marathon news conference at mar-a-lago, president-elect trump t ruling out using economic or military coercion to retake the panama canal and acquire greenland. >> you're talking about panama and greenland.

no, i can't assure you on either of those two. but i can say this. we need them for economic security. the panama canal was built for our military. >> reporter: trump saying a u.s. decision to return control of the canal to panama in the '90s gave too much influence to china. >> china's basically taken it over. >> reporter: and arguing the u.s. needs greenland for national security. >> you have russian ships all over the place. we're not letting that happen. the people are going to probably vote for independence or to come into the united states. >> reporter: the provocative comments come as donald trump jr. visisited grnland. the danish prime minister vowed his country's territory is not for sale. >> it looks like an incredible place. >> reporter: but his father laying out an aggressive foreign policy, expanding u.s. influence, even wanting to change the name of the gulf of mexico. >> gulf of america. what a beautiful name. it's appropriate. it's appropriate. and mexico has to stop allowing

millions of people to pour into our country. >> reporter: and after mocking canada as the 51st state, trump is floating the idea of using economic, not military force, to annex the u.s. ally. >> because canada and the united states, that would really be something. you get rid of that artificially-drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like. and it would also be much better for national security. >> reporter: outgoing canadian prime minister justin trudeau responding, there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that canada would be part of the united states. while overseas, trump is again warning hamas to release its hostages soon. >> if they're not back by the time i get into office, all hell will break out in the middle east. >> can you elaborate? >> it will not be good for hamas. >> reporter: meanwhile, , judge aileen cannon ruled on the jack

smith report. and a new york appeals court denied his attempt to delay sentencing in his hush money case. new details this morning in the vegas cybertruck explosion investigation. the fbi says he used artificial intelligence to help himself off the explosion. matthew allen livelsberger searched how fast a round would need to be fired for the explosion to go off. the owner of chatgpt said it was saddened by the revelation its technology was used to plot the attack. meta announcing it will end its fact checking program and replace it with a community-driven system instead. ceo mark zuckerberg citing a shifting political and social landscape and wanting to embrace

free speech. >> we've reached a point where it's just too many mistakes and too much censorship. the fact checkers have been too politically biasseand destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the u.s. >> zuckerberg says meta will change its content moderation policies around political topics and undo changes about political content in feeds. it will affect facebook, instagram and threads. ♪ ♪ americans lined the streets of the inauguration day parade route on tuesday, gathering this time to show gratitude and respect to former president jimmy carter. our nation's 39th president wi lie in state today where thousands more are expected to pay their respects. here's alice barr. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: a solemn journey to washington for the late president jimmy carter who brought his signature smile to

the white house in 1977 and left an impression well beyond his single presidential term, including on georgia senator rafael warnock. how do you think the country can best remember him? >> jimmy carter is an american hero and one of my favorite people. the man had a pure heart. and, you know, he's close to a saint. and what i'd like people to ask themselves is, how many politicians would you say that about? >> reporter: after stopping at the u.s. navy memorial to honor the late president's submarine service, the casket arrived by horse-drawn caisson to the poll with lawmakers paying respects before opening to the public. the trip to washington recalling carter's choice to be the first president to walk down pennsylvania avenue during his inaugural parade. a sign of the openness he hoped to bring to the white house. though his time there was marked

by the iran hostage crisis and a troubled economy at home. his public service continued in the nation's longest post-presidency. >> i have been reflecting on how even after he left the white house he had such an impact here in the united states and around the world. >> reporter: former president carter built homes for the poor with habitat for humanity and championed global humanitarian causes, alongside his wife and confidante, rosalynn carter. he celebrated his 100th birthday in october, now capped by tributes to a life that began on a georgia peanut farm and ended with a reach across the globe. in washington, alice barr, nbc news. now let's check back in with angie lassman, who's tracking a blasof frigid air for parts of the country that aren't used to it. >> you are right. this storm system is going to

take shape, the dallas metro area waking up to snow, ice. but across much of the south over the next couple days, it will be a wintry mix. we'll see that for the atlanta area for tomorrow. heavy snow across the tennessee and appalachian areas. saturday even, a little bit of snow for the mid atlantic and northeast f 22 for chicago. 28 with full sunshine for new york city. 30 degrees and mostly sunny skies in philadelphia today. d that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> thanks so much, angie. "early today" is back in a minute with the stunning new

