the jason-3 satellite into orbit, the satellite exploded after a landing accident. the critics have spoken. find out who came on top at the critics choice awards. was this leg lift on purpose? you decide. "early today" starts now. good morning. i'm dara brown. three of the americans released from iran arrived safely in germany. they first landed in switzerland before departing for germany, where they're resting at a u.s. military base. a u.s. official who led the negotiations for the u.s. posted this picture of rezaian after the trio landed in geneva. nbc's tehran bureau chief joins us with the latest. >> we've seen a flurry of diplomatic activity between the united states and iran over the past week.

iranian territorial waters and being released 24 hours later. the implementation of the nuclear deal and, of course, the release of five iranian american prisoners who have been held in iran. i think this is a culmination of the united states and iran embarking on direct talks with each other, a little over two years ago, over the nuclear deal. the two sides haven't spoken to each other since 1979, and that's built up a lot of hostility between them. now, they're talking directly, and i think we're seeing the results of that. talks between the two countries would have been unimaginable a few years ago. now secretary kerry, foreign minister zarif speak directly with one another and we see the results of that. we have to also be careful not to get ahead of ourselves. this is still the land of the

the hard line is they'll take any opportunity to soften the relationship. they are talking, but there's still a long way to go between these two to have a normal relationship. >> thanks so much. the u.s. embassy in baghdad confirms three american civilians are missing in baghdad. arab news channel al arabiya said the americans were taken by militants on friday. no word yet on their identities or that of the militants. iraqi security forces set up checkpoints in the capital. the state department released a statement last night. quote, we are aware of reports that american citizens are missing in iraq. it goes on to say, we are working with the full cooperation of the iraqi authorities to locate and recover the individuals. two weeks from today, voters in iowa head to the polls. last night, they got their final look at the democratic presidential candidates squaring off head to head in south carolina. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington, d.c. good morning.

night's debate? >> well, there are two democrats out there. three candidates but two very different visions between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. sanders getting buzz from focus groups, internet searches, online media, social media. what we saw was hillary clinton spent a lot of time talking about president obama's record and wanting to build on that. for democrats who want to tweak things, shake things, a lot are looking at sanders. >> we have a political revolution. >> president obama has led our country out of the great recession. >> reporter: clear differences between democrats on gun control. >> i have a d minus voting record from the nra. >> he has voted with the nra, with the gun lobby, numerous times. >> reporter: on health care. >> i do not want to see the republicans repeal it, and i don't want to see us start over again with a contentious debate. >> we're paying the highest

prescription drugs. >> reporter: on money. >> i do not want wall street's money. >> i am the only candidate standing here tonight who has said, i will not raise taxes on the middle class. >> reporter: bernie sanders and martin o'malley brought uphillry clinton's ties to wall street. >> the truth of the matter is, you did not go as far on wall street as i would. >> reporter: on foreign affairs, clinton calls vladimir putin a bully and says their relationship -- >> it's interesting. >> reporter: they agree with going slow with iran and dealing with climate change. their differences drive the polls now, two weeks before iowa weighs in. >> we heard donald trump's name come up a few times, but doesn't seem to be as many times as he heard the republicans in their debate talk about hillary clinton. >> sbherinteresting. the latest poll shows donald

matchups with the democrats. clinton leads trump by 10%. bernie sanders is up even more. 15% over the donald. this as senator ted cruz is gaining ground in iowa and new hampshire. nbc's hallie jackson brings us up to speed. >> reporter: against ted cruz, donald trump done playing nice. >> he's a nasty guy. nobody likes him. nobody in congress likes him. nobody likes him once they get to know him. >> reporter: a new attack not on policy but personality. new york papers, furious. >> our friends in the media, seems like they lit their hair on fire. what are the new york values of which you speak? i would say, and the rest of america, people know exactly what that means. >> reporter: cruz arguing he is using trump's own words from more than 15 years ago, discussing abortion and gay marriage. >> i lived in new york city all my life.

