it's friday, january 1st, and coming up on "early today," welcome to 2016, millions the world d er ringing i i the new. we'll take you around the globe. isis inspired new year's eve attack stopped in its tracks. late breaking details ahead on that. first, a real life fire that rivalled something right from a hollywood block buster, and then the surreal fireworks surrounding that inferno. plus, bowl bustlowouts, shocking comments from george lucas, and burning up the internet right now, taylor swift's newest out of the woods."" early today" starts now. good morning, around the globe, we take you, people ringing in 2016 with celebrations in grand displays, t under a cloud of terrorism concerns. security tights, but spirits higher. we have a look at how the world welcomed 2016. >> reporter: new zealand, one of

the new year, setting the stage with fireworks from a sky tower. similar display, another backdrop in australia on sydney's harbor, where thousands gathered along the shore to watch. color filled the sky above hong kong, and in taiwan where a show lasted more than five minutes taking revelers well into 2016. singing d dancing bringing a twist to being. the city's shopping and bar areas were watched oveve byy armed guards, part of the holiday security alert. in paris, celebrations scaled back in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks and ongoing worries about safety. the annual fireworks show replaced by a video presentation. big ben and london eye featured prominently in london's fireworks display, and perhaps the most famous countdown of all

packed times square to watch the iconic waterford crystal ball drop. out with the old and in with the new year around the world. nbc news. >> and now this is not something from a hollywood block buster. this is actually the stunning scene late yesterday in downtown dubai when a fire tore through 20 stories of a luxury hotel called the address downtown dubai hotel. nbc has more. >> reporter: the cities around the world prepare to celebrate the new year with evermore great displays of fireworks, dubai had an unexpected display, and one that many people were lucky to escape alive. >> oh. >> reporter: flames, 20 flolos high engulf the luxury building, chunks of fire falling. >> within six or seven minutes, the entire side of the building

>eporter: forore than two hours, the skyline lit up, and not by a scheduled fireworks display. emergency responders racing to help. >> we saw quite a bit of firefighters making their way running top speed through the mall to get to that location. >> reporter: inside, pandemonium, one survivor said, at least 14 people injured. outside, others fled. >> there was debris raining down om 20 floors up at least in that build, and now you can see what they are trying to do is to get everybody out of the mall area. >> reporter: at midnight, dubai's world fie mouse fireworks went ahead to the disbelief of many. >> surreal and bizarre. >> reporter: celebrations through the thick smome dominated the skyline, and authorities say over more than 14 people injured, some suffering from smoke inhalation and others injured trying to

back to you. >> thank you. nbc for us with that story, and to the fbi saying it has foiled a new year's eve terrorist plot inspired by isis. a man under arrest accused of wanting to attack people, prompting a city to cancel fireworks last night. >> reporter: fbi says thth is the face of a man who was about to carry out a new year's eve slaughter. the alleged plan to kill in his hometown of rochester, new york after communicating with an isis fighter in syria, says the fbi. the criminal complaint details alleged lks around christmas day with an isis supporter overseas. he wrote,,e waseady to give up everything to fight with isis in syria. his handler answers, for now, do what you can there, take as many possible out. just this week according to the

buy ski masks, zip ties, t knives, duct tape, ammonia, and latex gloves. prosecutors say he was planning to stab people in a restaurant or bar and carry out a kidnapping. >> reporter: the >> the timing of the arrest illustrates the fact there are threats that are current and that counterterrorism agencies are dealing with at this very moment. >> r rorter: the 25-year-old u.s. citizen has a criminal past of robbery and serving in state prison. >> this was a person who was a muslim,n the state prison system andndecame radicalized through the internet, swore allegiance to isil, spoke over the internet with terrorist organizations. >> reporter: investigators say he hasas history of mental illness and close to carrying out the plot. he lived along these street, and hihigrandmother spoke to us byy phone.