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open a.i.'s ceo sam altmann is faces a lawsuit filed by his sister accusing him of years of sexual abuse. it alleges that the abuse took place at the family's missouri home several times a week when ann was 3 and sam was 12. the plaintiff says it caused severe emotional distress, mental anguish and depression. sam altmann is denying the allegations and released a statement on x. it reads in part that all the claims are utterly untrue and that the situation causes immense pain to the entire family. they also said ann altmann faces mental health challenges and refuses conventional treatment. new trouble for tesla. federal authorities are investigating a self-driving

feature that owners can use to summon their parked vehicles to them. here's emimilie eda. >> reporter: the technology is head turning, allowing your car to come to you from anywhere in the parking lot, through tesla's phone app and the touch of a button. no driver inside. but the national highway traffic safety administration is raising concerns about the actually smart summon feature in an estimated 2.5 million teslas, saying it is launching a probe over reported problems of failing to detect parked vehicles resulting in a crash and the operator not having enough time to react. it comes l less an two weeks after we aired a story on a summonsed tesla. >> it was an empty car that was driving itself into my car. >> reporter: our washington d.c. station's susan hogan went to test a version of the technology. finding success on the first try. >> it says the summon is

complete. >> reporter: but a different result with the later attempts. >> i'm going to stop that. >> reporter: and in one case almost jumping the curb. between actually smart summon and its preceding software, the federal investigation is considering the reports. online they say -- >> like all auto pilot features, are you responsible for your car. >> reporter: and that the technology is only meant to be used on parking lots and driveways located on private property. >> you're limited in your control. and at that point, you're somewhat ceding control of your potential liability to a robot. >> reporter: amid the latest twist on the road with self-driving cars. emilie ikeda, nbc news. still to come, what happens when you take the live out of snl. we have the first look at the anniversary documentary right after this. ary documentary righ after this. ♪♪

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it is built on competition. can you be your authentic self? >> it's a real dream come true. >> it was everything. i loved that show. i was on it. >> live from new york. >> live from new york. >> live from new york. >> live from new york. >> just in time for the golden anniversary. fans will be able to go behind the scenes of studio 8h in the new documentary, snl 50, beyond saturday night. each episode of the four-part series will focus on a different aspect of the show, including one entirely dedicated to the iconic cowbell sketch. it streams exclusively on peacock, starting january 16. and i love it. because they're going to have audition tapes and long-lost footage. >> a bunch of stuff we haven't seen yet. now to a member of the snl five timers club. scarlett johansson will co-host

the fourth hour of "today" from january 21st to the 24th. keke palmer will host. we will miss hoda, but it's going to be so fun to see who they bring in, what's going on with them and jenna. such a good time. >> and strict. the biden administration is removing the burden of medical debts for millions of americans. debts for millions of americans. last year alone, those viruses hospitalized nearly 1 million people 65 and older. that's nearly 1 million moms, dads, favorite uncles, and grammas. if someone you love is 65 or older, talk with them about vaccines, because to you, they're not just another number. feeling backed up and bloated? good thing metamucil fiber plus probiotics gummies

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that their beloved dog was found safe. we have more on the unique way charlie was returned home. >> reporter: it was a foggy and chilly morning in crystal lake. >> 6:00 a.m. i let the dogs out. >> reporter: david novak let his family's three dogs out like he always does, but only two returned. >> he just like, took out. and i started looking for him after five minutes. >> reporter: charlie, their 2-year-old mountain dog had set out on an adventure. david and kate say he must have been chasing an animal or something, because this was very unlike him. >> he's smart. he knows the area pretty well. and we just couldn't see him, like, just taking off. >> reporter: but charlie was gone. >> it was devastating. yeah. it was so hard. we couldn't sleep or do anything, really. >> reporter: kate and david made several flyers just like this one, posting them all around this crystal lake community. even their neighbors got in on the search.

but after several days they realized they needed the help from drone operators. pat kavanaugh was their first call. but after three days of searching she referred the couple t to mi smith who uses thermal drone technology to find lost pets. >> there's a lot of luck involved with this. we have to fly over the pet to find the pet. >> reporter: this past sunday, mike, cat, kate and david stood in the family's front yard hoping for a miracle. they hadn't seen charlie in seven days. after 50 minutes, mike's drone spotted him. >> come on, come on, come on. got it! we got him! we got him! >> oh, my god! >> oh, my god, we got him. oh, my god, we got him! >> stop, stop. >> oh, my god. >> i think that was the best new year's gift i ever had. >> reporter: on monday, charlie underwent surgery for a broken leg, but he's expected to be

back in this big, gray dog bed. >> the minute he was walking to us, like, we're both, like, had this ugly crying going on, just had our arms out, and it was the best feeling ever. >> how could you not smile hearing that video, them finding him and seeing that reunion. our thanks to lexi sutter for that report. coming up on "today", groundbreaking reports for parents, the impact screen time has on kids then a brains, and useful tips for parents on how to manage screen time effectively. and our week long celebration continues as hoda wraps up her final week as co-anchor of "day". to

and it's very easy to catch them very early on, but i am positioned to leave in a heartbeat if it gets worse.