lived in iowa. >> reporter: trump fighting back against those who say he's too liberal. >> he should be a conservative and hasn't shown it. >> i'm conservative. but when it comes to different elements of what i believe in, that's what people really understand. i'm going to solve our trade problem. i'm going to solve the military problem. i'm going to get rid of isis. >> reporter: the front runners fighting for first in iowa. as trump targets cruz, he could risk alienating some of the grassroots, as he found out in south carolina. the reception from tea partiers there, nasty. >> say whatever you want, he didn't report bank loans. it's okay. >> hallie jackson reporting. sean penn has broken his silence on the capture of el chapo. on "60 minutes" last night, the actor explained he was aware of the risk he was taking for the "rolling stone" interview. >> i was baffled at his will to see us. my article should not have made

el chapo should not have been this popular a figure to read about. i can't say for sure, you know, that there's no risk. >> have you heard from anybody in the cartel? >> no. >> penn concluded the interview was a failure because it distracted from the war on drugs. the "rolling stone" article titled "el chapo speaks" was published a day after the capture of guzman. guzman gave penn the right to edit the article, saying it was the only way to obtain the article. penn said the attitude of professional journalists, quote, incredible hypocrisy. guzman is at the same jail where he was held last year. overnight, the u.s. coast guard said search and rescue crews located degree that appears to be from two military helicopters that collided off the coast in hawaii late thursday.

marines on a nighttime mission, and there were no survivors. the search and rescue effort is still going on. it's covered more than 18,000 square miles. severe weather spawned two tornadoes that tore through neighborhoods in central florida early sunday. a couple was killed and five family members injured when one of the twisters destroyed their mobile home. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with your monday forecast. good morning. >> florida had it rough. three episodes of severe weather, with the overnight tornadoes, always dangerous. we don't know they're coming unless you have the weather radios.pounded with heavy rain. already over 4.5 inches of rain since january 1st. this is just great news. the heavy rain ended in san francisco and we're getting snow, a warm storm. it's around 7,000 feet. we're adding it up at the highest peaks.

fresno earlier and it'll taper throughout the day. the next storm will come in tomorrow. the next one, we'll see one of the heavier rains toward the costal areas. the border of oregon and california. another inch to two inches. this is what we wanted. weak storm after weak storm. they're starting to add up, so this is great. let's track it. early in the week, we get the storm system through california, moving through the rockies. the middle of the week, we watch a clipper system in the east. little bit of snow in the northern rockyies and more rain in the west. late in the week, we have two big storms. one on the east coast and another on the west coast. that's your national weather. here's a closer look at your day ahead. so today we'll be watching the one storm moving with snow through southern portions of idaho, nevada and also ending early in the higher elevations of california, central sierra. temperature, mild with this

another active week of el nino type weather. >> yes, and the storms are on both ends of the united states. >> end of the week could be interesting. >> thank you for that. the big winners at the critics choice awards. plus, the one actor who stole everyone's heart. the good and bad of spacex's latest launch. you're watching "early today." medicare part d prescriptions, walgreens says, carpe med diem. seize the day to get more out of life and medicare part d. just switch to walgreens for savings that'll be the highlight of your day. now preview the cost of your copay before you fill. you can even get one-dollar copays on select plans. pepper discovers jimmy dean delights, made with real egg whites, lean cut meats, and whole grains. an excellent source of protein, it fuels her up with energy to help power through her morning.

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the stars are out at last night's 21st annual critics choice awards. >> yeah! >> with t.j. miller on hosting duty, leonardo dicaprio won best actor for the "revenant." ""mad max: fury road" had eight wins. "spotlight" won for best picture and acting ensemble. one of the most memorable moments was when amy schumer

after breaking her shoe on stage, she explained a key to her success. >> you're an actress and you have this area here. you have to write your own stuff if you want it to be made. >> the star that stole everyone's heart was jacob tremblay, when he won best young actor for starring in "room." >> i first want to say thank you to all the critics who voted for me. it must be a super hard vote because of all the other great actors in this category. [ applause ] and i know where to put this. right on the shelf right beside my millennium falcon. >> what a cutie. for the first time ever, david bowie got a number one album on the billboard 200 chart. this following his depth last week after an 18-month battle with cancer. "black star" sold over 180,000 copies.

yesterday, nasa launched a spacex rocket successfully, carrying an ocean monitoring satellite. however, the landing wasn't smooth. a support leg broke off, the rocket toppled over and exploded into flames. just ahead, when a perfect team has nothing to look forward to, we'll explain. then tripped up. the ref goes tumbling, but was it on purpose? details up next. does the smell of a freshly bound presentation fill you with optimism?

