neighborhood, they say has hillary clinton. plus, the force awaken, the fastest become dollarsnovie history. a dangerous redalement down un, aparply it's fought fwoert give than receive an peyton manning vehemently denies allegations. "early today" starts right now. and good morning, everybody, thanks for being with, i'm shannon mulaire. 23 people left dead, a path of destruction amongst the south. in texas, ten people were killed from tornadoes on saturday, clawing monster category-4 in garland. hundreds of homes werere droid destroyed. the governors of texas have

which have to deal with national flooding and a life-threateninin and crippling blizzard which has already dumped two feet of snow in some areas of the texas. nbc's brian more brings us up to speed. >> across a huet swath of suburban dallas, residents are struggling to pick up the pieces himself survivors, but victims of a monster storm and the massive tornado it unlelehed. >> is that the path? 28 years? sorry. i don't know what else to say. sorry. >> reporter: at least 20 twisters tore across north texas, killing eight in the community of garland. the lone star state is still on edge with more weighs of severe weather on the way. some areas hunker down for heavy rains and flooding the panhandle areas of texas and oklahoma were paralyzed by treacherously icy roads and whiteout blizzards.

lives were lost to widespread flooding, rapidly rising water, overwhelmed residents. >> it's skru that it came up very quickly. >> and kept rescue crews working overtime smr the first thing i told them i know how to swichl i knew it was real when the rescue team came. they put us in a life jacket and escorted us down the road. >> for many american, a holiday weekend of hardship, with more foul weather on the horizon. brian moore, nbc news. >> meteorologist bonnie snider is here, she'll have your weather just ahead. this morning, the iraqi army is declaring a major victory over the states. the iraqi official says they believe the army is in full control of central ramadi. iraqi forces made a final push to seize the government complex

a pro. there is more unrest in chicago after another police-involved shshting leaves two residents dead. yesterday, a villagible was held for 55-year-old betty jones, a mother of 5 and a 19-year-old, both shot andilled by police responsisi to a domestic disturbance report. degreer's father called police after his son became agitated. >> the male caller said someone is threateninggis rife. the 19-year-oldson banging on the his bedroom door with a baseball bat. >> according to police, they were confronted by a comomtive individual upon arrival, resulting in the shooting. jones downstairs neighbor was accidentally struck. mumtple reports say she opened the door when policic arrived. the medical examiner ruled both deaths a homicide. her son was home on a break from

she said he developed mental violent. the officers were placed on 30 days administrative duty. raul emanuel says the independent police authority is investigating and called for chanans in how officers respond to mental health crises. there have been calleds for mayor emanuel to resign, earlier this year. the justice department already has an investigation opened into the chicago police policies. one of the nfl's most legendary quarterbacks is playing defense this morning, furiously denying new allegations that suggest he used performance-enhancing drugs. that player telling nbc he'll quote probably sue the news outlet that published the report. >> disgusted is really how i feel. sickened by it. >> reporter: star arterback and american football ehsu ro peyton manning defending his

jazeera documentary that claims maning is one of several pro athletes who took performance-enhancing drugs. >> i know how hard i've worked over my 18 years of playing in the nfl him there are no shortcuts in the nfl him i've done at this time long way and hardrd way, insinuate anything otherwise is a complete and total joke. it's defamation. it really takes me off. >> reporter: the documentary shows hidden camera interviews with a pharmacist who briefly san bernardino. sly claims he received banned drug itself through his wifif ashley. >> all the time sending ashley manning drug, a growth hormone, everywhere, florida. it will never be under peyton's name, it will always be under her name. >> reporter: random testing didn't begin until 2014. manning received treatment after being injured in 2010 while playing for the indianapolis colts. >> it makes me sick that it brings ashley into it.

her medical privacy being violated. >> reporter: backlash against the documentarys claims have been swift. manning's current team the denver broncos say they support him 100% t. colts call the report utterly ridiculous. dr. gail dire calls the claims extremely disturbing, not true. charlie sly, himself, the man the documentary hang his claims on is walking them back. >> i am recanting any such statements and there is no truth to any statement of mine that al jazeera plans to air. >> reporter: as for man the five time mvp is sitting out on injury, says he is focusing on practice and supporting his team. the force was certainly with star wars wars at the box office this holiday weekend.