up, he was lured into doing this. >> reporter: brought to federal court and held on the terror related counts. now to police in munich, germany, closing two train stations in new year's eve celebrations dueueo a s sious threat of an attack there too. authorities acted on a tip from a foreign intelligence agency which said five to seven suicide attackers were planning to strike, although the means of the attacac have not been disclosed. the stations reopened shortly bere dawnn new year's day, and the threat of attack hung over celebrations worldwide. brussels display cancelled over fears of an attack. you know, it was a stressful new year's for millions in the midwest as well, butor other reasons. historic flood waters in the mississippi river and tributaries continue to rise, no signs of receding soon. nbc reports. >> reporter:he mighty

the water level in st. louis, 12 feet above flood stage, surging, cresting, the flow so high, so powerful it't' threatening to top levies and swamp homes. the u.s. geological survey recording this historic rush as it threatens to burst banks. an artery of rivers, three major ones, all the the brim. >> 6.2 million gallons per second coming downright now, ten times what niagara falls on a typical day flows over the falls. >> reporter: what's dangerous is how many sections of river the flow is threatening. communities up and down this area are used to floods, but not for water this powerful moving this quickly. 30 minutes outside st. louis in arnold, missouri, they are king stock of the damama, feared 150 homes are lost. >> carport's gone, deck's gone, couple cars.

home anisland. they have no insurance. >> restarting fresh, everything. >> reporter: with nine levies spilling over, the river crested, shattering 18 records.s. on the road, more than 100,000 have been stranded, sections of i-44 and i-55 are swamped, and temporarily shut down. water is still risingng the fightht still underway. the houses fortified the homes one sand bag at a time. for now, the wall is holding, but the wateteis not receding. think you dodged a bullet? >> that gun's still pointed at me right now, so i can't answer the question yet. >> reporter: nbc reporting for us there out of st. louis, missouri. the big national championship bowl games, all big bowl busts. the onge bowl, number one clemson and no. 4 oklahoma. watson running for a touchdown,

for 332 yards as clemson remains per perfect at 14-0. the sugar blow, a sweet blowout top to bottom. 38-0. nobody saw it coming. clemson faces alabama for the national championship in arizona on january 11. all right. bonny, did you have aorse in the race? >> no. >> okay. i know what horse you have in the race. >> weather horse. >> lake effect snow. >> that's right. >> winter's here. >> sure is. it's the first day of the year. we got snow to welcome you to 2016. if you're in upstate new york or northehe michigan, cold air coming over the warmer waters of the lakes, then over lands, it dumps it. the flood warnings persist for the mississipppp st. louis, river crested yesterday, but as water flows downstream, flood levels anticipated throughout the ekend, and certainly in the coming weeks. look at this, still rain in northern florida and southern south carolina. this front is pushing through,

here's your holiday forecast for new year's day. looking good, but things are changing. itit getting colder now that we're in the new year. say good-bye to the record warmth. new york city, central park, in december, we normally hit below freezing six times in december. guess what. this one, at least in 2015, didn't happen once. the cold air is coming in for the weekend. you'll feel it in new york, raleigh, and certainly into st. louis and little rockck temperatures are going down. so, i guess, we had it while it lasted, right? all right. well, that's a look at your national weather. now here's a closer look at the day ahead. well, you find that temperatures are cooling down across the mid south, but it's even colder sliding west. the numbers in the 30s in west texas. it's cold out there at freezingng temperatures s sy cold for the weekend. so the cold air is here to welcome in the new year. richard, what do you think about that? >> i like it. clear, clean, open up the windows, get fresh air, it's not bad.

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nasal swabs shorten colds wiwi a snap, and rerece symptom severity by 45%. shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam. tonya couch, the mom of ethan couch, waited to be extradited from los angeleleto texas, charged with felony for helping her son flee to mexico after missing an aointment with his probation. he's accused of killing four people while driving drunk. while the public doesn't like what she did, she did not violate any law in the state of texas, and she's eager to h he her day in court. a hearing is expected early next week. ethan is held, meanwhile, in a detention center in mexico city. the extradition to the united states delayed. president of irann ordered expansion of the nuclear program

impose sanctions due to a ballistic msiles test in october. this deal is unclear whether the dispute affects the agreement. actor and investor, waneyne rogers, , ed yesterday in los s angeles duduto complications from pneumonia. he starred in the popular shows "city of angels," and "house calls," and successful as a financial i iestor and over the last decade, he was a regular guest on fox news channel's weekly program, "cashing in." he was 82. famed hollywood producer, george lucas, selling "star wars" to disney apologied for saying he sold the franchise to what he called, quote, white slaifrvers, end kwoetd. he said he's thrilled disney has the franchise moving in such % exciting directio. in washington state, a three

and injured at least five people. that blaze started last night as a mattress fire spread to quickly the half the complex, 100 people displaced by the blaze. hockey, the way it used to be. the outdoor rink set for the winter classic, and packers lend a hand ahead of the north championships. sports next. next. when it's your time to shine, you want to feel good from head to toe.including your nails. introducing the latest innovation from amop\. the amop\ electronic nail care system. the fafa way to file, buff, and shine. for effortless, shiny, wow nails! so you can step out with that amop\ confidedee and shine onon (kiss) the new electronic nail care system