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let's get you caught up on sports. good morning, shannon. >> good morning. the nfc and afc championship games are set. we'll begin in charlotte. first play from scrimmage. >> handoff is to jonathan stewart. good start to his day. inside the 40. >> what a start for the home team panthers. moments later, jonathan stewart would score the first of his two rushing touchdowns. carolina was red hot scoring on a defensive pick. third and 14, cam newton throws it to the end zone. 31 unanswered first half points. seattle fights back. third quarter, russell wilson's strike to jermaine kearse. wilson connects for a 33 yarder

feet in bounds for the touchdown. seattle gets to 31-24, with 1:00 left, when an on side kick goes carolina's way. they hold on and advance to host the cardinals next week. to denver now, where the steelers and broncos ss went every yard and point. peyton manning hands off to anderson, who powers into the end zone. broncos up, 20-13. then with 2:00 to play, fourth and five, big ben scrambles and loses the ball. broncos win, setting up the 17th edition of manning versus tom brady. next, a controversy on the hard court. oregon state versus utah. after wrestling for the ball, it appears a senior tripped the ref, who falls to the floor. the ref calls a technical and ejects reed, with under 3:00 in a tie game.

as you can imagine, we likely have not heard the end of this one. the ap top ten will be completely overhauled after number four michigan state lost again last night in the final seconds of the game. unrack unranked wisconsin stole the game. the nation's only unbeaten team in the top 20 after winning their 17th against tulane, 60-45. that's a look at sports. back to you. >> thanks. just ahead, as the nation pauses to remember dr. martin luther king jr., we'll hear one of the civil rights leaders who was there with him on the front lines, up next. see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that i won't stop. until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine

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to see how much you could save on car insurance, go to geico.com. ah! (car alarm sounds) it's ok! on this dr. martin luther king jr.'s holiday, we took a moment to look back and sit down with one of the leaders on the front lines in the battle for civil rights. congressman john lewis, who was with dr. king, and countless others, standing together against unspeakable adversity in the quest for basic human rights. here's what the congressman had to say about president obama. >> what do you think the president's legacy in american politics will turn out to be? he has one year left. >> providing health care for hundreds, thousands and millions of people. >> you hear republicans say, hey, this president promised to bring the country together, but he's actually made it more divided.

president -- i don't think he's solely responsible for the country being divided. we all are responsible for it. >> has he made it worse? >> i don't think he made it worse. i think there were people that made a conscious decision and said, we will not give him a victory. obama has been treated different because of his race. i really believe that. you wouldn't hear, had it been a white democrat, white republican, speaking, a member of the republican party from south carolina. >> you think it was race? >> they shouted "you lie." i think it was race. you wouldn't have a governor put her finger in the face of a white president. it would have been a visual sign of disrespect for the man. i said, if you don't respect a man, respect the position. when the president said to me during the evening of the state

aisle, john lewis, i love you, i said, mr. president, i love you, too. >> i'm dara brown, and this is "early today." we stop arthritis pain, so you don't have to stop. because you believe in go. onward. today's the day. carpe diem. tylenol 8hr arthritis pain has two layers of pain relief. the first is fast. the second lasts all day. we give you your day back. what you do with it is up to you. tylenol . pepper discovers jimmy dean delights, made with real egg whites, lean cut meats, and whole grains. an excellent source of protein, it fuels her up with energy to help power through her morning. with jimmy dean delights, good mornings lead to great days.

new zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap, and reduce symptom severity by 45%. shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam. leading the news. in usa today, a study highlights massive global wealth divide. the combined 62 wealthiest individuals equals that of $3.3.5 billion people at the bottom half of humanity. since 2010, the wealth of these top-tier people increased 44% to $1.76 trillion.

celine dion's brother died days after her husband. daniel died saturday after battling cancer for several years. the announcement follows the death of her husband, angelil, who endured a long battle with cancer. the family wishes respect and discretion from the media during this time. two virginia men charged with terrorism related offenses by the justice department saturday. the two are currently in fbi custody. if convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison. one of the men was arrested at an airport, where officials believed he was heading to syria to fight with isis on friday. a children's book is pulled from the shelves. "a birthday cake for george washington" drew outcry over its depiction of slaves as cheerful workers. it gives readers a different version of slavery. vanessa hudgens, ashley

of the stars reuniting for a high school musical reunion. it starts with a pre-taped message from zac efron. people put their dogs in poses to relieve their stress. the record has yet to be confirmed by guinness world record, but organizers are confident they earned the title. now, you didn't see the downward dog. >> no one was doing the yoga with an 80 pound lab. >> i'm surprised they didn't have the babies,where they could stretch them out. >> i'm sure they make them. >> it's all good. now it's time for a look ahead. the british parliament is set to debate banning donald trump from the uk. more than 570,000 people signed an online petition calling for the republican presidential front runner to be banned. more than enough to trigger debate in parliament. it was launched after trump

happy birthday to jason segel from "how i met your mother." he turns 36 today. "law and order" star jesse l. martin is 47. oscar winning actor kevin costner turns 61 today. now, keep it here for more news, weather and sports. i'm dara brown.