the $1 billion mark after 12 days. that's the newest record t. last was jt jurassic world" 13 days in june. now tofly, final sprint to the iowa caucus, guess is is on the attack. donald trump fending off ted cruz now going after clinton, programs not the one you are thinking of. edward lawrence is with us. does the gop front runner have a new punching bag? >> reporter: he is going after some of the old, some of the new. donald trump is rallying his base, making sure his people, his supporters show up to the polls. his rallies are huge. his support loud. >> and this is amazing. wow! . >> reporter: donald trump's base seems to crave his no filter rhetoric. over the weekend, trump went after hillary clinton again. this time on twitter about her husband.

reiterated his charge that former clinton demonstrated pension for sexism. >> a pen chant for sexism is her words. i thought it was fine, i think that billclinton turned out to be a liable for president obama. >> reporter: he attacked trump. >> he is vulgar it is the fact that donald trump thinks we should not be raising the minimum wage. he believes that wages in america are too high. >> reporter: sanders is trying to mend relations with the democratic party after a data breach that his campaign accessed. meanwhile, donald trump pulled back into strike distance of senator ted cruz for the iowa caucus him polls show the vase a virtual tie for 1st place. political experts say trump's challenge now would be to get his base to show up to caucus. donald trump will be back in iowa again tomorrow in order to campaign him he is trying to, as

we had a break from these headlines during christmas and christmas eve. now it seems to be over, shannon. >> a very brief break. edward lawrence, thank you. meteorologist bonnie schneeder is here with us this morning. we have been talking about incred blue warm weather. what's going on? >> it's been a wild weekend. even right now until 5:00 there is a tornado watch t. first one is west of the bigger on here. this is for northeast louisiana. southeast arkansas, southeast mississippi, look for tornadoes and damaging wind. >> that will expire in about an hour. but another one east of it for much of mississippi and louisiana, including new orleans, this tornado watch goes until 18:00 a.m. across the gulf coast, we will see 8 million people at rick. if that's not enough, the flooding rains continue. this front will eventually push

by the middle and end of the week, we will see more calm pattern, not yet t. flooding rain will move along with the cold front. we are like lynn to see isolated storms across the nest. we are tracking snow. look at this. it's looking through chicago. a wintry mix and a lake shore wind advisory for a rough we've wave along maik lake michigan. we are looking at some snow as i mentioned there to michigan. we will be looking at a wintry picks. temperatures are much colder, still hanging onto the warmth in the southeast. florida looks great, all the way into the '80s. lots of sunshine. so the southeast looks warm, but the rest of the country dealing with extreme weather. >> what a difference a few days makes. right. if you got a gift card over the holiday we got news for you. plus, unprecedence is flooding causing epic damage. details coming up next. you are watching "early today."y."time.

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great britain has also been hit hard by huge storms, issuinging over 30 severe flood warnings yesterday. british troops evacuated hundreds of people in northern eng, streets look like rivers. one 200-year-old pub was raferaged by the flood waters t. roof, doors destroyed with the strong force of the river flowing underneath it. in northern australia, a freight train derailed sunday morning killing sulfuric acid and diesel fuel. the area was declared as an emergency site. three pple were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. josh ja burwell flipped off san diego's sunset cliff. it is believed he was trying to take pictures of the sunset.

down the cliff in a desperate attempt to save him. miami police are investigating a drive-by shooting that killed a 7-year-old boy visiting a relative's home. four men pulled up in a white dodge ram and opened fire at the house. check out the under surveillance video showing a man in china trying to catch a woman who fell from an 11-story billing. she had been crying for help while hanging from a window. unfortunately, she died from the fall. that man is recovering in the hospital from fractured bones and torn ligaments. time to get down to business. carhub.com stipulates americans have more than $43 billion in unredeemed gift card value since 2008. card can be redeemed for cash value or exchanged for other cards. disneyland will make room for a new "star wars" related attraction. in june, they will close ten

launch the largest expansion ever. the move comes as disneyland's biggest rival and universal studio hololwood plans to unveil a few harry potter attraction in the spring. undefeated no more the panthers perfect ueason spoiled. details on that and t t bizarre