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this morning on "today," a live performance by pop singing sensation, andy grammer. sportsnow. boykin arrested following a bar i fight allegedly taking a swing at a police officer. he's suspended for violating team rules and will not play in saturday's alamo bowl. hoops now, war warriors in houston off a rare loss, curry sat out the second straight game. hardin putting up the battle, and golden state improved to 30-2 with the win. ahead of s sday football night in america on nbc, a small army of packers faithful, cold, too, digging out the frozen tundra of

removed before sunday's big north championship game between green bay and the vikings. lots of snow. later today is the nhl winter classic between two o o hockey's biggest rivals, boston bruins. last night, the veterans took their turn on the ice at foxboro stadium, the twowo teamam combined 30 stanley cups, 290 meetings with thousands of punches and hundreds of penalty minutes between them and bruises o. it's at 1:00 p.m. eastern today only on nbc. just ahead, "saturday night live's" most watched skit of the year, and taylor swift burning up the interprpr at the moment.

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h hpy new yeye. the cold weather is taking hold this weekend. big changes ahead. saturday, we have 30 degrees in chicago and mere 28, the high temperature in minneapolis. even on the east coast, atlanta, your high is 53. a good portion of the day, you're in the 40s. new york city, a mild december, that's over. high of 42, and looking for temperatures kind of comfortable into dallas, but oklahoma city only 49. this is the beginning of the cold air moving in for 2016. we're ready for it, for sure. richard, something to keep in mind as we turn the page on the calendar.

we h!ve videos now in entertainment news, and a video that's burning up the web. oh i remember yeah >> i think she's falling down a lot in that, bonnie or tripping or maybe, i don't know, i'm jong, of course. hitting hours ago, and already 8 million hits, taylor swift debuted the newest music video for "out of woods," shot in new zeel land, the sixth video released from the 1989 album. what do you think? >> a fan. yeah. "saturday night live" released the top skits, hilarious ryan gosling, and number one spot in a thanksgiving saved by adele. >> oh, i love that one. >> do you see?

hello it's me i was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet to go over everything >hat is a good one. turkey's coming out, and, hello. >> in the beginning, the family was disagreeing, but once they hear adele, it stops. >> i'm richard, and this is "early today." huh. introducing centrum vitamints. a brand new multivitamin you enjoy like a mint. with a full spectrum of essential nutrients... surprisingly smooth, refreshingly cool.

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leading the news on nbcnews.com, mark o'malley fails to qualify for the presidential ballot, falling short of the 1,000 valid signatures to appear on the march 15th ballot. the former gernor will still campaign vigorously in ohio. clemson aide made a flowchart for who could ride in a limo with the boss. in the latest batch of clinton e-mails released by the state department, the senior adviser half jokingly wrote instructions for clinton in 2012. if an ambassador is tollerble, he or she jumpsps in with the secretary of state, but if the ride is ten minutes or more, clinton should ride solo. huh. police in alaska are accused of excessive force against an autistic man. police released body cam video of the man, police responded to a report of an attempted car

when they detained him and used pepper spray to subdue him, heard saying, i want to go home, to which one officer says, stop resisting. the police department saying any use of force was m mimal and necessary. the judge says bill cosby's wife will have a deposition regarding her husband. the case brought on by several women of sexual assault. it's unrelated to charges brought to cosby earlier this week in pesylvania. a woman accused of stealing nearly $2 millionrom a credit union over 15 years. officials saying the woman would get to work early and enter the vault, and stuff the purse with the sh. embezzlement almost brought the small bang to insolvency. she got away with it foruite some time. this couple from miami won a contest to be marryied on the countdown stage in times square, exchanged rings and vows in

and all watched on tv. the ceremony was presided oveve by former men's warehouse ceo, george zimmer. i don't know why he was doing that, but maybe they got free suits. >> absolutely. imagine the crowd.d. you think it's for you, your wedding, but -- >> i enjoyed watching the kiss between the military person in times square. that's a tradition. a look a aad, a new year's day tradition, the tournament of roses parade takes place this morning in pasadena, california. participants have been putting the finishing touches on the grand floats. watch beginning at 11:00 a.m. eastern here on nbc. keep it here for more news, weather, and spofrtsports. thank you for watching "early