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>> t ts morning on "today" not sure what to do with christmas gifts you don't want or need? find out the best way to return or exchange them and what to do withnwanted gift cards neighborhood, all right, in sports, perfect no more. third quarter, falcons 3rd and long. >> looking, throwing for jones, double covevege, smile! what a catch. touchdown. >> unbelievable. julio jones just snatches the ball from the air for a 70-yarder to put the falcons ahead for good. hands the carolinas the first loss of the season, 20-13 the final there. in sunday night football, the vikings clinch their firir playoff in a proceedout victory over the fading new york giants 49-17. minnesota's when eliminates the

the arizona cardinals just man handled the green bay packers and aaron rogers, who was sacked eight times and had two fumbles returned for touchdowns. the cacas also get a first week bye in the playoffs. heads is the call. heads is the call. it is heads. >> we want an early kickoff. 31 receives. >> that way, just like this. the win wins a toss. they elected to kick. >> the play there looks confused. the patriots insist they intended a kick in overtime instead of putting the paul into tom brady's h hds. they capitalized with the game winning 6-yard touchdown pass. jets 26-priots 20. st. louis was supposed to be an easy oneor home team seahawks. the rams came to town with something to prove. they hadn't won in seattle in 11

but the rams' victory leaves a lot of queueion marks for the seahawks. kind of an incredible day. just ahead, yeah the force is strong with "star wars," but can you guess which other films a topping the box office? that's ahead. plus you want believe what shash sa baron coen and his wife isla fisher just did for syrian refugees. details on all those stories

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>> busy weekend at the box office. "star wars" "the f . >> a busy weekend at the box office. "star wars" "the force awakens came in first. 13w9 interstellar is the most pirated movie of 2015, saying that 2014 film hagan downaded nearly 47 million times. almostt 40 >> kylie jenner is stirring rumors after the 18-year-old reality star povertied a photo to instagram shong a new diamond ring on her finger. she is c crently dated rapper tyga but denies engagement on

shash sa baron cohennd wife isla fisher will donate to education, shelter and sanitation for the refugees. i'm shannon mulaire and this is "early today." this is "early today."ay." fact. when emergency room doctors choose an otc pain reliever for their patients muscle, back and joint pain. the medicine in advil is their #1 choice. nothing is stronger on tough pain than advil. relief doesn't get any better than this. advil. [music] no, no, no, no, people are both soft and strong... yey! which is why our products are too.

>> only in the news, in usa today, a deadly frs for tornadoes. this month is the second deadliest month for deadly weather. is is the first time december will be the deadliest month of

from nbc news.com, kentucky mall st. mathieus shuts down after brawls up to 2,000 t. chaha started saturday night around 7:00. officers on duty began responding to disturbances t. entire mall was affected be i the series of brawls, with restaurants and shops surrounding the mao, also closing their doors early. a boat chase in florida lasted 20 hours and more than 3000 miles, three m m led local authorities and coast guard on the chase. the men were eventually apprehended 70 miles from the coast of cuba. it mains unclearar why the boat was stolen and where it was taken. abstract painter elsworth kelly died. according to a gallery spokesperson, kelly died of natural causes at his new york home. he was 92.

start of 2016, workers installed 288 new crystals on the famous time's square new year's eve ball made from waterford crystal. theyxpect millions to head to the square for lowering of the ball. in peru, participants in the annunu somluckfest b btled it out t a part of a traditional fighting festival t. fight is aimed at settling old scores and starting the new year with a clean slate and a few bruises. referees are on hand in fights from affairs of the heart to financial and legal disputes as wellll i don'n'even knowhere to go that one. what if that was a thing here? >> i don't think i'd wantn to do it. >> i don't t`ink i'd want to be involved with it. apparently, it's a way to start esh.

inspector has a lunch date at % chipotle. he is lawm u lunching at a reopened chipotle. health officials say a sick employee was the source of the outbreak. happy birthday the late night host seth myers is 42, oscar winning actor denzel washington is 51. maggie smith turns 81.

watctcng "earar now on today in iowa: a sleeping giant is awake. old man winter returns. you'll see how it's affecting other parts of the country -- and more importantly -- how a winter storm will affect us. storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan has the details. plus the snow is a major concern... but in a few states, they're also cleaning up after tornadoes

through over the weekend.